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23 - Vincent
It had been a longtime since I’d had anything close to a “normal” schedule. Even in high school, I’d been such a night owl that I was usually asleep during classes. But being the last one out of bed was actually a great way to start the day. By the time I was awake, coffee had already been made, leftover breakfast was waiting for me in the fridge, and everyone was so preoccupied with work that I usually had uninterrupted time to work on my own projects for a bit.
But some days, the first thing I wanted upon waking wasn’t coffee or microwaved breakfast leftovers. Today, I just wanted company.
So I rolled out of bed, trudged down the attic stairs, and stumbled straight into Jason’s bedroom.
He had his headphones on, so he didn’t hear me come in. I expected to find him working, his screen covered with long lines of multi-colored code. It was enjoyable to watch him work, even though I barely understood a word of it. The rapid click of his fingers on the keys was relaxing.
But he wasn’t working. He was scrolling through real estate listings.
Stepping closer, I narrowed my eyes at the screen. All of these places were in New York. He jumped between towns, idly bobbing his head to whatever music he was listening to as he opened up photos of an overpriced McMansion.
Shit, we didn’t havethatkind of money.
He jumped as I slid my arms around his chair, grasping his shoulders. He tugged his headphones off, saying, “Damn it, you scared me! These are noise-canceling, remember?”
I pulled his chair back, grabbing his face as I leaned down.
“Mm, you do look good when you’re scared,” I said. “All wide-eyed.”
“H-hey.” He pushed his hand against me, but his protest dissolved the moment I kissed him.
“What are you looking at anyway? Slacking off from work?” I squeezed my way into his chair, basically forcing him to sit on my lap. It made his feet dangle off the floor, which absolutely tickled me but made him huff in exasperation.
“I was only taking a break, for like five minutes.”
“Sure, sure, just a quick five minutes browsing for houses.” I scrolled through the listings, wincing at some of the prices. Shit was so expensive.
“I’ve been thinking about it more,” he said suddenly, his voice reserved. “I know Manson and Lucas are putting it off, but Jess’s car is going to be fixed soon...”
He felt like he was running out of time. I’d had the same fear lately, although I’d been trying to ignore it. I was determined to go with the flow, come what will, let fate take its course.
But Jess felt too important to leave up to fate anymore. I’d come dangerously close to telling her as much that day at my parents’ house.
Manson had already confessed to her; he’d told us so. I thought he was being overly cautious by demanding she not give him a response yet, but maybe I was too eager. When I fell for someone, I fell fast and hard.Nottelling Jess as much had me ready to explode.
Why all the secrecy? Why the hesitancy? Because this was uncharted territory, and she was new to this entire scenario. She had plans and none of us wanted to interfere with that. Her life was already in the midst of turmoil and change, as was ours.
We all feared how things like love and commitment would complicate that even further.
“I don’t think she’s going to bail as soon as she gets the car back,” I said, frowning. “Don’t you think we’ve moved past that?”
“Probably,” he said. “But it’s not just that. She’s going to get hired full-time at that design firm. I know she will. She was talking about it at the gym the other day. Her review is coming up.”
