Page 46 of Flowers To Give

Jeremy finds the nest and gingerly takes the bird out of his pocket and rests it in the bedding of twigs next to its brothers and sisters. Starting to climb down, Jeremy asks the next question on his mind, “What are you doing here, Clark?”

“I was looking for you! Sheila said you were steering a bull here!”

“I meant what are you doing back!” Jeremy gets to the safety of the hayloft, collapsing the ladder and stowing it back where hefound it. He continues over his shoulder, “I thought you were in Vancouver!”

“I was!” Clark sounds closer, like he’s right under Jeremy’s feet, “But I’m back now!”

Jeremy descends the loft’s ladder and when he reaches the bottom, Clark is right in front of his face. He blinks before telling him at a normal volume, “Welcome back.”

“Thanks,” Clark throws him a half smile. One hand in his jean pocket and the other pointing up, he asks, “Should I call animal control? Or get an exterminator?”

“For the owls?”

“Yeah.”

“No way,” Jeremy tells him, stepping away, “Let ‘em stay here and you’ll never need an exterminator again. They’re nature’s pest control.”

“Good. I like owls,” Clark comments.

Jeremy looks behind him once more and asks, “So you were looking for me?”

Clark catches his eye, surprised at something. Jeremy wrinkles his brow and Clark wipes the expression off his face, nodding instead and saying, “Uh, yeah. I need to talk to you.”

Biting the bullet, Jeremy guesses for him, “So you’ve been to see Laurelai, I take it.”

“Oh, that?” Clark flicks his wrist, “Yeah she tried to sell me on some story of you and Barry hitting it in the tack room. But I don’t care.”

Jeremy raises his own brow of shock, “You don’t?”

“Nope,” Clark flattens his palms out and smooths over the air, “I’m totally over it. That’s what I came to tell you.”

“Oh,” Jeremy should feel some relief or hope that things can get back to normal. But there’s a sadness to the underbelly, like a confirmation that he was right; Clark could never seriously be with Jeremy. His passion on that beach had been a lark,a whimsy that was superficial at best. Just a week passed and Clark is already over him. Jeremy nods, “Okay.”

“So, yeah. I wanted to come say sorry to you,” Clark steps forward, past the ladder, “Sorry.”

Jeremy shrugs, “Forget about it.”

Smiling, Clark taps his foot for a moment before asking, “But you didn’t, right? Sleep with Barry in the tack room, I mean.”

Jeremy acts offended, “Seriously?”

“No, no you’re right. It’s whatever. I don’t care,” Clark chuckles, wafting at the air casually.

Jeremy nods his head, the knife in his chest twisting a little more. Knowing there was no way but forward, he asks, “So we’re all good? We can go back to being friends?”

“More like boss and employee,” Clark raises a brow then cracks a smile, “But then friends, yeah.”

Jeremy smiles back weakly, light rapidly fading from inside the barn.

They both start walking toward the entrance when Clark says, “There’s something else I wanted to ask you, though.”

Not knowing what to expect, Jeremy tells him, “Shoot.”

“This weekend, I’m throwing an exclusive wrap party up at the ranch house,” Clark says from beside him as Jeremy puts his weight into closing the large barn doors, “EPs, the cast, the director, everybody will be there.”

“Okay,” Jeremy shrugs, locking the gate as he asks, “And the question is?”

“Well, it’s more of an invitation,” Clark smiles at him expectantly, “Why don’t you come?”