Strangers Now, Friends Before
Ok, so... this was @jantomweek Day 5 “Childhood friends”...
Which apparently I finished AND NEVER POSTED????
If this was posted someone send me the link and I’ll delete this one.
I found it while organizing Tumblr and my own files to see if something got lost on the rambles of writing (and yes, there are a few) but i didn’t expect to have a whole thing in my files and never had posted????
Anyways, here it is, later as ever but oh well. I hope you guys like!
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Strangers Now, Friends Before
Tom didn’t need much to be happy. A good sleep, his comforter, a cozy place to relax and just do nothing. It wasn’t asking much and it wasn’t that all complicated.
So right then and there he was wondering how such thing seemed so freaking impossible as he stared at his best friend on the bars across the police district in a separate prison than his.
“This is your fault.”
“Oh excuse me, if I cared enough to get in a fight while trying to help you.”
“I told you I was fine.”
“Yeah, sure.” He sighed resting his back on the bars refusing to look at her, “Whatever.”
There was a few minutes of silence, both refusing to look at the other or talk about the fight. On his side he knew why he was avoiding, it wasn’t his fight in first place. He wasn’t even supposed to get into it or knock the guy unconscious, it was Janna thing and she was the one who should solve, but what anyone expected him to do when the guy grabbed her arm and tried to force her inside the car to do whatever?!
At same time he knew it was none of his business. Not when they haven’t talked to each other in five years. It wasn’t intentional, but as they grew they began to hang out with different people and have different interests. And then when they least expected they had nothing to talk about. He often stared at her contact over social media and thought on talking to her again, but awkwardness always had got the best of him and he gave up.
A few hours later a police officer came and opened the gates for his and her cell right after, “Ok, you two are clean. The witnesses around proved that you were only defending your friend and that he was indeed trying something on her.” The officer guided them through corridors out the cells and to the police department “The exams gave out the high level of alcohol in his blood, and he is filed by violence against women in the past. Some time in jail for trying to abuse a minor will give him a little reminder after he wake up.” The officer pointed out two seats for them “But next time, please don’t try dating a guy much older than you. For your safety, girl.”
“I didn’t know he was that old,” Janna finally spoke “I actually went to break up with him in my friend place since she was scared of his reaction. I thought he was a jerk on our age, I didn’t know he was over his twenties. I had a spray and a taser I thought it would be enough to make him leave me alone in worst scenario” She hugged herself and shivered “I didn’t think he would follow me on my way home after recovering.”
Tom put a hand on her shoulder to show support, but as she tensed he realized it might not been the best opinion and recoiled.
“Well, since you’re older you can leave. She will have to wait for her parents.”
“I will wait with her, if that’s not a problem.”
“If she doesn’t bother either, it’s up to you”
Janna didn’t said anything as he sat beside her, not even when her parents arrived and decided to file the case. Or when they asked Tom to deliver her to their home since there were still some documents to sign and would take time for those and for their lawyer to get there. Not even when he put his jacket on her since she was shivering from late night cold air. The walk back home was just as silent.
“Why did you care even?” Janna suddenly spoke a few quarters away from their home.
“Because you are my friend and he was hurting you.”
“Are we friends even?”
Tom frowned, “Of course… We are distant, but I never considered you less than a friend.”
“Doesn’t feel like.” She replied quietly.
Tom sighed looking at her “What is this about?”
“This is about you getting into my life. I appreciate, but I don’t understand.”
“What part of ‘I saw you in danger and reacted’ is hard for you to get?”
“The part in which I had got in worse and you didn’t care.”
He tried to defend himself “If I knew…”
“You should, it were your friends who got me on it.” Tom stopped walking to look at her back, hoping she would say it was a lie, but Janna kept walking without looking back “I thought you gave the order. I guess I was wrong about that at least.”
“I never… I would never…” He returned to walk until he was in front of her and held her shoulders so she stopped walking, “Janna, believe me, I had no idea… I’m sorry.”
Janna took a step back to be away from his touch and then continued to walk avoiding him, “Having them being jerks wasn’t worse than having your best friend turning his back on me and being just as cold.”
“That’s not how-”
“Then tell me why,” Janna said suddenly turning around and stopped walking to stare at his eyes “What’s your excuse for being distant?”
Tom gulped and tried to find the words to express himself “I… didn’t know how to deal with it.”
“With what?”
“With you, ok? I just… Couldn’t find a way to talk to you again without being weird.”
Janna frowned and gave him back his jacket, “Keep it, I can go home from here.”
“Janna!” Tom called when she started to walk and had to once again hold her so she wouldn’t escape, “Look, I swear I-”
“Save it.” Janna said taking his hands away from her. “You didn’t know who to deal with me after knowing about my crush on you? You could have said you needed time or whatever. But what I won’t forget is how you walked away from my life without ever looking back right after you ex girlfriend had exposed me to the whole school out of pure jealousy.”
“Why do you think I broke up in first place?!”
“Well, why didn’t come talk to me then?” Janna replied annoyed “I could have take my time away and give you space and whatever more you need… You just ignored me for years and suddenly come as a hero and… What now?!”
“I… We’ll figure out, ok?”
Janna turned around and walked back to her home, just a few more houses ahead. This time without complaining of his company. Tom kept close to her, a bit afraid she would try running away any minute. He put his jacket above her shoulders again, holding it in there.
When they got in her house, Janna put her keys on the door and unlocked, but instead of walking inside, she decided to turn to him and play with the key chains. Tom knew a signal of unwanted departure, so he took a step and stood closer, caressing her arms above his jacket.
“Did he hurt you?”
She shook her head, “Mostly when he grabbed my arm, it stings a bit and probably will be a bit purple tomorrow but that’s it.”
He hesitated for a moment, “Are you ok?”
“Yeah,” she shrugged “just a bit shaken.”
“Do you want me to stay until your parents arrive? Would make you feel safe?”
“I don’t know… You got your stuff to do too.”
“Don’t worry about it, just tell me what you want.”
Janna sighed and rested her forehead on his chest whispering, “I want to know why you walked away in first place, and why you’re back.”
Tom looked beyond her head, to the little white flowers in her garden “It was stupid of me… I’m sorry. I don’t even… I guess I didn’t know how to deal with your feelings” he replied finally, “I didn’t know how to bring it up or how to come close after the whole fiasco my ex did… I was afraid I would hurt you even more or people would mess with you. It was wrong of me to leave you like that… I’m sorry.”
Janna shivered a bit and moved her hand, was she crying? “Why you’re back then? Why now?”
“Because I didn’t want to walk away in first place.” He confessed, “But I did, and you moved on and looked happy with your girlfriend and I thought… It was too late, that I had no right in stepping in your life and messing with your happiness. And I wish I didn’t stepped back like this but… it’s how things happened.”
He was caressing her back in circles when she sniffed and stood back, cleaning her face with her hand of the remaining tears and took a deep breath. “What made you so scared that I had a crush on you?”
“Because I didn’t know how to treat you right.” Tom laughed a bit at that “I always treated you like a stupid jerk and said stupid stuff. I didn’t know how to be other way with you… I still don’t. I couldn’t risk hurting you because I’m a idiot.”
“And ended up hurting a lot more.”
“Yeah… I’m really sorry about that.”
Janna touched his shirt, caressing the fabric gently and his chest as consequence “You know why I liked you in first place?”
“Why?” He asked curious.
“Because you were real.” She replied suddenly very interested in the stamp of his shirt “You didn’t look like a fairy tale or too good to be true. You were just what you’re to everyone else, there’s no difference. You weren’t like a dream or enchanted, but that’s what made you so great and special for me since we were kids. You didn’t mind if I was a girl or a boy who wanted to play pirates, and you didn’t care when I took interest in both boys and girls… You were real and that’s all I wanted.”
“I didn’t know.”
“You couldn’t. We never talked about it” she replied recoiling her hand.
They stood in silent for a minute, letting the night air hung on them and the sounds of night bring the calm around them for finally solving everything after so many years of yearning and longing a solution that none tried to take the step to actually solve.
The red haired boy hugged her and she let her face rest against his chest, taking profit of his warmth by pulling his jacket closer and nuzzling her face gently against his body. He didn’t mind, since he took profit by holding her close to rest his chin on her head (wow, he could actually do that now that he was taller), his arms resting around her gently, so she could pull away whenever she felt like.
“Tom?” Janna suddenly said.
“Yeah?” He replied nuzzling her hair gently without even noticing his own actions.
“As much as I hated myself for this along the years… It hasn’t changed.”
She stepped back just enough to look at his face, and Tom looked at her eyes a bit confused “What?”
“The only difference is that I’m no longer 11 having a silly crush on a older boy who’s 14… I’m older, so are you. And I despised I didn’t move on completely, there were always the thought of you in the back of my mind no matter how much I tried to fool myself.” Janna took a breath before confessing for once, “Things are still the same. I still like you just as much I liked you then…” She gulped looking down before looking at his face again “What do we do now?”
Tom looked at her shocked for a moment, then looked right at her lips and her face. He could feel her trusting his actions right then and there. To either turn her down or take the chance, she wanted to have a conclusion, to turn the page over or write it together.
He decided to write with her.
It was immediate reaction once he made the decision. His hands left her hips to cup her face and bring her closer, smashing his lips on hers eagerly. Eyes closing just mere seconds after hers. Janna lifted her arms to wrap around his neck, dropping his jacket in the process and kissed him back with hunger, her fingers passing on his hair caressing his scalp, her lips continued glued to his moving a bit tipsy like a first kiss and with too much longing for them to control or think on slowing down to adjust. His hands rested on her hips holding her close to him as before.
It took a few minutes for them to let the years of distance and unnoticed longing to vanish, even after slowing down and separating, both continued to share little kisses, hesitating to separate and stop the moment. Her hand rested on his chest as the other cupped his cheek.
“It’s late” she said between kisses, “I should get in.”
“And it’s cold… you should.”
And still none of them found the will to move out the embrace or stop the kisses for another five minutes.
“I can stay if you want.” He said finally, now tracing his kisses along her face, as apologies for being away for so long when he wanted that just as much as she did.
She nodded slightly to his suggestion, “Ok… I do like that…” she sighed when he kissed her forehead.
Sharing one more kiss, a bit longer than the others, Janna finally opened the door to her house and let him in as she closed the door again behind her. She went to turn the lights on and Tom found himself in a familiar place with few differences of walls and decorations.
“Just… to be sure,” She said resting her back against the wooden door “where do we stand?”
Tom looked back at the door, feeling the hesitation in her voice. It was comprehensive, he was a jerk in those years of distance and leaving her hanging without a “yes” or “no” during five years didn’t do well. He closed the distance between them and held her hand.
“We are together. I’m not leaving this time, Janna.”
He rested his forehead on hers looking into her eyes for a moment. She took her time to let the statement settle in her and smiled at him mischievously as he remembered she always did.
“You better not. I’m not going to give you chances to.”
He smirked, “There’s the Janna I know.”
“Shut up” she rolled her eyes still smiling before wrapping her arms on his neck again pulling him down to her for more kisses.
When her parents got home, they smiled at the two of them cuddling together with blankets and pillows like they used to do when they were younger. Her father turned the lights off and let them sleep, relieved they finally had solved things out. As the lights turned down, Tom held Janna closer, cradling her head against his chest and she nuzzled his chest adjusting to hold him close as they continued to dream.
