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Things were good.
Jesse could think that, even with enough work to bury him up to his neck.
Approximately a year had passed since he had set off to adventure with Petra following the defeat of the Admin. They had returned to Beacontown six months later. Jesse then settled back into the groove of things there, where he and Radar shared the responsibilities of overseeing the town. Petra, however, was reluctant to settle down and ended up joining Jack and Nurm on their adventures.
The adventuring trio was back in Beacontown for an unknown amount of time. Axel, Olivia, and Lukas each took time out of their schedules to visit Petra while she was back, along with Jesse joining in. The five of them spent the weekend simply hanging out, and afterwards everyone went their separate ways. Petra remained at Jesse’s place for the rest of the evening, however, which was what led the pair to be inside of Jesse’s spacious living room. The drizzle of rain against the grey sky was visible through the glass windows that made up two of the walls.
In the corner, Petra was whacking at an dummy stand with her sword, where Jesse was curled up on the couch, reading a book. Peaceful sounds filled the room: the jukebox played a slow, smooth melody, the constant pitter-patter of rain fell outside, along with an occasional grunt from Petra.
“You know something?” Jesse asked, and turned his head, watching the woman charge at the dummy.
“Hm?” she replied.
Jesse rested his cheek against the couch cushion, his mouth stretching wide in a yawn. After his mouth closed, he said, “I’m glad I went adventuring with you.”
Petra paused her movements and glanced over her shoulder, her grey eyes full of mirth. “Of course you’re glad. Me, plus adventure, equals amazing times.” She stepped forward and jabbed at the wood once again with her golden sword, the weapon’s surface sparkling. “Now go back to your book. I’m trying to,” she paused and spun, then faked a dodge, “practice my moves.”
Jesse rolled his eyes with a small smile, brown hair falling into his vision. They both knew she was hardly rusty. He brushed the locks out of the way and said, “Nah, Soren’s book is kind of boring. Distracting you sounds like a great option, though.”
Petra groaned in frustration and stood still to take a momentary break, her chest quickly rising and falling in time with her breaths. She shot Jesse a wordless glare.
Jesse perked up as he looked past her to the corner, where the jukebox emitted soft music.
“Wanna dance?” he asked, looking back to Petra.
“You’re joking, right? Tell me you’re joking,” she said. She leaned on the hilt of the sword with her hands, cocking an eyebrow.
“I’m serious!” Jesse pouted and slightly rounded his eyes.
With a roll of her eyes, she said, “Very funny. There’s no way that your puppy dog eyes are going to make me do something as ridiculous as slow dancing.”
Jesse’s pleading features morphed into a mischievous smirk. “Are you telling me that Petra doesn’t know how to dance?” He put a hand to his heart in mock offense.
“So what if I don’t?” Petra scowled, chin-length auburn hair brushing against her high cheekbones as her head sharply turned away from him. “Just shut the hell up already.”
Jesse closed his book with a snap, set it down, and stood up. He bounded over to Petra and tugged at her wrist. “I’ll teach you! C’mon, please?” Jesse asked, brown eyes rounding once again. He was thankful that she did not make any move to threaten him away with her sword at his action.
The taller woman looked at him and bit her lower lip, then sighed dramatically. “Fine, if that means you’ll quit whining about it. You’re being weirdly excited about this.”
The young man grinned triumphantly and pulled her to the center of the room. He himself was not quite sure where his random burst of energy derived from this evening, especially with the dampened mood saturating the atmosphere due to the weather, but perhaps the well-deserved break spent with his friends had simply rejuvenated him.
Jesse let go of Petra's wrist and and extended his left hand out once they were standing in the middle of the empty space. “So first take my hand,” he said. She did so, and he resisted the urge that came upon him to squeeze her calloused fingers that were now interlaced with his. “And put your other hand on my shoulder.” He placed his hand on the small of her back, taking a small step to close the distance between them as she followed his instruction.
Jesse could tell that she was tense, apparent by her stiff movements. He nodded to the side, motioning to the box playing the waltz. “You’ve got to just relax, and listen to the music. Now follow my lead,” he said, his pitch lowering.
Petra made an effort by dropping her shoulders, but her face was still slightly scrunched up. Jesse took a step to the left, and she followed a split second later. He then took a step with his right foot, then left again, and she followed behind hesitantly.
“This is dumb,” she whined, blowing a stray piece of auburn hair that fell into her eye. Immediately following her words, Jesse felt a weight step on the top of his right foot. He hissed through gritted teeth and Petra stepped off, eyes widening. “Geez, I told you this was a bad idea,” she said.
Jesse continued to glide through the motions, mentally shaking off the brief pain. “Nope, it’s fine. As long as you’re sure you didn't do that on purpose,” he said and grinned cheekily, pearly whites flashing. Petra laughed through her nose, pink lightly flushing her pale cheeks. Whether it was from the effort of trying to not step on his toes again, or something else, he couldn’t tell.
His smile faltered as he felt another bolt of pain shoot up his foot, this time his left. He grimaced, and Petra’s eyes widened again. “I’m sorry. Look, how about we just-” she began and took a step back, tugging her fingers away from Jesse’s. He stopped her by tightening his hand’s grip on hers and continued to step to the beat. “Nope!” he said cheerfully. “You’re going to learn, even if my foot gets stomped off.”
She groaned and asked, “You don’t give up, do you?” Jesse shook his head, beaming up at her. A silent moment ensued, only broken by him withstanding a couple of more steps on his feet. Now, gazes locked, the pair was (somewhat) successfully gliding around the room. For the moment, it seemed to Jesse that they were the only people who existed.
The pair stopped moving as a smooth chord sounded, signalling the end of the tune. “See? Not as horrifying as it looks, huh?” he teasingly asked, his quiet question finally breaking the silence between them. Another slow song began to play, but neither seemed to pay attention to it as they remained where they were, fingers still intertwined.
Petra said, “I guess you were kind of right. But no thanks to your foot.” Her gaze, for the briefest of seconds, flickered down to his lips.
That one, simple motion made Jesse feel like his brain was short-circuiting.
And that moment was when he acted upon his instincts, soon to be proceeded by his heart.
He leaned forward and tilted his head to the side, slightly rising up on his toes. His lips brushed against Petra’s, then again. Jesse’s tanned face flushed scarlet as he became aware that she was still, so he dropped back down on his feet. His eyes opened, and searched her faintly surprised expression.
“I kind of think I love you,” he whispered, the words coming out in a rush. Unable to tear his gaze away from hers, the brunette suddenly became afraid - afraid that he had destroyed their friendship, afraid that she would just laugh at him, and afraid that this would be the last time he held her in his arms.
“You dork,” came Petra’s response, her thin lips curving into a soft, small smile, quite unlike the smirk she often wore. Her warm breath fanned across his cheek as she said, “I think I love you too.”
Their lips met again. Their entangled hands separated, and Petra clasped her hands around’s Jesse’s neck, and he wrapped his arms around her upper torso. Engulfed by the warm sensations the contact sent shivering through him, Jesse couldn’t help but smile against her lips.
Her; from strangers; friends; best friends; and finally, lovers.