Dark Blue (One-Shot)

“No, Jude, I am not going to dance with you,” I laughed, dragging my feet as he pulled me closer.

I was over at his house for what was supposed to be a study session. Of course, Jude was being Jude and put on some music. Heaven forbid he stay still, especially when music was playing.

“Yes you are, Lacie,” he argued, finally pulling me in a close enough proximity to dance together.

“It’s not even a slow song!” I retorted. Just then, the song changed.

“It’s fate!” he exclaimed, beginning a little box step.

I sighed and complied with his wishes, dancing along. Soon enough, the butterflies kicked in. See, Jude and I were just friends. Funny how that always seems to happen.

“Ummm, how’s Katie?” I asked him finally, to get thoughts of us together out of my head.

“I’m giving up. She’s not even worth it. I’ll just have to find someone like you,” he sighed, spinning me around.

I faked a smile. Someone like me. Not me, but someone /like/ me.

“I wish nothing but the best for you two,” I finished the line of the song.

“This is why we’re best friends,” he laughed, letting go of my hand.

“Of course,” I replied, sitting down on the couch next to him as the song changed.

“Are you going to be the stage manager for the play again this year?” he asked me.

“Duh,” I replied, smacking him upside the head.

“Why?” he whined. “When you do that, we don’t get to spend as much time together.”

“Then you should be in the play. Or be assistant stage manager!” I exclaimed.

“I’ll see about assistant stage manager, but I refuse to be in the play,” he said forcefully.

“Alright, hot stuff,” I winked.

“Am I really?” he asked, putting a hand to his forehead as if he was checking to see if he had a fever.

“You’re so weird,” I laughed.

“But I’m your favorite!” he sang.

“I should probably find a new favorite,” I said matter-of-factly.

“Hey!” he exclaimed. I just smiled as the door opened.

“JUDE!” his mom yelled.

“Back door, now,” he whispered to me. “Yes?” he called back to his mom.

“Call me if you need anything, alright?” I told him as his mother continued to yell at him.

He nodded as I made my way to the back door of his house. I sighed as I walked down the street to my house. I hated how his mom treated him. She was crazy. She’d never hit him, but she made sure that he knew how worthless she thought he was. It sickened me, but he would never let me do anything about it. He just said he’d sit it out. That did nothing to stop scaring me.

---

At one in the morning, after not hearing anything from Jude, I got ready for bed. Right after I changed into my sweatpants and a T-shirt, he appeared on my balcony.

“Jude, are you--” I began, opening the door and letting him in.

“I’m leaving,” he cut me off.

“Leaving?” I asked, shocked.

“This town. I can’t stay here with my mom anymore. I’m 18, I can go legally,” he told me, sitting down on my bed.

“Jude, don’t. You can’t just leave,” I said, sitting next to him. “You can stay here. We only have 5 more months until graduation!”

“I can’t,” he whispered, shaking his head.

“Were will you go?” I asked.

“My cousin lives in Florida. I’ll live there with him. He’s picking me up early tomorrow. Or rather, today,” he replied.

“And where will you go until then?”

“I have to talk to Robert when I leave here...I’ll stay with him,” he answered simply.

“Please don’t do this,” I cried.

Jude smiled sadly. “I’m sorry. I have to.”

Just then, the music I had playing in the background changed to the song we had danced to earlier that day. Jude stood up and took my hand in his, dancing again.

“I’ll stay in touch, you know,” he told me as we danced. I nodded and he continued. “And I’ll try to come back and see the play. And after graduation, you can come visit.”

After our dance, Jude pulled me into a hug. We stayed that way for a while, silently hugging each other.

Finally, I broke the silence. “Jude, I....I love you.”

“I love you, too, Lacie.”

“No, I mean....I mean that I LOVE you, Jude.”

Suddenly, everything stopped. Jude stepped back, studying my face.

“I’m sorry. I guess I shouldn’t have--” I began.

Before I could finish my sentence, he leaned down to kiss me.

“I’m sorry I have to leave,” he said after breaking apart.

“So you’re really going?” I asked, tears springing to my eyes again.

“I have to. But I love you, Lacie. Don’t forget that.”

With that, my best friend left. He left me in the middle of my bedroom, tears steadily falling down my face. He left. Just...left.

*5 months later*

I had to go see Jude for the summer. Sure, we’d been in touch, but talking to Jude, just talking, was not even comparable to being /with/ Jude.

---

“Best friendddd. Are you here yet?” Jude asked.

He had called me when I was a few minutes away from his house. I decided to mess with him a bit.

“Sadly, no. When I started out on the road, I blew a tire and my spare had a leak, so I had to get that fixed and it took /forever,/” I replied, parking next to the curb outside his house.

“What. The. Fuck,” he grumbled.

“I’m sorry. It’s gonna take a little longer,” I told him, stepping up to the house and ringing the doorbell.

“Well, I don’t think that’s okay, because it’s been like, forever--” he was saying when he opened the door. He shut his phone and hugged me. After letting me go, he said, “Fuck you.”

“When and where?” I winked, grabbing some of my bags.

“Here and now.”

I laughed and rolled my eyes as he grabbed the remainder of my bags and led me upstairs. “That’s my room,” he told me, motioning to the first door on the left. “And that’s David’s room,” he pointed directly across the hallway. “And here is your room.” He opened the door right next to his.

“Thanks,” I said, stepping inside and leaving my bags on the ground.

“You’re welcome. Now, come one,” Jude said, dragging me behind him. He walked the short distance to his room before leading me into it.

“We could have stayed in my room, y’know,” I laughed.

“Yes, but it’s so empty and uncomfortable,” he grimaced.

Typical Jude. “So...Anything new?” I asked.

“The fact that I’m a high school graduate is pretty new,” he joked. There was a comfortable silence before he continued. “Has anything...Changed?”

I sighed. I knew this conversation was going to happen, I just thought it’d take longer to get around to it. “No, of course not.”

“You do know what I’m talking about, right?” he asked, an eyebrow raised.

“The night you left. And nothing has changed,” I assured him.

“Something has changed on my end,” he began. My face fell and he continued quickly. “No, no. It’s not bad. Before I left, I wasn’t really sure I was in love with you. But now, there’s no question. I’m in love with you, Lacie,” he finished.

I was speechless, just standing there. Jude stood up and took the two steps towards me before putting his arms around me and his lips to mine. When we broke apart from the kiss, still hugging, I got the chance to look out of the window. The first thing I saw was the dark blue of the sky. From then on, it’s been my favorite color, one to always remind me of my best friend.