By the time I made it upstairs, Jake was face down on his bed. He seemed so tense – which was understandable, but I hated it for him. I sat on the edge of the bed, entirely unsure of what to do. 

“I’m sorry.” His words were muffled through the pillow. “This was a terrible idea. Coming home.”

Taking a chance and hoping I wasn’t overstepping any boundaries, I carefully laid down next to him. Having the right words really wasn’t my thing, but I could at least try to be… comforting?

“Josh deserved way more than the glass of water on his head,” I finally said. There was a lot of Jake’s family dynamic that I didn’t fully understand, but this much was obvious. 

Jake made a little sound. Almost a laugh, but more desperate. 

“A year ago, I would have punched him but I used to be a righty.” 

His voice wobbled as he curled up into a ball. Rolling over, I pulled him closer, his head nestled under my chin. He leaned into me, his silent tears soaking the front of my shirt. It broke my heart to see him so upset. 

Jake took in a deep, shuddering breath, seeming to come back to himself. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, sounding raw. 

Guilt stabbed through my chest. “Sorry if I made it worse by being here.”

“No, this would have happened anyway. I just...” He let out a huge sigh. “Not because of you. The whole scholarship thing. It’s kind of a touchy subject.” 

He tensed up so hard I was afraid he was going to break. “Touchy subject” was putting it too simply. Rubbing gentle circles on his back, I tried to get Jake to relax again. 

“Why is it so touchy?” Wow, Damien. Real brilliant.

The silence stretched out, right on the border of becoming awkward. It was fine if he didn’t want to answer, but I wasn’t trying to make him more upset. 

When he finally spoke, his voice was pitched low. “Because of the accident. That’s the real reason I lost my scholarship. But my family doesn’t know that. They think I let my grades slip. And it’s easier to let them think that than having them ask questions I can’t answer.” 

We’d stumbled straight back into the “I can’t tell you” territory. Something that had been happening a lot. But his explanation was about to make my head burst with new questions. 

“You know,” Jake said, “there’s a muscle in your jaw that twitches when you’re trying to pretend you’re not curious.” 

I blinked a few times, thrown by the subject change, then burst out laughing. Jake rolled onto his back, smiling over at me. He still seemed a bit wilted, but the spark in his eye was starting to come back. 

“You wanna watch a movie?” 

“Yeah, sure.” Anything to help him feel better. “Oh, wait, should we go help your mom clean up?” 

Jake snorted. “Are you kidding? After that? Josh will be on clean up for the next month.”

The last rays of sunlight faded to darkness while Jake started poking at a weird little machine. A light flooded across the far wall, casting the room into an eerie glow. The bare walls of Jake’s room made a lot more sense as he hooked up a cable between the projector and his laptop. 

“You want to watch a single or series?” Jake asked over his shoulder. 

I stared at him blankly for a moment. 

“A stand alone movie, like Source Code? Or a series, like Harry Potter?” 

My brain started working again. “What about something like Fast and Furious?” 

Jake groaned. “You’re joking, right? We are proving stereotypes right.”

He had a point, but I chuckled at how he said it. “Just pick anything. Maybe not horror.”

Glancing back at me, Jake frowned. “Yeah, I jump at sounds that are too loud. Horror isn’t really my thing.” 

“Fair enough. It just seems it’s always the quiet ones that are into horror.” 

“Jokes on you.” He popped a disc in the slot, then turned to face me, tilting his head with that dangerous smirk of his. “I’m not quiet.” 

He climbed back on the bed, grabbing a pillow to lean against. I quickly sat up and shifted next to him. Jake looked up at me, but quickly dropped his gaze. Without giving me time to think, he nestled into my side. 

I melted a little, wrapping my arm around him. He was usually more withdrawn when it came to physical contact, but I wasn’t about to complain. No matter what happened this weekend, I’d enjoy holding Jake close as we watched the movie together.