Tullahoma (Jachary AU)

eight

Jack knew he had bought himself some time, but maybe only about ten minutes. Then he'd have to answer some questions he wasn't sure that he even knew the answers to. Did he really want Zach, his ex, to know all his issues? He couldn't say he had an definitive answer to that.

He turned the car into the parking lot and once the car was actually stopped, Zach jumped out. It was behavior like this that confused Jack, one minute, Zach acted all worried about him. Then the next he acted like he couldn't stand him. It was very confusing.

He entered the bar and found Zach sitting at a table this time, it was off toward the back, next to the jukebox. When he sat down, Zach gave him a small smile.

"I ordered a White Claw, you can go up to the bar and order something." He said, Jack just nodded, figuring he'd just go and get the same thing.

He returned with a mango one and Zach wrinkled his nose. "I hate those you know." He stated, Jack just chuckled and shrugged. He was waiting for Zach to start asking the seriously uncomfortable questions. A few beats of silence passed and then it began.

"So um...can I ask some questions?" Zach asked him nervously. Jack sighed, he knew it would come to this,

"Go ahead but if it gets too personal I'm stopping you." Jack replied, and Zach just nodded and started speaking.

"Why did you get so upset when Daniel mentioned Gabbie?"

Jack took a moment before answering, "It's just, Gabbie and I are going through a rough patch... so it's just sort of a sensitive subject." He replied with a shrug, taking a sip of his beer. Zach nodded and continued,

"I'm just wondering, she seemed nice and then she found out who I was and was little bitchy. Is she okay with us hanging out?"

Jack leaned back in his chair and ran a hand through his hair. That, was a loaded question. Gabbie's threat, he didn't want to share that so he said, "She seems okay with it I guess, I mean she's pretty busy herself and I mean... I judge when she hangs out with her exes. I guess it's complicated." Jack finished lamely, not willing to share all his other relationship problems.

Zach had narrowed his eyes suspiciously at him. Jack just reached for his beer, hoping to appear as if he had nothing to hide. Apparently his attempt was successful enough because Zach let it drop.

The two of them sipped their drinks. Letting silence set in, finally, Zach spoke again. Jack was not prepared for what he asked. "W-why did you leave me Jack?" He said in an almost whisper.

If Jack had been drinking his beer, he would have choked, but he didn't and took a minute to answer, and then said, "We just burnt out Zach. It was going to come undone soon anyway, L.A. just made it worse... alright?" Each word lodged in his throat, and it was a tremendous effort to say them. However Jack didn't want to admit the real reason... that he'd been scared, scared that he'd end up hurt in the end.

Zach scoffed bitterly, "Yeah okay. Maybe I should have seen this coming. Two boys in Tennesee, that wouldn't have worked. Maybe I was just stupid for having hope." He finished with a bitter shrug.

Jack didn't know what else to really say. He'd given a shitty answer and he knew it. Honestly, he was surprised that Zach was still sitting here. He had every right to storm off right now in Jack's opinion.

The two just sat in silence though and just sipped their beers. After a few minutes though, Jack was dreadfully bored, so he found himself humming along. He was wondering why it was so familiar and then, Zach spoke.

"This is still one of my favorite songs," he said softly.

That's when memories came flooding back to Jack, him dancing with Zach in this very bar, sharing their first kiss, late nights talking and much more. All to this very same Kelsea Ballerini song.

Very impulsively Jack asked, "Dance with me?"

It took Zach a moment, but finally he said, "I'm probably gonna regret this but... fine."

The two joined the rest of the people on the dance floor. A lot of them were couples and they were slow dancing. So just to fit in, Jack pulled Zach closer, and he felt he younger boy tense a bit. It made Jack smirk a bit, he would bet a lot of money that Zach's cheeks were flaming right now.

"You okay?" Jack whispered in Zach's ear, he felt extremely satisfied when he got a shiver in response. A few seconds later, he nodded. Jack pulled the other boy closer, it was something he'd wanted to do for a long time. He felt Zach melt into his touch, they finished out the song and then Zach said,

"U-um can we go?" he asked quietly, his seriousness sort of snapped Jack out of his daze, a part of him was disappointed but perhaps it was what he needed. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt the younger boy again.

So he just silently nodded and led Zach toward the exit. The two left and the chill of night reached Jack's face, it snapped him back into reality. Now he was able to push the little moment with Zach out of his head... for now.

Both of them wordlessly got into the car, it was about about a ten minute drive back to Zach's house. The whole ride was silent, painfully silent. Finally Jack pulled the car to a stop in front of where Zach lived.

"Thanks for tonight. I uh... had fun," with those words Zach meant to leave the car. Then, without thinking, Jack caught his arm.

Confused, the boy turned around, and before he could say anything, Jack pressed his lips against Zach's.

It was slow, and surprisingly sweet. It brought a lot of memories back. Then, just as Jack made the move to deepen the kiss, Zach pulled away.

"I should go," without anything else, Zach ran up the walk. Leaving Jack smirking behind him. He saw the boys flaming cheeks and was quite proud of himself for being the cause of it once again. For once, Jack was glad that he came back home, although he knew there'd probably be hell to pay for that.