(POV Julie)
The sunlight was warm on Julie's face as she leaned against her car. She had grown significantly fonder of April and May over the last three years; both months used to have great temperatures. It was rarely so hot that being outside was uncomfortable, and not so cold that you couldn't be. Of course, the largest reason that mattered was because when you lived out of your car with a four-year-old or three-year-old, getting them changed for winter was never easy, nor was finding a place with good enough cooling. Luckily, the latter had been less of a problem in northern Colorado and wasn't a concern at all now.
Winter was nice, but she was more of a summer person. That said, there had been summers she hated. Julie used her thumb to push down on her index finger, hearing a faint pop. She had especially disliked the summers in the Middle East, though she wasn't sure if that was because of how ungodly hot it got in body armor or if it was the IEDs. Quite frankly, she could go either way, though it was probably a mix thereof.
She could hear an engine approaching in the distance. Looking up, she saw a newer pickup driving down the gravel driveway leading to the farm. At this distance, she couldn't see exactly what kind of car it was, but surprisingly, it wasn't a Ford F-150. It also wasn't Jason's old rust bucket, which she suspected could make anyone trying to figure out how old it was truly appreciate the ship of Theseus. Not that she knew much about the car, but she suspected it was mostly held together by salvage and duct tape. Though that seemed to be true for a lot around here.
The car came to a stop in front of the house. Mr. Smallers was driving. She could see that as he exited the driver's side door and waved at her. Waving back, she got up from the car. Picking up a small, well-decorated wooden box from the passenger side, she started walking over.
Julie winced as she saw Jason get out of the back seat on crutches. She knew he had crutches; hell, she had been the one to hand them to him just before Jasmine had driven him home early yesterday morning. According to Jasmine, he had sprained his ankle; it was a mild sprain, and Jasmine had done something to speed up recovery. She hadn't quite taken in that fact, as he left early, and Jasmine had been carrying him around from what little she saw before that.
“Hey, Ms. Macleod. Good to see you. What can I help you with?” The older Mr. Smallers walked over, meeting her halfway.
Julie gave him a polite smile. “It's nice to see you, too, Mr. Smallers. Actually, I am here to talk to Jason.”
Mr. Smallers raised an eyebrow. “Oh, are you now?” He turned around and waved his son over.
Julie's jaw tensed slightly as Jason started limping over. “I can go meet him over there.”
She waved for him to stop as they walked over. “Hey, Jason. You forgot this.” She handed him the small wooden box. “ Jasmine asked me to drop it off.”
Jason tentatively took the box before looking at his dad. “I will be right in. I can make it up the stairs just fine on my own.”
“Sure thing, buddy.” His father gave him a questioning look before walking to the house's front door.
Jason looked at the ornately carved box, running a finger over the surface before opening the latch. His eyebrows raised as he looked at the glasses lying inside. Julie hadn't seen the glasses herself, or were they sunglasses? The glasses had large lenses that seemed to be cut from amethyst, set in a steel frame with gold bands. The gemstone lenses were real of course and that was the entire point. They looked strange, and had they been only for aesthetics, she doubted they would have made a good gift for a guy. It would at least be the kind of gift you only gave to a guy you knew extremely well.
“I am not sure these would suit me.” Jason hesitated. “Can you tell her thank you, and that I appreciate the gift, but I don't know if I can accept.”
Julie chuckled lightly. “They aren't decorative, Jason. Jasmine was concerned about how you would react to, let's call it, one of her skills.”
“Ahh.” He blinked. “So that's what they're for.”
Julie nodded. “Kinda why she wanted me to deliver them. There should be a small note there explaining it.” Julie pointed to the not attached to the side of the box facing away from Jason. “Keep in mind, they don't make you, shall we say, immune. It just makes it harder for her to do that. A lot harder, apparently. still better than nothing.”
Jason nodded, but Julie could see the cogs turning in his head. “Well, thanks for coming by with this.”
“Don't worry about it, I get paid, and Sam loves you.” Julie stopped herself as she was about to turn back to the car. “Also, Jasmine said she can still speed up the recovery, but you gotta meet her for that.”
“I'll think about it.” Jason said his tone was softer than it had been previously.
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(POV Jason)
The fork scraped against the bottom of Jason's plate as he scooped up more mashed potatoes. They were delicious. His mother made great mashed potatoes. He was, however, less of a fan of the meatloaf it was served with. Not that he didn't like meatloaf; he did. However, his mom had the bad habit of overdoing it.
As he started chewing the forkful of mashed potatoes, his mind flashed back to the box. The sunglasses weren't really his style. Though they were nicely decorated. The gift, however, made a warm feeling spread through his chest, loosening the slight, ever-present tension that had set in his shoulder shortly after he got home early yesterday morning. He believed Jasmine when she said she wouldn't have done it if she truly thought she had another option. He also got why something like that coming out would be a disaster. If it were only her, then it might not have been that big of a deal, but she had mentioned something about a clan. So there are more of them.
The glasses themselves meant that he would at least be safer; at least it felt that way. She had probably thought, correctly, that the experience and the possibility of another such event made him… Nervous or scared? The glasses meant that there could be a buffer when they were in private. Though given the physical feats she had accomplished Saturday night, he doubted it would matter much if she truly wanted to do something. Still, the consideration of it was worth its weight in diamonds.
“So Jasmine, huh?” His father's tone was restrained, as if he was holding back. Looking up at him, he could see his father. He saw the old man's eyebrow twitching like he was stopping them from touching his nearly non-existant hairline.
“Yeah, Jasmine.”
“So are you going out with her, or?”
His mother looked at him with a small smile. “Jasmine, she's nice.” She then cocked her head slightly. “Is that where you got that new suit hanging in your room?”
His father's eyebrows furrowed. “What new suit? Did you get a new suit? Must have been a special date if you bought a suit?”
Jason looked back down into his mashed potatoes. “She… bought it for me. We were going to a… thing, and I kinda needed a suit.”
“Ohh.” his father blinked. “Well… That's nice of her. Did you take her somewhere nice?”
Jason cleared his throat. “Well. She. Kinda. insists. on. Paying. I have tried convincing her to let me pay for myself, but she's really insistent.”
“I. See.” His mother's tone was hesitant, though it didn't feel negative, merely uncertain. “Well, is it serious?”
Jason Sighed. “I don't know, Mom. Probably, if I see her again, it will be.”
The smile on his mother's face was soft, patient in a way that made not explaining more annoyingly difficult. “And are you planning on seeing her again?”
The food on his plate was now especially inviting, and even the nearly charred meatloaf tasted like relief from god himself for the precious few seconds it bought. “I think so. I don't know, some stuff happened on Saturday, and I need to think about it.“
“Well, I do hope you put in some effort when you see her.” His grandfather coughed a little. “And you should consider putting out.”
Jason looked at his grandfather, stunned. His mother's eyebrows had shot up to her hairline. “What?” His father's voice was filled with exasperation.
“Well, I just mean that things have changed since I was a youngn. And since she's payn then he's the one who's gotta put out on the third date.”
Jason could feel his cheeks heat up slightly. The feeling of Jasmine pushed up against him, her lips pressing against his. THAT comment.
“OMG!” His sister was looking at him with her jaw almost hitting the table. “Jasmine's your sugar mommy!”
“She is not.” His tone was perfectly even and normal, or at least he had hoped so, though his sister's giggling made him doubt it.
“So if you asked her to buy you something, she wouldn't?" Sophia was trying, and failing, at keeping her face neutral.
Jason didn't answer. Which only made his sister's face split into a shit-eating grin wide enough that he was certain no human could have that broad a smile. His parents also looked at him with raised eyebrows.
“Look, can we just not talk about my love life over dinner, please?”
“Of course, honey.” His mother glared at the others. Seemingly having judged that her son had faced enough torture for today. “Oh, we should invite Jasmine and the Maisons over for dinner.” There was no respite from anything. The songs had lied to him; heaven wasn't a place on earth, but apparently hell was.
The rest of dinner had passed quickly. His parents had decided to invite the Maisons and Jasmine, in addition to Sam and Julie, over for dinner. While the idea was nice, he had some inexplicable feeling that Chloe and Jasmine might not mix all that well. They had similar personalities for sure, but he doubted Chloe would like Jasmine. Jason sighed as he got back to work on the English essay due next Wednesday.
The soft sound of a knock came from his door. Only one person in his family knocked like that. “Yeah, mom?”
Opening the door, his mother stepped in and closed it behind her. “Hey, I am sorry if things got a little overboard during dinner.” She walked over, sitting down at the edge of his bed, careful not to bump into his injured ankle.
Jason gave her a small smile. “It's fine, Mom.”
She nodded. “Well, unfortunately, there might be a little more awkwardness coming.” She cleared her throat. “So I know that dating is exciting, and when you find a pretty girl, things can get intense.” Jason knew exactly where this was going, though he also knew there was no way around it. All he could do was brace himself. “But you need to remember that…” His mother seemed to require effort to drag the words out of her lungs. “Intimacy, the physical kind, is reserved for marriage.”
His mother had always been deeply religious; from what he had heard from his father, she had been that way when they met. “I know, Mom.”
She interrupted him. “That said, I know things have changed since I was younger. I was in some close calls with other people. Before I meet your father.” Jason wanted to die, to embrace that sweet release of the great beyond. “So I know it can be hard to resist the temptation.” She hesitated. “Remember that the lord forgives, and if you do happen to find yourself in that… situation. Please do tell me. If you are going to do it, it should be safe. There will be no bastards in my house. So if she gets knocked up and she's keeping it. Well lets just say I look forward to the wedding.”
She patted him on the shin. “If you think it's gonna happen, just tell me, and I will buy you… Protection.” His mother's face was red, redder than he had ever seen it before. He was also certain he was no less red than she was.
She stood up and started walking toward the door. “Well, great talk.” She stopped. “Also your sister has the day off on wednesday, and me and your father will be gone the entire day. You need to see who can drive you.” With that she left.
Well screw me I guess. Jason looked back down at his leg. He only knew about two people he could ask for help. Glancing over at the wooden box, he picked up his phone and started texting.