One-Shots: The Geek Collection

Jack Wilder - Now You See Me (2)

A/N: I planned this to be just really short and simple, but it kept going and going and it's cute and makes me happy, so I wrote it anyways. Oh well.

- - -

I heard the frantic scratching of the key against the door knob outside my apartment. I immediately stood up, making my way around the couch. Just as the door was in my sights, it swung open, revealing a disheveled, panicked Jack.

His eyes were wider than usual and his hair was messy, appearing as if he'd been constantly running his hands through it. He rushed towards me.

"Jack, what's wrong?" I asked him with concern. When he reached me, he placed his hands on each of my shoulders, meeting my eyes with a pleading expression.

"I'm sorry, but... I need a huge favor," he started.

"Uh, yeah, okay?"

"I need to stay the night, and maybe a few more, I don't really know yet."

I shrugged. "What's such a big deal about that? You've stayed over plenty of times."

It was true - I had been friends with him through thick and thin, even when he had nowhere else to go. Despite his newfound fame with the Horsemen, he had been living off his tricks and cons for a while, so unfortunately his sleep-overs weren't an unfamiliar event.

"This time it's different," he said with a little more panic. "The police they're... they're after me. I- I'm scared, Y/N, I don't want to-"

"Hey, hey," I said, cutting him off and placing a hand on the side of his head. I brushed my thumb over his cheek and met his eyes with as much intensity as I could, almost if I were trying to send all my assurance through them to him. "You're going to be okay, you hear me? Everything's gonna be fine, we'll figure it out."

He reluctantly nodded, swallowing. The panic in his eyes seemed to lessen by a fraction.

I tore my gaze away from his to glance at the clock hanging on the kitchen wall.

I turned back to him. "It's late, we should get to sleep... You look like you need it."

- - -

I grabbed a pillow from my bedroom closet and padded back into the living area. There I found Jack lying on top of the blankets, his eyes closed, his head turned sideways on the armrest.

My heart skipped a beat. He was as peaceful and as handsome as ever.

I quietly tip-toed across the wooden floor so as not to wake him up. I bent over him and slowly and gently slid my hand under his neck. I tried my best to tilt his head just enough to wedge a pillow between him and the armrest, but before I could, his eyes fluttered open. He let out a light chuckle and raised his head up the rest of the way, allowing me to place the pillow behind him.

He gave me a sleepy smile as his head sank into the pillow and I leaned away from over him.

"Thought you could sneak past me, huh?" He said in a slightly raspy, tired voice - no doubt from his deep nap that he was previously in.

"I didn't want to wake you. I figured you must be really tired out."

He shrugged a shoulder. "Not tired enough to miss out on seeing my favorite person in the whole wide world," he says with a wider, more charming smile - the kind that he used so often in his performances to make the audience swoon.

I returned a smile that stretched all the way across my now lightly blushed cheeks. My eyes flickered between each of his warm brown eyes, which had that playful gleam in them as they so often did. I watched him smile just a bit wider, not taking his eyes off mine.

I shrugged as shoulder. "Yeah, well, I can wait, I'm not that important." I reached up my hand and combed my fingers through his soft, brown hair. "You should get to sleep."

He gave me a lopsided, mischievous grin. "And you should have a little fun," he says. Before I know what he means, he shoots straight up and slings his arms around my waist. I can't keep my feet on the ground; he drags me down with him, laughing in my ear as I try to get away from him.

I can't help it; I start laughing too. "What are you doing?" I gasp as he pulls me down on top of him.

"Making you laugh," he says.

Without a second to spare, he jams his fingers into my rib cage, making me scream with laughter. I squirm and twist and find myself turned around, my back against his chest and my legs kicking in the air. I tug at his arm as hard as I can, but it's locked around my stomach while his other hand tickles my side. I strain against him as hard as I can, but he's far stronger than I am.

"Jack- Jack, stop! Ja- HAHAH!" Finally, I resort to ineffectively slapping at his arm. I laugh even harder. "JACK! The- The NEIGHBORS!"

I hear his laugh over my own and I feel his grip loosen. "Okay, okay, you have a point," he says, still laughing. His fingers leave my sides and I take in a series of deep breaths, letting my heart rate lower. I let out a huff of air, looking at the ceiling.

"I'll admit, I haven't laughed that hard in a while," I tell him, carefully turning around on top of him. I face him and cross my arms beneath my chin, resting on his chest, looking up at him through my eyelashes. I playfully narrowed my eyes at him. "But don't you ever do that again, Wilder."

"Ooh, the last name, huh? Now we're getting pretty serious." He chuckles, making his chest vibrate underneath me.

I laugh and roll my eyes. I expect for him to make up another comment or start another conversation, but he doesn't. Instead he just sits there in front of me; he studies my face intently.

I give him a questioning look and tilt my head. "What?"

He shakes his head. "You were wrong."

"About what?"

"You said you weren't that important. You were wrong. You're so important. To me, at least."

I give him a sweet smile. "I'm not the only one. You're important to me too, you know."

He smiles, but after a few seconds it fades. He doesn't say anything. A comfortable moment of silence passes between us; we search each other's eyes and it seems as if we're lost in time. I'm not exactly sure how many seconds pass, but finally he moves, pulling me out of my reverie; he lifts his hand and brushes his fingers though my hair, plays around with it, twists it this way and that. A few more seconds pass.

His eyes bore into mine. "Y/N?"

"Mmm?"

His mouth opens slightly for a fraction of a second, almost as if he's going to stop himself, but he continues. "I think I love you."

My heart leaps, skipping a beat. "You do?"

He gives a small nod. "I do."

My eyes flicker all around his face - to his nose, his cheeks, his lips, and once again his eyes. I take in as much as I can, but however much it is, it's never enough. I smile.

"I think I love you too."

And with a smile equally as wide as mine, he tilts his head forward just enough to press a kiss to my lips. It's gentle, it's sweet, it's compassionate; it's everything that makes me go crazy and everything that makes my head spin. It's everything that makes me crave more, and everything that makes me more and more sure that I love him with all my heart.