Chapter Text
Living with Emily again was like a breath of fresh air, honestly.
Jack's brothers pretty much both acted like they were sorry for existing. That even though they were tough guys, they didn't want to be an inconvenience or take up space. Like the fear of being kicked out was ingrained into their every move. They had both been better about it lately, however.
But Emily was never ashamed to take up space.
She was privileged like that, Jack guessed. He couldn't say that she was never made to feel unwanted, she got kicked out of her home just the other day, after all.
Jack walked into the living room to see his sister standing next to the railing by the upper level of the living room, her leg stretched over like it was a ballet barre. She was reading a book (she was almost to the end of Jurassic Park), and after she turned the page, she turned around and stretched her other leg.
"Hey, Emmie."
"Morning, Jack," Emily said, a bright smile painting her face. It still made Jack uneasy seeing how well she seemed to be coping with this. "Sleep well?"
"Uh… yeah, I guess." In truth, he had not only been sleeping better than he thought he would next to the guy he was tragically in love with, but better than he ever had. Which could mean nothing. Maybe it was the mattress. "What are you doing, anyway?"
"Stretching. Gotta stay limber, ya know?"
"I thought you quit ballet."
"I quit the ballet academy. I want to take lessons in a less strict setting. I enjoy dance and all, I was just so tired of the B.S. we had to deal with at the academy."
"That makes sense, I guess."
It had been almost a week, and Emily was going to go back home soon. Jack also felt uneasy about that.
×××
It was early morning, and the golden light was shining through all of the windows in the Matthews store. Eddie was stocking their latest shipment of clothes, and Alan was double checking the inventory on a few of the camping supplies.
Eddie liked working before the store opened. No customers asking him dumb questions, just peace and quiet and also the ska music Alan tolerated him playing on the stereo system.
"So, Eddie," Alan said, from where he was working, "have you given any thought to school yet?"
Eddie rolled his eyes. "No. Leave it alone. I can't go to school, I need to keep this job."
"You know, you remind me a lot of myself," Alan said. "I was always making iffy decisions, slowly going down the wrong path every day. And you wanna know why I was the way I was?"
Eddie shrugged, prompting Alan to continue.
"Because of my parents. My mom wasn't a bad person, but she was more concerned about living a wild life, being more of a cool mom and less of a good mom. And my dad made it known whenever he didn't approve of something I did. He wasn't violent, not in the way I know your father was, but it still affected me. Constantly verbally berating me. I felt the need to lash out. And after I graduated highschool, I decided to join the navy. And my father was so angry, he didn't say a word to me for a month. But I had my best friend, Ricky, and his parents. They told me that whatever decision I made had to be for me, not for him."
"So you joined the navy?"
"I did. And it was the best decision I could've made for myself. And now I'm telling you that you have to make the best decision you can for yourself. Not for anyone else."
Eddie nodded. "I get what you say sometimes about school and stuff. Hey, I might get my GED one day. But it's not a priority for me." He looked around the room. "This is the first place I've felt I belonged. I really like it here, Mr. Matthews. And I want to work here for as long as you'll let me."
Alan seemed satisfied with that answer. "Good. I just really wanted to make sure you were doing this because you want to, not because you think it's your only option."
"It's not. I have another option, what I did for years. The life that Jack helped me get away from."
"You kids are lucky to have each other."
"We're adults. All of us now, actually."
Alan shook his head. "Not to someone like me or my wife," he said. "You're all just… kids. Even Stacy, who's, what, twenty four now? I still remember roughly ten years ago when she was sitting there in the hospital, scared out of her mind for her little brother. I see that scared teen girl in her sometimes still. Like she had to become an adult early, and hasn't grown since."
Eddie had no idea what he was referring to with the hospital and all, but he understood what he meant.
The two went back to their work, and Eddie stopped for a moment, turning back towards his boss. "Thanks again, Mr. Matthews, for everything you've done for my siblings and for me."
"You can just call me Alan."
"I usually do."
×××
Jack had his arm around his little sister as they walked to the bus station, Shawn trailing behind with Emily's suitcase. Eric was twirling his car keys around his finger, leading them to the bus stop.
Emily's shoulders were stiff as she fidgeted with the ends of her hair. Jack was still super uneasy about the entire situation. He half (actually, completely) didn't want Emily to go back. He wanted her to be with people who loved her unconditionally.
The bus arrived and the door opened, letting the few people out at that stop.
Emily looked down at her sneakers. "Wish me luck," she said.
Jack gave her a hug. "I love you, kid."
"Kid?"
Jack realized he had never called her that before. That was what Stacy called Shawn, which he had picked up from her. "Uh… yeah. Sorry. Emmie."
Emily smiled. "I love you too. And I will no matter what." She very obviously glanced at Eric.
Jack looked back at his roommate, then to his sister. "What?"
"Jack, I wasn't born yesterday."
"What do you mean?" He knew what she meant.
Emily smiled. "I should go now."
"Break a leg," Jack said.
Emily curtsied, before getting on the bus.
"Break a leg?" Shawn asked.
"Hey, we're both performers."
"Should've reminded her to stay vigilant. She'll need to," Shawn said, a serious look in his eyes.
"She knows." Or he hoped she did.
The three guys walked back to Eric's car, ready to drive back to the apartment building. Jack kept glancing behind him at the bus driving away.
"Gonna be good to be back in your own bed, yeah?" Eric said to Jack.
Jack got into the passenger seat of the car. "Sure," he lied.
×××
Stacy and Nebula were both standing in their living room, easels set up, some movie or another playing as background noise.
Nebula was still dedicated to her painting hobby, and of course Stacy was an artist, currently preferring charcoal as a medium. They both kept glancing at eachother out of the corner of their eyes, trying to capture the other's likeness.
Nebula had paint on the side of her face, and Stacy thought she was so unbelievably beautiful.
And that's when it hit her.
She was in love. Of course she knew, but after being scared and doubting her feelings, Stacy looked at her girlfriend and realized that it didn't matter that she didn't have any other previous lovers to compare it with, this was real, beautiful love.
Stacy and Nebula were meant for eachother. It was a fact that Stacy truly believed.
"I love you," Stacy said suddenly.
"I love you too," Nebula replied with no hesitation.
They continued their projects in silence, Stacy trying her hardest to get the values of Nebula's curly hair accurate, when there was a knock on the door.
Stacy brushed the charcoal on her hands onto her already black jeans and answered the door.
"Mr. Matthews, nice to see you," Stacy said, letting Alan into the apartment.
"I've told you to call me Alan," he said.
"It takes me a while to get used to."
"I told you that a decade ago."
Stacy shrugged.
"Anyway, I was wondering if you could do me a favor?" he asked.
"Sure, Alan," Stacy said, drawing out the man's name. Nope, still felt weird.
"I want a new sign for the store," Alan said, "and I was wondering if you could design a little prototype for me."
"Yeah, I can do that. What's wrong with the current sign, though?"
"The name is too short, I think."