Helplessly; j.g.

Seven

Rome glanced over at Jack as they sat on the beach, even if it was a little too cold for anyone to be there, and the sand would stick to their bottoms and clothes when they got up to leave. 

Jack's brown eyes were set ahead on the crashing water, coming onto the shore and going back, just to come back a few seconds later. 

"Jack," Rome finally said after he kept watching the waves. He moved his eyes over to her, her and her happiness and joy. There was a small smile on her lips, which had light pink lipstick on them. "You okay?"

He wanted to laugh at the question, but then remembered that Rome actually cared about him and what he answered. "I mean, I guess. I'm happy you got Kayla and Johnson together. Or, as together as they can be," he said, pulling his legs up and resting his elbows on his knees. 

Rome nodded. "If I made a mistake about that, I'm sorry," Rome said softly.

Jack shook his head, turning his eyes back to the ocean. "You don't have to apologize for anything. You didn't do anything wrong. You actually made Jack happier, which is possible, but no one's done it in a while." He looked back at her, seeming to not want to take his eyes off of her. "You're actually making everyone happier."

Rome smiled, looking at him. "Thank you for the compliments, Jack. But I'm sure if I wasn't here, then you would still be pretty happy."

"No, that's the thing... I wouldn't. I would be sitting in Jack's hospital room, talking to him about something stupid. His nurse would come in, then his doctor and they would do their tests and whatevers on him. They would leave, and we would go back to what we were talking about. That's what I did before I met you. That's what I've always done before I met you," Jack rambled, keeping his eyes locked with Rome's. He sighed, dropping his gaze to the sand. "I didn't mean to make any of that sound crazy, I swear."

"You didn't, it's okay," Rome laughed, placing a hand on his forearm. Jack looked down at it, making her pull it away and clear her throat. "Look, I have something to tell you. It's important too."

"What is it?" Jack asked. 

Rome opened her mouth to say it, but was interrupted by yelling. 

"Hey, you two can't be here! The beach is closed!" a security guard yelled, walking quickly towards them.

"We gotta run," Jack muttered, grabbing Rome's hand and pulling her up. They raced to the fence and pushed through it, Jack locking it back up and following Rome back to her car. 

Jack quickly got in the driver's seat, Rome in the passenger's, and drove away, leaving the security guard to be slightly disappointed he didn't get to bust them. 

"Well, that was close," Jack laughed a little, looking over his shoulder.

"And yet another laugh by Jack Gilinsky," Rome announced, clapping her hands. 

Jack rolled his eyes at her, making Rome laugh more as he drove. He pulled to the side of the road, in front of his apartment complex. Jack turned the key over, killing the car and leaning back in his seat.

"So, are we going up to your apartment or something?" Rome asked a moment later.

"Well, I mean, if you want to," Jack stammered.

"I do want to," Rome confirmed, getting out of the car and heading to the lobby area of the complex. "What's your apartment number?"

Jack raced to catch up to her, finally walking beside her. "Apartment 34," he answered as they walked inside and went to the elevator. Rome pushed the up button and waited, tapping her foot with her hands crossed over her chest. "So what was the important thing you wanted to tell me at the beach, before we got caught?"

"Oh, right," Rome said as the elevator dinged open and they both stepped inside. Jack pushed the button for the third floor. "I'm pregnant." He froze, looking at her before a wide grin spread on her face. "I'm totally kidding," she laughed. 

"Oh, I knew that," Jack scoffed. 

"Yeah, okay," Rome nodded as the doors closed and the elevator moved up. "The big news is that I got relocated. To Italy."

This time, Jack really froze. He didn't know what to say or think or do. She was leaving? When? Why? Why did the company have to take away the one thing he liked? 

"Jack," Rome said, snapping her fingers in front of his face as the doors opened to the third floor. 

"What?" he asked, still in a daze. Rome walked out of the elevator, pulling him with her and went to Jack's apartment door.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing," Jack answered, recovering from his frozen moment and unlocking his door, leading Rome inside. 

"There's something wrong. You kind of froze or something in the elevator," Rome countered, shutting the door as Jack took his coat off and sat down on the couch. 

"There's nothing wrong," Jack argued.

"What's wrong, Jack? And don't lie to me, please," Rome demanded, taking her coat off as well and placing it on the counter.

"Fine. I will tell you what's wrong," Jack muttered, standing up and facing her. She was still in the kitchen area, leaning against the counter and waiting for Jack's answer. "You're moving to Italy, that's what's wrong."

"What's wrong about me moving to Italy?" she asked. 

"Everything. You're the only other person, besides Jack and Kayla, who can make me happy. You make me happier than both of them combined, and then you tell me that you're leaving and I'll have to go back to the depressed person that I was before? No, I don't want that to happen," Jack shouted. Rome just looked at him with an expression that he couldn't tell what it was but she was not surprised by his volume. 

"Jack," she started.

"I'm not done. Look, Rome. I don't know how to say this, but I like you. This is the first time that I've actually liked a girl, genuinely and completely liked them, in a long time. You make me laugh, smile, feel good about myself. You're the best person I've ever met in my whole entire life and I don't want you to go. But you have to, don't you? You like this job way too much, I saw it in your work when I first met you. Not your folder labeling skills, but the work that was on your desk and computer," Jack said. "And you're leaving for this job you like so much. And there's no way you can't not go."

"Can I speak now?" Rome asked after a few seconds of silence. Jack nodded. "It wasn't my choice, Jack. I would not be moving to Italy if it was. I would move to Burbank or San Clemente or San Francisco or somewhere still close to Los Angeles. Because I love it here. And while Italy is amazing and I've always wanted to go there, I want to stay here. Because you make me happier too. Why do you think I act like I do around you? I'm not normally like that, but it's worth it to make you smile or laugh at me, even if it's just a little bit.

"I am normally a normal, boring person, but you... you make me who I've always wanted to be, I don't care about how sappy that is. And I don't want you to go back to the way you were before and I don't want to go back to the way I was before. But this relocation is something I can't fight or decide against." She took a breath, looking at the ground. 

"And I like you too, Jack. I'm not just saying that because you did or something. I really do. You're a great singer, you kept believing in me when I said something, and you are really attractive--that last one is not the whole reason I like you, by the way. I don't want to go either, but I have to. There's no way around it. And I like my job, and the payment, too much to quit or fight against it." 

They both stood there, looking at each other. They'd both confessed they liked each other, but Rome had to move to Italy. She didn't know what they were going to do, she didn't know what Jack was going to do, hell, she didn't even know what she was going to do. 

All she knew was that she had to go to Italy and leave the guy she had a crazy amount of feelings for. And she wasn't coming back from either of those things.

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word count // 1454

...idek, sorry

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