Page 51

Jamie

Jesse was sitting on the couch, poring over one of his college textbooks as he scrawled a few notes down on a page, the coffee table covered with more books and papers strewn about.

It wasn’t an uncommon sight; he only had one year left before he was meant to graduate, after all.

And normally, Jamie tried not to bother him when he was studying like this.

But… Jesse wasn’t looking too well, lately.

He hardly slept, and now his eyes were sunken and unusually bloodshot, with dark circles forming underneath them.

He also didn’t eat a whole lot, from what Jamie saw (and Jamie had avoided another cooking attempt, so that couldn’t be the reason), and although not nearly enough time had passed for him to notice any physical effects, he had realized that Jesse seemed to have less energy lately, and even now his hands were trembling slightly as he wrote his notes.

“Jesse?”

Jesse looked up from his book, blinking at Jamie a little as if his mind had to catch up with him before he really registered that Jamie had spoken. “…Oh, uh, yeah?”

“Are you okay?”

Jesse looked a little surprised for a moment, like he was confused about the question, before remembrance lit his eyes. “Er, yeah, I’m fine. I’m just… tired, from work and studying and all that.”

He didn’t sound very convincing. Jamie pursed his lips, feeling like Jesse was lying to him. But… it wasn’t very fair of him to demand that Jesse tell him every single thing, when he himself had been hiding his own struggles and worries for months.

Still, it had been ten days now since they’d got back from their trip, and Jesse had been clearly upset almost the whole time.

Of course, there was the anniversary of Jesse and Austin’s accident that had passed by last week, which was probably playing a big part of things.

Austin had been pretty quiet and uncharacteristically serious about it, too.

But Austin seemed to have shaken off the bad feelings pretty quickly afterwards, being back to his usual joking self within a few days, while Jesse had not.

Jamie didn’t feel like it made sense for Austin to be just fine now while Jesse was still struggling.

After all, Austin had been the one who was hurt the most by the accident.

If Jesse’s problems stemmed merely from feeling badly about the anniversary, then he should’ve gotten better afterwards. Instead, he seemed to be getting worse.

But then again, Jesse had also been working and studying a lot, barely taking time to even breathe —and the concerns he’d shared about Jamie maybe getting attacked again didn’t make it any better.

It was all so complicated, and Jamie didn’t like it.

Maybe that’s why he still enjoyed the children’s films he watched at Austin’s house.

Everything was so much simpler in those stories.

Why couldn’t happy endings ever happen in real life? !

Without a word, Jamie moved over to the couch, his bare feet making no sound on the wooden floor.

He took the book and pen from Jesse’s hands and set both down on the coffee table, right next to the DVD case of ‘101 Dalmatians’ that he’d borrowed from Austin a week ago.

“If you’re so tired from studying,” he said gently, “maybe you need a break.” Then he climbed onto the couch, settling on Jesse’s lap in one fluid motion.

A smile immediately pulled at the corners of Jesse’s mouth as he raised his arms to embrace Jamie in a warm hug.

“You really don’t look okay,” Jamie whispered softly. His thumb began tracing small, soothing circles against Jesse’s neck, before his lips curled into a playful grin. “How about I cheer you up a bit?”

Jesse’s smile widened. “Sounds wonderful. Got something in mind?”

…Oh yes.

Maybe this was a little silly, but the colorful artwork on Austin’s DVD had just given him an idea. Because… if his hair was white when his powers were active, and dark brown when he was in safe fo rm—

“I want to try something,” Jamie announced—and then, as Jesse raised a skeptical brow, hurried to add; “Nothing dangerous of course! Just… something to make you smile.”

“Should I be worried?” Jesse chuckled, his tone half-teasing. “What kind of experiment are we talking about here?”

“That would ruin the surprise,” Jamie replied with a mischievous smirk.

Jesse let out a hesitant chuckle, though he made no move to stop him.

Alright.

Still perched on Jesse’s lap, Jamie closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. “Tell me if anything on me changes,” he murmured as he put his hands to Jesse’s shoulders.

“Will do.”

Carefully, Jamie tried to adjust his ‘safe form’ so that it was only halfway on; specifically trying to make it so that only the left side of his body had powers, while the right side of his body had not.

Was there a way for him to force his hair to be in ‘safe form’ on one side and ‘power form’ on the other?

The answer, frustratingly enough, seemed to be ‘no.’

“Still nothing?” Jamie asked after a couple moments. He squeezed his eyes tighter and tried again, pouring everything he had into the effort.

“Um…” Jesse faltered, sounding deeply confused. “I’m sorry, but I still have no idea what you’re even trying to do. Everything looks still the same. Which isn’t a bad thing though, you’re beautiful just the way you are.”

Jamie opened his eyes, pouting. “That’s not the point. I was trying to give myself a Cruella de Vil look!”

Well, at least Jesse was laughing now. “Cruella de Vil look?” He tightened his arms around Jamie, still giggling as he pulled him closer.

“I’m sure it would’ve looked amazing, but you really don’t need to do something like that to make me smile.

Being here with me is just enough. And… being on my lap is even better,” Jesse smirked, and leaned in to let their lips meet in a warm and gentle kiss.

A sense of peace flooded into Jamie as he felt Jesse’s muscles relax beneath him, despite the frustrations he’d just felt at his failed attempt of giving himself dark and white hair.

Breaking the kiss just a little, Jamie whispered, “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Smiling, Jesse cupped the back of Jamie’s head and pressed their lips together once more.

As the kiss deepened, Jamie’s fingers tangled into Jesse’s hair, melting into the touch; while Jesse’s hand slid from Jamie’s back to rest on his waist, his fingers curling slightly against the soft fabric of Jamie’s shirt.

Jamie tilted his head, his lips parting as the kiss became more urgent and heat flared in his chest. As Jesse’s tongue brushed against his, he couldn’t suppress the quiet sigh that escaped him.

His hands roamed—one slipping under Jesse’s shirt to rest against the warmth of his skin— while Jesse shivered at the touch, his breath hitching as he pulled Jamie even closer.

Their bodies pressed tightly together. The room seemed to grow warmer, the air charged with the unspoken intensity building between them.

But then, without warning, Jesse’s body stiffened. His hand flew to his chest, fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt as he gasped for air, and a fleeting expression of pain crossed his face.

“W-wait,” Jesse got out, his skin paling further than it had already been.

At once, Jamie flashed back to that morning all those months ago, when he’d woken up to find Jesse dying on the bed—and a sick feeling twisted into his stomach.

Seeming to guess what Jamie was thinking, a guilty, panicked sort of grimace pulled at Jesse’s face. “You don’t have to look at me like that,” he panted. “I’m just… t-tired.”

But the breathlessness in his tone gave away the lie.

* * *

Jesse

Jesse was in so much trouble. It hadn’t been this bad before; sure he’d noticed it aching a bit here and there, ever since they’d fallen into that lake, but he’d thought—or, maybe he’d hoped—that it would fade with time.

That it had just been giving him a little bit of a hard time because his body had gone into shock from the icy water, and then hadn’t quite faded yet because of the stress of work and exams and because of the bitterness he felt over what Nate had said to him.

He’d hoped that it would just… stop hurting, after a while.

But the sharp, shooting pain that was still jolting through his chest made it undeniable.

His heart issues were back.

It began to pound beneath his ribs, painfully and erratically, as he started to have trouble breathing and his muscles went weak.

Jamie scrambled down from his lap, his face as white as a sheet. “Shall I… call an ambulance?”

“…N-no,” Jesse managed. It was against his better judgment, but he just couldn’t afford it; he was still paying off the bills from his last trip to the hospital, and a ride in an ambulance added a cool couple thousand to that.

Even more importantly, just by judging the way the pain felt, Jesse already knew that another trip to the hospital would more or less be pointless.

Because it felt exactly like it had the first time, when Jamie had hit him with his powers.

He knew full well how Jamie would take it, and how bad it would make him feel. But… he couldn’t hide it from him any longer, either. So…

“I – I don’t think that… the doctors are going to find anything,” Jesse finally told him .

Jamie’s expression immediately shifted from concern to shock. “Then… this is… m-my fault,” he muttered.

Jesse shook his head. “It’s – it’s alright, I’ll be alright. It’s already starting to fade.”

“Nothing is alright!” Jamie exclaimed, sliding back on the couch a little, away from Jesse. “You promised not to lie! Since when have you been keeping this from me?!”

“I… I didn’t lie, okay? I just… didn’t think it would get this bad!”

Jamie obviously didn’t buy that. “Since when?!” he repeated firmly.

“…Since… we were at the lake,” Jesse admitted.

Jamie turned even paler.