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And Jamie was something else . It was impossible to know what, because by all laws of nature, he shouldn’t exist. This was the real world, after all. People like Jamie Auralie didn’t exist in the real world. Yet, here he was; kind and thoughtful and loving.

And dangerous.

Jesse just couldn’t see it that way .

But that’s what Austin was here for. He’d always been the type to watch out for Jesse. To pay attention to the things Jesse didn’t notice, to make sure he was going to be okay, to take care of him when he couldn’t—or wouldn’t—do it himself.

Trying to get his focus back to Jamie’s cooking attempt, he watched Jamie add some spices to his medley of ingredients, making quite a few questionable choices.

“Uh…” Austin murmured at the sight of cinnamon in addition to cayenne and garlic, sprinkled with some raisins and saffron; though he was adventurous enough to try just about anything once.

“No, don’t help!” Jamie cut him off before he could say a word, his tone half-command, half-plea.

Austin raised his hands in mock surrender. “Alright… your masterpiece.”

Once the entire concoction was in the oven to roast, the two moved back out into the living room.

“Alright, what do you wanna do?” Austin asked, grabbing the TV remote as he dropped to sit on the couch. “Watch a movie, like usual?”

“Yeah, that’s a good plan,” Jamie agreed as he took his own seat.

“ Little Mermaid again?” Austin teased—he just couldn’t help it, even though he knew Jamie had ‘outgrown’ this movie quite a while ago now—before a sudden realization hit him. “Hey, you don’t think… Woah…”

“What?”

“What if that movie resonated with you so much because of your powers?” Austin asked.

“Think about it; she’s from the ocean, you control water, she didn’t know about basic human objects like forks and pipes and all that, you didn’t know about chocolate or money or cars…

” He let out a laugh, though he was only half teasing.

“Maybe you’re a merman that traded his memories for legs! ”

Jamie made a strange face, as if he couldn’t tell whether he liked this idea or not. “I don’t know. How would I know how to dance? ”

Austin shrugged. “Well, it was just an idea.”

“I don’t think that’s it,” Jamie said. “I mean, I don’t think those are the reasons I liked that movie.

It was… I don’t know.” He sighed a little, shaking his head as if he couldn’t quite find the right words to describe what he thought.

“While all of that did feel familiar somehow, I didn’t just like the movie because it was about the water and the collection of human things. It went… deeper than that.”

Austin thought this over. “…It was because you really liked Flounder, wasn’t it?” he teased with a grin, unable to resist. “Can’t get enough of the trusty best friend.”

“No,” Jamie rolled his eyes with a slight blush. “I can’t believe Jesse told you about that.”

“Or maybe that’s it,” Austin pressed with a laugh. “You were obsessed with the prince, weren’t you? Him and his sleek black hair, and how he found Ariel stranded on the coast and just had to take her home, give her a bedroom, take her out on the town…”

“Stop it!” Jamie pouted, his cheeks turning a full pink now.

But Austin wasn’t going to give up something this good too fast. “Hey, if I have to be content with being Flounder, you can’t complain about being Ariel. Now all you’re missing is a Sebastian.”

“Just shut up and play a movie—and not Little Mermaid. ” Jamie huffed with an embarrassed, but haughty sort of huff. Like he was trying to pretend the teasing wasn’t working. “I’m not in the mood for children’s entertainment today.”

This statement, which hung in the air as Jamie took his time going through all Austin’s DVD’s one by one for a good twenty minutes before finally making a choice, made it even funnier when he eventually settled on 101 Dalmatians, claiming to be interested only because of Cruella’s two-toned hair on the cover.

As if that was any less of a kid’s film than The Little Mermaid.

But Austin had done enough teasing for one evening.

And besides, he didn’t exactly have the right to tease Jamie for liking the occasional kid’s film.

Not when he was the one who owned the DVD’s in the first place.

He got the movie playing and the two settled onto the couch to relax, and for the first few scenes, neither of them said anything.

But then…

“She’s really been helping a lot…”

“Huh?” Austin looked at Jamie, lost as to what he might mean. “Who is?”

“Dr. Alevera,” Jamie said. “I know it’s only been a short while since I started seeing her, but… the nightmares are happening less and less often. And even when I do have one, the breathing techniques she taught me are a big help.”

“I know, and that’s fantastic,” Austin smiled. He couldn’t quite piece together where Jamie was heading with this though.

Jamie smiled as well, before he sobered a little again, shifting his weight as if he were nervous about what he was going to say next. “So… I think, I don’t need to stay the night here anymore when Jesse has work.”

…Oh.

Austin felt a pang of disappointment he couldn’t completely hide. He’d got so used to having Jamie around that the thought of returning to the quiet, empty space stung more than he’d expected. But if this was what Jamie wanted, how could Austin complain?

“That’s… totally fine,” he tried for a smile. “You’re doing so much better, so of course you want to stay at your own place—well, Jesse’s place, but at this point it’s basically yours too. I understand.”

“You’re making a face,” Jamie said.

“Well, it’s… great having you around, but this is not about me. It’s about you, alright? I’ll be fine.”

“Actually… maybe I won’t stop coming over,” Jamie suddenly decided.

“Huh?”

“I just remembered that now that the nightmares are more under control, Dr. Alevera says she’d like to start working with me on trying to help piece together some of my memories. But… that might set them off again, right? ”

Austin’s mood brightened again at once. “You’ll always be welcome.”

“Thanks,” Jamie said with another smile. Then he took in a gasp, remembrance lighting in his piercing blue eyes. “Oh yeah! Guess what?”

“What?”

“Jesse and I are going to take a trip together!”

“Huh?” Austin stared. Sometimes it was really hard to keep up with Jamie’s sudden topic changes. Austin blinked as he tried to process this new piece of information, and then chuckled, “Wow, now that Jesse’s committed, he’s sure jumping in with both feet, isn’t he?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, going on a trip together is pretty serious stuff,” Austin told him. “A lot of couples don’t start doing that sort of thing until they’ve been dating for a really long time. Some don’t even take trips together until they’re engaged, or even married.”

Jamie tilted his head. “You mean, it’s weird that we’re going?”

“Naw,” Austin said. “It’s not weird, it’s just surprising. I guess, given how fast you two have already been moving, it only makes sense that you’d already be at this stage of things.”

“Oh.” Jamie seemed to think this over for a minute. “Do you think we’ll get married one day?”

Now that was a pretty big question. One that Austin didn’t think was his place to answer.

Jesse seemed like the kind of guy who would want to get married someday, yeah, and Austin had absolutely no doubt that he’d pick Jamie as his partner for life in a heartbeat.

But that kind of thing ought to come from Jesse himself, when he was ready.

Austin didn’t want to take that from him.

Besides, it wasn’t like they were legally allowed to get married anyway.

People were fighting to get that changed, but until it was, couples like Jesse and Jamie—people like Austin, depending on who he might someday end up with—they were out of luck .

So, really, the safest answer to give Jamie was…

“Maybe someday.”

Fortunately, Jamie seemed satisfied with that.

“So anyway,” Austin pressed on. “Where are you going?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Jamie said, his eyes lighting with excitement as he smiled. “Jesse says it’s a surprise. But he said I’d have to make sure to pack my swim trunks, so wherever we go, there’s going to be swimming.”

“Ah, heaven forbid you go anywhere with no water,” Austin joked. “Next question; when are you going? He hasn’t told me a single word of this plan, so I don’t know when to schedule the wild rager I’m totally throwing in his apartment while you’re gone.”

Jamie narrowed his eyes at Austin as if unsure whether or not he was joking.

“Relax,” Austin laughed. “I’m just kidding. Though maybe I will pretend to invite him to some party or something the same day you’re gone, just for a laugh.”

“Well, I don’t know the date yet,” Jamie said. “Jesse wanted to work a couple extra shifts and wait for a few more paychecks to come in before we go.”

“Jeeze, this is a serious trip,” Austin realized. “It’s not just gonna be some one-night jaunt away from home; you’ll probably be out for a whole weekend.”

“Oh?” Jamie blinked. “Maybe I should also try to earn some more money for it, then. I could do some more street dancing, to get some tips and promote Hazel’s studio again.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea. You could probably—”

Suddenly, Jamie tensed up, a strange expression crossing his face as he straightened up in his seat and breathed in a deep sniff of the air. “F-Fire— FIRE!”

Wha—!?

Before Austin could register what was happening, Jamie jumped off the couch and cast a wild look around—and then darted into the kitchen. When he pushed open the door, the scent of something burning finally wafted over to Austin.

Oh shit!

Jamie’s dinner!