Gold Rush

Three Words

'I'm sorreh y'kno'

Jack's accent sounded 100 times stronger when he was a little spaced out. Sophie softly smiled.. coming to realise just how much she'd really bloody missed him.

'Jack.. it's okay', She perched on the edge of the bed and lightly brushed her palm against his knuckles.

'Na... nah... don't... it ain't okay!!', the distress was building up inside him. Sophie noticed his eyes beginning to redden and become irritated as he fought back the tears.

'Please', she firmly placed her hand on his chest and immediately felt him calming down, 'You've had a nasty clash with studs.. we will talk later, I promise.. but for now, you need to let me take a look at this wound on your head.'

'Alright..' He nodded, now gripping her hand, which was still resting on his chest.

'I know I've 'ad a bump, but I know what I'm sayin'... and what I've been feelin' Soph', Jack rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. Both clearly remembering that the first time he did that, they were in the back of the car heading to his apartment on that very first night.

She felt those barriers weakening... these past few months had just been an overwhelming rollercoaster of emotions.

'Right', she lifted her hand away from his chest and stood herself up, 'I really need to check your head, I'm certain it's going to need stitches, and as you know, Louis isn't as gentle as me so you best let me get on with it'.

'Be gentle... trustin' you..', Jack croaked.

Just like I trusted you, she thought, with a pang of insecurity.

Sophie pushed the glimmer of vulnerability away and began gathering all the bits and bobs she needed to perform sutures.

She made quick work of removing the thick outer bandage and lowered the head of the bed back down so she could get a better view.

The layers of padding underneath however, we're noticeably more stubborn. She slowly trickled saline solution onto the material which was slightly stuck to his head due to the dried blood and it did take a few minutes of fiddling around, but she finally managed to shift it without putting him through too much discomfort.

Sophie remained stood at the head of the bed, looking down at Jack's face which was now upside down. Even with mud, grass and blood embedded into his skin, he was still annoyingly, as handsome as ever.

'Right. This stuff really stings at first, but I promise that's the worst bit, you won't feel a thing once the local anaesthetic is in place.'

His eyes almost seemed bigger from this angle as he glanced up at her, 'Don't worry, I've 'ad it before.. jus' do what ya need t'do'.

They shared a mutual smile before Jack closed his eyes and let her get to work.

*

It was a good 45 minutes before Sophie finished up.. it needed a good clean to remove the grass and dirt, the last thing he needed was for it to become infected.
She stepped back to admire the neat row of stitches and allowed her neck and back to be stretched, in fear that if she didn't, she would be forever hunched over.

'All done', she started to clear her used equipment into the bin and gave her hands a wash in the sink beside the bed.

'Didn't feel a thing, did I?', Jack's voice rumbled as he remained supine. Sophie held a small mirror in front of him from the head of the bed so she could explain what she had done.

'It was a fairly deep cut Jack.. penetrated multiple layers of skin..', Sophie momentarily paused as she watched the corners of his mouth curl upwards, amused that she'd used 'penetrated' in an actual sentence.
'Grealish.. grow up', she couldn't help but chuckle at him and when she looked down, she found him gazing right back up at her.

'You.. you can't help but surname me.. can ya..', Jack's breath kept catching between words and it took every ounce of her self control to not just surrender to him right there and then.

Sophie was eye level with his plump lips.. she felt like she'd been away from him for a million agonising years.

She continued to take him in... her eyes scanned over the light dusting of freckles which settled across his face.. those few dark speckles along his Cupid's bow.. his longer-than-normal facial hair which appeared spiky and rough, but she knew it wasn't.

'Do..do you feel ok', Sophie's voice broke as she attempted to stand up straight. But she couldn't move. It was like a magnetic force had full control of her.
So she stayed where she was.. almost nose to nose with Jack, but the opposite way up.

'Neva better', She noticed his Adam's apple taking a nervous jump to the top of his neck and back down again.

Jack slowly lifted one arm until it found the back of her head. She allowed his large palm to gently guide her down to him until their lips finally met again.

His beard tickled the tip of her nose.. she knew it would be soft.. just like before. The bitter taste of copper and earth lingered on her tongue as they slowly re-explored each other's mouths, but she couldn't have cared any less in that moment.

At this point, Jack had both hands on either side of her face and his thumbs hungrily pressed into her jawline.

He lifted her head again so they could look at each other once more.. Jack had an unreadable look on his face.. his dark eyes bubbled with lust.

And then he said it.

*
As their kiss came to an end, Jack was battling with his own mind.
He needed to tell her.
It was only three little words.
How hard was it?
Just say it.
Should he do it now?
Why not?
Fuck it, needs to be said.

He lightly pushed Sophie's face away from him.
Her beautiful face.
He couldn't believe how utterly stupid he had been.
He wasn't letting her go again, not now. Not ever.

So he looked her straight in the eyes and he said it.

'Sophie... I love ya'

A couple of seconds passed.
He studied her and heard her sharp intake of breath.

'Jack... I...'
'I love ya', he repeated himself.
'You've had a head injury'
'So?'
'So. This will be forgotten about come tomorrow.'
'Nah.. won't.. c'mere'

He pulled her back in for another kiss.
It was longer but also slower this time.
Jack stroked his fingers along the back of her neck as Sophie cupped his face.

This time, she broke the kiss.

Even during the Euros final he was never this overcome with anxiety. He knew how to keep his cool and remain calm.. but he swore at that very moment that his internal organs tried to come up into his mouth. His nerves were shot at.

'I love you Jack'

She said it.
She really fucking said it!!