Nadjia hurried down the stairs to answer the door. The bell chimed again. "I'm almost there, idiot boy!"
She answered the door, and Jonathan stood, his dark brown hair slicked back, the sides cropped short. Jonathan stood outside, staring up at the sky.
Nadia stared at him, waiting patiently for Jonathan to do something, or say something. "Are you going to stand there all afternoon, ore are you going to come in?"
Jonathan fought the urge to snicker. "Well it's been such a beautiful day. Blue skies, bright sun... the dark clouds covering the blue skies, and the bright sun."
Nadjia shoved him playfully, grabbed his shirt, and pulled him into the house. She shut the door behind her.
"Whoah, Nadj! Where's the fire?"
"I'll show you fire!" She pushed him into the stairs. Jonathan landed hard, losing his breath in the process.
"Easy, easy!" Jonathan put a hand up, panting. "Uncle!"
Nadjia tackled him.
"Oof!" Jonathan caught her, but not before he took the full force of her momentum.
"Jon!"
Jonathan carefully held her shoulders, and set her beside him. He waited until he could draw a complete breath. "You called me over?"
"Yes! My parents went to Irvine! They took Suheila!"
"When do they come home?"
Nadjia squealed. "Monday!"
"Oh, man. This is big news. So you want to come over as crash at my place?"
"Idiot boy!" Nadjia pushed the side of his head. "You come here, and stay the night!"
Jonathan scratched at the back of his neck. "Gee, Nadj. I don't know. Your parents wouldn't like that. Man, Nida, and Amir-"
"-are in Irvine!" Nadjia giggled, and wrapped him in her arms. "I finally have a moment of quiet with you!"
Jonathan blushed. "I, uh... I would ask my folks, but mom and dad took David to visit my grandpa in Salem. They'll be back Sunday. Maybe I can stay Sunday?"
Nadjia clenched her arms as tightly around Jonathan as she could. He gasped for air. "No, Jon. You're staying here tonight. I have the guest room ready, and everything!"
Decisions, decisions.
Jonathan gasped again, and wheezing, "Okay, okay! If you'll let me breathe, I'll stay!"
Nadjia squealed, again. "I was hoping you would stay!"
✟ ☧ ✟
Jonathan sat with Nadjia in her living room, the end of One Day at a Time aired, the volume low. Neither Jonathan, nor Nadjia were spending much time watching the television, tied up in one another's embrace, engaged in a long session of kissing.
The doorbell rang.
No. "Ignore it." Jonathan held Nadjia tighter. The doorbell rang again, twice.
God. Damn. It. "Let's just keep ignoring it." Jonathan paused between breaths.
The doorbell rang again.
I have to answer it. "It will only be a moment." Nadjia slid off the arm of Jonathan's seat, straightening her hair, and clothes.
Jonathan sulked a moment, and then stood. He did not bother to straighten his clothes, or fix his tussled hair. He hung back just out of sight of the door.
Nadjia answered the door, opening it wide. She took a step back, eyes wide. "Trent! I haven't seen you since..."
"April." Trent stepped into her doorway, but did not cross the threshold. He took a moment to survey the foyer behind her, the den, and the stairwell. "I've been a little busy. We parted on awkward terms, and I wanted to come by with an olive branch. Hoping we could still be friends."
"I told you in April we would still be friends."
"Yeah, yeah you did... but that's Breakup-101. Everyone says they'll stay friends. I was hoping you meant it. May I come in?"
"I, uh... I have a guest over."
"A guest? Coming up the driveway, I didn't see your parents car. Perhaps they're parked in your garage?"
"No, Trent. I have Jonathan over."
"Him?"
Jonathan stalked into sight, slicking his hair back with his hands, locking his eyes on Trent. "Yeah. Him."
"Jon, go back into the living room."
Trent reached for Nadjia, but she stepped back another step. He stared at Nadjia, and back to Jonathan; the intense green eyes, flushed cheeks; his clothes were wrinkled, and his hair was a mess. Trent put it together.
"You don't waste much time."
"It's been eight months." Nadjia reached for the door, But Trent casually pushed it open full, out of her reach.
"Has it only been eight? I've been so busy, I stopped counting. Stopped counting, but I never stopped thinking about you."
"You said friends, Trent. Friends don't mull over old breakups. It wasn't working."
Jonathan took quiet steps closing distance between he and Trent.
"I didn't know it wasn't working. You were abrupt. It hurt. I do want to be friends. I just wanted you to keep an open mind."
"My mind's open, Trent. I've moved on. You should, too."
Trent looked from Nadjia, to Jonathan, to find Jonathan at the doorway. "You're a sly one, aren't you! You move quickly. Explains a lot."
Jonathan struck him squarely between the eyes, and the punch knocked Trent off his feet, off of the porch, and flat onto his back in the walkway.
Trent lay there still for a moment, and groaned. "Oh, you're a big feller aren't you. Sucker punch, and all."
"Hold your tongue, or I'll cut it out of your mouth, dirtbag." Jonathan aggressed through the doorway, and stood over Trent from the porch. "You had your time, you failed. Accept your failure with grace. Nadjia is spoken for."
Trent propped himself on his elbows, rolled over, and with difficulty, pushed himself onto his knees, and slowly rose up to his feet. "Let her tell me."
"I'm telling you." Jonathan's fists were clenched, knuckles white. "Let me make this clear to you in no uncertain terms. We're marrying after graduation. If you come near my fiancée again, you will disappear, and I will build a dump site over your final resting place. You'll be where you belong, trash buried beneath trash."
Trent looked from Jonathan, to Nadjia, wiping the trickling stream of blood from his nose onto his sleeve. "Nadjia!"
"Jonathan!"
"What?" Jonathan looked briefly over his shoulder at Nadjia, and stepped off the porch aggressing further toward Trent, who crawled backward on his elbows away from Jonathan.
"Nadjia, please help me!"
Nadjia rushed through the doorway, over the porch, and ran into Jonathan. She wrapped her arms around him tightly. "Jonathan David Walker, don't you dare become a bully! You're supposed to protect people!"
Nadjia let Jonathan go, and he stopped just short of Trent. "Get out of here."
Trent scrambled away, tripping, recovering, and breaking into a full run.
Jonathan stared after him, and long after he was gone, stood still in Nadjia's driveway.
✟ ☧ ✟
Nadjia sat next to Jonathan on the couch.
The volume on the television was down. "Is hand still sore? You hit him pretty hard."
Jonathan shook his head. "I heal up pretty quickly."
Nadjia furrowed her brow. "Does that come with the Advanced Education?"
"Something like that."
"Are you ever going to tell me what happened out there?"
Jonathan gave her a sheepish expression. "When we're married? Just read the letters, Nadj."
"...practically married already. I don't want to read the letters, I want you to tell me." Nadjia kissed Jonathan's knuckles. "You can't even tell you hit him."
"Fast healer. Sorry I hit your friend."
"It's fine. He was being rude."
Silence was thick in the air between them, a suddenly thick, and palpable tension. Nadjia slid of the couch, and walked to the television, turning it off.
Nadjia turned from the television, and smiled. His green eyes on hers, and her electric blue eyes locked on his. "We should watch TV in my room."
Jonathan watched her as she stood, and stepped past him, out of the living room. He heard her ascent up the stairs. Her voice echoed from the stairwell. "Are you coming with me?"
"You don't have a television in your room."
Silence.
Oh, God. Jonathan sat in the silent living room staring at the television, the screen black.
Decisions, decisions.
Jonathan stood up off of the couch, scratching nervously at the back of his neck. He stumbled on his first step, and steadied himself.
"I'll be right there." His voice sounded small in the empty living room. Outside the living room, outside the window, the light was fading fast.
Outside the nearest window, he heard a distant screech.
Decisions, decisions.
✟ ☧ ✟
Jonathan woke alert, to the sound of running water. He held his wrist up, the blurry image of his watch reading eight o'clock.
He could hear the shower running down the hall.
He sat up slowly feeling sore, reached over to his shoulder and winced. He could feel welts, scratches healing. The night's details began to return to him in clarity.
He was in Nadjia's room, Nadjia's bed.
Oh, shit.
Jonathan pushed the bedcovers back, rolled out of the bed and scrambled for his clothes, strewn over Nadjia's floor in messy piles.
Shit-shit-shit-shit-shit.
The shower stopped.
Jonathan dressed.
There were candles, blue candles, lit around Nadjia's room. Outside birds sang their songs, and a cold December breeze blew through the barren tree outside her window.
Jonathan stared out the window, and staring back at him, a barn owl blinked, closed its eyes, and slept. Jonathan rapped a knuckle against the glass, and the owl opened it's eyes, unreadable black eyes.
Jonathan rapped his knuckles against the glass again. "Get out of here!"
The owl opened its eyes, and stared.
"He's been there a while, now." Nadjia stood in her bedroom doorway, watching Jonathan. He turned slowly to see Nadjia in her a bathrobe.
"Did we, uh..."
"We did." Nadjia blushed. "You don't regret it, do you?"
Jonathan shook his head. "I... I didn't..."
"You're going to marry me." Nadjia stepped through the doorway, and to her dresser. She opened, and closed various drawers, picking out pieces of clothes along the way. Nadjia dropped her robe, and began to dress. Jonathan turned back toward the window. The owl was gone. The skies were silver, and gray, sunlight shining through the clouds where they were thin.
"I'm nothing you haven't seen."
Jonathan felt her sit on the bed, her hands on his shoulders, massaging sore muscles, caressing his neck. He relaxed a little, and turned slowly back toward her. Nadjia was wearing a pastel yellow shirt, and white denim shorts. "Are you okay?"
"Are you?"
Nadjia giggled. "I'm a little sore."
"I didn't hurt you?"
"I was worried I hurt you."
"Was I... Did I? Was it okay?"
Nadjia shrugged. "I don't have much for comparison. I think maybe we will have to practice, to know for sure?"
"No, it's fine, let's not worry about my ego, or anything like that."
"There is no ego between us. No secrets, now. No competition. There is only Us, now. No dirty, cheating Maria Sandoval, or pining Trent Henrique. I thought maybe you had practice..."
"What, with Maria? Nooo, no, it never got that far."
"Even better then. We can stumble, and feel our way around in the dark together."
Jonathan blushed, and Nadjia hugged him. "I'm finally where I'm supposed to be."
✟ ☧ ✟
Jonathan sat quietly in the dining room beside Nadjia, contemplating his breakfast, as Nadjia ate.
"I think we should hike a little today. I want to show you the MacAllen ruins."
Jonathan pushed scrambled eggs around his plate, took a bite, and swallowed. "Wasn't that a you and Trent thing?"
Nadjia was smirked. "Nothing is a me-and-Trent-thing, Jonathan Walker. There's something I want to show you that is more than the ruins."
"Okay." Jonathan nodded, and began eating a little faster. Nadjia watched him eat. He was beautiful. Even when he practically inhaled his food.
"About last night, Jon."
Jonathan looked up at her from his plate, mouth full. "Hm?"
"I had every intention. I don't want you to think it just happened, or it was an accident."
Jonathan gulped down his mouthful of eggs, set his form down, and stared at his empty plate. "You're a very dangerous girl, Nadj."
She nodded. "Uh huh, you remember that." She stood, and took the plates from the table. "I'm going to wash these, and then you be ready. We're going out to see the ruins."
✟ ☧ ✟
"Well, that's not unsettling." Jonathan pointed to the ruins from the bottom of the trail. The ruins sat in shadow, perched upon them, and the trees around them, more owls than Jonathan could count.
"They nest here." Nadjia took Jonathan's hand, leading him up the rough trail to the ruins. She pulled him along, and into the ruins. She stopped, and they stood together on the floorboards of the ruined house.
"What happened here?"
"Fire happened." Nadjia knelt over the floor boards, pulling Jonathan down beside her. She cleared away layers of dirt, and pine needles, pointing with two fingers to the valentine's heart with hers and his initials in it.
Jonathan smiled.
"Do you like? I put this here months ago. This was what I wanted you to see. It's always been you, Jon."
"Was this, uh - that day - you put this here?"
Nadjia nodded. "It was."
"I'm sorry."
"You don't have to be. You're mine." Nadjia dropped down, sitting, and released Jonathan's hand. She patted a dusty spot next to her. "Sit down, and kiss me."
Jonathan stood briefly, dusting off his clothes, and then sat down next to her. "Here?"
"We're taking back everything in those eight months Trent took from us. This is our home."
"These ruins? Nadjia, I'm pretty sure we're getting a house."
Nadjia gripped Jonathan by his shirt, and lay slowly, pulling him over her. "Shut up, you idiot boy, and kiss me."
✟ ☧ ✟
"Here too?"
"Stupid boy. It should have have been your kiss. The colors... the light..." Nadjia's voice trailed off as she leaned into Jonathan.
"Well, this has to be where they get 'like a couple of teenagers'..."
"Shhh. Just watch."
The sunset in the gray sky, painting hews or reds, and orange, the gray clouds glowed like burning embers, and the falls cast their rainbow in the shallow cavern where Nadjia held Jonathan. As the cavern shimmered, it's crystals, and hairline veins of silver, Nadjia pulled Jonathan to the damp cavern floor.
"Again?"
"Shut up stupid, and love me..."