crossways: a jack hughes story

chapter 29

you wake up to jack's warm hands wrapped around you.

"morning." he says.

"good morning." you say, stretching.

"how'd you sleep?"

"fine, i slept just fine."

you can feel jack smile on your shoulder, making you smile.

"halloween is next week." jack says, cuddling you ever harder.

"yeah."

"well, i have a game at 7, but i think the guys wanna throw a halloween party after the game."

"is this your way of inviting me to the party?"

"and the game."

"yes i'll go."

"YES!"

"but-"

"but what?" jack ask, his excitement starting to fade.

"i cant just miss a whole week of school."

"well yeah-"

"i'll just fly back to school tonight and come back next weekend."

"okay. that works." says jack.

one week later

you fly back into new jersey the next friday night. you take an uber to jack's apartment and ring the doorbell.

jack opens the door and embraces you in a loving hug.

"you're back!" jack says, throwing his hands in the air.

"i'm back!" you say.

"let's go baby!" he yells.

"save that for when you score."

"hey. saying let's go baby is like my thing now."

"uh huh." you say, giving jack a confused glare while he takes your suitcase and closes the door.

"so. what do you wanna do? i have snacks, we could watch a movie or-"

"or we could go to bed." you say.

"oh yeah. or that too." jack's face drops.

"sorry. i've just had a really long week at school, lots of tests and i'm just utterly exhausted."

"no i get it. come on, let's go. i just got a new blanket."

you follow him up the stairs to his bedroom and crash on the bed, not even bothering to take your shoes off.

"um. zoe?"

"shh i'm sleeping."

"sorry." he whispers. "but are you going to sleep with your shoes on or..?" jack says through a laugh.

"yeah i am." you say, half asleep.

jack slides off your birkenstocks for you and tucks you into his bed. he takes off his shirt and sweatpants, climbing into bed next to you.

"goodnight. love you, sweet dreams." he says, but you can't hear him; you've already fallen asleep.

...

you wake up to the smell of blueberry pancakes; your favorite.

you get up out of jack's bed and walk into the kitchen. you see him standing shirtless at the stove, flipping pancakes.

you quietly pull out the chair at the kitchen counter and sit down. jack hears you, turns his head around, and says  "hey."

"i made these for you." he says, putting two pancakes on a plate and sliding them towards you.