David stopped when he saw the man standing by the gate, talking to some girls from Glee club. He hesitated, and was just about to walk away in the opposite direction when Jason looked up, caught sight of him, and left the group of girls behind to jog over.

"Hey," Jason called, stopping a few feet away. "I was beginning to think I'd missed you."

"Hey," David said. "Were you...waiting for me?" When Jason smiled and nodded, David asked, "Why?"

"To check in," Jason said. "See if you were okay. With Crowley getting suspended, I figured some people might be looking to take it out on you."

David looked up at him, something stirring behind the dark eyes. Then he looked away. "I'm okay," he said, almost too quietly to be heard.

Jason sighed with relief. "Good."

David looked up at him again, in slight wonder at the sincerity with which he'd spoken. "Is this okay?" David asked. "For you to be here?"

"Probably not," Jason said pleasantly.

David shifted from one foot to the other, wanting to continue the conversation but not sure how. Jason glanced behind, as if intending to rejoin the girls, who were obviously waiting for him. David's heart quickened at the thought of the man leaving. He took a step towards him. "Do you have some time?"

"Yeah," Jason said. "Why?"

"I was...going to buy something for Drew," David said, using the first thing that came to mind. He backed up the step he'd taken and looked away. "And I could use some...help."

"Really?" Jason asked, the smile in his voice making David look up into twinkling green eyes. "You know him better than I do."

"Do I?"

Jason laughed. "You never give the response I expect," he said. Curling his hand into a loose fist, he tapped David on the shoulder and smiled. "That's what I like about you."

David looked down quickly, reaching up to pull his hood over his head and hiding his face in the process.

Jason smiled and cleared his throat to hide a chuckle. "Okay, then," he said, "let's get out of here before someone busts me. Where did you have in mind?"

"The strip mall," David said. "I guess." He glanced at the girls, still standing by the gate. "Let's take the West exit. It's closer."

"Alright." Jason fell into step beside him as David turned and walked away from the main gate, and from the girls. "This time we're taking the bus," he was saying. "No more rides in my car."

"Then I could have gone by myself."

Jason laughed again. "Oh! I see how it is. Alright, fine, I'll give you a ride—but I want something in return."

David looked at him. Anyone else, he could guess what they'd ask for—people were simple, and easy to predict. But Jason was different. With Jason, he could never tell. "What do you want?" he asked.

Jason inhaled the chilly air deeply, turning his chin up towards the sky. "I don't know," he said. "I'll think about it and tell you later." He looked at David and smiled. "Deal?"

David stopped and met his gaze. Jason stopped beside him, smiling as the seventeen year old scrutinized him. "Seems dangerous," David said.

"Understandable," Jason said. "You do have the option of saying no to anything I ask for, of course."

David was silent. In that silence they resumed walking, past the gate and to Jason's car, parked a block away. They stood on opposite sides of the vehicle, looking at each other over the top. Resting his forearms on the roof of the car, Jason lifted his brows, asking the question silently once more: did they have a deal? He wouldn't unlock the doors until they came to an agreement.

David looked to the side, to the line of parked cars under bare trees, frosted by the cold day, their windshields dulled by the overcast sky. He looked back at the man on the other side of the car. "Deal."

**

The strip mall was a spread of storefronts in a sunken plaza, with food trucks and an assortment of round tables and attached benches with picnic umbrellas in the center, that sold everything from high end jewelry to grain and feed. As they walked down the flight of steps to the plaza they were hit with the smells of tacos, lamb, and roasting meats. Families with small children, the older and the elderly, and groups of roaming teens populated the area, sitting at the tables despite the cold, filling the air with the sound of their voices.

The two walked to a sports equipment store first, but after about ten minutes Jason, a football in hand, stopped. "Drew can't play anymore," the man said, "so maybe we shouldn't be buying him equipment to play?"

"Good point."

"And let's ignore the fact that it took us so long to reach it."

David laughed, quietly and restrained, with the barest movement of his shoulder, as was his way. "What did you get him?" he asked, putting a helmet back on the shelf. "When you went to visit."

"How did you know I visited?" Jason asked, looking under a display of shoulder pads.

"I have my sources," David replied.

Jason chuckled. "Ever the surprise," he said, almost to himself. "I didn't get him anything," he answered. "I went after a meeting with someone and there wasn't time to stop and buy something. I should buy him something now."

David followed him down the aisle, in the way you do with someone who stops to look at every single item. He paused, then asked, "Who were you meeting?" in the most innocent way.

"Didn't your sources tell you that?" Jason asked, glancing back as he fiddled with knee pads now.

"I was the source," David said. "I volunteer in pediatrics, and saw you leave when I came in."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"I was late."

Jason nodded and bent to look at knee braces. "Pediatrics, huh? You used to babysit, too, right? Do you like working with children?"

A pause, then, "Yes."

Jason glanced at him, but David avoided his eyes, and he guessed it was a subject the teen didn't like discussing.

David, meanwhile, waited for him to answer the original question, but the man didn't say anything, and David looked down as he scuffed the floor with his toes.

They moved forward a few paces in silence. Then: "It was my commanding officer." Jason crouched to look at the bottom shelf. "Well, he used to be," he continued. "When I was active. Now he's a very good friend, and I needed a favor."

David shifted his weight from one foot to the other, his hands in his pockets agitating against the thick fabric. "Does it have to do with your suspension?" he asked haltingly.

Jason glanced up at him and smiled. "Yeah," he said, "it does. It could turn into a transfer, or even a release."

"I'm sor—" David's voice cracked, and he stopped and bit his lip, looking away.

"It's fine," Jason said, getting to his feet and turning to face David. "I would have done it for anyone." When David looked up at him, with drawn brows and downcast mouth, he took a step closer. "You don't have to look like that," he said, lowering his voice solicitously. "It's a decision I don't regret."

"You don't?"

"I really don't," Jason said, smiling.

David didn't look convinced, and Jason chuckled, making the boy frown at him. "How can you laugh?" he asked, a little peeved. "This is serious."

"Not as serious as that face," Jason said, tapping a finger on David's nose. The unexpected touch made David jump and shut his eyes, which made Jason burst out laughing—which only made David more peeved. Turning and muttering to himself, David stalked out of the isle, with a still laughing Jason in pursuit.

After catching up with David and apologizing—and bribing him with a snow cone—they roamed the shopping district for hours, going from clothing stores to toy stores, proving that David did indeed not know Drew. Finally, they ended up in a card store, and browsed the tiered racks of birthdays and Christmas and wedding cards. Jason pulled out almost every card to read, as David went directly to the Get Well Soon section. A few moments later he came back, card in hand, to find Jason having moved only a few paces in the novelty card isle.

"Good choice," Jason said, after reading the inside that simply said Get Well Soon. "What are you going to write?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Yeah."

"Not even your name?"

"No."

Jason laughed and shook his head as he handed back the card. "That's so like you," he said.

David looked up at him, his hand paused in the act of taking back the card, in surprise. No one had ever said that to him before.

"I guess I'll do the traditional flowers then," Jason said, pulling out a card that said MOZEL TOV! in large letters. "Does Drew seem like a daisy guy to you?" Jason glanced behind him when there was no answer to see David just standing holding the card in his hand, apparently spaced out, which was decidedly not like him. "David?"

The teen jumped and looked up. "What? Sorry, I..."

"Are you okay? You look a little pale," Jason said, turning towards him with a frown.

"I'm okay," David said haltingly. Reaching up, he tugged on the collar of his hoodie, opening it from his warming skin. "It's just...hot in here."

Jason's look lingered, then he slowly turned away, back to the cards. After a few moments, Jason said, "Can I ask you a question?"

David nodded. "Yeah," he said, when he realized the man could not see him.

"Why did you stay?" Jason glanced up at him, from a card open in his hand. "That day at the basement door. Why didn't you leave?"

David matched his gaze for a moment, then looked down at the card and matching envelop in his own hands. "It's not the first time I tried to run," David said. "It wouldn't have been the first time I did run. I never got far before, someone always brought me back."

Jason turned towards him, giving his full attention.

"I got the speech from everyone around me—think about my future, think about my education, think about how it would affect them. But no one," he added, looking up with dark eyes, "ever told me to think about ways to make sure I wouldn't have to come back. That it didn't have to be running, but just...moving on." He looked down again. "No one also never told me to talk to them after I was through thinking about it, either. No one cares enough to."

There was a beat of silence. "Cared."

"What?"

"No one 'cared'." Jason slipped the card back in its sleeve on the rack. "Past tense."

David looked at him for a few moments, then looked away. "Maybe," he said. "We'll see. You could still turn out to be a dud."

"Hey!"

David laughed, holding the card up to cover his face, while behind it the other man pretended to be angry.