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shadows searching in the night

Summary:

Jon needs to stick it out on the streets until he's 18. The pressure of remaining undiscovered by the authorities and keeping ahead of Daisy, on top of everything else, makes it hard to sleep.

Notes:

Title from "Don't Stop Believin'"

Prompted by an anonymous tumblr user: "I don’t know what day it would fit best in, but I’d love to see some whump from when Jon was living on the street during the teen au. Could be 12 or 7" Takes place before chapter 23 of teen jon au

Written for Whumptober day 12:
Red | Insomnia | “I’m up, I’m up.”

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

Jon's teeth ached from clenching them to hold back the constant, frightened sounds of being sure that every breeze that ruffled his hair was Daisy about to catch him. There was no reason for her to look for him in Ipswich, but Jon didn't know why she'd bother with Bournemouth aside from what she would up doing there, kidnapping him. Clearly, the expectations he'd have of someone rational didn't carry through here. It didn't seem real that he was out here, free, no convenient stopped trains or gullible neighbors to help Daisy reel him back in.

It was terrifying. He was constantly afraid-- would Daisy show up, would someone try to steal what little Jon had, would someone realize he was underage and land him exactly where he didn't want to be? The security of feeling he'd successfully judged an area safe for the moment only lasted that long: a moment.

Sleep felt dangerous. It meant leaving himself vulnerable, when he could get out of sight somewhere where it was actually quiet enough for him to fall asleep at all. Staying awake felt like even more of an advantage when he caught sight of his reflection in a window and realized how much his dark circles aged him. Jon knew it wasn't sustainable, but he didn't know what else to do. Most things he figured out how to handle a little bit better every day. This, he couldn't pin down. 

The lack of sleep and lying on hard ground made his bones ache.

He curled back into the tiny gap he'd found blocked off a bit by a stack of empty wood pallets every time he heard someone walk by. It was barely past noon, but his eyes felt dry and crusty, begging to be closed. Jon didn't want to sleep. He couldn't, it wasn't safe. But he had to, maybe daylight was better? Any bit of safety he could snatch was vital, and Jon's eyes got more difficult to open with every blink.

He missed his bed.

Notes:

This is like ten hours earlier than I usually post! My brothers are keeping me awake with shenanigans, and I need something to focus on so I don't wring their necks! Because they're "not doing anything wrong" and "just brushing their teeth" or whatever. (If you told me he was in there trying to glue in a flipper like he was going to be on Toddlers and Tiaras... it still wouldn't explain why this is such a slow process. what gives.)

Anyway. It's also kind of funny to use that excuse for posting early because like. at least we'll never have a sibling relationship THIS fraught!

I am, in my more cheerful and awake hours, on tumblr @inklingofadream! Lots of stuff over there about the last couple Whumptober fics I have to finish (one and a half. i'm So Close), general updates about regular fics like teen jon's backlog growth, rambling, etc. Thanks for reading! 💗