Breakeven

"You're not a machine, I'm sure of that. You're every bit like me."

"Why do you have to leave already?" Reese frowned. Davey was standing in the foyer of his house, a suitcase in one hand and his other arm snaked around Reese's body. He was going back to NoDak that night, and probably wouldn't see Reese again till the summer. She promised to keep in touch with him this time, and he was going to hold her to it.

"Cause I'm like, a really good student and I need to study," he answered in a dumb voice. Reese pulled away from the tall boy and narrowed her eyes, making him laugh. "Trust me if I had a choice I'd stay here. Well, actually- I'd probably still go back. But only because I like my friends and I like the parties. I could do without the whole school thing," he rambled. Reese giggled and placed her head back on his chest, inhaling deeply as she hugged him.

"I'm gonna miss you," she whispered.

"I'll miss you too Reeses Pieces," he cooed using her childhood nickname as he rubbed her back lightly. "But we'll see each other again. And they did invent cell phones and computers, and you can use both of those to contact me."

"Are you sure you'll want to talk to lil ole me when you're back at school being a superstar?" She joked.

"Of course! And if you want, you can come and visit me. You can pretend to be my girlfriend and everyone will be jealous and then think I'm the man for dating an older woman," he grinned devilishly. "Plus, then all the girls will think you're dating me and then they'll be jealous- basically it's a win-win situation," he shrugged causally. Reese laughed at Davey, pushing his chest lightly as she finally let him go.

"You better leave before you dig yourself a bigger hole David," she stated with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Whatever you say my love," he said in an Old English accent, grabbing her hand and placing a kiss on it. Reese giggled and squirmed away, stealing on last hug before she watched him walk down his driveway and into his father's car. He waved as they drove away and Reese watched the car until it disappeared around the corner.

"Are you really gonna miss him that much?"

Reese jumped up and slammed her back against a wall, hitting a framed picture and almost making it fall off the wall. She clutched her chest and opened her eyes only to see Jonathan looking at her like she was on the brink on insanity.

"You scared the shit outta me," she justified her actions, taking a deep breath before fixing the picture.

"Sorry," he chuckled lightly.

"It's okay," Reese nodded.

"So I was thinking," Jonathan said, his gaze cast to the ground as he kicked around a puck that was lying on the floor. "Do you wanna do that lunch thing over?"

About a half hour later Jonathan and Reese sat in the same booth they had yesterday. The hostess eyed them both skeptically as she seated them, but Jonathan and Reese pretended not to notice.

"So," Jonathan stated awkwardly after they had ordered their lunches. He rubbed the back of his neck and as hundreds of words bounced around in his head, none seeming to form the correct sentence. "Do you want to...talk?"

Reese smiled at how hard he was trying to be supportive. She knew how awkward he was with his feelings, especially after yesterday. But he had always been like that, even when they were kids. She did appreciate his effort though. She knew he wanted to help, but he just didn't know how to help.

"Do you want me to talk?" Reese asked him, folding her hands on the top of the table. Jon looked at her skeptically.

"Is this a trap?" He asked seriously, making Reese laugh loudly.

"No," she shook her head. "Not at all. I just...I don't want to tell you how I feel if you don't want to listen. And I understand if you don't. I know you're going through a lot and I'm sure the last thing you want to hear is about how horrible my life is."

"No, no- I wanna hear. And maybe, I could, I dunno. Maybe I could tell you what happened with me too," he stuttered through his sentence clumsily. Reese's smile grew to twice the size it was before. She was so happy he was willing to listen, even happier he was willing to talk. She now realized what Mrs. Toews meant when she said they could use each other.

"Really?" She asked hopefully.

"Really," he said with a short nod.

"Well where should I start?" She asked with a laugh.

"From the beginning- that'd be nice."

And so she did; Reese told Jonathan everything. She told him about how they had meant, how their relationship was a whirlwind romance, how well he treated her, how he proposed, how she never expected to find him cheating. She spilled her heart out to her old friend, and he sat there and listened to every word she said.

"I honestly never thought I'd be that girl. I thought I was smart enough to know when bad things were gonna happen. I never thought I'd be cheated on, at least by him. I was stupid," she shrugged.

"Love will do that- make you stupid I mean," Jonathan said. Reese smiled a bit. "Why are you smiling?" He asked.

"You were very philosophical right there Jonny," she said. "Thank you."

“No problem,” he said, taking a short sip of his water. “What’re you gonna do now?”

“Honestly, I have no idea. I’m pretty fucked I guess. I mean, I dropped out of school. I don’t have a job, and I don’t have a place to stay. I don’t want to go back and face him, but I don’t want to leave a city I love just because I might run into him.”

“Well,” Jonathan began. “You can always stay with me until you find somewhere to live.”

Reese looked at Jonathan blankly- she didn’t know what to say. She wasn’t sure what it would be like to live with someone besides her ex. And she really wasn’t sure what it would be like to live with Jonathan.

“Did you think this through?” Reese asked him.

“Kinda,” he shrugged. “I thought about it when my mom said it. And then after you said you didn’t know what you were gonna do I thought about it a little more. I mean, you don’t have to answer me now. And you don’t have to say yes either, but at least know that my place is always open.”

“That’s really sweet of you Jonny,” she smiled widely.

“It’s no problem,” he said, glancing down at his plate and pushing around a few French fries.

“So are you gonna tell me what happened with you now?” Reese asked, trying not to pry into his life but also wanting to know what happened to make him seem so broken.

“That’s a story for another day,” Jonathan laughed lightly.