tying up loose ends ☆ a jack harlow fanfiction

home

Just like that, they went back to their hometown, except it didn't feel like home anymore. This couldn't be the same place where they grew up next door to each other, where they spent countless hours in each other's bedrooms just taking each other in, where they attended prom, where Beth drove to Planned Parenthood on that dreaded day, where she dumped Jack. This couldn't be that place. Things were so different now; the couple was so different now. Yet, when they pulled up to their childhood homes, every memory and every emotion associated with it came flooding back.

Beth's parents were so proud of her, of the woman she had become. She was their only child and  she was soon to be a lawyer and as far as they knew, soon to be engaged to her long-term boyfriend. They would be so shocked, so disappointed. She knew this as she walked up the front steps of her childhood home, Jack right on her heels. Beth knocked, but no one answered. She knew they were home; both of their cars were in the driveway, but they weren't expecting her. Jack reached his hand out and rung the bell. It seemed as though no one would answer once again, but when he was about to press the doorbell for a second time, Beth's mother opened the door. The woman stood there silently for a few moments, staring blankly at the couple.

"Beth," she nearly whispered.

"Mom, hey."

"And...Jack."

"Mrs. Radford," he responded with a smile. He extended a hand, but she didn't shake it. In fact, she refused to even look at him, keeping her eyes on her daughter.

"I wasn't expecting you, is everything okay?," the woman asked, though she didn't sound genuinely concerned.

"Yeah, can we come in?," Beth asked. Jack thought it was odd that she had to ask to enter the house she was raised in.

"Both of you?"

"Yes mom, both of us."

Mrs. Radford stepped out of the doorway to let them in. Beth's father was sitting in the living room in his recliner with the dog laying by his feet, and Beth wondered why he hadn't come to answer the door himself.

"Hey daddy," Beth greeted her father.

"Beth! What're you doing in town?"

Mr. Radford got up and gave his only daughter a hug, but the embrace was brief as he became aware of Jack's presence.

"Oh, hello Jack."

"Hi sir."

"Please, sit," Beth's mom offered, opening her arm towards the couch.

They sat on the couch where they had made out many a time as teenagers.

"Okay, what is this about?," Mrs. Radford asked. She was always the more assertive of Beth's parents and did not seem amused to see her daughter's ex boyfriend sitting in her living room.

"Mom, dad, Jack and I are engaged. I wanted to come tell you in person before you heard it from  someone else."

"You're engaged?!," her mother fumed.

"What about Christian," her father chimed in.

"I broke up with him," Beth said, trying to maintain her composure.

"No," Mrs. Radford shook her head. "No. You're not marrying him."

"Yes I am. I didn't have to ask you."

"Beth, a word." Her mother grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out of the room. "What the hell is wrong with you?! You cannot just abandon Christian like this. And Jack?! Jack! When did you even start speaking to Jack again? Did you cheat on Christian with him? I raised you better than this!"

"Mom, I love him," Beth responded sheepishly. "I've always loved him."

"But he doesn't love you Beth! He doesn't have your best interest in mind. Law school is your best interest; Christian is your best interest!"

"You don't know that!"

"I do know that. I'm your mother, I've been around you and Jack for years. I know what's best for you, and he's never been it."

"Well we're getting married."

"Fine, but you will never have your father and I's blessing, and when it all falls apart, don't come crying to me."

"Fine."

Beth reentered the living room and grabbed her fiancé's hand.

"C'mon Jack, we're leaving."

Beth dragged him through the hallway and out the front door.

"Your dad didn't give me his blessing," Jack said disappointingly.

"Neither did my mother. I don't care. We're getting married."

Jack put the car in drive and the couple watched their childhood homes fade away.