IT WAS late. Eleven forty-nine, to be exact. Jordan had gotten Ron into bed, made dinner, cleaned the bathroom (mostly the spilled toilet water), cleaned his room, and swept the kitchen. Now, he was staring at the attic door, food in hand, knowing he should go up but knowing he didn't want too.
Why had they been eavesdropping? It was blatantly obvious that was what they'd been doing. Couldn't they trust him? What had he done that had shown he was untrustworthy?
Kept your birthday a secret, lied about your powers, your sexuality, your brother being (biologically) a sister, need I go on?
Okay, but besides those? Nothing. And those where harmless, his to share when he pleased and why he pleased. And now, because of their careless behavior, Tate knew! They had tried so hard to keep their being here a secret, and now Tate knew! Tate, who could barely keep secrets, Tate, who loved the Umbrella Academy almost as much as Ron. God, Tate knew.
Fucking hell, Tate knows.
Jordan took a deep breath and opened the door, swinging it shut behind him.
~
When he poked his head over the landing, he realized that they all looked rather guilty.
Diego was lazily throwing some knives (where had he gotten those anyway?) and then snatching them back. Allison and Luther where cuddled up together, frowns on both faces and staring at Vanya (still asleep, thank God). In the nest of blankets, Ben was napping, although he kept turning over and moaning in pain. Klaus was sitting just outside the nest, criss-cross-applesauce, with his head in his hands; he was watching Ben.
And Five. Five was sitting in the windowsill, watching outside. Just now, Jordan realized that the cut from when Vanya had woken up and attacked (was that yesterday? It felt like a lifetime ago) had dried blood trailing from it. His mouth was drawn in a small frown, and he kept on tugging his ear. Jordan thought back to all the others times Five had done that. (When he's upset. He's upset, do something Jordan)
"Hey," he said, announcing his presence. Allison sat up, Luther not far behind. Klaus looked at him but didn't move, Diego pulled his knife from the wall (looking a smidge embarrassed) and Ben continued sleeping.
Five gazed at him with an emotionless face, and Jordan felt his heart in his throat.
"Here." He shoved the food forwards. Allison, footsteps soft and gentle, took it from him.
"We are sorry about earlier, Jordan." She said. "We didn't mean to alert Tim to our presence."
"Tate."
"Tate, right. Sorry." She then passed the plate around; everyone took just a little. Ben still didn't rouse from his dreams; just whimpered and turned over.
"Five?" Jordan cleared his throat, and Five nodded as acknowledgement. "Do you want a band-aid for that or something?"
He reached up and touched the dried blood, as if he'd forgotten about the wound. He shrugged. "It'd be nice."
"C'mon, then." Jordan said, jerking his head towards the stairs. "We'll have to be quiet, though."
Five nodded again and stood, brushing his pants off. Then he snatched a fish finger from Klaus ("what? Rude!") and followed Jordan downstairs. Allison cast a look at Jordan, who simultaneously felt his heart expand and shrink. There'd been something knowing in that look; like she knew he was gay, knew he found Five extremely attractive, and told him to be careful.
He smiled back, then descended to the second floor of his house.
~{}~
"Sit up there, yeah?" Jordan nodded to the counter that previously held Allison only hours before. Five pulled himself up and started kicking his legs childishly while Jordan dug through the cabinet.
He let out a happy hum upon finding the supplies needed—some dinosaur band-aids and anti-infection cream. Then, he snatched a wash cloth and turned on the sink, his finger held in the stream of water. He willed it to warm up, and then it was the perfect temperature.
Smiling to himself, he soaked the cloth.
"Ready?" He said, standing awkwardly to the side. Five rolled his eyes.
"I am not a baby. Just do it."
"Sorry," Jordan said, and then he reached over, careful not to touch Five. After a moment of this process—Jordan reaching awkwardly to the left side of Five's face and trying to dab the blood off, all while flustered and Five confused by his emotions as well—Five just grabbed Jordan's hand.
"What?" Jordan said, wishing he didn't feel like Five's touch was fucking electrocution, sending hot bolts through his skin.
"Just...stand here," Five adjusted his legs so that Jordan was placed in between them. Jordan froze, both he and the other boy aware of the closeness.
"Yeah. Now do whatever you where doing, Jordie." Five grumbled, trying to be annoyed. Jordan was trying to take care of him, to–to clean his wounds, or something. It wouldn't work! Nope. Not like the tongue that poked out slightly in concentration was adorable, or the light pink flush behind his delicate freckles was cute, or the curls falling down the nape of his neck and tucked behind his ear very fucking hot. Nope. Not at all.
But Jordan did all those things as he tossed the wash cloth in the laundry hamper and picked up the anti-infection cream. Carefully, he squeezed out a bit and placed it on the cut. Then, he picked up two band-aids and held them out, the soft smile showing off his white teeth.
"I hate that you heard Tate call me Jordie," Jordan said; Five grinned at this admission of embarrassment. "Now, would you rather have a purple velociraptor or a pink stegosaurus?"
"Er...have you got any normal band-aids?" Five said. This was totally Jordie trying to get back at him.
Jordan shook his head with a small smile. "Sorry, just the dinosaurs. Now, which one?"
Five sighed and said, "Purple velociraptor."
"Aw! Good choice."
Then, he peeled off the wrapper and tossed it, biting the inside of his cheek. As Jordan placed the band-aid on his forehead, Five felt his heart speed up.
Fuck, could you smell that sugar cookie and lavender and coconut and was that a bit of...cigarette? Alcohol? Whatever it was, it was something Klaus had a fondness for; but somehow, Jordan managed to weave it carefully into the tapestry that was his intricate scent.
"There! All done," Jordan smiled and placed his hands on Fives shoulders, going from the band-aids to Five's eyes.
Hell, where they pretty.
The two stared at each other, lost in eyes of green and brown, the purple velociraptor band-aid standing out on Five's tan skin. Jordan couldn't care less; all he could think about was his mouth. And how good it would be to just...kiss him. Also, how fucking close they where; he was tucked between Fives' legs still, and he could feel his knees beginning to shake.
Meanwhile, just a few inches away, Five was panicking. Jordan was close, Jordan smelled good, he looked good, fuck, kiss him kiss him! Do it! Dammit, Five, just fucking kiss the goddamn man already!
Heart beating erratically, Jordan took his hands off Five's shoulders and slid them up to around his neck. Fives breath caught in his throat: holy fucking fuck, Jordan was going to kiss him. And he didn't want to stop him.
Slowly, Five started to lean forwards. Jordan's eyes never left his face, but his fingers did interlace behind his neck as they got closer. Fucking fuckity fuck, Jordan's hands where softer than silk.
Their noses brushed, and Jordan could feel Fives gentle breath on his face, mingling with his own; Five's smelled a bit like fish fingers, but he didn't mind. He was so fucking close to kissing him.
Then, behind them, a loud whooshing sound; Five jumped away, head hitting the mirror, his face red, and Jordan's hands fell to his side. He could feel his own face turning colors.
"Excuse me," Five mumbled as he rubbed his head, voice low; Jordan loathed that he thought it was hot. He carefully stepped out from between his legs and stood to the side, cracking his knuckles anxiously.
Five went down to the ground, pulling his ear. Then, he stepped into the shower.
"Uh...what're you doing?" Jordan frowned.
"It's the Commission." Five said, his voice still low (and still hot). "They found us." He stepped out, a canister clenched in his hands.
Jordan felt rage spew up; the fucking Commission had interrupted his kiss? What the fuck, guys? Learn when to send your goddamn messages!
"The Commission can take a chill pill." He said grumpily. Five laughed, and Jordan's heart constricted.
"True. But I need to take this upstairs. Excuse me." Five opened the door and paused. "Uh, thanks for the band-aid."
"No problem."
Five smiled and then was gone.
Jordan crept into the bathtub and looked—no sign of any canister tube thingie. Sighing, he stripped his clothes off and ran a warm bath; he sunk in up to his nose and started to play with the water, making it into shapes and things.
After, he went to bed. It was twelve-twenty-nine, early Sunday morning.
A/N:
Oooooh Jordie and Five almost kissed! How exciting! Except the Commission interrupted it. How rude.
Anywho, thank you for all the comments on the last chapter! It made my heart happy
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and have a lovely day!!!