RECAP:

finn met jack's eyes and smiled. "last one to the roof is a rotten egg?"

jack and finn immediately started racing down the hallway, jack not even taking notice of his two best friends, who were awkwardly looking at each other.

jack wasn't aware of what had happened between the two just hours before.

but that didn't matter to jack at the moment. didn't cross his mind. he felt 12 years old again; racing down the hallway with his best friend.

he had missed this.

☆゜*・:+* 。 *゜☆

𝐒

☆゜*・:+* 。 *゜☆

when you don't see someone for a long time, you suddenly notice every little thing that has changed about them.

at least, that's what it seemed like to jack.

finn was sitting across from him; sophia, chosen, jaeden, wyatt and jeremy were all scattered about too. when finn, jack, jaeden and wyatt had gotten to the roof, jeremy was already there. chosen and sophia reached them a little after. once they were done admiring the view of the city, they all settled down to watch the city of toronto slowly wake up. it was truly a beautiful thing.

jack had his elbows set on his lap, his head resting in hands. he was sitting on a blue plastic chair, lazily bouncing his leg up and down, barely listening to the others conversations.

the finn sitting in front of him, jack realized, is so much different than the finn jack knew all those months ago.

his hair is short. that doesn't mean his curls are less wild; in fact, jack is almost certain his curls are more wild than before. jack has vivid memories of teasing the other boy for his unruly locks, only for finn to simply give the shorter boy a cheeky smile and laugh. "look who's talking!" finn would say. jack remembers having to look up at him, and standing on his tip toes to try to mess his hair up even more.

speaking of, finn is tall. not that it's a secret. he always has been. jack wonders if he still has to jump up to reach finn's height, or stand on a tall rock or anything at least a foot tall in order to jump on the other boys back to receive a piggy back ride.

jack realizes he could go on for hours, reminiscing and comparing. finn's freckles are more faint. his fingernails now adorn black nail polish. his smile is straighter, his teeth whiter. he doesn't reach for jack's hand when he's nervous or anxious or just needs to fidget with something; he plays with his fingers instead.

jack realizes though, out of all the things that have changed between the two, a couple prominent things remain the same. jack's heart still races when finn even so much as glances his way. when their eyes meet, jack feels that overwhelming sense of nervousness, yet excitement, as if someone lit a fire right in his stomach and that warm flame keeps growing, and growing and growing until it's almost impossible to put it out. the only thing that has really changed between them, jack thinks to himself, is their age. growing up. that has gotten in the way.

"jack! are you ready to move in today, i said." sophia laughs, nudging jack suddenly. everyone else laughed, including finn. jack felt his cheeks heat up.

"oh, the apartment? yeah." jack shook his head up and down slowly. the others just nodded and went back to their conversation, going back to ignoring jack. which, was fine. jack was in his head anyways.

it was weird how they were seemingly getting along just fine again. jack thought they would feel at least a little out of place. but everyone seemed to find their place in the group again, and it was working out. sure, there were some awkward silences, but they were soon filled by stupid jokes or past recollections.

jack went to check the time on his phone before realizing he had left it behind, in his hotel room. he groaned and looked over at jeremy, getting up and grabbing his wrist. it was 8:29am.

"do you wanna get breakfast?" chosen asked, almost on cue. jack shrugged and shook his head, yawning.

"i didn't get much sleep last night, and i'm still jet lagged. i think i'm gonna head to my room to nap for a bit."

everyone nodded, but finn jumped up, walking a bit closer to jack. "i'm gonna do the same. these time zone changes are a pain in the ass." finn said, looking intently at jack. jack broke the eye contact almost as soon as it happened.

the others chirped their approval and finn and jack found their way down from the roof, walking the hotel halls again. finn said his room was just a couple doors down from jack's, and jack simply nodded. the silence was there; but it wasn't uncomfortable.

finn stopped in front of jack's room, looking at him for a moment. jack stopped in front of the door, resting his hand on the door handle.

"what were you and wyatt really doing?" jack asked, in a hushed tone, almost as if he was afraid he would wake the entire hotel from just a few words. finn smiled slightly and shook his head.

"nothing important."

jack knew finn was lying.

when they had first started filming IT, they had to do exercises to get to know each other better. one of the exercises was two truths, one lie.

the point of the game was for one person A to tell person B three things (two truths, and one lie,) about themselves, and person B would have to figure out what person A was lying about.

jack had played this game with each other the losers. and he had lost every time.

except when he played with finn.

when finn lied, he would always look up at jack's forehead, or at his lips, then back into his eyes. on top of that, he would sometimes tap his fingers on the side of his leg.

jack hadn't been able to pick out intricate details like that when he was playing with the other losers. with finn, he knew right away.

"you're lying."

"no, i'm not."

finn looked at his lips then back into his eyes.

"finn, i know you are. quit lying and saying you're not lying when you obviously are." jack said, sounding more frustrated then he intended, looking up at the boy.

"something happened between jaeden and wyatt."

"what?"

"look, i don't know. but he came to my room a couple minutes before you texted the group chat, completely freaked out. he started talking to me about jaeden, but i couldn't make sense of what he was saying. then you texted, and he used that as an excuse to leave."

finn was looking into jack's eyes, his hands remaining by his side, not moving at all. jack smiled for a moment before crossing his arms.

"i can talk to wyatt, see if i can figure anything out?"

finn nodded. "sounds good. i'll try to talk to jaeden."

the boys stood there for a moment, before jack uncrossed his arms, and cleared his throat.

"see you in a few."

"get a good couple hours rest before we move." finn teased.

jack grinned and turned around as finn did, and tried the hotel door.

and like the absolute idiot he was, he realized it was locked. he forgot his room key inside.

jack groaned, and turned down the hall. "finn!" he called. finn stopped in his tracks, turning to look at the boy. he was only a couple feet away.

"i-i don't have my room key." jack said nervously.

finn gave him a small smile. "come on, then. you can crash with me for a couple hours." he turned on his heel and jack quickly ran beside him, catching up to him.

finn was smart, and actually had his room key. he swiped his card through and opened the door, letting jack in first, using that typical "ladies first" joke all teenage boys thought was funny when it came to it. jack still laughed, though.

"quiet," finn put a finger to his mouth, as if to shush him. "my mom is still sleeping."

finn motioned for jack to follow him and led him through a little living area and kitchen, before reaching the bedroom. two queen size beds were inside, and finn's mom was sleeping on one.

finn grabbed jack's wrist and pulled him forward to the bed next to the window. jack crawled into the bed, a sudden tiredness coming over him. finn put the blankets over top of jack, almost tucking him in, and then slid in next to him, taking his shirt off for comfort.

jack laid on his side, his eyes starting to close. he watched finn get comfortable in the bed then turn to face him.

jack's last thought before finally drifting off to sleep was how pretty finn was.

finn stayed up a bit longer, not being able to fall asleep as easily as the younger boy. jack's eyelashes were long, his hair a mess, and he snored lightly, his breath tickling finn's lips.

finn's last thought before finally drifting off to sleep was how much he wanted to kiss the other boy again.

☆゜*・:+* 。 *゜☆

☆゜*・:+* 。 *゜☆

OKAY that was a ridiculously long chapter and just a lot of fluff, and super unedited, so i'm REALLY sorry about that. but i've been trying to update a bit more, so!!!