Oooh, we’re going for everything I love at once, huh?
I’m so here for bratty young Michael being a complete and utter terror, but I’m even more here for it when you stick him on hallowed ground. And “I just wanna” is ABSOLUTELY a young Michael mentality.
His maker just watches him with a small smile, yet they roll their eyes. They are both amused and Done™ all at once. Jim just finds Everything Michael does to be utterly hysterical.
Those fit them both so well. (If I had to pick one pet name for Jim, it would absolutely be darling) And asdfghjkjhgfdsa they are literally Lost Boys and oh my god, you’ve killed me with this concept.
Hey fam! Just threw together a small little something based on a dream I had last night. Hope you enjoy!
(Pure fluff incoming…)
The phantom sound of waves crashing against the shore was still ringing in your ears as if you hadn’t left the beach at all. You could still feel the sand between your toes, taste the salt on your lips although you had already showered and changed. Absentmindedly, you played with a strand of your hair while you sat cross-legged on the couch, leaning against the soft cushions. In the background, the radio played mellow beats that did nothing to calm your fluttering heartbeat. You waited for him patiently — had waited for so long.
You had liked Jim Mason for longer than you cared to admit and it wasn’t exactly a secret. Jim was well aware that you had nursed your crush on him for a while, but he had never acted on it or shown that he reciprocated any of your feelings. This was the kind of unrequited love people wrote poems and songs about. But you had accepted it, had learned to live with it. After all, it was better to silently want him than to not have him at all; not even as a friend. Maybe his taste was too rich for your tongue anyway.
Jim and Y/N had just come back to shore after spending the better part of the day amongst the waves. They spent most of their time at the beach. It was what brought them together. They had met when Jim saw her in the water, desperately trying to teach herself how to balance on her board. As they walked back up the beach, lugging their boards under their arms, there stood a blonde boy in all black.
Jim rolled his eyes as soon as he saw him.
“Oh my god,” Y/N looked from the blonde to the brunette beside her, “Is that him?” She raised her hand to shield her eyes from the sun.
Jim nodded reluctantly, “He wasn’t supposed to be home for another few days. Dumbass in all black in the middle of the summer,”
“Be nice,” she laughed, bumping her shoulder against him, “That’s your brother,”
As they approached him, Jim stuck his surfboard in the sand to hug his brother. They were identical physically in almost every way. What made the blonde different wasn’t just his hair color but the way he stood straight, confident, and somehow wise beyond his years.
“Michael, you remember Y/N ,” Jim motioned to her, “Y/N, you remember my brother,”
She had been hanging around the group more and more. Jim wasn’t sure who brought her in but he knew it made no sense. She was the same year as them, same age but she was more. She was smarter and she knew better. What confused him the most was his need to be physically near her and the fact that she seemed to enjoy him around her.
As the group sat around the fire the boys had made, Y/N had sat on a blanket, her sun-kissed legs spread out in front of her and Jim’s blue jacket on her shoulders. The nights could get a bit nippy near the water. When Jim turned to look for it, a bit chilly himself, he couldn’t help but smile when he saw who had made use of it.
He sat next to her, making sure not to bring too much sand onto the blanket, “Cold?”
“A bit,” she nodded, “I hope you don’t mind. Are you cold?” She began to take the jacket off but he held his hand up.
“It’s fine. I’m fine,” he smiled as she thanked him. Y/N looked across from where his sister, Medina, sat watching. She couldn’t make out his sister. She seemed perpetually upset or uninterested. She hoped anything negative wasn’t due to her or her presence around Jim.
Y/N was pulled from her thoughts when she felt something against her hand. She had been sitting while leaning back on her hands behind her. Jim had sat the same way. When she looked behind her, she was aware of his pinky on hers. She looked up at him though he would not meet her eyes.
As the night went on and she began to get colder, she dug her hands deep into the pockets of his jacket. It was only then she felt the small bag inside. Taking it out, she saw the baggie of pills and quickly stuffed them back into his pocket. When the group began to get a bit more rowdy, specifically the idiot boys like Chad, Y/N took a play from Medina’s book, who had already went home, and stood up.
She turned back to Jim, pulling the jacket tighter around her, “Do you want to walk with me?”
He nodded enthusiastically, maybe a bit too much and internally chastised himself for not playing it cooler. He stood carefully, making sure not to spill his beer as he did and followed Y/N further down by the water.
“Can I ask you something?” She said after a few minutes of walking in silence. The only sound up until that point was the waves and the sloshing of Jim’s beer bottle.
“I guess,” he said, taking a swig of his drink.
She paused for a moment, thinking of how to ask, “Well, actually I’d like to tell you something first,” she stopped walking and moved to stand in front of him. His face turned to a mix of concern and intrigue, “My parents are divorced. My dad cheated…and then cheated again,” Jim raised his bottle, seemingly cheering to their shared tragic family life, “but it doesn’t have to-…We don’t have to be so broken,” she said plainly.
“What do you mean?” He asked, his voice sounding more vulnerable. It was a tone she had never heard.
She looked out into the water, digging her hands into the pockets of the jacket, “I’m just saying maybe you talk about things. Keeping it bottled…self-medicating,” she nodded her head to his beer, “Those are temporary fixes. The most temporary,” She pulled the bag from the jacket pocket and held it in her palm.
He gave a weak chuckle, “Y/N, that’s just…you know…we do it but it’s not like-”
“Jim, I really like you. You’re sweet,” he smiled but looked away when she said it, “This shit isn’t helping you. You think it is because it numbs you. But sometimes we gotta feel it. And it sucks but we have to do it so we can heal correctly. Does that make sense?”
He nodded, “But you don’t know what it’s like” he voice raised slightly and his face turned to a grimace.
“Maybe I don’t. Maybe one day you’ll tell me what it’s like?” Her voice was soft and comforting as she stepped closer.
“You should go while you still can,” his voice dropped and he used his free hand to stroke her cheek.
She leaned into his touch, “There is nothing that is broken that cannot be fixed,” she moved his hand from her face, putting the pills in his hand.
He looked down at them, rolling them around with his thumb before he looked up at her hopeful face. It was the same look Medina had given him when she first saw him take them. That look of tragic disappointment. He hated the feeling it gave him to see it. He walked closer to the water, silent as he did, and tossed the bag as far as he could.
When he turned back to Y/N, her arm was outstretched to him, her hand open to him. He took it in his as he rejoined her and they continued their walk. Their lives weren’t very different, they soon learned. Sandy was fucked up in a different way than Y/N’s mother though their fathers seemed to be cut from the same cloth. Jim examined her face as she talked. How animated her eyes were, how wide her smile was when he was privileged enough to see it, how warm and open she was with him, how honest. He thought maybe there was a way back from this. If she could talk him through it, if he could let Medina in on it, there might just be a way through it all.
When they walked back to the group to get their things, Chad tossed another can of beer at Jim.
“I’m good. We’re gonna get out of here,” he said as he tossed it back.
Chad gave him an exaggerated wink, “I see you,”
Jim gave a forced smile, “I’m not sure you do,” He turned back to Y/N who had the folded blanket in her hand, “Ready?”
They walked back to her car, ignoring the catcalls and whistles of the group they were leaving. Jim only squeezed her hand gently and smiled at her when she looked at him.
They drove around a bit, talking about surfing and music and school. When his eyes began to feel heavy, she reached over and brushed his hair back, “Ready to go home, Jimmy?”
He smiled at both the nickname and her tenderness, “Not yet,” He looked over to her and thought about what Medina had said about tribes. And maybe, just maybe, she was meant to be in their Tribe too.
“He’s beautiful, isn’t he? Looks like his daddy” She spoke, leaning her head on Jim’s shoulder as he cradled their newborn son. He had only been in the world a few hours but Jim was obsessed.
Jim nodded, running a finger gently over the baby’s cheek as he slept, held tightly to his father’s chest, “He’s so small. So helpless,”
Y/N turned her gaze to Jim, knowing full well he was holding back tears as his voice thickened, “You’re here with him. With me. Just breathe,” she kissed his temple.
“I could’ve missed out on so much, ya know?” He said as she thumbed away his tears. She smiled sympathetically, nodding as she leaned her head back against him.
“But you’re here and we have this beautiful boy as proof of how far you’ve come,” she said softly.
This was the third night in a row she had to rouse him from his sleep. He was whimpering as he tossed and turned. It sounded like he was in pain. Like the nights before, he woke up in a cold sweat, cheeks wet from tears.
She opened her arms to him, not saying a word. He laid against her chest, putting an arm around her waist to pull her as close as possible. He couldn’t have her close enough when he felt this way. She rubbed his arm and laced the other hand in his hair in an effort to soothe him.
“Do you want to tell me?” She spoke softly. She felt him shake his head and let the silence take over once more as she ran her fingers softly up and down his arm, “You’re going to have to talk about it at some point. It doesn’t have to be to me. You just have to talk about it,”
“I know,” he sniffled, “just not tonight. Tonight, this is enough,”
“I love you, Jimmy. You’re safe with me,” she whispered into his hair and he held her tighter.
She spent most of the party avoiding him. She couldn’t say how long she had been dodging him but the sun was still high in the sky when they got there and it was now setting over the horizon. She knew exactly what he had his heart set on and she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction. She was obsessively looking over her shoulder for any sign of him. He finally got her when she let her guard down to pour a drink.
Grabbing her around the waist, he lifted her off her feet, quickly making a beeline for the pool.
“Jim Mason, do not do it!” She squealed.
Laughing, he said, “I waited all day for this,” He tossed her in the pool before jumping in after. When she surfaced, she pushed the wet hair from her face, splashing at her boyfriend, “I had to do it!”
“You’re so annoying. Are you satisfied?” She asked, swimming over to him and wrapping her legs around his waist.
He looked up as if he was contemplating the meaning of life, “Yes. I’m satisfied,” he held her, cupping her ass as he drifted them towards an unoccupied corner of the pool. She could feel the pool jet behind her and arched her back when it first hit her. Jim raised his eyebrow, “Like that feeling?”
“Don’t start with me,” she said as she gave him a stern look.
Removing her legs from his waist, he turned her in the water so the jet was now hitting her between her thighs. She gasped before turning back to face him.
“There are people here,” she scolded him.
He looked at the only other couple outside with them. They seemed just as much in their own bubble as she and Jim were. Everyone else had wandered inside.
“I don’t think they care…or even notice,” he said in her ear as his hand dipped inside her bikini bottoms.
“Jim, be good-” her breath hitched in her throat as he slipped a finger into her, curling it as he moved inside her.
“Is this good?” He asked as he licked his lips, watching her mouth open slightly, struggling to fight back the moans that threatened her.
Toad's Cave 