A/N: Hi! I am so sorry about the wait for the update. This is the FINAL chapter! AHHH! It's almost over. I just wanted to say that I have adored writing this story and hearing what you guys have to say so please review and tell me what you thought. I am sorry that Jeffrey was a little OOC last chapter I forgot to mention that. I wanted to experiment with angry Jeffrey, since we never see that. Skye and Jeffrey are a little OOC again. Skye because she deals with feelings something she desperately tries to do and Jeffrey because he may be a little mushy and slightly angry again. Thank you so much for reading and without further ado enjoy the final chapter.
Me: I OWN THE PENDERWICKS!
Jane: You lying fiend!
Me: (Hmph) Your right Jeanne Birdsall does
Chapter 5:
Just How Lucky
Skye POV
I sat on the porch swing watching Jeffrey leave. He never turned around to look back at me. I swung back and forth lost in the brokenness Jeffrey left in his wake. He was right. How I hated the fact that he was right. I pushed everyone away and never dealt with my emotions, I just bottled them up and eventually they exploded. I haven't cried since the day of Mommy's funeral. I refused to let myself.
Every time I felt like crying I would distract myself and start reciting square roots. Sure I knew the science behind why humans cried, but that doesn't mean I understood it. I love science and math because it has an explanation for everything. All of the answers are lined up in black and white. There is no guessing or inferring. It is just right or wrong, plain and simple, black and white. Unfortunately life is not the same way.
I felt the need to be strong not just for my family, but for myself. I was afraid of what they would think if they saw how much I was hurting inside. I was the strong one. I was fearless, courageous Skye. But deep down I knew that it was just a façade. Just another wall I put up to hide my feelings and the brokenness inside.
I have no idea how long I sat on the swing, going back and forth, back and forth, lost in the labyrinth of my mind. Eventually I noticed that Rosalind had come out and sat down beside me. We just sat there in silence until I said, "How much of that did you guys hear?"
"All of it," Rosalind replied. "You two were yelling pretty loudly."
I sighed and flung by head back looking up at the ceiling.
"Skye what happened?" Rosalind asked, trying not to pry. I reluctantly told her the whole story. How Jeffrey had kissed me, our argument, my tangled up conflicting feelings. I turned out that it actually felt good to tell someone and get it off my chest. Rosalind had just listened nodding at all the right times.
"What should I do?" I asked hoping Rosalind would give me an easy answer. Rosalind just shook her head.
"That's up to you." I was hoping she wouldn't say that.
"But if you really care about him Skye, you have to find a way to tell him. Or else you could lose him forever." With that Rosalind got up and left, leaving me alone with my thoughts and a plan forming in my head.
Jeffrey POV
I sat on my piano bench, playing a melancholy concerto and mulling over my thoughts. I almost didn't hear the knocking on my bedroom window, but the rapping against the glass refused to cease.
I walked over to the window only to come face to face with a pair of bright blues and messy blonde hair smushed under a camouflage cap. With a sigh I cranked open the window and Skye leaped from her perch on the tree branch and onto my carpet.
"Hey" said Skye.
"Hey" I replied, not meeting her eyes. We both looked at the ground, neither of us having any idea of what to say next. Skye nervously started fidgeting with her hat.
"Jeffrey I-"
"Skye –"We both began at once. She laughed.
"Go ahead" I said.
"Jeffrey I'm… I'm sorry" Skye stammered, refusing to let her pride get the best of her. "I shouldn't have yelled at you or lost my temper and I am really truly sorry if I hurt your feelings. Can we forget about this and go back to being best friends?" Skye's eyes looked hopeful.
"Of course" I answered. She only wanted to be friends. I felt something breaking inside of me at the thought.
"But that doesn't mean I will forget."
"Why can't we just move past this, forget it ever happened and go back to the way things were?" questioned Skye unreasonably.
"Because of that kiss" I shot back.
"That stupid kiss" muttered Skye, "it ruined everything."
"Really? Because that's not how I see it."
3rd Person POV
"Skye we both have feelings for each other and you know it," Jeffrey glared at Skye daring her to argue.
"You're delusional Jeffrey," Skye spat, "You kissed me remember?"
"Really?" I said with a smirk, "because if I recall you kissed me back."
Skye turned livid. "I will NOT date anyone not now not ever!" This made Jeffrey furious.
"Why do you always have to be so stubborn? I know you like me as more that a friend so why is it so impossible for you to fathom the idea that we could ever be more than that?"
Jeffrey stopped yelling, "Because that kiss…" Jeffrey sighed and ran a hand through his disheveled hair "…that kiss was the single greatest moment of my entire life Skye and why you refuse to believe that I could ever love you is beyond me. I don't know how you haven't seen it yet."
"What?" Skye whispered shock written across her face.
"I love the way your eyes sparkle when you're up to no good," he said taking a step towards her. "I love how your smile tilts slightly to the left, I love how your laugh sounds in my ear when I tickle you." He was now a few feet away from Skye. "I love your stubbornness and your independence and your wit. I love everything about you Skye Penderwick."
By this time Jeffrey and Skye were a mere two inches apart.
"Skye?" Jeffrey asked titling her head up to look at him. And what he saw was the last thing he expected. Skye's eyes were welled up with tears. Jeffrey pulled her into a tight hug as Skye let out a sob. Her body shook from the sobs as she cried into Jeffrey's chest.
Never in his lifetime did Jeffrey Tifton imagine that he would witness the day Skye Penderwick cried. Skye lifted her head to face his, taking a shaky breath.
"I can't Jeffrey I can't," she said her voice her quivering.
"Skye if you're afraid about all the relationship stuff don't worry I've never been in one either."
"It's not that," Skye said shaking her head.
"Then what is it?" The look in Skye's terrified blue eyes said it all.
"Skye, I would never ever leave you." He had never been so sure of anything in his life. Tears started to stream down Skye's face, like a silent storm.
"But you don't know that," Skye began. Jeffrey tried to protest but she kept going. "What if ends badly and we never speak to each other again?" The tears were coming faster now. "I can't lose you Jeffrey," she whispered.
"I've already lost my mom, I can't lose someone else that I love."
In that moment Jeffrey had never seen Skye so look so vulnerable and so beautiful as she did then, her eyes a shocking aqua color from crying, her cheeks tearstained, and her face betrayed the brokenness inside of her that may never heal. Jeffrey stood in shock for a second. Skye had just put him on the same level as her beloved mother. And she had said she LOVED him?
"Skye I promise on the Penderwick family honor that no matter what happens I will never abandon you and nothing could ever make me…" he faltered, "because all I could ever want is right in front of me." Skye blushed, smiling that crooked smile. Jeffrey brushed the tears from cheeks.
"I love you Skye." he whispered leaning in
"I love you too." Skye muttered softly before his lips met hers. Against the kiss they were both grinning. Jeffrey's head brushed up against Skye's camouflage cap. He smiled, the hat had never been more lucky.
THE END! Thank you so much to everyone who read, review, favorite, and followed! You guys are AMAZING! I LOVED writing this story more than words can describe and am terribly sad that it is over! Please tell me what you thought of the stories in the reviews! Thank you so much! Love you all! You are all PRETTY (Ben jokes). And some nice phrase in Latin but like the Penderwick sisters Latin confuses me so just pretend. YOU ARE MY FAVORITE! Thank you so much to countingmoons for editing this, love you babe!
-GirlWithTheRedSoxCap