𝓒𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓲𝓽 𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝔀𝓪𝓷𝓽

˚ ༘ ೀ⋆｡˚☕︎

By the time 10 Things I Hate About You started, the living room was an explosion of pillows, blankets, half-empty chip bags, and soda cans dangerously close to tipping. Lena had braided Rae's hair halfway before getting distracted by the pizza box. Rae was now covered in glitter from a rogue lip gloss experiment, and Brooke had stolen back her favorite hoodie from Jess, only for him to steal it again when she wasn't looking.

"Okay, shut up, this part is cinematic gold," Lena declared, dramatically sitting up and pointing at the screen. "Heath. Freaking. Ledger."

"Do you want me to rewind it so you can cry again?" Jess asked, his voice low, amused.

"I did not cry," Lena scoffed, flinging a pillow in his direction.

"You sniffled," Jess said, catching the pillow with one hand. "Very emotionally."

"She did sniffle," Rae added, grinning.

Lena pointed at Jess. "You're bold for someone who's not even supposed to be here."

Brooke, curled into a blanket on the couch, snorted. "You told him to stay!"

Lena shrugged. "Yeah, well, he's proving useful. His commentary is like, Siskel & Ebert if one of them was raised by an angry raccoon."

Jess smirked. "That feels accurate."

Brooke rolled her eyes but smiled. She nudged Jess's leg with her foot, since he'd somehow ended up sitting at the edge of the couch next to her instead of taking one of the many available armchairs.

"You're comfortable?" she teased.

"Very," Jess said, reaching for the popcorn bowl that was somehow balanced between their knees.

"I can tell. You've been stealing my blanket for the last hour."

"I bring food, I get blanket access."

"Fair," she muttered.

Rae flopped onto a pillow beside them. "Okay but real talk, if someone sang to me on the bleachers, I'd marry them."

"I'd call the cops," Jess said flatly.

"Oh come on, it's romantic!" Rae argued.

"Or desperate," Jess countered, then turned to Brooke. "Would you fall for that? Someone with a microphone and a marching band?"

Brooke tilted her head, pretending to consider it. "Depends. Do they have good hair?"

Jess raised a brow. "Wow. That's your standard?"

"Jess," Lena cut in, dramatically draping a blanket around her shoulders like a cape, "you are clearly not in touch with your inner rom-com heartthrob."

"I'm deeply in touch with my inner cynic," he said.

"Which is exactly why you're a heartthrob," Rae said, winking. "Brooke has a type."

Brooke choked on her soda. "Okay—no—we're not doing that."

Jess glanced at her, something unreadable in his eyes for a second. "Do you?"

She looked at him, her face heating up a little. "Do I what?"

"Have a type," he said, his tone casual, but his voice quieter.

Brooke looked away, fiddling with the drawstring of the hoodie she wasn't entirely sure was hers or his anymore. "Maybe."

Rae and Lena exchanged a look that practically screamed oh this is getting good, but stayed quiet, bless them.

Jess didn't push. He just leaned back a little, his arm now resting on the back of the couch behind her, fingers brushing lightly against her shoulder every time he shifted. Not enough to call it on purpose. Just enough to notice.

Eventually, Rae and Lena passed out in a pile of pillows and Sour Patch Kids around midnight, mid-way through a very heated debate about which fictional boyfriends were the most emotionally unavailable.

Brooke and Jess stayed on the couch.

The room had gone quiet, the movie long since over, the menu screen looping soft instrumental music. The only light came from the TV and a string of fairy lights around the window.

Brooke yawned, her head dropping slightly to the side.

Jess turned toward her. "You tired?"

She nodded, not opening her eyes. "Mhm. But I don't wanna move."

"You don't have to," he said, his voice softer now.

There was a pause. A stretch of quiet so gentle it didn't even feel awkward. Just the kind that fills up the space when you're not pretending anymore.

Brooke opened one eye to glance at him. "You're really staying here?"

"Yeah," Jess said. "Unless you're kicking me out."

"No," she said quickly. "I mean... no, it's fine. You're fine."

Jess looked at her, studying her for a second. "You don't let many people into your chaos, Deputy."

She smiled, eyes fluttering closed again. "You're not most people."

And for once, he didn't have a snarky comeback. Just silence. And the warmth of a blanket they were both under. And the closeness that stayed even after they both pretended to fall asleep.

Later, Brooke would swear she hadn't meant to rest her head against his shoulder.

And Jess would swear he hadn't shifted slightly so it fit better.

But neither of them moved.

Not for a long time.