Take Two

Oh boy. This was it, wasn't it? The bit where he put his money where his mouth was. He'd said that they were firmly in a know-all-each-others-terrible-secrets kind of friendship, but he hadn't done anything with it. He hadn't proved it. He'd kept his secrets, just like he always had.

His secrets had cost him a lot.

So he'd invited Rory out of the community center, into the park, and he'd said more or less nothing until he finally sat down.

"Rory," he said, trying to brace himself. "This is going to be one of those things but... alright. I'm going to make you promise not to judge me for it, even though I know you're still going to judge me for it, just so that I can point to your promise and say you promised you wouldn't judge me later."

Okay. Ripping off the bandaid.

"I think I like Broen."

Right out there, and it was obvious how much Jude was cringing. He just looked mortified. Awful. Like he'd just declared that he had terminal cancer. It felt about the same level of awful, as far as he could tell.

She was definitely making it worse. Way worse.

"I was asking because I couldn't tell if you liked him, and if you liked him I would... I don't know. Stop having weird feelings about Broen."

God, why did it have to be Broen. Why not literally anyone else? Literally anyone.

Except maybe Jake. He was right out. How could someone not like books?

"Honestly, I don't care if you kiss him. I mean... I like him, but I'm not delusional. I don't think he's ever going to stop being a flirt who'd have sex with half the island without batting an eye."

"Smart," Jude said. "You forgot that. Broen is like... god, he's scary smart. Like..." He paused for a moment, trying to sort out his feelings enough to be actually coherent. He spared a glance towards the community center, but... really? He didn't think Broen was there. Not really. He didn't have time to spend following them around.

"The things he does with other people's powers are terrifying. And it's not just his powers. He knows how they work, but he's the one who decides how they get used, and he's good at that."

Jude sagged back onto the bench.

"That fucking suit Rory."

"Venting, mostly." No, more like venting, definitely. Because the whole thing was... well, it was awful.

"Is it wrong I kind of just want to say it? So I can just... get rejected and get over it? So I can just move on with a clean break and not have to sit here getting uncomfortable because he has the confidence to proposition people he literally just met but I don't have the spine to even tell him I think he's attractive?"

Only a part of Jude suspected he wouldn't get rejected. And that was the really bad part.