RECAP:

"we can't tell anybody, finn."

"i know."

jack almost felt an achy feeling as he looked at finn. he wanted to tell the entire world he had kissed finn wolfhard again. he had kissed finn wolfhard again! and god, he liked it. he loved it.

but he knew that he wouldn't be able to tell people. he wouldn't be able to tell anyone; not even his friends.

as jack and finn rejoined their friends, finn was still on his mind. he didn't want to hide anymore. but he had no choice.

he wasn't sure of his sexuality, he wasn't sure of his feelings. all he knew was that he loved finn, and he would do anything to keep him safe and happy.

which included not telling anybody about his... romantic interactions with finn until he was sure what they meant.

if they even meant anything.

☆゜*・:+* 。 *゜☆

☆゜*・:+* 。 *゜☆

jack woke up before anyone else did the next morning, or at least he thought he did. maybe the others were awake and he just couldn't hear them. he had actually slept in his room last night, with finn. they had fallen asleep with their legs intertwined, blanket between them. they had woken up the same way; finn breathing somewhat heavily, light softly coming in through the window. jack felt warm all over. he felt safe. he didn't quite want to get up. he felt he could stay there with finn forever, gently admiring his features. he almost wanted to kiss him again.

he still couldn't believe they had kissed last night.

the first time jack had kissed finn, was when he was only 14 years old.

he still remembered it vividly. he couldn't seem to forget about it, even if he wanted

"to!" chosen grinned, teasing jack, lightly poking his side. jack just rolled his eyes, scrolling through his phone messages.

"it's not my fault wyatt is a grammar nazi!" jack huffed, causing sophia to giggle.

finn, jack, chosen, sophia, wyatt, jeremy, and jaeden had been messing around all night; they often made stupid skits with each other. it was the first time they had all been together in a while, let alone staying in the same hotel. they were only together to do press the next day at san diego comic con. IT chapter one hadn't come out yet (it was only july; two more months) but the press was already starting up.

it was probably 2am before the group of seven finally settled down and realized that they had press the next day; they should probably get to sleep already. so, in turn, they all got ready for bed. jack and finn shared a bed, jaeden and wyatt crashed on the floor, sophia took the couch and jeremy and chosen took the other bed.

they stayed up for a little while, just talking to each other about everything they had missed while they were apart, and just discussing how excited they were for tomorrow. eventually, everyone seemed to drift off.

except for jack.

not even for a specific reason; he just didn't fall asleep easily in new places, especially without his mama roo. as he got thinking about how new this hotel room was, it made him worried for all the new things he would have to encounter as he got older, all the new situations he would be put into. he couldn't turn his brain off. he tossed and turned, probably annoying the shit out of finn for half an hour, before finn finally spoke up, causing jack to jump.

"what's wrong?"

"nothing." jack said, turning on his side and trying to make out finn in the darkness. he had no luck; he just stared blindly at what he assumed was finn.

the taller sleep deprived boy turned on the small light on the hotel bed that was typically used for reading, causing jack to flinch slightly then smile as he finally could make out finn's features.

"your dark circles are off the charts, mr. wolfhard." jack teased and settled back into the bed, pulling the covers up to his chin again, turned onto his side.

"i wonder why. somebody's been keeping me up." finn replied, his goofy grin almost an exact replica of jack's.

"i can't sleep."

"i can tell. nervous for tomorrow?"

jack shook his head no, taking a deep breath and turning back onto his back, propping himself up on his elbows and facing finn again.

"sometimes i just wish i could tell the future."

finn almost looked surprised, his eyebrows furrowing, but he relaxed after a moment.

"i can tell the future."

jack started to laugh, raising his hand up and going to fluff finn's hair, starting to tell him to stop the teasing. but finn grabbed jack's wrist and gave him a reassuring smile, sitting up more and looking at his hand, lightly tracing the lines on jack's palms.

jack took it upon himself to sit up as well, looking at finn curiously.

"you're reading my palms?" jack asked, clearly amused. finn almost smirked, looking pretty pleased with himself.

"okay," jack brought his voice down to a whisper. "then what's my future?"

there was silence for a moment, which was unusual for finn. he always seemed to know the right thing to say to jack, but in this case, he just stayed quiet, lightly biting his lip.

"finn?"

they were so close together at this point.

finn stopped tracing jack's palms and looked up at him, seemingly not even thinking as he passionately kissed jack, causing jack to lean back more and lean on his hands, feeling his heart almost burst with joy as finn placed his hands on jack's knees.

the kiss lasted for probably ten seconds, but it wasn't long enough for jack. he wanted it to last a lifetime, not just a few lousy seconds.

as finn pulled away, jack just wanted to pull him closer to him and kiss his soft yet also chapped lips over and over. but that obviously wouldn't work, and it wasn't appropriate.

jack simply reached over finn, almost falling on top of him and shut off the reading light, going back into his spot, catching his breath. he heard finn move the blankets a bit and get comfy again. he seemed to be breathing heavily as well.

the two boys didn't say anything; just shared the silence, probably the same thoughts running through their minds. thoughts that had been stored away in the most private places in their brains, but were now free.

finn didn't answer me, jack realized. he didn't answer me when i asked him about my future.

but finn did answer him.

and jack knew that, at the back of his mind. he just couldn't seem to process it yet.

jack's future, jack realized, was

"finn!"

jack jumped as he heard a knock at the door, and stifled a laugh as finn jumped up, opening the door to reveal sophia and jaeden. sophia looked surprised when she saw jack in the room as well, (she probably assumed they weren't going to stay in the room together,) but looked pleased, nonetheless.

"cmon, you two. we're gonna go out for breakfast, then it's our first day of WORK. we get to explore some sets and shit, and do excruciatingly painful acting exercises." sophia clapped her hands, pushing herself past finn and sitting down on the bed next to jack. jaeden came in as well, and finn simply rolled his eyes and smiled.

"what is this? family meeting?" finn questioned.

"no," sophia shrugged. "just wondering how you guys have been."

"absolutely great. you?" jack spoke up.

sophia looked at jack, her eyes almost glowing.

she must know, jack realized.

"oh, i'm good!"

"yeah, amazing." jaeden spoke up, smiling. "my lips are kinda chapped though."

jack watched as sophia shot jaeden a look, holding back laughter.

"what, it's true! and it's spitting rain. is that the word? spitting? spitty? saliva?"

"it's not raining." finn said, unamused.

"oh, it's not? god, you're so right finn. i'm sorry. anyways, did you guys try tongue last night?"

jack coughed, obviously not expecting that. he let out a quiet "what?" and looked at jaeden.

"early yesterday morning, before jack was here and finn has woken up, andy brought around food from this restaurant that only makes brazilian food. they had beef tongue; andy thought it would be funny to make us eat some. we decided to try some during supper, but you guys were in the bathroom. you missed it."

"oh," finn said, his face turning a light shade of red. "no, sorry. no tongue. look, we'll be ready soon. let us get changed?"

sophia quickly jumped up, grabbing jaeden's wrist and pulling him out of the room, erupting into the laughter she was holding in as she got into the hall. finn quickly shut the door behind them, giving jack a look.

jack started giggling.

☆゜*・:+* 。 *゜☆

☆゜*・:+* 。 *゜☆

that was an ugly filler chapter, but i just want to slowly fit some of the pieces together in this fack puzzle; give them some more backstory i've had planned. i know where i'm going with this story (i usually neveR plan out where i'm going with my writing, i just write) but with this story, i somewhat have a plan.

i've been sick the past couple days, and i took this school day off to rest up before this weekend. i'm walking in the pride parade in my town with my friends on sunday, and i'm super excited! it's going to be amazing. i'm not sure if i'll update again this weekend; i'll be with my friends tomorrow and sunday. but, who knows?

thanks for reading!

- courtney