You meet Jake Seresin in the middle of the worst date you've ever been on. What follows is a whirlwind of a life you never expected to live.
This fic is explicit and does describe mutually consensual sexual acts.
⚠ Crossposted on AO3 and Tumblr! ⚠
Disclaimer: Mentions of injury. Military Deployments. Long-distance relationships.
Warnings: Female!Reader
A/N: Here's Part 5 of Sometimes All You Need (A Getaway Car). This chapter takes a nose-dive into some fairly serious topics. I hope you guys like it! This chapter was written solely listening to Halsey's Coming Down. If you haven't heard it, I highly recommend listening to the song as you read!
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You've never hit the honeymoon period in a relationship before. Maybe it's because most of your other relationships crashed and burned before you even got that far. Things with Jake are perfect. He adores you just as much as you adore him. He makes you smile whenever you see him, and you can talk to him about anything. Over the nearly four months the two of you have been dating, you haven't fought once. So when Jake lets himself into your house one Friday night, you greet him with a huge smile. You've got dinner in the oven, a bottle of wine is open and breathing on the counter, and you only want to curl up next to your boyfriend for a quiet night in.
But Jake isn't smiling, not like he usually is when he sees you. There's a foreign expression on his face. It isn't his Hangman mask, either. This is something else. Exhaustion weighs heavily on his shoulders as he wraps his arms around you. You slide your arms around him just as easily, carding your fingers through the soft hairs at the base of his neck. You stand there with him as long as he needs, just holding him. Jake will talk to you when he's up to it.
He's breathing raggedly when he pulls away but lets you crouch to unlace his boots and slip his feet out. Jake's still uncharacteristically taciturn, following silently behind you as you lead him into the kitchen. You pour a glass of wine for each of you and press the glass into his hands. They're like ice when you touch them. Worry creeps icily through your veins as you busy yourself with pulling dinner out of the oven. It's a simple home-cooked meal that you have dished up and on the table a few minutes after it's out of the oven.
Bit by bit, you see the unnatural tension drain away in the face of what you like to think is the dinner you made, the excellent bottle of wine, and your company. Over the meal, you're happy to see Jake smiling and chatting with you again. He's nearly back to normal when he drags you into the shower with him a few hours after dinner. It's not until you're curled up under your sheets later that he finally speaks. You're pressed against his chest, legs intertwined with his.
"Hey, gorgeous. I'm sorry I've been out of it today." His voice makes you smile. It's a relief to hear it. You kiss his jaw, sliding your fingers through the damp curls falling onto his forehead.
"You've been quiet. Did something happen at work?" You keep your tone and fingers gentle as you trace his broad shoulders and strong chest.
"Yeah, sweets. I guess you could say that." He inhales deeply, adjusting his hold on you for a few minutes. "I'm being deployed. While I wish I could say the deployment is what's bothering me, but it's only a part of it. You and I, we're good, right?"
