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“I’m just thinking,” Jamie said, a puzzled frown settling on his face. “I don’t remember seeing you ever go anywhere without me, except for work and college.”

…No, that couldn’t be right. Could it? Jesse did things without Jamie sometimes. It wasn’t as if—

Oh shit. He was the one developing an unhealthy dependency on Jamie, not the other way around.

“Maybe you could call her,” Jamie suggested. “And ask if they want to hang out tonight, instead. If they’re busy, that’s fine; we’ll just go home and watch movies all night, or maybe… do something else.”

Jesse raised an eyebrow pointedly. “Something else, hm? As in…?”

“You know what,” Jamie said with a smirk, and blushed a little. “But if they can hang out with you, then you guys can all go out, and I’ll text Ayda and catch up with them later. That way, you don’t have to hang out with people you don’t know, but you also won’t be lonely at home by yourself.”

“…Huh. Yeah, okay,” Jesse reluctantly gave in.

Needless to say, he’d definitely prefer ‘doing something else,’ but now that he had noticed his own slow path into unhealthy codependency, he had to take steps to fix it.

“Jazmine and Nate are both at the hospital right now. But I’ll call Jazmine once we’re home, and see if they’re free tonight, alright? ”

“Good.” Jamie smiled again, before crossing his legs and taking another bite of his chocolate.

He was so thoughtful, so caring.

Once again, Jesse realized how deeply he loved him.

Though, as the two continued to snack at the food Jesse had brought, the conversation he’d had with Austin the previous day came to the forefront of his mind, and he felt his good mood fade.

He really didn’t want to ask Jamie if there were…

things he could do; he didn’t want to make him feel any less ‘normal’ than he already did.

Jesse wanted to make him happy, and if he had his own way, he’d tell him about the trip he had in mind and forget all the uncomfortable stuff they had to deal with.

But as the sunlight gleamed against Jamie’s white hair, so brightly that it almost seemed to glow from the reflection, he couldn’t ignore the obvious anymore.

“Hey, uh… Jamie?”

Jamie turned to Jesse, blinking his icy blue eyes questioningly. “Yes?”

“Um… So… Austin and I have been talking,” Jesse started, pursing his lips as he looked down at the bag of chips in his hand, before he made himself look at Jamie. “Do you remember what you said to me the other day, about just making my drink get cold when I want it to?”

Jamie froze, his shoulders tensing ever so slightly.

Like he’d been caught.

“I thought you were just joking around at the time,” Jesse said. “But you actually meant it, didn’t you? You… can do that. You can make water get cold by itself. Can’t you?”

“…No,” Jamie said after a moment, though it was painfully obvious he was lying.

“Jamie…” Jesse bit his lip. “I promised I’d never lie to you. It’s only fair for you to do the same for me.”

Jamie gritted his teeth, hunching his shoulders even more as he glanced furtively around the park. “I – I know…”

“I mean, keeping secrets is one thing,” Jesse added.

“Everyone’s entitled to their own private thoughts—though I know that the secret Austin and I kept from you upset you.

When we didn’t tell you about your hair and eyes changing color whenever you fell asleep, that wasn’t fair of us. But… lying is even worse.”

Jamie swallowed hard.

“So, is it true?” Jesse asked quietly, leaning in a little closer. “You really can do things like that?”

“…Y-yes,” Jamie said with a wince. “But I thought you wouldn’t notice! I – I’m so sorry! ”

“Wha— Sorry?” Jesse repeated in surprise. “Why are you sorry ? You didn’t do anything wrong!”

“But I’ve… already caused so much trouble,” Jamie said, ducking his head guiltily.

“At first, I didn’t even realize that wasn’t…

normal, but then I found out you and Austin couldn’t do it; that I’m the only one who can.

And then I was trying to hide it, but clearly I didn’t do it well enough if you and Austin figured it out.

Jesse, please don’t be upset with me! I’ll practice!

I’ll be able to hold it back! I promise! ”

“Wait, what?” Jesse stared in disbelief. “What are you even talking about? Why would I be upset with you?”

“Because… because I’m causing even more problems,” Jamie said quietly. “And I’ve been lying about it.”

“First of all, please stop saying you’re causing problems,” Jesse said. “And second, I’m not upset, alright? Not even a little bit.”

Jamie swallowed again, and then looked hopefully up at Jesse. “…You’re not?”

“No, I’m not,” Jesse promised. “Why did you think I’d be mad about something like this?”

Jamie didn’t answer. He just looked down at the ground sadly, as if he didn’t want to say.

Was Jesse the kind of person who scared his boyfriend into hiding things from him?

Damn it… After all his hang-ups about hiding their relationship and insisting that Jamie pretend he was ‘wearing contacts and had dyed his hair,’ it made sense that Jamie would start to feel like he had to hide other things, too.

And to be fair, it was really smart of Jamie to keep these strange abilities under wraps around the people he worked with in the dance studio, but the last thing Jesse wanted was to make Jamie feel like he had to keep secrets from him.

It made Jesse feel awful.

“I guess you were just too scared to tell me,” he said quietly, reaching out and putting his hand over Jamie’s. “And you were trying to protect yourself, weren’t you? ”

Jamie hesitated—and then, almost imperceptibly, he nodded.

“But there’s nothing you need to be afraid of, alright?” Jesse promised. “Really.”

Jamie let out a deep breath, his muscles relaxing a little. “Okay.”

There was silence for a moment. To be honest, despite all his efforts to assure Jamie that everything was fine, Jesse actually needed a bit to really wrap his head around it all.

Jamie actually did have some kind of supernatural ability!

There was still a part of Jesse—the part that pretended to be ‘rational’ yet doubted the evidence he’d seen with his own eyes—that told him it just couldn’t be true. But it sure as hell was, however unbelievable it might sound.

Suddenly, a creeping sense of humor and suspicion came over him. “Hey Jamie?”

“Yeah?”

“When the water stopped in the shower,” Jesse said. “That was you, too, wasn’t it?”

Jamie blushed a little, before he nodded again.

Jesse couldn’t help but laugh. That explained why Jamie had looked like he was holding back a giggle before the water had turned back on. Now growing curious, Jesse leaned in closer. “How do you do it?”

“I… don’t know,” Jamie told him and let out a sigh, his shoulders relaxing a little more, as if he was relieved to finally be able to talk about it.

“I just wish for it to happen. Like, one day, I missed the bus home after dance practice, and it was raining, and I didn’t want to call Austin because he was taking care of you in the hospital.

I forgot to take my jacket but I didn’t want to get my hair wet, so I just…

It’s – it’s hard to explain. I kind of asked the rain to miss my head, and…

” he shrugged. “It did. That was actually the first time anything like this ever happened.”

“When I was in the hospital?” Jesse stared. “You’ve been hiding this for two whole months!? ”

“Y-yeah,” Jamie said, wincing and hunching his shoulders again.

Jesse pursed his lips, working to control his reactions better. He had to force himself to stay calm and level, so that Jamie wouldn’t think he was angry.

“That’s – that’s good actually,” he said, after he regained his control.

“That means you’re good at hiding it, like you thought.

Austin and I only caught on because we know you too well, and spend more time with you than most people do.

And because Austin’s some kind of genius.

Ugh, once I tell him he’s right, he’s going to brag about it forever. ”

Jamie let out a laugh, though he still looked a bit anxious. “Then… it’s really okay?”

“It’s really okay,” Jesse reassured. “But, you can do more than just make rain miss your head and get water to be cold, can’t you?”

Jamie hesitated, shifting his weight on the blanket, and then nodded for a third time.

Jesse glanced around the park. He didn’t spot any other people walking around nearby, so he turned back to Jamie in growing excitement. “Can I see?”

Jamie looked at him for a moment, as if not sure he really should.

But then he took in a deep breath, and reached for his bottle of water.

He poured a little of it out into his hand; not enough to run off onto the ground, but enough to pool into his palm.

He bit his lip as he glanced back up at Jesse, clearly trying to gauge his reaction, but then he held his second hand over the first, directly over the water.

Right before Jesse’s eyes, the water shifted and rose, and then began to swirl between Jamie’s palms.

Jesse let out a slight gasp, staring in shock at the spectacle before him.

This was really happening.

Hearing that it was possible and believing that it was true, was nothing compared to actually seeing it.

He found himself awestruck. The water hovering between Jamie’s palms began to take shape, parts of it widening or flattening or curving or thinning as if it were being carved like marble.

Like Jamie was making a sculpture of water.

And then, right as Jesse realized what it was turning into, a faint flash of blue light enveloped the shape, and it froze into solid ice.

A delicate, perfectly formed flower, clear and lovely as a crystal.

Jamie held it out for Jesse to take. Numbly, Jesse accepted the gift, staring down at it in wonder and disbelief as he turned the cold ice over in his hands.

“This is… the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” Jesse whispered.

“I can’t believe it! You really have—! I don’t understand how this is happening, it’s all so strange—but in a really good way!

” he amended quickly, before Jamie could misunderstand.

“You’re literally the most amazing person I’ve ever met! ”

Jamie was beaming now, his cheeks flushing pink as he let out another light laugh. “Um, thank you?”

Jesse laughed back, still mystified by the exquisite ice flower he held in his hands.

There were seven billion people living on this planet, and by some beautiful twist of fate, it was Jesse who’d been on the street that day in February, Jesse who had been the one to take Jamie home, Jesse who had won the privilege to call Jamie his.

On a whim, he leaned forward, pulling Jamie into a gentle, loving kiss.

For once, he didn’t even think about who might be watching.

Jamie’s smile was brighter than the stars, when the two finally pulled away from each other.

His eyes sparkled like the purest of diamonds—and with his hair shining like the moon reflecting the sunlight, and the flower of ice slowly starting to melt over Jesse’s fingers, there was no denying it anymore: Jamie was truly enchanting.

Suddenly, a spark of recognition shot through Jamie’s eyes, and he drew in a slight gasp. “Auralie!” he said breathlessly.

“…W-what?” Jesse had to ask, perplexed by the word.

“Jamie Auralie! That’s… my name,” Jamie breathed in shock. “I… I remember!”