DATE & TIME: dunk o’clock
LOCATION: The Lake
AVAILABILITY: Taken @hudscnwilliams
It would be a lie if Jonah said he wasn’t the type of person to dwell. In fact, all he did was dwell, pick apart his memories, unwind them and put them back together and unwind them again, trying to turn them inside out in the hopes that he would, some day, understand them.
Thus, it made sense that he found himself stuck on his last interaction with Hudson. Because now that he had the luxury of time, he was doing what he always did: regret. Fixate. Wallow. He already owed Hudson an apology for those texts. At the time of rehearsal, Jonah had cavalierly tossed aside any guilt he felt, thinking what’s one more thing to apologize for? But it became abundantly clear that the weight of two failures was significantly worse than just the one
So, naturally, when he saw Hudson walking down the dock by the lake, he gathered his things clumsily, stubbed out his cigarette, and walked briskly towards his classmate. He didn’t have a plan, per say, he just knew he couldn’t keep living with this guilt eating away at him.
“Hudson,” he called out, as soon as he was within earshot. And then, suddenly, he was there, rooted to the spot, and every sincere, honest thing he felt shriveled and died in his throat. He coughed, and then, just to fill the awkward silence, said, “Bit cold for a swim, isn’t it?” Because he was a coward, because he flinched away from pain, because he knew that Hudson wouldn’t forgive him, and Jonah couldn’t even blame him, but god did it hurt.
a few days ago, hudson’s life had finally seemed to be on track. he had landed the lead role in their final show at alderidge, which meant his future after graduation was looking a little bit brighter. things with zahra and teddy were fine, good even. he had to deal with jonah’s bitterness and resentment, which sucked, but he could handle it. things were beginning to look up for hudson, and for the first time in awhile, he’d begun to let his guard down a bit. and then, the police report had come out.
the fact that he was now a person of interest was taking a heavy toll on him right now, if he were being honest. for so long, he’d assumed that he and teddy were just going to get away with it. after all, why were the police looking into the fourth years as suspects now? and why just them? had they ruled out others, or were they just targeting the students because of the orson cult incident at winter masque? either way, it was difficult to swallow – especially because he had no idea who had ratted him out.
it could have been any of them. that was what upset him the most.
one of the more likely suspects was jonah, considering how awful he’d been about hudson getting macbeth over him. after jonah had acted in rehearsals the other day, it seemed like a fair guess. so as he got ready to go on his daily run, he felt like screaming when jonah was just there, waiting by the lake. couldn’t hudson have just one day without this? turning to him, hudson waited, allowing him to...what? apologize? say something to piss hudson off? he wasn’t sure what jonah wanted now.
hudson sighed deeply, narrowing his eyes at jonah. “it’s february in washington. i’d say it is.” he waited for jonah to add anything else, and when nothing came, hudson rolled his eyes.