Geraniums

Words by runi

Jade’s eyes look around the police station before they land on Caleb’s sitting form, fidgeting with the loose threads of his pants. They sigh, rolling their eyes and approaching the woman at the desk.

“Excuse me, I came to pick him up.” Jade says, pointing at him. The woman nods her head, giving them a few papers to sign to release him. They catch Caleb’s gaze, his eyes immediately lighting up with a dumb smile on his face. He stands up, shoving his hands into his pockets as he walks towards them, clearing his throat.

“What happened to not bailing me out?” He jokes, a smug grin on his lips.

They glance up at him with a deadpan expression before looking back at the woman.

“You know what, I take it back. He’s yours now, officer.”

His eyes widen comically, scrambling to grab their arm as he chuckles. “Hey, come on now. It was a joke. I’m sorry” He adds, smiling sheepishly.

They stare at him, lips pressed together in a thin line before sighing. The things I do for a friend. “Get in the car.”

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

“Aren’t you getting tired of getting him out of trouble? I mean, I can actually feel your stress whenever he calls you and asks you to come pick him up.” Their roommate, Iris, blurts out when Jade gets home that night.

Jade frowns, raising an eyebrow at her.

Iris sighs. “What I’m saying is, there must be something that makes you always come running to get him, you know?”

“What?” They react, an incredulous expression on their face. “No. No, he’s just really annoying and would actually not stop calling me until I save him from the trouble.”

She hums, tilting her head in confusion. “Then, why don’t you tell him to actually leave you alone?”

Jade freezes, eyes narrowing a second after when Iris looks at them smugly. “No. I can’t do that.” Their eyes widen before clearing their throat. “I just — I don’t want to be responsible when that guy ends up dying and I have to set up his funeral, that’s even more of a hassle.”

She scoffs in disbelief. “You’re so deep in your denial, dude.”

“Whatever.” They reply, grabbing a mug of water. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I’m just saying, you should probably do something before I go and kidnap his dog to hold as hostage so he would do something about it. Watching you two pining over each other and being dumb is taking 50 years off of my life.” She sighs, rubbing her fingers against her temple.

Jade ignores the heat that creeps up their face. Instead, they open their mouth to ask what she meant when she raises a finger.

“I swear, if you ask me what I mean, I will grab those geraniums by the door and shove them down your mouth. Please, you’re literally one of the smartest people I know but you’re simultaneously the dumbest person in this room right now.”

Their mouth gapes as she stares at her exhausted expression before bursting out into a laugh, slamming a hand against the table. “That is so unnecessarily violent.”

“Won’t be so unnecessary if I have to stand in the same room as you two while blushing around each other.” She says, cracking a smile. “Seriously though, do something.”

“No — ” They start before breaking off into a yelp when she stands up and makes a beeline towards the flowers. “No — Okay, okay! I’ll try something, just leave the geraniums alone!”