August 21st 9:25 pm
"Jack?" You hesitate to say his voice louder than the first time, afraid to draw unwanted attention. You've been here at night before, but never without pepper spray and a flashlight, so you cant help the fear in the pit of your stomach.
A noise stirring above your head draws your attention, and your eyes land on a detailess figure perched up onto one of the purposeless walls jutting out of the back of the bulding. One part of you believes that they were meant to set the spot for a staircase directly up to the second floor, another part of you thinks they're 3/4 of another seperate room that lacked a far wall and roof.
"Jack?" You ask yet again, squinting up at the back figure for a reaction in the nill lighting. The dark figure lets out a sigh before nodding in confirmation.
"Can we talk...?" You ask him, shuffling your feet through the rubble. He hesitates for a moment to respond, and you fully ready yourself to scale up the wall using the gashes of missing concrete chunks across the sides like craters. Finally he nods, throwing his legs off the other side of the wall and disappearing behind it, but you still hear the shuffling of him carefully coming down. He rounds the corner, standing a few feet away from you. He leans a shoulder against the rough wall, seeming to search for something to say.
"I think I owe you-" He tries but you cut him off, having finally worked up the courage to say what you need to.
"Hold that thought." You say, holding up a hand to stop him, and in the dim light you see him swallow.
"I have a whole library of archived things that I need to say, but I'll try to keep this short and simple. You left me. Just like I knew you would." You start, your voice shaking. Jack straightens himself, squaring his shoulders, readying himself for another argument but you hold up your hands again.
"But it doesnt matter! None of it matters, because you came back!" You explain, your voice quaking yet again as the tears of joy threaten to overwhelm you.
"You went all the way back home, just to come back. After texting and calling you a million times pleading for you to talk to me or come home, I started to lose hope. I thought you'd really given up on me like I deserve but here you are. And either you're here for your things, which you could have easily grabbed because you know where the hidden key is for my apartment, or you came back for me. And if you did, then I need to tell you I'm sorry." You finally take a breath after letting your words rush out of you, desperate to be heard. He opens his mouth to respond but you shake your head to cut him off again.
"I swear I'll let you speak shortly, but please I just need you to listen now. I get why you react the way you do when I accuse you of those things. Because hearing you do it to me tore me up. I'd never betray you like that. What you saw back there with Mark, isnt what you think. I've never had any sexual relations with him... But..." You choke on the words slightly, glancing at Jack for his reaction to the last word. He seems to wait patiently for you to finish, but your heart hammers in your chest.
"After I'd convinced myself that I would never see you again, me, Mark, and Bell went to a club. I got so fucking wasted that I kinda threw myself at Mark. I dont know why, I'd never once thought of before or since. But he didnt once reciprocate to any of it, and he firmly told me no. So if you're going to hate anyone, or be angry at anyone, be mad at me. But I want you to know that I feel absolutely shitty for it, cause not only did I know it wasnt right, but I know you may never be able to trust me again for it. I just need you to know that what you saw today had nothing to do with that... It just felt so good to laugh instead of cry for the first time since you'd left. I miss you. I miss you so much if fucking hurts.." You finish, your eyes unable to meet his.
Jack takes a few steps forward and you resist the urge to charge into him and hug him before he walks away forever. Because thats what he's going to do right? He's going to never trust you again, and he's going to think you're awful. He releases a slow breath, and you tense every muscle in your body for the worst.
His mind swims with the information he was given. He feels the ghost of jealousy and anger course through him, but hearing the sincerity of her words banishes them quickly, leaving nothing but regret and guilt.
"You're right. I did leave. I told you multiple times that I wouldnt go anywhere, but I lost my patience with you, and did what I thought you wanted. I figured you'd gotten so fed up with arguing with me that you finally wanted me gone.
I'm sorry I didnt respond to your texts and calls. The day after everything had happened, I drank myself into a disorderly haze and got pissed that my phone was dead so I left it in shambles in the corner. I missed you every second. I dreampt of you on the plane ride. James tried to get me to take home some random girl at the bar but... but she wasnt you.
And I dont care. I dont care at all about what happened when I wasnt here. You had it in your mind that I was done with you, and all your actions are excusable. I know that the two of you never had anything going on, but seeing him on top of you... It sent me into a spiral of already conflicting emotions and I just lashed out at the two of you unfairly. And I'm sorry. You're also right when you say it tears me apart when you accuse me of those things. Theres no place on this planet I'd rather be than right here. With you. You and only you." Jack finally finishes, taking the chance to close the gap between the two of you.
You latch onto one another desperately clinging to eachother as if some unseen force could rip you away from the other at any given moment. You grip handfulls of his shirt at his shoulder blades, making up for every minute he wasnt with you before. Mixed tears fall from your eyes and pool into the chest of his shirt, and you hear his jagged breaths escaping by your ear.
"I was fucking miserable without you. I swear I'll never leave again. Even if you ask me to." He whispers agaisnt your hair, his words easing your anxiety ever so slightly.
"I'll never ask you to leave me again. It was the worst thing to ever come out of my mouth. I regretted those words the moment they left my mouth. I cherish you above all else in my life. Losing you was hell." You mumble into his chest, soaking yourself in his warmth and smell.
The two of you seem glued to one another for a very long moment. You bathed in the familiar floating that you so desperately missed, and he clings onto the euphoria you bring over him.
"I love you." He mumbles, brushing your hair away from your face to allow his lips to graze against the skin of your jaw. You close your eyes, falling against him further, adoring the sensations that the simple guesture erupted in you.
"I love you too." You respond, your lips grazing against his neck, and it isnt long before you feel the goosebumps peek the entirity of his body. He hums calmly in response.
The two of you tentatively release one another, afraid of the lost contact. When the two of you finally part, you walk side by side toward home. Your hand reaches out, and you're elated and relieved to find his ready hand reaching out to clasp onto yours as well.
YOU ARE READING
Crashing. (A JSE×reader fanfic)
Fanfic(This is part two to "A Leap Of Faith.") It seems that you and Jack have hit a rough patch. What with all the arguing and spitting venom at one another, it seems as if things will never be as they were. Will you and Jack mend everything, leading to...
