⧠| â  the timingâs never right. || riley & jude.
    Much to Judeâs surprise, Rileyâs presence comforted him. While wind whipped shrilly through the trees outside, just slightly reminiscent of a howl and tangibly discomfiting, carrying with it a chill more suitable for Christmastime, Riley seemed to add a certain light to the garage that hadnât been there before. Truthfully, Jude wasnât entirely sure what to do with it. After all, a litany of unspeakably horrible things had happened on the island in a matter of a single month, and they all seemed to point to the idea that their town was, in some way, a beacon intended to attract a disproportionate amount of tragedy to its shores. However, while the majority of Chegual seemed to feed off of their own misery and allow it to drag themselves further into the bottomless pit of despair currently swallowing the island, from where Jude stood, Riley appeared not to have lost all of his warmth quite yet.
    While it surprised Jude that not all hope seemed to be lost for even one citizen of their sleepy, little island, it surprised him even more that something within him had cared enough to notice it in Riley in the first place. It caught him off guard in a way that he wasnât entirely used to. As the feeling came soaring out of left field, abrupt and unexpected, he contemplated it for a brief moment or two, before writing it off as nothing of real, tangible importance. Who could really blame him, a young man afflicted by chronic loneliness, for finding a small slice of solace in someone elseâs mere presence?Â
     Anyway, he thought, the logistician in his mind filling in gaping blanks that he otherwise wouldnât have been able to, Rileyâs a cop; it just makes sense that Iâd feel safer around him right now, all things considered. Doesnât it? A long moment passed before he decided to put the thought out of his mind altogether, shelve it for another day that would probably never come. After all, avoidance seemed to be where Jude consistently excelled.
    Something akin to the unease heâd been feeling bubbled up within him as he took another hesitant step forward, toward Riley, every step that his boot-clad feet took sounding clunky and loud against the concrete floor. This anxiety was noticeably different, though. It was purer, less polluted with fear, more immediately pressing. Another surprise. Scratching absentmindedly at the nape of his neck, at the place where locks of dark hair gave way to sallow skin, Jude smiled back at Riley, his mouth lopsided and teeth not exactly bared. To a certain degree, smilingâgenuine smiling, at leastâfelt foreign and just slightly uncomfortable on his face. He dealt with it.
    Still smiling just a little awkwardly, Jude raised his arm from his side and glanced at his wrist, at where a watch should have been but wasnât, and said, âI donât know, man. Itâs, like, half past freckle, and usually by now, Iâm pretty burnt out on the whole fixing cars thing. Yâknow.â As he spoke, he motioned around the room, at nothing in particular, then at his stained jumpsuit. âWe might be cutting it just a teeny-tiny bit close here.â Then he paused for a moment, trying to gauge whether or not his attempt at a joke had successfully landed, and after a beat, laughed quietly at his own poor execution. Like a vast majority of things Jude said, it had sounded much funnier in his head. âJesus, that was really lame, wasnât it? Sorry.â It was better to laugh at himself than get visibly embarrassed.
    Jokes aside, he knew that, no matter what, he would be trekking through the darkness and cold, out to wherever Rileyâs car had broken down, toolbox and flashlight in hand in order to repair whatever had caused it to break down in the first place. Of course, he tried to be generous to those he felt truly deserved itâspecifically, kind people who didnât seem to pass judgment on him or his pastâbut Rileyâs reputation also preceded him. Jude may have been an outsider by default, foreign to the ways of Chegual, but even he knew that the Pierces had power in town. Kicking him out into the cold, to deal with his car alone, could easily come back to bite Jude, whose own reputation was fragile enough as it was.
    Plus, he just liked Riley. From his perspective, it was entirely worth it to do a favor for someone whose company he genuinely enjoyed, even if theyâd only really spoken a handful of times.
    Riley didnât realize immediately, but he and Jude were alone, in the garage. The silence wasnât stifling, necessarily, but it echoed, with the sound of his breath and Judeâs. It was dark, no light streaming through the windows but for the moonlight, only other source of illumination being the TV, humming from some back room, faint glow far off in Rileyâs peripheral. Really, all he could see, though, was Jude. Jude, with a soft halo of light surrounding him, taking up all of the space in Rileyâs mind, taking up all of the silence. It wasnât objectionableâno, it was comfortable, the silence. Other one-on-one conversations often rendered him anxious, uneasy about keeping his front up before others in a believable way, but in front of Jude, Riley could just... relax. The happiness, the easygoing attitude didnât feel so forced.
    That was a little much, to think about someone he just met, but it was just true. Riley wasnât totally at ease, not totally comfortableâhe could still feel his heart thump-thumping in his chest, but it wasnât a sound brought forth by a sense of doom. It was an exhilarating booming in his ears, anchoring him to reality, rather than enclosing him in an ever-tightening box. It wasâto be frankâkind of bizarre. Riley rarely felt at ease, or comfortable at all in the presence of others. Even stranger so, though, the feeling seemed to be reciprocated.
    As a cop, Riley spent a lot of time learning body language. When shoulders tensed, fists closed, eyes twitchedâRiley saw. He had toâhis life could depend on it. Walking into the garage, he almost missed it, but it was undeniableâit was the process in reverse. Similar to Rileyâs own reaction in Judeâs presence, Jude relaxed. Their friendship mustâve been fatedâit only took one conversation to be so easy in one anotherâs presence. That thought was unsettling for Riley, for a second, a quote he didnât really want to dwell on coming to mind, but he shook away the thought. Friendship was what he wanted from Judeâclearly and absolutely, and friendship alone. Of course.
    By some miracle, Riley managed to get a smile out of Judeâan honest-to-God smile, teeth and all, and it struck Riley right in the gut. He felt like he won some kind of prize, performed some kind of miracle⊠Jude didnât strike him as the smiley type. (Heâd have to change that, eventually. Through being friends, of course.) Of course, through his exhaustion and frustration (the file-folder still sitting on the passenger seat of his car, Noah freakinâ Woodward calling his name, begging him to investigate with every creepy word he said), the thought that he managed to bring a little light to Judeâs night illuminated his smile, turning a crooked half-grin up 1000 watts. He even bounced on his heels. (âOkay, Riley,â his thoughts groaned, âYou can turn it down a littleâdonât be getting weird, here.â)
    He faltered for just a second at Judeâs words. As uplifted as he was, Riley was still pretty desperateâit was getting later by the second, and the night was nearing pitch-black. He knew jack all about cars, beyond changing tires. He couldnât fix his car, especially not like this. A sigh escaped Rileyâs lungs, a half-hearted chuckle diluted in disappointment. âItâs late, I know, heh. I wouldnât be askinâ if it werenât an emergency. Like I said, Iâll owe you... and Iâll make it worth your while, if yâknow what I mean?â And, whoops. It took him a beat to realize the implication of that, and he turned bright red. âDonât, uh, donât get me wrong. I meant Iâd tip well. And order Chinese food. Not... anythinâ weird or somethinâ, uhhhh.â Shaking his head, Riley laughedâboth at his own stupidity and at Judeâs little joke. âSorry, sorry.â
    Eyeing the door, Riley knew that no matter what, theyâd be heading out the door soon, hauling his car back to the garage, fixing it up. He knew, because he was a Pierce and Jude knew that, and thatâs just what happenedâPierces got what they wanted. And while it set Riley at unease, knowing people Riley wanted to be friends with were manipulated by his name, he had to admit that it could be convenient sometimes.
    He laughed again, awkward and fading. He could see where his dad was coming from, with the whole obsession with the family name. It didnât matter, though. Riley didnât have to dwell on what his family name meant to others, though. Willfull ignorance was a talent of his; he could just pretend that Jude wanted to help him and be his friend for his shining personality, not his connections or the threat it posed if he didnât.
