the sun was setting, just about. it was warm, perhaps warmer due to the amount of pressure jesse had put on himself for tonight. he’d spent dedicated time on getting his gear from his favourite alley, dedicated time on staring at himself in his mirror while he and teddy relentless battled about whether he should go or not. interestingly enough, sometimes, it seemed like teddy wanted what was best for him. to go to the beach party.
but then, he remembered that if he did go, teddy would turn the whole night around and it wouldn’t be for the best.
walking down the boardwalk towards where he’d heard the party was, his hood was up and --- oh, yeah, you read correctly. he was wearing his hoodie. and jeans. in fact, jesse almost always wore this outfit. and teddy, walking quietly next to him (for once) was wearing exactly the same.
“i can’t do it,” he muttered to himself, who in turn, looked back at jesse and gave him a knowing look.
“you can.”
shaking his head, jesse stopped walking, but felt a gentle push against his back. it wasn’t real, but to him it was; teddy’s small encouragement. continuing on, jesse’s hands clenched into tight fists inside the pockets of his hoodie as he approached the walkway towards---
oh, there it was. the confidence he’d whipped up in seconds was gone in the same amount of time when he saw the crowds of people, mingling and dancing to the music. and he stopped again.
suddenly, the heat was almost unbearable and he shakily exhaled. “i can’t do it,” he whispered, ignoring teddy’s groan as he turned his back to the crowd, hastily retreating. he couldn’t let anything go wrong again.
