Chapter Text
“Bop-bah, bop-bah, this is the sound of settling...” Lea sang quietly under her breath, sitting in the passenger seat of Jake’s car.
She felt pretty exhilarated: the evening had gone well, the date had been pleasant, and Death Cab had put on an amazing live show.
Jake smiled, turning his eyes away from the road briefly to look at her.
“What?” Lea asked, suddenly shy. It had been a while since anyone had looked at her that way. Not since — Well. Anyway.
‘Since’ was at home, tucked up in bed.
Please be asleep, Lea hoped, because this guy is cute, and that was not a guilt trip she wanted to go on right now.
Evidently, Glassy’s earlier lecture about her inevitably hurting Shaun again still stung a little.
“You look so adorable singing to yourself,” Jake answered, turning his eyes back to the road.
“I couldn’t help seeing you get into it at the concert tonight, like no-one was watching. You were swaying to Transatlanticism and bobbing your head to A Lack of Colour. It was really cool to see. I hate going to gigs with people who aren’t as into the band as I am. You feel like — ”
“ — Like, you can’t really feel the music or dance or just plain let loose, like, you keep looking over at your friend to see if they’re rocking out, and they just — ” Lea added, nodding.
“ — Just don’t seem to be having a good time, and it harshes your buzz. You feel like apologising to them because they’re having a boring time, and you dragged ‘em there,” Jake agreed. “I feel like your roommate gives off that kind of vibe, to be honest with you.”
Um. What? Lea said to herself, her brain suddenly snapping to attention. Who asked you?
“Shaun isn’t boring,” Lea said irritably.
Jake laughed.
“Oh, that’s not what I meant at all. What I meant was, he just seems like a quiet sort of guy. You guys haven’t gone to any gigs together, have you? He really doesn’t seem like the type.”
Lea felt her arms cross defensively over her chest.
Jake seemed to sense her rapid change in mood, quickly drew in another breath, and continued talking.
“He just seems — ” Jake trailed off, obviously thinking better of whatever he was going to come out with next.
“Shaun is autistic,” Lea said, her voice turning brisk and not a little chilly, “So, however he seems — ”
“Hey, hey, I get it, Jake said, his hands raising from the steering wheel in a ‘steady on’ gesture. “My cousin has a son who’s retarded... it’s sure nice of you to live with him, you know, normalise him a bit — ”
Did he just say what I think he said? Lea asked herself, anger rising in her stomach. Did I actually hear this jerk call my Shaun a ‘retard’? And ‘normalise’ him? The frick does that even mean?
A vicious red light started to dance in Lea’s field of vision, growing larger and larger.
Fury.
“Stop this car,” Lea snarled. “Right now.”
Jake laughed. “Are you kidding me?”
“Do I look like I’m kidding?” Lea hissed, “Because I’m not. Stop this car now.”
Jake laughed again, the self-assured sound suddenly dripping arrogance and condescension to Lea, where earlier it had projected an attractive confidence.
“You know, you’re pretty sensitive about someone who’s just your roommate. Anything I... should, uh... know about?” he pressed.
“Oh, nothing your ignorant ass is gonna know about in a hurry, that’s for sure. Do I have to frickin’ roll out of this damn junk bucket? Stop the Goddamn car, Jake!” Lea hurled at him.
“We’re still pretty far from your building, not exactly walking distance – forget it, forget I said anything.” Jake protested, now adopting a contrite expression. “Hey, what’s your address again? I’ll just drop you off, I swear that’s it. Obviously you don’t want to go out with me again, but at least let me drive you home.”
“It’s 404 In-Your-Dreams Street in Let-Me-the-Hell-Out-NOW, in the state of Screw-You, USA,” Lea nearly screeched.
“Okay, if you insist. Jeez, are you in love with that reta – guy, or something? You are... strangely defensive about him.”
“Or something. Or maybe I just don’t like backward-thinking people ragging on my best friend, especially when they literally met him for the very first time, for about thirty seconds, just tonight, and yet somehow managed to form a hilariously inaccurate, narrow-minded opinion about him in that extremely brief amount of time.” Lea agreed, her voice dripping sarcasm.
The car ground to a halt, the brakes squeaking.
“Which is a real shame, because this was a nice evening,” she continued. “Up until now, that is. So, thanks for up until now, Jake, and go screw yourself.”
Jake held up a hand to interrupt Lea’s tirade, but she went right on.
“And, for your information, Shaun is a surgical resident, and a billion times smarter than you could ever hope to be – not that his intellect is any of your damn business,” she finished, snatching up her purse and barrelling out of the car, mustering every ounce of willpower she could not to slam the car door as hard as she could.
“Uh, I think he’s a bit more than a best friend. Maybe you should tell him tha — ”
The last of Jake’s words were drowned out when Lea shut the car door, but she got the gist.
She stalked over to the bus stop outside St. Bonaventure Hospital, which was thankfully nearby, and sat down, pulling her cell from her purse.
She hit Shaun’s speed dial with a shaking finger. It rang once and Shaun picked up.
“Hello, Lea,” he said, his voice sounding... odd. Not like she’d woken him, but more like he was...
Drunk. He sounds a little bit drunk, Lea thought to herself.
She’d never thought she’d live to see - or hear, for that matter - Shaun drunk again. He had sworn off booze the next morning the last time. Everybody does at one time or another, Lea thought. But with Shaun, you kind of believe it.
“Lea?” Shaun repeated, “What is it?”
“Oh, Shaun, I – never mind, I’ll just Uber it, I – are you... drunk?”
“I am,” Shaun said, his voice pleasant, if a little slurred, as though he was simply agreeing that the sky was indeed blue.
“Then you can’t... it’s okay. Shaun, I...”
“Are you in some kind of trouble, Lea?” Shaun asked.
It was bizarre how quickly his voice changed at that question, like he’d just consumed about five cups of coffee. His tone was immediately alert and full of concern.
I don’t deserve you, Lea thought miserably.
“I - yeah,” she replied.
“Tell me where you are,” Shaun prodded her.
“I’m at your work. At the bus stop.”
“Get inside, it’s not safe there at this time of night. I’ll be there soon.”
“Shaun! You’re not going to drive!” Lea shouted down the phone.
“There is no need to shout, I can hear you quite well. Of course I’m not going to drive. That would be very irresponsible. I’ll be there. Wait in the cafeteria.”
“Wait, Shaun, I — ” Lea tried to protest, but the line went dead.