It really has been a while, he thought, almost six years now since the end of everything, Tuning his guitar to pass the time, Dave lounged on his apartment's couch. His feet tapped lightly to a song that wasn't playing. Jade would be there any minute. A slight smirk pulled at the edge of his lips when he thought of her bustling through the door. After six years she was finally taking a break from being a big time city slicker up in New York and coming to visit him in good 'ol Austin. He could understand why she'd wanted to move there in the first place. She had grown up on an island, for Christ's sake. Besides, all four of them needed to be separated after the session.
Dave stood and set his newly tuned guitar down onto the couch. He stretched and yawned before going to the full length mirror in the hallway. For a moment, he stood and stared at his reflection. He hadn't thought about the session in a good three years. Not since his therapy had ended. Those nightmares hadn't come back either. A quick rustle of his bed head and he was ready for her arrival. He'll never admit to having any sort of feelings for Jade Harley, he's too proud for that, but he makes it so painfully obvious it's unbearable. Then there was a light knock on the door. Normally, he'd just yell. "come in" or "it's open" but this is Harley we're talking about.
"Hey Harley," he said in his usual cool kid way. The girl in front of him blinked and looked up from adjusting her glasses. An instant smile crossed her face and she jumped to hug him around the neck.
"Dave! Oh my gosh, it's so amazing to finally see you!" she said, "Wow, you've changed a lot." Dave hesitantly wrapped his arms around her body. She let out a small giggle. Dave dropped her back down on her feet and chuckled, keep his silly façade up the entire time.
"Yeah, same. It's been a while to I don't think I look the same as I did when I was thirteen." Jade laughed that little laugh of hers and picked up a large bag,
"Alright, time for me to get settled in!"
"Jeez Harley, are you moving in or some shit?"
"Oh come on Dave. It's not that much. You're over exaggerating!"
"Over exaggerating, my ass!" he joked. Two more bags dangled from his hands; kicking the door shut, he dropped them onto the floor alongside her larger one. He stood, straightening his back, to find Jade staring out the window into open space, a smile painting her expression. Dave opened his mouth to say something, but quickly decided he wasn't going to interrupt her. He swiftly adjusted his shades and ran a hand through that snowy white hair before roaming into the kitchen.
"How's the Texan sun treatin' you?" he asked, letting a slight country drawl flow into his speech. Dave leaned down into the fridge and took out two chilled water bottles, tossed one to Jade and leaned back on the edge of the counter.
Jade chuckled and caught the bottle with both hands, "It's nothing like the weather in New York, that's for sure." Dave nodded in agreement and took a quick sip from the bottle. There was a lasting silence between the two. Small talk was exchanged here and there about Jade's flight in and Dave's music career. He'd kind of given up DJ-ing and was just playing guitar at different coffee shops. Occasionally he would play small gigs at hipster douche bag clubs. He sung too, but he didn't like to brag about it. Even though he bragged about it quite often to girls at said clubs.
The apartment was only a single room mostly because Dave never really planned to have someone over for longer than one night. Thankfully, the couch was a pull out.
"So, where do you want me to keep my things?" Jade asked after Dave had explained the couch situation. Dave shrugged and looked around the room. Then he just kind of pointed to a corner near the entertainment center.
Time passed and the day went on. Their conversations consisted of simply catching up with each other. Dave even let her man handle his precious acoustic guitar. Of course, this caused Jade to go into talking about her home on the island and her bass she never really know how to play. Undoubtedly, this lead her to into thinking and remembering. Maybe just a bit too much thinking and remembering.
"Dave," she asked quietly, "do you still have the nightmares?" If there was ever such a thing as ear-piercing silence, this would be it. Dave stared at her through the lenses of those shades. He swallowed. He hadn't been asked questions about the session or his nightmares since therapy. He'd hoped that she wouldn't bring anything up, but of course she did. Dave didn't respond. The silence was soon broken by the first cricket of the evening outside the window.
Jade looked down at her hands in her lap, "I'm sorry," she muttered. Dave placed his hand on her head and ruffled her hair a bit. He decided just to drop the topic all together. He wouldn't even respond to her apology. In his mind, the question had never been asked and even if it had, he didn't hear it. He got to his feet from his spot beside her on the sofa and shoved his hands in his pockets.
"How about we watch a movie or something? Feels like a 'movie night' or whatever the hell you used to call those streams."
Jade chuckled, "Yeah, they were called 'Saturday Night Movie!' I remember hosting those almost every Saturday." A smile crossed her face at the memory.
"Too bad it ain't Saturday," Dave stated as he turned to a bookshelf covered in movies. He held up the "rock on" symbol with one hand, "Fuck the police. We do what we want. Saturday movie night on Wednesday." Jade smiled. Same old Dave Strider, she thought.
She stood; flattening out her skirt, "Pajama time!" she mused. Dave mumbled something about the bathroom being on the right side of the hallway and a warning not to go into his room.
"Yeah, yeah. I've got it, boss, don't worry. Just go back to your movie picking," she joked; swinging her pajama shirt around by the sleeve.
After changing, pulling her hair into a ponytail, and washing up, Jade made her way out of the bathroom. Faintly, she could hear the sound of a microwave and kernels of popcorn popping inside. Jade leaned out of the hallway and saw Dave standing in the kitchen tediously waiting for the popcorn to finish. She looked behind her to the door on the left. Dave's room. Jade looked back into the kitchen once more and then tip-toed her way to the door. Carefully, she squeezed the knob. Curiosity overtook her and she pushed open the bland, white door. I guess that's what you get for being an adventurer's "granddaughter."
For a minute she stood in the door way covering her mouth. It was all she could do to stop her laughter! The room was typical Dave, it was hilarious. There were pizza boxes and soda bottles strewn everywhere, the TV was still on, and the bed was unmade. The room was just a mess. Jade placed her hands on her hips and thought to herself, I might as well clean up a little while I'm staying here. She began to exploring his room; a smile on her face the whole time. All the good memories from before the session came flooding back. She remembered their first video chat after John finally got a webcam. Her, Dave, John and Rose had been planning it weeks beforehand. They were all a little reluctant at first, but Jade finally convinced all of them to give a tour of their bedrooms.
There was a nightstand beside Dave's bed, generic bedroom furniture piece. The only reason it drew Jade's attention was the fact that it was the only thing in the room that didn't have trash or clothing covering it. On the nightstand, there was a lamp (obviously) and a picture. Over the picture frame; a gray baseball cap had been gently laid. Jade sat down on the edge of Dave's bed and lifted the hat. Dried blood covered most of the back portion of it and spotted a few other parts. Then it hit her.
"Bro's hat…" Jade whispered to herself. She let out a shaky sigh and set the hat back down. She picked up the photo and stared at it for who knows how long. It was a picture of Dave and Bro on vacation somewhere nice and tropical. The ocean was the halfway point, above it, a beautiful sunset that scattered vibrant yellows and oranges over a clear sky. Bro had some sort of half grin on his face and Dave was his usual try-hard, stoic self. Jade almost let herself smile because she knew behind that silly poker face was one of the happiest kids on the planet and no matter how much he denied it, Dave really missed his Bro. Jade placed the photo back down and relieved her eyes of the few tears forming there. She placed the hat back over it and sighed.
"Jesus Harley, did you pass out or something? I'm gonna start this without you." Jade immediately jumped from her place on his bed and trotted back into the main room.
"Sorry, Dave. I was brushing a really bad knot out of my hair," she explained whilst climbing over the back of the cough, blanket in hand.
"I'm telling you you've gotta chop some of it off before something bad happens. Like, what if you get it caught in the motor of a go-kart or something. Shit like that happens more than you think, Harley," Dave looked at her with a mock look of concern.
Jade laughed, "Just start the movie, jackass."
"Feisty," he mumbled pressing the play button. Of course, Dave had come to terms with watching some strange indie horror flick that was only ever screened at a film festival. Surprisingly, it turned out to be rather good. Every time Jade would jump at something, Dave would snicker. Jade didn't really think it was all that funny and occasionally reply with a playful smack on the arm or chest.
The movie managed to keep the occupied until the very end. Jade ended up wrapped in her blanket with a hood over her head to top it all off.
"We're never watching that movie ever again," she said.
Dave sighed, "If you say so, scaredy cat. You know you liked it though."
"I'm not a scardey cat! I just...don't like it when the monsters jump out of no where is all." She pouted out her lip and furrowed her brows in his direction. Dave shrugged his shoulders and slid off the couch to switch the DVD back to cable.
"You've got jetlag, right? An hour ahead or something like that?" Dave asked. He waited for a reply, but didn't get one. He blinked and turned. A soft smile played at his lips.
"An hour ahead and you still manage to fall asleep before me. Same old Harley." He shut off the TV and tip-toed over to the sleeping girl bundled up in a huge blanket on the couch. Being careful not to wake her, Dave moved a few strands of ebony hair from her face and pulled away her glasses.
"G'night, Harley," he mumbled. He sat her glasses down on the coffee table and shut off lingering kitchen lights before stepping into the hallway and into the bathroom to finish washing up for the night. After brushing his teeth and washing his face and doing all that good hygienic stuff, he flopped down onto his bed. He groaned and hugged a nearby pillow. Soon, he began drifting in and out of light sleep. Tonight would be one of those nights where he fell asleep with his shades on. This tends to happen a lot actually. Eventually, Dave fell into a deep, Derse-less, sleep with images of Harley dancing in his head.