Triggers: Deadnaming.
Synopsis at the end.
"Hey," Jack whispered. "wake up Ems." he gently shook Emma's shoulder.
She grumbled and rolled over, pulling the blanket further over her shoulders. Jack rolled his eyes and tried again.
"Em, it's mama's birthday," he walked over to the door. "If you want to come to the store with me, be down in fifteen minutes, okay?" he left, cracking the door behind him before hopping down the steps, silent and light on his feet.
Emma's door squeaked open just ten minutes later and she walked down the steps, rubbing her eyes and yawning groggily.
Jack stood and took his mom's keys from the rack.
"I need to stop for coffee first, okay?" Emma just nodded and tugged on her shoes, not bothering with the laces before stepping out the door and climbing into the Jeep's passenger seat.
Jack started the car and looked over to see Emma falling asleep with her head on the window. At least she buckled this time.
He plugged his phone to the aux cord and played his indie playlist before pulling out of the driveway.
"Hey, T!" Jack greeted, walking up to the register. The barista turned and smiled upon seeing Jack. Her teeth glimmered with gentle care and her bright green feather earrings brought out the faded blue dye in her thick hair.
"Jack! It's been too long," she reached over the counter and gave him an awkward one-armed hug. "Where's Em?"
Jack laughed and returned the embrace.
"Sorry, been busy. Em's sleeping," he gestured behind him, where Emma was dozing off in a booth.
"Doing what?" T laughed. "Trying to move to Alaska?"
Jack chuckled.
"Something like that," he glanced at Emma.
T nodded and started tapping at the register. "I'm assuming you'll have your usual?"
"Add a small tea to that, will you? She's been drinking it nonstop lately."
"$11.47." Jack already had the money ready, dropping it into her palm.
"Keep the change, okay? Buy yourself something nice." he winked. T rolled her eyes and dropped the change into her tip jar.
"That'll be ready soon," she stepped away to make the drinks and Jack sauntered over to the booth, sitting across from Emma.
"Hey, Ems," he reached over and gently tapped her arm. She glanced at him. "I got you a tea."
She smiled but buried her head further into her arms. Jack pulled out his phone and tapped away at a game. He was totally invested in it when he heard someone's gruff voice. His ears perked.
"I'll just have a medium dark roast coffee," Jack looked over to see the man tapping his fingers on the wooden surface of the counter. What Jack assumed to be flour (or cocaine... but he hoped it was the former) was splattered on his hands and covered his pants in streaks. His hair was a faded blue, turning grey, and a few strings have fallen in front of his face. "No sweetener." Jack's nose wrinkled in distaste and he turned back to his game.
"$4.40." Jack looked up again. The man dug through his apparently deep pockets and finally pulled out a thick black wallet. He handed T a five dollar bill and dumped the change into her tip jar before saying a thank you and taking a seat by the door. He shoved his wallet back into his pocket and pulled out his phone. It had a plain black case with what Jack assumed to be the Australian flag painted on the back.
The man looked up and met Jack's eyes, looked back down in shock. Hot embarrassment settled on his pale cheeks and he prayed the man didn't see.
"Jackson!" Jack huffed out a breath of relief and rushed to stand, shoving his phone into his jean pocket and tripping over his own feet in his rush to the register. His ears went hot with humiliation but he just walked it off.
T laughed once he made it to her and he gently smacked her arm.
"Shush!" he whispered, reaching out and grabbing his drinks. He looked up to see T wiggling her eyebrows.
"He's so your type!" she practically squealed. He heard the man quietly chuckling behind him and he stared at his friend.
"Shut up Taniya!" Jack hurriedly pulled on his hood, making sure his thick brown bangs covered most of his eyes before glaring at T and rushing back to his seat. He set down the drinks and slid into the corner of his side of the booth, hunching next to the wall and shielding his face with his hand.
Emma sat up and stared at her brother in confusion. Jack just shook his head and pointed at her tea, risking a glance at the man across the room. He wasn't looking at Jack; his attention was back on his phone. Jack breathed a sigh of relief and sat up, taking his frap and sipping the contents.
"What was that about?" Emma asked.
"Nothing, just T being embarrassing," he put down his cup and leaned back in the seat, glancing at the man again. "Do you want to finish your tea here or bring it to the car?"
"Who are you looking at?"
"Nobody," Emma followed his line of sight and saw the man. He sat leaned against the back of the chair, one arm resting on the back and the other on the table with the phone in hand. She gasped.
"You think he's cute!"
"Emma,"
"You should go over there!"
"Emma," Jack sighed. "You didn't answer the question."
"Car," she barely finished her response before she crawled out of the booth with her tea in hand. Jack tensed up, expecting her to walk up to the man, but took a deep breath when he saw her walk to the door. He started to stand from the booth and take his hood off, feeling overheated, when he saw her circle back around and look at Jack smugly.
Heat made its way to his cheeks and he sat back down in the booth, tugging his hood on further. He risked a look up and saw Emma talking to the man, whom kept glancing at Jack with a smirk. After a few seconds, Jack sighed and stood up, walking over to the two.
"Em, that's enough. You know better than to talk to strangers," he turned to the man. "I'm sorry."
The man laughed.
"It's alright, mate." Jack nodded, then turned to Emma.
"C'mon Ems, we still need to get mom a cake,"
"Not yet," she looked at the man and smiled sweetly. "Can I have your number?"
Jack's eyes widened and he grabbed Emma's arm.
"I'm so sorry, she-"
"Sure," the man dug through his pockets again and pulled out a pen. He grabbed a napkin and carefully scribbled a series of numbers on it before handing it to Jack.
"Aster!" he winked at Jack before grabbing his phone from the table and walking to the register to pick up his coffee.
Jack stood there with the napkin in his hand, staring at the chair where Aster was. Emma laughed at her brother before grabbing his drink for him and dragging him out the door by his hand.
They stood in an aisle at the store, staring at the wide variety of cake mixes.
"Uh... what kind would she want?" Emma shrugged.
Silence settled on the two siblings for what felt like forever before Jack suddenly turned to his sister with a wide smile on his face.
"Chocolate!"
"Huh?"
"Chocolate! Remember?" Emma shook her head. "That one Easter, dad got her this really expensive chocolate from this super fancy place, and she never shut up about it."
She stared at Jack for a few seconds before her eyes lit up and she nodded.
"Alright, so we can get her cake there instead," he checked the time on his phone. "But we still need to get her gifts. Let's split up,"'
"I'll get her new candles!"
Jack nodded, but looked at her sternly.
"No talking to strangers. Meet me back here when you're done." she didn't indicate that she was listening, she just scampered off.
Jack sighed before making his way to the jewelry section. He was looking through the bracelets when someone broke his train of thought.
"Adalynne? Is that... is that you?"
Jack froze for a second and almost dropped a bracelet. With shaky hands, he put it back on the rack and moved to the next aisle. His heart stuttered with dread and his nerves went clammy with anxiety.
They're talking to someone else.
He shakily browsed the necklaces, relishing in the cool feeling of the faux diamonds on his skin.
"Adalynne?" the person followed him to this aisle. Jack almost dropped the necklace, but he carefully put it back on the rack. His breathing became shallow and his eyes unfocused as he hesitantly turned to the speaker.
"Oh... uh, hey Maddie," Jack's brain went numb and it felt like he was looking through someone else's eyes, living someone else's life right now.
"Hey! I haven't seen you since prom night!" She paused and looked Jack up and down. "Uh... you look... different."
He laughed nervously and pulled his sleeves down to cover his hands before hugging himself. Suddenly the chest binder wasn't working and she knew and everyone would see his chest. His skin went hot and he felt sweat on his skin. He took a deep breath.
"It's-It's Jack now," he looked down at the floor.
"Uh... okay," Jack took a deep breath and looked up at her again. "What are you doing here, anyway? I mean, if you're a guy now, why are you in this section?"
A flicker of anger burned his heart but he put it out before it could ravage his veins.
"Shopping for my mom." He glared at her before turning back to the necklaces.
"Oh! I'd love to help you pick the right thing," she smiled at him but he just shook his head.
"No offense, but I think I've got it," he rolled his sleeves up again. "I know what my mom likes; she's my mom. Maybe you haven't met a guy who's close with his mother, but your experience is not universal." Jack turned to look at her again.
"Uh... okay. Well if you change your mind, you should still have my number! And I'll be in the clothing aisle."
"Thank you, but I won't change my mind." he smiled at her and waved before turning back to the necklaces. He waited for her to leave before picking the one he knew his mom would love. He ran his hands over the cool metal and allowed himself to relax.
Jack then left the aisle, necklace in hand, and turned the opposite direction from where he was supposed to meet Emma.
The cosmetics aisle was all the way across the store and it took Jack a few minutes to reach because people kept clogging the main aisles and refusing to move out of his way. He walked past the natural colours before reaching the artificial ones. He thumbed through the reds and the purples and the greens. He paused at the blue, even picked it up and imagined himself with that colour of hair. But he just shook his head and put it back before looking up.
And there it is; the perfect colour. The model smiled at him with pure white hair and Jack stood on his tiptoes to reach it. It was perfect.
He made his way back to Emma and showed her the necklace. She smiled and agreed with his choice before having him smell the two candles she picked out. White Linen and Eucalyptus Rain.
"What's that for?" Jack looked down to see Emma pointing at the hair dye in his hand. He shrugged.
"Just something different."
Emma smiled.
"Can I help you do it?"
"Of course you can silly, I can't do it all myself," he walked with her to the cash registers. "Now let's go get mom a cake."
The shop smelled heavenly; like freshly made chocolate. Flowers were sold in one half of the shop, and the other half sold homemade sweets. Emma rushed over to the flowers and Jack walked up to the counter, ringing a small bell that sat on the surface.
He looked down at the different desserts in the display case; all of them chocolate.
"How can I help ya today?" Jack's head snapped up at the familiar voice. The man from the café walked through a door, wiping his hands with a soft rag. He looked up. "Oh, Jackson, right?" he set the rag on the counter and leaned on it, his hands braced on the edge.
"It's just Jack," Aster nodded. "It's my mom's birthday today, I'd love to bring something home for her. She loves your chocolate." the man smiled.
"'Course she does, make it myself." Jack rolled his eyes. "What did ya have in mind?"
"You don't do cakes by any chance, do you?"
Aster shook his head.
"Nah, not usually. But I'm sure I can whip somethin' up for ya," he stood up straight and grabbed a notebook. He flipped through pages filled with names, each with a different date on it. "What's your last name?"
"Uh... Overland."
He scribbled it down.
"Had to think about that one?"
"Dad's last name is Frost. My last name is hyphened."
"Overland-Frost?" Aster looked at Jack, laughter trying to make its way past his lips. Jack glared at him.
"Yes. Something wrong with it," he squinted at Aster's nametag. "Bunnymund?"
"Hey now, no need to get so spicy 'bout it. Anything specific you want it to say?"
"Put happy 20th," Aster stared at him. "Inside joke."
"Right. I won't have it ready until about 5:00, okay? You can come pick it up then. What's a good number to contact you at?"
Jack gave Aster his number and watched him scribble it down in his notebook.
Emma skipped up to the counter and placed a bouquet of blue irises. Aster smiled at her before ringing it up and looking at Jack.
"That'll be $19.30."
Jack handed over a twenty dollar bill.
"Keep the change."
SYNOPSIS: Jack wakes Emma to take her to the store. They stop for coffee first and Jack meets Aster. Emma helps him get Aster's number before they leave to the store. At the store, Jack is looking for jewelry for his mom's birthday when a girl from his old high school finds him and calls him by his deadname. He buys a necklace and Emma buys two candles before they go to Aster's shop to get a cake and flowers.
Thank you for reading!
