to my destiny 💫

003.

[alex's point of view]

when i saw jackie texting back, i felt like i couldn't breathe. i already missed her so much, and i just wanted her to come home.

but when i saw what she said, i felt my heart tear in two. i just know something happened between her and cole, definitely more than he's telling. she wouldn't leave me for him after all of this though, right?

i was sitting at the kitchen table staring at my phone with a frown when will and haley walked in. "hey, alex, do you know where jackie is? we wanted to thank her for last night," said will

i stared at them for a split second, not knowing what to say. "uhh, yeah, about that. she's actually back in new york. left early this morning."

"what? why? i thought she was happy here," haley replied. i nodded, raising my eyebrows. "she is! she is! she just left for the summer. i think she's just been missing the city," i told her.

will nodded. "yeah... i'm sure that's why. uh, will you tell mom and dad that we're headed out? we wanted to say goodbye in person, but since they're not here right now, just let them know we'll call tonight."

"you're leaving already? i thought you guys were staying in the yurt a few more nights," i replied. haley looked at will and laughed and looked back at me before saying, "yeah, we're not so keen on that now. we're ready to start our own lives separate from each others families."

i nodded with a frown. "okay? is that what you want me to tell my parents?" i asked. will shook his head. "she didn't mean it like that, alex. we just want to focus on starting our own family off on the right foot."

i looked in between them two and nodded hesitantly. "okay. are you sure you don't wanna wait for them?" i asked. will rolled his eyes. "we live like ten minutes from them, alex. i'm sure we'll see them at the store or something."

once they left, i turned my attention back towards my phone. jackie's words echoed through my mind. she didn't wanna break up, but she wanted a break. how was that any different? she couldn't even say she loved me back. i decided to finally text her back. 

Yeah, I would love to talk to you every day, or as much as I can with camp in Montana. I still don't completely understand what you said, though. How is this about Cole and not the way I think? I know you probably don't want to talk about it right now, but I do. He's my brother, and after everything that happened with Paige in the past, I just wanna make sure I'm aware of why this has to do with Cole at all. 

I also don't get what you mean by "taking a break". We're basically just breaking up and getting back together if you want to after you come back from New York, and I don't think that's really fair. A relationship should be up to both people in it. Otherwise, it's not really a relationship. It's just one person ordering the other around. I told you I love you, and I mean it. I just don't like the fact that you're kind of using that in a way of taking advantage of me.  

I know you're probably unpacking some stuff or whatever right now, but do you have time to call me? Please. I really think it would be easier to do this not over text, even if it is just face time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[jackie's point of view]

on my way back to my room after hanging out in the loft with uncle richard, i saw danny in the hall and waved. "hey, how are you liking the pent house so far?" i asked. 

he smiled and shrugged. "it's gonna take some getting used to, but i don't mind. it's kind of nice not having a thousand people around, but it's weird." i nodded. "yeah... it's definitely a change, for sure."

"hey, i know it's still probably fresh and all, but why did you wanna leave silver falls? i thought you were liking it there," danny said. i squinted my eyes and nodded, looking at the floor. "i just-- thought it would be better. i needed to clear my head from... so many things happening out there."

danny nodded. "right. cole." my eyes darted up. "what?" how did he know about cole? if he did, it was only a matter of time before alex found out. "i know you went out to see him yesterday after you found the teapot. he didn't tell me what happened or anything, but it's not hard to see that something happened."

i nodded. "it's-- it's kind of complicated. i'm not really sure what to say other than that. did you tell anyone else about it?" i asked hesitantly. danny shook his head. "it wasn't really my place. plus there's already so much drama in that house that it would've just made everything worse."

"okay, good," i said, feeling a wave of relief. "alex isn't stupid, though. i'm sure he's figured out more than you want him to have, but i wouldn't worry. he's not the kind to give up on people very fast," danny replied. i smiled and nodded. "right. thanks, danny. i'm going to go clean up my room some. i'll talk to you later."

as soon as i walked into my room, my eyes landed on my phone... and the messages from alex waiting for me. i frowned as i read them. i didn't know exactly what to tell him, so i just tried to cover myself and make sure what i wanted was inevitably evident.

Yeah, I would love to talk to you every day, or as much as I can with camp in Montana. I still don't completely understand what you said, though. How is this about Cole and not the way I think? I know you probably don't want to talk about it right now, but I do. He's my brother, and after everything that happened with Paige in the past, I just wanna make sure I'm aware of why this has to do with Cole at all.

Maybe you're right about the whole taking a break thing is the same thing as a break up. I'm sorry if I made you feel like this was all just my decision. It's completely yours too. I think it would be great if we just stay friends and text each other when we want to. If we both want to get back together after everything and I decide to go back to Silver Falls, that's great. If not, that's just as fine. 

Maybe we can call in a few weeks, but I'm really just not comfortable with that right now. I'm trying to think clearly through everything that's happened over the past few months. Text you soon!