Strikes and Ladders

Chapter Twenty-Five: Gentlemen

Another week passes in the same way, and ignoring the glares and questioning looks of his peers gets easier to Davey. In all honesty, he's walking on air. That is, until he walks out of the front doors of the school on Friday and sees an all too familiar face grinning awkwardly back at him. He grips the strap of his bag tighter and walks towards the boy with a more and modest amount of trepidation. He knows the words are coming, but it still stings when he hears Jack Kelly's mouth form the words "Hey Daves."

A moment of silence where David can't form words around his heart in his throat. "Uhm. Jack."

"How've you uh, you know. How've you been?"

"Fine. Good. Why are you here?" He finally builds up the courage to ask, even though he has to stuff his hands in his pockets and look anywhere but those warm brown eyes. "And where are Spot and Race?"

"Uhm. They're back in Brooklyn. I can walk you there."

"Answer my first question. Why are you here?"

At least he has the decency to look nervous, to look apologetic. He looks at the ground as he speaks "Just wanted to talk. I can... go. If you want."

"No. The walk to Brooklyn is boring. You can walk me to the bridge, but any further and Spotty might ruin that pretty face of yours." What is he saying? He starts walking before he can question himself too much, and Jack hurried to walk next to him, a step behind. Things are silent for a few minutes, Davey walking a bit too quickly and with his hands in his pockets and Jack trying to keep up while still staying behind him. "What are you doing ? Get up here and talk if you're here to talk," he grumbles. His reluctant companion moves up to walk next to him on the sidewalk, but still doesn't say anything for the next few minutes. Then, suddenly, he blurts out that he's sorry. "...What?"

"I'm sorry, Dave."

He stops in his tracks and turns to Jack. "I've never heard you sincerely apologise to anyone but Medda, so I must've hallucinated that. Did you just say you're sorry? "

"Hey, I am so apologetic! The most apologetic!" Davey snorts. "I am!"

"You ain't doin' a very good job of it."

"Well I- uh." He's silent. Weird. "I messed up with you. Didn't... treat you good, I guess." His hat is in his hands and he's fiddling with a loose patch on the brim. Davey knows him well enough to recognise his nervous habits. Nervous! Jack Kelly is standing in front of him, nervous and apologising. He feels a bit itchy. Maybe he really is hallucinating.

"True. You didn't. Do you know exactly what you did, Jack? What actually broke my fuckin' heart?" Jack looks up at him and tilts his head just slightly, confused. "I knew what I was getting into. I told you not to hurt me, that I was taking a chance on you, and you still did what you did."

"Oh."

"What hurts so much is that it's my own damn fault."

Jack's eyebrows furrow and the corners of his lips twist downwards. A beat passes and he tilts his head further. "What the fuck are you talkin' about, Dave?"

"...What?"

"Your own damn fault'" He says incredulously, air quotes around his words. "I know you ain't stupid, but that might be the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

Davey stammers, off kilter. " What? " he repeats.

"Anyone with eyes can see that what happened was clearly my bad. Look at yourself, you ain't done anythin' wrong in your life. "

Something hammers in Davey's chest as he looks up at this boy that he loved. He feels like the ground under his feet has turned into the familiar waves near the docks. "What are you even talkin' about, Kelly?"

"Oh, last namin' me, huh? You only do that when you know I'm right and you're trying to convince yourself I ain't." Jack's mild concern morphs into a smug smirk in an instant and Davey can't stop himself from rolling his eyes.

"I do not!" He protests, and it hits him that he isn't angry. For months, he has seethed at almost any mention of the broad-shouldered boy in front of him, but now, in his presence, he misses him. They were best friends and he loves him, if not in the same way anymore. A small smile sneaking its way onto his face. "You're an asshole."

Hands raise in surrender. "I am."

"I hate you," He says, but it's tinted with the lightest shade of friendly fondness.

"No you don't. Not anymore."

Davey ponders this for a moment and decides on something. "Well, you said you were gonna walk me to the bridge. Gonna keep your promise?"

"I'm nothing if not a gentleman, Daves."

A laugh escapes him, startling a passerby. "You are many things, Jack Kelly, but a gentleman you are not."

Jack Kelly puts his hat back on his head and, not for the first time, grins winningly at him. He holds his arm out. David doesn't take it. He shoves his new old new friend away and starts walking, knowing that Jack will catch up. He always does.