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“If you had to...”
Everyone’s attention turned to Olivia, whose gaze was casted steadily at Lukas.
“Which would you rather fight: a hundred chicken-sized zombies, or ten zombie-sized chickens?”
Despite everything, Jesse felt a smile pull at the corner of his mouth. He knew this one. He gave Lukas a little half-grin over the small fire, eyes twinkling. “Choose wisely,” he warned playfully.
Caught by surprise, Lukas blinked, then chuckled softly, recognizing the attempt at an icebreaker. “Huh. That... that’s a good one. Let me think.”
But hardly a second passed before Axel’s rough voice snapped them out of the brief moment of calm. “How can you joke around at a time like this?” he demanded, turning with a sharp glare toward Olivia, who hardly blinked in response. “Petra is still out there. She’s in danger. She’s all by herself. Does that not matter to you?”
“Axel, there’s nothing we can do about her right now,” Jesse sighed. “We can’t help her. Believe me, if we could, we would. But it’s out of our hands, at least until tomorrow. We can at least try keep our spirits up. We can’t just mope around.”
Axel’s glare was then turned toward Jesse, who, like Olivia, didn’t bother to react. It wasn’t the first time he’d been on the receiving end of such anger. “No, moping is exactly what we should do,” Axel grumbled, sounding more like an upset child than anything else. He huffed at Olivia’s visible eye roll. “What? I’m right, aren’t I?”
“Maybe,” Jesse mumbled, his voice turning determined as he turned toward his much larger friend with narrowed eyes, “but she’s going to be fine.”
“What makes you say that?” Axel grumbled.
Jesse lowered his gaze, arms coming to wrap around himself.
“She has to be.”
The mood had lowered. Olivia sighed softly as Axel gave one last glare toward Jesse before trudging closer to her, leaning against the wall with a scowl. All was quiet for a moment; then movement to the side caught Jesse’s eye and he turned to see Lukas push himself to his feet, clearing his throat softly. He looked nervous. “Okay. We need a plan of action for tomorrow. I say, if we start at the portal, and kind of split up-”
“Woah, what are you doing?!” And there was Axel again, Jesse internally sighed, uncrossing his bulky arms to turn toward Lukas, face set in a seemingly permanent scowl.
In an instant, the visible nervousness in the blonde melted away. Lukas glared right back, putting his hands on his hips. “Did I do something to you?” he asked, and Jesse began to dread what he knew was coming. “Because you keep getting on my case for what seems to be no reason!“
Jesse waited a split second to see if Olivia would step in, like she had previously done twice before - but she didn’t seem interested in defusing this argument. Instead, she just looked tired. She leaned further against the dirt wall, her eyelids drooping as she stared at the two boys who looked about ready to fight.
Guess this one was on Jesse, then.
“He’s right, Axel,” the brunet said before the much larger teen could come up with a response. “Lukas is just trying to help. Leave him alone.”
The blonde looked so very grateful in that one moment that Jesse felt his heart skip a beat. “See?” he said, turning back towards the fuming Axel, and there was hope in his voice. Hope that the larger teen would get off his case, hope that this situation could be so easily diffused, and Jesse found himself sharing that hope.
Alas, no such thing happened. Instead, Axel turned his scowl back in Jesse’s direction, crossing his arms once more. “I’m sorry Jesse,” he said, not sounding very sorry, “but I’m not just going to stand here and listen to this guy tell us what to do! Not after everything!”
Lukas’s arms fell to his sides and he heaved a great sigh. “I’m just trying to get ready for tomorrow,” he said softly, and Jesse could hear the desperation in his voice so clearly it was almost painful. He was tired, just as worn out and scared as the rest of them were. Why couldn’t Axel see that?
But in this sense, he supposed Axel was completely blind, as the next words he said made Jesse suck in a sharp breath.
“You’re the only one here wearing that stupid jacket. Don’t tell us what to do!”
It seemed to hit Lukas like a slap to the face, and Jesse felt it too. Lukas looked down at his jacket, and the flood of emotions that passed through him at the realization was completely visible on his face. Pain, panic, horror, sadness crossed his features in a matter of milliseconds, but when he looked back up at Axel, all that Jesse could see was pure and absolute rage.
“Take. That. Back.”
Axel smirked. “Can’t,” he said smugly. “Wouldn’t.”
“You know what?” Lukas snapped, his eyes following Axel intently as the larger teen began to make his way around the fire between them, the glare never leaving his face. “I get to wear this jacket because I know how to build. But that doesn’t mean I don’t know how to break things.”
The threat was hollow. Axel didn’t seem to care. “You don’t get to talk to me like that. Your threats don’t work now that we know who you really are.”
He towered over Lukas by almost a full foot, shoulders back, arms tensed by his sides, hands curled into tight fists. Lukas faltered, backing up a step. Jesse didn’t blame him. The brunet felt his body tense in preparation as Axel continued to back Lukas into the corner, the blonde looking more and more nervous with each step.
Lukas’s eyes roved until they landed on Jesse, who sat watching cautiously. His head snapped around to face him, panic in his eyes, but his voice was steady and hard. “Jesse, your friend is way out of line! I wasn’t going to say anything-” he was forced back another step. “-but there’s only so much I can take!”
Jesse shot to his feet, stepping toward the other two boys. “Axel, back off. Take it easy.”
At his word, Axel instantly fell back, though his glare never faltered as he turned toward Jesse. “Easy? He threatened me!”
“He’s not gonna do anything,” Jesse promised, and as he said it he looked toward Lukas, making it more of a warning than anything. Lukas nodded tersely, but his eyes held gratitude. He owed Jesse even more.
But Axel wasn’t done. He whipped back around and stormed forward, getting up in Lukas’s face once more, to the point where Olivia, who had remained silent up to this point, frowned and leaned forward, looking concerned.
“Haven’t you done enough for one day?” Axel snarled, towering over the blonde once more. “Petra might be dead because of you!” And he reached out with one meaty hand and shoved it against Lukas’s shoulder, and the blonde’s eyes widened as he was sent stumbling back several steps. Caught off balance, Lukas tumbled to the ground, and Olivia shot to her feet, stepping up behind Axel with wide eyes.
“You’re taking this too far, Axel!” she said, putting a hand on his massive shoulder. He shrugged her off, turning to give her such a harsh glare that she backed up a step. Jesse turned quickly toward Lukas, who was sitting in the dirt, eyes wide and chest heaving. But before the brunet could offer any sort of comfort, Lukas’s expression grew cold and hard and he pushed himself to his feet, face leveled in a glare.
“You know what? I don’t have to take this.”
Axel and Olivia turned toward him as he moved swiftly past them, not meeting anyone’s eyes.
“Why don’t I just leave, and you can hash this out on your own.”
It wasn’t a question.
Olivia reacted first. “You can’t leave!” she cried. “It’s dangerous out there!”
“I can take care of myself,” Lukas snapped. “Besides, it’s what Axel wants, right?”
“Let him leave if he wants to leave,” Axel snarled, looking way too smug for Jesse’s liking. “Then we won’t have to deal with him.”
By now Lukas was standing in front of Jesse, the brunet being the last thing keeping him from storming outside into monster territory. Their eyes met, cold blue meeting soft green, and Jesse knew what he had to do.
“You’re not going anywhere.”
For the first time since they built their shelter, Axel’s glare faltered. “But Jesse-”
“That’s enough,“ Jesse snapped, turning toward the much larger teen with a warning glare of his own. “We’re all on the same team. Like it or not, Lukas is a part of us now. He’s not leaving.”
He directed the last part toward Lukas, who still stood mere inches in front of him, breathing deep, heavy breaths. Their eyes met once again, and this time, Jesse couldn’t tell what Lukas was thinking at all. He had turned completely guarded, eyes dull and cold.
They studied each other a moment, both daring the other to back down.
Then Lukas stepped back to the other side of the fire and sat down, averting his gaze.
There was a soft sigh as Olivia sat down in her previous spot, slouching against the wall and letting her eyes slide closed. Axel remained standing, his gaze cold and hard, arms crossed stubbornly. With a deep sigh, Jesse sat back down next to Reuben, who nudged his arm softly, a sad look on his face. It went silent then, save for the crackling of the small fire that lit the room.
“Zombie-sized chickens.”
Olivia looked up at the quiet response from the blonde, who still refused to meet her gaze.
“That’s what I’d rather fight.”
She gave a pleased little hum that he had remembered to answer.
“And why’s that?”
His response was whispered almost too softly for them to hear it.
“Because I’m starving.”
Boom!
Thunder rumbled above them as with a mighty crack, rain began to fall outside the hastily constructed hut. They could hear each drop pitter-patter against the dirt roof above their heads. Lukas turned his eyes to the ceiling, a shaky sigh escaping his lips, before he looked down at Jesse with a look of absolute gratitude that gave the brunet butterflies.
“Thanks for keeping me around, Jesse.”
His throat was tight, heart fluttering in his chest. “Yeah,” he whispered hoarsely, and the conversation ended there.
~~~
It didn’t take long for Olivia to fall asleep.
Only a few minutes after everything had, for the most part, settled down, the youngest of their group had slipped right into dreamland, curling up on the tightly packed dirt floor. Axel stood protectively over her like a bodyguard, arms crossed, glaring threateningly at Lukas on the other side of the fire, daring him to try something. Jesse didn’t think Lukas planned on it, but he too remained slightly cautious all the same. You never know.
Eventually, with a little prompting from Jesse, Axel let it go and settled down next to Olivia, and the tiny hut was soon filled with the sound of his snoring. Jesse laid down on his back next to the fire, which crackled away merrily on the single block of netherrack they had brought with them from the Nether, Reuben snuggling up against his side. Lukas sat not far away, arms wrapped tightly around his knees, staring at the dancing flames like they would solve all his problems. Jesse watched him, upside-down. He didn’t seem to notice.
Some time passed. Jesse wasn’t really sure how long he stared at Lukas, studying the boy before him. The curve of his back as he hunched in on himself. The way he rocked, just barely enough to be noticeable, back and forth where he sat. The dull, lifeless look in his normally striking blue eyes. His styled blonde hair, which had long since fallen out of its gelled-up look and was frazzled and messy, stay hairs dangling in his face. Soft golden eyelashes fluttering over his eyes as he gave a long, tired blink. Little freckles spattered sparingly across the bridge of his nose. The narrow slit in his eyebrow that Jesse somehow hadn’t noticed before. His tight shoulders and furrowed brow, mouth puckered to the side thoughtfully. The glow of the fire castling shadows on his face, darkness and light dancing in jerking patterns across his pale cheeks.
Honestly?
He was beautiful.
Jesse rolled over onto his stomach, almost squishing Reuben, who gave an indignant squeak in response. The sound startled Lukas out of his trance, the blonde’s head jerking up to look at the brunet as he pushed himself to his knees, leaned back on his hands, and whispered, “Whatcha thinking about?”
Lukas cocked his head to the side just slightly, those dazzling blue eyes studying Jesse’s form intently. The brunet waited patiently, tilting his own head to the side to match. Lukas eventually seemed to find something he liked, as he gave a little sigh before whispering in return, “My friends. Where they might be. Whether they’re... alive.”
Jesse was not expecting that. Well, maybe he was - but he certainly hadn’t been prepared for it. He lowered his gaze, biting his lower lip in thought as he struggled to come up with a good response. Reuben gave a soft little snort, crawling up with his little piggy hooves into Jesse’s lap. He curled up and sighed softly. Jesse absently reached up with one hand to scratch behind his ear.
“You don’t have to say anything.”
Jesse blinked. Was he taking that long to answer? Oops. He shook his head lightly, as if clearing his thoughts, and shifted his legs, moving ever so slightly closer to Lukas. “I’m sorry we couldn’t all be together,” he said at last. “I would look for them if I could, but I wouldn’t know where to start.”
Lukas slowly and deliberately shook his head, eyes focused unyieldingly on the cracking flames before him. Almost as if hypnotized by their dance. “It’s probably for the best. You guys wouldn’t get along long enough to get anything done. I just hope they’re okay.”
“I’m sorry about Axel,” Jesse said suddenly, his head lulling to the side to look at his snoring friend on the other side of the fire. “He’s been a real jerk. I don’t know why.”
Lukas sighed. “No, I don’t blame him. I haven’t exactly been the nicest person to you guys.”
“You’re better than your friends.”
Reuben snorted in agreement.
“I know,” he whispered. “I’m working on that.”
Jesse shifted closer, leaning forward over his pig to look closer at the blonde. “You’re working on it?”
“I’m trying to make them be nicer to you guys. You’re cool. I don’t know why they hate you.”
“Maybe they’re just jealous.”
Lukas snorted, his death grip loosening around his legs. Jesse counted that a win. “Of what? Your treehouse?”
The brunet gave an indignant huff. “We built that all on our own, thank you very much!”
Lukas chuckled and smiled, a genuine upturn of the corner of his mouth. It only lasted a second, but the sight brought butterflies to Jesse’s grumbling stomach. He sighed, allowing himself to scoot a little bit closer. They were within reaching distance now. “No, I was gonna say maybe they’re jealous of our awesome handshake.”
“That was a handshake?!”
“You saw it?”
“I thought you guys were in some sort of slap fight!”
That time they laughed together, attempting to keep their voices down so as to not wake the others. By the time they had gone silent once more, Jesse realized he had moved close enough so they were now sitting side by side. Both had switched to sitting cross-legged. If Lukas noticed or even cared, he didn’t say anything.
It was quiet for a minute. Jesse watched the fire with interest, enjoying the way the flames rippled and swayed. Lukas was still, eyes fixed on some unseen point before him.
“Why are you being so nice to me?”
“Hmm?” Jesse turned to look at him. His face was hidden in shadow.
“You know you have every reason in the world to hate me. My group is a bunch of jerks, Aiden almost killed Reuben. Axel was right. It is my fault Petra was left behind. If I hadn’t froze, we could’ve saved her. You saw.” He turned his head only slightly, eyes moving the rest of the way. “So why are you on my side?”
Jesse exhaled heavily, his hand pausing in petting Reuben, who was still curled up in his lap. “You heard what I said back there, right? Whether we like it or not, we’re part of the same team now. We ended up together. It could’ve been anyone else, but it was us. The least we can do is try to get along. And I think everyone deserves a second chance.” His tone turned more playful and he resumed petting Reuben. “Besides, you still owe me for getting you out of that basement.” He shrugged. “Also, Petra told me to give you a chance. She’ll probably murder me in cold blood if I don’t listen to her, so I don’t really have a choice.”
Lukas chuckled. “That’s fair,” he said softly. “That’s fair.” He turned his head to fully face Jesse then, those wonderful blue eyes no longer dull - now they shone in the light of the fire, a smile gracing his lips. “Thank you, Jesse. You’re a good one.”
Jesse wasn’t quite sure what compelled him to reach out and put a hand over Lukas’s on top of his knee, but he did it with a small smile, hoping it would curb the slight awkwardness that came with it. “Anything for a friend,” he whispered.
Lukas looked down at Jesse’s hand atop his. For a moment, the brunet was worried he had just undone every bit of the bond they had managed to create in the short time they spoke. But instead, Lukas smiled, and put his other hand overtop Jesse’s. He looked up, and their eyes met, sharing a kind smile. No more words were said that night; instead, the boys simply laid down in front of the fire, next to each other, with a sleepy little pig between them, and relished in the crackling of the red and yellow flames.
And if they woke up the next morning to birdsong and sunshine with their hands still entwined, well, that was just a little secret to keep between them, wasn’t it?