seven (adam banks)

chapter twenty-one

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chapter twenty-one: i'm not going to leave you

a/n:

this chapter is sort of chaotic?

the ducks: *nice to jamie*

jamie: fuck i'm supposed to hate you

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Just like their captain said they would, the ducks start to work.

Coach Orion has them doing the oddest of things, and Adam's always coming back exhausted and smelling strange. Almost like garbage. Jamie never has the balls to ask him- or the time really, because he's always mumbling a greeting and then immediately falling asleep. It's annoying because he's usually on top of her, trapping her for the entirety of his after practice nap, and because she can't stay mad at him for too long, not when he looks that cute.

Today is another one of those times.

"Hello, Adam." She hears Lisa's voice float up the stairs, somehow louder than her father's construction on the treehouse and her mother's Dean Martin.

Jamie can't hear Adam's reply, only the rumble of his voice, but she rolls her eyes half-heartedly anyway. She hopes he was at least nice to her mother, but that's never really a worry when it comes to him- he's so terrified of her father that he'd never dare, even if he was tired. He trudges up the stairs and into her room, looking absolutely beat when she looks up from her book.

"Hey. How was practice?"

"It was okay." Adam breathes, dropping his backpack and his bag of gear by the door.

Without another word, she pulls the duvet off her legs, and he crosses the room to flip down on the bed. His head on her stomach and his arms around her waist, Adam settles happily between her legs, sighing in relief as she threads her fingers through his hair. It's still damp from the shower he took, but she's just glad he's not sweaty.

"I love it when you do that."

"I know." Jamie smiles softly, holding her place in her book with the thumb of her opposite hand. "That's why I'm doing it."

He smiles too. "M'tired."

"I know." She repeats herself, voice lightning with amusement.

"Whatcha readin?"

"The Great Gatsby."

"Sounds boring. Read it to me?"

Jamie snorts softly, unsteadily holding up the book with the one hand and still playing with his hair with the other.

"...'I suppose Daisy'll call too.' He looked at me anxiously as if he hoped I'd corroborate this.

'I suppose so.'

'Well- goodbye'

We shook hands and I started away. Just before I reached the hedge I remembered something and turned around.

'They're a rotten crowd,' I shouted across the lawn. 'You're worth the whole damn bunch put together.' "

When Jamie looks down at him again, Adam is asleep. His breathing has evened out, and his expression is so blissful that it makes a warm fuzziness spread through her chest- it might be one of her favorite looks on him, second only to his dazzling smile, and she suddenly wants to make sure he never looks anything but blissful and happy again.