when jack harlow left louisville, kentucky after high school, he knew he was on to bigger and better things. he only regretted leaving behind one thing - beth, his life-long next door neighbor, his first everything, the girl he could never make his...
Beth woke up to the sound of her phone vibrating on the nightstand. She rolled over and opened her eyes, allowing them to adjust to the mid-morning sunlight. Her wedding dress laid disregarded on the bedroom floor, with Jack's tuxedo pants covering the veil. Admiring the sight, the new bride nearly forgot her phone was ringing. The screen said "mom," with a picture of Beth and her mother at her undergraduate graduation from Yale. She unlocked the phone, bringing it to her ear.
"Mom, hey."
"I cannot believe you Elizabeth."
"I told you I was going to marry him with or without your approval."
"I know, and you made the wrong decision, but what hurts more is that you married him without even inviting me or your father."
"We didn't invite anyone! We eloped!"
By this point, Jack had woken up. He groggily wrapped an arm around Beth, his tangled curls falling in his eyes.
"Beth, you're our only child and we didn't get to see you get married. Your dad didn't get to walk you down the aisle. Do you know how that feels?"
"I'm sorry, but you didn't want us together. Neither did dad. This is the only way we felt like we could get married and be happy."
"Well, maybe your dad and I will get lucky. Maybe a few years down the road, when you realize what a colossal mistake you made and divorce Jack, you'll marry someone else. Then I'll finally get the chance to see my only daughter get married."
"We're not going to get a divorce."
"Okay Elizabeth. Don't say I didn't warn you."
Beth hung up the phone.
"I'm sorry Jack...she doesn't mean it."
Jack sighed, removing his arm from around his new wife and placing his feet down on the cold hardwood floor.
"You know she did. They never liked me, never thought I was good enough for you. My parents like you so much because they know you're way too good for me. They're shocked you agreed to marry me."
"Jack please, don't do this," Beth reached for his hand. "We're married; we're happy. It doesn't matter what anyone thinks."
"I'm gonna go take a shower."
•••
Jake let the hot water loosen his tense muscles and closed his eyes. In a matter of days, Beth would be returning to New Haven to continue her law courses. She would be living in an apartment that Jack had bought her with her dog Lucy; Christian had been kind enough to let her keep the dog. Jack couldn't go with her. He had things to do, music videos and interviews. He promised to visit as soon as he could, though he had no idea how long that may be.
Although they were now married, Jack and Beth were still living completely separate lives, and they would soon be reminded of that. Beth's parents would spend the rest of their lives praying she would come to her senses and divorce Jack, while his parents would spend the rest of their lives praying that he wouldn't do something to mess up his relationship with Beth.
Being together would never be easy, ever. Jack knew that. Hell, they had been chasing each other for a decade, and it had never been easy up until this point. Now, there were even more factors complicating things: Jack's fame, Beth's schooling and career, Jack's pain about the fact that Beth had an abortion and never told him. Being together would never be easy, but once Beth returned to New Haven, the newlyweds would see if being together was even possible.
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liked by carlymann and 10,394 others
bethharlow: still cannot believe these two babies are married. life is crazy <3
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jackharlow: life really is crazy. i love you <3
jackstan: so confused where this girl came from???
