Words games had never been my favorite.
After being pulled out of school at a young age due to extensive bullying, I never bothered to put effort into learning things.
Lyra did her best to encourage me to do my homework, though at the time I was supposed to be a couple years away from graduating high school, I was still at an 8th grade reading level.
I had made quite a bit of progress since then, spending quite a bit on my free time at the mansion reading books.
Over the past week though, I had accumulated a pile of Star Wars books that I halfway through.
There were 25 books total, 19 of them being from the New Jedi Order series and 6 of them being episodes 1-6.
I had never too interested in reading, though the boredom bed rest had put me through was enough to change my perspective on it.
The most eventful thing I had done the whole time i've been stuck in bed was be moved upstairs into my room.
Jack had carried me up while I forced Smiley to carry up my Star Wars books. He struggled to carry them all and balance them in his arms. He nearly fell down the stairs multiple times too. I know it wasn't his fault that I was stuck on bed rest, though I couldn't help but feel a tiny bit satisfied seeing him struggle.
I heard a knock at my door and yelled a quick 'Come in'.
Jack appeared in the doorway, his mask slid up and onto the side of his head to reveal his face, which was currently displaying a very concerning big grin.
"Are you trying to become a Jeff 2.0?" I teased him from my spot across the room.
If he had eyes, he would definitely be rolling them right now.
"Actually, I brought a game with me this time," Jack told me.
I instantly perked up.
From behind his back, Jack pulled out a sadly familiar red box.
"Jack, how the fuck are you going to play Scrabble with me." I stated blandly, staring down the wooden letters that had been printed onto the cover to spell out Scrabble.
He just shrugged and set the game on the table next to my bed. He was lucky I kept my Star Wars books on the floor, otherwise he wouldn't have anywhere to put it.
He pulled a chair over to the table and sat himself down on it, opening the box.
He felt around the box for a minutes before removing the bag that contained all the wooden letters, the small wooden stands for the letters, and prying out the game board from the bottom.
He kept the letters in the bag because it wasn't see-through.
After unfolding the board, he handed me one of the stands and kept one for himself.
"I don't know how this is going to work," he confessed.
"You can just show me your letters and I can read them off to you," I suggested.
You technically weren't supposed to show you opponent what letters you had, though because Jack was blind, the rules could stand to be bent a bit.
He nodded and then reached into the bag and pulling out seven of the wooden tiles. I followed suit, grabbing seven of my own tiles.
He grazed his fingertips over the front and back of each tile, making sure to place them with the letter facing out.
After setting up my tiles, I asked him, "So who's going first?"
The game of Scrabble lasted until we got bored of it, which totaled about 30 minutes.
Jack somehow beat me by 70 points, which was slightly damaging to my ego.
I mean, come on. Anyones ego would be damaged by being beat by a blind person in Scrabble.
We were now both laying on my bed. I was staring at my ceiling while talking to Jack. Jack was 'staring' at the ceiling too, though it didn't really count as staring for him considering he couldn't see it.
Now we were messing around with each other, complimenting things about each other that didn't make sense.
"You know, I love your green eyes," Jack said, shoulder shaking slightly with laughter.
I rolled my eyes knowing damn well he knew that my eyes were brown.
"Thank you Jack, you also have beautiful eyes."
I couldn't help it anymore and was sent into a fit of giggles by my own comment.
Jack couldn't contain his laughter anymore finally laughing out loud.
It went like that for another 10 minutes before we quieted down again.
"Do you feel loved?" I asked Jack. I was curious how he felt. Plus, the atmosphere just made it feel like the right time to ask weirdly deep questions.
Maybe the atmosphere was playing tricks on me.
"I guess so," Jack said hesitantly, obviously still surprised by my question, "I know I have people who care a lot about my health and I'm grateful for them."
I nodded in understanding.
"What about you?"
The question caught me off guard, despite the fact I should of expected it. Conversations usually flowed by asking other people the same questions they asked you. I wasn't sure if it was a politeness thing or a curiosity thing.
I thought for a minute. Did I feel loved? Of course people cared about me. I knew Jack cared about me a lot too.
"I would say so," I finally replied.
We fell into another comfortable silence after that.
"You know I love you, right?" Jack asked me.
The question made my brain short circuit. Jack said he loved me. I didn't know if he meant it in a platonic way or romantic way.
"Yeah, I do. I love you too, you're the closest friend I've ever had," I replied. I mentally beat myself up. What if he was trying to say he liked me in a romantic way and I just friend-zoned him?
"Yeah," Jack said after a moment, "I meant it a little bit more that in a casual friendly way though." He sat up and faced me.
Oh shit- so he was saying- oh my god I'm a dumbass.
"That's what I was hoping for but I wasn't really sure," I confessed.
Jack tilted his head at me and leaned towards me slightly.
Holy shit this was like, actually happening.
I sat up the best I could.
Right before we were actually about to kiss, a loud knock came from my door.
"Toby! I have your lunch!" I hear Masky's voice call.
Jack pulled away and slipped his mask down so it was covering his face once more.
He walked over to the door and opened it.
"Oh hey Jack, I didn't know you were in here, I would've brought something up for you too," Masky apologized. I knew he didn't care too much but it was nice seeing him be somewhat nice to other residents.
"It's alright, I was just about to head downstairs anyways," Jack said. Then he exited my room without another word, not looking back at me.
I turned over in my bed, facing the wall.
Masky walked into my room, closing the door behind him, and sat down on my bed.
"You want me to leave your lunch here for you?" Masky asked me gently. He had been a lot nicer to me since I had nearly died, again.
I really needed to stop doing that.
"It's okay, I'm not hungry," I mumbled, not bothering to look at him.
"Bullshit, you never turn down food," Masky said. I heard a small thump, likely the sound of him putting the plate of food on the floor. "What's wrong? I know i'm not as comforting as Hoodie is but I'll still listen to you if you need to get anything off your chest."
I smiled a bit at his offer.
"I guess I have a few things to talk about," I said after a moment.
"Like?"
"Well first of all, I'm gay."
Masky looked at me and nodded, "That seems to be a common theme across this household."
He must have noticed my confusion, because he clarified, "Three other people have told me they're gay within the past month. Trust me when I say you're not alone."
Three? Even though it seemed like a small number, it was still a lot of people who came out.
"Actually, Hoodie came out to me too, though I'm sure you already knew he was a little fruity." Masky continued, "Not that it's important, but I actually came out to him first. It was funny to see the look on his face."
Wait, so Masky was telling me, he was gay?
Masky is gay?
A/N-
Sorry for the cringey 'omg we almost kissed and got interrupted' thing lmao- I'm shit at writing kissing scenes-