New Perspective ~ A Handsome Jack x Reader Story

Chapter Twenty Four ~ Morning Doubt

In the morning, the normal Pandoran sun you were used to was hidden behind a haze of clouds. This allowed for a gentler awakening from you, as the first thing you did was open your eyes. The pull of drowsiness tried to close your eyes again, but by rubbing them with the palms of you hands for a second or two, you were able to keep them open.

You lifted yourself to sit up, stretching your arms back with a sleepy groan. It was oddly still in the little hut you were in, you noticed. By twisting your torso ever so slightly to the left, you gave yourself a chance to look at the rest of the hut. There, where Jack had been sleeping, was an empty space. The sand was disturbed, but other than that, there was no sign of him.

Instantly, you felt your heart plummet to the ground. As a frown began to form on your face, thoughts raced through your head. He left again? Sure, it was annoying when he left before, but this time? This time stung. Water began to prick at your eyes as a sense of hatred washed over you. Though, you still couldn't help but feel slightly pained. You trusted him...despite his reputation, you trusted him. And he repaid you by stealing off again?

"..jackass," you mutter to yourself, biting the inside of your lip. How could you let him do this? How could you let yourself get hurt so easily by this? He's not even a good guy, he's...

A sound. There's a sound outside. You froze up, listening to the sound of footsteps, plus something heavy being dragged against the sand. Then, there it was. His voice.

"Rise and shine, cupcake!" Your eyes glanced towards the door, watching as Jack strolled in, dragging a skag corpse after him. "Figured I'd grab something to cook up and eat before we head off," he continued, his eyes not landing on you yet, "won't be ideal, skag kinda tastes like leather dunked in tar, but- woah, hey are you alright?"

He finally looked at you, instantly noticing the gleam in your eye, a sure sign of tears. You blinked for a moment, the teardrops at your eyes threatening to fall. Then, your hands shot up to your face, quickly wiping at your eyes. "'m fine," you mumble, pushing yourself up to stand after making sure your eyes were fine.

Jack clearly didn't believe you, unsure was written all over his masked face. You stepped towards him, making eye contact with him. "Really, it's nothing. Thanks for getting food," you tell him, taking the skag from him to drag it outside and prepare it.

"Yeah, it's no problem.." Jack responded, his voice wary as his gaze never left you. It seemed as though he debated on pushing further on the topic, but he seemed to drop it, as he walked to your black bag to get knives to cook the skag - that, you were grateful for.

As you walked out, you felt the heat of embarrassment on your face. What bothered you the most was that you couldn't convince yourself that there was no way he would leave again. He couldn't be trusted, you knew that. You'd just have to resist the urge to count on him - even if he came back this time, who's to say he'll always be there? Muttering under your breath, you made yourself a promise. A promise to not let him affect you too much, to not let him weasel his way into your every day thoughts. No matter what, you had to keep in mind: "he's fickle.." you whispered under your breath as a reminder.

Fickle. You chuckled to yourself softly. What a fitting way to describe him; fickle, and oh so shallow. This, you had to keep in mind, no matter how much he seemed to have changed. For a moment, you wondered what it would've been like to know him before he was 'Handsome Jack.' Maybe then you wouldn't have a worry about whether it's right to feel compelled to like him as much as you are.

I know this is like the shortest chapter I've ever written, but I wanted to give y'all at least something after having to wait so long. The business and stress haven't subsided yet, but I figured I could try to update with something! More is to come for this story, don't worry. I just need to get back into the groove of it. I love you all <3 ~rose