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It was the night after Christmas, 2 days after the gathering of the ex-mercenaries. The Scout, now Jeremy, had found himself quite lonely.. again. He heaved a sigh. All the kids were put to bed, and the house was dark. He sat on his bed quietly, just allowing his mind to wander. Eventually he decided to head out into the backyard, sitting on a chair he had outside and lighting himself a cigarette. He was by no means a smoker, but he found himself doing it sometimes.. The smell reminded him of some of his favorite people, so in a way, it comforted him. To nobody's surprise, he began thinking of the people the smell reminded him of. First his mind wandered to Mick, who he had seen a few days ago and was obviously still in contact with, but then he thought of the enemy scout. Though, I guess now he was just Jack, wasn’t he?
He sat there deep in thought, staring at the grass as he thought back to Jack. How was he doing now? He hadn’t had the opportunity to reach out to him since the fight was over..
He wondered if the BLU mercs had a get-together this Christmas just like his team. Scout gently put out the cigarette in an ashtray he kept by his seat, getting up and going into the house, starting to look through his drawers, finally finding a small slip of paper, reading the messy writing.
“Call me! xxx-xxx-xxx -BLU Scout”
Jeremy found a small smile tugging at his lips. He wasn’t sure if Jack was asleep yet, but it was worth a shot. He dialed the number and listened to the ringing.
“Yello, who’s dis?”
Jeremy paused, a bit nervous. Finally gathering the words to speak.
“Yo! Uh, it’s me.. Jeremy. The uh- RED scout?” He said awkwardly,
“Holy crap! Seriously? Man, it’s been ages.”
“It really has..” Scout paused after speaking, quickly adding in some more.
“Sorry I nevah’ reached out to you- I think it jus’ kinda slipped my mind, yaknow?”
“I mean, I could say the same, dude. What’ve you been up to?”
“Oh- I’ve got kids now! 4 of em’!” He said, happy to tell him.
“Seriously? That’s fuckin’ awesome. Who’s the lucky lady..?”
Jeremy's face shifted, going quiet for a moment. “..ah- I ain’t got one. Dey all left.. It ain’t been workin’ out very well..” Scout said, his tone noticeably different.”
“..Oh, sorry to hear that.. hope you’re doing okay.”
“I’m tryin’..”
Jeremy felt bad for making Jack worry, trying to quickly change the topic. “Well- anyway, you should like, come visit me!”
“I’d love to, Jer, but I'm back in New York now, livin’ with my Pa.”
“..doh..” He said dejectedly. Looking away quietly.
“Wait, I aint live with nobody else. I got money, I can buy a ticket to fly over n’ visit? I do miss hangin’ out with ya..”
“Seriously? That’d be awesome!” Jeremy brightened, a bit of a smile spreading across his face.
He listened to Jack's voice as they spoke, admiring how it was the same as it had been before. Eventually they hung up after catching up over the phone, and the plans had been made. Jack would be coming over and staying for a while with Jeremy in Boston.
After sitting there for a moment, Jeremy realized he felt.. strange. He felt warm, tingly.. Happy.. And - Oh gosh, his feelings were back. He stared at Jack’s handwriting on the paper, feeling his eyes water as it set in that he was gonna see him again. He had barely thought of Jack for years, and suddenly He’s getting hit with all the feelings he had before.
All the times he’d been thinking of Jack after the fight ended were when he was still working on getting help with his.. emotional issues. He ended up going to some sort of therapy, And it did work for him.. kind of.. mostly. He had gotten much better now, Whereas before he broke down at least once a week over his childhood “friend” - Jackson - and was guaranteed an even worse day twice a year. On Jackson’s birthday, and the anniversary of his death. As for why that’s even related, Jack really reminded Jeremy of Jackson. Not just the similar name.. They looked similar. Jack was like a bigger version of Jackson. They dressed similar, They both played baseball just like Jeremy, They both had these adorable little beauty marks, they had similar faces, similar stubble.. Jeremy never could shake the comparison. And hell, they were even both gay! That counts, right? Right? Whatever the case, Jeremy heavily associated them. So thinking about one often lead to the other.