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Jude wasn't the biggest fan of this class. He was never really good at science or math, or anything that involved numbers really. The only reason he did like it was because Connor got switched into it. Something happened with his schedule and he had to trade the time of his English class and his chemistry class, so now Jude got to see him even more during the day.
It was especially better since they had kissed. Jude had his first kiss! And Connor was so sweet about it and nervous and over all it was a very good first kiss. Not that Jude had anything to compare it to, but he certainly liked it. They weren't, like, boyfriends or anything though... they were a bit too young for that, but Jude really liked him and it was just nice knowing that Connor liked him back.
Sadly his Chemistry teacher put their seats at opposite ends of the room, so he couldn't pass notes with him like they did in math class. Jude was only able to stare at the back of Connor's head and hope he would turn around for a second. He did. Twice. He was wearing blue again today, something that made Jude's heart beat just that much faster.
Their teacher was saying something about DNA and RNA and even though Jude understood the definitions, it was mostly gibberish. But then she started talking about their next project.
"And I think it will be best if we work in pairs, because it would make it easier with two of you." She said as she walked around and handed out the instructions. "So everybody needs to pick a partner."
The other kids started looking around the room and hustling over to their own choices of partner and Jude was left all alone in his seat in the back. Until he looked up and saw Connor was alone as well.
Connor turned and looked at him hopefully. "Do you have a-"
"No." Jude cut him off before he could even finish the question.
Connor just smiled at him. "Do you want to be mine?" Jude smiled sweetly and nodded and Connor got up to sit in the now empty desk next to him. "Okay, cool! How about I come over on Saturday? My mom doesn't like it when kids come over; she says it gives her migraines."
Jude looked down pensively but nodded his head. "Yeah, okay. I mean... I have to ask but-"
"Okay! Well, let me know." Connor said, smirking at the smaller boy. He stood up, looking even taller to Jude, and walked back to his seat as the teacher got everyone in order.
"Okay everybody, back in your seats."
Jude couldn't hold in the giddy smiled that popped onto his face, and really couldn't be bothered to pay any more attention to the rest of class either.
~ ~ ~
When Jude got home he wanted to go straight to Stef and Lena and ask about Connor coming over on Saturday, but he could hear arguing in the kitchen. He heard something about a pill and Lexi, so he knew that at least it wasn't about him or Callie. To be honest, as bad as it sounds, he was happy that for once it wasn't his fault that things were going wrong in a Foster house. When he thought there was a lull in the conversation he slowly stepped out from his hiding spot in the next room and both women looked up at him.
"Hi honey, what's up?" Stef asked, straightening where she stood and going to her normal, less mad, voice.
"Hey, I c-can come back..." Jude started to say, not really wanting to interrupt their conversation.
Both of them just shook their heads and said not a bunch of times, so he stopped trying to walk away. "it's fine, it's fine, we're fine." Lena insisted.
"Okay." He took a deep breath, suddenly nervous about asking. His last foster home never would have let him have friends over, that is if he had any friends to come over. "So, we have this assignment in school where we have to build a model of DNA or RNA." He paused to make sure they understood.
Stef just nodded her head and smiled at him. "Uh huh."
Jude wasn't sure if they knew what that mean though, and honestly he was just excited to show them he had learned something. "Those are the things that make up genes."
Stef laughed and nodded. "Yeah, I know."
"Oh." Jude chuckled nervously before continuing. "So, we have to work in pairs... and I was wondering if my friend Connor could come over tomorrow?" He looked at Lena expectantly.
She stared for a moment realizing that he was finished. "Oh, is-is that it?" Jude just nodded.
"Yeah sure, absolutely!" Stef said, making Jude's smile return to his face.
"Of course!" Lena told him.
He started to leave but then Stef called to him again. "Hey do you want a snack? It's going to be a little while until dinner."
Jude shook his head and bit his lip. "I don't really like to eat between meals." And with that he turned and made his way upstairs.
When he got to his and Jesus's room he threw his backpack on his bed and almost did a little dance right on the spot. Connor was going to come over to his house! Sure it was just for homework but still, it was something! Maybe they would even kiss again.
He opened his bag and rummaged through it until he found what he was looking for. It was Connor's home phone number that he had written down for him after class. Luckily Jesus got his moms to put a landline in his bedroom so Jude could just use that to call him.
It rang twice before anyone answered and luckily that someone was Connor. "Hello?"
Jude cleared his throat. "Um, hi Connor. It's Jude."
"Oh! Hi Jude! Did your foster moms decide on tomorrow then?"
"Yeah! They said yes, so what time do you think you can come?" Jude asked excitedly.
The line was quiet for a bit and then Connor spoke. "How about 11:00? I'm not sure how long it's going to take though."
"Yeah, 11 sounds good to me. I don't think they will care how long you stay though."
"Alright if you're sure... So... how was the rest of your day?"
"It was pretty boring after Chemistry." Jude said. He wanted to say something about the kiss. He wanted to tell Connor he wanted to kiss him again, but he held back. ”You wore blue again. I...um, I liked it."
"I'm glad. I wish you still had the nail polish on though! We would have matched."
Jude really wanted to squeal and just shout to world how happy he was, but again he held it in. He didn't want to freak Connor out. "Maybe I'll wear some more next week."
"I hope so! Oh, I have to go, my dad needs the phone, but I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah see you." Jude nodded even though he knew Connor couldn't see it and hung up the phone. He just couldn't believe this was really happening.
~ ~ ~
Jude was in his room when he heard the doorbell ring to signal Connor's arrival. This was it. He was actually here in Jude's house. And they would be in Jude's room all by themselves. He could do this.
"Jude! Connor's here!" He heard Lena's voice call and took one last deep breath before making his way down the stairs.
"Hey!" He could hear them talking about something, but he didn't really care about interrupting. Connor was his after all.
"Hey Jude!" Connor responded excitedly. The smaller boy didn't miss the extra sparkle in his eyes when he saw him.
"Oh! The Beatles!" Lena chirped. Wow. Jude did love that song. It was actually one of his favorites and he knew that's where his name came from, but when he looked at Connor the reference seemed lost.
"It's a band that old people like." Maybe that would save the awkwardness.
Lena just looked at him with a hurt squint and shook her head. "Okay. Ouch. Why don't you guys head up to your room and get started. Jude has everything you need."
"Come on!" Jude said and they quickly ran up the stairs and into Jude's room.
When they got to Jude's room Connor put his stuff down and looked around, but he wasn't looking at Jude's things, because Jude didn't have anything. it was all Jesus's belongings. But he didn't say anything, just let his friend look and pick up one of Jesus's jerseys. He started talking about the team, but Jude wasn't really listening, just getting out the materials for their project.
"It's too bad he let Tomlinson go, they haven't been the same since." Connor sighed as he held the jersey. "They were so close to the Super Bowl! Who's your favorite player?"
And that got Jude's attention. He didn't know anything about football...but Connor seemed to like it a lot, after all he knew so much about it. "Oh! I like... you know... uh... what's his name..." Jude looked up with a puzzled expression. "Actually, it's not mine. It's Jesus's."
"Oh." Connor said casually shrugging his shoulders. "That's cool." He turned his head to along the wall of the room and saw Jesus's skateboards. "You board?" He asked, picking one up to inspect.
Jude just shook his head. "That's Jesus's too. Pretty much everything in here is Jesus's."
Connor put down the board and held his hands, confused. "Where's all your stuff?"
Jude looked down at their materials and shrugged. "I don't really have that much stuff." He got up and went over to the desk and the only bag of things that were his in the whole room. "When you move around a lot, things get lost or stolen so, this is pretty much it." He gestured down to what little he had.
Connor just looked down at it sadly as Jude went back to his bed. But then Connor shook his head and smirked. "Everybody has too much stuff anyway. Like Zach!" Connor sat on the bed next to him. "All he talks about is 'I got this new thing this weekend'. It's stupid right? He's such a jerk. Right?"
But Jude only shrugged. He never liked talking behind people's backs, but he wasn't judging Connor for doing it, it was natural for most people. It's just that Jude lived a pretty hard life so he knew that no matter how bad a person was, there must be some reason to it.
"Hey, you don't talk bad about anybody. Like, ever. Even those guys who called you names and stuff? You never say anything mean about them." Connor pointed out.
"What's the point?" Jude really didn't feel like explaining why, but he caught in the corner of his eye, Connor nodding like maybe he did understand. "We should probably get started."
Jude started handing him the supplies and Connor was looking at him regretfully. "I'm sorry, Jude. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable or anything."
"It's okay. I get it you know? I just don't do that." Jude told him.
They were getting really far along with their models. The pieces ended up being really easy to make, and it helped that all the particles were supposed to be in different colors. But after a while Jude paused and looked up at Connor, who was shaping one of the RNA strands.
"Can I show you something?" Jude asked. Connor nodded so he reached into his back to get out what he wanted to show him. It was a small wooden pocket knife that had his father's initial carved into it. "It was my dad's. It doesn't open anymore, but I just like the fact that he carried it around."
"Yeah," Connor seemed almost mesmerized by what he had shown him, he was certainly honored Jude was sharing this with him."Hey, what happened to your dad?" he asked as he handed Jude back the knife.
Jude was silent for a moment but then answered. "He's in jail."Connor looked almost scared at that answer and Jude didn't want that. And he didn't want Connor feeling bad for him or anything. So he just... lied. "W-well he was in jail, but then he had to leave the country! And now he lives in... erm, on an island."
"Okay..." Connor said suspiciously.
But Jude didn't stop. "He made a lot of money and some people got mad so he had to leave, but he'll come back and get us. And he's gonna take us to his really nice house, and it's right on the beach, and there's a pool and these really awesome cars, and...that's where all my stuff is at. At my dad's."
Connor looked at him, astounded. "Why are you lying?"
"I'm not lying." Jude said defensively.
"You don't have to lie." Connor said honestly.
Jude looked down and huffed out a breath. "I just... sorry."
They were quiet for a second before Connor piped up and pulled his PSP from his bag. "Hey! wanna play Ridge Racer?" He pulled the game up on the screen and handed it to Jude. "Here, you go first."
"Whoa! This is so cool!" Jude exclaimed.
Connor gave him a satisfied grin and both boys smiled to each other for a moment. As Jude started to play, Connor scooted closer next to him to see the screen. When Their sides started touching was when Jude had to pause the game and just say what had been on his mind for a week.
"Connor?" Jude asked to get his attention. "You kissed me and I thought you were going to do it again, but you haven't and... I'm just very confused. Don't you like me?"
Connor laughed. "Of course I like you Jude. you're different, original, and you don't say anything bad about anyone, even when they deserve it. And I like that you aren't afraid to just be who you are, like with the nail polish. And I like that you don't have a lot of things because too many kids around here are spoiled. Plus you're really cute."
Jude blushed at his words. They really were the nicest things anyone had said to him, ever. "Oh."
Connor took his hand and kept talking, but this time he was just looking the ground, biting his lip. "I just... I'm a little confused is all? I didn't exactly think I liked boys until I met you. But, you'll be patient with me right? I do like you I promise, but I don't want to mess up and hurt you."
"I don't think you could do that." Jude whispered and Connor only smiled at him.
The taller boy leaned down into Jude's space and kissed his cheek three times and whispered in his ear. "Hey Jude. Don't make it bad. Just take a sad song, and make it better."
Then suddenly Jude whipped his head around and stared, jaw dropped to the floor, at his friend. "You do know that song!"
"Of course I do! I haven't been living under a rock my whole life! Come on, everybody knows the Beatles silly." Connor laughed and playfully pushed Jude's shoulder.
Jude shook his head and smiled so much that his eyes crinkled. "Do you think I could kiss you right now?"
Instead of speaking, Connor answered him by nodding his head and leaning in to connect their lips. They moved together for a few moments before Jude pulled away and looked back down at the PSP and their hands that were still connected.
"I, um... I think it's your turn."
~ ~ ~
The time for Connor came too quickly, but Jude knew he would just see him again on Monday. So he helped him pack up their things and both of them made an internal decision to take their time going down the stairs.
When they got down the stairs they found a whole crowd of people and Jude had a feeling it had something to do with the whole Lexi and Jesus fiasco, so he didn't even bother answering. He was also a little stuck on cloud nine from his and Connor's second kiss and conversation.
As they stepped down all the faces turned towards them and Lena spoke up. "Oh hey sweetie. What, what uh, do you need?"
"Connor's mom is here to pick him up." He said.
"Oh okay! Bye Connor, we will see you again soon." Lena told him.
Stef started to walk forward. "I'll walk you out."
"No!" Jude said quickly. He wanted a goodbye kiss and he knew he wouldn't get one with Stef there. "It's okay, I got it."
Connor seemed to catch onto the idea because answered quickly as well. "Okay, bye."
They started walking to the front door and once the others were out of sight, Jude said goodbye and Connor reached into his pocket and grabbed his PSP. "Wait, here. Keep it."
Jude looked down at it and shook his head. "I can't."
"Yes you can! It's cool, I want you to." He said, not taking no for an answer. Jude took it just as they heard honking from outside. "Okay, see you!"
Jude watched him go and then smiled down at the game. But then he remembered he never got his goodbye kiss, so he ran out the door after Connor. Luckily the taller boy was still walking down the path and couldn't be seen by his mom's car yet, so when Jude caught up to him he knew no one would see them kiss.
"Connor!" Jude called and he jumped up into the boy. Connor put his arms out just in time to catch him and prevent wither of them from falling. They laughed breathlessly before Jude leaned down and kissed Connor one more time. "Okay, now you can go."
FIN