HEAD OVER HEELS - J. BREWER

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄: 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐄

Jack visited me almost every day for the next two weeks. I didn't go to practices or ballet, but when I was at school, he texted me at least once every period we weren't in class together to make sure I was doing okay. With the combination of his near-constant checkups and my own mentality surrounding mom getting better, school became easier again. I found my homework more manageable, my classes the right length, and not being attached to Jack every second bearable. That last one was iffy, though. I didn't think I'd ever be fully okay with that.

    He was my rock in every sense of the phrase. I don't know how I would've gotten through those months right after mom's death without him by my side.

    Jack knew everything about me. He put me in my bed and locked the door behind himself more times that I can count, made me food with whatever he could find in my pantry, picked up on my tendency to not eat when I was stressed and always brought me comfort food, knew when I needed to be alone and when I needed to sit in silence with him still there, and accidentally met about half of my family without me there. So, yeah, he was a great boyfriend. The best boyfriend anyone could ask for, actually. And I couldn't imagine my torn-up world without him in it.

***

    "Cerys! You're back again!" Kim yelled as I opened the door to the dojo. I smiled and went over to where she was standing, holding my arms out for a hug. She ran into them with the biggest grin I'd seen her give in months, dropping the bo staff she was holding on the floor. It landed with a thud as she wrapped me up tightly. "I'm so happy you're okay."

    "You have Jack to thank for that, honestly," I said with a little smile. Jerry and Milton came out of the changeroom as I said that, and shone bright smiles in my direction. "Hi, guys."

"We were worried about you, Cerys," Jerry said. "Really."

    "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you guys worry."

"Don't be sorry!" Kim protested as she pulled back to look at me. "It's not your fault, Jack just wouldn't tell us anything and we wanted to know how you were doing, but you never really went anywhere, so it was hard to ask."

    "That's fair. My mom died, so that's...something."

    Kim's eyes filled up with tears as she petted my hair. "I'm so sorry for your loss, Cerys. I'm sure she was a lovely person."

    "She really was. But she's probably more at peace and in less pain wherever she is now, so that's nice."

Jack walked in, and his face lit up upon seeing me standing in the middle of the floor with everyone. "You didn't tell me you were coming to practice today!"

"Surprise," I replied with a grin, my mood instantly lifting because of his presence. He came over to me and gave me a big hug. His face was buried in my neck as he whispered, "Doing okay?"

    "Yeah, better than usual," I whispered back, my own face tucked into his chest. I felt him nod as he pulled away slightly and gave me a little kiss. "Ready to start kicking your butt again."

    "Again? That would mean you did in the first place."

    "She kinda di-"

    Jack cut Milton off by letting go of me and tackling him instead. They landed on a heap on the floor - a heap of flapping arms and tangled legs. Milton's screams sounded like a baby bird, where Jack was mostly grunting like a weird boar. Very attractive. Really made me want to pull them off each other and start making out with my boyfriend.

    Eventually, Kim jumped in and separated them by kicking them away from each other. It was thoroughly enjoyed by both of the offending parties, with curses coming from both. With varying severity, of course - Milton mostly sounded disjointed and childish, where Jack was swearing like a sailor. How could my innocently-spoken boyfriend do such a thing, you might be asking yourself? The truth was that although Jack could sweet talk like no one's business, his mouth was like a dirt pile when he was angry or in pain. Thankfully, that wasn't too often. Just often enough to shock me a little every time.