Chapter Text
Slowly she made her way over to the mirror. Thinking only that she looked as rough as she felt. As she begins to methodically pull her mane into a simple french braid she thinks about the last three hours. It had been hard without Jackson here to distract her as she fluttered around the hotel room. She had hoped to spend the time reading, being transported to another time and space. When her mind refused to leave the present, she tried watching tv, when that didn’t cut it she simply sat in silence and let the tears fall. Now she had to walk across the complex to pick Jackson up from Kids Night Out. It’s good that he went, she could recognize that. She feels like she’s failing him so hard right now, a thought which brings fresh tears to her eyes. He needs to get away sometimes and just be a kid, not an six year old fraught with worry for his mom. His life hasn’t been easy. Nope it’s been the opposite of that but they’d been making so much progress before her own life fell apart, and what had become his safe new world - crumbled. She washes her face and puts her glasses on, accepting that nothing could salvage those puffy red eyes. She takes a few deep breaths and walks out the door.
She spends the hundred yard walk telling herself she can do this. One foot in front of the other, smile, find Jackson - sure to be jumping off the walls at this point - get through bedtime. She can do this. She makes it past the concierge desk and heads up the stairs, same odd geometric carpeted stairs in rich colors that she’d walked up so many times before, but everything is different now. One foot in front of the other, smile…
“Nuh uh dude, Batman is way cooler than Spider-Man, he can do everything and anything any superhero can do because he uses his brain and ...”
Omph!
Warm strong hand grab her waist as she starts to lose her balance. When she looks up her eyes lock with eyes that are joyful and carefree, a quick scan of the rest of the face and she’s met with the wonkiest purest smile she thinks she’s ever seen. She can remember being happy, or at least she can remember a time when there was the absence of despair. She’s confident however, that she has never radiated that kind of pure happiness before. Speechless and paralyzed, her legs seemingly forget their purpose. Now this, this is actually not surprising - sure she could blame it on her circumstances or on the fact that those hands, still on her waist, warm her previously numbed soul; but the truth is she almost laughs, that she is just so damn awkward it hurts sometimes. And apparently, and well rather unfortunately she muses this is one of those times, yay.
“Um I’m so sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going, you see I was in the middle of a heated debate, because Jackson here thinks Spider-man is the coolest…” The smile begins, before it disappears replaced with a flat line of concern “ma’am are you ok? Are you hurt?”
Shit, her smile, how could she forget to smile? One foot in front of the other, smile. She’s only been repeating that for ten minutes. Oh she ponders, maybe it’s because when you see a smile like the one that just disappeared you wonder, why bother smiling at all, it’ll never light up a room like that. “Yes sorry, fine, sorry, ok, not hurt” She stammers. Cringing at her own eloquence Oh that was smooth Christen. The coffee colored eyes are searching hers, like they know how big of lie that just was. Eventually the hands slowly retract and her whole body is suddenly consumed with a chill. She wraps her arms around her stomach to hide the shiver, or maybe she realizes she’s does it to hold herself together.
“Tobin! I swear sometimes you’re worse than the kids! Keep your ‘debates’ away from the entry way, please. And honestly how do your debates become so animated that you’re running into the guests?” Laughs a calming voice. “My names Lauren, who are you here to pick up?”
She glances over towards Lauren, her face is kind with beautiful curly hair sitting on top of her head in a classy messy bun. She briefly wonders why her messy buns never look that good. She glances back at the first girl, Tobin, her smile is back in place, but if she’s not mistaken there is still a hint of concern in it.
Her lips twitch upwards as she points to the now sulking boy, no doubt upset because he’s not ready to leave this haven of normalcy, standing next to Tobin “I’m here for Jackson actually.”