UPRISE

015

While Jasmine walks back to her apartment, she spots Wren, leaning against Pluto's apartment building, shivering in the cold. Though he wears a jacket now, unlike the first time they met last week, the air has turned violent. The ice will kill him.

"Hey," she sniffs as she makes her way over to him.

Wren stands up, shoving his hands in his pockets. He sees Jasmine walking over towards him. Although, he can't see the real her. It is too dark to notice the smearing of make-up on her face, to cold to distinguish the pink of her cheeks as embarrassment, rather than as a reaction to the wind. Wren takes a few steps closer to Jasmine, before she collapses in his arms, burying herself in a hug.

"Need a place to sleep?" Jasmine whispers in his ear.

He nods.

The two begin to walk back to the apartment, Wren's arm snaked around Jasmine. Though Corbin and Pluto live close to each other, Jasmine lives on the opposite end of the Apartments. There is a surprising amount of space between the tall buildings, which only makes Jasmine feel more alone.

"You came from a rich family, right?" Wren asks her. When she wipes a tear away, without protesting, Wren continues. "Me too. My parents were absolute garbage."

"The worst," she agrees. "They paid too much attention to me. You know that I was sent to cotillion classes at three years old? I'm still not allowed to eat any food with my hands."

Wren shrugs, the movement bringing Jasmine up with him. Their bodies slowly becoming one with the other. "My parents never paid much attention to me. They said I came out as bi for attention."

Then, Jasmine glances at him. The two stop in the middle of the empty street. "Pluto told you?"

"I told her that she shouldn't have," Wren tells her, scratching the back of his neck. "Pluto and I slept with each other at the party, so I was pretty heartbroken, but not surprised."

Jasmine is about to keep walking, but Wren snakes her back in towards him. Their foreheads are pressed together.

"Did you consent?" Wren asks.

Jasmine nods. She was a little drunk, but now she isn't. Even before then, even sober, she wanted to kiss her. Alcohol was her excuse. Jasmine has been in situations before where boys have taken advantage of her, and this wasn't like that. If anything, Jasmine took advantage of Pluto, because she just wanted to feel a girl, regardless of who it was. "I wanted to so bad, so badly, Wren. Now, I can't get her off me.

"I actually went over to Corbin's and tried to get him to kiss me. God, he probably hates me now. Hopefully we never find Edison, so that I don't have to see either of them again."

Wren listens to her, finds a string, and pulls. "Is the feeling still there?"

Little does he know, it unravels her.

Jasmine looks up at him. His dark eyes are blurry, as is his skin. They still haven't moved, and so she can't properly make him out. He is darker than she expected but more homely. "Yes."

"Would I be able to take it away?"

Jasmine can feel her heart fluttering in her chest. Slowly, the pair of them lean into each other, until their lips bump into each other. Wren's mouth finds Jasmine's, their lips gently touching.

In this moment, neither is sure how they feel about the other. Jasmine has had such a confusing night but is still trying to wrestle her way into understanding Wren's intentions. On the other hand, after a few days of envy and frustration, Wren finally sees Jasmine as a human-like him. One that has been misshapen and needs love to finally straighten herself out. While she can't do it for him, maybe he can do it for her.