LONELY TOGETHER - max mayfield

0. Healing

ANOTHER LONG night for Jax waiting for Jim to get home. He was making the two grilled cheese for dinner, since it was way past 5:15 when their dad said he would be home.

"Is this.. a burger? Like Benny?" El asked, standing beside Jaxon at the stove.

"Kind of. You see, a burger has two pieces of bread, like this." Jax raised the grilled cheese with his spatula, pointing to each piece of bread. "But whats inside is different. This, is just cheese. A burger has meat, cheese, and vegetables. It's bigger."

"Okay." She nodded.

"Do you really get it, or are you lying?"

"Lying."

Jaxon had a lot of patience with El, since she was still trying her best to adapt to the outside world, even if she had been out of the lab for around a year. He didn't think it was fair to not let her understand everyday things or phrases. In other words, Jax helped her fit in.

"It's okay. We'll work on it." He smiled. "Now, I won't help you if you think this is bad, so be careful." Jaxon slid the spatula under the grilled cheese, changing it from the pan to the plate. "Do you want ketchup?"

El shook her head, before taking the plate and sitting down. Jax took his now slightly cold grilled cheese and squirting some ketchup on his plate before sitting with El. "What.. do we watch?"

"Scooby-Doo?" Jax grinned widely, hoping that would persuade El more.

The girl just shook her head and took the remote from him, putting on 'The Waltons'. El smiled at her brother, knowing he'd rather watch something else. "This is better."

Sighing, Jax got comfy in his chair and told El to turn it up. After a while, he spoke up. "Who is your favourite character?"

"Ch-character..?"

"A character is one of the people in the show. Like if I was in the show, my name wouldn't be Jax. It would be something different, like Evan." The boy explained. "John-Boy's real name isn't John-Boy. They're pretending."

El nodded, honestly this time. With the help of her brother, she understood. "Oh. I get it." El thought for a moment. "...Olivia. She is my favourite character."

"Mine is Elizabeth." Jax smiled, as El's mouth opened slightly.

"She.. has red hair. Max, in your class... You said has red hair."

"Lalalalalalalalala!" Jax covered his ears and closed his eyes, meaning he wasn't going to listen to the rest of what his sister was teasing about.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When El had decided she was tired of waiting, she got up to go to her room for the night. Jaxon couldn't blame her, and definitely wasn't going to complain since that meant he got free range of the TV.

Actually, when Jax had moments like this, he started to subconsciously follow Jim's nightly routine. As soon as El shut the door to her room, Jaxon took off his shirt and took a root beer from the fridge and a bag of chips from the cupboard. Kicking his feet up, Jax poured some of his chips into a bowl beside the recliner chair he was currently in and changed the channel to Scooby-Doo like he originally wanted. This was his royalty.

Simultaneously, when Jaxon got up from the chair, Hopper had opened the front door, making his presence known. "Hey, sorry I'm late."

"It's okay. El's in her roo-" While Jax was filling in Jim, he tried to reach for the empty root beer can, but ended up knocking over a glass that was on the side table beside Jim's recliner. He froze. Even though Jim had told him to step back so he could clean up the glass, Jaxon didn't hear it. Instead, his eyes filled with tears and he swallowed thickly. He was afraid.

"Move back, Jax. Don't hurt yourself." Jim put his hand up, going to collect a broom and dustpan.

"I-I'm sorry- I'm so sorry." Jax apologized, dropping to the floor to clean up the glass by hand. Though, he was too shaky and cut his finger. "Fff..mm.." Jaxon watched the blood trickle down his finger before biting his lip and continuing to pick up the glass.

"Hey- hey! Hey. Kid! Jaxon!" Jim repeated, walking around the glass to kneel beside the boy, who flinched when the man put his hand out.

"No.. no! I didn't mean it, I swear-"

Jim gently removed the glass from Jaxon's hand and embraced him in a hug. "It's okay, buddy. I'm not mad, I promise. It's okay."

Jaxon's waterworks couldn't help themselves but to pour. The fear overtook his body, repeating the same actions he would when he broke something of James's. Jax wrapped his arms tightly around Jim, feeling an unfamiliar comfort. For the first time in his life, he had made a mistake; and it was okay.

"C'mon.. c'mon. Let's get you cleaned up, okay?" Jim spoke softly, leading Jax to the bathroom where the first aid was. "Sit on the counter."

Jaxon did as he was told, looking down at the ground, ashamed. "I'll get m-money for the cup.. I-I'll buy you a new one."

"What the hell are you talking about? Jaxon. You do not need to give me anything. You do not owe me anything, alright?" Jim instructed, talking slowly but assertively. "Mistakes happen. Now give me your finger."

Jaxon hesitated. The devil on his shoulder flashed him a vision of Jim taking his finger and snapping it in half before cursing him out. He didn't mean to compare him to James, but old habits always shine in sunlight. Jax was already making up excuses for a broken finger to tell his friends.

"I want to bandage it, Jaxon. Please?"

The boy stuck out his still shaky hand, and Jim took it and gently wiped the blood off. "There. Joyce showed me how to do this, actually." The man smiled. After putting a band-aid on the cut, Jim patted Jaxon's shoulder. "I know it's a little late, but how about we go for a ride, yeah? You and me?"

Jax nodded sheepishly, sliding off the counter.

"You gotta say something, bud."

"Thank you." The boy smiled, while Jim ruffled his hair.

He would be okay after all.