paper hearts | vinnie hacker

08

( author's note: remember this chapter is dedicated to the backstory behind jackson. )

tw: suicide

italics = flashback

vinnie just stood there, mouth open in shock.

i sat on the ground crying.

we were a mess.

after about half an hour, he spoke up.
"i'm truly sorry. i didn't know and when aria told me you were with someone, i got so mad." he explained, but it wasn't good enough.

i just sat there, unable to say anything. i couldn't believe aria. she was my best friend. never in the world would i have thought she'd let the word jackson slip out of her mouth.

"jackson is my ex. i genuinely believed he was the love of my life. we were together for 2 years. we spent almost every minute together, i had separation anxiety when it came to him. life at home wasn't all rainbows and sunshine, but he was my safe haven. my happy place." i smiled at the thought of him and all of our memories.

  vinnie put his hand in my thigh as i continued, talking about what had happened to him was the hard part.

 

one year ago

  "mom, i'm heading out." i yelled, walking out the door. she never cared when i left, especially if it was with jackson. i got into my car and was on my way to his place. he lived alone since his parents death.

  the traffic was crazy today because of some beach concert. i looked at the time 1:45pm, i told him i'd be over by 2. i quickly texted him letting him know i was going to be late.

imessage

logan
hey baby . might be late
traffic is CRAZY today

  i waited 10 minutes and still no response. weird. he always answered within the first 3 minutes, unless he was sleeping. i shrugged it off.

  about 45 minutes later i arrived at his building. his car wasn't there. i had a key so i walked up to his apartment. once i unlocked the door and stepped in, the smell of alcohol and cigarettes flooded my nose.

  realization hit hard when i saw a shattered picture of his parents. it was their year death date. my eyes widened. he shouldn't be alone right now, he wasn't in a good mental state.

  i called him more than 20 times and no reply. i honestly had no idea where he would be.

  the beach.

  his parents loved the beach. they went all the time. at least that's what jackson told me. he would tell me stories about building sand castles, and swimming with the fishies.

  i ran to my car and jumped in. i needed to go to the beach. there was too many beaches in florida to count or think of, so i just drove to the closest.

  daytona beach.

  jackson always refused to go there, daytona and miami gave him flashbacks and sad memories. my heart hurt for him, he didn't deserve to go through this. he was such a kind soul.

  i went to miami first as it was the closest to his apartment. i parked and frantically hopped out. there was so many people here, i started to freak out.

  i saw his friend kyle out of the corner of my eye.

  "hey kyle! have you seen jackson? it's urgent and he's not answering his phone." i said, out of breath as i had ran over to him.