After Again
cw: trauma aftermath, cigarettes, fricky thoughts from being owned
been hoarding this one for a while so....enjoy
His hands were cold.
Jacob shoved them further into the pockets of his jacket and sat up straighter as he watched the little puffs of breath that fogged the glass of the window. The bus rumbled beneath him comfortingly and he smiled faintly, tipping his head towards the window and enjoying the rough vibrations of his forehead bouncing off the cold surface. City lights blurred by rain drops, he reached a hand to turn up the music in his headphones.
Itād been a long day. First, the bus in the morning had been late, and then the incident with the mugs this morning had led to Caleb spending the whole day apologising profusely through messages. He shoved his phone deeper into his pocket at the thought of the string of texts, all of which had gone unanswered.
A full-body shiver ran through him, though not from the cold. It was a leftover of Then, of the time spent with- Jacob pushed the thought of him out of his mind and took a shaky breath, glancing at the flashing clock at the front of the bus.
9:47
Caleb was going to have an absolute fit when he got home. Yeah, it was kind of late, but he was a fully grown adult. He could spend the day at a cafĆ© if he wanted toāthough how that ended up with him on a city bus so late would be hard to explain. He hadnāt meant to get distracted, and- okay, so there was no way that guy had actually been following him, but he hadnāt been able to shake the feeling! Heād just had to lose his tail.
Which meant getting on exactly 4 different random buses and walking over an hour in the pouring rain. The thought of the rain had him shuddering as he was reminded of how heavy and wet his clothes were. Even the horrible sensation wasnāt enough to force him to respond to Caleb, and at this point it felt like nothing would.
Unhappily, he sat, on the wrong bus and heading in a wide circle that would only get him the tiniest bit closer to home but feeling out of options. When the bus did finally stop, he wobbled his way down the aisle, careful to stay light on his feet and stay silent. That was a rule, pup.
The moment he was off the bus he shakily pulled a cigarette out of his pocket, grateful that the zip-lock bag it was in was at least enough to keep it from getting soaked. The smell would cling to him even in the sprinkling rain and Caleb would be furious- no, no he wouldnāt be furious, but heād be disappointed and that would be worse.
He stopped at the mouth of an alley to pet a small tabby cat, fear of the dark and the night unable to deter him in his exhaustion-cause state of irrationality. He almost considered just staying there, crouched and staring numbly at the gravel. Another message chimed from deep in the pocket of his worn hoodie.
Caleb wanted to know if he was at least alive.
The lights were still on when he got there at 11:04, and he almost considered turning around and justā¦disappearing off into the night, disappearing where he couldnāt even find himself. In the end he sits down daintily, curled up as tense as a rubber band ready to snap but unable to go inside. Maybe heād fall asleep out here and die of some cold-related disease and never have to face Caleb again. Even he had to scoff at how stupid an idea that was.
When the door opens behind him, it does so silently. It feels so much bigger an event than it was, and the shift in the wooden floor was enough to send his heartrate flying.
In the unforgiving cold, Caleb sat down beside him, pulled him gently in for a hug, tucked a jacket around Jacobās shoulders, and watched the rain fall.
Tagging @whatwasmyprevioususername for jacob stuffs, please let me know if you would like to be added to the taglist
