The lack of sickness now attributed to Jacqui was absolutely incredible, two days later. It was such a luxury now to be able to breath properly, to have a conversation and not almost pass out coughing in the middle of it, but most of all, it was relieving to not have Kung goddamn Jin in her apartment.
And it was Saturday. Next thing she knew, it was going to be Christmas.
Really, she wanted to sleep, but a day of walking around in pajamas and generally not doing anything stress worthy at all seemed like the best possible plan as of then.
So she set up her Netflix, made some popcorn, and prepared for an hour and a half of blissful nothing.
She made it to a record forty-five minutes before her phone buzzed. A text from Takeda Takahashi himself, which read, simply:
Heard you were feeling better. Up to studying?
Jacqui stared at her phone, unsure of how to reply. Yes, she was feeling better (significantly), and she probably needed to study to make up the days she'd missed (though, admittedly, she'd done most of the work Cassie had gotten for her yesterday), and she actually enjoyed being around Takeda- an honor few people had. Still, Billy Fredrick's Day Off seemed really appealing, infinitely more than English Lit.
And then it was as though Takeda read her mind.
If today's your you day, I get it. I might just watch some TV myself.
Way ahead of you. Jacqui responded.
Movies are more important than me? Takeda sent, and Jacqui could hear the grin,
Brody Matthews is more important than anyone else, okay? Don't take it personally.
Isn't he like sixty?
Not in this movie he isn't.
Didn't Cassie's dad do a movie with him?
He was supposed to.
What happened?
Ninja Mime happened. Jacqui replied, grimacing at the memory.
I've still never seen it.
Really? That movie is terrible. I don't want to sit through it again, but I will if you watch it.
I have to go talk to the old man now, but I will hold you to that, Briggs. See you later.
Tell him I said hi.
Will do.
Jacqui felt herself grinning as she resumed the movie, the handsome visage of Brody Matthews having nothing to do with it. It was odd, really how- what was the word? Content. It was odd how content she felt at that moment, like everything had fallen into place. The nagging reminders that so often interrupted her thoughts were just not there.
Then, another text, this one from Cassie.
Just a heads up, we're going to a party tonight.
Formal?
Nope. Some junior is having a party.
Do you know them?
Vaguely. But hey, free beer, right? I'll pick you up later.
See you then.
Cassie liked going to parties. Jacqui? Not so much. That being said, the last party she'd gone to with Cassie had ended...weirdly, to say.
….
It had been loud. Maybe it was because she'd grown up on a farm, but Jacqui did not like excessive noise. It was bad enough her college was in the city, but this noise was much more concentrated.
They were in some senior's basement. This particular senior was graduating early, and decided throwing a party was the best way to celebrate. Said party was full of beer, snacks and sweaty college kids that Jacqui did not know. She'd make the mistake of going after Cassie, even though pretty much everyone was wasted once she got there, so they let her in anyway.
Jacqui waited near the food table, when some tipsy guy with sunglasses and no shirt had bumped into her.
"My bad. You know, the beer on the table is warm. There's a keg in the back." The guy said, pointing.
So she headed over there, to witness Cassie playing beer pong and Jin off to the side. Jacqui had never been more happy in her life that Jin didn't drink, because there was no way she was going to navigate this party on her own.
"Briggs." he nodded over his cup of water.
"How drunk is she?"
"Eh. She's had a beer or two. She can still stand though, which is more than I can say for that Rain guy over there. And she's kicking ass at beer pong." Jin said.
Jacqui and Jin stood there, watching the drunk people get progressively drunker (perks of being the sober one, she supposed) and rowdier.
"Hey, Jin." she had to raise her voice because of the noise even though Jin was right next to her. "Why do you come to parties if you don't drink?"
"Free entertainment." he said. "Watching drunk people is better than any TV show."
"Fair enough." Jacqui said, as Cassie's pong shot went wide, nearly hitting someone.
"Alright. Time to go." Jacqui declared. "Jin, you drove here, right?"
"Yes, I did. Need me to get the car?"
"It would be very much appreciated." Jacqui said.
"I'll be outside!" Jin called before disappearing upstairs.
"Cassie, come on." Jacqui said, not believing herself that the simple approach would work. It didn't.
"Aw, come on, Jacqui. I'm winning!" Cassie said, putting about twice as many letters in winning then there needed to be. To prove her point, Cassie spread out her arms to be met with drunken cheers. "See? I've got fans." she said, before she nearly toppled over.
Jacqui caught her, deciding that she was going to have to carry Cassie to the car.
"Well, tell your fans bye, Cassie. We need to go."
"Bye, Cassie." A mumbling Cassandra Cage said, waving.
Jacqui managed to get Cassie in Jin's car without incident. Once in the car, it was a different story. Cassie slapped at Jacqui's hands when Jacqui tried to fasten her seat belt.
"Cage, so help me God..." Jacqui started. "Stay still."
"So I assume I'm dropping both of you at your apartment?" Jin asked from the driver's seat.
"That'd be great."
Jin ended up helping her carry Cassie into Jacqui's apartment since after Cassie laid down in the backseat, she couldn't get back up.
"Easy now." Jacqui cautioned as they put Cassie on the couch.
"Sadly, this isn't the first time I've done this, I know what to do." Jin said.
"I'm sure you do. Thanks for the ride."
"I'd say it was no problem but I'd be lying. See you, Briggs!" Jin yelled as he left.
Once Jin left, Jacqui sat at the foot of the couch, aware that she'd be up the whole night making sure Cassie was alright.
When Cassie woke up that morning, Jacqui made her breakfast to fight her hangover. And when Cassie proceeded to throw up, Jacqui held her hair and helped her brush her teeth.
"I really appreciate you as a friend, Jacqui." Cassie said over a cup of hot chocolate.
"I know-"
"No, like you being my best friend is honestly one of the greatest things to happen to me. You were there through my parents divorce, that god-awful scene phase I went through-"
"Are you really equating those two?" Jacqui asked.
"It was a pretty bad scene phase."
"Yeah, it was."
They both laughed, until Cassie complained about her throbbing headache, to which Jacqui's response was to put on cartoons (Cassie's favorite, and the one thing her dad had never been in) and bring her aspirin.
"You're the greatest friend ever." Cassie repeated as Jacqui brought her Advil.
"I know. It is still nice to keep hearing it." Jacqui said.
And so they lounged on the couch, until what Cassie would later explain as a "surge of overwhelming feelings" that led to Cassie kissing her.
She didn't leave her with enough air to ask what was happening or to protest. Hell, they didn't even make it to the bed that first time. But afterward, with Cassie playing with her hair and cuddled behind her, it was easy to forget to ask.
They did make it to the bedroom the second time.
I really hope that it was obvious Billy Fredrick's Day Off was a clear reference to Ferris Bueller's Day Off and that Brody Matthews was Matthew Broderick otherwise I'm going to cry.