Trust Your Instincts

-61- An Analogous Objective

A/N Hello folks! I know I don't do lots of these at the start of chapters but I really wanna dedicate this chapter to frankoserik and Just_A_Cartoon_Lover because they always leave a lot of great comments and I'm a loser who doesn't know how else to show my appreciation! But really thank you so much guys and I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

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 Jack had always hated that strange sensation that déjà vu gives you, the shiver that it sends down your spine when you experience that sense of familiarity. Maybe he was a little too credulous, but every time he felt the déjà vu creeping up on him, he was forced to consider countless possibilities of time travel and paradoxes until his brain began to throb and he was faced with an unavoidable existential crisis.

 Unfortunately for Jack, this was one of those times.

 He stood on the front porch of a house he had never truly seen in the daytime, once again hand in hand with Mark, and once again doubting everything he had come here to do. To summarise, this was the second time in two days that he wanted to go back on his thoroughly thought out plans and crawl under his blankets where it was safe.

 That was obviously the source of his déjà vu.

 The only difference between today and the day that he stood outside Ken's house (yesterday) was the torrential downpour that had his green hair sticking to his forehead and his hoodless bomber jacket soaked through. Despite the chill that the icy water sent through him though, he was almost certain that the cause of his shivering was the fear that he was succumbing to with every passing second.

 Now that he thought about it, there was a high possibility that he could be slaughtered before he even had an opportunity to make his case. 

 The thought had him subconsciously turning on his heel and descending the front steps back into the downpour.

 Only he didn't make it that far. Before he made it to the second step he was yanked back up to the front door by Mark, who was chuckling at his sudden unwillingness to do what he had stayed up all night to plan out.

 "Is this gonna be a running tradition with you?" Mark asked amusedly, referring to the fact that he was once again seconds away from chickening out.

 Jack scoffed, straightening his posture and narrowing his eyes at his boyfriend. "Sorry if I'm a little nervous, babe, but in case you don't remember, last time I was here, I was almost killed." he spat.

 Mark's face drained of colour when he saw how serious Jack was being, and Jack immediately regretted what he had said. It wasn't fair to be so raucous when he knew Mark meant nothing spiteful by his words, and now Mark would be apologising all night for being so inconsiderate when it was Jack's fault for taking out his frustrations on him. Great.

 Before Mark could apologise, Jack clasped his fingers around his hand once more, smiling sincerely in an attempt to show that he didn't mean to come across so confrontational, and the soft grin he received in return was enough to let him know that Mark understood why he was so anxious about this.

 Mark brushed away the wet hair that was plastered to Jack's forehead, before kissing it softly and bringing his hand up to knock on the door. Now Jack was really feeling the déjà vu. 

 The wait cant have been any longer than thirty seconds, but it was a strong contender for the most agonising thirty seconds that Jack had ever endured. Just knowing that somewhere on the other side of that door was a man he had never wanted to see again made him want to run away and never step foot in this neighbourhood again.