Is Love All or Nothing? Ch. 16

"Why?" Jackie asked confused. "You know I won't do well."

"This isn't one of those games you need to be good at video games to play. Just trust me."

"Ok."

Keith handed the controller to Jackie and she started to play. She liked the conversations the game developers had put in as she interacted with the characters in the game. Then she got to a point where it is discovered the main character can rewind time and that made Jackie even more interested. By the end of the episode she was hooked and wanted to play the next episode, but Keith had taken the controller away from her.

"Hey! Give it back!" Jackie protested.

"If I let you keep playing it will be tomorrow."

"But I want to see what happens next. Do they find out what happened to that Rachel girl?"

"You'll have to find out another day. It is time to get some dinner anyway."

*************************************

"Are you going to place a room down or not?" Caleb asked very impatiently.

"I am, just need to figure out which hero to lure into my dungeon," Jackie answered.

A minute later she placed her room card facedown and she, Caleb, and Keith flipped over the room cards. Keith sighed as he realized what was about to happen.

"Dammit, she's got us."

"How? She can lure the cleric and the thief, but she can't...oh shit," Caleb said as he realized that Jackie was just going to destroy a room card with another card's ability to give all the other rooms higher health. "That spell card that freezes rooms helped you last turn."

"Not my fault you boys were trying so hard to beat each other this game that you hardly noticed me luring and defeating all those heroes," Jackie said.

"But I'm still winning for the day," Caleb bragged.

"By one game," Keith said, "and if Jackie didn't make the play she did, I was going to win."

"Yeah right," Caleb said in disbelief.

"Look at the card I played for the turn," Keith said as he pointed at the card. "Next turn I would have destroyed it and lured the heroes to my dungeon and killed them."

"Will you two stop," Jackie begged. "My god, what is it with you men being so competitive?"

"It's just part of our charm," Keith said sarcastically.

Jackie rolled her eyes at Keith's response. "Well I think we are done with 'Boss Monster' for now. Are you guys interested in pizza for dinner? Mom and dad left some money for that."

"Have an issue with pepperoni and sausage from Domino's?" Keith asked Caleb.

"I don't but she might."

"I'll just customize the order so it is half of what you two want and half of what I want."

"Meaning pineapple," Keith and Caleb said together.

"Maybe I'll get more than just pineapple," Jackie defended.

"So extra pineapple," Keith teased.

Jackie gave him a glare before she left to go to the den and place the order online.

"So you don't believe pineapple should be on a pizza either," Caleb said.

"The only fruit allowed on a pizza is the sauce made from tomatoes."

"Amen to that."

"So how bad do the casts itch?" Keith asked.

"Not as bad as I feared, but changing clothes is even worse. I'd never thought I'd have to let my mother help me change my underwear or use the bathroom."

"I can only imagine."

"Yeah, it is not that fun." Caleb took a deep breath before he continued. "I'm sorry how I treated you at Thanksgiving."

"It's ok."

"No, it's not. I was out of line when we played 'Halo' and didn't treat you right. You've been amazing to my sister and I...I shouldn't have been such an ass."

"It's ok Caleb, really. I forgive you."

"Just don't break her heart or I'll kill you."

"First you have to catch me and use your good arm."

"Oh, you got jokes huh."

"Jokes, nah. Truth bombs, maybe."

"Like the bombs known as grenades I'll stick on you next time we play 'Halo'."

"If you can get close enough for a throw if I don't snipe you."

"As if you two will be able to play once I hide the HDMI cables, the power block, and the controllers," Jackie said as she came back into the kitchen. "Is there anything you two can do without getting so competitive?"

"Enjoy watching you get mad at us for being so competitive," Caleb quipped.

"It is fun watching her not understand guy nature in this case."

"You'd think she be used to it with how competitive me and Derrick used to get."

"Oh god don't remind me," Jackie complained, remembering all the screaming, cheering, and accusations of cheating. "And you two are still pretty bad. He's married now so he has to watch it."

"So you think."

"What do you mean?"

"We still play 'Halo' and 'Call of Duty' against each other online. You're just never home to hear it anymore."

"How do mom and dad still put up with it?"

"Same as before. Dad ignores it and mom yells for me to do something else or for us to play a different game."

"Sounds just like my mom," Keith said. "All that ever did was make me madder. Sometimes you would think she would have understood that."

"Just might be something guys understand and women won't."

Jackie could only shake her head. "You guys are crazy, but I have to put up with both of you."

"Well I'm family," Caleb stated. "You can always dump his ass." Jackie glared at her brother. "I'm kidding! I know you love him and believe it or not, I think he is good for you." Jackie continued the glare. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by it."

Jackie just continued to glare as Caleb kept apologizing, trying to figure out how to get his sister to stop glaring at him. He was beginning to think she was really mad at him until the doorbell rang and she left to get the pizza, smiling. "You're right Keith, that was fun."

Caleb looked over at Keith, but Keith had a response ready. "I told her she needed to practice on someone not me for when Melissa goes bridezilla crazy. You just happened to open your mouth saying something stupid enough to get her to glare at you."

************************************************

The nurse who helped take care of Caleb opened the door to her apartment, made her way to the fridge in her kitchen and got a beer out of it. He twisted the cap off and sat back on her couch. A few minutes later her roommate came out of her bedroom.

"Hey Stacy, how was work today?"

"Long ten fucking hour day!" Stacy exclaimed. "These three days off could not come at a better time so I can catch up on sleep."

"You knew ten hour days were a part of being a nurse."

"Yes but not when there were three code blues within two hours of each other on top of the four that there were yesterday."

"I can only imagine the stress that must put you under," the roommate said quietly.

"It is rough but something about this job makes me feel...I don't know."

"Complete?"

"Good word choice but that isn't it. I guess I'm just happy helping people and knowing I'm helping them get better."

"Like that one little boy you told me about that didn't want to take his medicine because of how it felt in his mouth."

Stacy laughed remembering that little boy. "Everyone else had no clue what to do. I was the only one who asked him why he didn't want to take the tablet and once he told me, I knew what to do."

"You got a piece of salami from that cafeteria and wrapped it around the tablet."

"Everyone thought I was crazy but he never complained again about the texture of the tablet."

"How did you think of that anyway?"

"I had a friend in high school who didn't like foods based on the texture. I remember he liked salami so I'd thought I'd try that with the kid and it worked."

"This the same guy you tell me about all the time and saw recently?"

"Yeah, he was with his girlfriend's family after the brother was in a bad car accident."

"Have you thought about trying to reconnect with him?"

"I have, but don't think I will."

"Well why the hell not?" the roommate asked confused. "I can tell you miss him."

"I do, but he has someone now and the last thing I would want to do is make anything complicated or bring drama that isn't needed with his girlfriend."

"Leave it to you to find an amazing guy and not pursue him."

Stacy knew her roommate was just trying to help, but she didn't know Keith like she did or what happened the last time they saw each other. Knowing what she knows now, she doesn't think she could be in a relationship with him that would have led to marriage, yet she always put Keith on a pedestal of the type of guy she wanted to eventually marry. She had dated several guys in college and was in a relationship for over two years with one guy before she finally ended it, knowing full well he wasn't the one.

Her thoughts drifted to that last day they hung out before they left for college. Keith had already accepted the fact that they were going to drift apart, but she hadn't. She asked him why they couldn't try a long distance relationship, why they couldn't make it work. He told her that they weren't right for each other. She had wanted him as her boyfriend that whole summer but he never wanted that.

Keith tried to give her a hug as he dropped her off at her parent's house, but she refused and instead went into the house without even saying goodbye. Stacy felt horrible for doing that and cried herself to sleep that night wishing she had accepted that hug and didn't end things in such a bad way. Keith never called or texted her after that and she was too afraid to communicate fearing his response. That was the real reason as much as she wanted to see Keith again she couldn't bear the thought of what he might say to her after leaving like that. That evening was the one regret in her life that she wished she could take back.