So Fine ? Jake Kiszka

? nine ?

Delilah stood up and followed her mother to the office. She shut the door behind her and then sat on the chair across from her father. "So?"

"Well, Rosie made an ultimatum. She wants to see Arlo regularly."

"And you're going to let her?" Her father nodded, "You can't be serious. Dad, she's crazy! Plus she drugged up."

"Delilah, sweetie." Her mother tried to be the peace-keeper.

"No. Thankfully you both adopted me when I was born and I never got to be able to experience what he did. But he got to experience what he did! He knew how to survive on his own by the age of six. You can't."

Her mother looked like she was about to cry and her father hardened his face. She knew what she said, but she wasn't going to take it back. She would fight against that woman no matter if she had changed. "I know. But we're going to give her chance. She did leave when he was three."

"Yeah, to the crazy abusive jerk."

"Delilah, this is a chance that we don't have to rip our family apart. She just wants to see him."

When Delilah was growing up, she always thought her parents were the ones that were biological ones. Not her aunt and uncle. But when she found out through school and questions, she was devastated. The questions that she had were all over the place. Did her birth mother not care about her? Why could she be thrown out by her? Was she not good enough to be a daughter to her? It made a rift between her and her adoptive mom. And her life changed at that point. She started to hang out with people that weren't exactly the best kind of people. They stole things; not her, but she was part of the group. She even got arrested for being associated with her boyfriend at the time.

And she searched for her birth mother. And when she found her, she was living in the city that they lived in. They even had family dinners together. Her aunt was her real mother, and her mother was her aunt. Then she found out that her brother was in a lifestyle that he shouldn't have been in. And Rose hadn't cared. That's when she realized that she had the best life tat she was given.

It took her brother a few bad years to finally trust them.

And now, that could change. That's when she figured it out. It was better that they were with him then if they lost him to be with her.

"Do you understand, flower?"

"I do. I'm sorry, I'm just.."

"We understand. We don't want this either. But this has to happen. Why don't you go out with Ronnie. We want to talk to bubba alone."

Delilah wanted to stay, but then she nodded. "Okay. I'll text her."

Ronnie wasn't available, but Jake was. And she really wanted to talk to someone about the situation. So, she met with Jake at the coffee shop. When she saw him, it felt like everything was going to be okay, especially when that smile grew on his face. She smiled softly back.

"Hey, Jake!" She sat down across from him.

"Hey, how is everything?" his brows furrowed in worry and she wanted to reach forward and calm it down.

"It's alright." She breathed out.

"Tell me." He said encouragingly. "I'm all ears, darlin'"

She liked that. She liked that very much. She could feel herself blush, but she pulled herself together. "Well, did you know that me and Arlo were adopted?"

"No, actually." He was genuinely surprised.

"We are. And our birth mother wouldn't win mother of the year. The last time I saw her, which was a couple years ago, she wasn't looking the best. She took drugs and the like. And she didn't care about us. But now, all of a sudden, she wants to be part of Arlo's life. And she was going to take custody."

"Geez, she sounds like a piece of work. And was? She changed her mind?"

"Yeah, something about seeing Arlo regularly. I don't know what that entails, but I don't like it."

He leaned back, his knees bumping into hers. "I wouldn't either. But why is it just Arlo and not you too?"

Delilah shrugged, "I don't know. I just figured it was because she has no real connection with me. I mean, she gave me up right after I was born."

"Man, that's a hard situation, for all of you." Delilah nodded, gripping her hands. "Hey," his callous hands covered hers. His fingers were harsh against her soft skin, but she didn;t mind. It just showed how much he worked on the guitar, to be such a great guitarist. "it's gonna be okay. You're parents will work it out."

"I know." She almost whispered. She hadn't realized how close they were until that moment. Her heart started to beat erratically and their eyes remained in contact. It was almost as if they were connecting with each other.

"Jake!" That broke them out of the spell, and he pulled away. Jocelyn came up, smiling at them. "What are you guys talking about. It looked intense."

"Um, Delilah is just going through some stuff and she was telling me about it."

Jocelyn frowned, "Oh, I'm sorry. If you need anything, let me know."

"Thanks." Delilah felt her heart grow cold as she watched the couple.

"Jake, you're such a good friend to Dee." Delilah's eyes flashed to Jocelyn when she said her nickname. She was having a hard time just sitting there. Not only had she been friendzoned, but it felt like her nickname had been violated.

"Um, I'm gonna head out and walk for awhile."

"Are you sure? You can stick around." Jake said.

"I just need to clear my head. Thanks for listening." She was up and out of the shop before she could be convinced to stay.

She didn't understand why she felt like she wanted to keep Jake to herself and claw Jocelyn's eyes out. It wasn't like she liked him or anything. That's when she stopped.

She gasped, Oh god, I like him.

⇸

You can totally ignore what I'm about to say/write (since it has nothing to do with the story. I just need to write it out [it's about me]. Thank goodness no one knows me lol)

But... I saw an old friend a couple of days ago. We parted ways pretty badly. And when we saw each other, it hurt. I can't explain what I felt. It just.. it just hurt.

And now I can't get rid of this feeling in the pit of my stomach. And I just want to cry but I don't all at the same. I haven't been numb for a long time and this wasn't how I wanted to start feeling again.

The thing is, I remember all the good things. And I want that again. But then I have to remember all the bad things that happened. How they hurt me over and over again.

Okay... I need to end this. So my rant is over.

Bye.

See you in the next chapter.