Chapter Text
“Mom says you can stay with us,” Jesse said, sitting back down beside Lake and laying a hand atop theirs. “Her and Dad are excited to meet you, when you’re ready. You can sleep in my bed, I’ve got a cot and sleeping bag. I already convinced them to let us stay in the same room. I’m… not ready to be alone yet.”
Lake moved their hand atop Jesse’s, snaking their fingers through his and holding his hand tight. “Yeah,” they began quietly. “Me neither.”
Time passed slowly. The pair sat on the bank of the lake, hand in hand, watching the sunset. Neither spoke; their thoughts were loud enough. Occasionally, one would share a small and gentle gesture with the other, anchoring them to the present. Then, they would become enveloped not in their frightening thoughts, but rather the gentle lapping of the water against the dirt, the orange glow of the sky, the slight breeze that blew.
“Hey,” Lake said, drawing Jesse’s attention to them. “Is your, uh, head okay? You got thrown pretty hard…”
“To be honest,” Jesse sighed. “My head hurts like hell. But mom already gave me some medicine, it’s helping. I probably got a concussion though. They wanna take me to the doctor’s soon.”
Lake didn’t want to think about what that might entail for them. Waiting for him alone in his house for hours, not knowing if he was okay. Or, going with him, and being ogled at by every person imaginable. Yeah, they did not want to think about that right now.
Lake reached up and rubbed the wound on Jesse’s cheek. He blushed at their affection, and they gave a gentle smile back.
“You’re squishy.” They said, looking into his eyes.
“Yeah,” He chuckled. “I am.”
Lake pulled him into a hug, nuzzling into his neck and ruffling his hair. Lake felt on the verge of tears. “I’ll never let anyone hurt you ever again.”
Jesse was overwhelmed by their affection. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes. He pulled them close, too, his arms wrapping around their small frame. He was silent in thought, but yet, Lake still understood everything that went unsaid.
Footsteps came behind them. Lake was startled for a moment, but Jesse squeezed their hand, and looking over their shoulder, Lake recognized Nate. They let out a breath.
“You guys’ve been out here for like an hour,” Nate began. “Mom and Dad say it’s getting late and you should come in.”
“Just give us a few minutes, Nate. We’ll be in soon.” Jesse said.
“Okay,” Nate smiled, giving Jesse a quick hug, then patting Lake on the head. They giggled at that. Jesse turned to Lake then.
“I tried to answer as many of their questions as I could so you don’t have to. They agreed to talk more in the morning, but they still wanna, y’know, meet you soon. Are you ready?”
Lake took a slow, deep breath. “I think so,” they said, looking at Jesse. The pair stood and went to greet the family.
Jesse’s parents took surprisingly well to Lake. They were grateful for that, despite the awkwardness. As Jesse had suggested, they understood that both kids had been through a lot and were still processing everything. The whole situation was calm. A welcome change from Jesse’s past few months, and Lake’s past… years.
“Jesse can get you some clean clothes and you can freshen up in the bathroom. Our bedroom’s right down the hall if you need anything. We’ll let you two do whatever you want to for the night, just don’t stay up too late, okay?” Jesse’s mom gave a soft smile to her son and his new friend.
“Okay, mom, we won’t.” Jesse said.
“Thank you,” Lake said quietly.
“Of course,” Ms. Cosay said, placing a hand on either child’s shoulders.
“Good night, you two.”
“Good night mom,” Jesse smiled.
“Good night,” Lake mumbled, watching Ms. Cosay enter her bedroom and gently shut the door behind her.
“C’mere,” Jesse said. “You can look around my room while I find you some clothes.” He tugged at Lake’s hand, leading them into his room. It was small and messy; there was a pile of clothes in the corner, a half open backpack, homework and pencils on his desk. Next to his desk was a small bookshelf, which held almost a decade’s worth of school yearbooks, CDs of various genres, a trophy or two, and other knick knacks that Lake found strange but charming. The blankets on his bed were strewn into a pile. Lake spotted a stray teddy bear poking out of the blanket, which earned a small smile. They recognized the other plush object behind his pillow as an original, albeit well-loved, brown dog Pillow Pet.
Lake looked over to see Jesse digging through his closet. “Oh, yeah,” they began. “Clothes.”
Jesse looked up at them, his determined face softening. “I mean, you don’t have to change, but… Do you want to?”
Lake thought for a moment. “Maybe… Do you have a sweater or something?”
Jesse shuffled some clothes around, then pulled something off a hanger. It was a navy blue hooded sweatshirt, with what must have been Jesse’s school’s logo on it. He held it up to them, studying their face. They smiled.
“Perfect.”
They slipped the hoodie over their head and then hugged themself. They took another deep breath.
“Yeah,” They mumbled. “This is nice."
Jesse picked up a pair of sweatpants and a shirt from a pile. "I'm just gonna use the bathroom real quick, okay?"
Lake wondered why he'd be asking permission. Oh, they realized. He's making sure I'm okay.
"Mhmm," they hummed, a gentle smile serving as a silent 'thank you.'
"You can borrow, like, pretty much anything. The clean stuff's in the closet, if I come back and the door's closed I'll assume you're changing and wait. Sound good?"
"Yeah. Thank you." They said it aloud this time. Their smile was growing weary from the weight of everything, but its sincerity remained.
Jesse slowly locked the door to the bathroom. Normally, he'd shower, brush his teeth, wash his face, and so on, but tonight he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Not only was he immensely tired, and he kind of felt like death, but he really, really didn't want to be away from Lake. Even he was a bit embarrassed at how attached to them he'd become.
Jesse did his business, changed, and left the bathroom. He returned to find his door closed, and gently knocked on it with his knuckle. "You find something comfy?" He called.
"Yeah," Lake replied. "One second."
Jesse smiled, leaning against the door frame. After a minute or so, the door opened. Lake stood in the sweatshirt they’d already picked out, though Jesse noticed they’d doffed their black tank. The sweatpants they’d picked out were definitely a little big, but they looked comfortable. Comfortable. Safe. Happy. Jesse’s smile grew.
The cot would be neglected tonight. Jesse and Lake both sat on Jesse’s bed, holding hands again. Lake’s head leant against Jesse’s shoulder. They were silent again.
Soon, Jesse noticed a slight tremble from Lake’s hand. He glanced up to see tears falling.
“Mm— Lake?”
“Yeah?”
“You… okay?”
“I… I don’t know. Everything’s different now, a-and, it’s exciting, but… it’s also… terrifying,” Lake squeezed Jesse’s hand tightly.
“I think I get it,” Jesse responded, rubbing his thumb against Lake’s hand.
“It just feels like… a lot, right? It’s overwhelming?”
“Y-yeah,” Lake’s death grip loosened a bit. “That’s the word. Overwhelming.”
“That’s okay. We’ll take everything one step at a time. There’s no need to rush.”
“So…” Lake pulled their head away, turning to look Jesse in the eye. “What’s our next step from here? Right now?”
Jesse sighed a little. “Sleep.”
Lake chuckled weakly. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to do that,”
“You always fell asleep quicker when I was singing.”
“What? No I didn’t—” Blush rose on Lake’s cheeks.
“Yesss you did,” Jesse sing-songed. “Even if I was just humming, it knocked you out cold.”
“Okay,” Lake sighed. “Maybe I liked it. But it was just… better than total silence. That’s all.” They tried to give a sarcastic scowl, but a smile was tugging at their lips that they couldn’t overpower.
“Do you have a song in mind?”
“I don’t remember many of them. You pick one you think I’d like.”
“Okay.” Jesse smiled. “Hmm… A song Lake would like…” And then, he began humming. As he did, he laid down, and gestured for Lake to lay beside him. Lake laid down on their side, staring intently at Jesse’s face. He lay on his back, hands folded on his stomach, his eyes closed. Finally, he began to sing.
“Let us be lovers, we’ll marry our fortunes together…
I’ve got some real estate here in my bag… Ooo…
So we bought a pack of cigarettes… And Mrs. Wagner pies…
And we walked off to look for America…”
It wasn’t a song Lake had heard before. The hums had sounded familiar, a melody that would float from Jesse’s chest on occasion. Finally, Lake got to hear the words.
Before Jesse began the second verse of the song, Lake slowly reached over and grabbed his hand. Their movements were tentative, and somewhat shy, but when Jesse felt their smooth skin on his rough hands, he grasped them gently. No questions asked, no surprised looks. Just comfort.
“Cathy, I said, as we boarded a Greyhound to Pittsburgh…
Michigan seems like a dream to me now…
It took me four days to hitch-hike from Saginaw and I’ve come to look for America…
Laughing on the bus, playing games with our faces…
She said the man in the gabardine suit was a spy…
I said be careful, his bowtie is really a camera…”
There was a squeeze from Lake’s hand. This time, Jesse looked over. The last few hadn’t been the most comforting lyrics. He’d forgotten about them when he started singing. However, he noticed Lake’s eyes were closed, and sleep seemed to be taking over. So, he continued.
“Toss me a cigarette, I think there’s one in my raincoat…
We smoked the last one an hour ago… Ooo…
So I looked at the scenery… She read her magazine…
And the moon rose over an open field…
Cathy, I’m lost, I said though I knew she was sleeping…”
Jesse yawned. He inspected Lake’s face— yep, definitely asleep. He chuckled.
“Perfect timing.” He yawned again, and reached down to pull a blanket over the two of them. He was careful not to lose his grip on Lake’s hand in the process.
“Goodnight, Lake.” He mumbled, and soon, sleep overtook him, too.