Sage stood in front of the mirror a towel wrapped around her head as she applied some lotion. The weekend morning had been unusually quiet—Jaxon hadn't annoyed her yet for some days now. Maybe he was finally understanding boundaries, or maybe he was just tired of pushing her buttons. Either way, things had been calmer lately. They'd even joked around.
She sighed, threw on a pair of jeans and a loose shirt, grabbed her purse, and headed toward the front door. Jaxon was lying on the couch, his laptop propped on his lap. The room was quiet except for the faint buzz of his movie's background noise, which he quickly paused the moment she walked past him.
"Where to?" he asked, twisting slightly to look at her. He looked bored.
She raised an eyebrow. "I need to get some supplies."
He sat up, closing his laptop. "I'll come with you."
Before she could answer, he was already on his feet, darting toward his room like a kid being told they were going to Disneyland. She blinked, amused but also too lazy to argue. Moments later, he emerged with his hoodie thrown halfway over his head.
"Ready," he said, grinning.
They locked up the apartment and walked the short distance to the bus stop. The late morning sun was mild, a lazy warmth casting soft shadows around them. They sat next to each other at the stop.
The bus arrived and they climbed in, sitting beside each other toward the back. It wasn't too crowded, so they had enough space to stretch a bit.
Jaxon leaned back in his seat, tapping his fingers on his knee. "So, serious question."
"Go on."she said.
"If aliens attacked Earth and we could only bring one food to the safe zones, what would it be?"
Sage looked at him like he had grown another head. "That's your serious question?"
"Deadly serious."
She smirked. "Pizza, it's obvious''
"Wrong. The answer is popcorn."
"Seriously, you would choose popcorn over pizza."she rolled her eyes.
"Pizza is overrated, popcorn can go days without spoiling"he said looking very serious and she could not help with the smugness on his face.
They both burst out laughing, drawing a glance from a middle-aged woman nearby. Sage covered her mouth to stifle more laughter while Jaxon just beamed, proud of his ridiculous logic.
The ride passed quickly with them tossing nonsensical hypotheticals back and forth, laughing more than either of them expected to. When they finally reached the shopping center, the sun was higher.
Sage grabbed a cart, pushing it forward as she started on her list. Jaxon walked beside her his hands in his pockets.
"Okay, since you're here, you're helping," she said, her voice playful.
"Fair enough," he shrugged.
They picked up fruits and vegetables first, then cereal, rice, and other essentials. As they reached the hygiene aisle, Sage stopped abruptly.
"You know what?" she said with mock seriousness. "I need tampons. Go get them for me."
Jaxon froze.
His expression was plastered with something close to horror. "Uh… that's dangerous territory."
She crossed her arms her lips twitching. "So inshort, you are not helping at all?"she feign anger.
He looked around dramatically, then leaned in and whispered "What size?"
She burst out laughing, holding onto the cart to steady herself. "Just get the ones in the pink box, genius."
He gave a mock salute and walked toward the aisle, muttering, "This is how legends are made."
She watched him struggle for a full minute before taking pity and joining him, still laughing. Together, they grabbed what she needed and moved on.
Once their cart was full, they queued at the register, paid, and lugged their bags back to the bus stop. The trip back was quiet, every now and then, Sage would glance at him, and he'd be staring off into space.
When they arrived, Jaxon offered to help arranging things. Sage took the dairy products; Jaxon handled the snacks. But as they worked, the space shrunk around them.
She bent down to grab yogurt just as he leaned in to place a bottle of juice. Their heads bumped.
"Ow—Jaxon!"
"Sorry!"he said awkwardly rubbing where her head had bump his
They both paused, standing a little too close their eyes locking for just a moment longer than necessary.
He cleared his throat, stepping back. "You have a hard head."
"Yours is a rock."she replied.
He smiled faintly and she tried not to.
They continued, bumping into each other again when reaching for the freezer door. More awkwardness followed.
By the time everything was in its place, Sage was flushed.
Jaxon, to his credit, didn't push anything. Instead, he picked up a bag of popcorn from one of the grocery bags and held it up. "Movie night?"
She blinked. "Now?"
"Later. You will pick the movie."
She shrugged. "Maybe."
Sage lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling. The silence was too much, and her mind kept returning to the moments in the kitchen—the bump and the stares.
She rolled her eyes at herself, stood up, and walked out to the living room. Jaxon was on the couch, a bowl of popcorn on the table and his laptop already on, paused on the movie's intro screen.
"Couldn't wait, huh?"
He grinned. "I was hoping you'd join I didn't want to jinx it."
She sat beside him, pulling her legs onto the couch. "What are we watching?"
"Some action-comedy thing."
She nodded and reached for the popcorn. The lights were off and only the glow from the screen illuminated their faces. The movie started. They watched in silence, occasionally laughing at the dumb jokes or trading glances during absurd scenes.
About halfway through, Sage shifted, leaning slightly toward him. He didn't move away. She blinked more slowly, her body relaxing. The day had been unexpectedly pleasant, and the couch was too soft. The movie's sounds began to blur.
Without realizing it, she leaned against his shoulder, her head settling there, the rhythm of his breathing steady beneath her ear. He tensed slightly at first but then relaxed, letting her rest.