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When Jayden wakes up sometime in the early afternoon, a time he’s never allowed himself to sleep to in his entire life until now, it’s to a still steaming cup of tea on his nightstand. Jayden blinks, stretches and sits up, and looks at the little tray. Next to the cup of tea is a little note is swirly cursive that reads Outside.
Jayden practically springs out of bed, ignoring the tea, pulls on a shirt and some jeans, and rushes down the hallway to the back doors, which are open out to the training yard.
Lauren is sitting on one of the observation benches in the yard, her own cup of tea clutched between her two hands and raised to her lips. He smiles when he sees her, and like a sixth sense she turns her head, smiling too.
“Hey, sleepyhead,” Lauren says, setting the cup of tea aside and standing. She walks over to him, gives him a full smile, and then reaches up to ruffle what must be some truly wild bedhead.
Jayden pushes her hand away playfully, then combs his own hand through his hair, trying to tame it. “You should have told me you were coming,” Jayden chides.
“You’d have made a fuss,” Lauren says, crossing her arms over her chest and shrugging, “And I wanted to surprise you.”
“Are you home for good?” Jayden asks, almost dreading the answer.
Lauren smiles again, and then she nods. “If that’s okay with you.”
He feels like he should hug her. Hugging is what normal people do, Emily would say if she were here. But she wasn’t, and neither he nor Lauren were very good huggers (“Yet,” Emily had warned them both before Lauren left) so instead he settles for saying, “More than okay. I’m glad you’re home.”
Lauren nods again, and then they drift into silence. She returns to her tea, and he joins her on the bench.
“It’s quite here,” she observes, glancing over the empty training yard.
“Yeah,” Jayden agrees, “It is. It’s doesn’t seem as quiet as it was before, when I was growing up her alone, but it’s still quiet.”
“Where is everyone?” Lauren wonders, and Jayden remembers she had left before the others to avoid saying goodbye. There have been too many goodbyes in my life, Lauren had told him that day, and not enough hellos.
So Jayden fills her in. He tells her about Kevin training at one of the most prestigious gyms in the country, about Mia entering culinary school. He tells her about Antonio’s fishing cruise, during which he’d won a contest for largest fish ever caught on the cruise line, and used the money to buy himself his own fishing boat which he had named The Fantastico. He tells her about Emily and Mike taking care of Serena, who is getting better, about Mike moving into apartments which happened to be next door to a dance studio that he was now working at.
“And then there’s Ji and me,” Jayden says, gesturing, “And we’ve been trying to… I don’t know. Live a normal life, I guess?” Jayden grins bashfully. “I’m learning to play the guitar, and he bought me my own motorcycle to ride with him. He’s volunteering at the animal shelter and started a community garden co-op, and I’m helping out at a daycare Mia’s mom used to work at. I figure, what better way to have a childhood than to be around kids three days a week?”
Lauren grins, takes the last sip of her tea and sets the cup aside. “That’s good,” Lauren says, nodding solemnly, “It’s important to have a life, to have things that are just for you.”
Jayden nudges her shoulder. “I bet we could convince Ji to buy one more motorcycle,” he teases, and she chuckles, “Complete the set.”
“I bet it wouldn’t take much convincing,” she agrees, wrinkling her nose and laughing.
Jayden laughs, too.
They are silent another long moment, and finally Lauren says, “Master Liu, one of my trainers, always says that life is like climbing a mountain. Every time you think you’re over a hill, a bigger one appears. I guess what to do with the rest of our lives is our next hill.”
Jayden smirks at her. “We could start with breakfast.”
Lauren giggles. “Breakfast sounds great.”
***
Lauren is there for all of two days before the others hear she has returned, and then the phone won’t stop ringing.
“How long have you been back?” Emily asks, and then there’s a jostling over the line and Mike’s voice says, “And why didn’t she tell us so we could have a party?”
Another voice, much farther off says amusedly, “You think everything is about parties!”
To which Mike answers, “Because everything is!”
Lauren grins as she hears a muffled squawk that must be Mike’s.
“Lauren?” Emily asks, “Still there?”
“Yeah,” Lauren says, grinning at Jayden and Ji who are preparing lunch at the table, “I got back a few days ago, but I didn’t want to interrupt everyone’s lives!”
“You’re not interrupting anything,” Emily assures, and she calls back over her shoulder, “Would you guys stop it! You’re supposed to be sick and weak! Serena, let him go.”
Lauren giggles. “Everything okay there?”
“Oh yeah,” Emily says, sounding amused, “My sister and Mike are just trying to kill each other. Happens all the time. We should do something! Even if you don’t want a party, we could go to the restaurant Mia is doing her internship at!”
“Oh,” Lauren wonders excitedly, “Is Mia cooking?”
She can practically hear Emily grinning fondly as she says, “Not yet. Right now she’s just observing the chefs she’s training under. I think it’s mostly dish duty and serving for the first year or so.”
“Oh, that’s too bad,” Lauren says, and she shrugs, “But if Mia likes it I’m sure the food is good.”
Over at the table, Jayden and Ji snicker under their breath, and Lauren throws the pen pad they keep next to the phone at them.
***
So, you’re home for good now? Kevin’s text reads that night.
Yes, Lauren texts back, sitting on the couch while watching a movie with Jayden, I hope so.
She always liked talking to Kevin. He was without a doubt the most rational of the rangers, and seemed to have an understanding of her anxiety around everyone. And he was extremely loyal, and Lauren had been taught to place a high value on that quality from an early age.
he texts a few moments later. I’ll make sure Mia knows we’re coming, since they’ll probably forget to tell her.
Yes please do, Lauren grins. I’m looking forward to it.
We’ve missed you around here, Kevin says, It’s good you’re back.
Lauren stares at the phone for a long moment. Was that something people said when they wanted to be polite? Or was it something people meant? She wasn’t sure. She tells him Thank You, anyway.
Jayden won’t say it, Kevin’s final text of the night reads, But he really needs you right now. He’s feeling very lost. Maybe we all are.
Lauren texts back a ???, but Kevin doesn’t respond.
She glances over at her brother sitting next to her, but he’s watching the movie intently, slowly eating popcorn from the bowl he’s holding. He catches her glance, and wordlessly offers her some popcorn. Lauren takes it, but has trouble refocusing on the movie.
***
Antonio shows up at 6am with fresh fish and a potted plant for Lauren, and Jayden can hear them talking loudly from his cocoon under his covers in his room.
He knows it’s only a matter of time until they come to wake him up, but he still can’t bring himself to get out of bed. Maybe he can still cling back to the last tendrils of sleep if he tries…
“Don’t worry, I’ll get him,” Antonio is calling back as he opens Jayden’s door, “He can’t hurt me!”
Jayden hears the door close, and he grunts and tucks the covers deeper under himself.
Antonio crawls onto the edge of the bed, as if inspecting it, and Jayden cracks an eye open. “Yoohoo,” Antonio says gently, poking at the lump where Jayden is hiding, “Sleepyhead. Time to get up.”
Jayden doesn’t answer but for a sleepy grunt, and he feels himself grinning a little, because he knows what’s coming next.
“Oh, I’m sorry Mr. Cave Troll,” Antonio says mockingly, “I thought you were my friend Jayden. Maybe you’ve seen him? He’s about six foot,” Antonio says, and he’s grabbed onto the covers and started to gently yank them away, “Blond hair that’s gotten way too long, used to get up every morning at the crack of dawn?” He tugs harder, and Jayden feels the covers coming loose and tries to hold onto them. “Dreamy eyes, terrible morning breathe, horribly ticklish-” and then Antonio’s hands are under the covers gently plucking at Jayden’s sides, and Jayden tries to squirm away, but it forces him out from under the covers, which Antonio counts as a victory and yanks them completely off the bed.
“Oh, there he is!” Antonio says, laughing as Jayden flops back down on the bed in defeat. “But what happened to the cave troll?”
Jayden easily shoves Antonio off the bed with his foot, and Antonio makes a loud ‘thud’ as he hits the floor, followed by a “Hey!” that makes Jayden smile.
He brings a hand up to cover his eyes from the sunlight. He had been meaning to get some darker curtains to put over his window.
“Uh uh, hey,” Antonio says, climbing back up onto the bed and laying down beside him, “You’ve got to get up sometime, Jay.”
Jayden removes his hand from his eyes and turns his head. “Why?”
Antonio glares. “Because your breath stinks,” he says, followed by something that Jayden assumes is an insult in Spanish.
Jayden grins and breathes determinedly into Antonio’s face, but he lets Antonio drag him out of bed anyway, and with only a little bit of grumbling he showers and gets dressed.
He finds Antonio and Lauren in the kitchen, cutting up Antonio’s catch, laughing and talking. Lauren’s new potted flower plant is sitting on the counter, the bright red ribbon still tied around it.
“I’m telling you, we’ve got to take a fishing trip, all four of us,” Antonio is saying, and Lauren shakes her head.
“I just can’t see Ji on a boat, let alone in overalls and a floppy hat!” Lauren laughs, and Antonio snickers.
“Morning,” She adds to Jayden, who sits down to watch them.
“Morning,” he returns easily, smiling at her.
“Antonio was saying we should take the day and explore Panorama City,” Lauren says, easily filleting a fish like she’s been doing it for years. She was such a quick learner, and sometimes it made Jayden marvel at her abilities. “I mean, I didn’t really get to see a lot of the city last time I was here, and I’d like to know where I’m living.”
“I was also thinking we could crash Kevin’s swim training this afternoon,” Antonio adds, taking his fish and putting it on a sheet for grilling, “Because friends support each other, right?”
Jayden rolls his eyes. “What embarrassing sign have you come up with this time?” He asks, and Antonio grins.
“Mike’s meeting us there,” he says gleefully, and Jayden just grins.
It was a good thing Kevin had mellowed some over his time as a ranger, because Antonio and Mike’s enthusiasm at trying to embarrass the hell out of him at every possible opportunity was getting out of hand.
Lauren passes him a plate of chopped fruit to snack on, and when she helps Antonio carry the platters of fish outside, she stops and leans her cheek against the top of his head, only for a moment, before continuing on.
Jayden grins at the affection, and suddenly wonders what the others have been telling her.
***
They start, of course, by taking a tour of the pier, and Antonio takes a lot of pride in showing Lauren his fishing boat.
Lauren is the first to admit she doesn’t know anything about fishing or boats, but she nods along and congratulates Antonio on his success and is truly happy to see him so excited.
“One day, I’ll own a fleet,” he promises as they step back onto the dock and he locks it up, “And my own company. Gonna change the world mi amiga!”
Lauren grins. “Sounds like something worth investing in.”
Antonio waves a hand quickly, but it’s Jayden who says, “I already offered. He turned us down.”
Antonio shrugs. “I want to get there on my own. I know I can. And I’ve told Jayden he needs to put his money into his own dreams.”
Lauren looks between the two of them walking on either side of her suspiciously. She thinks this is a conversation they’ve had a few times already. “What are those?”
Jayden shrugs and makes a face. “I don’t really have any.”
Lauren opens her mouth to object, but Antonio says “Yet!” with such finality that she feels like she shouldn’t interrupt. After all, who was she to tell Jayden to have plans and dreams and wants? It wasn’t like she had any, either.
Lauren’s current list of things to do with the rest of her life was being with Jayden, and trying to be happy. She didn’t have any better plans than he did.
The thought makes her frown all the way back into the city.
Antonio insists they buy some shaved ice from his favorite vendor, and they explore the cities best park while doing so.
“Didn’t we fight a Nighlock here?” Lauren wonders, hurrying to eat her lemon ice before it melts.
“I think the better question at this point,” Jayden says amusedly, “Is where didn’t we fight a Nighlock?”
Antonio shows her the outdoor farmers market, and they stop by Ji’s community co-op garden. It’s amazing, and Ji is happy to show them around and introduce them to the people helping out. He gives Lauren a small bag of sweet tomatoes and tells her she can work them off with a wink.
Overall, Panorama city is fairly small. There are plenty of things to do, like the amusement park and Movie Theater and many fine restaurants, and the community that’s come up here is certainly a very vibrant and tight knit one. You’d have to be, Lauren imagines, to survive everything they’ve been through.
In the afternoon they catch a bus that takes them out of Panorama city and into Crescent City, where Kevin’s training gym is.
The landscape changes drastically between the two cities. Whereas Panorama has the feeling of a small fishing and farming community built around the city, Crescent City is an actual crescent shaped around a large bay that changes up into a hilly, tightly packed and bustling town side.
Kevin’s gym is a large building in the south side of town, and the bright yellow sign reads The Catalyst. There’s an image of a gold medal next to it.
Mike greets them happily out front. He gives Lauren a bone crushing hug, and then he and Antonio are thick as thieves as they giggle over their sign. Lauren shoots Jayden a worried look. Jayden just makes a helpless face and shrugs. Clearly he’s tried to talk them out of this a few times before.
“Hey, Mike,” the desk attendant says as Mike signs them in, “They’re in the Auxiliary Pool today.”
“Thanks, Jack,” Mike says, and then Mike leads the way.
They find a spot in the middle of the bleachers, and settle in with their sign, which Lauren reads for the first time. It says, “We Love You Kevin - Sign Our Panties!!!” and Mike has stapled or perhaps glued a pair of boxers to the sign. Lauren giggles at the ridiculousness of it.
Kevin, on the other hand, spots them immediately when his team enters the gym, and just lets out a much abused sigh before pulling on his goggles and jumping into the water to do laps.
“He’s learned that getting a rise out of him encourages us,” Mike says, shaking his head.
“We’ll do better next time,” Antonio adds, but they still shake the sign around and yell every time Kevin is out of the water, and one or two of Kevin’s teammates snap pictures.
After practice, they wait for Kevin outside the gym, and when he emerges he has a black permanent marker in his hand.
“What,” Mike says suspiciously, trying to suppress a grin, “What you got there, Kev?”
“You wanted me to sign your underwear,” Kevin supplies good-naturedly, and then threateningly he adds, “Come here.”
Mike steps away quickly and gets behind Lauren. “That’s okay,” Mike says, laughing as he shifts Lauren to keep Kevin and his marker away, “You don’t have to!”
Antonio sniggers from behind them, and Kevin, without taking his eyes off Mike says, “Don’t think I’ve forgotten about you, Antonio!”
Antonio squeaks happily and goes to hide behind Jayden.
Kevin chases Mike around and between all of them for a few minutes before putting the marker away and giving Lauren a long-suffering look. “I’m glad there’s at least one other sane person here now.”
Lauren grins and gives him a wink.
“We should get going,” Jayden says, looking at this watch. “We’re supposed to meet Mia, Emily and Serena at 8.”
“Come on,” Kevin says, pulling keys from his pocket and grinning, “We’ll take The Ride.”
Lauren raises her eyebrows, but he leads them behind the building to a parking lot, where he presses a button on his key and the lights flick on and off on a blue sports car.
Jayden, Mike, and Antonio go over to inspect the car and talk about how shiny it is, and Lauren just looks at Kevin and says, “Wow.”
“It’s one of my perks,” Kevin says, nodding.
“Nice perk,” Lauren agrees, and the two of them smile while the rest of the guys talk about Kevin’s slick new ride.
“Shotgun!” Mike calls as they go to get in.
Kevin immediately intones “Never!” and opens the passenger side door for Lauren, who laughs as she gets into the sleek car.
The guys squish into the back, Mike complains, and they head back towards Panorama City for dinner.
***
“This place looks fancier than Emily said,” Lauren says as they arrive at Mia’s restaurant. “I would have worn something nicer.”
“Don’t worry,” Mike says, happily slinging an arm around her shoulder, “Antonio smells of fish, Kevin smells like chlorine and Serena has a bald head, so you being slightly underdressed is the least of our troubles.”
Emily and Serena are already inside sitting down at a large table, waiting for them. Emily gets up to hug Lauren tightly, and then they crowd into their spots after a few moments.
From across the table, a young woman with very short, light brown hair on her head who Lauren assumes can only be Serena reaches out her hand. “Serena, Emily’s sister,” she says, and Lauren reaches out to shake her hand.
“Lauren,” she says, though of course Serena will already know that.
Serena squeezes her hand tightly. “Nice to meet you finally.”
“You too,” Lauren grins, and Serena drops her hand as the waiter comes over.
Emily orders for Serena, making sure that her order is perfect, and even asking to see what the waiter has written down, before everyone else gets a chance to order. Serena sips her glass of water through a straw looking amused and fond the whole time.
They have their orders in and their drinks before Mia finally stops by their table, and she, too, hugs Lauren tightly. She’s wearing a white button down shirt, black pants, and a long black apron, but her signature pink is a flowered barrette in her high pony tail, and Lauren can’t help but grin at it.
When she points it out, Mia says, “I can at least get away with wearing pink underwear,” and winks playfully.
“You missed a great time at swim practice,” Mike says, and Kevin flicks water across the table at him.
“Don’t start,” he says, pulling the sharpie from his pocket and waving it menacingly.
“Not in the restaurant,” Mia warns them both, and then she’s getting up. She goes around the table to hug Serena, and then stops at the very end of the table to whisper something in Jayden’s ear and give his shoulders a squeeze before she says a quick goodbye and promises to deliver their food in a few moments.
Lauren shoots Jayden a look across the table, but he smiles at her and sips his soda.
“How’re you doing, Serena?” Kevin wonders, and all eyes hesitantly turn to their newest companion.
“Oh, please,” Serena says, waving a hand at them, “Let’s talk about anything else.”
***
Jayden tries to ignore the looks Lauren keeps shooting at him across the table. He’s trying, really he is, and when they’re all together like this, he always has a good time.
But as he’d mistakenly confided to Mia one night, he couldn’t help but dread the time they spent together, because it also meant that time would have to end, and then he’d be alone and purposeless again.
Maybe he’d confided this when Mia had invited him to her place to help her test mixed drinks for her mixology class, and he’d had a few too many sips, but it had been true, all the same.
“Just enjoy it while it’s here,” Mia had whispered in his ear a moment ago. And he was trying.
It wasn’t easy, he had decided, this surviving thing.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t expected everyone to go their separate ways. It was really more that he hadn’t had any expectations; the fact that they had all come out of their years as rangers whole and together and still breathing had surpassed every expectation Jayden had ever had.
He, like his generations of family before him, had expected his life to end in sacrifice to the Nighlock.
And then… it hadn’t. And he’d been left uncertain what to do with himself ever since.
Kevin had brought it up, being as perceptive as he was, by talking to Jayden about people who were given terminal disease diagnoses. They’d been talking about Serena, and Kevin had just offhandedly mentioned that people who were given terminal diagnoses and then survived were often angry about it. Doctors got sued, lawyers involved, all because a person had lived when they hadn’t expected to.
And it was normal, Kevin had assured him, to be angry when you’d made peace with dying only to have to keep going.
It was just that Jayden wasn’t angry. He was so, so very happy that he and all of his friends had survived, had done the impossible. But while they all had dreams and goals and lives and people to return to, Jayden hadn’t ever made any plans, or dreams, or goals. And now he was just… empty. Everyone had left him, and he didn’t know what to do or who to be anymore.
The feeling was overwhelming, and yes, he was trying. He was working with Ji, and he still trained some days just for the exercise, and perhaps seeing how lonely and lost he was, his friends had been spending more time with him, and Mia had hooked him up with the people at the day care.
But it still didn’t feel like his life had any meaning, and Jayden didn’t know what to do with that.
Jayden realizes he’s been staring at his empty appetizer plate like he’s trying to blow it up with his mind, and suddenly he finds it hard to breath in this dim, cramped restaurant, so he folds his napkin and stands up.
“Bathroom,” he supplies when his friends glance at him, but then instead of heading to the bathroom he bolts for the front doors and walks out into the night.
Mia had her cooking, and her culinary school, and her restaurant. Kevin had his swimming, and his gym, and his Olympic trials coming soon. Emily had her family, Serena, and the farm. Mike had found the dance studio, and now even he was on his way to a promising future, working and teaching dance classes there. Antonio had his fishing boat, and his company, and had refused, not out of malice Jayden knew, to let Jayden share that with him. And Lauren…
Well, maybe Lauren was in much the same boat as he was.
“Jayden?” Lauren’s voice calls, and he turns, wondering how long he’s been outside for her to come looking for him. “Are you alright?”
Jayden nods, tries to smile. “Yeah, I just needed some fresh air.”
Lauren looks uncertain. “Are you sur-”
“I’m fine,” he interrupts her, “I promise.”
Lauren bites her lip, crosses her arms and nods. “Okay,” she agrees, “The food is here.”
“Great,” he says, “I’m starved.” They head back inside to eat in silence.
After the food, which is as usual very good, Mia comes over and takes off her apron. “My boss told me to head out for the night,” she says, smiling, “Since my friends are such good customers. Who wants ice cream?”
Almost all the hands shoot up in the air.
***
They manage to get into the ice cream parlor a few moments before it closes, and they all get their ice cream cones and tip the people really well before leaving the shop so they can close up.
Instead of sitting out on the shops patio, they decide to walk down to Antonio’s pier again so they can play in the surf and star gaze.
Lauren is licking her caramel-peanut-vanilla concoction when Mia sidles up next to her and links their free arms together.
“So,” Mia says, after taking a bite of her own strawberry ice cream, “Happy to be home?”
“Very,” Lauren says, grinning as some ice cream dribbles down her lip to her chin.
Up ahead, Antonio and Kevin are talking about Kevin keeping books for Antonio’s fishing business, and Jayden and Emily are walking beside Mike, who is giving Serena a piggy back ride. Serena has both hers and Mike’s ice cream in her hands, and she takes turns feeding her noble steed and eating her own ice cream as they walk.
“Will you tell me what’s going on with Jayden?” Lauren asks Mia suddenly, hoping they’re far enough back that he won’t hear.
Mia nods, swallows her bite of ice cream. “He’s… well, he’s depressed, I think. He told me a few weeks ago, while somewhat tipsy thanks to me, that he feels purposeless.”
Purposeless… Lauren knew that feeling. She’d certainly felt it when she’d failed at locking Master Xandred away, and she was feeling it a little bit now. She didn’t seem to be feeling it the same way Jayden was, but. They weren’t all that alike, when it came down to it.
Jayden was brave and fiercely determined and self sacrificing. Lauren was those things too, but where Jayden was outgoing Lauren was reserved. Where Jayden was uncommonly kind, Lauren was awkward and anxious. And where Jayden was hopeless about his future, Lauren was hopeful about her own. It felt more to her like she had too many choices now, too many options and possibilities of what she could do. Where Jayden saw the road ending, Lauren saw too many roads to take.
They were both stuck, though.
“I don’t know what to do, either,” Lauren admits to Mia, “Because we just weren’t raised to think past Xandred.”
Mia nods, furrowing her brow as she eats her ice cream and thinks. “Kevin says that, psychologically, this is a temporary phase, and he just needs our support while he figures things out. And I think he’s right, at least about needing us. The whole time I’ve known Jayden, he’s only ever been about one thing, and that was our team.”
Lauren smiles sadly. “I wish I’d been part of that.”
Mia jostles their linked arms. “Hey, don’t. You are a part of it. Maybe not in the beginning and maybe not for very long, but you make this team whole. Even Serena is a part of it,” Mia nods towards Emily’s sister, “And she’s been less involved than you.”
“Thank you,” Lauren says, “That means a lot.”
Mia nods, and Lauren bites into her crunchy ice cream cone to fill the silence.
“I think,” Mia says after they’ve walked a little farther and Antonio has jogged ahead to get a lantern from his boat for them to see with, “That when you go through an experience like being a ranger, you think for a long time that it’s supposed to define you as a person. But it doesn’t, not really. It makes you who you are, and it binds you to your teammates for the rest of your life, which is definitely the best part,” Mia laughs, “Because without each other, I know we’d all be lost. But being a ranger doesn’t define you. And I think it’s just taking Jayden longer to realize that because he’d been defined by it so much longer than the rest of us.”
Ahead, Mike lets Serena down to walk and takes over his own ice cream, and Emily and Serena wrap their arms around each other’s shoulders, close as ever even after all the time Emily spent away. Antonio comes running back with the lantern, his ice cream long finished, and Mia and Lauren drop their linked arms to climb over the ropes and into the soft sand of the shore. Kevin asks Jayden if he wants to race, and the two of them take off down the beach without another word, while Mike waves his hands at them and calls them showoffs.
Mia breaks into Emily and Serena’s hug to get one of her own, and the three of them giggle while Antonio comes over to start showing Lauren the brightest constellations in the Panorama summer sky.
Without each other, Lauren thinks solemnly, we’d all be lost.
***
Ji buys Lauren a motorcycle with very little prompting.
It’s white with red accents, whereas Jayden’s is mostly red with black. Ji’s own motorcycle with flames sits between the two of them in the courtyard when they aren’t being ridden, like a showroom display.
Jayden teaches her how to ride but, like all things, Lauren has the hang of it in no time.
“You’re a natural,” Jayden tells her as they pull off their helmets.
“I had a good teacher,” Lauren retorts, and Jayden smirks. “Hey, I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“Sure,” Jayden says, leading the way up to the house, “What’s up?”
Lauren hesitates. Jayden pauses and turns back to look at her.
“I just wanted to tell you,” Lauren says, and suddenly she looks nervous, and there’s even what looks like tears welling in her eyes, “I’m glad you survived. I think you might not be, not all the time, and that’s okay, I get it. But I thought I should say it aloud. I’m really glad we both made it. I don’t think I could bear to lose you again.”
Lauren talks quickly, but not quickly enough to stop her tears from spilling over, and then she’s wiping them away hurriedly while he stares at her.
God, he hates it when girls cry. And why do they always cry around him? Emily had come to him to cry about her sister when she’d found out how poorly she was doing, and Mia had cried to him when she got her first terrible grade in culinary school, and now Lauren is gently crying about Jayden, and he never knows what to do when girls cry.
He knows they’re not huggers, but he goes in for one anyway, because he thinks it’s what she needs. He wraps an arm around her shoulders and settles the other on her arm and pulls her close, and then tries to gently shush her.
“You’re not going to lose me,” Jayden says comfortingly, and he rests his chin on her head.
“But I don’t want you to lose yourself, either,” Lauren adds, and Jayden frowns. She’s stopped crying, and she pulls back just enough to look up at him. “Which is why I have a plan.”
***
“A road trip?” Jayden asks incredulously, staring at the map.
“A road trip,” Ji agrees, and Lauren nods.
“All the young adult novels I was allowed to read growing up had life affirming road trips,” Lauren says, “And Emily thinks it’s a great idea.”
“Well,” Jayden says sarcastically, “Emily is the expert.”
“I heard that!” Emily says from somewhere down the hall, and when Jayden turns his friends are pouring into the kitchen where he’s sitting.
Jayden shakes his head. “What are you all doing here?”
“We’re going with you!” Mike says gleefully, and when Jayden raises his eyebrows, Mike waves his hands and says, “No, okay, I’m kidding, we’re not going.”
“We’re here to kick your butt until you agree to go,” Mia says helpfully, and Jayden laughs. Out of the lot of them, she and Kevin would have the best chance, and he hasn’t been training lately, but it’s still a laughable idea.
“We’re actually here because we have favors to ask,” Kevin says reassuringly, and Jayden looks over between Lauren and Ji and back to his friends.
“Is this some kind of intervention?” Jayden wonders, glaring at them all.
“You could call it that,” Antonio says amusedly.
“But what it really is,” Lauren says, reaching down and placing her hand over his on the table, “Is you’re teaming taking care of you, if you’ll let us.”
“You were our rock,” Emily adds, “You led us through everything, and we owe you.”
“And even if we didn’t,” Mike agrees, “You’re our friend, and that would still be enough.”
***
Mike’s favor is asking Jayden to teach at the dance academy when he’s back from his trip. “I want to open up a martial arts inspired dance class,” he explains, “But my students would need to know actual martial arts before I could transform them into dance, and you’re a better teacher than I am.”
Mia wants Jayden to come to some of her cooking classes with her. “I already checked with my instructor, and she’s cool with it. I need someone to push me, to make me do better, and competition really helps me with that, which is something you taught me.”
Kevin needs a running partner. “My team can’t keep up with me like you can,” he says, “And if I’m going to qualify for the Olympics I need to be in the best shape I can possibly be, and I know you can help me with that.”
“My cat Priscilla is pregnant,” Emily says gleefully, “And in 8-10 weeks I’m going to need to find homes for the kittens.” She wiggles her eyebrows suggestively, implying that Jayden will be getting one.
“I do want your help with my fishing business,” Antonio says sincerely, “Even if I don’t want your money. But I will take your advice, and since Kevin is so busy, if you could help me with the accounting, I’d really appreciate it.”
And after Jayden talks with all of them and agrees to all their favors, they force him to his room to pack a bag.
“How long do you think you guys will be gone?” Emily asks, folding his socks.
Jayden shrugs. “Lauren drew the map, so who knows.”
“Well, don’t be too long,” Kevin says, “Because I was serious about needing help training.”
“Yeah,” Mike sniggers, shoving one of Jayden’s shirts into the bag, “You’ve really gotta get that flab under control.” Then he pinches Kevin in the stomach and laughs.
Kevin smacks his hands away, and then he looks at Jayden. “Jayden, I need one more favor,” he says dryly.
Jayden raises his eyebrows.
“Help me hold him down,” Kevin says, and he pulls out the sharpie from the pocket and Mike squawks and runs for the door.
***
With a quickly packed bag strapped to the back of his motorcycle, Jayden waits at the gates of the Shiba House for Ji and Lauren. He closes his eyes in the afternoon sun, feels it’s heat on his face.
He hears Lauren’s motorcycle roll up a moment later.
“You alright?” Lauren asks, and Jayden nods, grinning foolishly.
“This is about what I said to Mia,” he says, opening his eyes. “You’re all trying to give me purpose.”
Lauren nods. “At least until you can find some of your own.”
“What about you?” Jayden wonders, and somehow Lauren seems to know what he means.
She leans down over her bike and rests her head on her helmet as she looks out at the road. “I haven’t decided yet,” she admits, “But I’m keeping my options open.”
Jayden grins at her, and turns his head back out to the road, too.
“Alright, ladies,” Ji intones happily, pulling his motorcycle up beside them and cranking the engine to life, “Let’s get going.”
Jayden laughs, and he and Lauren strap on their helmets. “So,” he asks her as their bikes roar to life, “Where to?”
“You’ll find out when we get there,” Lauren promises mischievously, and she revs her engine and heads out on the road.
Yeah, Jayden thinks, following her out into the unknown, he imagines he will.