Bates & Landon [Wattys2015]

LANDON

I really like this pic of her ^

Landon

"So how are you since you found out about, you know, Alice.." Bates trailed off. We were walking down the hall, beside one another, after art class. We had had a busy day in art class today. We had to learn how to draw a realistic eye. Which, in my case, it would have looked better if I just drew a little dot like I do with stick figure people.

"Oh," I looked down at my shoes, "I'm fine. I'm going to call Margaret later today and see when I can visit Alice." He nodded his head understandingly. We kept walking until we were outside. He stood beside me, waiting until Mandy came to pick me up. "You know you don't have to wait here with me," I said when he made no move to walk away to go get Emmy.

"I know I don't." he said, looking over at me, "But I am going to." With warm cheeks, I smiled just a little bit.

"Well, thank you," I say, sending him a glance, "it means a lot, Bates." He stuffs his hands in his hoodies front pocket, seeming colder than he was letting on. I, on the other hand, was warm with my big, furry winter coat and boots that were fuzzy inside. "Cold?" I asked as he began to pace, to keep warm and moving.

He looked up at me, nodding slightly. "Just a little bit. I'll be fine, Lan." My stomach fluttered at the nickname he had made for me.

"Are you sure?" I ask him, worried. "You can always huddle closer to me, you know. Some animals do that when we are cold -"

"So we are animals?" He asks, smirking.

I roll my eyes, "Well, no. What I mean was -"

"That we are animals." He interrupted, walking closer to me.

"I said no. We are simply using a method that animals use. Which, in fact, is very useful for survival. Oh well. You just passed up a opportunity to be extra close to me." I said, turning to look at him, poking his chest as I sent him a playful glare. He caught my finger before I could yank it back fast enough. Which resulted in him to pull me closer to him.

"Ah! Look, the lovebirds," Jonas greeted us, like always, which was most incredibly loud. But that was Jonas for you, and you had to like him (for most, like him and are afraid of him). "I'm kinda in the mood for some burgers and milkshakes, wanna join?"

Bates raised his eyebrows, looking from me to Jonas. "Um, I have my little sister -"

"Daycare? Or, better yet, she can tag along." Jonas said as he pulled out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it.

Bates furrowed his dark eyebrows, pursing his lips, "But you don't really like kids. At least not your siblings."

He rolled his eyes at Bates, scoffing, "Just because I dislike my siblings doesn't mean I dislike all children. I only like a limited, selected few." Jonas took a drag from his cigarette, "If your -- sister?-- yeah, little sister is anything like you, I might just like her. Or I might completely despise her as much as I despise you." I didn't even know that Jonas had siblings. Needless to say, I didn't really know a lot about the J's except they were friends with Bates.

He lets out a chuckle, punching Jonas's arm. "Shut up, meathead."

Jonas glares at him, purposefully blowing the cigarette smoke towards Bates. His eyes land on me, "So," he asks, "are you coming or not?"

"I, uhm..,"

"Landon!" All three of our heads look over to where Mandy's car isn't that far from us, her window rolled down to look at me. Jonas quickly threw down his cigarette, stomping on it. "Come on!"