Jessica
Jessica returned to her apartment at five in the afternoon. As she approached the door, she was surprised to hear multiple voices from inside. Who…?
She frowned as she unlocked the door and stepped inside, where three people occupied her couch and yelled at the TV and each other.
"Hello!" Jessica shouted to catch their attention.
They jumped and whirled around to face her. And while she'd expected to see two of them, the third was rather surprising.
"Zyan? What are you doing here?"
"He came to visit Carter," Ava answered, barely concealed smile on her face.
Jessica blinked as she let it sink in. She tried to play it cool, but her relief and joy got the best of her. "Yeah? That's great! I'm so glad you two finally pulled your heads out of your a—" Ava violently shook her head. Jessica cut herself off and cleared her throat. "I mean, I'm glad you two are talking again."
Carter rolled his eyes at her. "Too late, Jess."
Jessica shot him an apologetic smile. "You gotta admit it was getting ridiculous. You're two grown men with an infinite life span, and yet you were both moping and pining for each other like a bunch of high-schoolers."
Zyan narrowed his eyes at her, but Carter's expression looked more along the lines of 'fair enough,' so Jessica didn't feel too bad about it.
"What're you guys watching?" she asked as she turned to toe off her shoes.
"Some TV show Zyan got into while he was moping," Ava replied.
Carter cleared his throat. He was clearly trying to hide his laughter with it.
"This is why I never tell you anything, Ava, you know that?"
"I'm sorry. Some TV show Zyan discovered recently."
Zyan huffed.
Jessica bit her lip to stop herself from laughing.
Four hours later, both Ava and Zyan had fallen asleep, while Jessica and Carter sat on opposite ends of the couch. The TV still played on low volume.
"Hey, Carter," Jessica started. "How're you holding up?"
Carter's expression was soft when he raised his eyes to meet her gaze. "I'm good. Don't worry."
"Are you sure? Because after everything that happened and the way you looked when you came back from—"
"Hey." Carter cut her off, voice low but firm. "Stop. It's okay. I'm okay. Trust me."
"Okay. I'm just looking out for you."
"And I appreciate it."
"So…does that mean we can go on double-dates now? Ava's been looking forward to it."
Carter stifled his laughter and looked down at Zyan, who'd nodded off with his head pillowed on the backrest. His temple nearly brushed Ava's hair. "I don't think we're quite there yet."
Jessica nodded in understanding. "You think you will any time soon?"
Carter took a deep breath before he shrugged. "I don't know. All the times we broke up and got back together…it's never quite been like this."
Jessica studied his expression and the way his gaze trailed over Zyan before he looked back at the screen. His inner turmoil was clear on his face and nearly palpable to her. "Well, I'm rooting for you."
Carter choked out a laugh. "Thanks, Jess."
"You're welcome."