send.

another countdown

     "Long time, no see, handsome."
     "It's been a day since we video chatted," Jon laughs, adjusting the screen of his laptop and looking at you with a smirk.
     "A day too long," you respond, cradling your face in your hands and beaming at him. You know the grin on your face is as dopey and lovestruck as ever, but you just can't help it. You run your fingers absently over your mouth, remembering that smile of his pressed against your own, and your smile splits even wider. It doesn't even phase you when he starts to laugh again, shaking his head.
     "What's got you so happy?"
     "Oh, nothing." You let your voice take on an innocent drawl, looking around the room with mock cluelessness before back to the camera, eyes narrowing. "Nothing but an extremely wonderful plan."
     "Is this the thing you refused to tell me about all afternoon?" he asks, cocking his head, and you nod eagerly. "Well, get on with it then, Sowachowski. The anticipation is absolute agony." His smile dims when you click your tongue, waggling a finger at him.
    "You don't take such an intricate, magnificent idea and just toss it out like that!"
     "Spare me the dramatics."
     "But I'm all about dramatics!" you whine, cupping your face in your hands. You flutter your lashes pleadingly at him, earning a grainy, frustrated sigh as the connection wavers.
     "Alright, fine. But at least pick up the pace. I'll be eighty before I figure this one out."
      "Age is a factor!" You thrust your finger into the air, glad to have a starting point. "Tell me, hot stuff: What incredibly important holiday is fast approaching?" Jon blinks cluelessly at the screen.
     "The five hundreth anniversary of the croissant? I have no fucking clue, dude."
     "No, jesus. Your birthday!" He rolls his eyes as you beam at him and gives you a small scoff.
     "Okay, definitely not as important, but whatever. Where does the plan part come in? You didn't plot the Mayan calendar."
     "I'm getting there! Do you know how long it's been since you were here?"
     "Too long." His smile is soft and sad, sending a pang of pain through your heart, but you push through.
     "No time for feelings right now. Try and remember right now."
     "Like..." He trails off, gnawing at his lower lip. You wiggle your fingers in anticipation. "Four months? Maybe five?"
     "Four months and fifteen days, to be exact. Good try." He opens his mouth to make a snarky comment, but you hold up your finger to silence him, raising a brow. You wait to make sure he's listening before rubbing at your chin with false curiosity.
     "Now, how long is it until that Valhalla Soundbox concert? The one you can't get tickets to? The one you never stop talking about-"
     "Thirty-three days," he says instantly, brows furrowing in confusion. "How do those correlate?"
     "Once again, getting to that. Christ, Combs, have some patience." You sit back, crossing your arms and preparing for your proudest moment. You can't fight the smirk on your lips as he tries to puzzle out what you could possibly mean.
     "Such important times coming upon us. Your birthday, a concert, way too long without hanging out. If we add those together, it's, like, five and a half months. Now, I don't know about you, but I think that sounds like perfect time for a big, sappy, emotional reunion. Don'tcha think?"
     Jon's eyes widen a bit, but he quickly frowns, shaking his head. "It'd be great, yeah, but it's unrealistic. You know that."
     You'll never forget the look on his face when you hold up the single piece of paper, a printed representation of your boarding pass, and wave it beside your head.
     "Is it really, though?"
     You had to wait a few minutes for him to stop laughing in disbelief and repeating "shut the fuck up, oh my god".
     When he finally calms down enough for you to interject, you explain the whole plan to him, from finding the tickets for the concert online to convincing your mom to let you fly down (which didn't take much). His face is bright red, grinning like a total dork, and it's a fantastic feeling to see him looking like a kid for once. It makes you smile right back, wider and wider until you dissolve into joyful laughter, Jon quickly following suit. God, he turns you into such a goofball.
     "Wait, wait," he eventually says, waving a hand at you and rubbing at his tearing eyes. "Does that mean we have to go through another countdown? That shit was excruciating last time." You nod, earning a long, low groan, and shrug softly.
     "I can only stay for four days this time, too, because I'm running out of absences for school," you add, gnawing at your lower lip.
     "That's totally fine," he reassures you, waving his hands quickly. "No worries. Trust me, it's - fuckin' hell - it's a blessing you're coming at all. I should probably tell my mom." He pauses for a moment. "I'll tell her now."
     And then he's off, running out of the room, leaving you covering your mouth to stifle your laughter. You can hear the distant echo of his voice, the cry of "Mom! Sock's coming! Like, for real!".
     He soon comes back and flops down in his seat, flushed and breathless. You stare at him for a few seconds in silence, watching his chest rise and deflate.
     "I seriously love you."
     He beams as you start to laugh, shaking your head at him. He's the puppy today, and you've got the words to make him
grin.
     "Well, what's the countdown?" he asks, looking expectantly at your face on his own screen.
     The two of you download some cheesy app that lets you make a personal countdown, right down to the hour, and figure out that it's exactly 31 days and 17 hours until your flight. It feels like ages, but Jon reminds you that it's much shorter than the span you two have already braved. If you could wait all those years to meet once, you can wait another month to do it again.
     And so the waiting begins.

(( note: okay ill totally admit that i hate this chapter. it's a massive hunk of dialogue with little to no plot movement, but i decided to post it now anyway because it's been two weeks and i feel soooo bad for not updating. at least now you guys know what sock was planning :-) i promise the next one will be better, i just can't even think because i went to a fall out boy concert last night and my brain is still numb. i need eight naps and so much more fob ヽ('▽｀)ノ anyway, i hope you guys enjoy this regardless. thank you so much for reading ❤️ ))