Fix You ~Completed~

Act Sixty-Two-Point-Five

"And where have you been? I have not seen you in nearly two weeks! I was beginning to worry you died!"

I shuffled into a hug from Jimmy, knowing I'd be a dead man if I turned his open arms down. The limber boy squeezed me tightly before pulling back to give me a thorough once-over. "Still need to put on weight," he murmured, then touched my hair. "Come over this weekend and I'll give you a trim, alright?"

"Like you said, Jimmy, it's been two weeks. I'm not gonna pack on thirty pounds in two weeks," I told him with a smile. "And I'd appreciate the haircut. Can I pay you in cookies?"

"I'd never turn down your cookies!"

"Aw!" I giggled, staring down at my feet with red cheeks.

"On a serious note, where have you been, cupcake? I missed you and those puppy-dog eyes!" the dancer pouted, gesturing for me to take a seat across from him. I had just gotten off from work and was ran down by the boy with the flamingo scarf. Something told me he'd been waiting around for me to be done with my shift at the Pasta Shack for a while.

I slid into the booth. "Well, Gale and Eddie have been keeping me busy. Gale took me with him to a photography expo last week, Eddie has been trying to talk me into joining this paleontology club at school, and then we went to a party this weekend. Okay. Can't really call it a party. It was pretty mellow, no alcohol, but a good number of people. All of them were wearing t-shirts."

"That is just wonderful, Clem! You're meeting new people, having new experiences," Jimmy sighed blissfully, setting his chin in his hands while he watched me with soft eyes. I shrank a bit in my seat, blushing. "How was this party? Anything fun happen or was it just a run-of-the-mill college party?"

"Eddie and I slow danced. It was... it was nice. I think he would have kissed me if we hadn't agreed to wait until it felt totally right," I responded, fiddling with the strings on my hoodie. I watched them sway across my chest like a pendulum, my face filled with molten lava. "The kid that was playing the music had switched on this Ed Sheeran song, so Dame and Gale jumped right on it, then Eddie just grabbed me and we went for it."

"Yay! My favorite boys are so close to finally getting together with their soul-mate!" Jimmy squealed, clapping like a third grader who just won the spelling bee. A few eyes fell upon him, but my friend could really care less. I gave him a nod, trying to hide my growing embarrassment. "Gosh, I can't describe how proud I am of you, Clem! You've come such a long way since I met you as that itty bitty freshman in the crappy, thrift store clothes!"

Self-consciously, I tugged at the strings of my hoodie. "They weren't from a thrift store. They were j-just old. Really old."

"You know what I mean! You're in much better shape now! There is even color in those cheeks, Clem, and it's not grey. No more grey, black, blue, purple, etcetera! You are a rainbow of vibrancy and nothing is ever gonna siphon that out of you! Right, Clem?"

I enjoyed his spiels, I really did. "Right!"

"Oh, precious," he sighed happily, leaning back in his chair. A waitress came by and took his order. Somehow, I let Jimmy talk me into getting a muffin and I couldn't really describe how good that felt. I could go to a restaurant, order food, and know I was actually gonna eat it. No more empty promises to myself and people I cared about. "Goodness, Clem. Such a dynamic day, huh?"

I chuckled. "How so?"

"There is a lot going on right now. It's a lot of good, a lot of progression, reformation." Jimmy stirred his straw around in the glass of water sitting on the table and lowered his eyes. We sat in silence for a few seconds while I took in what he was saying. "Eddie is good to you, right?"

I wished I could hide my face. "We aren't dating! We just... You know."

"You'd have to be stupid not to see the underlying thing going on between the two of you. One day, you and him are gonna be official and, that day, Gale and I are gonna get together and give him the Dad Talk since your dad isn't here to do it. We will put the fear of whatever deity he believes exists into him," Jimmy swore, holding a finger up at me. That guy just loved making a literal point.

It was hard not to smile at him. I knew him and Gale well enough to know that wasn't an empty threat. Eddie better watch his back.

"He's the exact opposite of Kyla," I promised.

Jimmy cocked his head to the side, "In a good way?"

I nodded with a giggle. "In a splendid way."

"That's a five dollar word right there."

"Yeah, right," I teased, grinning ear-to-ear as the waitress came back around to deliver us our food. There wasn't a single bite left of the fist-sized muffin she dropped off by the time Jimmy and I left, his elbow hooked with mine.

He walked me back to the apartment, going on about the licensing his mom was trying to get for the plays that would be coming up the following school year. It was the beginning of April that day. We were so close to the end of the year and I was impressed that his mom, the drama teacher, was already looking ahead for the year following. Linda was efficient, I had to give her that.

"Monsieur Clem," Jimmy nodded as he brought me to the front door. "I shall see you this Saturday for a haircut worthy of a king. No promises my fellow theater dorks won't be at the dorm."

"No problem," I assured him. "I love your friends."

"What a coincidence! So do I! We just have so much in common, do we not?" Playfully, he tapped my shoulder. The movement would have typically caused me to seize up, but I kept the tension bottled. I stood across from him and smiled. I was trying not to be Kyla's Clem; I wanted to be my own Clem. "If Eddie gives you any smooches between now and Saturday, you're legally obligated to text me as soon as it happens. You're aware of that law, right?"

I rolled my eyes, giving Jimmy a playfully disbelieving look. "Goodbye, Jimmy Reis."

"Later, Clem Tate. Be a good cupcake."