【Josh】
“Are you cold?” I asked.
“No,” she said defiantly. One of the icicles hanging from her nose fell off. “Nope.”
She opened the last Jell-o, and bit into it, sniffling pathetically. My heart had to melt at that sight – a seventeen-year-old girl, eating Jell-o, outside in a wood, in the winter, her nose dripping.
I took off my coat, and gave it to her. She needed it way more than I did.
As I took it off, I felt something in my jeans pocket. The two candy bars. My stomach rumbled. That was something I definitely needed more than her. She’s just eaten about forty Jell-os, and I’d had half (she finished mine. You just can’t say no to her, when it comes to food).
London lay herself down on the forest floor, using the bag as a pillow, and my coat as a duvet. I just watched her for a second, as her eyes slowly stopped fluttering, and her lips turned into a pout. She was asleep. That was amazing. I could never sleep in a dark forest like this, surrounded by bugs.
I sighed, and sat there. I could keep guard, and try and get some sort of fire going. I still had my Dad’s old lighter, so all I needed to do was get some wood.
After half an hour, I’d made a little pile, and tried to get it looking like what it did on TV – you know, tent-shaped, and surrounded by rocks. It was a bit on the small side, but there were only a couple twigs.
I pulled the lighter out of my pocket, and examined the little platinum thing. It was the only expensive thing I’d ever owned. That was why I got involved with the Mafia. To change that.
London probably never knew what it was like. To be so hungry, you couldn’t sleep. To be so cold, you couldn’t move. To cry so hard it hurt, but know, at the same time, that no one could save you.
That was the difference between us. We were worlds apart.
But I’ve never felt so close to anyone in my life.
I kissed her forehead, gently, and felt my own heart race.
***
(London)
When I’d woken up, I felt pleasantly warm. Hungry, but warm.
“Josh?” I called out, rubbing my bleary eyes. It was morning, and light shone through the trees, but it was enough to blind me.
He was asleep, propped up against a tree. I glanced behind me, at a small fire that was slowly dying out. He must’ve made a fire before he fell asleep.
I stretched, and looked into my bag, before remembering – crap! No more Jell-o!
“Josh,” I yelled, shaking him awake. “Josh!”
He woke up, and his eyes focused on me.
“We’re out of food!”
“So?” he asked, closing his eyes again. He had big circles under his eyes, probably because he was still recovering. I bit my lip. It was kind of like my natural reaction to tell other people when I was hungry, because in my experience, they would give me food as soon as they could. I was so spoilt.
I pushed down the reflex, and bit my lip.
Josh opened his eyes, a crack.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, looking genuinely worried. “Why aren’t you annoying me and begging me to do something?”
“There’s nothing you can do, right?”
He looked really scared right now.
“Are you sure you’re feeling okay? Normally you’re much more…rude.”
