𝐧𝐨 𝐛𝐨𝐲𝐬 𝐳𝐨𝐧𝐞, gilinsky

Eighteen

Casey

"I just missed you." Jack simply said, walking past me, into my apartment. I closed the door and followed Jack, who seated himself onto the couch. "Why are you so nervous? You look nervous." Jack said, staring into my eyes.

"I'm not nervous? What's going on with you though, you're acting weird." I asked, furrowing my eyebrows. Jack stayed quiet for a minute, but then opened his mouth to say something.

"I know about Nate being here." He blurted out, surprising me. "So what? Is he not allowed to visit me?" I argued, starting to get annoyed. "He is, I just don't want you to become more than friends with him." Jack demanded, as if he was my father.

"Oh wait, so you are allowed to text and hangout with girls, but when it comes to me, I'm not allowed to?" I yelled at Jack, standing up from the couch. "You are such a fucking hypocrite, Jack. This is exactly what happened before all the drama started!" I continued yelling, Jack staying quietly in his spot. He kept his mouth shut, because he knew I was right.

When I was about to yell again, my bedroom door opened, revealing Nate in nothing but sweatpants. Jack and Nate's eyes immediately landed on me again. Nate seemed confused, probably because he thought Jack was dead, just like I did.

"Nate, I'll be with you in a minute. Give us some time." I said as Nate nodded and walked back into my room. I tried to avoid Jack's eyes, but it was impossible to look away. "Why is he shirtless? You're making the same mistake you did with Sam." Jack spoke softly, surprisingly, I expected him to raise his voice at me.

"It's not what it looks like, I just told him to get comfortable since he just got here." I explained, crossing my arms against my chest. "Casey, you're right." Jack suddenly said. "Look, if you like Nate, I'm not going to stop you from dating him or whatever. I'm just selfish, I wanted you all for myself." Jack apologised, realising he was wrong all that time.

"I'm sorry. I just don't want to lose you again." Jack chuckled, trying to hide the tears forming in his eyes. "It's okay, you're not losing me." I scooted closer to him and held his hand in mine. I kissed his cheek, before placing my head on top of his shoulder as I caressed his hand with my fingers.

-

"I'm happy for you, I know he means a lot to you and you mean a lot to him as well." Nate said after I explained the whole story of how I met Jack again. "Thank you, but you know what else made me happy?" I asked Nate as I hugged his waist and looked up at him.

"You." I said as Nate kissed my nose. "Wait, so Jack isn't going to want to kill me or himself if we started dating?" Nate asked. I knew what he was trying to do and honestly, now that I know Jack isn't going to be pissed, I'd say yes if he asked me to be his girlfriend.

"Nope, he won't, don't worry." I confirmed, Nate's dimples showing as soon as I said that. "Casey..." Nate trailed off, almost whispering. "What's wrong?" I backed away from Nate, knowing he was about to say something serious. "As much as I want you to be my lady, Jack deserves you more than anyone." Nate got straight to the point, making me frown.

"Okay." I answered, looking everywhere but into Nate's eyes who were begging for contact. "Okay?" Nate asked. "You're not Augustus Waters, Nate. Stop it." I playfully pushed him.

"I'm glad I'm not. I don't want to end up dying." Nate responded with a smart tone. "But forreal, Casey. Jack really loves you. I know you've been through so much shit, but I really think you should give Jack a chance." Nate suddenly got serious as he caressed my arms. I just awkwardly stared at the floor, cringing at the stuff that happened to me in the past two years.

"And what I also know is that Jack will give you the life you deserve. You're so special, I hate seeing you suffer." Nate continued, my cheeks heating up with every word he said.

"You're right." I blurted out, smiling at the thought of Jack and I being together.

{a short chapter i knooow, i'm sorry! comment & vote though, i love reading your comments.}