jason can't control his thoughts, taps and rewinds goes over billy's laugh. an elaborate plot to hold his hand. makes his mouth go a little dry and a little nervous. that, can't possibly be right. right? and everything just swirls, it's asking for a lot, it's perhaps asking for too much. jason's inspecting the raised sidewalk, and it will do. he turns when billy starts talking again, and he's always doing that. paying attention to billy, it's not patience it's just wanting to hear what's going on.
suddenly, there it is. the breakthrough. jason is a little floored, a little too giddy when billy takes his hand first. and there it is another run of the same tape. elaborate plot. no, it isn't but he can't help but feel like it is. he could kick his feet about it. swooning, he can hear the melody, okay a win for them, finally. "yeah. okay." jason does get a little shy, cheeks warm. and they find themselves in the middle of this parking lot, not a single person in sight. and he's trying to focus but it's kinda hard, billy's always been pretty in a way that's distracting.
billy's hand is different, textured in a way that lets jason know that this is for real. that what billy went through is real, but he's here now. and jason squeezes his hand, once. moves them to what he considers the starting line. "-so. don't let go. and i got you." he turns to look at billy as he drops his own raybans. feels a little bit like protection, from what? the truth. the lingering feelings. some sort of back loops. "it's going to feel intense like a roller coaster, there's not going to be ground and then we land...easy, when we get there i might have to just drop a little bit on the floor. so don't freak out. i'm going to be fine. on three."
the limelight hitting him dead on. middle of the stage, and it's all on jason now. he thinks about where, and when. somewhere billy likes, a time not too long from here, and the place begins to take shape behind his eyes. he holds tight, his heart feels tighter, there's a small push of air and jason's ready. he smiles. sure of himself finally. "okay. one. two. three." they're off, running and there's sparks underneath their feet, surrounding, the wind blowing harder, lights swirling around them. this is when jason feels most alive. they jump off the tiny hill, and the ground isn't there to greet them, they keep falling. the sunglasses help with the lights, multicolored, enveloping them entirely now. that's all they see, (that's why they need the glasses) it's a second, it's a lifetime.
they hit the ground running, sand, the weather changing. the smell of a beach enveloping them completely. jason's top lip feels warm. he's bleeding, running from his nose, and he's exhausted. he only let's go of billy's hand when they both stop running, the sand is kinda cushy, and jason just drops. lays down. knees bent. breathing laboured. "...billy? everything okay?" eyes closed. it's always a doozy the first time you jump. jason would know.