(J.A.) Polaroid

6 1 2
                                    

She holds the polaroid in one hand and a lighter in the other. Crouched on the floor of their shared apartment, she can feel Jack's gaze beating into her back. Her tears don't show signs of stopping, but her face is eerily calm. He looks away, annoyance tugging at his features. He doesn't understand why she's crying, but he wants her to stop. Although he doesn't exactly know why he wants her to stop.

She stares at the picture a bit longer before she looks up at him. Jack meets her gaze and then lowers his eyes to the polaroid in her hand. His eyes widen before he averts his gaze to the floor. 

At this moment, he knows that whatever they are, or were, is over. He can't tell if he's disappointed, but he has a look of guilt on his face nonetheless.

"You couldn't keep your hands to yourself for one night..." she mutters. She looks up at him once more, trying to find any sort of emotion, but his eyes are blank. She gives up and stares at the picture one last time before she takes the lighter and sets the bottom corner of the picture on fire. She holds it up for him to see, but he's not looking towards her. Surprisingly, Jack looking at the wall beside him.

"This is going to be our wall! We can put notes and pictures up here, so we'll never ever forget just how much we love each other," he recalls her saying this and smiling brightly on the day they moved in. At the time, he had thought it was stupid. They were never officially dating, but he did love her. However, he would always refuse to put a title on it.  And how she understood why.

On the day they met, Jack had told her he wasn't one to be tied down. He never wanted to get married or have kids, he just wanted to live his life however he wanted to. However, this was when they were in college, and she'd assumed he'd change his mind once they got older. She loved him and he loved her. At the time, that was enough.

Now, she lay on the floor brokenhearted and wishing she were blind. So she'd never see the picture. So she'd never see the emotionless look on his face, showing her that he didn't care. She'd wished she was smarter and prettier and enough to make him want to stay with her and only her. She'd wished she were anyone but herself.

She couldn't get the words out, but he knew when she pointed to the door he wanted her to leave. He hesitantly stepped towards her, and when she made no protests he came a bit closer and got down on his knees. Jack grabbed one of her hands, trying to memorize her touch before he had to go. "We always knew it was gonna be like this. You know this isn't the first time I've done this, it's just the first time you've done something about it. And I'm glad. You deserve someone who can give you the universe, and I'm not that person. I wish you nothing but love and happiness, always." he whispers to her softly, before pressing a soft kiss on her hand and standing.

Before he walks out the door, he takes one last look at her. She's brought her knees up to her chest and seems to be crying harder than she was before. He drops the key to the apartment in the tiny bowl sitting by the front door and walks out.

You've reached the end of published parts.

⏰ Last updated: Apr 04, 2020 ⏰

Add this story to your Library to get notified about new parts!

☆Why Don't We Imagines☆Where stories live. Discover now