The End of The Day

We traveled around all the rowdy partygoers to a wooded area. Could this have been me walking into the trap my brother warned me of?

Annoyed, I said, "Where are you taking me?"

"We're almost there." I took what he said in stride as we walked silently in the woods.

Soon after, we arrived at a gazebo and a hot tub at the edge of the property. "When I lived here, if I ever got mad or just wanted some time alone this is where I'd come."

My rage turned into sadness as I leaned against a tree. "I can't believe you just did that to me. I thought you were better than that."

He put both of his hands on my jaw and I allowed him to. "I'm sorry. She makes me do stupid things."

I huffed, "Taryn didn't make you do that. I saw you together, I saw you wrap your arms around her. Then you walked off with her and I couldn't find you. What happened? Did you do anything with her?"

"No, I wouldn't do that to you. She wanted to talk and she pulled me into one of the bathrooms. I don't know what she wanted. But, she was telling me that I'll always be hers and I'll never be able to replace her with anyone." He appeared flabbergasted that I would even ask that.

I ranted, "But then you kissed me in front of her to make her jealous and I saw that hug. Sparks were flying!"

With a puzzled expression, he replied, "You literally made out with someone else the same day as me and you're mad about a hug!"

He continued, "And no, I didn't do it to make her jealous. I wanted to show her that I was moving on. I'm serious about you, and she's not going to ruin it. It may not have been the smartest thing but it seemed effective."

"Well, I wish you would have told me that sooner." I felt like a complete idiot for thinking the worst of him with no evidence of that at all.

He smirked, "And why's that?"

"So you wouldn't have seen me all accusatory and jumping to conclusions." I wagged my fingers as a way of mocking myself.

"I don't want to see just the pretty side of you... I want to see all of you." Smiling up at him I thought that was it. He was it for me.

I held his hands and put them on the back of my skirt to where I assumed the zipper was. Gradually, he pulled it down until my skirt hit the ground, leaving me in my stockings.

My hand slipped under his shirt and he yanked it over his head, messing up his hair in the process. I started to take my top off but it seemed like he was getting a little impatient so he helped me with that.

Lifting me against the tree, he cupped my jaw and hungrily kissed me. He held onto my legs as I wrapped my arms around his neck. As he touched my stockings he joked, "Who made these? All they do is get in the way."

I playfully rolled my eyes, "Shut up and kiss me," as I nose-kissed him. Pulling us away from the tree, he sat me on the edge of the hot tub. I took the time to get rid of my stockings and take my turtleneck off. Banks turned the hot tub on. When he came back around I saw that he was only in his boxers. Without thinking, I immediately looked down at that area and thought he must have been excited.

"Like what you see," he smugly remarked making me think I was staring for a little too long. He hopped in, I spun around and got chill bumps as my legs hit the warm water.

He started caressing my leg and peppering my inner thigh with light but suggestive kissing, "Are you having a good time?"

I held the side of his face, "This is my favorite part."

The water warmed my skin as he pulled me into the hot tub and put my legs across his lap. I exhaled as he pressed his lips into the skin of my neck. His cold breath was the perfect juxtaposition to the warm water we were sitting in.

My fingers found his hair as he unearthed my midriff. He leaned up and pressed his lips against mine. What once started as tender kisses turned into a passionate battle of tongues. We pulled apart when we heard some people running further into the woods probably having the same idea as Banks. "That's a party for you, always surrounded by people."

"So much for alone time, huh," I said before he pecked my lips.

He rubbed the inside of my thigh which felt like a completely different fire without pants on. "Maybe we should go somewhere that no one will be around to interrupt us." Banks stood up wearing nothing but his boxers and his wet chest.

"Um," I thought about what that meant and decided to say, "Yes, I would love to." He got out and extended a towel to me. I wrapped the towel around myself and shivered in the cold air. I picked my clothes up from the snowy ground floor.

Putting our clothes on over our vaguely damp bodies minus my stockings was a daunting task. Before we got back to the party, he gave me a sweet kiss on my neck and put me on his back for a piggyback ride.

When we got back, everyone from our core friend group was outside except for Mark noticeably. Neo and Piper ran up to us when we saw them. "Man, where do you keep disappearing off to?"

"Wherever you're not," he snarked, obviously still not over the fight they had earlier.

He clicked his tongue, "Man, you're like a brother to me. Whatever this is we can fix it. We've fixed every problem we've had before."

"Yet we keep having problems," Banks puffed his chest.

Piper held my hand and pulled me over to the side along with Celia. I immediately missed him. Piper pulled her phone out and flashed her flashlight in my face. "Oh my God, why?"

"Her pupils are dilated. Guess that means our baby is still a virgin!" She said excitedly as Celia looked a little annoyed.

"You were gone for a while, did anything happen," she pried.

"No, but I don't know what's going to happen later on. My mind isn't made up so we'll see," I gushed almost embarrassed to talk about it.

"We're not going to hold you up," Celia said and I couldn't read how she meant that.

Looking behind me, I noticed that he wasn't with Neo anymore. "I'm going to go look for him inside."

Entering the abode, I saw Mark sitting in the same place on the couch from earlier. Banks wasn't in there, but I thought I could take the opportunity to talk to him about Dennis.

"What are you up to?" He didn't look up from his phone, "I'm texting a friend."

I chuckled, "We're all right here."

"I have other friends," his pupils looked at me for a second.

I tried to slip into the conversation logically, "Banks told me that you have known him the longest."

"Yeah, please don't ask me any personal questions about him. I don't know how long his penis is," he avoided eye contact with me.

I shifted uncomfortably, "I wasn't going to ask that. Do a lot of the girls he has had over ask you things like that?"

He scoffed, "Daya, he likes you. I wouldn't worry about anyone from the past. He surely isn't."

Surveying him with my eyes, I said, "I can't get a real read on you. Banks told me that you were more reserved and quieter. I am too, so I'm not judging you for it. I don't know if I did something to make you dislike me, or if I am misreading this whole conversation."

He pulled his shoulders closer to his body. "It's not that I don't like you. But since you've come along, you screwed over four of my best friends. You ditched Brian as soon as the 'shinier object' came along. In the process, you broke Celia's trust. Then Piper tells me what you did which was a big F you to everyone. And I know what you pried out of your brother when he wasn't ready to tell anyone. Look, I haven't seen Banks be so into someone for a while. It will take some getting used to. You seem like a nice enough girl, but I wouldn't trust you as a friend."

I rubbed the back of my neck, "It's not like I wanted to hurt anyone. Dennis is my brother and I love him more than you ever could. Don't accuse me of being a bad friend or sister, ever!" I didn't know what came over me but I had to tell him that.

"Banks' room is the third one down that hall on the right. I'm guessing that's where he was planning on taking you," he pointed toward the hall he was talking about.

At that moment, Banks walked in from the sliding door and sensed the tension between Mark and me. "What's going on here?" He scrunched his eyebrows.

Mark flared his nostrils, "Nothing brother, I'm about to leave anyway." He went back into the world on his phone as he drifted towards the door.

While looking at Mark he spoke, "You don't look happy. Did he upset you?"

"I'm fine. I could use a pen to write on you right about now," I joked.

"Well, guess who has a plethora of pens in their room? Come on," he softly spoke. Walking into Banks' room my heart started beating furiously at the implication of us going in there. I didn't know what to expect or what he expected of me, but the unknown excited me.

His room looked like any bedroom that was barely used. It was decorated like the rest of the house, but it didn't give off any of Banks' essence.

"I was worried I had lost there for a moment," he smiled as I walked closer to him.

"I was talking to Mark or trying to," I shook it off.

He sighed, "I told you he takes a while to warm up to people." We sat down together on the bed and I looked around the room nervously. Just the implication of sitting on a bed together made me fearful.

He chuckled, "I never got to show you around the house. You ready for the grand tour?"

A broad grin crept onto my face. "What else is there to see?"

He stood up, "I'll show you." He pulled me up by my hand.

"This is the media room." It was basically a home theatre with reclining chairs and a popcorn machine.

His house was so posh and even the wooden floors felt expensive. "Is all of this necessary? He has a huge TV in every room, even the kitchen."

"It isn't crucial to his survival, but he likes to have it. I like to use it," he replied.

I squeezed his hand, "Neo sounds like a great friend to you. Before we got split up I saw you talking to him."

He wasn't pleased that I mentioned it. "I don't know where I'd be if it wasn't for him. He's given me money when we were about to get evicted from our house. When I left, he gave me a place to stay. I'm lucky he hasn't gotten tired of me fighting with him yet."

Touching the wall as we walked my mouth formed the words, "He definitely has enough to give. He's blessed to have as much as he does."

"He knows that, but I think he would rather have none of this stuff and get to see his parents every day." We noticed the door to the hallway was closed, and I knew that we left it open.

Banks shook the doorknob, "Neo unlock the door."

We could hear his laugh from the other side. "Admit it, you wanted to be alone with her. You have her all to yourself now."

"And then he's an asshole again. He locked us in here," he banged on the door.

I questioned, "Why is there a lock on that side of the door anyway?"

"Neo's parents put this lock here to keep this part of the house secluded when visitors came over. And maybe to lock Neo in," he shrugged.

Something felt off with his explanation. "They punished him, by locking him in a place where there is a full-blown movie theatre and a bathroom as big as Dennis' room?"

"It was a punishment of sorts. Don't worry, one of the others will let us out." He walked into his room and I followed suit.

I leaned against the wall and sighed. "You didn't have anything to do with this did you."

He pulled another shirt out of the dresser. "What do you mean?" He forced his eyebrows together in confusion and then lay down on the bed.

"This isn't something that you and Neo do, is it? Lock girls back here so you can sleep with them?"

He looked offended, "Neo's had a girlfriend for as long as I've known him and that sounds too close to assault. I wouldn't do that. Neo's drunk, but we have plenty of people that will let us out. Or I will kick down the door."

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize how bad that sounded." He motioned for me to lay down with him.

"I don't want to do anything that you don't want to do." I snuggled into his side.

"This morning, I had a dream about you," I proceeded with caution.

He nodded, "Did I do something awesome in the dream?"

"I enjoyed it. I've never had a dream like that before." He started to catch on to what I was talking about.

"Oh, you had a wet dream about me," he said in a smug tone.

"Stop," I hit his stomach. "I didn't know I was that sexually attracted to you until then. I knew that I was, but that took it to new heights."

"Are you a little weird about sex," he asked.

Biting my lip, I said, "I've never longed for it. It's not something that I've been craving. I've always thought that when the right person came along, it would happen. My mom gave me her spiel on it. She said it was meant for two people in love and shouldn't be abused. People take it for granted and give a part of themselves to others they don't know for a few minutes of gratification," I spoke honestly.

He looked at me, "Are you calling me out for my misgivings?"

I laughed, "I'm telling you what she told me. If it applies to you then that's a coincidence."

He laid on his side and held the side of my face.

"Before you, I wanted to wait until I was a lot older. I wanted to have been together for a while and be married maybe. I had this idea that it would be perfect. But now... I just want my first time to be with someone I love and someone I'm excited about. How about you?"

"Well, It's too late for me to wait until I get married. But, I agree with your mom though. I regret a lot of the sexual experiences I've had. I don't want that for you. I don't plan on this ending anytime soon. We can wait as long as you want. Ten minutes, two years, however long. It'll be different for me, but I'm willing to do it for the right person."

I smiled as I leaned in and kissed his soft lips. We separated and shared a meaningful gaze. He brought our lips back together and then I got a phone call. I groaned, "It isn't time to go yet."

It was a number that seemed vaguely familiar but didn't have it saved. I ignored it and we went back to cuddling and kissing. Until my phone rang again and it was the same number.

"Who is it," I asked in frustration.

"Daya, this is Amanda, Jay's mother," her voice worried me. "He has gone missing."

"What do you mean he's missing." I clutched onto Banks' shirt.

"He never came home last night, and he still isn't here. I know he spends the night with you sometimes, but I called your mother and she said she hasn't seen him. Olivia said she hasn't seen him either. I'm worried," she said frantically.

Panic ran through me. "I'll be right over, give me like forty minutes," I shot up out of bed.

"What's going on?" Banks said with distress.

"Jay ran away! This is all my fault! I should have done more, been more convincing," I babbled.

Banks gave me a consoling hug. "Wait a minute, Daya. It's not your fault."

Tears erupted from my eyes, "Yes, it is. He told me, Banks. He told me he was running away, and I should have told his parents right after he told me."

"You didn't know he was being serious." He tried to make excuses for me but there were none.

Tearing that envelope in half was the last straw. "No, Banks I did know he was serious. He wanted me to run away with him. And I yelled in his face."

He questioned, "Why is he running?"

"I'll tell you in the truck, but we have to leave now!" He ran out of the room and started banging on the door.

"Piper let us out!" I leaned on the wall and released all the tears that could come out of me at one time.

With ferocity he started to kick the door, "She's crying, please!"

Michy swung the door open, "What did you do to her?"

Banks picked me up and started running for the door. "Her friend ran away. I don't have time to explain."

With left all our friends in a confused state. "We'll be there soon," he assured me as he put me in the truck.

"Why is he running away?" He recited now that I had time to explain.

I tried to compose myself the best I could. "He wants to meet his mom," I cried.

He scrunched his eyebrows, "You were just on the phone with his mom."

"He was adopted. He got a letter from his birth mom with an address. That has to be where he's going." The image of him walking away with two halves of the letter in his hand replayed in my mind.

To comfort me, he said, "He couldn't have gotten that far."

"We don't know when he left. He could have left after we walked home yesterday evening. I don't know. Yesterday I saw the address, but I don't remember it. I know it was from New Hampshire, but that's all I know. God, I hope he's okay. He has to be." Banks kissed my hand.

We arrived at the Daralus home to see my mother and Jay's family sitting at the table. "I know where he's heading!"

*And here we are! This ending chapter was definitely a long one!

What are y'all overall thoughts on my book and your thoughts on the final chapter?

I'm doing a Q/A so please leave some questions for me here about the book, the future, or me!

Thank y'all for staying with me on this journey till the very end! I appreciate everyone of you. This story is over but stay tuned for a few extra stuff!*