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jessmt · 4 years

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I won’t go (until you come outside)

Since I’m on such a roll this week and both of my classes got cancelled this morning, I decided to write another Jesslake fic that’s been bouncing around in my head for a little while.

Summary: Lake finally chalks it up to tell Jesse what happened on the train when they were forcibly separated.

Notes: Check Yes, Juliet by We The Kings is a cute song and the theme of running away together and never looking back fits these two pretty well. So I wrote a fic loosely inspired by it.

Also, I thought it would be pretty cute if Lake gave him a nickname. She calls him "Jess" because it sounds cute and I said so.

AO3

Normal.

Her entire life, Lake never had any proper definition for the word. Her entire life, all of her decisions had been made for her. What she’s allowed to wear, where she’s allowed to go, when she’s allowed to sleep, when she’s allowed to eat. Sure, Tulip may have been a pretty average person for the most part, but it wasn’t normal. Forcing herself to stay up until 4:30 in the morning so Tulip can fix the bug in her code or wearing those pointless chrome glasses or eating those stupid onions she didn’t even like wasn’t normal.

Living someone else’s life wasn’t normal.

She’s lucky Tulip was so understanding. Well, Lake supposes she had to be, since up until that point they had essentially been two different copies of the same person. But she didn’t feel that way. She felt and still feels and will never stop feeling like she is her own individual person. And the moment she took her first step out of the “Chrome Car”, as Tulip had called it, she was sure that was the end of it. She could be whoever she wanted to be, go wherever she wanted to go, wear whatever she wanted to wear.

But of course the Flecs had to develop new software that allowed them to chase escapees from car to car. If she had known about that she would’ve stolen it to escape the car years ago. Not that it mattered much anyway, because as long as they weren’t trailing directly behind her then the only way they’d be able to find her was through some random reflective surface that happened to be lying around, which was a surprisingly difficult find in a good majority of the cars she’d been through.

And for months at a time, she was convinced she’d found her normal. Most cars she only passed through, but other cars, those that provided beds and food and something to drink (just as long as it wasn’t water), she’d stay in those for weeks at a time. She felt grass under her feet for the first time in a train car, she saw a real life tree in a train car, and she even experienced rainfall in a train car. And as far as she was concerned, she had the best life she could ever imagine. She never considered herself a “denizen”, because she never wanted to live her life in someone else’s shadow ever again. And if that meant self-isolation, then so be it. She didn’t need companionship, because all companionship did was slow her down.

But then Jesse came along.

And so went her definition of normal.

She had tried to separate herself from him. She had tried to wave him off, tried to take Alan Dracula as her only companion and go. But in the end, nothing she tried ever worked.

He saw something in her that nobody else did.

She knew he had an opportunity to turn her over to the Flecs. She knew he considered it. But he chose not to. He stood up for her in a way nobody had since Tulip freed her. He liked her for her, not just as someone helping him escape the train but as her own person.

She had never even considered the possibility of leaving the train until she met him. But it was all the time she spent with him that she realized that when she’d escaped from the mirror realm that all she’d fled to was an even larger prison.

He was the only person who’d ever promised not to leave her behind. Tulip couldn’t even make that promise. He never showed any signs that he’d been lying, never gave her a goodbye. He developed the habit of taking her hand in his own to assure she was still by his side, and Lake in turn developed the habit of giving his hand a squeeze to assure him that she wasn’t going anywhere. He grabbed her hand every time they fled from the Flecs, or every time a door opened, and it grew to become a comforting gesture for Lake.

He never let go. Even when they were forced apart at his exit door, he never let go. Their hands were interlocked until the moment he faded away into nothing, and even then he broke the very physics of the train itself by refusing to let go, refusing to leave until she was able to come with him. All the time she had spent fighting for him, she had no idea he was on the other side fighting for her as well.

She’s M.T, she can take care of herself, but I made a promise.

They finally got their exit together. And it was staring into her own reflection in that lake, and feeling that sunshine on her face, and Jesse’s hand on her shoulder that made her realize she had finally, finally found her real normal.

Nothing could compare to the euphoria she felt when they were walking back to Jesse’s house. She could hear birds, actual birds, not weird talking parakeets that needed her help to build their giant nest, or something, actual birds! And the wind, and the traffic, and the sky was an actual color, not that depressing shade of brownish-orange it always was on the train. It’s a miracle they ever got to Jesse’s house at all with Lake stopping to check something out every ten seconds. Not that Jesse minded at all, because there had been multiple times where Lake had caught him staring at her with an affectionate twinkle in his eyes.

After that initial adrenaline rush faded, everything slowed to a peaceful calm. Jesse convinced his mom to convert their guest room into Lake’s room “until further notice”, which she quickly settled into. She registered as a new student at the local high school online, and choosing classes was just a combination of what she’d already known from Tulip and what simply caught her eye.

Everything fell into a pattern. And for once in her life, she was happy with that.

Wake up, go to school, eat lunch, come home, hang with Jesse, explore the neighborhood, do homework, watch movies, go to bed. It’s simple, it’s repetitive, it’s home. The only thing that ever differs in her schedule other than weekends is when she’d have to take the bus home without Jesse when he had swim practice, but admittedly it was nice to have that time to herself.

Take right now, for example. She’s just lying on her bed with her hands behind her head watching her ceiling fan swirl around. She likes to be alone with her thoughts, contrary to popular belief, because they really tend to keep her in the moment. Having her own complex thoughts validates her and tells her that she’s here, and she’s her own human being.

...Until there’s a light tap against her window, which doesn’t make sense because her room is on the second floor. She stands up to investigate, and she’s ready to dismiss it as a bird or a bug that must’ve bumped into it when a number of tiny pebbles tap against the window again. Baffled, she opens the window to look and see who could possibly be throwing rocks at her window.

“That worked?” She can hear Jesse exclaim, but he clears his throat when he realizes she probably heard that. “Lake! Down here!”

She snorts, leaning her elbow against the windowsill. “Hi Jesse” she shouts back, and looks over her shoulder at the clock sitting on her nightstand reading 8:46pm. “I thought you had swim practice”

“I did! It just ran later than usual because competition is coming up soon” he shouts back, and runs a hand through his hair to expel any extra water as if he’s trying to prove to her that he’s not lying. “You should, uh, you should come outside! It’s really nice out. I’m not even shivering”

Lake smirks, rolling her eyes at him. “And you wanted to ask me that by shouting up at my window? Isn’t this your house?”

She can practically see Jesse blush from where she sits at her window. “Well, yeah, but I wanted to look cool! Tossing rocks at someone’s window is like, the most romantic gesture ever”

Lake laughs. “I’m swooning”, she teases, dramatically bringing her wrist to her forehead.

Jesse shoves his hands in his pocket and glances to the ground, a sure sign he’s probably blushing even harder. “It’s a serious offer, you know!” he mumbles just loud enough for her to hear. “It’s beautiful out.” He offers his hand out to her, and the gesture makes her blush.

“Alright, alright, I’m coming”, she replies in mock annoyance, warmth in her tone giving her true nature away. She slides her window the rest of the way open, climbs onto the windowsill, and wiggles around until she’s hanging out of the window by her hands. Once her arms stop shaking from holding her own weight up, she lets go and lands on her feet. She turns around to face Jesse, and throws her arms up in the air in a victorious pose.

He smiles. “You could’ve just gone out the front door, y’know. Mom isn’t that strict about us leaving the house”.

She shrugs. “Yeah, but it’s like you said. I wanted to look cool”.

This time Jesse’s the one laughing, and he offers his hand out to her again. “Well?”

She blushes. Dammit, he shouldn’t be this cute, and intertwines her hand in his. “Well what? You’re the one who called me out here, you dork”

“Well, where do you wanna go?” he rubs at the back of his head. “The ice cream parlor closes in ten minutes, so I don’t think we could get there even if Mom let me borrow her car”.

Lake laughs. “How romantic, borrowing your Mom’s car for me” she teases. “Who says we have to go anywhere in particular? You said it yourself. It’s a beautiful night. Why don’t we just go for a walk?”

Jesse gasps, his eyes twinkling. “Travel friends?”

Lake rolls her eyes and leans in to kiss Jesse on the cheek. “I think we’re a little more than that by now, Jess.”

Jesse grins. “I know. It’s just a catchy song”.

“Nerd.”

Jesse shrugs in a what-are-you-gonna-do-about-it sort of manner before he taps at his chin to think about where they could possibly go. “Well…” he starts. “I think there should be a nature trail near that lake we ended up at, and I think….people are known to occasionally spot a family deer over there, you wanna walk around there a bit?” he pauses. “Or is that too familiar?”

Lake gives his hand a little squeeze. “Pssh, nah, that sounds perfect. You know how I am with exploring”.

He’s looking at her with that soft, affectionate look in his eyes again, and gives her hand a squeeze back. “Perfect.” he says, and begins to lead the way, but it isn’t long before they’re walking side by side. The walk to the lake isn’t as long as she remembers it being, but she supposes she could chalk that up to the adrenaline she’d felt the first time she was here. Once there, she stops to look at her reflection in the lake, and this time Jesse’s is standing beside her. He takes his hand from her, only to wind his arm around her shoulder and give her a kiss on the cheek. She rolls her eyes at him, but just before he can turn his head away from her she quickly leans in and gets him on the lips.

“C’mon,” she gestures. “We could be here all night”.

He blushes violently. “Right, right…” he murmurs, and leads the way to the entrance of the nature trail. It’s larger than Lake was expecting, apparently looping all the way around the back end of the cul de sac and back to the lake. She doesn’t know what Jesse could’ve possibly meant by calling the trail “too familiar”, because it’s nothing in comparison even to the Forest Car where they met. Everything feels real, everything smells real, everything just is real. She could never get her boots muddy or dirty in that or any other car on that godforsaken train because they couldn’t even program mud properly.

“You okay?” Jesse asks after a few moments, startling her out of her thoughts.

“Huh? Why do you ask?”

Jesse blushes, awkwardly rubbing at the back of his head. “Well, you weren’t saying anything, and I was gonna assume you were just enjoying yourself, but you were kinda….staring off into space. So I figured I’d ask. No big deal”

Lake shrugs. “Nah, it’s okay. Thanks for asking. I’m fine, I’ve just been...well, thinking about the train”.

Jesse stops in his tracks. “You have?”

Lake shakes her head, and shakes her hand around in self-defense. “It’s no big deal, really, I’m just...really glad to be as far away from that thing as possible”.

Jesse steps forward and sits down on a fallen tree in the middle of the path, patting at the spot beside him to invite her to sit next to him. “It sounds like a pretty big deal to me”.

She smiles, a blush tinting her cheeks, and takes the seat beside him. “It doesn’t bother me anymore, trust me” she folds her hands together. “I’m getting much better at looking into reflective surfaces, and I don’t get snappish at people who look at me funny as often as I used to.” She turns to look at him. “But I just can’t stop thinking about how ever since I got here with you I’m realizing how much of a living hell that train was”

She turns her gaze up towards the treetops. “I don’t think I ever told you what it was like when you were forced to leave without me.” She brings her knees up to her chest. “It was awful. I was so afraid I was never going to see you again. Everyone was saying it was pointless, that you would move on without me, that I was never getting off the train, I wasn’t my own person, blah blah blah” she dismissively waves a hand in the air.

“But you came back for me, Jesse, because you cared about me. Nobody’s ever come back in the history of the train, not for me, not for anything.” She laughs, and punches him in the arm as lightly as she can. “You gave the train a mental breakdown. You gave it the very problem it’s programmed to fix in everyone else, all because…what?”

Jesse smiles. “I made a promise.”

“Exactly!” Lake exclaims. “You made a promise you were so heartbroken to break just because you wanted to be able to see me every day.” She looks down at the forest floor. “...just so I could experience mud, and twigs, and all these things you don’t even notice because you’ve just had them your entire life”.

Jesse snorts. “Well I’d sure hate for my girlfriend to miss out on the amazing wonders of mud.”

“You know what I mean”.

“I know” Jesse smiles, kicking his feet back and forth. “I just...couldn’t go home until I knew you were coming with me. Flecs or no Flecs, I could tell you seemed pretty miserable”.

Now Lake finds herself blushing violently. “That’s….incredibly sweet of you”.

Jesse hums. “Not as incredible as you”.

Lake snorts. “Dork”.

Jesse stands up from the fallen tree, brushing his pant legs off and offering Lake his hand to help her up. “Ah ah, your dork”.

She takes him up on that offer, intertwining his hand in her own as she stands. “You won’t be for long if you keep that up”.

Jesse blushes. “Sorry.”

Lake laughs, and brings a hand to Jesse’s face and turns it towards her to make him look at her. “Jess, I’m kidding” she says, and kisses him softly on the lips. “I love you too”.

#jesslake #infinity train #infinity train book 2 #infinity train lake #infinity train jesse #my writing

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maydaygirl-save-our-ships · 4 years

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Lake’s New Normal (A Fanfic)

Summary:

After Lake escapes the train, she’s invited to live with the Cosay family. But after escaping the mirror world, traveling through a supernatural train, and fighting for her life, is she really able to live like a normal teenager?

She’s not sure, but she’s willing to fight every day to make this life her new normal.

AO3 Link

Chapter 5: Breakfast Interrogation

The sunlight streaming through his blinds was the first thing Jesse saw in the morning, and for a moment, he wasn’t sure where he was. Waking up in his bedroom under his covers was almost too normal. After weeks of waking up in different cars, it was strange to wake up and be home.

Jesse sluggishly headed downstairs. When he arrived in the kitchen, he saw his mother flipping pancakes, his father reading the newspaper, and his brother happily eating a stack of pancakes. The sight was so familiar it made his heart ache. He hadn't realized how much he missed them until this moment.

“Jesse!” his mother said with a wide smile when she noticed him in the doorway. She rushed over to him and pulled him into a hug, kissing the top of his head. “Oh, I missed seeing you in the morning. Come and have some breakfast.”

“I will, but you have to let go of me first, mom,” Jesse said with a grin as his mother continued to hug him.

“No way, I’m never letting go of you again,” she countered.

Jesse laughed. “That’s going to make eating pancakes really hard.”

His mother gave him one more squeeze before sighing and letting him go. “Okay fine, go sit at the table. I almost have this last batch cooked up.”

His mother put a stack of pancakes in front of him and Jesse’s mouth immediately started to water.

“Thanks mom, these look great!” As he started to pour syrup on his pancakes, he glanced towards the stairs. “Did Lake wake up yet?”

His mom shook her head. “No, we haven’t seen her yet.”

“Do you think I should wake her up?” Jesse asked. “I don’t want her to miss breakfast.”

His mom put a hand on his shoulder. “Let her sleep. When was the last time you think she got a good night's rest?”

“Well, after she left the mirror world she probably always had the Flecs chasing her so… probably not for a long time.”

“Then let her sleep,” his mom said. “I can always make more pancakes when she wakes up.”

“Did anyone hear a loud bang last night?” Nate asked as he rubbed sleep from his eyes. “I wasn’t sure if I dreamed it or not.”

Jesse hesitated, unsure if he should say anything. He knew Lake would be mortified if his family found out she had fallen out of bed.

“I didn’t hear anything,” his mother said.

“Hey dad,” Jesse said, quickly changing the subject. “Do you think we could remove that mirror on the back of the guest room door?”

His father looked curiously over his newspaper. “Why?”

“I think it freaked Lake out a little. And to be honest, even though the Flecs were only chasing her, I still jump when I look into a mirror. I’m not surprised it makes her uncomfortable.”

“I might be able to do something about that,” his father said. “But son, I wanted to ask you something. You said those Flecs that she used to be running from, they were like the mirror police, right?”

“Yeah,” Jesse said. “But unlike our police they were trying to kill her, not just catch her.”

“I’m not sure I understand,” his dad said. “If the police were after her then does that mean she did something wrong?”

“Apparently escaping the mirror world is a crime,” Jesse explained as he stuffed a fork full of pancake into his mouth.

His dad pressed his lips together, his forehead creasing in confusion. “That seems like an unusually high punishment for just running away. Did she mention anything else that she did?”

His mother scoffed. “No matter what she did, there’s no excuse for trying to kill a little girl. She must have been so scared…”

“I’m not saying there is,” his father added quickly. “I’m just saying that maybe there was something else she did that she didn’t mention to you, Jesse.”

Jesse frowned. He didn’t like where this was going. “Like what?”

“Well… how well do you really know her?” he asked.

Jesse felt a surge of protective energy. “She’s my best friend, I’d say I know her pretty well.”

“But you’ve only known her for a few weeks, right?” his father asked.

“Sure, but we’ve been through a lot together.”

His dad sighed. “I know you have. There is just something strange with her story of how she got out of the mirror world. You never met Tulip on the train, right?”

“No, I never met her,” Jesse said. “And what do you mean by strange? Everything was strange on the train.”

“It’s not what she told us that was strange,” his dad said. “Although most of that was pretty bizarre. It’s what she didn’t tell us that I’m worried about. She didn’t exactly say how she escaped or why Tulip was willing to help her even though it was breaking the law. I just get the impression that she’s hiding something.”

“Well, yeah…” Jesse agreed easily “Lake isn't the most open book. She wouldn’t even tell me she was a reflection at first. I just thought she was a metal person. I had to hear it from the Flecs first before she came clean.”

“That’s strange,” his father said. “Why would she want to hide that she was a reflection?”

Jesse shrugged. “Lots of reasons, but mostly because she was a wanted criminal and she didn’t trust me.”

“I think that there might be another reason,” his dad said.

“Stephan,” his mother said in a warning tone. “Don’t start throwing around your wild theories. It’s none of our business if Lake decides not to tell us certain things about herself.”

“It’s our business if someone is trapped where they shouldn’t be,” his dad countered.

“What are you talking about, dad?” Jesse asked, exchanging glances with Nate, but his brother seemed to be just as confused as he was.

“Lake mentioned this Chrome Car where she and Tulip had to switch places in order to open the door, right?” his dad asked. “Lake didn’t go into detail about how she and Tulip both got out of the car, and I think there's a reason for that. I think that Lake switched places and left Tulip there in the mirror world.”

Jesse stared. “What?”

“I don’t have any proof,” his dad said. “I just think that she’s hiding something and that makes the most sense to me. And to be honest, Jesse, you’re a very trusting guy. I’m just worried that you trusted her too fast and she may have taken advantage of that trust to get off the train. You don’t really know her.”

Jesse stood up in his seat. “No dad, you might not know her, but I do!” His heart pounded in his ears as he glared at his father. “I know I’ve only known her for a few weeks, but after everything we’ve been through, I feel like I’ve known her my entire life. And Lake would never do something like that. She’s a good person. I don’t know where Tulip is, but if Lake says she’s fine, then I believe her.”

His family was staring at him, taken aback by his sudden outburst. He realized he hadn’t yelled at his parents for a long time, probably not since he was Nate’s age. He always did what his parents said, even when he disagreed with them, but he couldn't just stand by and listen to his father accusing Lake.

“And Lake never took advantage of me. She’s a good friend. I went back for her because I made her a promise. If it wasn’t for her, I would have never gotten my number down and I would have never been able to escape the train in the first place.”

“But son,” his dad tried to reason. “Tell me this, why does Lake have a reflection? Does that make sense to you? What if that’s Tulip and she’s taken Lake’s place in the mirror world?”

Jesse shook his head vigorously. “I-I don’t know! I don’t understand everything about how the mirror world works. Lake doesn’t even know half the time! All I know is that I trust Lake and that’s enough for me.”

Heavy footfalls sounded behind him, and Jesse’s mother’s eyes widened in surprise as she looked past him. Jesse turned around to see Lake standing in the doorway of the kitchen. She had an unreadable expression on her face and her arms were crossed defensively across her chest.

“Lake...” Jesse began, but Lake’s attention was focused angrily onto his father as she entered the room.

“Tulip Olsen,” Lake said, her voice guarded. “She lives in North Branch Minnesota. If you look at the news reports you’ll read about Tulip disappearing for a time and then reappearing months later. At least… I think you will. I don’t know for sure that she got off the train, because I wasn’t with her for that part, but she’s smarter than me. So if I found a way to get off, then I’m sure she did too.”

The room was still, hanging expectantly in Lake’s last words, but no one else spoke. Jesse moved to stand next to Lake, but for some reason she refused to look at him.

“And as for why I have a reflection in the mirror,” Lake continued, “That’s just me. I’m my own reflection. It’s something a reflection’s body does because we have to show up in many reflective surfaces. That might not make sense to you, but that’s how it works. So you can believe me or not, but that’s the truth.”

Nate shifted uncomfortably in his seat, his mother glanced over at his father. His father put down his newspaper and cleared his throat.

“Lake, I shouldn’t have just spouted out wild theories like that,” his father said. “I have nothing against you. It’s just that Jesse can be easily swayed by his friends, and he’s gullible. I was just worried.”

“He has more of a backbone you might think,” Lake defended, but then she hesitated, her expression softening. “But he can be pretty gullible,” she admitted. “I guess I get why you would be worried.”

“Hey!” Jesse protested. “I’m not that gullible.”

She gave him a skeptical look. “You see the good in people, even if there isn’t any. That can be dangerous. I hate to admit it, but you’re dad’s right, you shouldn’t have trusted me as fast as you did. You didn’t even start to doubt me until the Flecs got into your head, and even then you picked me over the law. I could have been lying to you.”

“Maybe I just had a good feeling about you,” Jesse said with a grin. “I listened to my gut.”

“Like you did for the Apex?” she reminded him, and Jesse’s heart sank.

“Okay, so maybe my gut hasn’t always been the best,” Jesse reasoned. “And maybe I can be a bit gullible, but I was right about you. After all, you’re a good person.”

Jesse’s goal was to get Lake to smile, but instead, his words had the opposite effect and her expression completely shut down. She folded her arms around her chest tighter.

Concerned, Jesse reached out to put a hand on her shoulder, but to his surprise, she turned away from him, moving her shoulder just slightly out of reach. His hand fell to his side in confusion.

“Even so,” Jesse’s dad continued. “I should have talked to you about my worries first. I feel bad about how I went about it. I’m sorry, Lake. You should feel welcome here, not like a criminal. I’m sure you’ve had enough of that already.”

“It does get kind of old,” Lake agreed, and Jesse could see her relax slightly at his dad’s apology. “But... I get why you’re suspicious of me. I would probably be the same. So if it will make you feel better, go ahead and look to see if Tulip made it back home. If you can’t find it on the internet, I know a local number you can call and ask.”

“Maybe I will later,” Jesse’s father said. “But right now, my wife made some pretty delicious pancakes. Please, come have some?”

Lake hesitated, and for one terrifying second, Jesse thought she was going to just turn around and walk out the front door. He wouldn’t blame her, after what his father accused her of.

Instead, Lake carefully sat in the kitchen chair she had occupied last night. It protested her weight, but the sturdy wood chair held.

“I’m sorry about my husband.” His mother said as she filled up a plate with the last of the pancakes. “He reads too many sci fi books.”

Lake smiled at that, but Jesse could tell that the smile was forced. He sat next to her and ate the rest of his pancakes, glancing at her from the corner of his eye. She seemed sad, and Jesse couldn’t tell if it was because of what his dad said, or if he had done something to upset her.

Jesse was almost done with his stack of pancakes when there was a loud knock on the door.

Lake froze, and Jesse met her panicked eyes.

Jesse’s mother stood up and looked out the kitchen window.

“Why are the police here?” she asked.

Dread filled Jesse’s chest. The police? What would they do if they saw Lake?

Lake looked seconds away from bolting out of the house through the back door. Jesse reached over and grabbed her hand, both to comfort her, and to assure himself that he wasn’t going to lose her.

To his relief, Lake reciprocated the gestures and squeezed his hand.

“Oh... that’s probably my fault,” Jesse’s father said regretfully.

“Stephan, what did you do?” His mother whirled around to glare down at his father.

“The police called our house this morning,” his father explained. “They were going to give us an update on our missing persons case. I had to tell them that Jesse came home last night and was safe. They said they were going to send someone to take a statement from him. I didn’t think they would send someone so quickly.”

“What do we do?” Jesse asked. “What happens if they see Lake? And what should I tell them about where I was?”

“Are they going to take Lake away?” Nate asked fearfully.

“I’d like to see them try,” Lake said in a low growl. “Compared to the Flecs, I doubt these Primes will be able to touch me.” Lake got up from her seat and Jesse did the same, keeping a firm grip on her hand.

“Okay, calm down everyone,” Jesse’s father said. “They don’t know about Lake yet, and we can keep it that way.”

There was another hard knock on the door and the policeman introduced himself through the door as officer Gonzalez.

“All they want is a statement from Jesse,” his father said in his calm voice. “Lake can go upstairs until he leaves. There should be no reason for him to go up there. Nate, you can keep her company, and we’ll call for you if there are any issues.”

“What do I tell the officer?” Jesse asked. “He won't believe me about the train. Should I make something up about where I was?”

“You telling a lie?” Lake asked skeptically. “I doubt you could lie to save your life.”

“It doesn't matter what you tell him,” his father said. “If you lie he’ll probably be able to tell, and if you tell the truth he won’t believe you. Just tell him whatever you want, but don’t mention Lake.”

The officer rang the doorbell.

His mother wrapped her arms around Lake’s shoulders. “Lake, let's get you upstairs, honey. Come on.”

Lake looked at Jesse worriedly.

“Don’t worry, I’ll talk with the officer and I’ll come upstairs and get you when he leaves. Everything will be fine,” Jesse promised.

Lake nodded, let go of his hand, and followed Nate up the stairs. As soon as Jesse was sure Lake was out of sight, he turned nervously towards the front door.

He wasn’t sure he had it in him to lie, which meant this officer was about to hear one unbelievable story.

---------

Nate led her upstairs to what looked like a small study. It had a desk with a computer, a bookshelf full of books, and a reading chair in the corner with it’s own lamp.

“This is my dad’s study,” Nate said while shutting the door behind them. “But he doesn’t use it much because he’s usually in the garage working. Me and Jesse come up here to play on the computer when mom is using the TV downstairs.”

Lake strained her ears to listen for the sounds of the police officer entering the house.

She knew logically that it made sense for the police to want to talk to Jesse after he had been missing for so long. She also knew there was no reason for the police officer to want to check upstairs.

On the other hand, Jesse’s dad had been suspicious of her and he had admitted to talking to police earlier this morning. Was it too paranoid to think that maybe Jesse’s father had told the police about her? Maybe he was hoping the police would take her away? He wouldn’t be the first person to try and stack the odds against her.

“What does your dad do?” Lake asked. She could hear the sounds of Jesse talking to the officer, but she couldn’t make out what he was saying.

“He owns his own business fixing up houses so they can be sold for more money. The garage is full of his unfinished projects.”

Lake glanced at the only window in the room. If she heard the officer climbing up the stairs, could she jump out of the window without being seen? Even if Jesse’s father told the police officer about her, if he never gets any proof, then they won't believe him, right?”

“Lake?” Nate’s voice brought her back to the room. “I’m sorry about what my dad said. He just worries sometimes.”

Lake shook her head. That was the thing. It wasn’t about what Mr. Cosay said that necessarily upset her, it was what Jesse had said in her defense. How could Lake be upset at Mr. Cosay for suggesting that she had tried to trap Tulip in the mirror world, when he had been right? It was Jesse that defended her. Jesse who said that Lake was a good person and could never do such a thing. At the end of the day, Mr. Cosay had been right and Jesse had been wrong.

Lake had spent her entire time free from the mirror world fighting to prove that she was a person. In all that time, she had never once stopped to consider if she was even a good person.

However, Jesse seemed completely convinced that she could’ve never hurt Tulip or done anything wrong. A part of her wanted to hug him for standing up for her without a moment's hesitation, and the other part of her wanted to yell at him for being so trusting and naive. She wasn’t the person he thought she was, and that was the painful truth.

If he were to find out the truth about everything that she had done, all the people that she had hurt, or was willing to hurt for her own selfish reasons, Lake knew he would hate her. That’s why she was determined to make sure that he never found out.

“No, it’s okay,” Lake said at last. “I honestly have no right to be mad at your dad for that, trust me.”

“Oh, okay, that’s good.” Nate said simply. He seemed as eager to move on with the conversation as she was. “Well… did you want to watch a movie? My dad has a pretty big movie collection on his computer.”

Lake listened, but she didn’t hear the sounds of anyone coming up the stairs. She supposed she could watch a movie and listen for a potential ambush at the same time.

“Sure,” she said with a shrug. “Which ones do you have?”

Nate showed her the list of movies his father had downloaded on his computer. In the end, Lake picked a comedy that Nate recommended. Lake hadn’t seen many movies in their entirety, since she usually had to watch or listen to them from small reflective surfaces in the Olsen living room, such as someone's phone or a glass of water.

In the end, she had chosen the movie School of Rock, since Tulip had only seen part of it, and Lake had always wanted to watch the entire movie. Something about the kids learning to make music grabbed her attention, even though she wasn’t sure why. Tulip was never serious about learning to play music, so Lake didn’t know much about it.

Nate grabbed blankets and pillows from his room and he and Lake sat on the floor, staring up at the computer playing the movie. Lake was leaning against the far wall next to the door, which made it easy for her to hear if anyone came up the stairs.

They were about thirty minutes in, and she was thoroughly enjoying the movie, when Nate called her name.

“Can I ask you a question?” he asked. Lake could see him fidgeting out of the corner of her eye.

Lake suppressed a sigh. “Is it about the mirror world?”

“No, it’s about the train and Jesse.”

Curious, Lake looked over at Nate. “Okay shoot.”

To her surprise, Nate didn’t just start asking his question. Instead, he got up, went to the computer, and paused the movie.

He nervously took his previous seat next to her, but instead of leading against the wall like he had been before, he sat cross legged and faced her.

“I know Jesse tried to explain it to me, but I don’t really understand why he was on the train. Did he do something wrong? And if… if I do something wrong will the train take me too?”

The unmistakable look of fear in his eyes caused Lake to sit forward, giving him all her attention. She knew she had to correct him before he started worrying that he would be taken by the train for talking back to his parents or forgetting to do his homework.

“No, it doesn’t work like that,” Lake assured him quickly. “The train doesn’t take you because you did something wrong. It’s not a punishment. It’s supposed to help you work out your problems.”

“Then why did Jesse get taken? He doesn’t have any problems. Everybody likes him and he never gets into trouble.”

Lake rolled her eyes affectionately. “Yeah, I know, he’s a great guy, and he's everyone’s friend, but there’s such a thing as being too nice.”

Nate stared at her uncomprehendingly. “What do you mean? How can you be too nice?”

Lake motioned to his hurt arm. “Well, he was nice to his buddies, but because of that, he didn’t exactly stand up to his friends to protect you, did he?”

Nate recoiled and looked down at his arm in embarrassment. “It- it wasn’t his fault. He didn’t mean to-”

“But he didn’t stop it either.” Lake pointed out. ”And that makes it partially his fault.”

“But he apologized!” Nate defended, his eyes starting to water. “It… it was a mistake…”

Lake held up her hands. “Whoa, I know,” she assured him. “I know how badly he feels about what he did to you. Jesse knows it’s more important to stand up for what he believes in than it is to be liked. That's the lesson the train wanted to teach him, I guess. I think it’s dumb to kidnap someone just to force them to learn a lesson…. But that’s how the train works.”

“But Jesse shouldn’t have to stop being nice. It’s it a good thing to be liked by people?” Nate asked.

“Jesse doesn’t have to stop being nice, he just needs to practice being able to say no, even if people get mad at him for it. He can’t make everyone happy, and he should be able to do what he wants to do.” Lake chuckled. “I guess I’m the opposite. I do what I want and I don’t care if I piss off other people. I guess that’s why most people don’t like me,” she said with a shrug. “Besides Jesse of course, but he likes everyone.”

“Well… I like you,” Nate said shyly. “You’re nice.”

Lake blinked. “Oh…” she rubbed the back of her neck. She had never been called nice before. “Umm, thanks, Nate. You’re pretty cool too.”

Nate smiled, but there was something distant about his expression.

“Are you okay?” Lake asked.

“I just wish I had passed the man test,” Nate admitted in a rush. “If I hadn’t gotten hurt Jesse wouldn’t have felt bad and he wouldn’t have gotten taken by the stupid train. It’s my fault-”

“No!” Lake shouted, pounding her fist on the carpeted floor for emphasis. The resounding thump was louder than she expected, and both she and Nate froze, listening for the sounds of movement downstairs. When no one came up the stairs to investigate, Lake looked over at Nate.

“Listen to me Nate, Jesse being taken by the train is not your fault. If it hadn’t been for that incident, Jesse would have gone along with something else that those goons wanted to do and he would’ve felt bad for it later. It was only a matter of time before he ended up on that train. It was Jesse that had a lesson to learn, not you.”

“I was really worried when he never came home,” Nate said with a sniff as he used the back of his hands to wipe the tears from his eyes. “I kept thinking that if I had only stayed there with him then he wouldn’t have gone missing.”

Lake shifted uncomfortably. She wasn’t sure what to do when people cried. What came out of her mouth next was unbidden and completely honest.

“It’s not your fault, Nate, trust me. It was a supernatural train. It would have picked Jesse up no matter what. And even though it kidnapped your brother for a few weeks, I’m kind of glad it did…” Lake admitted. “I would have never gotten off the train without him. I’m sorry, that probably sounds really selfish.”

Nate shook his head, a small smile growing on his face. “No, it's okay. Even though I was really scared that I would never see my brother again, I’m glad that Jesse was able to help you get off the train. So even though I missed him, it was worth it.”

Lake stared at the young boy in front her, suddenly overwhelmed by his kindness even though he never met her before. He was definitely Jesse’s brother.

“Thanks Nate. Now, come on, let’s finish the movie.”

Nate smiled, a real smile this time. “Okay!”

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