8/16 Instance: Tea Time Truce

[tears~fall~like~glass]

timeline: day before Fifty Shades of Fabian



Jessica: Jess sighed a little and rolled onto her side on the roof. Even the clouds weren't providing their usual distraction from her problems. She looked at her hands, lying on the roof in front of her face, fingers slightly curled. It was tempting sometimes... if only to forget for a while.

Johnny: Johnny had gotten tired of sitting in his room and ventured out in search of something to do, eventually remembering that he hadn't seen Jess since before he'd left for the summer. He stepped outside and ascended to the roof, fairly pleased that he'd guessed correctly, "Um, hey?"

Jessica: Jess blinked and rolled over at the sound of the voice to face Johnny, "Oh... hey..."

Johnny: He dropped onto the roof and looked out over the lawn, "What's up?"

Jessica: "Not a lot..." she sat up and ran a hand through her hair. She wasn't sure what to say to him now.

Johnny: Right. This totally wasn't awkward at all. "So... How was your summer?"

Jessica: "Pretty awful... yours?" she looked up at him finally.

Johnny: Johnny shrugged, "About the same."

Jessica: "Oh... is that before or after you broke up with Hope?"

Johnny: He cringed slightly, "Both?"

Jessica: "Have you spoken to her since?"

Johnny: "No. Why would I? We broke up."

Jessica: "What so that's it? You're just going to ignore her now and cut her completely out of your life?"

Johnny: Johnny raised an eyebrow, "Aren't you doing the same thing with Danny?"

Jessica: Jess narrowed her eyes momentarily, "That's completely different. He doesn't live here anymore and he's not coming back."

Johnny: "It's not different. A break up is a break up," he rolled his eyes.

Jessica: "She still lives in the same building! What are you going to do if you have to work together?"

Johnny: "I don't know. I'll figure something out."

Jessica: "Johnny, that's not an acceptable answer."

Johnny: "Why does it matter?"

Jessica: "Because she's one of my only friends? And I don't want to see her suffering?"

Johnny: Johnny rolled his eyes and turned around. Why had he bothered?

Jessica: "Johnny, wait..." she got to her feet, "There's a reason I asked if you'd spoken to her...."

Johnny: He stopped, "Why? So she can tell me what a bastard I am again?"

Jessica: "No..." she stepped up beside him, "So she can explain why she was acting so weird."

Johnny: "Because she's crazy? Because I already know that."

Jessica: "She's not crazy... not anymore...."

Johnny: Johnny snorted in disbelief, "Yeah, right."

Jessica: "She's not..." she moved around in front of him, "Xavier fixed it..."

Johnny: His eyebrow went up, "Then, why do I have to go to her?"

Jessica: "Because she's obviously not going to you even though I told her to...."

Johnny: "Then, how is it my problem?"

Jessica: "Because she wants to! Don't you care?!"

Johnny: "I'm working on not caring! How is seeing her going to help that?! It's bad enough we live together!"

Jessica: "I'm not asking you what you're working at! Do you care or not!?"

Johnny: Johnny just gave another roll of his eyes and stepped around her. Yeah, this had definitely been a bad idea.

Jessica: Jess grabbed his arm, "Answer the question."

Johnny: "No because it's none of your business," Johnny answered as he worked to wrench him arm from her grasp.

Jessica: Jess merely tightened her grip. It was probably hurting him now. "It is my damn business! She accused me multiple times of trying to sleep with you, did you know that?"

Johnny: He turned to face her, seeing as his arm wasn't being freed anytime soon, "Yet you're still taking her side!"

Jessica: "Because it wasn't her!"

Johnny: "Oh? So now she was just some pod person?!"

Jessica: Jess took a deep breath to try and keep her from yelling at him some more or breaking his arm because her grip tightened further. "She still had War in her head."

Johnny: Johnny didn't manage to hide the grimace as her grip tightened and stared down at the roof, muttering, "Just let me go."

Jessica: "No. You need to listen. She wasn't herself, Johnny. I knew War was there but I thought she'd got better control than she did. If I'd known I would have said something sooner but I didn't and she was so upset when she realised War had cut you out."

Johnny: He scowled. "Will you let me go if I say I'll talk to her?"

Jessica: "That depends whether or not you actually mean it. Johnny I couldn't get her out of bed most days after she came back... she really likes you a lot... and I'm sure she misses you... there has to be some way you can fix this... At least one of us deserves to be happy...."

Johnny: Johnny huffed, "I'll get around to talking to her."

Jessica: "Are you going to be an ass about it to her too?"

Johnny: "I'm, apparently, always an ass, so most likely."

Jessica: Jess frowned at him but loosened her hold on his arm, "At least try to be understanding..."

Johnny: "I'm always the one that's trying to be understanding, so that should be easy enough," he rolled his eyes.

Jessica: She chewed her lip a little then hugged him, "I'm sorry I yelled at you..."

Johnny: Johnny glanced down at her and sighed, somewhat reluctantly returning the hug.

Jessica: Jess gave him a squeeze before she loosened her hold enough that he could step back from her. "I've not been having a great time lately.... so I might be a little pushy when it comes to potential good news... sorry..."

Johnny: "I haven't exactly been having the best time either."

Jessica: She ran a hand through her hair and went to sit down, "I don't know if I'm supposed to be talking to you..."

Johnny: His brow furrowed, "Why?"

Jessica: "Well... I don't know what the rules are when you pick sides in a breakup..."

Johnny: "Easy... You don't pick sides."

Jessica: "I don't know if I can be on both sides... I feel like that might piss Hope off and I have to share a room with her..."

Johnny: "Well, I'm not trying to put you in the middle..." Johnny moved to sit down himself, "I just wanted to hang out..."

Jessica: She sighed, "I don't know if I feel like hanging out... everything's kind of.... just horrible lately...."

Johnny: "Then, I'll just shut up and go find someone else to bother... Like, Curt."

Jessica: "Okay...." she went back to lying down on the roof and rolled onto her side to put her back to him. "Did he tell you Danny and I broke up?"

Johnny: "I don't know... It's just kinda general knowledge at this point," Johnny shrugged.

Jessica: She nodded, "Of course it is...." She curled up a little.

Johnny: Johnny looked between her and the edge of the roof, "I can shut up and just sit here too, if you'd prefer... We don't have to talk..."

Jessica: "I don't even know what to talk about. There's no safe topics lately..." she looked over her shoulder at him, "You don't have to stay..."

Johnny: "Hence the not having to talk part," Johnny laid back and shook his head, "It's fine. I don't mind."

Jessica: She rolled onto her back and shifted a little closer to him. "How's Sue?"

Johnny: "Meh... She's had better summers too."

Jessica: "Hope told me what she did..."

Johnny: "Ah, yeah... I mean, I think Sue was going to tell them anyway, but still..."

Jessica: "I take it their reaction wasn't great?"

Johnny: "Not particularly, no."

Jessica: "I'm sorry... I should've said something...."

Johnny: "It's alright. It's all said and done now."

Jessica: "Yeah..." she frowned up at the sky. "Everything's kind of a mess..."

Johnny: "Just a little..."

Jessica: "A little?" She glanced at him again, "Oh you've no idea..."

Johnny: Johnny looked over at her as well and reached to pat her, "It was sarcasm."

Jessica: "Oh... yeah... I'm still getting used to hearing that one from other people..."

Johnny: "Yes, other people are capable of using it," he grinned a bit.

Jessica: "Well I used to get in trouble for it all the time so I had to watch myself... it's fun not to get yelled at all the time but I'm really just not used to hearing it from other people... My dad wasn't really one for it..."

Johnny: "You'll readjust," Johnny assured her. He paused before offering, "You want tea? I can go make some and bring it back up."

Jessica: She turned her head to give him a smile, "I would love some tea, thank you."

Johnny: "In that case, I'll be right back," Johnny returned the smile and moved to get up. So, maybe this hadn't been such a bad idea...