Before I Ran || Perrentes

Chapter 18: Good Friday

Tony was woken and pulled out of bed by the smell of bacon frying, and within a few seconds of realising how hungry he was he had got out from beneath he sheets and pulled a Supernatural hoodie on, sticking his phone and hands in the pockets and trotting downstairs.

Vic lay in the same position as the previous day on the sofa, nestled into the cushions with his foot resting up, and Jaime sat cross legged on the floor on the opposite side of the coffee table. They appeared to be playing a game of Dominos, and as Tony walked in Vic became distracted and nudged the intricate pattern of tiles, causing it to wiggle madly out of line. Jaime squawked, shocked, and flapped madly, the pattern disturbed.

"Whoops," Vic giggled as Jaime frantically tried to rearrange the dominos. "Sorry. Morning, Tone."

"Hey," Tony nodded, and then looked around. "Where is everyone?"

"Alex has been working on the car since seven this morning," he explained. Tony looked around the room once and then bit his lip.

"Where's Mike?"

"Still in bed," Jaime laughed. "Where I guarantee he'll stay for a while yet. That kid likes to pretend he doesn't get tired."

Tony was about to say something in reply (he thought - or perhaps he just wanted to talk about Mike some more), but Jack suddenly poked his head around the next door and grinned. "I thought I heard a voice. Morning, kid."

"Morning," Tony smiled. Jack seemed to pull smiles from all the people around him just by breathing - it was an automatic response, it seemed. "Cooking breakfast?"

"I am. Do you like scrambled eggs?"

"Yep."

"Good. It's the only kind of egg I can make. I tried to boil an egg once and I almost set the kitchen on fire. You don't want to know how. It would without a doubt change your perception of me."

Tony laughed and shook his head. "You're right, I don't think I do want to know. Would you like any help?"

"And there it is," Tony heard Vic say softly, but he disregarded it and so did Jack, who raised his eyebrows.

"I guess so. If you really wanted. You can make sure I don't burn anything. I know it's hard to burn a straight forward oven-cooked breakfast, but I'd find a way, I'm sure. Come on then."

Tony followed Jack into the kitchen, which was, just like every other room in the house, at least twice the size of the one in Tony's old house. It was white tiled with bright lights and light wooden countertops, an island counter in the centre of the room with the oven and cupboards along the back wall. It was open plan into an elegant dining room, decorated with framed vinyls, a little like Danielle's home in Redding. That's what it was - a home. And Tony very much liked it here.

"Sleep well?" Jack asked as he moved a frying pan containing sizzling potato slices to a back-burner. Tony nodded.

"I did, thanks. Hey, I like all these vinyls up here. I wanted to decorate my room like it but all the framed ones I wanted were too expensive."

Jack laughed and picked up the heatproof jug he had cracked an egg into, and he started whipping it with a fork. "My father is a doctor and my mom is a lawyer. Since I got sick they've been basically funding me, since the only work I can do is online because I'm not eligible for a proper job, and it doesn't pay enough for my upkeep. So I may have splashed out on the vinyls."

"I would, if I were you," Tony smiled. "They make it feel all vintage, I love that kind of thing...aren't you supposed to put milk in that?"