agent rogers returns • j.thompson

dear john.

hey y'all i'm back with another moments chapter because wow, the shit hath hitith the fan...ith. i've been going through a lot of mental health-related stuff, and my motivation to write this just plummeted. but good news, i'm feeling kinda motivated again! so another reason the next chapter is taking so long is because i completely missed the episode as i was writing this book. i have the rest of the book mostly written, and it wasn't until i rewatched that i noticed an episode sized gap in the plot lol. so i am working on that. in the meantime, i thought i'd share more shorts, including the first time jack and charlotte meet! :) love you all, i hope you are doing well and staying healthy.

—

and i lived in your chess game,
but you changed the rules every day

i. breakup
N E W  Y O R K
—
C H A R L O T T E

** a few months after the end of the last book right before Charlotte moves out to LA **

The light shone though the small window by Jack's bed, waking us up gently. As I became more aware of my surroundings, I felt his arm draped over my waist. Despite all of the arguments we've been getting into lately, waking up in his arms never failed to make me feel safe and comforted.

It was a fairly normal morning for the two of us. We got dressed, ate a small breakfast, and got ready for a long day at work. Only, our mornings were increasingly quiet.

It wasn't that we had just moved on from the honeymoon stage. I've been in relationships before where the honeymoon phase died out and it was never like this. Something was just... off.

At work that day, we had hardly spoken to each other. Peggy and Daniel frequently glanced at us, as if we didn't notice the behavior ourselves.

"Did you two get into another fight this morning?" Peggy asked quietly at my desk as I got ready to leave for the day. Jack had to stay late, though he could never tell me why, so Peggy and I were going to get dinner together.

"No," I frowned. "I — I don't know what's going on with us."

She sighed and looked at me. I groaned, already knowing what she was going to say.

"I know you don't want to hear this, but I think you should go to California with Daniel. Things just don't seem to be working with Jack. It doesn't mean you can't be together, maybe you just need some space!"

"I don't know, Peggy. I love him, but it's hard. I guess we do need space it's just.. I'm just scared that if I go, I'll lose him forever."

—

The sound of a door shutting and keys jangling woke my from my sleep on Jack's bed. I rubbed my tired eyes and adjusted my hair before I walked out to meet Jack.

"It's late," I said quietly, my voice croaky and cold.

"I had a lot of work to do. We're working on a significant case."

"If it's this important, why can't you talk to me about it? We work together. We're together."

"I don't know, I didn't think it was that big of a deal."

"It's not just the case, Jack. It's everything."

"What's everything?" He furrowed his brows and started to undress.

I plopped down on the couch with a sigh, feeling overwhelmingly frustrated and confused.

"You don't tell me anything! And I feel like I can't tell you anything, either. That's not normal. We get into fights all of the time about the both of us being so closed off. You've been staying at work so late for the past few weeks, and you won't tell me why. We haven't gone on a date in God knows how long and we've only been dating for about 6 months. None of this seems to be working, Jack."