Everything comes back to you -J.MARIANO

[1.15]

𝓐 few days later, and Taryn 's plan had begun to work somewhat. She had made sure that Jess went to school every day since and he had even suggested that they study together that evening after she returned from the hospital. Due to the late night dinner rush, the diner was far too busy ad their usual table happened to be taken so the two headed upstairs to the apartment. Whilst Jess had initially been against the idea, due to the mess of the apartment and the fact that a person could hardly move within it, she had promised to be without judgment and would help to clean the table area for them to study. Whilst he was slightly embarrassed, he didn't want to avoid their evening together so agreed.

After tidying up the little mess that happened to be scattered across the table and the two chairs they usually sat on, Taryn and Jess started to place their books upon the wooden surface. "So tell me Jess, how come when I thanked Luke for the flowers the other day he had absolutely no idea what I was talking about?" Taryn asked as she dropped her tote bag at the side of her chair, ensuring that the things within it did not spill out with a singular glance.

He frowned and furrowed his brow in feigned confusion, "Flowers? What flowers?"

"You brought me flowers," she smiled softly as his reaction had proved her earlier hypothesis.

"Did I?" he asked yet again, feigning complete bewilderment at the mere idea of such a gesture. To avoid the topic, he stood and headed to the fridge. As he opened the door, casting her in the light from within the appliance, he asked, "Drink?"

"No i'm okay thank you," she replied quickly, her mind wiping away from thoughts of the flowers. When he shut the fridge door and thought that his plan of distraction had worked, she flicked back to the conversation topic and laughed, "Don't try to distract me from the topic!"

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about," he sighed whilst sitting down opposite her again, opening his can of soda so he had a reason to avoid her gaze entirely.

"Well thank you anyway," she chuckled under her breath and he could not help but smile at the sound. "For the flowers you did not buy me."

He smiled subtly, "You're welcome, even though I didn't buy them."

She grinned and attempted to smother it with her lips."How'd you do on that test?" she asked, as he remembered what they had worked towards during their last study session. Jess took the paper out from between the pages of his now worn looking textbook and handed it to her. Taryn grinned the instant she saw the red A at the very top of the paper. "See I told you."

"Yeah yeah," he dismissed whilst flicking through his book as if trying to find the correct page, doing all he could to distract himself from the look within her eyes.

"We should hang this on the fridge. "

He scoffed, "Absolutely not."

"I bet Luke would be so proud of you," Taryn laughed whilst she quickly stood and turned towards the fridge. As she reached towards one of the only magnets handing on it, Jess leapt up from his chair and ran over to stop her movements entirely.

"Tee, don't," he pressed whilst trying to prevent her from grabbing the magnet. He placed a hand over her hand, attempting to take the paper from between her fingertips. However he did so with such force that she almost fell, causing him to press another hand to her waist to prevent the both of them from falling.

Jess, whilst she was distracted by the near fall, managed to grab the paper from her hand and instantly held it above his head. Taryn span and frowned, slight laughter falling from her lips. She could reach the paper if she really wanted to, it wouldn't be too difficult. Instead, she attempted to reason with him. "Oh come on, he'd be so happy."

"This is a secret," he responded, ignoring the look within her eyes as his gaze found itself focused some other place entirely. His eyes flicked down her face, to her lips where they lingered for just too long, before he returned to her eyes. They hadn't been this close before.

"Don't want to ruin your I hate the world and everyone in it appearance?" she asked with such a grin, attempting to use it to cover up the want that blossomed within her mind and almost had a hold on her actions.

"Precisely," he replied softly and she had to look at his lips to read what he had said due to the quietness of his voice. The signals were rather mixed for Jess, he didn't know if she did so because she felt the same as he did or simply because she could not hear him. But he didn't want to overstep, so decided not to act unless she did first. He hated how she then cleared her throat and looked away, returning to her seat at the table as a certain tension lingered within the air. He wondered if she could feel it too but figured not, as she returned to her studies as if nothing had happened.

An hour and a bit into their study session, Jess looked up from his textbook for what had to be the fiftieth time and frowned as she yawned and subtly pinched the bridge of her nose whilst her eyes fluttered closed. Tiredness hung heavy from her eyes and slouched the muscles of her shoulders. Noticing this, he leant back in his chair and sighed in fake annoyance. "I need a break."

"Again?" she asked despite the fact that a break was exactly what she needed at that precise moment.

"Humor me," he shrugged and found himself victorious as she put down her pencil and closed the notebook in which she had been writing beforehand. "Movie?" he suggested hopefully, figuring that it would be a good way for her to relax and hopefully forget all about studying for the rest of the day.

"Depends what you've got on tape," she shrugged her reply and Jess automatically knew what movie he would dig out of his stash within one of the closets.

They cleared an area to watch the movie pretty quickly despite how messy the apartment was. All the items from the couch ended up piled atop the table with all their books and forgotten papers. Jess crouched at the television, putting the chosen tape in whilst she settled herself on the couch. He turned towards her before he asked, "Do you need the subtitles on?"

She nodded and pulled the blanket draped across her legs closer to herself, "Yeah if that's okay."

Jess, without judgment or even a second thought, switched on the subtitles with the remote before walking over to the couch. He sat right next to her, with just a little space between them, arguing in his mind that the couch was just small.

Forty minutes into the movie, Taryn had her head leant against his shoulder whilst his arm draped across the back of the couch. The blanket she had previously been tucked into to keep warm now partially spilled over him too. He smiled the second her head made contact with his shoulder and it only grew the longer her half asleep self rested there. "Comfy there?" he half whispered, knowing he couldn't speak too quietly else she would not hear. Taryn laughed sleepily but made no effort to move her head.

"Until you started talking," she replied, voice heavy with exhaustion. A sleepy grin formed on her lips as he scoffed a laugh and the arm on the back of the couch slipped to drape down her side. Her sigh of contempt flipped his stomach instantly.

Suddenly the two were jolted awake and away form each other by Luke, who stormed into the messy apartment with a sledge hammer over his shoulder. Jess quickly bolted up and followed Luke to the very side of the apartment, asking him questions which were never answered. Taryn, after rubbing the corners of her eyes, leant forward on the couch and watched as Luke hit a spot on the wall with the hammer without hesitation or calculation.

"That's your room. Finish up. We'll hold hands and skip afterwards," Luke nodded as he handed a bewildered Jess the hammer. Luke went to leave the apartment once again but stopped as he saw Taryn on the couch. His brow furrowed in confusion as he spoke, "Taryn?"

"Hey Luke... You feeling okay?"

"Fine, fine," he responded, as if he hadn't just partially knocked down a wall, then proceeded to leave the apartment entirely. As he slammed the door, dust and plaster kicked out of the hole in the wall. Taryn turned and just looked at Jess who, after a seconds befuddled stare, extended the hammer towards her as an offer of destruction. She grinned and got up from the couch, walking over to take the hammer from him. The two of them laughed as they collectively knocked down the single section of wall that had already been damaged, having no care for structural integrity or any consequences. The focus was their fun and nothing more.