Chapter Text
Jason took two buses to get to the public library in time for it to open, and he asked the librarian if he could book the video room. The librarian squinted at him for a moment until Jason showed her the packet in his hands. “I have to make a video for an audition. If I could get this job, then I could buy a bike. I’m not gonna break anything. I’ll be really careful… You can even do all the camera stuff if you don’t trust me,” Jason suggested. “Besides… I think I need somebody to read the other lines to me… Please.”
The librarian hesitated before giving in and following him to the video room. Jason took a deep breath and looked at his lines, reading over them in his head two or three times before nodding at the woman. She gave him a countdown and turned the camera on. Jason was a nervous wreck, but the librarian was thoroughly impressed by the range of emotion he portrayed on camera. It was startling how quickly his voice tightened and how his eyes welled up with tears that he seemed to hold back desperately. If she hadn’t read the lines to him, she would’ve believed that he was actually in distress. His whole tone of voice changed. Jason was no longer the friendly boy who had pleaded with her at the front desk. He clenched his teeth and forced out words with tears finally breaking through, streaming down his cheeks, and he gasped and wiped his face with his palm before abruptly sighing. “Can we do one more just in case they don’t want me to cry?” Jason asked.
“Sure…”
The camera rolled a second time, and the way his tone switched from desperate and emotional to venomous and wrathful in a matter of seconds. Once Jason was done, he thanked the librarian profusely, and she helped him edit and save the videos to the flash drive he received at a school college fair.
Jason stuck around for nearly an hour after he’d finished sending the video in, taking time to look around and check out a book with his library card. After he left the library, he spent his last eight dollars on a milkshake, fries, and a burger, and he ate once he got to the outskirts of the park. He had less than a dollar change, which was more than enough to make a call on the payphone.
“Hello?” a boy answered. A baby was crying in the background, and he could hear the other boys fighting and screaming.
“Hi, Elliott. Is Daniel there?” Jason asked.
“I think Daniel’s sleeping, Jason. Where are you? Can I come?” Elliott asked.
“No. I’m on my way back. I just wanted to make sure Daniel wasn’t mad. You can have my bus pass when I get back, though… And feed Michael. I can hear him screaming,” Jason gently commanded.
“Thanks, Jason! Do you have an all-day pass?” Elliott asked.
“I do,” Jason answered. “See you at home, Elliott.”
“Bye, Jason. You’re the best,” Elliott replied before hanging up.
**
When Jason got home, his foster father was sitting forward on the couch, completely unconscious, while the baby cried. Jason picked Michael up and changed his diaper before heading to the kitchen to wash his hands and grab a clean bottle. Elliott came out of the bathroom, and Jason gave him the bus pass. “Thanks—”
“You didn’t feed or change, Michael like I asked you to. Don’t you wanna stay together? If someone calls the police because the baby’s crying all day, they’re gonna see Daniel passed out over there, and we’re all getting sent to another home… And Daniel’s not going to rehab. He’s going to jail,” Jason explained. “Do you want Daniel to go to jail?”
Elliott shook his head. “Are you okay while I’m gone?” Elliott asked. “I cleaned up a little bit. Did you see?”
“I did. Thanks, Elliott. I’ll see you later on,” Jason replied as he set the kettle on the stove. Elliott left, and Jason went back to the living room to check on Michael. “I’m sorry, Michael. I’m here now.”
Jason made sure to turn the fire off just before the kettle started to whistle, and he poured the water into the bottle before adding the formula. “Poor Michael. I’m sorry, buddy,” Jason whispered. He stopped and looked around the apartment before fixing his eyes on Daniel, and his chest tightened as he moved closer to feel for a pulse. He let out a sigh of relief as he felt Daniel’s slow heartbeat pumping. Jason shook the bottle with his finger over the nipple and tested the liquid on his wrist.
He sat on the couch next to Daniel and fed Michael. “If I get this job, I’m gonna make sure you get one of those music thingies for your crib… Even if it means I don’t get a bike. I think it’d be nice for you to have something,” Jason whispered.
Daniel made a noise before clearing his throat. “The baby?” Daniel groaned.
“I’ve got him,” Jason replied. “Daniel? Did you eat today?”
“What’s today?” Daniel mumbled.
“I’ll open a can of soup for you in a minute. I’ve just gotta burp Michael and set him down. Where’s your needle?” Jason asked. He scanned the apartment and looked at Daniel’s arm, which was neatly cleaned and bandaged with a little superhero bandage. Elliott. Jason smiled. “Nevermind. Where are Andrew and Jared?”
“Andrew is um… Andrew is—” Daniel smacked his lips, and Jason burped Michael while he walked over to the fridge to get a water bottle for Daniel.
“Daniel is dehydrated,” Jason whispered to Michael. “He needs a bottle, too.”
Jason passed the water bottle to Daniel, and he bounced the baby on his knee. “Andrew is in the room, and Jared is in the bathroom.”
Jason sighed and put Michael down in the playpen before going to his room. “Andrew?” Jason asked. “Andrew? Are you in here?” He looked around and lifted the blankets strewn around the room. “Andrew? It’s Jason.”
The closet opened a crack, and a boy about Jason’s size crawled into view. A sniff broke the silence as Jason looked closer to see a bloody nose and wet, puffy, bruised eyes. It was the kind of bruising that came with being punched in the nose. There was so much blood that Jason gasped when he saw him. “Who?” Jason asked.
“Nobody,” Andrew replied. Jason sat on the ground in front of him, gently pinching at the cleaner parts of Andrew’s sleeves before pulling his hands away from his bloodied nose.
“Is it broken?” Jason asked as he touched the sides of Andrew’s nose with his fingertips. He didn’t flinch. “Don’t be tough. If it hurts, we can take you to the urgent care.”
“I don’t want to go to urgent care,” Andrew replied. Jason squinted and looked at the weird expression on Andrew’s face, and his heart dropped into his stomach. He only allowed himself to be shocked for a few seconds before he stepped outside the room and turned the burner back on. Andrew scrambled to his feet and caught Jason in the kitchen. “It’s not what you think,” Andrew whispered. “Where’s Elliott?”
“I gave him my all-day bus pass,” Jason replied as he took a dish rag and wrapped it around the handle of a knife.
“Jason—”
“I just wanna scare him. Someone’s gotta stop him,” Jason whispered as he held the blade of the knife over the fire. “If my dad taught me anything, it was to never let anybody think they’ve got the upper hand, even if they’re bigger or stronger than you. You can always be scarier.”
“Jason, don’t—”
“Nobody’s gonna get in trouble. Just stay out of the way if you don’t wanna be involved,” Jason interrupted.