𝙵𝙾𝚁𝙶𝙴𝚃 𝙷𝙴𝚁࿐ ྂ ᴊᴇꜰꜰ ʙᴜᴄᴋʟᴇʏ

ꜰᴏʀᴛʏ

ꜰɪᴠᴇ ᴍᴏɴᴛʜꜱ ʟᴀᴛᴇʀ

DECEMBER, 1993
NEW YORK CITY.ೃ࿐

THE SUMMER ENDED ON GOOD NOTES,

Jeff and Pollys one year anniversary was celebrated with a short trip to Montauk. Jeff got a band together for the recording of his album, which was considerably behind track, though no one really cared that much, they all knew it'd be great. Despite being busy, Jeff and Polly still managed to see a lot of each other, even outside their apartment.

September was the beginning of recording Grace, and when Polly was off she'd go and spend the day in Woodstock, where the studio was. October was more of the same, and the beginning of December was mainly being spent preparing for the Sin-é tour, which would begin on January 15th in Vancouver.

After the month and a half or so of North American dates, March would bring the European leg of the tour. Polly wasn't too worried about Jeff being gone, she knew it'd go by quickly and she would go to every show she could. She also knew if she couldn't deal with a smaller tour, the tour for Grace would be absolutely terrible.

Instead of obsessing over that fact, Polly managed to distract herself from most of her worries in the past months. She kept busy with work, photography, and Madilyn, who had started her freshman year at NYU in September. Jeff liked watching the two sisters together, it was reminiscent of him and his little brother, though he had barely seen him since he was eighteen. Thinking about that brought guilt, but he chose to ignore it, instead just enjoying the company of Mads when Polly was off at work somewhere.

It felt like he got to know his girlfriend again through Mads, who shared embarrassing stories and how Polly was growing up. Through her words, Jeff realized Polly was close to a second mother to her sister, though not just because they were nearly seven years apart, but because of Mabel's common absences.

"She would drive me to soccer games and shit, I remember her just watching, standing off to the side in like her black jeans and a Cure shirt. She definitely didn't wanna be there." Mads giggled slightly, pulling her coat tighter around her as snow began to fall lightly, dusting the Manhattan streets.

Jeff was grinning to himself, picturing a sixteen year old, angsty Polly watching a soccer game. "Floyd didn't go?" He asked, curious.

Mads didn't seem saddened by his question, she just shrugged and said, "then he was working on a big project. But he'd go to whatever he could. You know he never stops talking about you?" She glanced over to Jeff, smiling slightly.

They made their way to Yaffa, a small middle-eastern cafe on St. Marks Place. "Really?" Jeff's smile grew even more, pleased to hear this. He loved their father.

"Yeah. Polly's not Polly, she's Jeff's girlfriend." Mads told him, joking. "Really, he does love you though."

Jeff took off his hat, his overgrown haircut from summer sticking up in different places. "That's good to know."

Mads raised her eyebrows, honey-brown eyes studying him. "You're gonna-"

"Nah, I'm not."

"Are you sure?"

"Kind of."

She laughed, and they ordered quickly and sat down in a booth. "Might as well be married."

Jeff looked up at her from his coffee, "what d'you mean?"

"You know what I mean, you guys are like, just... together together." She struggled to find the right word, and Jeff laughed, shaking his head.

"Eventually." He spoke quietly, distracting himself with the way his creamer swirled in the coffee.

They spent an hour or so in the cafe before Polly got off work and joined them. Jeff found it funny but endearing how many similarities the sisters shared despite being apart for so long.

He noticed Mads wore her eyeliner in the same way Polly normally would, smudged slightly underneath her eyes, they told story's the same way, laughed in an almost identical manner.

It was nice knowing that even if you're far away from someone, in both time and space, you can still be connected, somehow. He lost himself in that thought as the two girls talked amongst themselves, staring out into the busy restaurant.

༻✦༺

Jeff admired Polly as she strummed on the thrift store burgundy Jaguar birthday present, which he'd gotten her less than two months after they'd met, looking back on it, that big of a gift should've been a sign that he was already completely hers.

She had begun to play a song off Physical Graffiti, the very first record he'd gotten. He almost laughed to himself thinking about what his teenaged self would say knowing he was with a girl like Polly, who was playing guitar, and even though she would've laughed at her appearance of messy hair, boxers and an oversized shirt, looked absolutely beautiful.

He almost preferred that look to her normal outfits, and definitely over her work clothing. But there was no denying she looked great in whatever.

"You look pretty." His voice was soft, like he almost didn't expect himself to speak, though he couldn't help it.

Polly looked like she didn't believe him, as she almost always didn't with compliments, especially when she was in pajamas. "I'm already yours, no need to flatter me." Her blue eyes met Jeff's brown ones before focusing back on the guitar in her lap. Despite her remark, his words left a small smile on her face, as they always did, as they always would.

"Not flattery if it's true." He met her eyes once again, now fully grinning like he was teenager.

At this she just shook her head and started strumming again, but stopped and just looked at him, eyes brimming with love. She found it hard to fully articulate what she felt when she looked at him, though spoke anyways. "You're beautiful, you know." Her words were as true as they could be, and it felt like she wasn't really speaking them, as that was something that she constantly thought.

And it wasn't just Jeff's long eyelashes that paired perfectly with his deep brown eyes, or the way his hair curled when it got long enough, or his slightly crooked smile that provoked her words. It was everything.

"No need to flatter me, I'm already yours." He replied, eyes squinting as he smiled, repeating her earlier words.

"It's not flattery if it's true."

༻✦༺

a/n

you guys are all in luck because I suck at planning so this fic is gonna be way longer than it was originally gonna be 🙏

as always, thank you for reading !! 💘💘