Chapter 30 No Running #3
“Efficiency, surely.” Jack stepped out of Gareth’s hold and went to dress—and Gareth let him go.
By the time he heard Jack’s slippers scuffling the tiles, Gareth had a massive bowl of pancake batter ready and two pans heating on the stove.
Whatever their individual comfort food preferences, pancakes and pizza were their family treats.
He remembered epic pancake feasts when nightmares had kept Nico and Daniel awake or when the four of them had wanted to cement their bond.
It was only fitting to have this morning’s discussion over pancakes, too.
Gareth wasn’t the only one with a good memory, either.
“Why are you cooking a pancake feast?” Nico queried as soon as he stepped into the kitchen.
Gareth bit back a sigh. Of course, Nico wouldn’t just sit down and eat. “Because we need to ask you something, and I thought doing it over food was easiest.”
“You said that the last time.” He didn’t specify which ‘last time’ he referred to.
“I’ll say it every time, Nico. I can’t think of a problem that can’t be discussed over food. So… are you eating with us?”
“Of course I’m eating with you. Would I turn down pancakes?” He settled in his usual seat, lifted the first pancake off the stack onto his plate, and reached for the chocolate spread.
Daniel wasn’t noticeably slower, though he covered his pancake in a thick layer of fruit compote and heaped cream on top. “Go ahead and ask,” he said once he’d taken his first bite. “What’s the problem?”
“This house,” Gareth said, wanting to spare Jack. “We’re wondering if you’re still feeling safe here, or whether we should move.”
“You’re joking, right? You fell in love with this house, and Jack didn’t mind buying it, despite being held hostage there.”
“That’s true, but Daniel… You’re not Jack, and you’re not me. If you don’t feel safe here, we’re moving—never mind how much we love this kitchen and what plans we have.”
“Is that because we went to Aidan the day after the attack?” Nico doctored another pancake. “If it is… tell him, Daniel!”
Daniel’s gaze moved between them. “We were afraid when Pavel broke in. But we had a way out, and we had backup. We helped.”
“You did, but—”
“No. Let me finish. We helped. We agreed to give statements, told you what Pavel said, connected Pavel and Manville. And we only went to Aidan because you two needed a space to talk. This is your home, too, and someone attacked it. You couldn’t deal with that while you were worrying about my bloody nightmares or Nico being hyper. ”
Gareth stared at the two boys, aware that Jack had gone still beside him. “You went to Aidan because you were giving us space?”
Daniel shrugged. “For the most part. Do you have any idea how scary you two are when you go after the same problem and don’t talk? Like a pair of rival missiles.”
“We decided to get out of your hair, so you could yell if you wanted.” Nico took a break from breakfast. “Back when you got us from Goran, we couldn’t have done that. Any of it. You taught us we were strong, that we had choices, that none of what had happened was our fault.”
“We’re still scared,” Daniel said, voice lower now. “I still have nightmares. But we’re stronger now, because we have you. And if we move, then Pavel has won.”
“That… isn’t how this works,” Jack said. “You don’t have to prove anything, Daniel.”
“I didn’t mean that,” Daniel whined. “Where’s Aidan? He’s good at saying what he means. I need him to translate!”
“Want me to call him?”
Daniel pushed his plate aside and thunked his forehead on the table. “No. Don’t do that,” he moaned in theatrical fashion more reminiscent of Nico in a snit. “He’ll make me re-write the same paragraph of gibberish ten times and I can’t bear it.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Because he’s evil?”
“In his defence, it was a challenge,” Nico said. “He told us to try and get ten different meanings from the same sentence. He can do it with his voice, you know? Shift the meaning. It’s cool. Doing it in writing is much harder.”
“Granted. And it has what to do with leaving or staying here?”
“That I didn’t mean to say we have to stay because of Pavel, even if it sounded like it. We stay because this is our home, because we spent a lot of time and effort to make it fit us.”
“We’re making it safe for us, too. If we bought another house, we might not get the chance to have an escape route.”
Gareth couldn’t argue with this logic. “If you’re sure…”
Daniel and Nico shared a look. “We’re sure,” they chorused.
Jack’s shoulders dropped from their tense position and Gareth took his hand. “See? You worried over nothing.”
“You worried about selling the house?”
Jack shrugged. “I like our house. I would hate to have to leave over a stupid mistake.”
“Everyone makes mistakes.”
“Yes. And it’s usually the simple ones that send you flying,” Jack said. “Mrs McTavish couldn’t bear to leave her ring. Manville thought commenting on an online forum gave him anonymity. Pavel Mitrovic thought you were easy marks.”
“And the four of us? What mistake did we make?”
“We started to believe that we’re a normal family, when we know better.”
“Jack…” Gareth’s voice held a warning. “This isn’t your fault, remember?”
“I hear you.” Jack’s smile had rough edges, but it could pass as a smile. “Maybe one day I’ll believe it.”
“When you’ve gone a year without repainting the back hallway,” Nico suggested.
“Or had a night out with Gareth without interrupting a robbery.”
“Or if nobody called you in the middle of the night for a whole six months.”
It was Jack’s turn to hide his face in his hands and Gareth let his good mood have full rein.
Like their friends’ lives, their ‘normal’ lives would come with upheavals, sudden crises, and times when the law needed help.
And they’d tackle them as they came. “So we’re agreed?
” he brought the conversation back on track. “We stay here?”
He got three very serious nods in reply.
“No running, then. Great.”
Thank you so much for reading Jack & Gareth's latest adventure!