[IC] Private

[RedBalloon]

Nothing faltered on her face, but on the inside Juliette was uneasy. She couldn’t tell Alicia nor will she ever what was going to happen when Jake passed. All the time she spent into building their relationship would be for not. Instead, she smiled gently at her. “Of course, I’ll always be here for you,” she told her. At mention of Jake, she perked up and nodded. She seemed to adore the kid and had an unnaturally strong bond with him.

[NotANoob101]

"That means a lot to me," Alicia said, her smile much brighter than Juliette's soft smile. She stood and led Juliette to Jake's room.

As if on cue, the moment Juliette stepped foot in his dark bedroom, Jake's eyes popped open. He loved Juliette as if she were another sister. "Bonsoir Juliette," Jake mumbled, attempting his best French accent for her.

[RedBalloon]

Juliette happily followed Alicia to Jake’s room. The feeling of love from the boy washed over her, both from herself and from the connection she had to him. “Ah!” She praised at Jake’s French. “Bonsoir, cadet frère. Ça va?” Compared to her regular speech, she spoke much slower so that the boy had a better chance at understanding her native accent.

[NotANoob101]

"Comme çi comme ça," Jake replied. "You came to visit?" he questioned in English, having already ran out of suitable French responses. He loved when Juliette visited him. Somehow now, although he was aware of his sickness, his pain was alleviated. He wished Juliette could be there all the time, but he knew she had her own life as well.

[RedBalloon]

In Juliette’s line of occupation, other than being a model, it involved taking the pain of the person she protects and put it upon herself. Of course, she had endured a lot worse and barely batted an eye at weight upon her shoulders. She was supposed to be the relief in that person’s life, and that person was Jake. “Of course I came to visit,” she cooed. “I love seeing you two.” As she passed by Alicia, she lightly grazed her hand over her shoulder, then proceeded to sit by Jake on his bed. The way she moved was almost effortless, beyond graceful, like a cloud drifting in the wind.

[NotANoob101]

"You do?" Jake cooed as Juliette made his way over to his bed. He scooted over a few inches to give her space. "When are you going modeling again?" Jake asked. He wasn't sure how the modeling business worked, all he knew was that models had to travel sometimes and he wanted to make sure he knew when Juliette would be gone.

Alicia felt Juliette's hand go across her shoulder and shuddered. She was grateful for the comfort, especially now. Her heart melted seeing Jake's smile as Juliette sat beside him. She wished he could smile like that forever.

[RedBalloon]

Juliette laughed at his question. She adored his innocence for the modeling business, especially the type of modeling she did from time to time. "I have a shoot in London, but I don't leave for another couple of weeks," she told him with a grin. "I'm taking a little break until then." The break was more related to future events that were going to happen then for herself. Juliette glanced towards Alicia, and without having to be her, she could see how she was feeling. I mean like literally see her feelings, like a cloud of powdered paint floating around the person's head.

[NotANoob101]

"Are you gonna bring me back something from London?" Jake asked. He loved listening to Juliette speak, even if she didn't say much. The way she articulated her words had a calming effect on him. He felt safe whenever she was around. "What do they have there? Tea?"

Alicia chuckled a bit at Jake's words. He was so innocent and sweet. Maybe he didn't understand how quickly his time would be up. Or maybe he did understand and chose to ignore it. Alicia considered this. Maybe she should start pretending too? Would that be easier or harder? Alicia glanced at Juliette, briefly meeting her eyes. She wished she could stay there forever, but quickly broke contact, not wanting to make anything awkward. If Juliette knew that Alicia had been developing a crush on her she would crawl into a hole and never come out.

Then again, she considered, who wouldn't get a crush on an internationally known model? Especially one who seemed to appear out of nowhere with seemingly unlimited care and support. Of course Alicia preferred to keep her sexuality a secret. Her concern now was Jake, not her love life.

[RedBalloon]

"Of course I'll bring something back for you, cadet frère," Juliette giggled, retracting her eyes from Alicia and patting his head. "And they have more than tea. They have crumpets and knights. Maybe I can get you knighted, I do know the Queen after all." Most all of her attention was on the younger boy, similar to whenever she was around kids, she was adoring and possibly too distracting by them. What could she say, she loved kids of all shapes and sizes.

Suddenly, her phone started to ring. Juliette gave an exasperated sigh and pulled it out of her coat's pocket. "Oui?" She answered. The voice on the other end was quick but not frantic, almost even stern. The woman looked annoyed as she stuck out her tongue while the other end kept talking. "D'accord, je vous verrai bientôt." She hung up, seemingly before whoever was talking was fully finished. "It seems some urgent business has popped up," she sighed again.

[NotANoob101]

"A knight? I thought those were only medieval times," Jake said, now confused about his lessons in class. "Do I get a sword? And how do you know the Queen?" He would love to be a knight. Maybe he could have a horse and everything. He knew he didn't have much time, but being a knight would be cool, even for the short amount of time he had left.

~~~~~

"Make sure you say your last goodbyes. We don't think he'll make it to tomorrow morning," the doctor informed Alicia just outside Jake's hospital door. It had been about three weeks since Juliette came over and offered them the space heater. Jake was fighting as hard as he could, but in the end the illness was too strong.

Alicia put her hand over her mouth and nodded. No tears came, she had been preparing for this for a long time. She thanked the doctor and reentered the room.

Jake lied on the hospital bed, fast asleep. His slumber had lasted almost twenty-four hours and it killed her not being able to share final words. She felt she said all she needed to say to him, but still wanted to hear him one more time. He was so frail-looking and thin. It broke her heart to see her brother in so much pain. "Don't worry Jake," she muttered softly, smoothing down his hair, "It won't hurt much longer, okay?"

[RedBalloon]

Before Jake was admitted to the hospital, Juliette had left for her trip to London. But as soon as she got the news the he was too sick and would probably not make it, she rushed back to America as quick as she could.

Juliette pushed past a nurse trying to stop her from entering the Jake’s room, insisting that she knew the family. She managed to duck underneath the nurse’s arm and enter the room, only for gasp and cover her hands with her mouth. Looking at the state the boy was in, no wonder she had been feeling terrible for the past couple of days.

Juliette quietly stepped over to Alicia’s side, gently touching her arm. “I made it as quick as I could,” she murmured, staring down at the slumbering boy. No matter how times she had done this, it never got easier. She could even feel tears start to swell in her eyes.

[NotANoob101]

Alicia heard running from outside of the room. She turned her head to the sound and watched someone push their way into the small room. Just as she mentally prepared herself for some sort of fight, she recognized Juliette. "Thank God you're here," Alicia said, a weight lifting off her shoulders. She wasn't sure she could handle the pain of losing Jake alone. More than ever she needed a friend right now.

As Juliette spoke, Jake opened his eyes. He had never been so weak in his life. He was so tired, so very tired. All he wanted to do was sleep. "Hey Alicia," he muttered, then added in his best attempt at a French accent, "Juliette." His weakness was so overbearing that he couldn't move his head. He simple shifted his eyes to look at each woman.

[RedBalloon]

Juliette looked down at Jake and gave him a smile. “Bonjour, cadet frère,” she greeted, moving her hand from Alicia’s arm to smooth back his hair. “How are you feeling?” She knew he was close to passing because to her, and even to Jake, her holy glow was coming through and highlighting her figure with the brightest spot being her head.

[NotANoob101]

"Hurts," Jake mumbled. He struggled to say even the simplest phrases as he felt pain and exhaustion was over him. His eyes shifted from his clearly troubled sister to Juliette. Somehow a glow had appeared around her. He thought it was pretty. The young boy wanted to reach out and grab the light, but he couldn't move well.

[RedBalloon]

Juliette sighed, continuing to smile at him. “You’ll be ok soon,” she told him. “Oh I almost forgot.” She reached into her purse and pulled out a small, metal sword. It was the size of a toothpick but had a nice weight to it. She placed it in his hand and curled his fingers around it.
“The Queen knighted you herself, she sends you her best wishes,” Juliette cooed to him. Her silhouette was growing brighter, almost to the point where she was the only thing he could see. “So now, you are Sir Jake.”
If Jake looked closely, he might’ve been able to see huge white wings that sprouted from Juliette’s back, outlined in gold.

[NotANoob101]

"Thanks," Jake murmured, thanking her and the Queen. He held the mini sword in his hand. He didn't feel much different now that he was a knight, but it did sound good. The faintest of smiles appeared on his lips. He kept his gaze to Juliette as he waited patiently for more words. Her hand on his head soothed him greatly as the world around him grew darker and his senses faded. His sight slowly turned into a tunnel with Juliette in the center. Her brightness almost sucked him in, beckoning him to follow it. He could see the faint outline of wings around her and wondered if he could touch her wings and the bright light. The more he was guided into the light, the less pain he felt until finally the pain was no more.

Alicia watched the interaction with tears in her eyes. She did her best to hold back any audible cries. Jake slowly closed his eyes. At first Alicia thought he was sleeping, then the steady beeping of the heartrate machine switched into a solid beep. Alicia's jaw dropped. Nurses rushed in to check on Jake and to see whether or not he was gone.

"What happened?" Alicia asked, popping up from the chair so hard it knocked over. "Is Jake okay?"

[RedBalloon]

Knowing her face was away from Alicia, she mouthed the words “I’ll see you soon” to Jake. At the sound of the beep, she looked up at the machine and quickly took her hands off of Jake. The tears swelled up in her eyes were now spilling down her cheeks as she covered her mouth. Quickly, she got off the bed to return to Alicia.
Without a second thought, she wrapped her arms around the other woman, muttering, “I’m so sorry.”

[NotANoob101]

The moment Juliette expressed her condolences was the moment Alicia realized that Jake was truly gone. The whole world began to spin and go on its side. She became weaker and less attached to the world around her. The embrace of Juliette could hardly be felt. Jake was gone in an instant and there was nothing she could do about it.

The doctors pronounced his death and left the room to give the women a moment. Alicia didn't even really hear or react to any of this. Her mind became distant and away, but her body stayed.

A rush of energy filled the young woman. She couldn't explain the surge. It wasn't adrenaline, it was something more than that. Alicia grabbed Juliette in what might have initially felt like a hug, but quickly switched her grip to grab her shoulders. With as much force as she could muster, she threw the French woman and screamed an ear-piercing scream.

She could see Juliette lying on the ground, but she also couldn't see her. Her eyes shifted from their natural green to a deep red as she walked towards Juliette.

[RedBalloon]

Before Alicia even grabbed her shoulders, Juliette could sense something has off. The cloud of emotions around her head turned a dark gray, so dark that she could barely see her face. As she was flung to the ground, she put her hands out behind her and caught herself. “Alicia!” She shouted, but was taken aback by the screech.
What was happening was something she hoped she wouldn’t have to deal with. She saw Alicia’s eyes shift colors and she gulped. “What are you going?” She quickly asked, she wanted to avoid conflict if she could.

[NotANoob101]

Alicia didn't respond. She looked at Jake who was motionless on the bed. How could he have left so quickly? He didn't even get to talk to her before dying. She sat in the hospital for hours waiting for him to wake up. Juliette didn't go through the pain Alicia did, so why was she the one Jake last spoke to?

Her mind was fogged and she struggled to think. Her body felt tensed and ready for anything. She shifted her attention from Jake to Juliette who was still on the floor. Rage filled through Alicia as she jumped towards Juliette, ready to attack again.