This Feeling Is Not Joy {Stitch/Jamie JB}

TAG: pearl mcclain d4 [ryan] . WORDS: 543. NOTES: N/A

If Jamie weren't such a nervous wreck, perhaps he would have volunteered to take the place of Stitch Gabel when he was chosen at the reaping. Just like when his best friend Zagreus Moon was reaped, however, he was completely unable to build up the courage to do so. Now, if it were to happen again, he wouldn't even have the option to take someone's place, as his nineteenth birthday was inching closer and closer. It didn't matter if Kroton or one of the other Moon family members were reaped, or if Stitch had relatives selected for the Games. Jamie no longer had the option to save them, and that pained him. He was even more helpless than he had been in the past.

This time, at the reaping, Jamie had broken down, yelling and sobbing at the fact that his friend was being torn away from him. Sure, the two boys weren't as close as he and Zagreus had been, but Stitch had helped him get through the pain of Zagreus being reaped a couple of years ago, and that was something Jamie was infinitely grateful for. He could never thank Stitch enough for talking to him that one day when he felt so broken, and now, it was his last chance to see the other boy.

When the reaping concluded, Jamie's cousin Caitir told him that he should go say goodbye to Stitch in the Justice Building. At first, the boy was reluctant to do so. After a moment or two of convincing from Caitir, however, he decided that it was the best thing that he could do to show Stitch that he cared about him. Therefore, he was willingly led by Peacekeepers to the room where Stitch was currently being held. It made Jamie's body shake with nervousness as he got closer and closer to the room, but when he opened the door and stepped inside, seeing Stitch, it only got worse. Tears started welling in his eyes again and he had to struggle to keep them from cascading down his face.

"Stitch..." he started. "Do you remember me? It's Jamie Bowman. We've talked before... It was not too long after the reaping of the Seventy-Seventh Games." They'd only ever interacted once before, but Jamie considered Stitch a close friend of his. Hopefully Stitch would remember him, even though it was two years ago that they'd first met. "I'm sorry. I should have taken your place after the help you gave me that day when Zagreus was taken away." The tears couldn't be stopped, now, and they began to fall from his eyes. They fell gently at first until his body started to tremor more and he collapsed to the floor in front of Stitch, sobbing.

"I'm sorry I'm so emotional. I just-" he said, only to be interrupted by a hiccup. "I just don't think it's fair. They can't take you like they took Zagreus and C'rizz, so you have to come back. They can't steal you away, too!" His voice was starting to escalate at this point, the boy's emotional side truly kicking in. His autism caused him to be more emotional than most people, and he just hoped that Stitch wouldn't judge him or tell him to leave because of it.