Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Jade, Jade, Jade! Come in here!” You smile at the sound of your brother’s excited voice and almost skip out into the living room of the apartment that you share, grinning at him.

“What what what Jooohnnn?” You draw out like you always do. He only beams, swaying side to side happily, his hands clasped behind his back.

“I have something I need to tell you and you’re the first to know. Can we sit?” You nod, still smiling as you both sit on the couch. You look at him expectantly.

“Now guess.” You slap his shoulder automatically, maybe a little too hard, in joking annoyance, which he mock-glares at you for.

“Okay, fine! Well… Dave just proposed to me! And I said yes!” He thrusts his hand out in front of you, a small gold ring with blue and red gems staring mockingly up at you. You can almost feel your heart sink in your chest, even though you know that’s not physically possibly. You can’t seem to make yourself speak either from the sheer hurt you’re feeling.

“Jade, what’s wrong?” John’s happiness begins to dissipate, so you swallow the lump in your throat and force a smile.

“Nothing, that’s great John! You and Dave are so, just perfect for each other!” You laugh, almost cringing at how strained it sounds as you hug John.

“I know! We’re getting married in a month, and on my birthday even! Dave says that we’ll make it an even more special day since the world almost ended on that day.” You barely listen as he rambles on, the stupid fake smile still plastered on. You think you might be in shock, and at the same time you’re madder than hell.

Your brother was getting married to the first boy you ever loved. The first boy you ever kissed, even if it only was to save his life. The boy who you went through hell and back with.

You had no business getting mad at John though. He had no idea, you never told him. It didn’t make it hurt any less though.

You stand up abruptly, clearly cutting John off mid-sentence.

“I’m going to go to my lab. Call me if you need anything.” You don’t even give him a chance to take a breath to reply before you’re out the door and making your way to your car.

You sigh and sink into the chair in front of your desk, feeling more at ease. You love your lab more than anything at this point, the only things challenging it being your friends, brother, and Bec.

You shake your head roughly and get up. No more thoughts of your stupid life, only science now. You slip on a lab coat and busy yourself with checking various experiments.

Next thing you know, the clock chimes and you wonder where the time went. It’s almost ten pm and you’ve been here all damn day. Not like that was anything new though.

You sigh, really not wanting to leave, but you’re really missing your bed. It was hard to not sleep all the time like you used to when you were a kid.

So you clean up and make your way back home, silently slipping inside, praying John is asleep. No such luck.

“Oh, hey Jade! Welcome home.”

“Sup Harley?

“Hello Jade.”

You nod to the trio, not really even looking at them as you pass, not bothering to take off your jacket or shoes before you flop into your bed. Everything was stupid lately. All the stupid. All of it.

“Bllllllluuhhhhh….” You draw out in frustration, wishing you could just go back a little and have actually done something before it was too late. But as you said, it’s too late now.

For a brief second you think about logging onto Pesterchum to try to talk to a friend, just as a distraction, but decide not to. You were tired anyways.

Anew minutes of just lying there later, there is a soft but firm rap on your door, making you jump. You don’t make a noise, hoping that they’ll just go away.

But of course your terrible streak of luck isn’t going to let up yet.

“Jade. May I come in?” She phrases it like a question, but you know she’ll come in regardless, so you don’t answer.

The door shuts and there are soft footsteps and a slight shift as she elegantly poises herself on the edge of your bed, presumably staring down at you. You can barely tell since the lights are still off.

“You seem distressed. Is there any way I may be of assistance?” You groan. Apparently it’s therapy and Rose-speak time.

“Roooosssee. Please don’t go and psychoanalyze the hell out of me again. My head still hurts from last time.” This earns a small chuckle.

“You must know by know that this is the only mean of entertainment that is readily available. And it is all in the good of the sciences, as it makes for splendid job preparation. Now, what seems to be the problem?”

You make incoherent noises in her direction as you shrug off your coat, kick off your shoes, and even place your glasses on the bedside table. Then you attempt to ignore her as she stares at you.

You fail miserably.

“But I don’t want to…” Even if it would help.

“Avoidance of the problem? That is never an intelligent solution.” You nod and sigh.

“I know...” You can almost hear her smirk and recline slightly, most likely giving you an expectant stare through the dark. Might as well be forward.

“I’m upset about their engagement is all.”

“And why is that?” Answering a question with a question. Typical.

You sigh and wrinkle your nose. Like you’re going to confess that you’re in love with her brother.

“You must be prompt with your replies. I’m sure our brothers are becoming anxious, or have possibly resorted to what Strider ever so eloquently calls sloppy make outs.”

“Please don’t say stuff like that! I don’t want to imagine my brother and Dave kissing!” This earns another chuckle.

“Your response gave me the answer as clearly as if you had said it. You have feelings for Dave.” You sigh and curl your knees up to your chest. Surprisingly, you feel Rose shift and she’s hugging you. Rose did not just hug people. It was one of the few words that was not in her vocabulary.

You let her just hold you for a moment before, just feeling her warmth. And for some reason in, your mind, you imagine that Dave is the one holding you. That you’re flush with his warm side. A smile comes to your face.

Then she lets you go and stands up, making the picture disappear. And then the hurt comes back.

“Can you tell them I don’t feel good and I’ll talk to them tomorrow?” You ask quietly as she opens the door. Her silhouette nods and the door is shut again.

With that you sigh, doing your best not to think about the hug and that image and the entire fucking day as you fall asleep.

Chapter Text

When morning comes, you don’t feel much better than the night before. You body aches from tossing and turning, then from sleeping wrong. You’re also pretty sure that your hair is a tangled, frizzy heap atop your head. That’s going to be a pain.

You hunt for your glasses and make your way out into the living area, yawning as you go. You’re going to have to have today be a fun day. Maybe go out to the shooting range, go for a run with Bec, maybe go hang out with Fefer-

“Good morning Jade.” You nearly jump out of your skin when you walk into the kitchen to see Rose sitting at your table. You stutter for a moment before she waves to the spot across from her with a perfectly manicured hand. There sits a cup of coffee, so you sit down and sip it. Surprisingly, it’s exactly how you like it: half coffee, half cream, no sugar.

“I presume you did not sleep well, by your appearance. Care to inform me what’s on your mind?” You take a long pull from your coffee, draining half. If you’re going to be subjected to mind games this early, you’re going to at least be caffeinated.

“Just trying to recover from the shock and stuff. I’m going to have a fun day to help.” You can’t help but grin at her anyways, your mood way better than last night.

“This is mildly amusing. I believe I shall accompany on this ‘fun day’ as you so put it for research purposes.” You feel your eyes widen, but Rose’s expression stays the same, and the only noise is a light tapping of her nails.

“Don’t give me such an odd look. John requested I look after you considering you did not feel well yesterday evening.” You nod and smile a little wearily. You never really spent much time with Rose, to be honest, only the boys. You did spend three years with John and Davesprite, as well as all the time you hunted for frogs with Dave.

Now that you thought about it, you didn’t really know her all that well. You knew how she analyzed people, you knew how she could be deadpan, nosey, sarcastic, insincere… but you didn’t really know her.

“Might I just say that you are frightening me? A long silence to you is like good music to Dave.” You can’t help but chuckle despite the fact that there was a stab at Dave. Rose kind of just made a joke, in her own weird way, but a joke!

“Oh, uh, sorry. Deep in thought and stuff.” And this was the entirely wrong thing to say, considering the smirk that graced the blonde’s face.

“Indeed? Care to share?” And with this you groan. It could very well be a long day.

Two hours, one shower, and three mini-therapy sessions later, Jade was finally able to convince Rose that they were going out. Sort of.

“Is this the institution that teenage females call ‘a girl’s day’?” You roll your eyes back at Rose as you order your ice cream. She orders some too then pays for both of yours before you can protest. You find a table outside the ice cream parlor and begin eating your fruity ice cream.

“You never did reply to my inquiry.” You look up, confused for a moment, but then you remember.

“Yeah, I guess you could call it that. But I don’t know if we really count as teenagers anymore considering we’re almost twenty-three…” You trail off, feeling awkward. Ice cream! Stuff your face with ice cream to abate the awkward!

“I suppose you have a point. I have still been enjoying out ‘girl time’ thus far. Perhaps we should strive to ‘go out’ more often.” You can literally hear the quotes around her words as she speaks. A giggle slips out and you grin at her. Her stiff was of speaking was just so funny.

“I am amusing to someone other than my brother? Isn’t this a miracle?” Her voice is thick with sarcasm, and you roll your eyes again.

After that, you take Rose to your usual firing range, excited to be practicing your marksmanship again. She quizzes you on various things about guns and how to shoot in between rounds, nodding and even taking notes at one point.

Then near the end, she asks you something that surprises you a little.

“Would you allow me to try? I believe I’ve collected sufficient data.” You bite your lip reflexively. To you, Rose seemed very delicate. You knew this wasn’t entirely true, but still.

“Sure. Let me help you though, okay?” she nods and you stand behind her, helping her position the gun correctly in her hands, how to aim, and how to turn off the safety. She listens quiet the entire time, then you give her the okay, still hanging onto her.

The shot is quick, muffled by their ear plugs. You pull away from her and hop down the field, curious of how well she did.

She got dead center of the target. Something you only accomplished after years of practice.

“Damn Rose. You did good!” Rose nods and smiles slightly, a little less snarky-broad like than usual.

After you’re both smiling somewhat stupidly as you drive home. You’ve both decided that you might attempt to watch some of John’s terrible movies and eat sweets.

But then you remember that you have some work and the lab that you need to do. Sure, you wanted a fun day, but that doesn’t mean it has to be a lazy day. And science was fun anyways. You simply loved it.

“Hey Rose, I’m going to swing by the lab to get some stuff, okay?” You ask as you redirect your car. You barely notice her nod in the dimming light, thought you can feel her intense stare. You don’t think much of it. Rose observed everything. And by everything, you mean everything.

You park the car and get out, promising to be quick, and jog inside. It only takes you moments to find the papers you came for in the mess called your desk before you sprint back out, the notes in hand.

Rose smiles briefly at you, actually smiling at you first- wow this was a day for new things- and you can’t stop yourself from grinning back, like a fool.

It’s a matter of minutes before your home again, and you find yourself babbling on about what movie you should watch. Rose makes an attempt to convince you that The Exorcism would be a great pick, but you refuse hurriedly and instead find one of the Indiana Jones films and stick it in the DVD player before the blonde intercepts.

“Oh woe is me, you have stolen my opportunity to aid you in therapeutically recovering from a disturbing film. If only I had chosen a more willing victim than the great Jade Harley.” You laugh and role your eyes and her melodrama, retrieving the popcorn that you’d made a few minutes ago and plopped on the couch as the movie starts. You’re really excited! You haven’t watched this movie since the night John and you moved in together almost 4 years ago. And you did love a good adventure film.

“I suppose you are going to gift me with the signature Egbert-Harley commentary and reenactment as we watch, aren’t you?” You companion mutters, with a hint of a smirk in her voice.

“Of course silly! Now shoosh, the opening is the best.” You hear her sigh, but you know she’s smiling still. And everything is fine with you.

That is, until you find your eyes drifting over to Rose more often than they should. You didn’t even notice at first, but then you realize you were watching her like she usually watch you and even worse, comparing.

You noticed how she had the ever so light brushing on freckles across the bridge of her nose and how her nose was perfectly straight. The was her jaw curved, the way her lips pouted slightly, and the way her eyes both narrowed and shone when she was focusing on the movie.
In all honesty, she looked exactly like Dave.

No! This wasn’t right. Rose was so different than Dave. She sat more elegantly and her hair was parted differently. She didn’t hide behind shades, but instead harsh opposites. She analyzed everything meticulously where Dave tried to ignore.

But it was still uncanny, the similarities. You force yourself to look away before she notices you staring like a creepy. Yes, a creep. You were comparing her to her brother in a way that made something flutter in your torso. And you weren’t exactly sure if you liked it.