Chapter 20: 𝑋𝑉𝐼𝐼𝐼

1 week...

7 days...

168 hours...

10080 minutes till Lily's birthday and by each day her nervousness was increasing.

Jason's new year's surprise was still playing in her mind even though it's been three days since it happened. How could she not when she truly felt like a princess. No one has ever shown her that much care and interest and love, no one has ever made her feel the way Jason does.

Speaking of Jason, here he is walking towards Lily who was sitting in their usual place, under the Oak tree. He looked as good as ever even while wearing the school's uniform and his black shades.

Jason stopped next to Lily leaning on the tree with his hands buried deep in his pants and his legs crossed. His eyes were on Lily's cute face as she stared up at him with a big smile.

"Good morning, Fiore"

"Morning, Jasey"

"What are you reading?"

Before she could reply, Jason snatched the book out of her hands and flipped through the pages lazily.

"Jasey, never ever snatch my book like that! You're lucky I like you or else you'd be leaving with a broken hand"

"Oh really? I'd like to see you try"

"Don't tempt me"

"Shush, little girl. You can't do shit"

Lily glared at him and punched him on the back of his bent knee which caused him to lose his balance, but he quickly adjusted his posture again.

"One word, three letters... run"

That was all that Lily needed to hear before she took off running away as Jason gave her a head start.

Lily's knees were crying in pain which slowed her down, but she fought through the pain and kept running.

Before she realized Jason's arm wrapped around her waist and twirled her around as her hand held onto his arms. Her giggles reached Jason's ears and his smile widened in response.

"How do you manage to catch me every time? Even now when I had a head start"

"I always tell you, you're a midget"

"Rude"

"Cutie"

The bell rang and Lily sighed in frustration. She had Math and she was dreading it. Who the heck puts mathematics first thing in the morning .

"Let's skip"

"Of course you'd say that"

"What? You don't want to be here and neither do I. So let's skip and do something else"

"That's not how school works, dumby. We can't just skip, besides my parents would ground me"

"So? Weren't you the one who said you'd want me to make this year interesting for you"

"Yes, but we can do that after school"

"Fine, miss goody two shoes"

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"So , what are we going to do?" Lily asked.

After school was done, Jason waited for Lily and demanded that they hang out. So here they are in Jason's car driving down the road.

"Do you want to watch a movie?"

"Sure, at home or at the cinema"

"What do you prefer?"

"I don't mind either"

"Cinema it is"

Jason's phone rang as he was taking a turn. "Could you see who's calling me?" Jason asked as he turned the wheel with his hand and it was illegally hot.

"It's your mom"

"Answer it and put her on speaker... please "

Lily nodded and did as he asked "yes, mom?"

"Jason, are you back home?"

"No, why?"

"Sophia is sick and we're at the hospital"

"Is she okay? Why did no one tell me"

"It just happened this morning she suddenly got a fever, i was calling you to ask if you could come and stay with her for an hour because I need to go take a shower and grab some fresh clothes for both of us"

"I'm on my way, I'll be there in ten minutes"

"Okay see you in a bit, love you"

"Me too"

"I'm sorry, Lily, looks like our plans were ruined"

"It's okay, your sister is more important"

"Let me drop you off at your house then"

"Can I go with you? Please"

"If that's what you want"

"Yes, I'd love to see the little girl that got you wrapped around her fingers"

"Or you can just look in the mirror" Jason mumbled under his breath m.

"What?"

"Nothing"

Jason and Lily reached the hospital and met with his mom who smiled widely at them when she spotted Lily. Jason's mother didn't want to leave Sophia alone with just bodyguards , besides Sophia would be scared.

Their dad left a few minutes ago for some business while all his brothers were busy either with college or football practice or schoolwork and he was the only one available. Also, the fact that Jason was so overprotective of Sophia and he had a soft spot for her.

"Hey little monkey, how are you feeling"

"I'm so tired, Jasey" Sophia incoherently mumbled, scooting towards the end of the bed where Jason sat.

Lily's smile reached her ears when she heard the nickname. She poked Jason and silently called him Jasey and tried to stifle a laugh. Jason playfully glared at her and hugged Sophia sideways.

"Who's this?" Sophia asked as she just noticed Lily's presence.

"This is my friend, Lily"

Lily and Jason had agreed not to tell anyone about their relationship status, not yet. They both didn't want to deal with any family drama at this moment.

"Hi, Sophia, it's nice to meet you. Jason had told me a lot about you"

"You're pretty" Sophia bluntly said out of nowhere.

Lily was thrown off and glanced at Jason who faintly had a smirk on his face.

"Thank you, but I think you're way prettier and cuter"

Sophia grabbed Jason's shirt and pulled him towards her so that she could whisper in his ears. But the truth is she was bad at it, all children are actually bad at whispering. You barely hear a word and it's always them breathing and stuttering in your ears.

"You should ask her to be your- your girlfriend , she's so nice" The whispering that had nothing to with whispering was heard by Jason and Lily.

Jason's smirk was proudly shown and Lily blushed. Never has she ever thought the words of a little girl would get her blushing.

"Okay, Sophia, you should take some rest so that you get better faster"

"I'm not tired" Sophia said the exact same moment she yawned.

"Sure you're not"

Lily took a seat on one of the empty couches as Jason rubbed Sophia's back until she fell asleep. Jason then told Lily that he'll go and grab something to ear since they didn't have anything yet and he was starving.

Lily said she'll wait next to Sophia until he's back. He placed a kiss on her forehead and told her that he won't be long.

As Jason stood next to the vending machine, waiting for the old woman in front of him to finish, a little boy crashed into his leg and stumbled backwards.

"Hey kiddo, you okay?" Jason knelt down helping the little boy to stand on his knees.

The little boy is no older than 5 years. He had a small skinny figure and no hair at all, not even where his eyebrows and eyelashes should be.

He was wearing a hospital gown and looked scared.

"What's your name, kiddo?"

The kid didn't respond and instead looked on the verge of crying.

"My name is Jason, what about you"

"K- kaden"

"Kaden, honey" A middle aged woman called frantically running towards Kaden and scooped him in her arms.

"Mommy, I don't want to go back there it hurts"

"I'm sorry, baby, you're the most brave and strong kid in the world. Let's go back to our room and we'll tell the doctor to be more gentle, okay?"

Jason straightened up again and went to buy some food now that the kid is with his mother and the vending machine is finally free.

"Hey, champion. What did I hear of you running away?" A doctor approached the mother and her son, then kaden hair.

Jason slightly looked over and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Isn't this the same doctor that treated Lily the other day?

"Dr. Sam is a specialized doctor, baby. He'll make you feel better, okay?"

Kaden nodded his head and the doctor praised him as they headed back to the hall. Kaden looked back at Jason and waved to him before they rounded the corner.

A specialized doctor?

Jason's brain couldn't comprehend a thing as he unconsciously headed back towards Sophia's room.

He pushed the door open and found his mother already back whole quietly chatting and giggling with Lily.

Lily threw her head backwards and placed a hand over her mouth, trying to keep quiet for the sake of Sophia.

Jason couldn't help but stare at her and wonder about what just happened. That's not possible, no.... He's just being silly and overthinking.

Maybe the mother said that to assure her kid. Lily is perfectly fine and healthy.... She has to be.

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(A/N): Had a longgg tiring day and I barely got to finish the chapter so I didn't review it before publishing.

Is it possible that what Jason is thinking is true??

Don't forget to vote and comment

Lots of Love 🤍