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Jeremy wandered in and out of shopping tents and took his time to stare at window displays, one after the other. Continuously distracted by the next new and shiny thing, he allowed himself to be led purely by his visual interests. He’d unintentionally leave Jean trailing behind when he found another new thing that caught his eye. Occasionally he would lift something– a trinket, a keychain, for Jean to see, but Jean didn’t care. Not really.
He would only look for a moment, nod. Make a blatant observation. He was more focused on Jeremy’s heels— every time Jeremy absentmindedly left Jean behind, he’d do it without a word. He didn’t have an anchor, frocking to more brighter things. When this happened it kicked Jean’s heart into action, lodging it into his throat.
Jean glanced longingly at the sidewalk behind them and imagined being back, at home. He opened his mouth to say something– but aborted his words at the last moment. His requests died in his pharynx. He couldn’t get them out.
They carried on.
Jeremy was relentless, dragging Jean along like a sentimental frayed sweater he couldn’t bear to get rid of. He hadn’t yet realized Jean was scraping his feet, stumbling behind him on the uneven California pavement as the evening went on. Then, Jeremy turned to show Jean yet another cute knickknack he'd picked up. He lifted it– A clown statue, covered in black and white, a beret.
He intended to comically hold it up beside Jean, to see the resemblance. But instead was struck by how the setting sun softened Jean’s usual sharp features.
Jean was too distracted to notice the attention.
He basked in the dark pink purple light of the horizon with a serene expression. His eyes shuttered closed against the airy breeze. Feeling the stare, Jean slotted his droopy eyes open. His comfortable gaze rested on Jeremy and he raised an eyebrow in question.
“Oh…” Jeremy placed the trinket back and put his hand warmly on Jean’s bicep. “You're exhausted.”
Jean forgot the breeze, forgot the sun– Seized by the warmth seeping into his skin from Jeremy’s touch through his shirt sleeve. He was terrified of being the focus of Jeremy’s apt attention, forcefully placed on him like a weighted blanket. Trapping him down, holding him in place. He wished he could traverse back, just two seconds in time, and freeze it. Just so he wouldn’t have to bear the load of the third.
Breezes. Open Roads.
f r i e n d s.
Jeremy’s sympathetic eyes bore into his. Jean snapped his face to the side, afraid his expression would betray him. He was held hostage in each beautiful moment to the next, with no time to catch his breath in between. He desperately wanted to go home.
“Come on,” Jeremy said. He tugged Jean’s arm, they were still touching– and pulled him closer. Steered them both so they were facing the opposite direction. He didn’t glance back at any of the stands, or the windows, or the streetlights, or the setting sun. Jeremy trudged them both forward, or back, depending on how you look at it–
And took them home.