ajr one shots

jack

Jack groaned as his girlfriend Natalie dragged him into the seventh thrift shop of the day. She held onto his hand tightly as he trudged behind her.
   The doors to the shop slid open with dings coming from them, signally their arrival. The dinging got Natalie excited while Jack got annoyed with it.
   "Babe, look!" Natalie said, picking up a bright orange sweater off of the greeting rack of the store. "Don't you think this is my color."
   Jack smiled as he crossed his arms, his eyes scanning her and the sweater she was holding.
   "Nah, I see you more in burnt oranges than bright 80s neon oranges, you feel?" Jack laughed and Natalie scoffed, throwing the sweater back on the rack. "What?"
   "Take the keys and go home," She said, getting fed up with him. She dug  the car keys from her purse and set them in his hand. He stood there stiff, questioning what she was doing.
   "Why would I leave-?" Jack started to ask her as she walked down the first aisle, flipping through the clothes, but she cut him off.
   "Because, Jack-" She said, trying to keep her voice down so the other customers didn't hear her. "All you have been doing all day is moaning and groaning about shopping. So, if you don't want to be here, then you don't have to."
   "I want to be here," he said, trying to calm her down. "I'm just wondering how many other thrift stores we have to go to until we've ran out."
    She laughed and turned around, walking down the aisle towards the back wall.
   "I'm sorry that one of the only days out of the week I get to see you, I actually want to go out and spend time with you instead of being cooped up in the apartment like we always are," Natalie said, not looking back at him.
   Jack looked around his surroundings, trying to find a solution to the problem.
   "Babe, I want to be here," he said to her.
    "You should since we are shopping for our own place," Natalie said. "I know if I brought something back you would despise it and I want you to be here."
    "Nat," He said, taking her hands in his. "I do want to be here. I love going on these little adventures with you."
   "Then why don't you act like you want to?" She asked, looking up at him.
    Jack looked up to the ceiling and laughed, looking back down at her with a cracked smile.
   "Because four out of the seven stores we have been to today have only been playing Prince," he said, referring to the speaker above their head. "Now, don't get me wrong, I love Prince but when you've  heard 'When Doves Cry' three times in the span of 30 minutes, it kinda gets old."
   Natalie broke her seriousness and let out a cackling laughter, bending forward while she laughed. Jack laughed along with her as he looked around to see the people staring at them.
   "Oh, I can't stay mad at you long," Natalie said, finishing her laughter in a sigh. "And you're right, hearing 'When Doves Cry' for the fifteenth time today has gotten a little outrageous, hasn't it."
    "See?" He said pointing to the ceiling. "You get my point."
    "I'm sorry," Natalie said, taking his hand in hers. "I just miss you sometimes, you know? You're always at the studio or you and Ryan are working on music in the living room."
    "I know, love," He said to her smiling. "And that's why I can't wait to get this place. We will put our little stuff in it and make it all cute and homey."
    Jack scrunched up as he spoke, bending in to kiss Natalie on the forehead. Natalie smiles a humble smile and blushed as he did.
   "No more whining?" Natalie asked, looking up at him with raised eyebrows.
   "Only if you promise we can get Chipotle tonight," Jack said, standing his ground.
   "Deal," Natalie said and started back at the items displayed on the wall. She heard Jack whisper a small 'yes!' behind her, something that made her smile.
   As Natalie shopped through the store, Jack was trying to entertain himself with whatever he could. From shooting Natalie in the butt with Nerf guns, to trying out a broken pogo stick in the toy aisle, Jack tried everything.
   "Look babe," Jack said, grabbing a trapper hat that matched the one on top of his head. "Here's one for you."
    "Do not put that on my head," She said, dodging away from Jack's hands going towards hers with the hat. "Jack Metzger!"
    Jack laughed as Natalie squealed, moving away from him. He threw down the hat and scooped her up in his arms as she was moving away.
    "You think you're funny, Metzger, huh?" She asked, looking up at his as his arms were wrapped around her body.
   "Oh, hilarious," Jack said, his little New York accident coming out in the last word. Natalie's heart skipped a beat at it, making her laugh.
   "Cmon," She said, moving out of his arms. She started towards the home decor items, something that made Jack feel like a kid in a candy store.
   "Look, Nat," He said, holding up two mugs to show her. "We can get matching cow mugs for the place, how about that?"
    Natalie scoffed and continued to look, throwing items in the cart. Jack frowned and kept the mugs in his hands, placing them in the cart when Natalie had her back turned.
   Jack was finally running out of things that could give him any entertainment. Even the baby who was sitting in a cart in the other aisle was whisked away.
   Jack looked around at the industrial aisles and found an old looking mirror leaning against one of the shelves. He cracked a small smile and walked over to it.
   "Hey, babe," He said smirking, holding the mirror facing him. Natalie whipped around, her annoyance growing again.
   "What, Jack?" She said, her hand placed on her hip.
   "Wanna see something beautiful?" He asked her, smirking.
    "If it's those cow mugs again, Jack, I swear to God-" she started, but when she turned around, Jack had flipped the mirror around so Natalie was looking at her own reflection. "Jack Evan."
   Natalie hid her face from blushing as Jack put down the mirror and hugged her.
   "You know you love me," Jack said to her as her face was buried in his chest.
   "You know it," Natalie said, looking up at him.