Heronstairs: A Fluff Collection

Blind Date Debacle (Prompt 19)

Shifting his violin case from shoulder to shoulder, Jem hesitated a few meters away from the park bench, wondering whether or not he should attempt to check on the crying stranger. He really didn't want to talk to a stranger right now, but... His heart was already feeling guilty for not making sure the stranger was okay, or at least keeping them company while they cried on a park bench.

He approached carefully, not wanting to startle them. "Hey... Are you alright?"

The stranger stiffened and their head snapped up. Jem's breath caught in his chest. This stranger- a man, he could see, now that his head was up- was breathtaking. Dark curly hair framed high cheekbones and eyes that were somewhere between the ocean and the night sky. Even teary-eyed and a bit disheveled, he was something out of a novel, seeming out of place on a dingy London park bench beside Jem and his battered violin case.

He gave a shaky laugh. "It's been a bit of a rough night."

Jem sat on the other end of the bench. "Do you need someone to listen?"

The stranger looked at him for a moment, eyes flicking from head to toe and back again. Jem wanted to cringe away from the stare, but he held steady and kept his demeanor calm.

Lord, his heart was racing. Initiating random conversations was so far out of his comfort zone he didn't even know where he was. Although, he'd been doing a lot of things like that lately (at the urging of Tessa and Jessamine, those traitorous vixens). He'd even agreed to be set up on a blind date sometime next week. If he could do that, he could make conversation with this distraught and distractingly attractive stranger.

"I don't even know you," the stranger said after a long moment.

Jem set his violin case down by their feet and extended a hand. "I'm Jem Carstairs." The stranger finally smiled, albeit a bit shakily, and shook his hand.

"Will Herondale."

"So, Will, do you need someone to listen? Sometimes it's easier if you don't know them."

Wasn't that the truth. It was much easier to talk to someone if you didn't have to face their pity the next day. Some things could be kept in, but some things would eat at your heart if you didn't tell someone.

Will was quiet for a moment, then began to talk.

"It's been rough. My older sister was in a crash with a drunk driver, and she's still in the hospital. They're not sure how well she's going to recover, so Ma and Da are frazzled but I'm too far away to be of any help. I went back for a couple weeks, but there's only so much time off I can take. I'm trying to go back next weekend, but..." He sighed and put his head in his hands. In a wildly uncharacteristic move, Jem put a hand between his shoulder blades  and rubbed soothing circles down his spine.

After a deep breath, Will kept talking. "And the girl I thought was the one just dumped me last month because she thought we'd stopped being right for each other. Something about the shape of our hearts not fitting together any more or some bullshit like that." He made a strangled noise. "Maybe we weren't and maybe our hearts didn't fit together any more, but damn it, I thought I loved her!"

Jem continued the soothing motion, listening quietly as Will vented his troubles to the London night.

"And, for the proverbial icing on the fucking cake, I got stood up tonight. On a blind date." Will laughed, head still in his hands and fingers tangled in his wild mane of hair. "Guy hasn't even met me yet, and he didn't show up! Before I even got a chance!"

Jem was beginning to have a very bad feeling about this.

"A blind date, huh? Do you know what their name was?"

Will sniffled a little, pulling himself together. "All Magnus would tell me is that his name was James. He knew him through a mutual friend or something."

Jem's hand stilled in its path, and he began to mentally curse himself in every language he knew. He wasn't even sure he was breathing.

Will turned to look at him. "Something wrong?"

"His name is James?"

"Yeah."

At this, Jem did swear aloud, making Will smile a little. "Will, I'm so sorry. I... I think I was your date."

Will's smile vanished. "What?"

"That was tonight??"

"It's the twenty-second, isn't it?"

Jem groaned and leaned his head against the back of the park bench. "Damn. I'm so sorry, Will, I'm horrible with keeping dates straight."

"Are you sure it's you?"

"Does your Magnus work with a girl named Tessa?"

"Fiery, smart, brown-hair, takes no shit?"

"Yeah, that's her."

"He does..."

"Then it's definitely me."

Will looked at him for a long moment. "Then why are you here? At the park?"

"I had a doctor's appointment earlier today, and the medicine makes it hard to sleep." Jem carefully skated around the truth of the matter; he was tired and had been sick most of last week, but too anxious and wound up to even try to go to sleep without having an anxiety attack. "I decided to take a walk." That much was true.

Will looked at him for another long moment. His gaze seemed to search Jem's very soul, and he once again fought the urge to squirm. Seeming content with what he found, Will stood and offered a hand down to Jem.

"Well, here we both are, after all. Shall we make a night of it?"

After a brief moment of oh god what's happening is this a good idea probably not, Jem stood and took the offered hand, slinging his violin case back over his shoulder.

"Sounds like fun."

A/N: Just a reminder that contest entries are due on May 20th. That's this Friday! See the previous chapter for details and get your submissions to me, or we won't have enough participation to continue this contest in the future. Thanks for your support, everybody! Have a wonderful day!