Drink Your Medicine (Jalex)

<18>

We were walking down the city street together, holding hands. It felt strange, because Jack's hands was significantly different in shape from mine. His fingers were longer and his palm was smaller. They didn't really fit together at all. Way to break that cliché. Jack kept looking at the tops of the buildings. I couldn't tell if he was being amazed at the height, or wondering what the tops of the roofs looked like. With him, you honestly never know. He stopped his eyes on one particularly tall building and trailed down to the front door. He looked at the side of it and nodded almost unnoticeably. "What are you doing? " I asked finally. 

"Observing." He said it as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Do you know how many of these buildings could potentially have snipers on them? If I don't look up to see which ones are high enough to obscure someone from view and which ones have ladders on the sides that go up to the roof, who will? " 

I honestly didn't know how to respond to that. On one hand, it's a ridiculous assumption to make and he's being paranoid. On the other hand, there really could be snipers up there. It's so easy to just sit there and pick off unknowing civilians. It's almost too easy. I decided to look up as well. Jack laughed at me. "I'm joking, Lex. Don't worry. " 

I nodded, still not looking down. Jack put his hand on the top of my head and pushed down on it lightly to get me to look forwards again. He turned me to face him and kissed me on the lips for a brief moment. "You're adorable, " He noted. 

I looked down and shuffled my feet, unaware of what to do to respond to that. I rarely get compliments. I don't want to not accept it, because people who do that can be annoying. But I also don't want to not compliment him back because that's rude. 

"You can take down those walls, you know. " He chuckled as he took my hand and began walking forwards again. 

"What? " I was surprised by his response. 

"I'm not going to stop liking you because you can't respond perfectly. You don't have to be so nervous about me. " 

"O-oh. Right. " 

"Did you drink your medicine this morning?  You seem anxious. " 

"I think so. Maybe I didn't take enough." I stopped on the side of the sidewalk to get it out of my book bag. I'd brought it with me because where would I put it otherwise? I found my bottle of medicine almost immediately. I took a spoonful and put it back. I picked everything back up and began walking again. "How come you're not nagging me about that so much anymore? " I asked. 

He shrugged. "It's not as important to me anymore. Nothing is really. " 

"That sounds kind of dark, " I noted. 

"Sorry." He didn't regain his smile though. 

"It's okay. I understand that sometimes you go through lows. " I looked  at him. 

"Yeah." He looked at me seriously for a moment. "Does it get better? " 

"Eventually. It can take a long time to get there though. " This is a strange topic to bring up. He just got out of a mirror that he's been stuck in for years and the person that he has feelings for likes him back. He's spending the whole day with me, and he might even spend another night. But I guess even the brightest of days have patches of darkness. 

He smiled sadly. "I sure hope so. " 

I wanted to tell him that it seems to already be getting better, but I didn't want to add unnecessary positivity. Sometimes, you just need to know that things are going to get better, not that that you have it pretty good. That can make you feel worse because it invalidates your sadness. 

His eyes lit up within a moment though. "What is THAT?!"  He said excitedly, pointing to a comic book store. 

"Oh, they sell comic books. " 

"What's that? " 

"It's a book with pictures that tells a story with only dialogue. Do you want to see?" I offered. We didn't have very much money, but I'm willing to spend the little bit that I carry around on him if he really wants me to. As soon as we were inside, he sped all around the room, picking up various titles and flipping through them. 

I chose one for myself and started to read it while Jack went crazy. 

I was almost finished by the time that he came back to me with a Batman comic in his hands. "Do you have any money? " He asked me. 

"How much is it? "

"Three dollars. " 

I nodded and dug through my pocket, pulling out two crumpled bills and four quarters. I gave him a little  extra for the tax and he went to buy it. The cashier didn't question the fact that two middle school students were out of school, so we were okay. Jack gave me back two cents change and then walked out of the store. He sat down at a bench right outside of the store and began reading immediately. I sat next to him and looked around, taking it all in. This is a one time deal. Nothing like this could ever happen again. Just thinking about that upsets me. I want to do this with him every day. I don't want to go through school. I want to show Jack the whole world and see him smile at everything. Not because I like him, or because I think that's it's cute, but because he hasn't seen anything. It's not even remotely fair that everything I take for granted he hasn't even experienced. Who would have thought that comic book store could make a person so happy? Or that jokes about snipers on the rooftops could bring people together? It's not something that happens every day.