The Stories of Latia, Vol. 2: Demon's Curse

Chapter 22: And So It Goes...

Chapter 22: And So It Goes...

The Narrator

"When do you think they're coming back?" James asks, nervously hovering by the door, growing more and more eager by the minute.

"I... I don't think they're coming back," Alex says, their voice low with despair.

"What?" James raises his voice a little, stepping back into Avery's office where Alex and Jayme are still seated on the floor.

"They just... They just want to spend whatever time they have left together. I would do the same in their... situation," Alex explains, sneaking a glance at Jayme.

"That's... Okay, okay okay okay," James repeats, suddenly feeling light headed and placing a hand on his forehead.

"Are you okay?" Jayme asks.

"What? Oh... Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine, just... Excuse me," James dismisses, rushing out onto the back porch.

Alex stands up to see where he went, but he disappears in a puff of dark purple, scattered smoke the second the door closes behind him.

"Is... Is he okay?" Jayme asks, stumbling to his feet to stand beside Alex.

"I hope so." Alex sighs.

"Okay... I think I'm gonna go up to my room. Could you, uhm... Could you p-please come with me? I d-don't want to be alone r-r-right now," Jayme mumbles, obviously uncomfortable with the amount of neediness he's showing with the way he tries to mask it below his voice.

"Yeah," Alex whispers, placing a delicate hand on Jayme's arm.

"T-Thanks." Jayme walks up the stairs with Alex close behind, and only after a few seconds, they arrive at Jayme's door.

"Woah. Your room is cool," Alex quietly says, in muted awe of Jayme's room.

"Oh, uhm... Yeah." Jayme's just realizing Alex has never been in here before.

"You play the guitar?" Alex exclaims when they spot the guitar, sitting on its stand in the room's corner. Jayme nods, taking a seat on his bed.

"I play drums! Avery plays piano, I think. We could totally start a band if we wanted to!"

Alex's child-like wonder brightens Jayme's spirits a bit, but still isn't enough to make him forget what's happening. He starts slowly sliding off the edge of the bed and eventually onto the floor, pulling in his knees to be up against his chest and his head in his arms.

"We could be called The Crumbs or something-" Alex stops talking when they notice Jayme, curled up on the floor.

"Hey, hey, hey..." Alex rushes over, sliding in beside him and wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

"This... This is harder than I thought," Jayme chokes.

"I know, I know. It's... It's hard on all of us."

"I'm not w-weak, by the way," Jayme quietly gasps, lifting his head up and wiping his tears, only to have new ones on his face in seconds. "I've h-h-had worse."

"Hey, I know that, alright? Crying doesn't make you weak," Alex affirms. "Take all the time you need. I'm right here with you." They softly rub his back in a circular motion.

"And you don't have to worry about being strong all the time around me, okay?" They add in a whisper, looking over to meet Jayme's yellow eyes, and just now noticing how pretty they are.

Jayme thinks long and hard, analyzing every inch of Alex's soft face, his eyes eventually landing on their sultry, slightly cracked lips and then shooting back up to their eyes of jade green, with what looked like flakes of gold and silver scattered around their iris.

"Hey... Can... Can I... Can I do something stupid?" Alex had never heard Jayme's voice so shaky before. The shakiness didn't sound like it was out of sadness, however, but out of nervousness.

"Of course," Alex whispers, getting a little nervous, too.

Jayme takes a shuddering breath, flapping his hands around a bit to both stim and to hype himself up.

After several seconds of waiting with their eyes locked, Jayme finally reaches forward, grabbing the collar of Alex's hoodie, and pulling them into a loving, soft kiss.

Their lips only remain together for a few seconds, before they both pull away. Both Alex and Jayme's cheeks become flushed in an instant.

"I'm s-sorry, that was... I-I shouldn't have done that." Jayme's eyes dart around the room, as he shakenly adjusts his glasses and rubs the back of his neck.

Alex can't help but smile watching Jayme being a nervous wreck. "It wasn't that stupid."