They sleep well into the next day.
Wesley can't manage to force himself out of bed. In the middle of the night, Jamie curled up against him, resting his head against Wesley's chest. Now, Wesley tries to pause his body, preventing his lungs from taking in air, so that Jamie doesn't stir Once Jamie wakes up, Wesley knows the moment will be over. After all, they fell asleep on opposite ends of the bed, facing other directions.
Then, Wesley begins to feel guilty for stealing this moment when Jamie wouldn't want it. Wesley nudges Jamie, who groans. The smaller of the two boys rolls off of Wesley, on to his side. Wesley copies his movements so that their faces are only inches apart.
"What time is it?" Jamie mumbles. His hand sloppily wipes away the sleep from his eyes.
Wesley watches Jamie, slowly swallowing. He inches forward, only slightly, and tries to seem more relaxed. Despite this, his shoulders remain tightly wound up. "I've got no clue."
Jamie rolls on his back and stares at the ceiling. There is a skylight above them, and Jamie wonders how he isn't freezing. It can't be Wesley, since the taller boy is always ice cold. In fact, Jamie is beginning to notice that his body is too cold all the time. It can't simply be the cold fall air anymore.
"Well, this day is wasted," Jamie rubs his hands along the coarse sheets. They are foreign, probably because they've been sitting in a cabin in the cold for weeks since anyone else has been here.
It takes everything in Wesley not to curl up against Jamie. He could not think of a better way to spend the day. "I'm sorry."
Jamie turns to Wesley, scrunching his brow. He lets out the softest of breaths, the beginning of a laugh that is cut off by the doubt within him. "What do you mean you're sorry? I'm sorry. I kind of have a habit of blowing things out of proportion."
"I love when you ramble," Wesley exhales. His fingers lift to trace Jamie's lips. Jamie's breath tickles Wesley, causing his spine to shiver and his heart to pound. Whatever Percy thinks (though she has never spoken out loud) about them all being dead can't be true, because Wesley has never felt more alive.
"You love?" Jamie asks. He looks at Wesley, staring at the boy's chilled face. Wesley's face is sharply cut, with a strong jawline and a sharp nose. His eyes always caused Jamie's body to clam up. The harshness Jamie expects from a face like Wesley's is incompatible with the tremors in Wesley's fingers and the softness in his voice.
Wesley nods. "I love."
This time, Jamie leans in. He brushes his lips against Wesley's and then kissed them.
~~~
Hope is on the balcony. Cara notices her when she comes down the stairs. It took Cara longer than usual to get dressed, simply because the clothes don't feel like hers. Since Cara wasn't feeling in a shopping mood at the mall, June had picked up her stuff. While a white sweater and sailor pants aren't abnormal attire for Cara, they are too stiff for today.
"Hey," Eden calls out to Cara, the stairs creaking in his wake. June follows him down into the main room of the cabin. Eden goes out of his way to squeeze behind Cara, just for the excuse to put his hands on her hips if only for a second. He plops down on the couch, an arm outstretched on the back in case Cara sits down.
"What's she doing out there?" June asks, ignoring the pair. She heads over to Hope on the porch.
When June opens the door, Hope turns to face her. It hadn't occurred to Hope that others might be awake, even though it is so late in the day. Hope looks at the three others before she steps into the room.
"Would it be alright if I'd jumped?" Hope asks.
Cara furrows her brow. She steps forward, much to Eden's dismay. "Like, off the balcony?"
June shakes her head. "It's hardly a balcony. A porch, really."
"The tree," Hope heads back on to the balcony, flagging the others to join her.
Cara and Eden join the others, and the four end up on the balcony. They follow Hope's eyes to find a tree in the backyard with a tire swing hanging from it. Cara reflects that it isn't that high off the ground. Unless someone lands wrong, they probably wouldn't break any bones. "Why?"
"I haven't done anything yet," Hope tells them, which is true. She waits for Cara's response.
June turns to Cara as well, pulling out the puppy-dog eyes that worked on August and sometimes even March. While perhaps she is over her days of whipping herself against hard surfaces, she can't resist the urge to join in on Hope's fun. "Please! We can make a whole thing out of it."
Eden nudges Cara. He nods, waiting for her to agree. Eventually, Cara sighs. "Fine."
June grins, she races back inside, calling over her shoulder. "I'll get Wesley and Jamie. Go get Erik and Percy."
Without a word, Hope races off the porch after her. The two dart upstairs. June knocks on the door and is surprised to hear Jamie and Wesley in unison ask for a minute. Hope attempts her best to get Percy and Erik moving, but both of them are sluggish.
"Can we talk?" Eden asks Cara, his voice hushed.
Cara turns away from him. She leans against the bannister, letting her elbows take the weight away from her. Though her father used to tell her stories about people falling off of balconies before, she can't care anymore. Cara knows what it is like to soar through the air and knows crashing all too well. "About what?"
"You know about what," Eden tries to grab her hand, but Cara turns away. Eden doesn't like talking over her shoulder, but he is out of options. "You've been avoiding me since we kissed."
Cara spins around, her hair flowing violently. It gets in her eyes, but her fingers are shaking too much to wipe the strands away. She looks around, her eyes wide, trying desperately to see if anyone heard him.
It stings Eden.
"We shouldn't have done that," Cara tells him, her eyes failing to stay on his for longer than a second. Anyone could notice them and know that the power outage was their fault. Or worse. Cara is pretty sure that June has feelings for Eden, and that would tear apart their relationship. Besides, don't screw the crew.
Eden bites his lip hard, running his hand up the back of his neck. The moment replays in his mind. He kissed Cara, he remembers that. Did she kiss back? Did she want to kiss back? "Fuck, I'm sorry."
"No," Cara raises her hands in defence. "Whatever you are thinking no. It's just... it's not a good idea. It's going to cause problems."
"You do know that Wesley and Jamie are together?" Eden asks.
"What? Like, dating? The whole package?"
He shakes his head, correcting himself. "Not that that changes anything. I just wanted to know if you knew."
"Still," Cara manages, even though it does change everything. That night couldn't have been their fault. "We shouldn't have done that. You agree with me, right?"
Even though he doesn't agree, he forces himself to nod. Not because Cara is generally sensible and makes good calls, which isn't always true, Eden reminds himself. Cara is a person, and she is not infallible. Though he would trust her with his life, Cara isn't without challenge. No, Eden agrees because it's what Cara wants. If she isn't sure that right now, she would drop everything for him, then they can't be for each other.
Eden has died for her, and he would again. For people who haven't died, they might underestimate that sentence. He has felt that horror though, a worse feeling than anyone else could possibly every understand. Yet, he would still do it for her. If Cara doesn't feel the same, then he has to let her go.
Someone begins to come down the stairs. It's Hope, Percy, and Erik. They head to the porch, climbing down it and into the backyard. Since their conversation has ended, Eden follows after them.
"Be careful, Hope!" Cara calls out.
Eden forces himself to smile up at Cara. From so far away, she doesn't notice the tension in his face. "What about me?"
Cara blushes.
Hope climbs up the tree, as far as she can get. Her fingers scream as the bark tears into her flesh. Every time her skin rips, it heals into a callus. By the time she is at the top, only eight feet up, she feels stronger than she ever has before.
"You jumping or what?" Erik asks.
Percy playfully slaps him, though she isn't smiling. Erik laughs, sticking his tongue out at her.
"Yes," Hope answers, she can feel herself shaking. "You should move so I don't fall on you."
"It's not like it'll do any lasting damage," Erik teases.
"You've got this," Percy rolls her eyes at the boy, looking up at Hope.
Hope nods. She jumps, praying that she hits the ground on her own, without anyone there to catch her. Her ankles hit the ground, tipping out from beneath her. Her body begins to giggle uncontrollably as the sting of her shoulder hitting the ground becomes stronger and stronger. Eden offers Hope a hand, and Hope stands on her own.
Carefully, Hope puts a hand on Hope's arm. She squeezes delicately, before moving past Hope and climbing the tree herself. The feeling causes Hope's cheeks to burn. Hope's thankful that people will think her blush is from the bitter kiss of the wind. Hope grins up at Cara, waving.
"We missed it?" Jamie asks. He glances over at Cara, and then down at Hope. He runs over to the group just as Percy hits the ground.
Though June runs to join him, Wesley moves around to Cara's side. He wraps an arm around her, trying to shield her from the wind. "You joining in?"
"I've done enough falling thanks," Cara tells him. Then she flicks him.
Wesley rubs his arm, mocking pain. "What was that for?"
"You didn't tell me that you were seeing Jamie," Cara shakes her head. She almost laughs. "You guys are like, my best friends and you didn't tell me. I should've been the first to know."
"We aren't keeping it a secret," Wesley tells her. He flinches as he feels Jamie fall. When he hears the boy's laugh, he relaxes. "Like, basically everyone knows. June, Eden, and Erik."
Cara shakes her head, a laugh escaping her lips. She pulls Wesley off him, gently pushing him away from her. "I can't believe you. Next thing you are going to tell me is that you write poetry."
Wesley bites his lip. A roar of a laugh escapes him. It coincides with June's as Eden pulls her off the ground. "Well actually-"
"Go have fun," Cara cuts him off, shooing him away.
Wesley does.
From her spot on the balcony, Cara watches as member after member hoists themselves up into the tree and then throws themselves off. She shutters with every impact and laughs with the others as they wave up at her. She watches Jamie and Wesley steal kisses, and June wrestle with Eden and Erik, getting pinned by both. She watches Percy help Hope up after every impact, and Eden physically lift Jamie off the ground and throw him. She watches them play with reckless abandon for what feels like hours but can only be five minutes.
Then, she joins them.
~~~~~
The trick here is that I convinced you something bad would happen, and nothing did. They are all so sweet. My heart still aches for Cara and Eden, like so fucking much. It dies over and over again. Urgh. Everything else though, seems kind of back to normal. Even better than normal.
For now.