Chapter Text
"Alright," Jesse sighed while shutting the door as gently as he could with his foot. His hands weren't very free, carrying a huge bowl of popcorn with large candy wrappers balancing on top, and 2 sodas in the other hand. "Mission accomplished! I got the loot, and managed to not wake anyone else up in the process!" He said with a prideful tone, smiling warmly while kicking off his slippers and placing everything down on the bed in front of him. Lake giggled softly. They knew that Jesse was acting extra silly to cheer them up, and it was helping. Jesse always found something goofy to do to lift her spirits when she got in one of these moods.
She picked up the popcorn bowl and her own soda and placed the items in her lap to make room for Jesse to squeeze into the little space left on the Twin-sized bed. While Jesse sat down and scrambled to find his wired headphones to plug into the laptop sitting in between them, Lake thought about how she ended up in this position in the first place.
BANG! It was around 2 AM, and Lake had woke up in a cold sweat. She was breathing heavily, and could feel her whole body shaking wildly. It was thundering outside, with occasional lightning, and it sounded close. They heard quick, yet light footsteps, and she knew who it was. She thought she had woken Jesse up by shrieking or crying, or the loud lightning woke him. but that theory was quickly debunked when Jesse ran into her room and swung open the door and said "Lake? Did you call me?" He looked extremely worried, his eyebrows knit and he was biting his lip.
Lake had calmed down when she saw him, and wrapped herself in the blanket she was gripping tightly with her fingers a second ago. She was embarrassed that she called out Jesse's name after waking up, startling him. How was she supposed to get out of this situation now. "Yeah..Yeah! I think I just..Had a nightmare?" she looked up at him with big eyes, and he walked over and sat on the bed in front of her, the same worried expression he displayed worsened as he grabbed her hand and tilted his head, asking a question without words. "I can't really remember." They lied, looking away and fidgeting with the blanket in her hands. She knew if she looked into his stupid little puppy dog eyes, she would break and tell him what actually happened, and that was the last thing she wanted. To worry him more than he already is, more than he already has been.
Ever since they got back to the Prime World together, hes stuck to her like glue. He's barely gone anywhere without her with him. When shes brought this up, he gets embarrassed and just tells them that he wants them there. It's not like she doesn't like it. She enjoys hanging out with Jesse. she really enjoys it. He just always knew what to do, it was like a super power. But she knew the true reason. Jesse was worried for her. They were having nightmares almost every night. They were depressed. They were anxious. Jesse had so many reasons to be worried about her, so she didn't blame him. She just didn't want to add any more stress onto him.
"Do you need anything? Can I do anything to help?" Jesse said, his face got closer to hers and she grew warm. Her eyes darted away back to the blanket. The blanket is safe. The blanket is their lifeline from Jesses intense, worried stare. It was seeping into her soul. And her heart. "C-Can I be with you for a little bit?" She slowly looked up at him, with hope in her eyes. Jesse's eyes somehow grew bigger and shiner and warmer. He smiled. "Of course! Maybe we could watch something or... i dunno." Jesse said as he stood up, Lake following him, somewhat forcefully since they were still holding hands, when she realized that her heart hurt. She slipped on her slippers as quick as she could before Jesse pulled her into his room.
For whatever reason, whenever she was around Jesse and he did.. something.. her heart hurt. they didn't really know what that something was. Like when he would smile at them with his ginormous, goofy, gorgeous smile. Or when he surprises her with something she likes, or more commonly, something he thinks she would like, which quickly turns into something she loves. Or when he comes up behind her and covers her eyes and says "Guess who!" while laughing his high-pitched, somewhat nervous laugh. All of it made her heart twinge, and him holding her hand, handing her blankets, and giving her plushies while he went into the kitchen to grab snacks was no exception.
"Aha!" Jesse exclaimed, holding up the headphones in one hand while doing jazz hands with the other. Lake smiled and Jesse joined them. She watched him closely as he plugged in the headphones and put one in his own ear. She flinched when he leaned in closer to her, but he wasn't looking at her face. He was holding up the other earbud, and grabbed the side of her face. She sharply inhaled, staring down his eyes. He didn't look at her, though, as he gently placed the right earbud in her ear. He let go of her face, but seemed to notice the effect on her. "Oh! sorry." he whispered and smiled at them.
He picked up the laptop (gracing her knee, she noted. She hated how hyperaware she was of every time he touched her.) and scooted closer to relieve the tension of the wire stretching, and placed the laptop on his knees. "Can you see?" he spoke, looking up at her finally, after that whole ordeal. "A little." She scooted as close as she could to him, to see the screen better of course. She gently laid her head down on his shoulder, and she felt him tense up, but relax soon after.
"I can see better now."
"Right. Okay, what do you want to watch?"
"Anything you want is fine."
"Lake, this is for you, you pick." He leaned into her slightly, looking at her.
"Im fine with whatever." she giggled, pushing him slightly.
"But you're supposed to piiiccckkkk!!!!" Jesse whined, pushing them back, though not as hard. "ow..." He rubbed his shoulder.
"Welll IIII don't wantttt tooooo!!" she grabbed his face, shaking it back and forth.
"Ahhh!! Stop it! My face is very delicate and your hands are metal!!! you're squishing meeeheheeee!!!"
"Hehe, sorry" Both of them eventually stopped laughing, and settled back down.
"Honestly, I dont really wanna watch anything." Lake eventually interrupted the silence, Jesse had been scrolling through all the shows and movies, occasionally chiming in with "I love this one!" or "So boring..."
"Wha..? But you said sure when i asked?" Jesse tilted his head, turning to face them.
"That's because I thought you had something in mind!" Lake started giggling, everything became funny late at night to them.
"Lake! This is for you." he took his finger and pressed it against her chest. "Stop worrying about what I want! You sound like me!"
"Maybe I've been hanging around you too much." Lake crossed her arms and turned away from him.
"Hey! What? You can't hang out with someone too much! Especially me!" He wrapped his arms around their shoulders and put his face on their head.
"I dunno, Jesse. I think Im getting pretty sick of you." She looked up at him to see his reaction.
He whined and pouted. "You're mean."
"Im just kidding, Drama queen. But seriously, I don't really want to watch anything. Also, get off of me!!" She laughed and flicked his forehead, which he pretended knocked him down and put his hand over his forehead dramatically. The two both giggled till it died down.
As Jesse was putting up the laptop and headphones, ("I need to start remembering where I put these.." Jesse noted, setting them down in a place he'll forget in the morning.) Lake was fidgeting with the blanket once again, debating if she should tell Jesse about the nightmare they had. They had decided on no. It's not worth getting Jesse worried for her more than he already is. even if she thought it might make her feel better.
Jesse returned to the bed, but didnt get comfortable. He sat on top of all the blankets and pillows. "So, is there anything you actually do want to do? For YOU?"
"Im getting pretty tired." She was trying to get ready to get up and go back to her room, But Jesse got up before her and was already at the door.
"What are you doing?"
"Hm?"
"This is your room."
"Oh, well, yeah. But you just looked so comfortable. I don't want you to move if you'd like to stay in here. I can sleep on the couch!" Jesse put his back to the door, one hand in between him and the wood, and the other clutching the doorknob.
"No. You shouldn't have to do that. Thats stupid, cmere."
"No really! Its okay! I like sleeping on the couch anyway!"
"No! Jesse! We both have our own respective beds! It's just dumb if you sleep on the couch!"
"Soooo, where do you want me to sleep then?"
"..We could both just be in here? I mean, I honestly don't want to go back to my room. Its nicer in here." she felt her face go hot.
"Oh. Yeah. Thats.. A solution. Too. I suppose." Jesse slowly walked back to the bed. Lake noticed what he was wearing. He was wearing a red pajama set that Lake had gotten him for Christmas last year. She didn't have much allowance since she only started her job a few weeks prior to Christmas, but knew that she had to get something for him. What was funny about the situation is Jesse got the same set for her, just in blue. His reasoning was she didn't have much of her own clothes that weren't Jesses or his mom's hammy downs, and she deserves something of her own. Lake was wearing her set too. Her already hurting heart ached deeper, and she didn't know why. It was just pajamas.
She looked at his outfit even more. It was hard to make out in the dark, but she noticed he was wearing two threaded bracelets, two bracelets representing her, and Nate, his little brother. Hers was blue and Nate was green. She had the same ones, but had red exchanged for blue, for Jesse. All 3 of them had made each other bracelets. It was Nates idea. She felt like her heart would implode.
She looked up at his face, but something was gleaming in the moonlight shining through the window. It was one necklace that Jesse had bought them to share. It was two silver heart with "Best Friends Forever" engraved on the front. She had the other half. Her heart twinged again with aches. Why did they have so many matching things? Things that reminded them of each other? They already lived together, why did they need little tokens?
Jesse finally sat down, and got into the bed. He held the cover open for Lake to climb in, and she did. At first, they both faced opposite directions, just trying to go to sleep, till Lake broke the silence.
"Jesse?"
"Whats up?"
"I have a question."
"Yeah?"
"Why—why would you go back on the train for me?"
Jesse rolled over in bed and scooted closer to lake, pulling her in.
"What?? Why would I not? Why would I just leave you there? I promised we would be together."
Lake turner around to face him, but avoided eye contact, she began to tear up, hoping Jesse wouldn't notice. Of course he did.
"I-I don't know.. It's just—" Jesse lifted his hand up to her chin and wiped off her tears with his thumb. "—You didn't even know you would find me. I just got lucky enough that I was in the right place at the right time to find you."
"You're right." Lake looked up at him, he had a serious expression on his face. "I didn't care about that part, I was prepared to live a lifetime on the train, I didn't care how long it took to find you. I wasn't going to leave you. Im never going to leave you, Lake."
Those words burned into her heart like he was twisting a knife heated at 3000 degrees through her ribcage. She felt the aching in her whole chest, spreading through her body. He cupped her face and put his forehead to hers. "Is... Is that what your nightmare was about?"
She was shocked how he figured it out. She put her hands to his.
"..Yeah. I watched you go through the door.. And you never came back. Like, I knew you wouldn't. It was a feeling of like, dread. Or something." Jesse let go of her face and hugged her tightly, bringing them as close as possible.
"Lake, that's never going to happen. I would have never left you. You're stuck with me forever." he started laughing at the end, hugging her tighter. Lake joined in, but it sounded more like a cry.
"Hey, hey! Its okay! Don't cry." He let go of her and started to wipe off her tears again.
"I-Im not-Im just-just laughing!" She began wiping off her own tears and grabbed his hand, intertwining their fingers with his. She started to laugh again, pressing her face against his chest. They could hear his heart beating fast. With his other hand, Jesse was rubbing her back softly, chuckling.
"Thank you..Jesse. Sorry im being such a mess."
"Nono! Don't apologize! I dont mind at all! I always want you to know that I will always be here for you. And I will always...I'll always care..for you."
"I'll always care for you too, Jesse."
I'll always love you too Jesse.
She didn't mean to sound disappointed when she spoke. She didn't know what she was disappointed about.
I'll always love you.
That's what he wanted to say. He almost went for it, but he thought it was extremely inappropriate in the current situation.
Stupid. You don't confess your love when shes crying in your arms, Jesse. Don't be stupid.
His inner voice sounded like Lake, he almost felt the sting of a flick to the forehead, too.
He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to kiss her cheeks and her lips and their jaw and her eyelids and their forehead and her hair and—
dont be stupid, Jesse.
Lake had stopped laughing, crying, or whatever she was doing, and it sounded like she was sleeping. Jesse pulled the blanket over her shoulder and relaxed into her. He tried to mimic her sleeping, but couldn't get his mind to shut up. He leaned back and stared at her gorgeous, peaceful face while yelling at himself in his head.
Stupid. Why are you thinking about how beautiful she look s when sh es CRYING? Focus on helping her, dingus! Stop looking at her hair and her eyes and their lips when they're CRYING!!
Jesse cringed at his stupid thoughts to sleep.