He didn't know where he was, but he was warm, his limbs were heavy, and there was someone sleeping on his leg. Jack watched the rise and fall of her chest for a while, too clunky in the head to move. How long had she been there? How long had he been out? Maybe he could ask her once she woke up.
She was drooling slightly, right on his bedspread. Perhaps she intended for that...no, that was bizarre, even for Ami. She shuffled around in her sleep, rubbing her eyes. Well, she was awake now.
Jack saw an unnatural look in her eyes. They were so sad, seeming like they could spill at any second. She sniffed and Jack noticed that it was very red around her eyes. Ami glanced up at Jack, looked back into the sheets, then pulled a double-take.905Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwD315TrJ24
"Jack!" She threw herself on him, squeezing him in an extremely tight hug.
"Hi," Jack choked. "I'd not like to almost-die again, but I love the enthusiasm." Ami laughed, loosening her grip and standing. "I'm going to go grab the others, most of us have been worried sick. I thought..." her words trailed off. "Never mind. I'll be back."
She almost sprinted out of the room, and it wasn't difficult for Jack to hear her ecstatic yelling. In less than a minute, he was being bombarded by the five people that encircled his bed.
"Praise the Lord!" Charlotte rushed over and kissed him on the cheek, making him blush slightly. "You almost died!" 905Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ms1CKpX5j
Jack chuckled. "I gathered that much. What happened down there, anyway? The last thing I remember was trying to break out of the stone to get outside..."905Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEHYTi7x4XJ
"Well," Michael cleared his throat. "We found Ami and Izzy trying to carry you back here. You were on the verge of dying from the poison, but I shoved the antidote down your throat. It was enough to preserve your life for a while until we could get back here and give you proper treatment."905Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyfUGjY1OOz
"Poison...? You mean, the spider sounds we heard..." Michael nodded. "They caught up with you, clearly. You wouldn't believe what we had to use as an antidote. Milk, of all things, is a cure for pretty much anything."905Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDvSnz9t3G0
"Milk?" Jack laughed.
"Milk," Michael repeated, smiling. "You've been out for a couple days, anyhow. Ami's tended to most of your needs, so be sure to thank her. Bake her a cake or something." Jack's eyes lingered on Ami's for a moment, sending a silent 'Thank you'.
"A cake won't be necessary...I'd much rather prefer a steak actually, he's gotten me hooked on them." Ami jabbed a finger at Micahel, who took on a sheepish look. Jack gazed at the people surrounding him. Ami, Michael, Izzy, Charlotte, and Luke. It wasn't surprising that Aiden wasn't with the crew, but Jack asked about him anyway.
"He's been sulking by himself," Luke answered. "but he deserves it, anyway. I don't even like him."
"Don't be like that!" Charlotte snapped. "Just a new place and all. Big changes can scare folks. Strange, he was fine on our travels."905Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6oMq2RMciv
"Could it be because we've met more people?" Izzy offered. Charlotte pursed her lips.
"No, I think either he has something else goin' on, or he just has a stick up his butt. Either way, I'll corner him later." The idea of Charlotte 'cornering' someone was scary enough, but to think of her getting angry as she did it...Jack shuddered.
"Well, I think we should leave you be," Michael declared. "Besides, you need rest, and a good head on your shoulders. I'll bring you a glass of milk later just to be safe, so don't get too out of it, okay? You should be healthy by tomorrow." He gave a nod, the kind that men usually gave to show their understanding, or to say hello. Jack gave the same nod, his neck cracking slightly from lack of use.
As the group went to leave, all wishing him to get well soon (or die, in Charlotte's case), one of them hesitated. Izzy flashed her a smile, and she headed back to sit beside Jack.
"So," Ami shuffled around awkwardly. "you're definitely okay?"
"Better than I was, for sure. Uh, yep." Jack couldn't think of anything better to say, mentally cursing himself. "Good," she breathed. "So I was wondering, maybe, later tonight - if you feel up to it - we could, I dunno, go stargazing again? It's been a while and I know you said you didn't really get it, so I could always show you again, if you want."
"Yes," Jack blurted out immediately. "I'd love to. But, uh, I should probably, uh, rest up." he felt his face go red. "Not to turn you away or anything, that would be rude." Ami smiled and giggled. "Don't worry, you're the one who's shaking off poison. I'll, uh, go then." She stood, edging towards Jack like she wanted to say more, but gave him a swift hug and skipped away. She smelled like fresh strawberries.
"Milk delivery." Michael announced, stirring Jack from a dead sleep. "Sorry," he added, noticing Jack's glorious bedhead.
"No worries." Jack yawned, attempting to flatten down his dark hair. "Thanks for doing this, by the way." he added, chugging down the milk Michael passed to him.
"You would've done the same for me." Michael stared at the wooden floorboards, pushing up his glasses.
"Something wrong?" Jack wiped his mouth with his sleeve,
"Not really. But I think you should know," He turned to Jack. "Aiden's disappeared."
"Disappeared?"
"Probably when we were visiting you. Wherever he is is a mystery, and he didn't seem to take anything with him. Maybe he'd finally had enough." he smiled.
"That's a little...concerning."
Michael laughed. "Shockingly, I feel more relaxed now that he's gone. Is that a bad thing to say?"
"Yes and no." Jack envisioned Aiden plotting a devious scheme to attack them all. "Horrible or not, he's still...a person. He's nowhere in the house? Or nearby?"905Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNgpobgq85T
"No," Michael seemed pleasantly surprised with Jack's answer. "Why do you care so much about him? He punched you in the face."
"Who knows. It could be in my nature, or something. I did punch him back." He shrugged. 905Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPERq6y23HW
"Your family must have a rough time holding you down." Michael commented sarcastically. Jack grinned. "Probably." It went silent for a minute, neither willing to start the next sentence.905Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvXyRgRhXIq
"I'll, ah, go." Michael scratched his head, heading for the door. "Oh, and good luck with your date tonight." Jack caught the trace of a smile before he left, leaving Jack to flush for the seventeenth time that day. Date? So he knew about his plans with Ami. So what? Jack didn't like Ami like that, they were just friends. Right? But she did invite him out tonight. Alone. Jack felt his heart hammer against his chest. Shoot, he thought.905Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ8PIOPKQvN
He sat on the roof, staring at the night sky. The stars were bright tonight, as they always were, the moon shining brightly behind a small cloud. Was this where she wanted to meet? She didn't specify, but this was the only roof he knew of. Jack heard footsteps behind him, one look at Ami was enough to make him smile.905Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSuGa3N0fc7
"Hey," she said.905Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSc7r4KvGrX
"Hey." Jack twiddled his nonexistent thumbs while he watched her sit down. Ami slapped her hands to her knees. "Tell me what you see in the sky." 905Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAz0WoI5v54
Jack looked up. "Flaming balls of gas several thousand miles away from us." She hit him on the leg.905Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwGA853arLr
"I mean what constellations, dummy." Smirking, Jack returned his gaze to the sky. 905Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU0SA6BSySj
"Well, one of them looks like a cross." He pointed to the left side of the sky. Ami nodded. "That's Crux."905Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcxrettVpxn
"Another is, uh...well, if you look at it on the right angle, it looks like some sort of thing with antennae poking out of its head."
Ami cocked her head sideways, then let out a snort of laughter. "That's Tauros, I've never heard it interpreted that way before." Jack kept pointing out all the constellations he could see, Ami naming off all of them.
"Hey, I was wondering..." Jack stopped staring at the sky and looked at Ami instead.
"Mm?" she blinked. He looked at the sky again. "How do you know all these? You said a few days ago that you remembered seeing a lot of blood in your previous life. Do you have any idea what it means?"
"Hmm, that's a good question." Ami took a deep breath. "I think I could have been a nurse. Or, something really bad happened before I came here. I like to think of the nurse part, to be honest. As for the constellations...I've just always found them interesting. Like how Michael favors organization. Or, not really like that. Uh...you get the point." She scratched her head. Jack grinned. "Weird. I might have been some sort of book fanatic, considering the only thing I can remember was getting excited about a book. Maybe I was an author, if we push it?"
"Don't push it too far," Ami joked. "I don't think I'd be able to handle you as an author. Is your grammar up to par?"
"Ah, that I don't know." Jack chewed the inside of his cheek. "I've never seen you go extreme-o nurse mode either."
"Didn't I help save your life once? Twice?"
"Once. Tw- I don't know. Didn't I save your life?"
"What? When?"
"When we first met, on the night when we encountered that Creeper."
"Oh, yeah. Guess I owe you for that one." Ami cupped her chin in her hand. Jack shook his head. "You've definitely paid that debt off. Now I owe you something. Like a cake." he smirked. She hit him again. "Steak, you fool! But I'd much rather prefer this than one of your stale cakes that you keep in that chest of yours." She looked towards the sky.
"They're not stale!" Jack huffed. "...I like it here, too." Once again, their conversation dropped and their eyes were left to gaze at the sky. After a few minutes, Ami cleared her throat. "Jack?"
"Yeah?"
"We're still in cahoots, right?"
"Cahoots?"
"Together, you know. Our pact."
"Oh. Of course. Why wouldn't we be?"905Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPcsr0dErrS
Ami paused. "We should make a blood oath so that we stay like this forever."
"I don't think the blood is necessary."
"Okay." She shuffled closer.
"What are you doing?" Jack raised an eyebrow.
"Shh. You're ruining the moment." She leaned her head against his shoulder, staring at the sky. Jack's heart skipped a beat and he turned to gaze at the stars so Ami wouldn't see his tomato face. But he savored the moment, for he didn't know when he would get another chance like this.
Ktssssssssss...
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