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The petting zoo had been your idea, and pretending to hate it had been Jane's.
There was only one thing that Jane hated more than forgetting her wallet when she was out, wasting cash, but there too was only one thing that Jane loved as equally as she did you: animals.
"Baby, I'm not spending twenty dollars to touch a goat." She'd said when you'd showed her the flyer.
"Yes you are."
"I'm really not." She let out a humorless chuckle, not even bothering to look at you as you stared at her in disdain. She always loved acting like a tough guy, and always joked that you loved acting like a princess whenever she was around.
Fine. Two could play that game.
So you gave in to the shallow description of you, batting your lashes, frowning, and furrowing your brows ever so slightly so that you looked just utterly and completely distraught. "Please, Jane? For me? You know how much I want to go, and..."
And now here she was.
Touching a goat.
You stood a few feet away trying—and failing—not to laugh as the white bunch of fluff shoved its forehead directly into her leg. She looked down at it with the most offended expression imaginable, and then at you.
"Do you see why I didn't want to go now?" She glared. unbothered and unaware of the criticism being flung its way, the goat only bleated, and she scoffed. "Don't talk back to me."
You giggled.
Opting for a different method of what Jane was pretending was torture, the animal immediately trotted closer and started chewing on the hem of her hoodie.
Jane sighed dramatically.
"This is a prison."
The façade was kept up for a little while, and then five minutes later she was crouched in the dirt hand-feeding the same goat pieces of feed from her palm. A prison, apparently.
You leaned against the fence, smiling.
Most people knew Jane as loud and sarcastic. A little intimidating when she wanted to be. Really, she always looked like she'd rather die than admit she cared about something. But animals? Animals completely ruined her image every single time they were around.
The animal nudged her hand again.
"Okay, okay," she chuckled, voice soft in the way it only got when she was talking to you—or livestock, apparently.
The goat climbed halfway into her lap.
Jane looked around.
"Is this allowed?"
"Probably not."
"Cool."
She let it cuddle her anyway, and your heart practically exploded. The goat immediately started chewing on her sleeve. "You are so stupid," she told it affectionately.
You covered your mouth.
Jane finally looked up.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"... You have that look."
"What look?"
"The one where you're making fun of me."
You rolled your eyes, but the smile on your face gave away how you really felt: enamored. "I'm not... making fun of you, you're just cute."
Jane groaned disapprovingly.
"You are."
"No."
"You're babying a goat."
"It wanted me to."
"Oh, did it tell you that?"
"Mhm." The goat made a noise. "See?"
You laughed so hard your stomach hurt. Jane tried to maintain her dignity for three seconds before laughing too. It wasn't huge, but it was enough to make your chest ache.
God.
You loved seeing her happy.
Eventually the two of you wandered farther into the petting zoo. There were sheep, tiny pigs, and a miniature donkey that seemed determined to follow Jane around for reasons neither of you understood.
"Another fan," you said.
"Shut. Up." Jane warned you.
"You have a... natural charisma."
"It's because he recognizes greatness."
"Mmm no, it's because you probably smell like animal feed to him."
The donkey sneezed as if agreeing, and you nearly fell over laughing while Jane looked betrayed.
By lunchtime, you were sat together at a picnic table while the animals wandered nearby. The summer air was warm, and children laughed somewhere in the distance.
For a few minutes neither of you said anything.
Jane sat beside you with one arm draped across the back of the bench. Relaxed and comfortable the way she only ever seemed when it was just the two of you.
Then something nudged your leg.
You looked down and locked eyes with a rabbit. tiny and climbing, or trying to, at least, directly into your lap. You let out an "aww" before you could help yourself, and Jane glanced over.
The second she saw it, her entire face changed. Not dramatically. Just enough. Her eyes softened. Her shoulders relaxed.
The fluffball stretched its neck toward her, and Jane reached over automatically. One finger scratched beneath its chin, and the rabbit practically melted.
"Oh my god. You like him," you murmured.
"... Yeah."
"You really like him."
"He's alright." She tried to play it off.
"Jane."
She didn't reply, sensing you were going to say something annoying.
"Jane." You said more firmly.
"What?"
"You have hearts in your eyes. I think 'alright' is an understatement." You smiled.
"No I don't."
"You so do." Your smile grew wider.
The rabbit leaned into her hand, and Jane smiled a real, full smile this time that made her look adorable, and despite being the toughest person you knew, softer, like all the walls she'd spent years building had completely disappeared. For a second, she didn't notice you staring at the sight. She was too focused on the rabbit and making sure it was comfortable. Every now and then she'd gently rub behind its ears with the cautiousness of a brain surgeon as if it'd break under her touch, then eventually give in to her urges and really pet it, let the fur slide in the spaces between her fingers and fluff up.
The situation hit you harder than it probably should have, mostly because it wasn't really about the rabbit. It was seeing the parts of her nobody else got to see. The tenderness beneath all the sarcasm.
"Don't." She finally noticed your expression. Ears turning red and head tilting away from you to avoid your gaze.
"What?"
"Don't look at me like that."
You grinned. "Like what?" Her signature sarcastic resting face was nothing but a ghost by now, and a warm, helplessly gentle look graced her features. Her eyes flicked over to glance at you after you'd spoken, attempting to shoot a harsh glare your way, and failing because it was really hard to pretend you were upset while petting a rabbit.
"Like I'm adorable." She said.
You looked at her for a second, thinking as if your opinion would change the closer you examined her, and it didn't.
"But you are."
Jane looked away nervously, and the rabbit immediately pounced on her. You laughed, then Jane laughed too, and for the first time in a long time you let yourselves be yourselves for a day.