Cerulean Feathers

Chapter 22

Jonathan lifted his head from his sketchbook when he heard the door beside his own slam close.

The neighboring room fell silent

Jonathan strained his ears to listen downstairs, not hearing anything down there either.

What happened?

He felt his curiosity attempt to pull him out of his room, but his instinct of staying put held him tighter. He returned to his notebook, again attempting to draw one of his molted feathers.

After another few doodles, his pencil hovered over the paper.

A knock gently prodded the door.

The Omega's blue gaze flickered toward the door, his nose twitching slightly as he took a deep breath of the scent that leaked under the door.

"Jon? Can...can we talk?"

The jay-wing blinked at the quiet, broken voice, milk and cherries tainted with distress beginning to flow steadily from the door.

The lock opened with a click, and Smitty's pale face peaked out from behind the door.

His white hair stuck up in odd places, and his black hoodie hung unevenly off his shoulders.

"What's wrong?"

Jon asked softly, his eyes darting up and down the hall to make sure there wasn't anyone else before settling back on the injured dove-wing.

"I...I just broke up with John."

"What? Why?"

Jonathan opened the door wider, his wings already opening to bring the hurt Omega in for a hug.

But what if he tries to kill me?

The thought made Jon hesitate as Smitty sniffled.

"He wanted me to mind my own business and ignore that you were ever attacked...and I wanted to make sure that you were safe."

Jonathan blinked, then pulled the hurting Omega close.

Arms were quick to wrap around his shoulders, squeezing him tight as his azure hoodie grew wet with Smitty's tears.

"It'll be okay,"

He cooed, pulling the dove-wing away to look into his chocolate eyes.

"I mean...I've never been in a relationship before, but I know that if John isn't the one, you'll find them eventually."

Smitty wiped at his tears, a scoff was tugged out of his throat.

"I'm older than you, I should be giving you advice."

Jon smiled, closing the door and locking it again before sitting on his bed, pushing his sketchbook out of the way so Smitty could sit beside him.

"I mean, you're 20, right? So I'm only a year younger than you."

Smitty hummed in acknowledgment, a small smile pulling at his lips.

However, the smile only lasted a blissful moment.

"Jon, I want to help you with this...this whole 'attacker' situation."
Jonathan stiffened slightly, trying to hide it by returning to his sketchbook and pencil.

"Evan had already figured out who it was. Why did he let him out?"

Jonathan dropped his pencil after asking the question, looking back at Smitty in dismay.