Most Peculiar (Enoch O'Connor x Reader)

It's a windy night when Jake suddenly wakes up due to feeling something strange nearby. He looked across the room to see Y/n still asleep and sighed in relief while trying to catch his breath. He turns towards the door when he hears his parents talking nearby.

"I'm just saying, tomorrow was supposed to be a writing day." Jake's dad says.

"Five years and counting on that damn book. And taking one day to be with your son on his birthday is gonna be a big difference?" Jake's mom says not even looking. Jake lies back down and looks out of the window trying to tune his parents out.

"Fine." Jake's dad agrees.

~~~

The next day, Jake, his dad, and Y/n are in Abe's house looking through boxes of things they packed. Jake and Y/n stand next to each other, each with their box when Jake pulls out a picture of the two with Abe when they were young.

Jake's dad looks at the two, "You find something good?" He asks and walks towards them. "Oh, look at that. That's awesome. You should take that. Come on, kids. Let's roll." He walks towards the door ready to walk out. Jake looks slightly at his dad with confusion. "How are you so okay?"

"Jakey, Y/n/n, you two were a lot closer to him than I ever was. He was a wonderful grandpa, but not such a great dad. You know?" He walked past the two to sit on the couch behind them. "Never seemed to pick a job that didn't involve late nights or long trips away, though. Me and Aunt Susie always kind of thought he was, maybe, cheating on our mom." Jake's dad got up from the couch and walked towards the two.

Jake looks at him with a loss of words and Y/n shakes her head. "I'm sorry, kids. I know how much you worshiped him, but there it is."

~~~

The car ride back to the house was quiet and all you can hear is the radio playing in the background. The car pulled up the driveway and Jake and Y/n tried to get out of the car as fast as possible. Jake was the first one to the door and when he opened it, his whole family was there.

"Surprise!" They all yell out. 

"Happy birthday, Cousin Jake!" A pair of twins said together while walking towards him.

"J-dog, it's great you're coming to spend the summer with us." Jake's Uncle says.

"Wait till you see the new boat." Jake's Aunt adds.

"Can't wait." Jake smiles at the family.

Jake walks through the party, smiling at his family, and when he gets to his room his smile disappears as he closes the door. Y/n frowns when she sees this and decides to give him his present early, hoping it can cheer him up a little. 

She walks towards the door and knocks the secret pattern they made so the others will know it's them. When she opened the door, she saw Jake lying on the bed facing the ceiling, not even bothering to look at her. She goes to the other side of the bed and Jake scoots over as Y/n lays down.

"I got something for you." Y/n says quietly after seconds of silence. "I know you didn't want to celebrate your birthday, but I thought you should at least have something." Y/n took out a small wrapped box from her sweater and gave it to Jake. 

He takes the box and opens it still lying down. Inside, he sees a pocket watch with a bird embedded in the lid and when he opens it he sees a working watch and on the other side a small picture of them with Abe on the beach. Jake smiles looking at the picture and then turns to Y/n. "When did you get this?" He asks.

"When I was helping your mom look through boxes at Grandpa's house, I found the watch and felt it was meant for you. So think of it as not only my present, but Grandpa's too." Y/n says smiling at Jake.

"Thanks, Y/n/n." Jake says and they lay in silence and peace, enjoying each other's company.

After a couple of minutes, someone knocks on the door and opens it making Y/n and Jake sit up. "It's Aunt Susie. Thought you might wanna open this one. It's from your Grandpa. Found it while I was packing up. I figured he meant to give it to you someday." Aunt Susie sat on the edge of the bed and handed Jake a brown-wrapped gift. 

"Thanks." Jake says. Aunt Susie smiles and leaves the room, closing the door behind her. Y/n gets closer to Jake as he unwraps the gift to show it's a book named: The Complete Essays And Other Writings Of Ralph Waldo Emerson. When Jake opens the book a handwritten note is on the first page.

To Jake, and the worlds he was yet to discover.

From Grandpa xx

When he turned to the other page, a postcard was placed there and the picture was of the beach of Wales. He turned the card around to read another note.

My dearest Abe, I hope this card finds you well. The children and I yearn in hear your news. I do hope you will visit us again soon. We should so love to see you. 

With admiration, Alma Peregrine.

~~~

A couple of days later, Jake and Y/n are back at their counselors' session with Jake's parents, and this time they brought the postcard they found in the book Abe gave to Jake. 

"Hmm. Only two years ago. I suppose it's possible she could still be alive." Dr. Golan says while examining the postcard.

"Right. We could meet her. Maybe even find out what it was Grandpa wanted us to know." Jake explains while Y/n nods in agreement.

"But what if she's dead? Dr. Golan, We are very concerned with Jake's and Y/n's state of mind right now. There's no way I'm putting my life on hold to take you to Wales." Jake's mom says sternly.

"Dad could take us. And he can look at birds and work on his book. It means you get a break. As Dr. Golan said maybe we can move on. Like, closure." Jake comes up with a solution and Y/n looks at his parents to see what they might say.

"Having an opportunity to see this children's home and separate fantasy from reality may be helpful. And at the very least a trip like this provides a chance to say goodbye." Dr. Golan says making Jake and Y/n smile at each other.

~~~