Of Radiant Summer Skys

Chapter 11

"Jaxx are you okay?" Luca asked, putting his stack of dishes down and rushing towards him.

Jaxx sat up, "Yeah, I'm fine, but I broke most of the trays I was carrying. The dish dude is gonna kill us."

"It'll be fine, maybe if we clean this up fast enough he won't even notice. I doubt they actually count these things," Luca said, trying to scoop up the broken dishes.

"Careful you'll hurt yourself," Jaxx warned, standing up, "I'm sure it'll be fine anyway, accidents happen."

Luca didn't seem soothed by his words, still fidgeting in place, looking around anxiously.

Jaxx tried again, "I promise you won't get in trouble. Nobody saw it."

"Yeah, I guess you're right, but still..." Luca stared at the floor.

Jaxx followed his gaze down to the shattered trays.

"That's gonna be kinda hard to miss," Luca said.

"You're right," Jaxx sighed, "If it makes you feel any better we can clean it up. I'll go get a broom."

Luca nodded and Jaxx went to find the broom. He was frustrated with himself. Why couldn't he have just told Luca he couldn't handle his load? They would have been more than happy to help him. They must think he's a bumbling fool now. He flushed red at the thought.

Jaxx shook his head. What did it matter what Luca thought about him? Jaxx wasn't here to enjoy summer camp. He had no interest in making friends, especially not with the younger brother of the most intimidating kid in camp. It was bad enough he had dish duty for a stupid reason, he didn't need to worry about making friends too. He needed to distance himself from Luca, they were getting too close. It was the only way he could get what he wanted out of this summer. It was the only way he could get out. So then why did his heart ache at the thought?

He narrowed his eyes, what his heart wanted right now didn't matter. He needed to think with his head, just like his father had taught him before he died, and his head said he'd need to keep his distance. However, his father also taught him to compromise, so he supposed he could keep hanging out with Luca until their punishment was over. After all, it would be hard to avoid him when they were both confined in camp like this. This way, he could let him down slowly. This way, he wouldn't hurt him. He couldn't bear the thought of hurting him.

He'd found the broom and was on his way back to the mess he'd made. His heart still ached, but he knew this was what he had to do.

He put the dustpan down, setting his plan into motion, "I'll sweep. I made this mess, I'll clean it up."

"I'm helping," Luca insisted, grabbing the dustpan.

No! This wasn't the plan. Jaxx was starting to realize Luca would be harder to separate from than he thought. He supposed he could just tell them no, but he didn't think they'd take that for an answer.

Instead, Jaxx said nothing and they got to work. Jaxx swept while Luca held the dustpan.

"This would've been easier if you'd grabbed two brooms," Luca said.

Jaxx knew, and there were multiple brooms in the closet, but he'd only grabbed one on purpose. He'd planned to start separating himself from Luca here and now by cleaning his mess. Luca wasn't meant to help him.

"Do you wanna switch?" Jaxx asked.

Luca nodded.

Pretty soon there was no evidence any plates had been shattered at all, and the pair was continuing on their way.

"You made it!" Charli exclaimed as they entered the room.

"What took you guys so long?" Light asked, "We've been waiting here for like two years."

"Were you two too busy making out to remember you were supposed to deliver the dishes?" Sora teased.

Luca started to protest, but Jaxx intervened before he could say anything, "What does it matter what we were doing? We're here aren't we?"

"Jaxx, you're not helping!" Luca exclaimed, turning bright red.

Sora smirked, about to tease them again when Alex walked in.

"What's taking you guys so long?" She asked.

"Sorry," Luca said sheepishly, "We got kinda distracted."

Alex and Sora raised their eyebrows.

"Not like that you weirdos! Jeez!" Jaxx said, starting to get annoyed.

Luca sighed, "It doesn't matter, the dishes are here now and we can get back to work before the dish guy kills us."

"Just say dish daddy," Sora said, "Everyone else is already doing it."

"No."

"You're no fun."

Jaxx smirked, "You've gotta admit, dish daddy has a nice ring to it!"

"Never say that again!" Levi said. Where did he come from?

"What? Dish daddy?" Luca teased.

Levi cringed before grabbing Alex and saying, "Let's get back to work."

Luca erupted into a fit of giggles.

"I thought you hated that," Jaxx said, "You said you wouldn't use it."

Luca smiled a smile that had Jaxx's head spinning for a moment, "I did, and I still do, but I'll say almost anything if it annoys Levi. It's just too funny!"

Jaxx agreed, it was pretty funny, but as he followed Luca to get more dirty dishes, he realized separating from them would be much harder than he thought. There was just something about them that pulled him in. Maybe it was their smiles, or their laughs, or maybe it was just their eyes that shone like the moonlight. Whatever it was, Jaxx was addicted and he needed to fix it, fast.

It didn't matter how his heart skipped far more beats than he was sure was healthy when Luca was around. It didn't matter how sweet his smiles were, or how his eyes lit up everytime he saw him or how ready and willing he was to help.

Honestly, that was the entire problem. Luca was perfect, too perfect, and no one that good would ever want to hang out with a troublemaker like him. One day, he'd see Jaxx for the troublemaker he was and drop him like a hot rock, or maybe he wouldn't and he'd end up dragging Luca down with him. The latter scared him far more than he wanted to admit. Luca didn't deserve that, they don't deserve him, and that was why Jaxx had to distance himself, for their sake.

And we're back! It's been quite a while. First off, thank ya'll for being patient with me for this long. Also I leave this book alone for 2 months and it hits almost 300 reads?! Thank ya'll so much! Yes weekly updates are back, except they're on Sundays instead of Tuesdays. Since this story takes a bit longer to write then DTRH does, I moved it to Sunday because it's easy to cram a story on a Saturday (Hopefully it never comes to that). If I ever do have to disappear again or you just need something to hold you over until the next chapter, I have a one-shot book now! Feel free to request something. School's been hectic and I've been pretty busy so I can't guarantee weekly updates will stick around (Well I can for at least the next two weeks) so if push comes to shove, I'll just start posting sporadically.

Fun fact: The only thing Sora and Alex agree on at the moment is that Jaxx is madly in love with Luca.