Jack Hughes | Golden Boy

Chapter Twenty | What Should've Been

We drove to the airport in silence.

It wasn't necessarily uncomfortable, but it was unfamiliar.

Jack had always been so affectionate, so well-spoken.

Now it seemed like he had a massive frog that sat in his throat, refusing to move.

To be fair, I wasn't much different...

So many words remained unsaid between us.

Confessions, truths, and desires that would forever lay empty, lost to time and regrets.

They hung in the air, festering like an active volcano, molten lava ready to boil over at any moment.

It wasn't any different as we made our way through the airport.

I sighed, a frown hanging on my lips.

My heart burned in my chest.

If there was one thing Jack and I knew to be true it was that a relationship built around distance and uncertainty could never work.

It just seemed that we weren't willing to admit it yet.

At least, out loud...

We didn't want our time together to end.

Jack paused, grasping my hand tightly in his own, as we came upon the boarding dock.

The two of us stared up at the doors Jack would be leaving through in mere moments, hearts squeezing in our chests.

"I-" we began at the same time.

Our voices laced through one another like the song of a memory long forgotten.

We chuckled loosely, eyes connecting with one another.

Jack's were soft, softer than they usually were, as they flashed across my features.

It almost seemed like he was trying to memorize every inch of me he could see, in fear that I would disappear before his very eyes.

"I'll miss you," he muttered.

His hand rose from my own to brush my hair from my eyes.

They teared up slightly, watching him.

Every muscle in my body ached at the thought of what was to come.

"I'll miss you more," I responded in a near whimper.

A single tear finally fell from my wary eye.

Jack's thumb was quick to catch it, a tender smile finding its way to his chapped lips.

"Impossible," he rumbled.

His hands reached into the length of my hair once again, fisting at the bridge of my neck.

It forced my gaze to remain on his own and drew my lips closer to him.

He didn't waste a second more before pressing his lips against my own.

They felt as warm and inviting as they always had.

My hands rose to his chest, pulling him as close to me as possible.

I never wanted to let go, but the sound of a voice radiating across the building forced me to.

"This is the final boarding call for flight 409 to New Jersey," it called, staticy and abrupt.

My heart splintered and Jack sighed.

His bottom lip wobbled slightly.

At that sharp moment, part of me wished that I could turn back time.

Maybe to warn myself not to fall for him.

Or maybe to just give us more time...

I just didn't have that power.

"That's my flight... I guess that'd make this goodbye," he told me, eyes suddenly etched on the ground beneath his feet.

It caught my attention, uncertainty pooling in my gut.

Since the moment I had met him, Jack had been many things.

Goofy for one, and affectionate for another, but he had also always been strong.

For himself and for everyone else that truly mattered to him.

But at that moment, as he tried with everything to keep his eyes from meeting mine, I could see that his strength had faltered.

The stone wall that shrouded his heart had started to crumble.

I grasped his cheek with the palm of my hand and forced him to meet my eyes.

His were red and raw.

Something I never thought I'd see.

"No, never goodbye. It's just see you later," I responded warmly.

Jack nodded his head, hope blossoming in his chest.

Or at least, I thought it was hope.

He took the hand that I rested on his cheek, pressing a kiss to the back of it.

And the next thing I knew, he had slung his knapsack over his shoulder and bounded towards the terminal.

"Love ya," he exclaimed as he disappeared from view.

He did it as if it was second nature, like it was the most common thing in the world.

I don't even think he realized he said it, yet it hung heavy in the air anyway.

A different kind of anxiety filled my gut.

A queasiness that could only be associated with fear...

The words rang through my mind as if they were on a continual loop, and with them came their own question: could I possibly feel the same?