There Really Ain't no Rest For The Wicked.

What's Lying Underneath The Surface

TW: Anxiety Attack ⚠️⚠️

"I told you before, smoking is a bad habit. Don't wanna wind up like me, pumpkin. Trust me." Jack said as he stepped out and closed the screen door to the balcony. I say nothing as I watch the orange ring on my cigarette travel closer towards my mouth when I inhale. I let out a cough, releasing the pent up smoke in my mouth, watching it float away into the clear night sky. I took a deep breath in, in an attempt to let my poor lungs recover, then sighed. After a few moments of shared silence, I speak up.

"Jack?"

"hm."

"What are we?"

"What do you mean?" Jack says, walking up beside me to rest his forearms on the railing of the balcony.

"I mean, what do we have between us? Do we actually have something? Something that...means something to you?" I conceded. I wasn't sure what answer I was hoping for, but I certainly didn't expect silence as the initial response. He just looks at the cigarette lingering in my fingers, as he picks it out of them, and starts smoking it himself. Finally, after a puff, he speaks. "Why question it? Does it matter what we have? I think our situation is our something." the smoke exiting his mouth as he speaks. I turn to face my body towards him, my eyes squinted and my eyebrows knotted. "What do you mean?" It was my turn to ask. "Why wouldn't I question it? What situation do we have? And again, what does this mean to you?" I voiced. Jack really was being blunt. I shouldn't be surprised nonetheless though. All he does in response is chuckle quietly, turning his body towards mine to meet. "You really overthink yourself sometimes, you know that?" He says, placing his hand so delicately on my forearm. He leans in to whisper in my ear. "Why don't you just ask him instead of wondering about it?" "Jack what are you talking about?"

I open my eyes and sit up abruptly, hitting my head on the ceiling.
"Ow." I say, rubbing my head with my hands.
"You okay?" Maya asks quietly from the bunk under me.
"Mhm." I respond back. I look over the edge of the bunk bead to see Maya reading. She seemed to be feeling better after her incident with that eridium. Roland had forced her to bed rest for the past week after she supposedly "came down from her high" as Lilith called it. It didn't take long for the side effects of the eridium to disappear but it definitely left Maya feeling weak,  she hasn't even been using her powers since that day. I fear shes afraid that using her power again could hurt her, or others. She says she doesn't feel ready yet, but I can tell that she wants to. She's trying to brace herself, and not get too ahead of her own self.
"Were you dreaming about Jack?" I whip my head in her direction after daydreaming. "How did you-"
"You talk in your sleep dude." She speculated. Her eyes never leaving the page shes reading. "Oh..." I marvelled. Retreating my view of her and moving to get down from the bunk.
"Speaking of which. We need to have a talk." Maya confided, closing her book and tossing it aside on the bed. When I get down from the ladder of the bunk I go to sit on the edge of her bed. She begins, "Did you know?"
"Know what?" I asked.
"About the sabotage."
"Well....yes and no....It's, quite difficult to explain. Yes, I knew it was going to happen, but no, I didn't know Angel was behind all this." I explained, using a hushed tone so no one could overhear our conversation from the other room.
"Why didn't you say anything?" Maya said, voiced. She didn't seem angry or upset, it was hard to read where she was coming from. Maya has always been like this, but in this case, I was worried that anything i'd say next wouldn't result in anything good. I sighed, feeling that I am forced to accept my fate. "I guess I felt....conflicted. I knew it would be immoral if I didn't say anything. That would make me a bad vault hunter, a bad person. But, Jack had told me information that he didn't tell any of you, and I think he trusted me with that information." I said, my words coming out rather fast, and my breathing rather short. "He sounded like he had a good reason and I wanted to respect that, I promise, I did want to say something, but it was too late. By the time I opened my mouth it was too late! I didn't want to hurt anyone, I just froze and I didn't know what to do-"
"Stop, stop! Just...calm down you're getting too worked up." Maya abruptly commented. I went to speak, but nothing came out of my throat when I tried. My heart was racing, and I hadn't even noticed until I stopped to try and breathe. My hands were shaking and my forehead felt sweaty. It was hard to focus on Maya's face, my eyes being fuzzy by tears forming in the corner of my eyes. "I'm sorry, I got too ahead of myself.." I muttered quietly, wiping the tears from my eyes. Maya had her hands placed on my lap and gently removed them to cross her arms instead. She let out a long sigh. "You have feelings for him, don't you?" She asks, keeping the question simple. I look up from gazing at the floor. I didn't respond right away, and I took my time to reflect and respond.