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In all honesty, this is the most relaxed Jaiden had felt in weeks. She and Jacob were sitting together on her bed playing Pokémon. Jacob was playing on his laptop, Jaiden on an actual gameboy. They had started playing a couple of weeks ago after realizing that neither of them had properly attempted Pokémon Emerald's postgame. Jacob was now working his way through the battle frontier. Meanwhile, Jaiden had set out on a quest to catch a Feebas.
“I've checked like… half of the water tiles and I still can't find one.”
“Really? That’s weird, there’s six Feebas tiles on that route. Statistically you should have found at least three by now.” Jacob responded, almost absentmindedly.
“Bad luck I guess.”
“Hmmm I guess so.” Jacob slowly shut his laptop and rubbed his eyes.
“You okay?” Jaiden asked, looking up from her game.
“Yeah, I’m just starting to get a little bit of eyestrain.“
“I’m sorry.”
“Ahh, it’s alright.”
Jacob leaned over the edge of the bed to set his laptop on the floor. He rubbed his eyes for a moment before lying down and stretching himself across Jaiden’s bed. He tangled his limbs in her blankets, burying his face against soft fabric.
“Your bed’s really comfy.” He mumbled.
Jaiden looked at Jacob and giggled, “I think you’re just a little tired.”
“Hmm, maybe.”
Jaiden smiled to herself. It was odd to think that a little more than two years ago, she hadn’t known Jacob at all. And now, here he was, practically falling asleep in her bed. Jaiden made a mental note to thank Ross for introducing her and Jacob the next time she saw him.
Jaiden turned her attention back to her Gameboy, letting herself get lost in a world of mindless inputs and character sprites. She ran from encounter after encounter, mentally crossing off the checked tiles in her head.
Jacob slowly sat up and shuffled to Jaiden’s side. He reached across Jaiden’s lap and grabbed a pillow, pulling it tightly to his chest. He looked intently at Jaiden’s Gameboy, watching her play.
“I thought you said you had eyestrain?” Jaiden asked, her voice was barely above a whisper due to their closeness.
“I wanted to watch.”
Jaiden decided to not fight him on it. He could watch if he wanted to.
She stared at her character, surfing back and forth between two water tiles. Her screen occasionally flashing black and white when an encounter came along. She had spent so many hours repeating the same key inputs that she barely had to look at the screen to know what was happening.
She put her gameplay on mental autopilot and let her gaze drift down to Jacob, who was now leaning against her, cheek pressed against her shoulder, arms wrapped tightly around a pillow. His hair was slightly ruffled and the longer strands tickled her neck. His cheek was warm against the exposed skin of her shoulder. It felt nice.
It was almost embarrassing how much she had grown to crave physical affection from Jacob. Especially since she had never really wanted that from anyone else. But every time they hung out she found herself chasing after small touches; shoulders pressed against together while watching a show, playful shoves, knees bumping under the table as they ate, hands brushing as they walked, even the way Jacob would lean over her shoulder whenever she showed him something on her phone.
Right now, that feeling was trying to claw its way out of her chest. Her eyes traced over the lines of Jacob’s face. She wanted so badly to turn off her Gameboy cuddle into Jacob’s arms. She was pretty sure he would let her too. Jacob was probably the most physically affectionate friend she had, and he’d never backed away from any of her attempts at physical contact. As she thought, her mind started to wander without her permission, conjuring up thoughts of its own. The feeling of Jacob’s hair between her fingers, of their palm pressed against hers, soft words mumbled into her hair, kisses tracing down her jaw, fingers drawing circles on her skin. She glanced down and the pillow Jacob was holding. Would he hold her that tightly; safe and secure in his arms? Would she be able to feel the rise and fall of his chest? Would she be able to feel his heartbeat?
Jesus dude, pull it together. Jaiden thought to herself. She blinked hard a few times, trying to snap out of whatever stupid fantasy her mind had come up with; trying desperately not to think about how nice her best friend’s arms would feel wrapped around her waist.
“I think you already checked that tile.” Jacob mumbled into her shoulder, their tone was soft and drowsy.
“Damn. Back-seating wild encounters is crazy.”
“I was trying to helppppp,” Jacob whined. “You know what? Screw you, I’m going to sleep.”
“That’ll really show me, huh?”
“Yeah! It will!”
Jacob lifted his head off of Jaiden’s shoulder. Embarrassingly enough, Jaiden immediately found herself missing the warmth. Jacob placed the pillow he had been holding onto near the headboard and dramatically flopped down onto it face first.
Jaiden giggled and reached over, ruffling the short and fluffy hair on the back of his head. Jacob leaned ever so slightly into her touch. Jaiden didn’t notice.
Over the next couple minutes, Jaiden continued her search. Jacob, lying next to her, slowly drifted off to sleep. As Jaiden tried to press on in her search, she found herself growing increasingly tired, especially now with the sound of Jacob’s rhythmic breathing lulling her to sleep. Accepting defeat, she saved the game and switched off the console. Doing so would reset all of her progress, but she was too tired to care. She lowered herself down onto the pillows and let her eyes close.
—————
Jaiden woke up with a start to the sound of her phone’s alarm. She fumbled through the large pockets of her jacket, eventually finding her phone and hitting the “stop” button.
She jumped again when she heard something shift next to her. Oh right. Jacob was here. He sat up next to her, rubbing his eyes.
“Good lord dude, your alarm is loud.” His groggy voice was filled with laughter.
Jaiden shrugged, “I'm a heavy sleeper.”
“No shit, I felt like I woke up to a bomb siren.” Jacob joked. He stood up and began to stretch. “Sorry I came over to your house and immediately fell asleep.”
“We made a little progress on our saves.” Jaiden offered, “and I don’t mind.” She added, not wanting Jacob to feel bad about falling asleep.
“Do you know what time it is?”
“I think that was my alarm to start making dinner, so… 6pm.”
Jaiden turned towards the window. The sun was starting to get lower in the sky. “Would you mind giving me a ride home?” Jacob asked, “I should probably head home and start making dinner for my roommates. It's my turn tonight.”
“Oh. Sure. Do you want to grab your things real quick? I’ll go start the car.”
—————
A comfortable silence hung between the two as Jaiden drove. Soft music was playing from the radio— something Jacob didn’t recognize.
“The sky is really pretty.” Jacob remarked.
“Yeah, I-“ Jaiden let her voice trail off. Jacob didn’t catch the rest of what Jaiden said.
“What was that?”
“Oh, it was nothing.”
Jacob smiled, curiosity filling his mind, “Oh well now you have to tell me.”
Jaiden’s face started to flush. “I- no it was stupid- I’m not saying it again.”
“C’monnnnn,” Jacob whined.
“Whatever. I was just- you know how right before the sun starts to set, the sky will turn all blue and orange? And the sun reflects off the clouds and makes them look like they’re glowing? I've always thought it looked really pretty and it… it just reminds me of you for some reason.” She barely gave Jacob a chance to respond before adding on; “See? I told you it was stupid.”
Silence hung in the air. She glanced over to see Jacob leaning against the car window, staring at her with an awestruck expression, his eyes reflected the colors of the sunset. “What? Stop looking at me like that.”
“Jaiden. That’s not stupid, it was really sweet.” Jacob smiled and looked at the blue and orange sky; a sight that now held a new meaning for him. “Thank you.”
“I- whatever. You’re welcome.” Jaiden stuttered out.
The rest of the drive was mostly quiet, they were both still sleepy from their nap and the soft colors of the sunset and warm weather were not helping. Soon, Jaiden pulled up next to Jacob’s house.
“Alright, here you are.” Jaiden said as she shifted her car into park. “Thanks again for coming over.”
Jacob unbuckled his seatbelt and reached for his laptop.
“Anytime, dude. Thanks for having me.” Jacob swung the car door open. The warm LA breeze drifted through the car.
Jaiden let her eyes trace over Jacob’s features, as if trying to commit them to memory before he left her sight. It was silly, but she felt sad knowing they were about to say goodbye. Sure, she would see him again soon enough, they might even call tonight, but deep down she wished he would just stay.
Jacob, almost as if he could hear Jaiden’s thoughts, turned back to Jaiden and reached over the center console pulled her into a hug.
“See you soon.”
“See you soon.”
The two stayed like that for a moment. It was an awkward and uncomfortable position, but neither of them wanted to let go. It was Jacob who finally pulled back, but only slightly. He brought a hand up to her face and let it settle comfortably against her cheek. Jacob quickly leaned in and placed a quick kiss on her opposite cheek.
“Bye,” he whispered with a smile. And just like that, he grabbed his things and climbed out of her car door. She watched him walk up the path to his house. As he was about to close the door behold him he turned around to wave goodbye. Jaiden smiled and waved back.
She shifted her car back into gear, replaying those last few seconds in her head over and over again, smiling to herself like an idiot.