Snowflakes drifted by in the light breeze, melting the moment they touched the ground. There were a few pedestrians wandering through the park on the cold Sunday morning. Festive decorations from the main downtown streets had leaked into the park, and a number of trees were strewn with fairy lights and large plastic bulbs in a variety of colors.

The wind kicked up, and Jack attempted to tuck his hair behind his ear before it could blow into his face. He sighed in annoyance when his fingers brushed against his skin. He should get a hat or a beanie. Something nondescript.

A passing woman caught his eye. Her winter coat protected her from the cold, and the fluffy hood protected her from prying eyes. If he got one in his size, then he could escape Candace's criticizing pout and still have a way to hide from the world. For now, he would have to settle on hiding between Candace and Tara as they meandered through the park at a leisurely pace.

"I still wanna check out your ex's shop," Candace mumbled. She tugged on her hair as she glanced at Jack. A half shrug and guilty smile was all she could offer in answer to his frown. "He doesn't know me. I could browse and… Well, I could stay under budget."

"I'm not stopping you," he said with a small huff.

"But it would be rude."

Tara nodded along, humming in agreement.

"And bringing it up isn't?" He couldn't hide his exasperation. He knew she meant well, but he wished she would just go, look, and leave him the hell out of it. And maybe sneak him a pic of Kieran reading. Preferably in front of a fireplace in a castle. He needed to stop looking up romantic photoshoots and watching old vampire movies.

"My stones said now was a good time to broach the subject!" Candace's smile was bright, confident, and had Jack wishing he could accept her optimism without scrutinizing her words.

He looked away with a soft sigh. He didn't trust those rocks and their carved runes, nor did he trust Candace's smile. It might not have been a fresh wound, but it still stung. Like his shoulder. Everything reminded him of vampires, lies, and his inability to cope.

And his habit of running away from difficulties and change. He could always start texting Kieran and ease back into a relationship, but then there would be questions about why he blocked Kieran. Not doing anything was the easiest option. It was easier to suffer in silence than ask for help. He clenched his jaw at the fuzziness, wondering how much of his thoughts were his own.

"We don't have to talk about it if you're not ready," said Candace, her voice soft and full of empathy.

"I dunno… I still like him, I guess. He's nice to look at. To listen to." He shook his head and stared at the ground. He fought against the churning in his stomach and his tightening chest. He wanted more opinions on his decision. To be told he was right or wrong. With how few reasons he gave for liking Kieran, he doubted he was going to be given an excuse to go crawling back. "Fuck, I'm so shallow."

"Sometimes it's just nice to have things or people around us that we like looking at. There's nothing wrong with that. I like looking at my husband," Candace replied, her tone gaining a mystical quality. Her smile turned sharp as she grinned at Jack. "I saw something I wanted, and I went for it."

"He's so pretty. Kieran. Not Sam. Well, Sam's fine. I mean…" There was no fighting the blush. It didn't matter. Candace already knew about the crush. Sam knew about the crush.

And they both knew he was "harmless."

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"I love it when he's scruffy," she continued, blissfully unaware of Jack's discomfort. "I get to drag my nails over his stubble." She lightly ran her gloved fingers over her own cheeks, closing her eyes with a happy grunt. "The best part is he has no clue what he looks like after a double shift."

Tara bumped heavily against Jack, sending him into Candace. "That man is so clueless. He came into the gym once to drop off Jack's mail," she said. "Poor guy looked like a raccoon gave him a makeover, and he pulled it off. Randy was hittin' on him hard. Nothing. Completely unaware. It wasn't until he got Randy's phone number that he realized what was going on. And only because there were fucking hearts in place of the zeros."

"Some men just need to be hit so hard, they get a concussion," Candace said with the air and confidence of a sage.

"And you're a walking two-by-four," Tara added with a laugh.

"Got my man, didn't I? Even got him to propose. And then we adopted!" Candace clasped her hands together with a delighted sigh.

"What? When?!" Jack stared at Candace in shock. She had to be talking about the cats. There was no way either her or Sam wouldn't mention looking at adopting a child.

"She means you," Tara said as she lightly patted Jack's unharmed shoulder.

Flattered or offended. Jack didn't know which way he should lean more.

Candace nodded solemnly. "And we've done such a good job with you, that we may look at adopting an older child. I'm narrowing down an age."

"Old enough to be grateful, but young enough to train?" Tara asked with false sweetness.

"The spaghetti has been favoring six," Candace airily replied.

Jack shot Tara an incredulous stare, thankful that she had her own look of skepticism.

"Right," Tara said with a long and doubtful tone. "Hey, let's drop in on Jack's ex! We can look and not buy. But let's do it five minutes before he closes or just before lunch."

Jack shook his head and kicked at a twig that had fallen to the ground. It didn't go very far, and only served to remind him of his own state of being. "He's closed most Sundays. It's one of those 'open when they feel like it' places."

"We can walk by," she said, easily changing tactics. "Be loud and carefree. Show him what he's missing out on."

"I broke up with him. I think he knows what he's missing out on, and it's not much. Me, on the other hand?" Jack glanced at Tara and Candace, gaging their expressions. Expectant and patient. He was going to have to explain himself if he didn't want to run the risk of being badgered later.

Or getting another unexpected tarot reading.

"He made me coffee while shirtless and got mugs from the top shelf. I know he did it on purpose." He huffed as a spike of fondness pierced him and shook his head free of the thought. "He's good looking, competent, nice, kinda stuck up… I wanna… I see him, and I just wanna be around him. And look like some kinda angry gremlin. Never mind. I don't know what I want."

It was a lie. He wanted the thoughtfulness Kieran had shown. Even if some of it was born from being enthralled. He also wanted that feeling back. Letting go, not caring, being what he thought normal people felt like all the time. He had almost given in and tried to score some ecstasy. He must have given something away, left a tab open on his laptop, something, because Sam had pulled him aside for a preemptive intervention and blamed it on Candace's cards.

Candace reached up and rearranged Jack's fringe.

He raised his eyes and shriveled under her caring gaze.

"Love is confusing," she said softly.

"I'm not in love," he insisted. "I'd say I barely know him, but I know enough. He's a fucking lying asshole. Assholes shouldn't be allowed to be gorgeous! I have a type, and it's pretty liars."

He failed to mention that "vampire" was also on the list. Did it have something to do with him being a supposed beacon? Was he naturally drawn to his personalized predator? Did two even count as having a type?

Tara lightly gasped. "Shit. You're right! Didn't Kyle lie about having that girlfriend?"

Jack kept his expression blank. He didn't remember a Kyle. "Back in high school?" he guessed as his throat began to close up.

"Yeah. He was kinda cute. Too bad about the cheating."

"Yeah. Too bad." Maybe it was better if he couldn't remember.

image [https://i.imgur.com/eZY0YUq.png]