All A Dream {Jax X Reader}

4BA. "Don't give up."

    "Hey, Y/n." Jax said in a slightly more serious tone. I was startled into looking at him.

    "What happened to 'hot stuff'?"

Jax tried to flash his trademark smirk at me, but it was a shadow of its former self.

    "That's not the point - I just um-" he fumbled with his words, which I had never seen him do ever. He took a deep breath and steadied himself. "Don't overthink it, okay? Just - just try and breathe. We'll be fine."

    "How are you so sure of that?" I didn't look at him again.

"I just know." Jax locked eyes with me. "We'll be fine."

I tore my gaze away from Jax's mesmerizing ones, trying to hide the fear and fraught feelings building inside of me. My stomach was roiling with fluttering butterflies.

    Keep it down, I told myself sternly. Don't let him know-

Jax spun me round to face him, gloved hands gently pulling me close to him.

I jolted, startled by his unusually soft touch. Whenever we made contact, Jax always would put his elbow on me teasingly and lean his whole body weight on me so almost every single interaction ended with a scuffle.

This was different. Jax held me as if he was scared I would shatter in his arms or fade away into nothingness.

But I was sure he only saw me as a friend, someone he could play with just to stop both of us from going insane.

So why was he doing this now? A quiet way to tease me, to take my mind off the stress? Or was it something else-

A gentle nudge on the side of my cheek brought me back to the dimly lit room, with Jax still holding me.

    "Earth to Y/n," he said softly. Then Jax's gaze turned more serious.

"Now you really have to tell me what's bothering you."

My throat silently closed up around the words "I'm fine." And the tears came.

Jax didn't say a word and held me close as I shivered with sobs. He moved my head to the crook of his neck and hugged me tightly.

As I quietened down, I wiped my tears away and tried for a smile.

    "We are... not telling anyone about this."

Jax smirked endearingly, lowering his voice to a deep husky whisper. He leaned closer.

    "As you wish, hot stuff. I'm just glad your mental state is now settled. I can finally tease you again. But I'll keep it to a minimum," he added hastily when I shot him a look.

———

We all stood before the door that led to the corrupted source.

The fraught butterflies in my stomach were back again.

It was one minute until 8 am, and everyone was rigid and tense. Ragatha gripped her sword so tightly her hands were trembling.  I was the same as her, gripping onto my metal bat with trembling palms.  Zooble kept fidgeting with their antennae. Kinger had his seizures every few moments or so.  Gangle and Pomni were huddled together, talking in low voices.