Cabin Nine [[Revised Edition] Under FURTHER Revision]

Twenty-Nine

When Christmas break comes along, he doesn't have the money again, so I go to him. It's not like my family wants me, anyway. They don't even protest. My siblings wish me luck. The Prouts lament the loss of their children for Christmas, but I can tell that they're looking forward to making the best of their alone time.

I get out a few days earlier than he does, mostly because of an incoming blizzard that's expected to give us four feet of snow.

I surprise Jack after his last class. He's given me so much detail of the campus that I could make my way around in my sleep. I can't do that on my own campus. I can hardly find my own classes this far into the semester, but I've listened to Jack talk about this for hours. I've missed him so much, I could listen to him talk about the history of cottage cheese and somehow pay attention to it.

He exits the building with three other guys, crowded around to see a book that Jack's holding. It looks good. Less outlandish than I was expecting, but everyone has off days, right?

He's wearing red skinny jeans with a black, skin-tight sweater and a long, dark trench coat that somehow matches.

One of them is standing far too close to Jack. My Jack. Mine. Surely, if they're all reading a book together, they're good enough friends that they know I exist, right? Which strikes a new fear into my heart. What if Jack thinks we've broken up? We talked about it but never actually got around to doing it.

Either way, it's clear that Jack's uncomfortable. It gives me a bit of hope. Jack's always been a really touchy-feely person, so he's usually okay if people are close to him. Maybe I'm biased because I've been closer than anyone else, but still.

And that brings another worry to my mind.

What if I'm not the only one? I wasn't with anyone else while he was away but what if he thinks we're broken up? What if he slept with someone else?

I can't keep thinking like this. Jack wouldn't do that to me. I know he wouldn't.

I keep waiting for him to notice me, but he doesn't look up from his book until one of the people he's walking with points me out. I don't really know why. Maybe because I'm tall or maybe they've seen pictures of me. I don't think I stand out that much.

Jack glances up and I guess my face doesn't register with his brain because he looks back down at his book. My heart drops. Maybe I should just leave. A few seconds go by before he freezes, looks up again, blindly shoves the book at one of his friends, and runs toward me.

We collide in a hug. If I could hold him up, Jack probably would've done that romcom thing where the girl wraps her legs around the guy's waist and they kiss. With the adrenaline of seeing him again, feeling his arms around me, seeing his breath in the air, feeling his heart pound against mine, I might be able to pull it off.

Jack steps back and holds me at arms length. He's smiling so brightly. I can't believe how much I've missed that smile. How much I've missed him. Until now, actually seeing him, I hadn't realised just how much I needed to be with him.

I mean, yeah, I learned how to function without him, but that doesn't mean I liked it.

I'm still caught up in thinking about how much I've missed him when he grabs both sides of my face and kisses me with everything he's got. Okay, I've missed this the most. I sink into it, into him, and everything around us seems to melt away.

And that's precisely when someone decides that now's the time to say, "So, Jack, are you going to introduce us or...?"

Jack reluctantly pulls away and stares at me for just a few seconds more before he tries to turn and look at them. Emphasis on tries: he forgets to let go of me and I, being myself, trip over my own feet trying to keep up with him.