Strikes and Ladders

Chapter Nine: Things might be okay

Now here they are, sitting together in the penthouse, seemingly the whole of New York beneath them. The sun is just peeking out of the sky in the distance and it's almost dark, but the lights downstairs aren't on yet, so they have to squint through the shadows to see one another.

"Davey..."

"Nope."

"Huh?"

"Don't talk, I'm thinking. If you're talking, I'm not thinking. The strike proved that well enough. I know it's taking me a while, but I'll get there, promise."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay."

So there they sit, as the last light of their day fades to night. Davey slowly loses track of Jack's features in the darkness, but suddenly, seemingly all at once, the lights from downstairs in the lodging house go on. Candles and lanterns glow from beneath them and shower their faces in golden light. Jack especially, with his tan skin and dark hair. Davey thinks he looks like an angel, the glow from the lodging house giving him the halo he deserves. Oh.

"Oh."

Jack tilts his head, a painfully hopeful look on his face. "Oh?"

"I just... I realised something."
"Well care to share with the class, I'm dyin' here."

"It might be a bit much, Jackie."

He scoffs. "Please, I signed up for a bit much the second I asked you out."

"Well I... I think I might be in love with you." Davey brings his knees up to his chest but manages to keep his eyes locked with Jack's. Not that he could look away from those mesmerising brown eyes even if he wanted to.

"Oh is right, then. That's a big confession for someone like me."

"Not exactly a small realisation for someone like me. " Davey thinks he's going to explode. There's this feeling filling up his chest, his stomach, into his arms. He looks at Jack and everything he thought before meeting him goes out of the window. He's always known that he's different. Shabbier clothes, less money, more of an accent than anyone at school. Then, as they got older, less of an interest in girls. He figured it would happen eventually, like his mother told him, but then he met Jack and realised it wouldn't. Despite everything in his bones telling him that this is a terrible, awful idea, he can't help it. Young love breeds stupid decisions. "Okay."

"Okay what?"

"Okay...I'll go out with you. Yes. Sure. Fuck it, I'm already a poor jewish immigrant, might as well give the cops another reason to hate me. Why not?"

Jack laughs. And laughs. And laughs. When he's finally finished, he looks back at Davey, who is half-heartedly glaring at him. The effect is ruined, however, by the soft grin creeping its way onto his lips. "You're pretty when you cuss."

Davey rolls his eyes. "Okay, never mind, I take it back!" His voice is joking, and his eyes are too, and Jack just can't stop staring.

"Nope!" He pops the 'p' as he says it, grinning still. "You already said you'd go out with me. No take-backs."

"No take-backs? What are you, six?"

"Not six, just in love with you."

This stops him. Davey stares back at this man, one who should still be a boy, but isn't. One who has all the right in the world to be bitter, angry, or sad, but still manages to find ways to laugh, to enjoy the life he has. And it hits him that this beautiful, kind, generous guy is in love with him. Him! Just some random kid who has been thrown into everything interesting in his life against his will. He wonders, just for a moment, if everything will be okay, but it soon leaves his head when Jack moves closer to him.

The way they're sitting now, their legs are flush against each other, thigh to thigh. Davey forces himself to look up from his own lap and down at his companion, to find those brown eyes already trained on him.

"You're not messing with me?" He asks, knowing the answer that he's going to receive.

"I wouldn't dream of it. And you know me, I'm a dreamer. I dream up a ton of stuff, so the fact that I wouldn't dream of it is-"

"Shut up, Jack."

"Well, if you want me to shut up, you might just have to shut me up the way you did last night." Jack eyes him, hopeful, but still a bit hesitant. "That okay?"

"If it keeps you quiet, I'll do anything." The smirk is back, their balance restored. Jack leans forward and their foreheads bump together slightly, causing them to laugh. Shoulders still shaking, Jack lifts a hand to cup Davey's jaw, and this silences him. His eyes open. He looks up. Their lips press together for a few moments, but soon they have to stop because their smiles won't allow it any longer.

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind you shutting me up anytime you want to, Daves."

"Good, I plan on doing it a lot. "