Homeless

9.

Ten Months Later

Ten months had passed before anyone knew it. Graduation came and went, and now both Jade and Coden were fully functioning adults, well as much as any graduating student after high school could be.

Jade inhaled the cool nighttime air as she walked home, the sound of her heels clicking against the busy sidewalk of the nice part of town echoed through the streets.

Her keys jingled as she held them out, ready to go into her door to open up her new safe haven.

After climbing the many steps of her apartment complex, she immediately grinned at how close she was to being home and away from all stress. At the time the top floor seemed like the best choice, now that she was practically asleep and sore from going down so many flights every day, probably not the best choice. 

When she opened the door, the lights were already on, displaying a lovely home. To the right of her was a lovely marble top kitchen with a view into a cozy-looking living room. It was small, but it was perfect.

She didn't worry about anything else as she immediately dropped her purse onto the counter and made her way to the home office.

When she entered it, he was there. Sitting in silence, nothing but a pen scratching on paper was heard as Coden seemed lost in his thoughts.

"I'm home," she sang softly as she slowly brought her hands to his shoulders, kissing the top of his head.

"Hey, sweetie," he said without looking up, "Welcome home, Dinner's on the stove," he whispered.

She grinned before turning his chair around to face her.

"Aw, Thank you. You didn't have to make dinner, we could've ordered in." the couple locked fingers for a few seconds.

Coden sighed, "I don't mind," he shrugged.

"Have you already eaten?" she said, taking her hair out of the loose bun as she walked to the closet to hang her coat.

"Not yet, I'll eat with you. How was class?" he asked. Though Jade wasn't passionate about it, she went to a community college daily, and after her classes, it was straight to work at her old friend's craft store. The job itself was boring, but it was either that or the corner store.

"Eh, so-so. Did you get anything done today?"

"I don't know," he shrugged idly, "We got a new house up downtown, I found out it filled up pretty fast. Besides that, we're working on a solar panel addition to the houses down Maine." Since their project, their foundation had taken off, creating a buzz from everywhere. They had built some communal houses for people, which had surveillance, food, water, and people checking up on them a few times throughout the day, offering therapy, medical care, anything. It became a successful nonprofit overnight, with hundreds of volunteers.

She hummed, coming back into the room and kissing his lips in a soft peck. "That's amazing, sweetheart, I'm proud of you."

Coden didn't look excited, he barely looked himself. Maybe it was the fact that his clothes were actually new looking, a pair of black jeans and a flannel. Jade could tell it wasn't him.

"Thank you," He stood, looking elsewhere, "So... dinner?"

After dinner the two decided to watch some TV for the night, an old movie came on so they left it at that. They took turns showering, and Jade finally felt much more comfortable in her black pajama shorts and yellow spaghetti string with a gray beanie on. She lugged out on a bowl of ice cream as she sat on the carpeted floor of the living room, leaning against the couch. That's where Coden sat, his shirtless chest pressing against the couch as he lay on his stomach, staring at the screen with an emotionless face.