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Soft lamplight illuminated the monotonous text sprawling across the pages of Jesse’s textbook. It was so late into the night it was almost morning again, as the clock further over on the desk read “11:37.” Jesse sighed, tapping the end of his pencil against his open notebook. He had an important exam in a couple days, and he’d been struggling to keep up with his schoolwork since returning from the Train. Now, he had a lot more studying to do than he was used to.
Lake rolled over on the bed next to his desk, examining Jesse’s hunched figure. “How much longer are you going to be brooding over that textbook?” Lake asked.
Jesse turned a few pages, “Until this either makes sense, or I pass out.”
“I’m betting on the ladder option.”
Had Jesse been less tired he would’ve disagreed, but instead he concurred, “Yeah, you’re probably right.”
Lake frowned and shimmied to the edge of the bed, leaning over to scan Jesse’s coursework. “Maybe I could help?” they offered. Lake had never attended school themself but had picked up a decent understanding while reflecting Tulip during her classes. Jesse’s work appeared completely different, however. Which made sense, a completely different state probably had a completely different curriculum.
Jesse leaned onto his hand, rereading another sentence for the third time. “You can try if you want, but I think it’s a lost cause.”
Lake reached over the desk and picked up the textbook, resting it on their lap. Lake began reading with a mild expression, but as their eyes worked down the page their brows furrowed more and more. Eventually, Lake shut the book an announced, “Jesse, I’m afraid that this is the first time today you’ve been right. This makes no sense.”
“Yeah, that’s what I’m saying! Well, not the first part, I’ve been right plenty of times today.”
“Not when you said it wasn’t going to rain this morning, or that you could make the best paper airplane, or—”
“Okay, fine. I was wrong a few times, but I was right the rest!”
“Whatever you say.”
Lake laughed, but Jesse only smiled a little. He took another look at his notebook and his frown returned. He dreaded the test’s impending approach. Lake set aside the textbook and jumped off the bed. They stretched, gazing out the window into the moonlit night. It looked beautiful outside. The moon was almost full, casting its subtle glow across everything. It had rained earlier in the day, but now all the plants looked lush and renewed, basking in the moonlight.
Jesse gave Lake a skeptical look, “Why are you making that face? That’s your ‘I just had an idea Jesse’s not going to like’ face.”
Grinning, Lake shook their head, “No, you’re going to love this idea.” They picked up Jesse’s jacket from across the room and threw it to him. He caught it, looking perplexed.
“Lake, what’s your proposal?”
“Let’s go for a walk. You need to clear your head.”
“At almost midnight?” Jesse smiled, “Shoot, you were right. I do love this idea!”
“See? Another time you were wrong today.”
“Hey!” Jesse threw his pencil at Lake in retaliation, but it bounced off their chrome body and fell ineffectually.
“Nice try,” Lake chuckled, heading out the door. Jesse threw on his coat, following Lake downstairs. They went out the backdoor, careful to open it quietly. It’s not that either of them fearing getting in trouble for heading out at this hour, they just wanted to be respectful to Jesse’s sleeping family. Once in the back yard, they made their way out toward the forested area nearby.
The air was comfortably cool and twinged with dampness. As they entered the woods, it became harder to see. The leaves obscured the moonlight, waving gently in the soft breeze. But that didn’t deter either of them, as they walked leisurely side-by-side on the narrow trail.
Jesse adored the atmosphere, admiring the speckles of starry sky poking through the treetops. “Why have I never gone on a night hike before?” He turned to Lake, “This is super cool! I’m so glad you had this awesome idea.”
“Oh, uh—” Lake turned away sheepishly, “—it wasn’t that radical of an idea. Just thought… you know… nature’s good for your, uh, mental health?”
“Yeah, nature’s good for everything. We should do this more often.”
Lake nodded, “This is pretty nice.”
They walked on in silence, listening to the sounds of the forest: crickets chirping songs, owls cooing to each other, and little animals scurrying through the undergrowth. Foliage ruffled softly in the wind, creating a soothing background of static noise. As Lake and Jesse stepped, debris crinkled underfoot. The night was sonorous. It was peaceful.
Jesse, however, was never one for keeping quiet. “So,” he began, searching for a conversation starter, “how was your day? Were you bored while I was at school?”
Lake huffed, “I’m always bored when you’re at school. But my day was okay. I’ve been reading that book you gave me.”
“The one about the dragons?”
“That one, yeah.”
Jesse brightened, “Oh my God, do you like it? How far are you? Who’s your favorite character?”
“Jeeze, take a deep breath Jesse. I’m not that far. Reading is kind of… it’s different than in the mirror world. Like, backwards. I’m still getting the hang of it.”
Jesse deflated, “Oh, right. I guess that makes sense.”
“But…” Lake went on, “I’ll be sure to tell you everything I think about it once I’m farther along.”
“Epic. I really love that book. If you don’t like it, I’ll probably cry.”
“Okay, then, I hate it. Worst book ever. I’m never reading it again.”
“You’re so mean!” Jesse crossed his arms, “You know what? I’m not going to cry. I won’t give you the satisfaction.”
“Oh, right, I won’t find you later crying in the bathroom brushing your teeth, lamenting about how nobody respects your taste in literature, and—” but Lake’s witticism ended prematurely, as their foot caught a root sticking out of the ground the words in their mouth were replaced with dirt.
Jesse exclaimed, “Oh my God, are you okay?” Although his expression was bemused, he held back his laughter, watching to see Lake’s own response to their tumble.
With a groan, Lake rose from the ground. “Shit, that was embarrassing,” they mumbled. Jesse helped them back to their feet, rubbing dirt of Lake’s chrome shoulder. Lake took a step forward, but almost fell back down. Jesse caught them by the arm.
Lake laughed dryly, “Wow, I guess I forgot how to walk.”
Concerned, Jesse kept hold of Lake’s forearm, “Are you alright, Lake?”
“Yeah, I just… yeah. Sorry. Let’s just keep walking.”
Amidst his worry, Jesse tried to lighten the situation. “You sure you can walk on your own? Do you need me to hold your hand?” His tone was playful, but he was only semi-serious.
He didn’t anticipate Lake to say, “I mean… if you want to, sure. Why not, right?”
Jesse’s expression shifted a few times until settling into something unreadable. He answered simply, “Yeah. Why not? No reason not to.”
“Yeah, that’s what I said.”
“Yes.”
After an awkward pause, Jesse and Lake linked hands and continued their hike.
The wind was beginning to pick up. Occasionally, a particular gust sent a shiver through Jesse, although he didn’t really mind. He still felt reasonably warm, even holding onto Lake’s metallic hand. It had felt cold at first, but after holding it for a little while it had warmed up.
Jesse liked holding hands with Lake, although they hadn’t really done it casually. He’d thought about holding Lake’s hand before, but he’d never really asked. Lake had never expressed any interest, either. But, doing it now, it felt natural to both of them.
Jesse started to swing his hand cheerily to-and-fro, taking Lake’s hand along for the ride. Lake raised an eyebrow, “What are you doing?”
“I dunno. It just feels fun.” He continued the motion with exaggeration, saying, “Whee!” as he tossed their hands forward and back.
“This is so stupid,” Lake chided, although they were giggling.
“Do you want me to stop?” Jesse asked, slowing the hand-pendulum back down.
“No, keep going… it’s fun.”
They continue to swing as they walk, every now and again one of them would toss their hands extra high or tug them to the side. As the two fooled around, they couldn’t help laughing. Lake gave Jesse’s hand an aggressive yank, and he almost fell over. In retaliation, Jesse yanked back, but Lake didn’t budge.
Lake pulled again, and Jesse flew into them with a slight thud. He laughed, “Woah, easy now! You’re really hard.”
Chuckling, Lake gave a sly grin, “That’s what she said.”
“Wow. Real mature of you.”
“Shut up, I know you think I’m funny. You’re smiling like an idiot.”
“Yeah, and you like my smile.”
“Doesn’t mean you don’t look stupid.”
Jesse frowned playfully while Lake broke into laughter. The banter came to a lull, so Jesse too the opportunity to shift the tone of the conversation, “Oh, man, what are we doing?”
This time Lake frowned, “What do you mean?”
“We’re walking in the woods in the middle of the night holding hands. Don’t you think that’s kinda weird?”
“Do you think this is weird?”
Thoughtful, Jesse didn’t respond for a moment. Crickets filled the silence, chirping talkatively. Finally, Jesse spoke, “I don’t know. I guess I just thought this sort of thing was supposed to be romantic.” He rethought what he’d just said, and added, “Is this romantic?”
Lake thought this time, looking out at the trees, back at Jesse, to the trees again. On their next return to Jesse, they responded, “Why does it matter? We can do whatever we want. We don’t need a reason, or to fit into any sort of box. I’m tired of trying to match people’s expectations. You’re my best friend no matter what, who cares what that’s ‘supposed’ to look like.”
Jesse nodded, “Yeah, I suppose that’s a good point.” However, it seemed he still had a few reservations, as he continued tentatively, “I just don’t really understand how you’re supposed to know if something’s romantic or not. Like I’ve seen it on TV, and I’ve read about it in books but… I don’t get what it’s like in real life.”
“Well, honestly, I don’t get it either. Granted, I haven’t really met a lot of people myself, just seen Tulip get to meet people, but I’m not sure if I even can, like, feel romantic about people. I’m still working on this whole ‘friend’ thing, anyway.” Lake sighed, “I think what’s most important to me is that I get to spend time with you. Whatever that relationship is, we can figure it out as we go. Or, you know, we could never figure it out. That’s fine, too.”
“Right, but I think we should come up with a name for it.”
Lake snorted, “Really? I swear to God if this name is anything like ‘Alan Dracula’…”
“No, no! It’s going to be a great name. I think we can call this a… an ambiguous committed partnership.” Lake looked unimpressed, so Jesse tried again, “Professional business companionship? Wait, that’s doesn’t make sense… maybe partners in life… life partners… business partners for life… but what kind of business are we doing? Wait, maybe…” Jesse trailed into a mumble, whispering assorted combinations of words which occasionally made sense together.
Eventually, Lake cut in, “Jesse, why don’t we just say ‘companions.’ That seems simple enough.”
“Yeah. Best companions forever. Best business companions forever?”
“We don’t need the word ‘business.’”
“Maybe not officially, but I’m still adding it in there personally. Sounds fancier.”
Lake almost objected, but upon seeing the content look on Jesse’s face, relented, “Whatever, dork.”
The wind’s strength had progressed even further. For the past ten minutes, the moon’s light had been jumping in and out between passing clouds. Now was a moment where the light was obscured, casting the forest into darkness. Trees creaked as wind pushed between them, sounding almost like a warning. In fact, it probably was a warning, because Jesse felt a drop of something wet land on his face.
He wiped his cheek, feeling another brush his arm. Lake must have felt it too because they were studying their open hand. Jesse asked the question anyway, “Did you feel that?”
Lake looked toward the sky, “Yeah. I think it’s starting to rain.”
“We should probably be not in the middle of the woods right now, right?”
“Are you implying we should go home?”
“At the very least somewhere with a roof.” The drops were getting bigger now, and more frequent. Jesse extended a hand, catching a couple sizable raindrops.
Lake watched the leaves buckling in the wind. Listening closely, they heard the sound of rain pounding on frondescence in the distance. Lake gave Jesse a knowing grin, “I think we should start running.”
After that suggestion, Jesse could barely nod before Lake took off, dragging him with them by his still-held hand. As they raced back down the trail, the rain arrived, pelting mercilessly. Lake and Jesse were both laughing so hard they gave up on out running the rain, slowing to a carefree jog. They stumbled out of the woods, hands still joined.
Lake paused and turned to Jesse. “I’ll race you back,” they challenged.
“You’re on!”
They both took off again, stumbling their way back home in the misty darkness. Jesse and Lake flipped places several times, but in the end they both ended up at the back door at the same time. Jesse fumbled it open, and they plotted a couple steps inside before courteously removing their shoes. The two of them headed upstairs to find a way to dry off.
Lake stood in Jesse’s bedroom while he grabbed some towels from the bathroom. While he was gone, Lake collected some dry clothes to change into for bed— an oversized t-shirt and some shorts.
Jesse entered the room an extended a towel to Lake, “Here.”
Lake took it eagerly, “Thank you,” and began to wipe themself down. Jesse did the same with his own towel. After wiping his hair, he looked rather silly. Lake reached out, ruffling it even more. They chided, “You look ridiculous, Jesse.”
Jesse smoothed his hair with his hands, “Thanks. It’s a new look I’m going for.”
Lake chuckled, then picked up the clothes they’d collected. “I’m going to go change. I’ll be right back,” they stated, before taking a look at Jesse’s own soaked attire, “You should probably consider changing, too.”
“Yeah, for sure. I’ll close my door, just knock when you need back in.”
Lake gave a nod and exited the bedroom. By the time they returned, Jesse was dressed and opened the door at their first knock. Lake walked in and flopped down on the bed with a long sigh.
“Damn, I’m actually really tired.”
“It is really late. Well, really early actually; it’s almost 1 AM.”
“Yeah, but it’s not like I did anything today. You must be exhausted.”
Jesse shrugged, “I guess. I dunno. Have you brushed your teeth yet?”
“Yep.”
“Well, I haven’t. I’m going to go do that now; I’ll be back.” Jesse walked out of the room, leaving Lake alone on his bed. Technically, the bed was just as much Lake’s as it was Jesse’s. The first few nights after getting off the Train, Lake had tried sleeping separately from Jesse, but they kept having nightmares about getting separated from him. To solve the problem, Jesse suggested they just share a bed, so Lake would always know he wasn’t going anywhere.
Lake rolled over to their side and cozied up, shimmying under the covers. When Jesse reentered, Lake looked amazingly comfortable. Jesse got into bed carefully, trying not to disturb them. He wasn’t sure whether Lake was asleep or not, but he didn’t want to risk waking them either way. But Lake flipped over to face Jesse, clearly awake.
They smiled, “You know… today was pretty fun. We should do more stuff like that. Going on adventures without the risk of certain death. The Train was really awful, but it was fun to explore with you.”
“Yeah,” Jesse agreed before yawning. “First, though, we should go to bed. The craziest adventure of all: sleeping.”
Lake snorted, “Totally. Dreams can get pretty intense.”
“They can be pretty good, though.”
Laughing, Lake started to turn back around, but Jesse called out, “Wait!”
Lake relaxed back to facing Jesse, “What?”
“I just wanted to tell you that… I love you.”
With a smile Lake replied, “I love you, too.”
“You’re the best business companion ever.”
“I really don’t understand where the business part comes into play. Is this a pyramid scheme?”
“Shh, don’t question it. It can mean whatever we want it to mean.”
“You’re a goofball. I’m going to sleep now. Goodnight.” Lake didn’t bother flipping back over, they just closed their eyes where they were.
Jesse said, “Goodnight. Sweet dreams.” He let out a deep breath and stared up at his ceiling. As he traced a few imperfections on the spackling, he recalled his upcoming test. He was worried for a moment, but then let it go. No matter whether he passed or failed the test, he knew Lake would still be there for him. Through everything, no matter what, he would always have them.
Jesse closed his eyes and began to relax. The rhythmic sounds of rain hitting the roof and Lake breathing easily lulled him into a comfortable sleep. He was warm, content, and safe, knowing everything was going to be alright.