Odds are 🏠

Part 9 of Home. Kinda follows the prompt. Enjoy!

“So, how was it?” TJ asks, putting a plate down in front of Daniel.

Daniel shrugs. “It was fine. They’re a lot.”

He had gone to the Golden Biscuit for lunch, but also to see TJ.

“What do you mean?” 

“Timothy and Chai are really chaotic. Kaden and Trey were alright, though. They're quiet.” 

TJ sits beside him. “Any more texts from your dad?”

He pulls out his phone, and hands it to TJ. “Yeah, two this morning.”

“He’s just trying to scare you.” TJ says after he reads the texts. “How could he find you? He doesn’t even know you come here, does he?”

Daniel nods slowly. “Yeah. Yeah, okay, you’re right.”

“I know.” He says, putting an arm around Daniel’s shoulders, and kissing his forehead. “I finish my shift in about twenty minutes. You want to go down to the lake?”

Daniel smiles. “Sure. Thanks.”

“No problem.” 

“TJ!” Someone calls. “We need you to serve customers!”

He kisses Daniel again, before getting up to help. “See you in a bit.”

“TJ, put me down!” Daniel laughs. TJ is carrying him on his back, and his arms are wrapped around his neck. “Where are we going?”

“We’re going to the lake.” TJ tells him. He keeps walking down the path through the trees.

Daniel rests his chin on TJ’s shoulder, and points to the right. “The lake is that way.”

“We’re going the long way.” He tells him.

“If we’re going the long way, why’re holding me?”

“You’re super light, Danny.” TJ says. “I can carry you.”

“Please. There’s no way you can carry me the whole way.”

“Wanna bet?” 

“Yeah. You owe me free food if you can’t carry me the whole way there.”

TJ smiles. “If I can, you have to make me food.”

“That’s a terrible deal. You know I can’t cook to save my life.” 

“Good point. If I can carry you, you have to let me teach you how to cook.”

“We tried that, remember? I burned it all.” 

“That was two years ago. It’ll be fine.”

“Ugh, fine. How much further?”

“Not much.” 

Daniel feels his phone buzz, so he pulls it out, his arms hanging over TJ's shoulders so they can both see it. There’s a text from his dad.

Dad: I’m going to find you.

TJ glances at the phone. “He’s just trying to scare you.”

“I hope so.” He sighs, laying his head on TJ’s shoulder. “Are we there yet?”

TJ nods. “Yeah.”

Daniel looks up. They’re at a river. There are huge rocks surrounding the sides of it, and trees around that. There’s an old looking bridge in the middle to cross over to the other side. It’s quiet except for birds chirping, and the rushing water. 

“Oh, wow. How did you find this place?” Daniel asks as TJ puts him down.

“I...just walked by it.” 

Daniel grins at him. “You got lost, didn’t you?”

“No,” He scoffs. “I just…I was...okay, maybe I got lost, not important.”

Daniel laughs, then starts walking on the rocks to get to the bridge. The bridge has peeling red paint, and cracks in parts of the wood, and Daniel hesitates.

“Is this thing sturdy?” He asks TJ. “How long has it been here?”

“It was sturdy when I went on it.” He says, stepping around Daniel to walk onto the bridge.

He walks to the middle before turning back to Daniel. “What’s wrong?”

“It looks like it’s going to break.” He says.

TJ jumps a little, and Daniel winces when he hears a creak. “It’s fine.”

“If it breaks I’m going to hurt you.” Daniel promises, stepping onto the wood. When he reaches TJ, he relaxes.

“I want to take a picture.” He says, pulling out his phone. 

It slips through his fingers, and bounces once on the wood before tumbling off the side. It drops into the water after smacking against a sharp rock sticking out of the waves.

“No, no, no.” Daniel says, dropping to his knees to try to reach for it. He groans. He can see that the phone is cracked. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

TJ walks to the other side of the bridge, and wades into the water to get it. He grimaces. “Yeah, it’s not salvageable.”

“Great.” Daniel sighs.

 TJ walks back over, the bottom of his pants wet. He hands Daniel the useless phone. 

“You didn't have to do that.” Daniel says to him. 

He shrugs. “It’ll dry. C’mon, let’s head back.”

“You’re going to teach me how to cook?” 

“Oh, yeah, definitely.”

Daniel tucks the phone back into his pocket as they start walking back. At least now he can’t get texts from his dad.