I just know I can be better

 Keegan knew he wasn't wanted around here, or was he? At first, that guy Darry, who was evidently important to Junie, questioned him. And that twin of Junie's. Was she a sister, perhaps?

Keegan didn't ask. He knew it might not have been the best idea to show up at the hospital, but he felt the need to know. Was Junie ever going to be all right? 

When he first showed up, they all went out for coffee since it was painstaking, waiting for someone to wake up. And Darry was nice enough. 

"Are you two dating?" Keegan got up the nerve to ask while they had gone from one waiting room to another just to find a vending machine with coffee and snacks. At least it was cozy at the hospital, but Keegan wasn't one to go to the hospital, until now. 

They both cracked up as if Keegan were such a funny guy. Of course, they didn't tell him anything. He should have expected it. And the days got warm, Keegan made his way back. Darry and that girl were still there.

Finally, it felt like a touch of spring in the air, and when Keegan went to ask about Junie at the nursing station, Darry and company were not there. It felt a bit unusual, but then another day or two went by, and no Darry. Keegan was beginning to wonder if he was the only one. Did anybody else care about Junie?

Once, he did get to meet her brother KC, who thanked him for finding Junie. KC was with Junie's mother, who looked so small and unfortunate. Keegan found himself crying with her as if maybe it was just a contagious bug going around. Later, he thought he might really be sick with a bad cought so he missed about a week of visits. 

And then he woke up to snow one morning, out in the country farmhouse. It was like a sign. He got ready, dug his little car out of the snow, and warmed it up for the drive into town. Junie just had to be awake.

But she wasn't. This made Keegan bitter. Wasn't God listening? Did he need to go back to his OCD? Walk around the house at least five times before he could go to bed to make sure the place was locked up and thoughts of Junie on the mend. Maybe he could go up and down the flight of stairs continuously at the hospital, hoping this would somehow wake Junie. Anything was possible. But Keegan always felt he was never trying hard enough in life to will anything.

Finally, after his long legs couldn't take any more and he almost passed out in the waiting room before he could find enough change for a cup of coffee in the vending machine, a nurse came.

"Are you Junie's family?"

Keegan looked at her bug-eyed with a nod. The nurse said she was awake. He followed her down the hall. He was practically in a sweat, even if he looked out the gigantic window, exposing the outside world of snowy roads and dark grit. He found himself shivering, and when he saw Junie, she didn't look awake.

The nurse left them alone. All Keegan could do was bite his bottom lip. He knew he shouldn't get too close, but he stared at her as if he was waiting for her move in this odd game. He scratched the back of his head, thinking he could sit awhile and just sleep. Maybe that's all she needed. Someone, in the room with her.

"Hey..I mean hi." His voice carried. Keegan didn't like the sound of it. It must have been a false alarm, but her hand reached out and touched his fingers on the metal guard rail of the bed.

She mumbled something. It sounded like it might be his name.

"Yes?"

She grabbed his fingers. Then his hand. She wasn't letting go. It startled Keegan. Suddenly, he felt like he might be a hostage.

There would be days like this

 "I could have something wrong with me, and I'd never know it," Rafe admitted when Boone offered him a free coffee and muffin when he finally got a chance to stop by the bakery. Granted, Rafe felt a little dazed and confused these days, keeping up with the little one after the midnight hour. "When was Valentine's Day?"

Rafe squinted and looked at the last of the Valentine's cookies and Madi Gra cake. He didn't know what holiday that was.

Boone smiled back, "Aren't you getting the hang of fatherhood yet?"

Rafe yawned back. "Just when I think somebody will sleep through the night, well..you know...there are just not enough hours in the day." When he thought about it, maybe there weren't enough days in the week.

"Yeah, we couldn't really plan on anything for Valentine's Day, either," Boone told him. Saturday was great for business, and Maddie worked at the library that weekend. But we got around to it, eventually."

Rafe nodded and took a sip of his black coffee. These days, he had no time for sugar or cream, and he was getting used to it.

They talked a bit about Maddie's cousin, Junie, who was still in the hospital. Rafe knew he could be a lot worse off. At least, he was happy to be a new Dad, but so much stress came with it. And sometimes, he thought he was the only one taking care of the baby. Yet, he had a feeling it wouldn't be enough. He was in it, to notice all the little things to make the day better. 

Still, his limbs were so tired from holding someone, but he wouldn't want it any other way.

The Valentines Day Special

 "Why is it I work every holiday, huh?" CW grumbled from the kitchen.

"Stop that, before you show everyone your true colors," Crystal scolded. "You know, Millie needed a break. And well, we're having a fundraiser for Junie." 

"As if I didn't know?" He had another order of Heavenly Pancakes ready to go. "Can't you see? This is the first time I've ever had a girlfriend, and I'm stuck here?"

"With me!" She gave him a grin as if she had something in mind for Valentine's Day. That is, if he didn't ruin it. "Have a little faith, huh?"

Of course, she felt guilty for being so happy while someone was sleeping through Valentine's Day. She did make him sad. He felt bad for not doing something about Connor. If Junie had never left with him. If only Junie were still with Darry. CW winced. Did he have to keep thinking about it? 

Nico went to serve a customer who was celebrating the Valentine's Day special. Half the money from the meal would go to Junie's family. People were waiting for tables, and only the three of them were handling the day. 

CW hurried on, frying up sausages and bacon while flipping pancakes. It felt never-ending. Slowly, he was learning the glory of patience, or so he told himself.

Gavin just about had a heart attack when he saw Kat that night. She wasn't wearing her red overalls like she promised. Seymore stayed home, waiting for her on her bed.

"But..but you said you weren't going to dress up?" He looked at her wide-eyed, even if he'd brought her a wrist corsage that his mother had picked up at the grocery store. He took deep breaths and coughed hard.

"My grandmother gets around," Kat shrugged as if she might be her fairy godmother after all. "She thrifts a lot, and just hangs it in the closet. There was, and she said I had to dress nice."

"Oh."

Luckily, they managed through dinner with all his friends at the long table before the big event, eating eggrolls and fried rice. "See, people like us aren't invited to prom, so yeah, it's a big deal, evidently." He made it sound like he needed to show up with someone.

Kat nodded and sat next to him. She chatted with the girl next to her. They'd known each other since middle school. Gavin looked around, thinking it really was a small world, and he had so many friends he didn't quite know. He could hardly introduce her around. Actually, he didn't want to. He wanted to keep her a mystery.

Later at the dance, he showed her all his dance floor moves in about ten seconds. And she laughed, but mimicked him, swaying her arms in small moves as if they might be shaking salt shakers. They were both perfectly clumsy, and when it came to a slow dance, he stood still holding her. 

"What do you really like to do?" She said he already knew what she liked to do at the Youth Center: read comic books and play foosball. It was the end of the night, and he walked slowly to the front door with her. Actually, they were even too tired to hold hands.

"Well," he didn't want to put her off. "Bowling."

"Bowling?" Her eyes brightened, and she smiled. "I can't remember the last time I went bowling." She said she missed it. He hugged her as if she needed to know that he liked being with her, and hoped she knew he never wanted to hurt her.

How can you look at me and pretend

 

Kat cried herself sick that night after Gavin stayed for dinner. Of course, a part of her wondered why she was so upset. 

She had a labubu, just not the one she wanted. She ended up giving Chloe the one that Darry had given her. Why did she have to be so stupid? Besides, was the labubu going to stay in her underwear drawer forever?

It took a lot out of her to hand over the thing. Otherwise, she would have no peace about the labubu that Gavin had given Kat. 

They weren't much different. Still, she liked the eyes best from the one that Darry gave her, but she let her sister have it who cuddled it as if they'd found it out in the cold and needed to be nursed back to health.

Kat decided not to fuss with her much. Other than the promise not to take it to school, another squabble. "Well, you're taking yours to school!" Chloe promised no one would steal it at her school.

Kat gritted back, wishing she didn't have to wear hers on her lanyard at school, but no way was she keeping it on her backpack, and besides, Gavin wanted her to tell everyone who gave it to her. Thankfully, her grandmother stepped in and said that the labubu needed to stay at Chloe's pillow and nowhere else.

This business of going steady was new to Kat. Of course, some of the girls told her she was too young to have a boyfriend. Naturally, she didn't pay them any mind. It was a dreadful day. She almost spilt ketchup on her labubu. She even wore it to P.E. and got in trouble. The teacher told her she could choke to death, so Seymore stayed at the bottom of her backpack for the rest of the day. 

As soon as school was over she rummaged through it and put the lanyard on, donning her labubu that bounced about on her walk toward the Youth Center. On her way, she saw Darry alone. He looked half asleep. She hated to ask him what was wrong, but she couldn't avoid him either.

He talked about Junie. "She's in a coma."

"A coma?" Kat didn't like the sound of that. "Yeah, she's-" Well, he didn't know if she was OK or not. It was the waiting game. 

"Sorry." Kat nodded. About then, a little black car drove up. The girl had black hair, and she was waiting for Darry. Of course, Kat about lost it when someone came up from behind her and picked her up. It was Gavin.

Darry reprimanded him immediately. He gave them both a sour look, but said he had to go.

"Oh god," Kat practically rolled her eyes at Gavin, but he playfully took her hand as if it were some sort of exercise. His grip was hard, and she said, "Ow."

She pulled away and looked at him as if she'd give him her fist yet.

"Did you name him?"

"Yes." She pouted.

"Cool." Gavin grinned back. His heavy blonde hair fell in his face as he fiddled with the doll. "So?" He looked at her blankly. "What's his name?"

"What if he's a girl?" She practically hissed.

"He's green, isn't he?"

"King of," she pressed her lips. "It's Seymore." Her serious eyes looked him over, thinking he must be on drugs to be this interested in her, but he kept staring at her as if he needed to look at her closely.

"Seymore," Gavin chuckled, exposing his perfect white teeth. "I like it." Before she knew it, he had his arm around her. She could tell he was just as uncomfortable as she was. So she took his hand, but somehow they entwined in a hug, and it made her laugh for no apparent reason. Maybe it was because he smelled of gummy bears and Dollar Tree cologne.

"What's so funny?" He wanted to know.

"You are." She hated to smile at him, but she couldn't help it. Maybe this was just what she needed. But she hoped he wouldn't be too crazy. She was certain her grandmother would want her to wear her red overalls to the dance. Too many buckles and buttons for him to bother with.