chapter 8
“Abigail, you were right, this ice cream is so good!” Frankie said as he took another lick, smearing some of the chocolate across his face.
“I gotta agree Abs, this is delicious,” Kevin said as he took a bite out of his cone. “Now it’s my turn to ask...how did you find this place?”
“A lot of luck, I guess,” Abigail said as she licked around the side of her cone. Kevin smiled at her as she turned and looked at Frankie, who had chocolate smeared all over his face and the ice cream was dripping down the sides of his cone. “Oh boy,” Abigail said as she watched the scoop of ice cream on Frankie’s cone shrink as more poured down the sides. She reached into her pocket and pulled out two spare napkins that she had grabbed along with her ice cream and walked over to Frankie, squatting in front of him.
“You are the messiest ice cream eater ever, little man,” Abigail said as she ran one of the napkins across his face, cleaning off the smeared chocolate. Frankie smirked as she pulled the napkin away from his face and he licked his lips.
“That’s what Joe always tells me,” Frankie said. “Except he doesn’t help and wipe ice cream off of my face. He just looks at me and laughs.” Frankie then turned to Kevin as Abigail helped Frankie to clean some of the dripping chocolate off of his hands. “I like her, can we exchange her for Joe?” Kevin and Abigail both laughed as she stood up and took the final piece of her cone into her mouth.
“As much as I wish we could,” Kevin said to his youngest brother as he finished chewing the remaining bit of his cone as well, “I don’t think Joe would be able to survive on his own like Abigail can.”
“You’re right,” Frankie said as he licked the excess chocolate off of his hands while they all walked back to Kevin’s car. “Joe needs mommy to wash his clothes and make him food. And he needs you and Nick to yell at him to get up in the morning.”
“And he needs you to jump on his bed when he doesn’t listen to me and Nick,” Kevin said as Abigail laughed at the interaction between Kevin and Frankie. They walked back to Kevin’s car all together, and Frankie climbed in the back while Abigail climbed in on the passenger side and Kevin on the driver’s side.
They made the fairly short drive back to the Jonas house quickly, and once they were back there, Kevin told Frankie it was time for him to go to bed. As Frankie ran upstairs, Kevin turned to Abigail who was taking off her shoes.
“You can just stay down here if you want,” Kevin said to her. “Putting Frankie to bed will only take a few minutes. You can watch TV in the other room or something.”
“Or I can help,” Abigail said, flashing a toothy grin in Kevin’s direction. “If you don’t mind, that is.”
“No, I’d love your help,” Kevin said as he motioned for her to follow him up the stairs. “I just...didn’t know if you wanted to. So that’s why I didn’t offer.”
“Well, why would I ever pass up an opportunity to spend time with Frankie?” Abigail asked as Frankie walked into the hallway, a big smile plastered across his face.
“Yay, Abigail is still here!” Frankie said as he turned and ran into his room, with Kevin and Abigail following him.
“That’s right, I am,” Abigail said as Frankie jumped up on his bed. “But you have to go to sleep now buddy.”
“But Abigail,” Frankie whined, pouting his lips. “I’m like, nine years old. Why do I need to have a bed time? Especially on a weekend night!”
“Frank, it’s already 10,” Kevin said, looking at the clock on the wall. “Usually Mom makes you go to bed way earlier than this.”
“I guess you’re right,” Frankie sighed. “And you’re better than Nick. He always makes me go to bed at 9 so he can have alone time with Blaire.” Abigail and Kevin laughed as Frankie looked between them and raised an eyebrow. “You two aren’t putting me to bed just so you can have some alone time too, are you?” Abigail blushed and looked away from Kevin, whose face was also red.
“No, we aren’t putting you to bed for some alone time,” Kevin answered quickly as he pulled the blankets up over Frankie. “We’re putting you to bed because its time. So, goodnight little bro.”
“Night Kev,” Frankie said as Kevin turned and walked towards the door. “Goodnight Abigail. I hope I see you again soon.”
“You can come with your brother any time to the office, Frankie,” Abigail said with a smile. “In fact, you can come with any of your brothers. You can be my assistant while they complain about what they don’t like about their new album.”
“I think I’ll pass,” Frankie said as he leaned his head back against his pillow. “But anytime you want to take me out for ice cream, I’ll do that!” Abigail laughed as she leaned down and kissed Frankie on the forehead.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said as she turned and walked towards Kevin, who was standing in the doorway. “Goodnight, Frankie!”
Frankie said goodnight once more to each of them as Abigail turned off the lights and walked out of the room, Kevin shutting the door behind them. They walked back down the stairs to the living room, and Abigail sat down on the couch, Kevin taking a seat right beside her.
“I’m sorry that tonight didn’t exactly turn out how we planned,” Kevin said after a few moments of sitting in silence, turning his head towards Abigail.
“It doesn’t matter, it was still fun,” she said with a smile. “Frankie is so cute. And he’s so sweet. I absolutely adore him.”
“You were so sweet with him too,” Kevin said, a grin forming on his face that matched Abigail’s. “Seriously, I’ve never seen someone so good with Frankie.”
“It comes with years of practice,” Abigail said. “He’s so much better to deal with than Scott, though. Frankie’s like an angel compared to him. I’d watch Frankie any day.”
“You can take him whenever you want then,” Kevin replied. “You know, next time I’m on a date and Joe calls me up and dumps him on me...I’ll remember that.”
“Next time you’re on a date, huh?” Abigail asked, raising an eyebrow. “So is this when you tell me about the five other girls you’re dating too? Or is that after you get me into your bed?”
“Dammn, I guess you caught me,” Kevin replied jokingly, and both of them started laughing. After a few more moments of chuckling they both quieted down again.
“So even though tonight was...interesting,” Abigail said quietly, “I had a lot of fun.”
“I’m glad,” Kevin said, a small smile on his face. “Because I had a lot of fun too. And...I wouldn’t mind doing something again sometime. If you were up for it, of course.”
“I’d love to,” Abigail replied, her voice still quiet. She smiled at Kevin as he began to lean towards her, closing the distance between their faces. As he got closer to her she began to move her face forward a bit too, until she tilted her head and closed her eyes, feeling her lips press softly against his. For a moment they kissed, until a bright light shined in the window, and they pulled their faces apart, Kevin turning to look out the window.
“Nick must be home,” Kevin said, and soon the lights disappeared but the sound of a car door slamming followed. “Which means I’m off the hook with Frankie, and I can take you home.” Abigail and Kevin stood up from the couch just as Nick walked in the door, allowing Blaire to walk into the house before him. Abigail smiled at Blaire, who returned the smile and waved.
“Nice seeing you here...again,” Kevin said to Blaire. “You know, it’s a good thing I like you.”
“Yeah, your niceness makes up for all of Joe’s assyness,” Blaire said, causing everyone to let out a laugh as Nick tossed his keys onto the table.
“It’s nice to see Abigail here as well,” Nick said, nodding in her direction. “But...I thought you two were going out tonight.”
“Well, we were out,” Abigail started, looking towards Kevin to continue the story.
“But then Joe called and dumped Frankie on us,” Kevin continued on. “So we had to come back here. Then we took him out for ice cream, came back here and put him to bed, and then you guys came back.”
“So basically a storybook first date?” Blaire asked with a chuckle. “Don’t worry,” she said, turning to Abigail, “my first date with Nick didn’t really go as planned either...it was definitely a night to remember when his parents walked into the same restaurant we were at.”
“Don’t remind me,” Nick grumbled, before quickly changing the subject. “So, are you taking her home now?”
“That was the plan, if you don’t mind staying here,” Kevin said.
“Of course we don’t mind,” Blaire replied, turning her head slightly and sending a sly smile in Nick’s direction.
“Just remember...Frankie is right upstairs,” Kevin said, and as Abigail and Blaire laughed Nick blushed a deep red.
“Do you know when Joe is gonna be home?” Blaire asked.
“Who knows,” Kevin said with a shrug. “All I know is that he called, said he was going out and made us come here to hang with Frankie. Oh, and he totally tried to hit on Abigail right in front of me.”
“That’s Joe for you,” Nick said as Abigail felt her stomach squirm slightly as she thought back to earlier that night. She quickly shook off the feeling though as she felt Kevin place his hand on her lower back.
“Abs, we should probably go,” Kevin said, picking up his keys from the table next to him. “Since it’s getting pretty late, and I have to be up kinda early tomorrow.”
“Shoot, we have that interview at like 8, don’t we?” Nick groaned as he shook his head. “Wonderful, I get to waste my Saturday morning, which I totally could spend sleeping.”
“Aw Nick,” Blaire cooed, leaning over and kissing him on the cheek. “Will ice cream make it all better?”
“Maybe a little,” Nick replied, a small smirk forming on his face. “But I think I know some other things that might--”
“And I think that’s our cue to leave,” Kevin interrupted, beginning to walk towards the door. “I’ll be back in a little bit guys.”
“Wonderful,” Blaire said. “Bye Abigail, it was nice seeing you again!”
“You too,” Abigail said. “Bye Nick,” she continued with a wave, before walking out the door with Kevin behind her. “They’re so cute,” she said to Kevin as they walked toward his car. “How long have they been together?”
“A...while,” Kevin answered after a moment. “A few months, maybe? They’re really good together,” he continued as he walked around to the passenger door and pulled it open for Abigail.
“They have complementing personalities,” Abigail said as Kevin climbed in on his own side and started up the car. “And, I’m glad to see that I’m not the only girl Joe is an ass too.”
“He used to love Blaire,” Kevin said as he backed out of the driveway. “I mean, they were really close. But then, after this whole mess, Joe just started acting like a jerk to her. And she didn’t really question it for a while, cause she knew he was hurting. But now she basically just ignores him, because she’s sick of it.”
“I can understand why,” Abigail said, before letting a comfortable silence fall between them. For the remainder of the car ride back to Abigail’s apartment, Kevin and Abigail discussed a few things, but mostly just listened to the music playing from the speaker’s of Kevin’s car. About halfway through the ride, Kevin reached his hand across the console to grab Abigail’s, intertwining their fingers.
Finally they reached Abigail’s apartment just after 11. They both got out of Kevin’s car and walked into the building hand-in-hand, up the stairs and straight to her apartment door.
“Once again, thanks for everything tonight,” Abigail said with a smile. “I had a really great time.”
“I had a great time too,” Kevin said, before letting a small yawn escape his lips, causing Abigail to chuckle.
“You might want to get home,” Abigail said. “Since you’ve got an early morning tomorrow.”
“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Kevin said, shaking his head. “So...I’ll call you sometime, or text you or something, I guess.”
“Sounds good to me,” Abigail said. Kevin smiled and leaned in towards her, brushing his lips against hers for a brief moment, before pulling away and taking a step back.
“Goodnight, Abigail,” Kevin said, before turning and walking away, and Abigail let herself into her apartment before closing the door behind her, a big grin on her face the entire time.
