Red In The Face (Jeffmads fluff)

Chapter 9

~ James' P.O.V. ~

I stopped blading because I could feel a violent sneeze coming. "Ugh, this damned pollen," I muttered to myself. I wiped my nose and sniffed a few times. Why did my allergies have to act up now? In doing all of this, I hadn't realized that Thomas was blading toward me and yelling frantically, trying to tell me to watch out for--
Suddenly, all I saw was white.

"Thomas?"

...

"Yes, darlin'?"

I looked up to see Thomas gazing down at me with a loving smile on his face. And, for some reason he was wearing a tuxedo. He held my hands, not seeming to care that we were surrounded by only white.

"Thomas! Where are we?! Did I...did I die?" I asked, starting to get scared.

"'Die?'" Thomas asked, amused. He laughed. "Jem, this is only the beginning of your life!"

"What?"

"Oh, sorry. What I meant to say was," he bent down to reach my height. "Our lives." And with that, Thomas kissed my forehead, and everything became blurry again. I started seeing flashes of people. I saw my parents, my brothers and sisters, my other friends, but most of all, I saw Thomas. I saw him smiling, I saw him crying, I saw him laughing, I even saw myself in his arms. And later on, I started seeing flashes of a little girl, the same one over and over--

"James! James, wake up, please!"

Suddenly regaining consciousness, my eyes started to flutter open. All I could see was sunlight seeping through the tree branches above us, and Thomas. He was sitting over me, crying. His tears fell gracefully onto my face, as if time was slowing down. His sobs were loud and heartbreaking, echoing in my head. I had to muster up enough strength just to speak.

"Thomas," I said hoarsely, lifting a shaky hand to touch his drenched face. He immediately opened his eyes and stared at me. He didn't say a word. "Thomas, what happe-" Before I could finish speaking, Thomas' eyes grew wide, and he grabbed my face.

"James! You're alive!" He cried happily, not bothering to wipe his tears away. He smiled, despite the redness in his eyes. I had never seen him cry this much.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry!" A big man with a beard rushed out of the semi truck and ran over to us, looking down at me on the ground. "Are you okay?! Do you need me to call an ambulance?" Thomas looked at me, his concerned eyes asking me the same question. I shakily sat up.

"Oh, no, no. I'm fine, just a bit shaken up. And please, don't apologize! It was my fault for stopping in the middle of the road to sneeze," I laughed nervously. The man wiped his forehead, exhaling with relief.

"You're sure?" He asked again.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm sure. Don't worry about it, I'm fine!" I said, smiling at the man, trying to make him feel better about the situation. For such a tough-looking guy, he seemed very sensitive. I looked back at Thomas. "Could you help me stand up?" I asked with a nervous smile.

"Of course!" Thomas said, standing up quickly. He then bent down and practically picked me up. Once I was in his arms, he held onto me tightly. I could feel his tears still falling onto my shoulder. The way I was shaking made me feel as if he was shaking as well, until I realized, he really was. I looked up at the truck-driver and smiled awkwardly.

"Thanks for checking up on us."

"No problem at all! Again, I am so, so sorry about that!" He apologized for, like, the twelfth time.

"Heh, it's okay," I said, my smile starting to feel uncomfortable.

"If there's anything I can do to repay you, um, here!" The driver said, pulling a card out of his flannel pocket. "It has my number on it. Anything you need, anything at all, just call, okay?" He smiled nervously. I put the card in my pocket, narrowly slipping past the arm Thomas was holding onto me tightly with.

"Thank you, sir. That's very kind," I said, wanting to escape this conversation. Once all was said and done, Thomas and I crossed the street again, him still holding onto me tightly. He walked me into the park and found a bench under one of the cherry blossom trees. We both sat down in silence. I looked around at the trees. Thomas was right, they were beautiful. The way the petals danced down to the ground with grace, like feathers, it made my heart feel light. My thought process was interrupted by a sudden sob from Thomas. I looked up at him. His head was in his hands, and tears were pouring from his eyes.

"Thomas?" I asked, concerned. I rested one of my hands on his arm, trying to pull his hands away from his eyes.

"I broke my promise." Thomas said suddenly, his voice breaking.

"What?"

"I told you over and over that I would never let you get hurt."

"But Thomas-"

"You almost died today, James!" Thomas yelled unexpectedly. He faced me, his whole face burning red and tears falling onto to ground. Neither of us said a word for a long time. He eventually turned away, back to holding his head in his hands. "I'm sorry." I thought for a little, until eventually, I understood what had happened. I slowly stood up and walked over to him. I kneeled down on the ground in front of him, and took his shaking hands in mine. I waited until he looked at me and smiled kindly when he did. I didn't know what I was doing, but I had to do something, and this felt right.

"Thomas, you didn't break your promise."

"How? You nearly died!" Thomas said, letting the remaining tears fall.

"Yeah, nearly. Who saved my life, Thomas? That truck-driver? He hadn't even gotten out of his vehicle yet. And no one else was around. Plus, who was sitting over me crying?" I asked with a soft smile as I wiped the tears off Thomas' cheek. He looked at me, kind of shocked. "I don't remember anyone else besides you, Thomas. You kept your promise. You saved my life." Thomas looked down at his lap, thinking over what I had said.

"I didn't break my promise," he breathed. He looked up at me again, a smile starting to appear on his face. We smiled at each other for a while, staring into each other's eyes. I don't know what possessed me to do this, but I leaned forward, and so did he. Our lips met and I just about died. Again. I was doing it, I was really doing it. I was kissing my lifelong crush. We pulled away and looked at each other in shock. Neither of us moved. That is, until Thomas pulled me into a hug. A hug that I knew meant, 'I love you, and I will never let you go.' I hugged him back, beginning to cry. Thomas must have heard.

"Haha, it's okay, Jem.

I love you too."

~fin~

A/N: Done! Oh my gosh, I'm actually done! I honestly didn't think I would finish this.
However! There is going to be an epilogue telling what happens after all of this. Stay tuned, my friends. It's gonna be good.