OOOOOOOH WHAT'S GONNA HAPPENNNNN

Fun fact: Hi has been around since 1862.

I'm sorry, but this opening scene is the funniest train wreck I've ever written haha.

Enjoy! :)

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"Uh, Sarah and Rebecca want you to say hi."

David's eyebrow raises higher.

Jack's face flushes. "Oh-uh, no, I mean, Sarah and Rebecca want to say hi----say hi to you--that is, they send their greetings, as I am doing, right now, I--uh, Sarah wanted me to give her greetings when I did, so..."

Jack swallows. He hasn't felt truly embarassed in a good while.

For what feels like a painstakingly long eternity, they just stand there, staring at each other.

Then, David sighs. "Just come in already."

Jack gratefully obliges.

David starts walking away as Jack closes the door behind him. "Wait-"

Suddenly, a towel is thrown at him. 

"O-oh." Jack starts using it to dry himself. "Th-thanks."

"Well, I can't just have you get everything wet," David tells him as he walks back, "I just cleaned everything this morning."

"O-oh."

David sighs. "And I would be a bad host if I let you freeze."

Jack smiles weakly. "Thanks."

"Got any other words for me than those?"

"I'm sorry."

David stops. "Pardon?"

Jack takes a deep breath. "I'm sorry for everything that happened back then."

David doesn't need to ask what Jack is referring to.

"And I'm sorry we drifted apart, and that-"

"I'm not."

Now it's Jack's turn to stop. "What?"

"I, for one, am not sorry that we drifted apart. I was able to reinvent myself, to grow. The thing is, Jack, not everyone has to revolve around you. And now I've actually had time to figure out who I am, without you, and it has been great."

Jack feels a lump in his throat. True, he expected a lot of things from David, this among them as a possibility, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt.

"So thanks for opening my eyes eight years ago," David finishes. "Or else I still would still be stuck with you, without a life of my own."

Every word hits Jack in the heart.

"You're right," he says meekly.

David stops. "What?"

"You're right," he repeats. "What we needed was time apart. I've had time to reflect on everything too. And I'm glad that you moved on. I'm glad that you have a life now, but what I've learned over the course of eight years ... is that I need you in my life."

David stares at Jack, searching his face, trying to figure him out. Jack hopes that David can see that he is being as genuine as he possibly can.

And, as always, David can see it. "Well, would you like to sit down? Something to eat?"

"I'm not too hungry," Jack replies, sinking into a chair, just relieved that David isn't kicking him out.

"Not a chance," David responds instantly, matter-of-fact, heading into his kitchen. "You're always ready to eat."

Jack stomach growls a little. "Okay, maybe you got a point."

David laughs. Not a dry, brittle laugh. An actual laugh. It warms Jack more than the little fire in the fireplace ever can.

It doesn't take too long for David to come back with a plate of bread and butter and sit in the chair next to Jack. He sets the plate on the little table between them.

"So ... what have you been up to?" Jack asks curiously, timidly.

"Lot of jobs here and there," David tells him. "I haven't settled on anything yet. I like having the freedom to move around, and it's a little exciting not knowing what will come next."

Jack thinks about that. "So what you're saying, is that by taking the time to reinvent yourself without me, you ended up taking a page out of my book and bounced around between jobs with no tether?"

David doesn't answer, just looks at him silently.

"Sorry," Jack blurts. "Wrong thing to say."

David sighs. "You really haven't changed."

Jack feels like he needs to apologize for this too. "...Sorry."

David rolls his eyes. "True, I haven't settled on anything yet, and it's kind of exciting not knowing what's going to happen next, but I'm also looking forward to when I will find something to settle on. I hoped buying this place would help, maybe help me figure out what it is I'm looking for." He takes a bite out of a piece of bread. "But it seems to not be that promising if it's led you back to me."

Okay, that hurt. Since when was David this good at comebacks that sting?

Jack says nothing, only lathers his bread with butter.

"And then my girlfriend-"

Jack nearly jumps out of his chair. "You have a girlfriend?!"

David sighs. "Yes."

"Wai-wait," Jack stutters. "No-who-wait-what-huh? Girlfriend?!"

"Was your existential crisis learning to live without me complete with the loss of all comprehension skills?"

Jack glares reproachfully at David. "No, it's not that, it's just--" How does he put it into words? "I didn't think you were like that."

David looks at him coldly. "Like what?"

"I mean ... you know..."

"No, I don't know."

Jack sighs. "Like society wants us to be. Normal."

David doesn't answer that. After a few moments, he comments, "I thought you liked boys and girls, Jack."

True, but that's not a part of Jack's argument. So Jack has to direct this conversation somewhere else. "And I thought you were trying to reinvent yourself without me."

"How does that have to do with any of this?"

"It has to do with all of this," Jack responds matter-of-factly, and keeps talking before David can speak again. "Because you wanted to figure out who you were without me, meaning you wanted to do so without a romantic relationship. So I don't know how well that's going to work if you've started dating someone else."

David opens his mouth to respond, to sayanything to refute what Jack said, but he can't. Because what Jack said was all true. 

Jack lathers his bread with butter smugly. "It's just interesting, is all."

"Why are you here, Jack?" David asks, tired. "It's late, and there must be something you came here to talk about."

Jack swallows. This is it. "Yeah, there is something." Slowly, carefully, he hands Kid Blink's letter to David, who takes it, looking at Jack curiously. "Apparently, Kid Blink wrote this right before he died."

Tentatively, David reads the letter silently. While he reads it, Jack is encloaked in the silence, feeling paralyzed.

David finally looks up once he reaches the end. "What in the world was that?"

Jack sighs. "I don't know. I really don't know."

"It's crazy."

"Yes, it is, but you could nearly feel  the desperation in his writing, right?"

"Yeah. Almost got chills, really."

He's not turning the rest of it down; and for that alone, Jack is relieved.

"So, what should we do about it?" David asks.

"Maybe we can start by making up like he wants us to?" Jack suggests hopefully.

David bites his lip, lost in thought. He thinks about it. He really thinks about it. "Okay. I'm ready to finally settle our differences."

Jack lets out an obvious sigh of relief.

"It's going to take some time," David tells him, "but I'm ready for us to put the past behind us."

A smile tugs at Jack's lips. "That's all I need."

"So, what do we do now?" David asks. "It's nearly midnight."

"Why don't we meet up tomorrow morning in the marketplace?" Jack suggests. "We can come up with ideas for how to find the others."

"Sounds like a plan."

Sounds like a plan.

It sounds like a plan, it sounds like a start.

It sounds like the beginning of reconciliation.

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I really enjoyed writing that.

It may just be 2:00 am and I think I'm clever, but did David serve some great comebacks?

And I just gotta say, I loved writing the beginning haha.

And still, you gotta believe me when I say that Javid will be present. While I am known (I think??) for my inconsistent chapter lengths/notably long chapters and author's notes, I am NOT known for developing/re-developing relationships quickly haha.

Little research things:

Towels were invented in the city Bursa in the 15th century.

The phrase bread and butter has been around in the 1700s, it was the 1800s when it was more a common phrase.

Again, it may just be 2:00 am and I think I'm clever, but ... I think I started a subtle theme/motif/thing that Jack and David are supposed to go together like bread and butter.

So, who do you all think they're going to try and find next? (I'm genuinely curious, and if you have an idea, I would like to hear what you think in the form of a comment)

HAPPY PRIDE MONTH!!!!!! :)
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Please, no homophobia, profanities, hate etc in the comment section.

Best,

~Your Beloved Author (who wrote two chapters in two hours, but should probably turn in for the night)