Carter Reynolds

"A little sister and an older brother. My dad works in construction and my mom was a substitute teacher before they let her go. And yes, Atalka my entire life." Jerome said the last part quickly, like he didn't want me to hear that he'd stayed in his hometown so long.

"Three older brothers, so I think I win that round." I announced proudly. "Oh, and an older sister technically."

"How do you technically have an older sister?" Jerome asked.

"I never met her." I admitted. Talking about Rosie made me uncomfortable, and I don't even know why I brought it up.

"Half-sister?" Jerome suggested.

"Not really." I looked at the line that stretched ahead of us. At least it was mostly in the shade, but Jerome had me trapped. I didn't want to stand here in silence, so I let myself answer. "Jessica is a complicated person. She always needs someone with her. And for a while, Rosie was that person. But she died. I didn't get details, but I know that it was the Agency. And then I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and ended up becoming Jessica's replacement. Rosie 2.0."

Jerome's features froze. I was worried that the truth was going to make him sad or call off the trip altogether. Maybe he wasn't going to want to be around me anymore.

"That's..." Jerome stopped himself. I could hear his heart pound. "I had no idea."

"I don't talk about it much. The thing with Jessica and I has always been weird considering that it started with her killing me." I confessed.

"I guess I don't have anything interesting to say." said Jerome.

"What do you mean?" I asked genuinely. I really wanted to learn everything I could about Jerome Hawke.

"Like I totally let myself forget who I was talking to. Don't you find it weird?" Jerome asked.

"Do I find being a vampire weird?" I asked. "Because the answer is definitely yes."

"It could be worse." the side of Jerome's lip twitched like he was trying to stop himself from laughing. "You could sparkle."

I totally meant to shove Jerome lightly, but I underestimated myself and almost sent him hurtling into a cashier carrying an iPad with a small white chip attached to it around his neck.

"Sorry." Jerome murmured to the cashier, pulling out a credit card. "Two tickets for the 86th, please."

I cleared my throat and tried to act a little more serious, more embarrassed than I wanted to admit. The cashier accepted the card and pulled two small tickets out of his fanny pack to Jerome, not mentioned a word about getting shoved.

"Okay, this way." Jerome nearly pulled me into the Empire State Building. I stared in awe at the grandiose lobby that I had only seen on television screens. Marble flooring gave way to bronze walls that had the Empire State Building itself stamped onto it with a large bronze embellishment, a million lines running off it like a halo.

"Wow." I muttered.

"Never seen it before?" Jerome asked.

"Yeah." I agreed, a little confused by the proud look on Jerome's face. "What?"

"I don't know, I'm just glad I have something on you, I guess." Jerome answered. We joined a group of people who were being shepherded into a large elevator. The elevator ride took a minute, but a dramatic video on the wall that counted down the best attractions in New York and put the Empire State in first place for a biased reason kept me distracted.

The elevator opened to a crowded floor. I tried to tune out the sound of everyone's breathing as I stepped onto the balcony. The sight below me felt dizzying. I was used to staring out over the city from above at this point. Kiara and I would spend hours just looking at the view at night, but we never really spoke. I hadn't really seen the city during the day, and there was a different feeling now. The grid of concrete buildings looked like they stretched on forever.

I walked out, careful to stand under the thin line of shade provided by the spire from the top of the tower. The 86th floor apparently wasn't the tallest floor of the Empire State, but it was still tall enough to be mesmerizing.

"This was one of the first things I did when I got here." Jerome explained. "I FaceTimed my mom when I got to the top. She keeps saying she's going to visit, but something always comes up."

"Huh." I said. I wasn't necessarily paying attention to Jerome anymore, but not because I didn't want to. I could feel my senses dispersing to the things around me. I could smell the hot asphalt 86 floors beneath me and hear bits of everyone's conversation. I tried to just focus on Jerome's heartbeat, since it was the only thing I could easily pick out in the crowd.

"Come on. You can see Central Park around this side." Jerome pulled my hand, but I didn't move. Jerome frowned, but before I could explain, he looked discerningly at my feet, which were strategically planted away from the sunlight. "Right." I heard him whisper under his breath.

"I can hear you, you know." I pointed out.

"No wait, hold on." said Jerome. "I have an idea."

When Jerome and I left the Empire State behind, Jerome held the cheap umbrella he just bought over us. No one even gave us a second glance. After all, there was a man walking a dog in an Elmo costume without context, a lady pushing a stroller that had nothing but a bag of fast food inside, and a man carrying a cardboard sign and a Barbie doll who seemed to be very upset about how the planets were aligned today.

There were weirder things to pay attention to than a couple of boys ducked under an umbrella making their way to Central Park.

Still, despite the chaos that was New York City, I was choosing to focus on other things. On warm brown eyes locked in concentration as calloused hands tried to tilt the umbrella to cover me better. As enhanced senses forced me to experience everything around me, it was nice to find a solid heartbeat to keep me grounded.

A heartbeat that got a little bit faster when I tried to take the umbrella back, with hands brushing past unsuspecting hands.

A heartbeat that also had a girlfriend.

"You don't need to hold it. I got this." Jerome insisted.

"It just might be easier if I have it," I explained. "You don't need to be under the umbrella anyway."

"I bought it," said Jerome defensively. He held the umbrella a little higher, but his eyes were still tracking its shadow carefully. "Let me actually do something, okay?"

"Are you alright?" I found myself asking. We were finally back in Central Park, and I gently lowered the umbrella from Jerome's hands as we settled under the shade of a tree.

"I'm fine," Jerome muttered. "I just... it feels unfair that I get to be."

"There was nothing you could have done." I reminded Jerome.

"But what if I could have?" Jerome asked. "What if I could have stopped it, or at least tried. I just left. I left like you told me. And I ate dinner while Dad joked how stupid it was the evacuate an entire town, and I laughed about it, and then I moved to a city I've dreamed about, and all of it feels really selfish."

"You did the right thing," I argued. "They could have killed you if you stayed."

"They could have killed you," said Jerome.

"Jokes on them. I'm already dead." I smirked.

"Whatever, I wanted to sh-"

"Hey!" someone called from behind us. I didn't have to turn around to know that it was Lena. "Jerome?" Lena asked, surprised.

"Hey, Lena," said Jerome. "Good to see you."

"What is he doing here?" Lena asked.

"I don't know, I just ran into him," I replied.

"I'm right here, you guys know that, right?" Jerome asked.

"We were getting worried." said Lena. "No one's heard from you."

"I got distracted." I explained.

Lena looked at Jerome pointedly. "I can see that. But seriously, we need to get back or Jessica's going to have a fit."

"Lena and I are staying at Willow Heart on the 16th floor. You can come anytime." I offered.

Jerome passed the umbrella back to me in a silent resignation. "Sure." he agreed. "I'd invite you to my dorm if it wasn't a mess. Try not to die or anything in the meantime. You too, Lena."

"Noted," said Lena, even though she wasn't the type of person to follow very sensible advice.

I watched Jerome leave until he was out of sight. Lena practically had to rip my gaze away.

"I never thought I'd see him again, honestly," Lena admitted.

The rest of the walk was in silence. I was too lost in all of my thoughts, and it was starting to get dizzying. I wasn't usually so overwhelmed by the things around me, but something was starting to feel off. I spent all of my focus pretending to be normal as Lena and I took the elevator upstairs.

"Found him!" Lena called into the penthouse as the elevator doors opened. In the background, a new story about the dangers of hogweed and the death of a man named Raymond Evers played on tv.

"Carter, where have you been?" Jessica basically teleported into the living room to admonish me.

"I found Jerome." I tried to say it casually as I opened the fridge with red tape over it in a bold X.

"The boy from Atalka?" Jessica asked, hovering over me as I grabbed a small bag from the fridge. The blood inside was packaged like it was intended for hospital use, which made me feel sick whenever I drank it. It was supposed to sustain someone else's life, not mine. Ever since I got here, I had been playing a dangerous game, seeing how long I could go without blood before I lost my mind. But if I was going to be around Jerome, that wasn't a game I was willing to play anymore.

When I didn't bother giving Jessica a response, she retreated back in her room. I cringed as I drank from the blood bag and put it back in the fridge mostly full. I made my way back to Lena's room, feeling a little more grounded and wanting someone to talk to.

"Come in." Lena probably saw my shadow lingering over the doorway. When I walked in, Lena had her curtains firmly shut.

"Hey." I said.

"Hey." Lena echoed unenthusiastically.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Just stressed," said Lena shortly. She sat on her unmade bed, her eyes trained on the green curtain in front of her.

"Did something happen?" I ran my hand along Lena's dresser absentmindedly, pausing at the weird carving someone had left in it. It looked like the roman numeral for 2, but it was curved in a weird way.

"What do you think my family would do if they saw me?" Lena asked suddenly.

"Have you seen anyone besides Finn?" I asked, alarmed.

"No, it's not that." Lena promised. "I know it sounds weird, but I just feel like I'm being watched all the time. And for a second, I didn't want it to be paranoia, I actually wanted it to be them. It's stupid."

"Listen, your family is full of terrible people. But at least you're not awful. You can't be thinking about them."

"You're right." Lena agreed hollowly. "My family is terrible."

I took another look at the dresser, tracing the lines as I tried to connect the symbol to someone else.

"Maybe I'm not a good person," Lena muttered.

"Why?" I prodded, crossing my arms. I was more than prepared to debunk whatever ridiculous thing was about to come out of her mouth.

"Because I..." Lena sighed, throwing her head into her hands.

"Very communicative, thank you, Lena," I said sarcastically.

"No it's..." I raised my eyebrows, but Lena shut down again. I took the cue to sit down next to her.

"You saved my life," I explained. "Twice, actually. I think I'm pretty great, so maybe you can be good by extension."

Lena snorted, adjusting her glasses. "It's your turn to save me next time."

"I don't think so," I argued. "Because you got the river, then I had the werewolf, you did that the auditorium thing, which was really cool by the way, and I made the escape plan. It's your turn to save me."

When Lena didn't say anything, I frowned.

"Whatever it is that you're dealing with, you can tell me," I promised.

"I miss him." As Lena said those words, her voice shook. "I don't know why I miss him so much or anything, but I wake up and the first thing I think is that I... I want my dad back."

Oh.

The second Lena confessed it out loud, she broke down, her thin body wracking with sobs. I wrapped my arms around her silently.

Lena shuddered, her breathing starting to get even again. "I'm not supposed to feel this." she finally spat out.

"Hate to break it to you, but you are," I said. I laughed nervously as Lena started to calm down. "I know that you still feel tied to them. You... you deserved a lot better. We both did."

"Thank you," said Lena finally, her voice muddled. "For saving me."

"From what? The werewolf? Because that was mostly Jessica-"

"From them." Lena clarified. "I wanted to be an agent so badly and I-" Lena took a deep breath. "Thanks," she murmured again.

With Lena leaned against my shoulder, I let myself pretend that I was standing with the sister I never met. I never let it last more than a few seconds, though. It did Lena a disservice.

As my mind wandered, my eyes landed on the dresser again. That symbol. I knew what it was.

It was a zodiac sign, specifically, the Gemini.

A/N: I hope at least some of you guys found this chapter cute. Jerome and Carter have probably interacted more in those two chapters than in all of The Gate lol. But it's good to watch them actually get to know each other. I'm enjoying my last couple of days of being productive, because it will unfortunately be coming to an end. I should have started packing for the next six months yesterday, but let's not talk about that.

QOTD: Which is better - Empire State or Statue of Liberty?