Love After You

Chapter 5

Jake smiled fondly at his Batman costume as he pulled it from the back of his wardrobe.

He's had this thing for years. In fact, he remembers the first time he wore it so well. He was Batman, and Adam was Superman.

They bought it the same year that some of the DC movies came out. Marvel was the better film franchise, but they loved Batman and Superman the best. There was no doubt in his mind that they were the best-selling costumes for the year. Nearly everyone at the Hughes house party wore similar outfits. It didn't matter that the films wasn't great; they both loved the characters and the universe so much that they didn't care.

Adam would tousle Jake's hair and pretend to shoot him with lasers from his eyes, which obviously Jake would dodge in just the nick of time, in true Batman fashion. They were like two kids again when they put these costumes on. The worries of young adult life would leave them, and they'd just joke around. This would earn an eye roll from Adam's mother as they bounced around her living room. "You two are nuts." She would say it with a smile, which made Jake and Adam do it all the more.

He put it on now, and it still fits the same as it did then. Only now, the design on the padded chest was fading, and a few holes were starting to appear in the tight pants. But he refused to throw it away or wear anything else while it was still wearable.

Emily came into the bedroom, sporting her tight black leather catwoman outfit. Jake raked his eyes up and down her body. She looked so good, there was no denying it. But he couldn't ignore the fact that his heart rate didn't jump at the sight of her or the fact that he didn't find himself wanting to stay home to slowly reveal what was underneath it.

In fact, he couldn't wait to go to see if she would turn up.

"Are you still wearing that old thing?" She asked, barely giving him a glance as she walked past him, her gaze heavy on the floor-length mirror, admiring herself once more. She adjusted her mask and wiped a little bit of lipstick away from the corners of her lips, then she continued to examine herself.

Jake didn't respond. He just stuck his cape on the velcro spots on his shoulders and headed into the kitchen. He packed the bottles of spirits into bags and also chucked some pyjamas in there as well. Grace had asked them to stay the night. She would make a spare room available for them.

Once it was all packed, he waited for Emily to finish whatever it was that she was doing.

It felt weird waiting for her while his mind constantly thought about Jess instead.

Would she turn up?

What would she be wearing if she did?

His mind thought of very naughty costumes that he should not be thinking about, but then he remembered how she told him that she always tried to get her costumes to match her name.

He remembered that Jessie costume from Toy Story, and he ached at the memory, wishing he could turn back the clock.

***

The music was pumping as they walked up the front steps to the house.

Before he had time to even knock, Grace swung the door open and practically forced him into her arms. "Jake, oh, I'm so glad you could make it." She announced, her voice tinged with a slight squeakiness that was her give-away; she was already merry. She squeezed him tight, like she always did whenever she hadn't seen him for a while.

He hugged her back, feeling right at home in her warmth. She had always been like a mother to him.

Growing up, Jake didn't have the best of childhoods. His parents were always off their faces—drinking, drugs, whatever they could get their hands on—to try and fade away from the world. He was never physically abused; not even a bad word was said to him, but they didn't look after him like they should have. He was very skinny, eating whatever his parents left behind after their meals. Some of the kids in school wouldn't go near him because he hadn't washed in days, sometimes weeks. His clothes had holes and stains all over them. He doesn't think he ever owned a pair of new clothes back then. They were all hand-me-downs.