I'm A Walking Travesty (All Time Low Fanfic) [Watty Awards Winner]

I'm A Walking Travesty (All Time Low Fanfic) - Chapter Twenty Three

Chapter 23

Valarie’s P.O.V

“We’re going down to a bar later, you wanna come?” Cass asked.

“I’ll pass,” I murmured, resting my head on the pillow, “I’m not really up for anything to extreme.”

She nodded, “What about you?”

“Nah, I’ll stay behind,” Jack said quietly.

Cass rolled her eyes and left the room with the others. Jack sat over at the dining table as far away from me as he could possibly be. I had no idea what was going on with him. I didn’t know if I’d done something, or said something wrong. When I was sure everyone was gone, I sat up again and looked over at him.

“Jack?” I questioned.

He looked over at me, his arms folded over his chest and his eyes glassy.

“What’s going on?”

I felt my voice shake and I had no idea why I was so upset. Jack frowned before standing up and slowly making his way over to the bed where I sat. He sat down near my feet and stared a the floor.

“Have I done something wrong?”

“No, Val. It’s my fault,” he murmured, “I did something I shouldn’t have.”

“You can talk to me. You’ve always been able to talk to me.”

“I can’t. Just don’t worry about it, okay?”

“Jack,” I said quietly, feeling a lump rise in my throat.

He finally looked up from the floor, his usually warm brown eyes full of sorrow. I needed him, more than I’d needed anybody, but he wasn’t fully here.

“What did you do?” I continued.

“I, I,” he stuttered, staring at the blankets in front of me, “I slept with someone else.”

His words hit my like hard blows to the stomach. I felt my eyes prickle with tears and I slowly shook my head. “No,” I murmured, “No, no, no.”

“Val.”

“Please tell me you didn’t.”

Jack didn’t say anything and I leaned forward and put my head in my hands.  This couldn’t be happening. He had to be lying, right? I pulled my non broken leg up to my chest and hugged it tightly, trying not to let the tears fall.

“When?” I managed to choke, lifting my head up so I could look at him

He sighed and reached out to rest a hand on my cast but I pulled it away before he could touch it. His eyes darted up to mine as he slowly put his hand back to his side.

“After they told me you were dead I went out and got drunk. I don’t really remember what happened but I woke up with some, some girl. I came back to here and if Cass hadn’t of told me you were still alive I was going to,” he took a deep breath.

“Going to what?” I pressed.

“She found me on the roof. I was going to jump.”

“What, why?” I asked, my eyes widening.

“Because I didn’t think I could live without you. I was drunk at the time.”

I shuddered a breath and dragged my eyes from my hands to him. I wanted to get up and hug him, kiss him and hope that he could make everything better, but I resisted the urge. Too much had happened and I was so confused about everything. Jack’s brown eyes met mine and in the brief moment of contact all the memories of him came flooding back.

“Can you forgive me?” he murmured, finally looking away.

“I need sleep,” I said, ignoring his question.

We both looked around the room. There were only two double beds and a couch that was hardly big enough to fit even me. I sighed. I wasn’t going to force Jack to sleep on the floor so I let him crawl onto the bed. He helped me pull the blankets over my broken leg but before he could say anything to me I jammed a pillow between us and rolled over so that my back was facing him.

I couldn’t handle this right now. It was all too much to come back to after being out of a coma from only a few days…

Jack’s P.O.V

I listened as Valarie’s pillow muffled her sobs. I knew she would try her hardest not to let me hear and admit that she was actually upset. I resisted the urge to throw the pillow that was between us on the floor and hug her and make her feel better. I put my hands behind my head and let out a sigh. This was all my fault.

“Jack,” I heard Valarie mumble as she rolled over to face me, “I forgive you.”

I rolled onto my side so that I could see her. Her eyes were red and her cheeks were stained with tears. I reached over the pillow between us and ran a thumb beneath her eye, wiping away the tears. She caught hold of my wrist and started to cry again.

“I’m sorry,” I repeated over and over.

To my surprise, she grabbed the pillow that separated us and threw it on the floor before snuggling as close to me as her broken leg allowed. She pressed her head to my chest and took a deep breath as I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her closer to me.

“I love you,” she murmured, and it was then that I fully came to understand that she wasn’t going to let go because of one mistake I’d made.

“I love you too, Valarie,” I said, pressing my lips to her hair, “I’m sorry for hurting you.”

“Oh shut up and kiss me,” she giggle.

As she pressed her lips to mine in a hungry kiss, I knew she was back. The Valarie I’d fallen in love with had finally come home.