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Henry Oak liked to think he was a very understanding person. He tried his best to truly see things from all sides and make sure everyone in his life felt heard and appreciated. He even tried to hear out Darryl’s horribly Catholic viewpoints when he could, but this? This was the hardest moment of Henry’s life. Jodie Foster was apparently his best friend, and no amount of awkward silence could convince him otherwise. The cop had been hounding him the whole day, pointing out rocks and dutifully keeping everyone in check.
The man was walking so close to him that their shoulders bumped every other step, that tiny point of contact started borrowing into Henry’s frazzled brain and soon became the only thing he could focus on. The other man was so comfortable with them, so confident in his casual touches. Nicolas was the same, the kid was both more at ease and more uptight without Glenn, and notably he wasn’t inhaling a new substance every other day. Henry felt guilty for comparing this new Nick to the old one, but the differences (and perhaps improvements), were obvious.
He just needed a second to force all his swirling thoughts down. The woods seemed to call out to him, promising peace and quiet. A peek at the other dads revealed the same tense silence as before, but even as Henry stopped walking they kept on. He could slip away just for a moment into the trees.
Walking deeper into the woods felt like undressing at the end of a long day, trees swayed in the slight breeze and made shadows dance on the foliage below. Henry left a deep sigh, confident this little alone time had been just what he needed.
Finding a shady patch of grass he flipped down gracelessly. Grass tickled against his arms and face as he soaked it all in. He could remember doing this as a teenager after the longest and most frustrating training sessions with his father. The woods always helped him center himself, like it could drain the worst of his feelings and leave only calm.
That was one of the things he had loved about getting out of Oakville, there were so many places, so many kinds of natural formations he got to see. For the first year of their marriage him and Mercedes just walked around different parks trying to soak it all in. A small cracking sound caught his attention, popping his head up. Henry saw a small deer staring at him from the other side of the clearing. Its eyes seemed to gleam in the late afternoon light.
Getting to his sore feet Henry approached the baby carefully, it didn’t move at first but as he got about five feet away the deer bounded away. He followed it, not wanting his alone time in the woods to end anytime soon. The deer darted around trees and bushes, scaring birds and making them fly off quickly. Henry managed to keep pace with the animal, but didn’t pay enough attention to his path and tripped over a wayward branch. He tumbled to the ground and in the flurry of movement he lost sight of the deer.
Cheeks flushed and breathing heavy Henry got up, looking around the darkening woods. To his left was a rushing creek, the water playfully bouncing around the rocks and sand. To his right was more woods, which were now looking a little spooky in the fading light. Hearing another crunching noise behind him Henry turned around, expecting to see the deer had returned. Instead a man was running out of the woods towards him, and in a panic Henry threw himself backwards landing straight in the creak. The water rushed around him, and cold seemed to seep into his very bones. He thrashed around, managing to catch his fingers on a rock to stop his journey upstream
Pulling his head above water Henry whipped himself around, trying to see who had tried to chase him down. The man was wearing a ruffled highway patrol uniform and quickly splashed into the water to pull Henry out.
“Jodie” Henry almost whispered, shivering on the shore as he stared at the other man. Jodie was panting slightly, as if he had run to find Henry.
“What were you doing?!” Jodie snapped back, eyebrows so furrowed they seemed to be merging with his eyes. He took a step back from Henry, crossing his arms and huffing.
“I don’t have to explain myself to you!” Henry felt childish even as the words left his mouth, but standing soaking wet in front of a cop was not in his comfort zone.
“Maybe you should, you’ve been avoiding me ever since you guys got back. Grant said you all basically went crazy and forgot me, and now I find you almost drowned in a River miles from camp?” Jodie said, eyes burning into Henry's with emotions he couldn't understand.
“I haven't been AVOIDING you, we've been in a freaky messed up situation and everything has been happening Jodie” Henry cried out, suddenly filled with a desperation for Jodie's understanding. Maybe in the false memories he was really close with the man. He couldn't imagine how scary it must feel for all your friends to suddenly turn into totally different people.
“Listen, I’m here to protect you, the group, and I can’t do that if you start sneaking off” Jodie was almost yelling now, despite the two men being so close their noses were almost brushing. Henry’s anger was bubbling up, it felt like a river of magma coursed through his veins.
“You think just because you’re some big important cop I have to report everything to you?” He yelled, pushing Jodie back with his now very cold hands. The guilt he had felt was completely flushed by his frustration.
“That’s absolutely rich coming from you! You’ve always tried to control the moral compass of the group!” Jodie said, seeming to lose a little steam in the argument. Henry wasn’t sure what to say to that, it was something Darryl had said a thousand times but Jodie’s voice seemed to form the words differently.
“I don’t even know what you want from me!” Henry choked out, his voice weak and waterlogged. The cop surged forward, grabbing Henry in a move that seemed to knock the breath out of both of them.
Jodie's hands felt with a rope around his collar, and everything whited out in Henry's brain. His body seemed to give up too, and Jodie practically had to hold up the other man. A beat passed between them, water lapping at the now calm shore behind his feet. Then Jodie pulled him up, meeting his eyes in that overly intense way he had been doing all day.
“Henry-” was all Jodie said before Henry went insane and surged forward to kiss him. Pressing their mouths as hard as he physically could, clinking their teeth together. Jodie let out a groan at the contact, hands coming up to grab Henry's drenched hair.
“Shut up for five seconds Henry.” Jodie muttered, before diving back in to kiss the sputtering man. The kiss felt like it was searing into his skin, branding Jodie's mouth across Henry's face. It was all consuming, overwhelming in a way Henry hadn't experienced in a long time. His hands scrambled for purchase against Jodie's patrol jacket, crumpling it up as best he could in a small act of pettiness.
They almost fell a couple of times, breaking apart to gasp for air before diving back into the kiss. Jodie kissed him like he was trying to consume him, lips and teeth and tongue coming faster than he could process it.
“Jodie I-” this time Henry's voice seemed to break Jodie out of the spell. He stumbled back, gasping for air. They stared at each other for a moment, both red in the face and unsteady feet.
“We should get back to camp, you're going to get sick.” Jodie chokes out, stepping back towards Henry and placing a warm hand on the back of his neck. In that moment the biting cold jolted back into his body and Henry just nodded. The walk back to their makeshift camp was silent, Jodie’s hand clenched in Henry's collar, making him feel a little like a tardy teenager again. The other dads were fast asleep, and something about that created an ache in Henry’s heart. Normally at this time of night Glenn would be smoking by the fire and waiting for him. Now, Jodie led him over to the camp and shuffled through his pack. Clothes were thrust towards Henry and he tugged them on sluggishly.
Jodie made him sleep next to him, the closest to the middle of their camp that he could manage. The implication that he thought Henry would run again was insulting, and if he had had any energy left in his body he would have resisted. Instead they both just laid there, huddled together in the darkness of the night. It was peaceful in a way that Henry hadn’t felt since they found themselves in the forgotten realms.
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The next morning as they set off towards Meth Bay again, Henry noticed Jodie sticking close to him again, a sharp look in his eyes. He seemed to think that Henry was going to “run off” still, the implication made anger prickle down his spine again. Unfortunately, it also made a strange warm feeling bloom in his tummy. The forest around them was calm, with small birds chirping in the trees and squirrels dancing through the grass. Paeden was trying to hunt one of them but his inability to be quiet kept scaring them away.
“We should probably stop for lunch huh? Darryl caught Henry’s eye, trying to avoid acknowledging the Jodie shaped shadow he had.
“Great idea! the kids must be hungry by now.” Henry tried to perk up for the other dads sake, they were definitely already stressed enough without him bringing any weird vibes to the table.
As soon as the other dads had sat down Henry whipped out his slightly cracked phone and opened Mercede’s contact. She always knew better than him, especially about his own feelings. He started typing, trying to figure out how to put last night's events into coherent words. Mercedes responded almost instantly, all she sent was a link.
Henry’s phone started blaring Fuck Tha Police at top volume the second he clicked it.