Icy Waters

With the sudden gain in personal space, Jonas could ignore the sense of lost that swarmed in his own personal air. At times like this, when the loss was like a white hot heat burning into his chest, Jonas regretted a lot. It was only meant to be fun, it was only meant to be something to pass time when the lust was too much to handle or in those weak late nights together. But in some way, it had formed into something more, a best friend, a confidant, and a desire that never seemed to be filled. The only solution was to bring the can back to his lips for another long pull of the alcohol hidden inside. “I didn’t know you were looking for a personal nurse”, was the only appropriate response that came to mind. With dinner all but done, there wasn’t too much he could continue to distract himself with anymore. Which only meant one thing, it was time for the real challenge to start. “You know she’ll never quit, as much as she hates her boss, she loves her job. I just think the hospital needs to get their shit together and just fire this dude and give my mom the promotion she’s deserved for years”, the safe topic was still the best option, right now. Multi-colored eyes focused on the browning meat, just finishing the last bit of tacos to lay out the rest of the fixings. It was only a few moments before he was announcing that dinner was ready and the loss of all distractions.

                  aristotle shrugged a shoulder at jonas like it was nothing and reached for one of the cans, opening it with a soft hiss. it sounded like dis-traction. he refused to close his eyes. “ here, ” he said, which for aristotle was polite, and might had passed for flippant if it weren’t for his hands or how they lingered after handing him the beer. he reached up and brushed his fingers against the inside of jonas’ elbow and up his bicep, where he tugged on the fabric of his jumper. it was disarmingly soft, sort of like the boy underneath it. aristotle looked at his shoulder, the collar of his shirt, his throat, anywhere that wouldn’t meet his eyes. all he said was, “ your ma’s gonna’ be pissed she missed me, ” it was safe territory, safer than asking jonas something stupid or fundamental, like ‘ can we please talk about it now ? ’ talking wasn’t what they did, talking was all they ever did. aristotle didn’t want to talk anymore, he still wanted to bite down on his shoulder. “ how’s she been ? her boss still actin’ like an asshole ? ” he asked, hand falling to his side and feeling resentment in his chest like a second heart.

There was some moments in time that everyone wished they could pause. Either they were the terrible moments they wanted to rewind and redo. Or they were moments that people wanted to live in forever. It was safe to say that Jonas was one of those peoples and that a goof handful of those moments were with this person right here. It felt like his his stomach was caught within his own throat, sealing away any breath that could relieve the tension that creeped up from it’s source. The so familiar fingers on his skin, tracing a path that had once been used and walked on, now desolate and untraveled. A life time ago, the cooking would of been long forgotten for the time of lust and giving into the desires that were tucked away during practice. But now, down he had to hold himself back, now he had to remember his mistakes and the choices his made. No matter how much he wished they could fall back into old routes. Clearing his voice, his vision was focused in on the bubbling sauce and attention on the alcohol brought to his lips. “She absolutely will be, but someone has to be the adult in our family”, he explained, turning off the heat to the pan. Finally, with nothing else to focus on, he looked back to Ari with full attention. “As always, thinks it’s fun to take advantage of the single mother to take all the open shifts. But she’s too sweet to say anything.”

                it was a picturesque house to grow up in, aristotle noted lazily as he put four beers in the fridge, two from the six pack he’d paid some guy in cigarettes to pick up already sitting on the kitchen island. providence itself was a picturesque place if one looked at it like an outsider, which aristotle both was and was not. the relationship was complicated.   “ yeah, and before you get pissy, it’s old mil. ”   he said, pushing the door closed with his elbow. jonas mentioning he was cooking hadn’t been an open invitation, and yet here aristotle was, in his kitchen, eyes scanning the area for something convenient and significantly less green to snack on. he was coming up empty which, as the universe constantly liked to remind him, was a reoccurring theme with jonas. aristotle made a point of looking at the spot over jonas’ shoulder as he spoke next,   “ i’m not doing you any favours. ”

Steam rose from the pots and pans, scattered haphazardly throughout the kitchen. It was the usual scene whenever his Mom was forced to work more than three days in a row. The young male was left alone to fend for himself, but it was often the times that he took it upon himself to help her out. Meal prep was one of the many guilty pleasures that Jonas had, one of many that Ari was aware of. The sticky sweet scents of the food, spices, and tension easily created an atmosphere left up to deciphering. Blue eyes picked up to watch his actions, maybe all too carefully. Things had always felt like they were walking on eggshells, pushing all too hard for the easy feeling that had once existed. “You never have”, he hummed, letting it seem like his attention had fallen to the sauce he stirred within the deep pot. “But I wouldn’t absolutely hate it if you cracked me open a beer.” Alcohol could only be the solution right here. 

It wasn’t unusual for the two to hang out like this while Jonas was working; it was one of the better parts of her day. Her sundress clung to her body, but she didn’t mind. She was just thankful that she hadn’t been wearing any shoes. “Excuse me, I was not ignoring you. I was just oblivious to you,” she playfully glared at him. “You know how I get when those fashion magazines come out.“ It wasn’t an unusual thing to occur; when it came to fashion, Leighton entered her own little word and it was often hard to pull her back out. “Right, okay, but Jonas love,” she nodded. “If you want it, you’re going to have to come and get it,” she challenged, before kicking off and gliding through the water away from him without waiting for a word.

“Wow!”, the boy exclaimed, shoving the wet locks away from his face and back into place. Jonas continued to mock the expression of pain and hurt from her words. What else was he supposed to do in order to keep up with her teasing and playful jabs. “You know, that cut deep. I’ll remember that when I get drafted and you want to meet whatever star you’re currently swooning over at whatever party I might be at. But you won’t be there, because I won’t invite you”, he babbled out, not truly sure if he was even making sense. 

Jonas watched as Leighton pushed off and swam away from him. All he really could do was smirk after her, watching the way she moved in the water like he was going to be chasing her down. Two could play this stubborn game well. Instead of pushing off the wall to swim her down, he pulled himself up from water to sit on the edge of the wall. “Maybe I don’t want it?”, he asked finally, stripping the old converse from his feet and setting them on the side of the pool. He smirked, waiting for her retaliation. 

contrary to popular belief, grace didn’t enjoy seeing other people hurt. grief was such a heavy word. she felt the weight of it when she’d read about how daedalus had searched the vastness of the ocean for his son, icarus, and how even the coral on the seabeds had wept for his loss. she felt it again, albeit on a much smaller scale, when jade entered the the confession booth to spill her heart out for a crew of camera men and not gods. jonas’s tone was teasing, light in a way grace had grown to associate with him, so she offered an affectionate glance in his direction and the curve of her mouth. “ no, i love jade. i still follow her on instagram. big bitches need other bitches in their corners. ” grace’s fingers wrapped under his milky wrist, pulling jonas’ arm into her lap and leaving it to rest there whilst her index finger drifted between a silver feather and bronze band. the length of his arm was a canvas, and he offered it to grace like it was nothing. it was something. “ do you think ? ” jonas’ unruffled honesty caught grace in places she didn’t expect; this time it snagged on her clavicle, resonating with the information that someone else believed in her. “ if i made a series including male models, would you audition ? i’ve always said you’ve got supermodels eyes. you could smolder the nation, babe. destroy us with your beauty. total devastation. ”

Jonas’ eyes finally peeled open completely, no matter how much he wanted that moment to breathe it seemed like this girl was reaching out for any sort of lifeline to give advice. Not that he was known to give the best advice. “Well, you have two options as far as I see it. You could either not perform and not even stress yourself out. Or, if you’re really performing, realize that they wouldn’t let you do it if they didn’t know you were talented enough or good enough to do this.”

somewhere inside of grace there was an ocean. it was an aggressive thing, beating into her temperament and her ribs like waves against rocks under a red moon, and it was infinite. relentless. sitting beside jonas listening to his sarcastic remarks, her tan knees warm where they bumped into him, the waters were still. he didn’t look out of place in this room. neither did she.  “ i didn’t say anything, ” grace dropped the dinosaurs and the dragonflies — alternatively known as the loser packs — onto the floor, and that was another way of communicating her intentions wordlessly. jonas sargent knew her. the thought was more than a little jarring.  “ i think one of the other girls stabs her in the back and steels her slot for meeting one of the designers. it gets pretty catty.  ” carefully, she took off the plastic wrapping for a set of silver and bronze temporary feathers. jonas had made the right choice. “ i wanted to audition for this show so badly when i was little, like, i swear, all i needed was a video camera and a postal address. i wanted to be on top, sarg. the age restriction was devastating. ”

“I am so not being dramatic. You scared the absolute crap out of me. I’ve told you a million times not to sneak up on me like that,” she scoffed, defending herself. She didn’t bother to warn him not to throw her in the pool because she knew it would be no use. Whether she liked it or not, at some point, she was going to end up in that pool. “Oh, my poor babe. You and your ego will survive, I’m sure,” she laughed, shaking her head. …and I think we need to do something about that. Yep, she would definitely be ending up in the pool; just sooner rather than later like she thought. Which was confirmed when he walked to the edge of the pool before falling back into the water, with her still in his arms. As they resurfaced, she wiggled her way out of her grasp, pushing him away from her and splashing him in the face. “Are we even now, or should I start planning my getaway?”

“Well, you would think that after I didn’t listen to you early a million times, you’d know that I was dead set on living the rest of our lives ready to scare the hell out of you at the drop of a hat”, he argued out in a mess of a babble as his grip around the slender girl remained firm but gentle. The thing with this friendship had always been that air and need to protect her. Leighton had been someone that never needed her to protect them, but she was someone that deserved to have all the ugly and bad in the world kept far away. Jonas did what he could to prevent that in their friendship in anyway he could. But ultimately, it meant that he would never pick up a hockey stick again before he hurt the girl he grasped on to.

The water was a cool welcome from the hot and humid day. He didn’t care that his shoes were now soaked, or the fact that he was stuck finishing her law in wet jeans. He also knew that her family was more than okay with these interruptions, but that didn’t mean he took advantage of them. However, spending time with Lei was something that just couldn’t be helped. Call him an attention whore, but he loved whenever she’d draw out his job for hours just for a simply conversation. “I think we’re even now, especially since you were completely ignoring me earlier. I even said hello and you just kept on reading. Where is the Jonas love?”

Leighton: That depends. Will it actually be edible this time? Or should I bring back up in the form of Chinese just in case?

Jonas didn’t acknowledge Max’s retort, knowing that it was better to let him think what he may. But it question brought his attention away from the speed bag in front of him. “I wouldn’t call it that we ever fought. More that I was sucker punched over him not telling me something. But yeah, we’re not friends. And fighting with him would waste too much energy. Why do you ask?”

@jonassrgnt

                “ so, the models are going on their go-sees. jade’s about to have a meltdown in this episode. ” grace explains through the scrunchy in her mouth, pulling strands of strawberry-conditioned hair away from her face and into a lopsided bun. calliope buélla is a chronically absent parent at best, but she has managed to teach her daughter the importance of good hosting through years of annual july fourth celebrations and insincere family get-togethers. on the ottoman —— ‘ it’s not a footrest, sweetheart. use it’s proper name. ’ —— is a spread of cucumber & carrot slices, and dips that grace won’t be eating. there’s also a warm jug of water and a flannel, and this is why jonas is here. well, sort of the reason why. grace’s invitation to jonas hadn’t mentioned cosmetic store tattoos or cycle six of america’s next top model, and yet. “ what do you want ? ” there’s three packs of temporary tattoos in her hands now, fanned out against her chest, and grace’s smile is a little too bright even for the yellow sunflowers painted on the walls.  “ dinosaurs, dragonflies, or something from the special pack ? ”