Painful Laughter (Laughing Jack X Reader)

Chapter 4

Just wanted to say that the picture above is not mine. I'm not sure who drew it, but it was not me. Hope you enjoy the chapter!!
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Over the past week, Laughing Jack had grown very fond of (Y/N). You could even say he liked her. Sammy would always ask (Y/N) to join them when they played games. The odd thing was, Jack wasn't even upset that Sammy allowed (Y/N) to join them. She made Jack smile.

(Y/N) did have some rather...odd qualities about her. She always wore dark clothing, mainly black or a dark red. She took her umbrella and a pair of blacked out sunglasses with her whenever she went outside in the day. Just as Sammy had said, Jack never saw her eat anything. She didn't even drink water. She also never talked to anyone when her parents were around.

Jack couldn't blame her for that, though. All her parents did was make fun and laugh at her. They would call her a goth freak, to which she would only sit and glare at them. When her parents had their friends over, it was much worse. They'd each make insults toward her, but the worse thing they did was throw things at her.

A glass bottle one of her father's friends had thrown had hit her in the head, causing a long, steady stream of blood to flow from the wound the broken glass had caused. She rushed from the kitchen and into her room, angry tears threatening to spill down her pale cheeks. What amazed Laughing Jack the most was that she hadn't even whimpered when the bottle made contact with her skin.

(Y/N) was strong, one of the strongest humans Jack had ever seen. She fought the battles the people around her presented to her, but she didn't let that affect her attitude when she was around Sammy.

When she was with that boy, she was like a completely different person. She never acted sad. She always had a smile on her face. She always wrapped the cuts and bruises that her parents had caused in white gauze so Sammy couldn't see the injuries. When he would ask her what the white bandages on her body were for, she would tell him they were just fashion accessories.

(Y/N) tried so hard to keep her parents from hurting Sammy. She would always take the fall for something that Sammy did just so her parents wouldn't punish him. She had taken the beatings, the emotional abuse, anything they had to throw at her just so Sammy could make it through the night unscathed.

It was Friday night, the night Jack had promised to show himself to (Y/N), and he was second guessing his promise. Yes, he was more comfortable around her than he was a week ago, but he still was unsure of how she would react when she saw him. What if she was terrified? What if she tried to keep him from Sammy? Not that she could, he liked that little boy at lot, and nothing could take him away, but she could surely try.

They were in Sammy's room, and the little boy was bouncing with joy.

"I can't wait until (Y/N) meets you, Jack! She's going to just love you! We'll be the best of friends! I'm so excited!" Sammy exclaimed.

"Sammy, I'm so sure if this," Jack hesitated. Sammy's smile disappeared.

"What? Why not?"

"Well, what if I scare her when we meet? I mean, I don't want to create a gap between you and your sister, but I won't let her take you away from me because of her fear," Jack tried explaining.

"She would never do that, Jack. You have to trust me. I know her a lot better than you do. She'd be happy I finally found a friend. You two could even become friends! Please, just try?" Sammy pleaded. Jack thought it over, then sighed.

"Fine. I'll do it, kiddo. Where is she?"

"I'm not sure. I think she was going outside. Lets go look." With that, Sammy and Jack made there way down the hall and to the door, just in time for them to see (Y/N) closing the door behind her. Sammy ran and grabbed the handle, jerking the door open.

"Hey (Y/N)! Wait up!" Sammy called, racing to her side. (Y/N) turned her head to the little boy.

"Oh, hello Sammy. What are you doing up? It's almost midnight. I thought I already tucked you in."

"I know. I just needed to show you something," Sammy said, leading her over to a tall oak tree.

"Go ahead, Sammy," (Y/N) said.

"You remember how I told you about my friend Laughing Jack?"

"Yes," (Y/N) agreed.

'Oh no. Here it comes,' Jack thought.

"Well, he's not imaginary. He's real, and I want you to meet him. Jack, you can show yourself now," Sammy exclaimed, gesturing to the monochrome clown.

Jack sighed, having second thoughts about his promise, but walked beside Sammy anyways. He took the spell that kept (Y/N) from seeing him away so that he would be visible to both Sammy and her.

(Y/N) looked up at Jack, eyes slightly widening. She was shocked. She had only thought him to be imaginary, but here he was, standing before her, as real as her and Sammy.

(Y/N) wasn't scared, though. No, she had seen much worse in her lifetime, but he was surely the most unique. Although she wasn't scared, she still stayed cautious. How was he here? Where had Sammy met him?

"(Y/N), this is Laughing Jack. Jack, this is (Y/N)," Sammy introduced. (Y/N) gave a slight head nod to Jack. He returned it with a smile.

"Hello there. I've heard so much about you. It's nice to finally meet you, (Y/N)," Jack said.

"Nice to meet you too, Laughing Jack," (Y/N) muttered in a quiet voice. Although it wasn't much, Sammy's eyes seemed to light up.

"See! I knew you two would like each other! I'm so happy!" Sammy exclaimed, bouncing around the two of them.

"It's getting pretty late, Sammy. I think it's time for you to be in bed," (Y/N) pointed out. "I'll tuck you in. It was nice meeting you, Laughing Jack, but Sammy has to go to bed now."

"Oh, don't worry (Y/N). Jack sleeps in there with me," Sammy said. (Y/N) eyes grew wider.

"Oh...well...ok, I guess. Lets just get you inside." (Y/N) kept her hands on Sammy's shoulders as they made there way into the house, glancing wearily back at Jack from time to time.

After Sammy had showered and changed into pajamas, he hoped into the bed and waited for (Y/N). She entered the room, Jack following soon after. He crawled into his sleeping bag and closed his eyes, pretending to fall asleep.

"You're sure you are ok in here, Sammy? I mean, I could sleep in here for a little while with you, if you want," (Y/N) suggested, staring at the clown.

"That's ok, (Y/N). You can go to your room. I've got Jack to keep me company," Sammy exclaimed happily.

'That's what I'm worried about,' (Y/N) thought. She glanced at Laughing Jack again and nodded.

"Ok. I'll see you in the morning. Goodnight, Sammy," (Y/N) said as she exited the room, flipping off the light as she went.

"Goodnight, Jack. See you tomorrow." With that, the little boy went straight to sleep.

Jack opened his eyes and looked straight ahead at the wall in front of him, thinking about the night's events. (Y/N) didn't seem scared of him at all. She had been cautious, of course, but he had seen no fear in her eyes. He had never seen a person, except for the children, who wasn't afraid of him. They all tried to run from him in fear, which ended up with him violently murdering them. (Y/N) was unique. His interest in her grew.

Jack pulled the top of the sleeping bag up to his chin, the coldness of the night surrounding him. He closed his eyes and let sleep take him, dreams of (Y/N) occupying his mind.