The Notes:
It had taken all of their combined brain power to pick a weekend that was good for Shitty to visit Jack in Providence. Between the two of them, their schedules were so busy that even the good weekends were inconvenient. Eventually, Shitty packed up his homework along with what clothes he'd recently cleaned and shoved the bag into the passenger's seat. Desperate to miss a day or two of classes, but more than desperate to see his best friend.
Jack was still at practice when Shitty arrived at his loft, but he'd already been given an emergency key for such occasions. He'd let out a whistle as he let himself in and saw the view of the water outside the loft windows. There was a beautiful balcony and Shitty was already planning to smoke out there later.
"No, the doorman didn't seem at all suspicious when I walked into the building," Shitty looked around for a bit and noticed only small bits of Jack's personality around the place. He dragged the duffle full of nonsense and clothing down the hallway and to the last door on the right like Jack had explained in his text earlier. "You really should say something to them about that? I could have been anyone, dude! You're a celebrity now! You gotta worry about these things, my man!"
"I'll talk to him!" Jack was trying not to laugh on the other side of the phone, but a bit of a chuckle managed to break through. "There's some stuff in the fridge if you need food before I get back. I should be home by five or six though."
Shitty made his way back towards the kitchen and paused at the overall size. He hadn't really taken any time to look at it before, and knew that Bittle would just die if he saw how much counter space there was to work. He switched the phone to speaker and set it on the island, eager to see what food he'd be able to munch on before they went out for dinner later.
"Thanks for finally letting me crash here, Jackooooo!" He trailed off with the fridge door half open. On the other door, there was a collection of what looked like little love notes. Shitty closed the door he was holding, still staring at the notes, but not really reading them.
"No problem, Shits," Jack's voice echoed from the phone speaker. "I'm going to finish up, the team is going to run some drills before we leave for the day."
"Ohh-kay. I'll see you in a bit." He waited for his phone screen to go black after the call ended, then he read note after note.
You're the best play I know
I'll see you this weekend! Kick butt out there!
I'm so proud of you!
I love you!
All of them were signed the same, with a little 'B' and a heart at the end. Sometimes there were other little doodles, and some were repeat messages to an extent. There had to be more than a dozen of them stuck to the door. Jack had been denying having a girlfriend before. He'd vehemently been against the idea, but after seeing this…
Shitty started looking around the rest of the apartment. There had to be other clues to who this mystery girl was, and whether Shitty knew her as well.
There was no doubt that the loft was thoroughly Jack in the way it was decorated, but there was a hint of another personality here too. A few cooking and baking books rested on the counter, pages bent and bookmarks sticking out. A few kitchen accessories that Shitty was sure Jack didn't pick out himself, but Bitty probably helped him furnish the room when he visited over the summer.
He made his way into the main living space. The floor to ceiling windows washed afternoon light over the room. The plush couch looked inviting, but Shitty was determined. He looked over the entertainment stand and book cases. There was a small Samwell sweater draped over the back of an armchair. The room was more of the same phenomenon that he'd seen in the kitchen though; all Jack, with just something extra.
He debated with himself for a while before deciding that going into Jack's bedroom was fine. They basically shared a room all through College, and the door was open. That didn't stop Shitty from agonizing over the decision while eating a peanut butter and jam sandwich. Jack still had a couple bottles of Bitty's blueberry jam around, so he made himself a small snack and sat on the couch to debate with himself.
He eventually made his way down the hallway towards the bedrooms. He'd already been in his rather sparse accommodations (decorated, but clearly not lived in). The bathroom was a fairly standard guest bathroom; Jack had mentioned that he had an ensuite, so the main bath was for guests.
The walls of the hallway were lined with photos that were likely taken by Jack himself. Shitty recognized some of them from his photography class project he'd worked on last year. There were pictures of the team, and some from the trip he took to Georgia over the summer. He lingered on a few of them, including one of Bitty baking in his mother's kitchen. There were pies and cookies strewn all over the counter, and Shitty felt his stomach rumble as though he didn't just eat.
But there were still no clues.
Entering Jack's room was like entering a completely different world. The floor to ceiling windows extended into this room, as well as the balcony outside. The large, king sized bed barely took up a fourth of the full size, and it was covered in characteristically blue bedding. There were a few clothes that missed the hamper, and a basket of freshly washed clothes sitting on one of two matching chairs in one of the corners.
The walk-in closet was closer, so Shitty had planned to try there first. A couple more steps into the room though, and he knew that the search was over.
Señor Bun was sitting on Jack's bed.
He was just tucked right in, clearly left behind mistakenly, and wearing a mini Falconers jersey.
But that wasn't all Shitty saw. Now that he knew what to look for, the clues were everywhere. It wasn't just the 'B' on the notes stuck to the fridge and the small sweater draped over the chair. It was the pictures of Georgia in the hallway and the extra attention put into the unused rooms of the house. There was a picture of Jack kissing Bitty's cheek on one of the nightstands, and on the other was a cookbook stuffed with sticky note bookmarks.
Shitty trailed back through the apartment with this new bit of knowledge. Now that he knew Bitty was the person Jack was dating, it was glaringly obvious. He hadn't even known that Jack was gay… or at least bi… or however he identified. But now here was the evidence of a summer, and a life, being spent more happily than he'd ever seen his best friend. Each photo, decoration, wrapped up plate of cookies, was like an extra little note left behind while Bittle had to go back to school.
He went back to the fridge, and reached to open the door for his snack. This time, when he saw the notes, he smiled:
I love you! 3 B