In Another Life - JackieShauna AU

Chapter 7 - Beaches

At some point during their walk home from the field, Shauna had agreed for Jackie to spend the night at her house.

"My parents are out for a month," she'd unconsciously said, causing Jackie to go into a begging frenzy to stay over until Shauna said yes. Normally she would have been red with irritation from the sound of such irksome persistence, but the smile that would claim Jackie's face whenever she agreed to something would make Shauna forget all about how frustrated she was.

She entered her home with Jackie in a matter of minutes, having walked faster than usual. Out there, the sickly one trembled like a newborn animal, even with the extra jacket that Shauna had offered her.

"It's warm-" Jackie exhaled and shuddered once she was inside, slipping off her shoes.

Shauna stepped in and turned her head. "I would hope so." She moved forward. "My room is this way."

Jackie followed briskly. She observed her surroundings once again, having been fascinated by the inside of someone else's home. Everything was neat and placed perfectly here and there, giving Shauna's house a warm atmosphere to it. It reminded her of her home...

Jackie nearly bumped into Shauna as she stopped to enter her room.

"You can sit anywhere." She climbed into bed and folded one leg, pulling over her laptop to start it up.

"Is your bed alright?" Jackie pulled off Shauna's jacket.

"I said anywhere."

Jackie plopped onto the mattress right after those words, bumping her head against Shauna's shoulder. She recoiled with a grunt.

"Watch it." Shauna shifted to the side to give her visitor more room. Despite this, Jackie was still close enough for their arms to touch. Shauna sighed and lazily dragged her finger along the d-pad. "Do you want to watch a movie?"

Jackie curled in on herself and pushed her hands into her hood pocket. "Yeah. Anything is fine." Her yellow eyes stared at the screen intently.

"Okay." Shauna opened the first movie that she had in her computer's memory. She pushed the laptop away and pressed play.

"What's it called?" Confused, Jackie glanced over at her.

"Beaches."

"How long is it?"

"About two hours." She kicked her legs out of bed and walked across her room to retrieve a thick blanket that sat bundled up in a rolling chair. She then tossed it to Jackie once she was close enough. "You've been shivering. Use it."

Jackie gathered the navy blue blanket in her arms and cautiously threw it around her shoulders. It was soft. "Thank you." She kept her eyes on the screen. "I used to handle the cold better than here." An embarrassed chuckle escaped her.

Exhaling through her nostrils, Shauna reclaimed her seat in bed, crossing her legs. "Things happen."

"Yeah..."

Outside, the sky above grew dark as clouds rolled in. Jackie quieted herself, curled up, and watched on as the movie started.