#skyjacck

Ah! Hello, hello!

Well, she wasn’t exactly shopping.

Celine watched the girl smile a little to herself as she slipped another pair of earrings into her bag, a worn clunky thing meant to look like leather. The counter girl was oblivious, had barely given the shoplifter a dirty look when she walked in, though she looked like she’d slept in a dumpster and stolen her oversized leather jacket from someone much bigger. Dirt even smeared her knees. This wasn’t the sort of store that this sort of girl would walk into with honest intentions.

Not that Celine knew much of anything about those.

The girl giggled to herself suddenly, and the sales associate finally discarded her magazine and craned her neck over the counter. Idiot. Celine meandered closer to the girl, blocking the employee’s view of her quite by accident. Then her hand wound around the girl’s wrist just as she’d lifted another item from the rack in her dirty fingers, and squeezed.

“You’re up. Good.”

Motherfucker... he really couldn’t get a minute alone

“Yeah?” Jared squinted up to see Jack standing in front of the window pouring light into the room.

Jack nodded, reaching down for Jared’s hand and pulling him up by it. He passed him the cigarette from behind his ear. Jared thanked him.

“No problem. I was just about to wake you--Sky’s waiting for you ‘round the corner. Money’s by the door.”

Jared took a deep breath and felt around for a lighter in his pocket. “Why me?”

“’Cause I said.” Jack lit a cigarette of his own. “Why not?”

“’Cause--” Jared tried to think of a good reason, lighting his cigarette to buy him a second. “I don’t know, it’s yours, you go get--”

Crack, Jared’s head hit the wall and his vision whited out. It came back fuzzy, and he was dragged to his feet by a rough hand hooked into his hair. Jack shoved him towards the door.

“Off the fuck you go.”

~~

“Aw sweetie, what happened?” Sky reached out and when Jared didn’t pull back, ghosted her fingers across the bruise spattered over his cheekbone. “D’you get in a fight, how’s the other guy look? Like he just came back from a salon, I’d bet.” She gigged and Jared forced a smile.

“That sounds about right.” He said, hugging her so that he could slip the money into her pocket--she did the same with his, as he felt a small weight drop into his jeans.

Looking into his eyes with more concern that Jared was comfortable with, Sky sighed, sucking on the inside of her cheek. That really deep stare she had, it always made Jared want to cry. There was something really sad about it, like she always knew what had really happened. Even though he knew she didn’t.

“You’re real thin, you know that?” She eventually said, and tapped his ribs with her knuckles. “You should come over some time, there’s food at my place. That way I can see you eat it.”

“Heh... that’d be... sure.” Jared exhaled smoke and looked at their feet. “If it’s not ‘ny trouble’r anythin’.”

Sky scoffed. “What’re you talkin’ about? I’d love it. I always wanted to see you indoors.” She grinned, fixed her hat. “Yeah, come over. I mean--I’m busy now. Tomorrow? We could do dinner.”

Talking to Sky made Jared want to run and hide. Why was she so nice to him? She didn’t have to pretend to like him this much, it was awkward for the both of them...

Ronnie reached back behind his head to take a cigarette from the table next to the sofa, and offered another to Sky as he stuck it in his mouth. She smiled tightly and took it, pulling her shirt pack on before lighting it and flopping down next to him, staring blankly at the television. Regulation broadcasts were playing, flashing bright white light onto their faces and lighting up the pink walls of Sky’s bedroom.

“Thanks,” she said, not taking her eyes off the set. Ronnie sat up, put his arm around her, and kissed her hair. He didn’t bother to put his shirt back on.

He let relative silence hang in the air for a few seconds while he tried to figure out how to ask her if she felt alright. Something about her seemed so off, had done for a little while, but she hated him asking. Felt like it make her look weak or something, which was real fucking sad. Most likely it seemed like she was on another kind of drug.

“What’s this?” Sky said before he could speak, pressing the pad of her thumb against a burn on his cheek. He reached up and touched it to see what she meant.

“Oh--yeah, when we were out in the zones some crazy kid tried’a shoot me,” he grinned, leaning back on the sofa. “Thought he was real slick until he was cuffed in the back of a car.”

Sky hummed sadly, but she smiled. That looked sad too. “Wow, way hardcore.”

“Come on, you know it is.” he said in response to the sarcasm. “It’s super hardcore. Even my dad said so the other day.”

“Your dad said you were hardcore?” Sky scoffed and blew smoke in his eyes. “That should prove that you’re not ‘cause he’s always wrong, you said.”

Ronnie pushed her and rubbed his eyes, acting like he was annoyed. It did hurt, though. “No, he said, uh... something else.”

“What did he say?” Sky grinned, looking up at him with her chin on his shoulder.

“Naah, you’re gonna make fun--”

“No, I’m not! Come on, I won’t make fun of you.”

Ronnie considered blowing smoke back in her eyes but decided he wasn’t mean enough and blew a lungful over their heads. “Alright, fuck, it’s nothing. He just said--nah, he just said he was prouda me or somethin’. If you--”

“Aw!” Sky giggled and bit her bottom lip, curling her arms around his ribs. “Aww, isn’t that the cutest? Aw, Ronnie’s daddy loves him--”