Oh my gosh the moment they've been waiting for is coming up.
It's funny because a while back in this story I was like "huh this might actually all be from Jack's perspective" but I am SO much better at being an omniscient narrator (it's very much my style of writing) and the 'fixed perspective' idea kind of faded away haha.
How will the execution of this chapter go? That's something I wish to know haha.
Enjoy! :)
------------------------------------------
Race buys more bread on their way out. If they weren't supporting Chick Tucker's business, and if they weren't so happy with the bread, Race would have had to defend himself indignantly for getting more bread. Instead, they're all happily eating away as they walk out of the bakery.
"So," Race says casually, walking alongside Chick Tucker. "You and Kid Griffo, huh?" He doesn't say it in a mean, teasing way. More like someone asking about a friend's crush in a mischievous way while trying to seem totally nonchalant.
"Not so loud!" Chick Tucker shushes him, eyes darting around wildly. "There are small-minded people everywhere!"
"Don't you mean close-minded?"
Chick Tucker shushes him again. "Close-minded, small-minded. Small-minded people are usually worse. And close-minded small-minded people are the worst you can encounter. Especially when they gather in bunches. Then they become dangerous."
"Okay, you have a point," Race gives in, adopting Chick Tucker's hushed tone. "Still. I wanna know. How'd you two meet?"
Chick Tucker drops his guard for a moment and smiles fondly. "It was a huge mix up, really. You see, I knew Big Jack O'Brien first. Out of him, me, Kid Griffo, Kid Blink, Big Jack O'Brien was the one I knew first. Then came Kid Griffo, then Kid Blink. Anyway, we were younger and more reckless, and Big Jack O'Brien and I were involved in smuggling."
"No!"
"Yes."
"Really?"
"Yep."
"And you're telling me this in broad daylight when just two minutes ago you panicked at the mere mention of you and a guy-"
Chick Tucker shushes him again frantically, then seeing Race's point, glares at him reproachfully. "I don't have to go on."
"Oh no. No more interruptions. I promise."
Mush walks beside them. "Sorry for eavesdropping. I just couldn't help it. I wanna hear the whole story too."
"Alright, so we have this one day where Big Jack O'Brien I were running late when we had to meet up with some very important people in the smuggling world..."
As Chick Tucker explains in great detail to Race and Mush how smuggling works and just how infamous these people were, with Spot walking a little behind them, smiling behind them amused, Jack and David walk side by side.
"I doubt this was how you were planning on spending the week," Jack comments.
"No, definitely not."
"Sorry about that."
"Honestly, I like it."
Jack looks at him, surprised. "You do?"
"Yeah," David answers truthfully. "I didn't exactly have this in mind when I wanted something new and exciting, but I like it. I like the feeling of wondering what's going to happen next, and I like spending time with all of you."
Jack smiles fondly. He loves this quiet moment with David. "Well, I'm just glad you aren't tired of any of us."
"Oh no, I could never get tired of any of you," David reassures him. He admits, "In fact, I was lonely before you came up to my doorstep completely drenched from the rain."
Jack chuckles at the memory. "You were?"
"I missed everyone. I thought I had wanted to move on, that I shouldn't be stuck in the past. But honestly, I was glad to see you that night. I'm glad I'm here now."
Jack thinks about how to answer. His brain is taking a lot of time to process all of this. David was lonely? He missed them? He's glad he's here?
...But did David miss Jack?
Jack could ask, and hope for an honest answer.
Instead he decides to ask about something he hasn't been able to stop thinking about since that night.
"So when you say that you thought you had to move on, you got a girlfriend." More of a statement than a question, but it has been a burning question that he's been dying to ask for a while.
David sighs. "You had to bring that up?"
Jack freezes. "Sorry. Sorry. Um..." He clears his throat. "I'm happy for you."
"A-ha!" David lets out a little laugh of disbelief. Jack knows this little laugh well. "I think that was the most unconvincing thing you've said in the past 3 days, Jack Kelly. Maybe ever."
Jack feels his face heat up a little. "Okay, I don't think that's necessarily true..."
"I mean, I get it," David tells him. "If you told me you were with someone else, I would probably be shocked too. But yeah, she's ... she's great."
Jack swallows. "So after we finish all this, then what? Are you going to settle down like you said? Find a job? Marry her? Live a conventional life?" He tries to keep emotion out of his voice.
David goes quiet. Jack doesn't know if David doesn't want to answer Jack, or if he really doesn't have an answer.
Jack doesn't know which one would be worse.
Meanwhile, Chick Tucker is recounting this very vivid story for Race, Mush, and Spot. "...and going to the wrong place wasn't even the worst of our worries! By now we were super late, and while Big Jack O'Brien runs ahead, I get taken out by someone carrying a ladder over their head horizontally."
"No!" the three exclaim.
He nods vigorously. "Oh, yes. Anyway, I got knocked out, but then I wake up later with Big Jack O'Brien by my side, telling me I missed it, I missed the meeting, and this other guy, this incredibly handsome guy, who is totally worried, starts gushing about how sorry he is that he hit me in the head with the ladder, and claimed that he would pay any hospital bills, and I wasn't paying attention to anything he said because I was too busy just watching him and the way he moved and the way he talked. I fell in love with him right then and there. I told him that it was okay, and that I was fine. I wasn't fine. But the relief on his face after I assured him a million times that I was fine was worth it. We grew closer, and we've been nigh inseparable ever since."
Spot whistles. "Wow."
"That is definitely a story," Race comments.
"And so sweet!" Mush adds.
Chick Tucker smiles.
"Alright! I need more!" Race exclaims. "I want the whole sappy story about how you became a couple!"
And so for the rest of the way, Chick Tucker tells them everything, and they eat up every word.
Finally, they're standing outside an apartment door. Chick Tucker does a series of knocks on the door in a specific pattern. He steps back from the door. "You all should stay here and let me go in first. He doesn't exactly like strangers."
They all take a step back.
The door opens, and he goes in, leaving it ajar.
They all lean in, trying to get a whiff of the conversation going on.
"...I brought some ... visitors," they hear Chick Tucker tell the person inside.
"Visitors? My love, are you sure that's a good idea?"
"Trust me on this. They knew Kid Blink."
Silence.
"And ... they're like us. All of them. One of them even was Kid Blink's lover."
"Really?"
The five feel guilty for eavesdropping, but now they're curious. How could he tell that all of them were like him?
"Yeah. And there must've been some history that went wrong, because the other ones are in love but aren't admitting it."
Now they all exchange glances. He could tell all of that?
"Okay. Let them in."
"I love you."
"Love you too."
Chick Tucker opens the door for them. They jump back, trying to make it look like they weren't eavesdropping, but they're failing at that.
And once he opens the door, they find the person they've been looking for: Kid Griffo.
------------------------------
Ooooooooh
Like said, they are so close to figuring everything out.
Sorry if you wanted the whole sappy backststory between Chick Tucker and Kid Griffo haha I might write it later.
I found out that smuggling has been around pretty much since trade and taxes have been around haha.
Oh, and ladders were invented 10,000 years ago.
Any other notes for this chapter? No, not really. Except I didn't have anything really plot driven, so a quiet moment to themselves when they could actually just talk was nice.
So. What's Kid Griffo gonna say?
Please, no homophobia, profanities, hate etc in the comment section.
Best,
~Your Beloved Author (who may or may not have written 9/10 of this chapter in the night but had to stop because of how tired they were haha)