Fragile // Sequel to Torn

56. |

"I missed you," I whisper, earning a small, half hearted smile. "How's George?"

"He's okay. What are we doing today?" Jakob quickly changes the subject.

"You don't have to avoid it, Jake." I tell him. He just looks at me, his eyes so full of emotion. Then he kisses me.

I never used to like brown eyes. To me they were so plain and so dull, so non-lifelike. Brown eyes were boring, they showed no emotion, they told no stories; I always considered brown eyes unable to be anything but what I believed. That was before Jakob. When I saw his eyes, everything changed. Brown suddenly became beautiful, vibrant and the most exciting thing I'd ever seen. When I saw his eyes, my blood started rushing and my heart started pounding. Since then, I've never seen colours the same way at all.

"Why aren't you kissing me back?" Jakob asks worriedly. Any reply I have will sound weird so I avoid it by doing exactly what he's asking me about: kissing back. When we pull away from the kiss, he pulls me in for another hug.

"How long are you allowed out?" I have to ask.

"Until tomorrow morning," He replies with a sigh. My heart skips a small beat. "Then I'm going home."

"We have a whole night together?"

"Yes."

"And what about George? Is he going home?" I have to ask. Jakob shakes his head. I'm about to say something else when he cuts me off.

"I missed you a lot."

"I know, Jake, me too." I reply. I really wish he would just tell me what's going on with George. That's when I realise that George isn't my business at all; Jakob's mental state is, but George is not.

"We should go inside." He tries for a half hearted smile. I can't help but notice he has the thinnest layer of tears in his eyes, but they never fall.

"Let's go."

Once Tim is ready, we step into the booth. I don't think we're going to be recording any official things today, however, we're still going to practise. Jakob is singing flat but neither one of us have the heart to tell him. Tim just looks between Chris and I as if we're going to tell him what he should do. He stops the music and I turn around to see Jakob staring at the ground and fiddling with his fingers.

"I'm sorry." He mumbles.

"No, it's okay, I think we're all a bit out of it today. Maybe you guys should just go home early." Tim suggests.

"But we've only been here for an hour?" Jakob questions softly.

"It's okay, Bub," I smile. "We can go home and do something else."

He just stares at me and doesn't say anything, letting out a deep breath through his nose. Then he nods.

•••

The laptop is balanced on my legs, the only part of me not taken by Jakob. He's laying across my chest, his hand resting on my stomach as I run my hands through his semi-curly hair. All of a sudden, he shifts, sitting up. He quickly fixes his hair with his fingers and gets up off the bed.

"Where are you going?" I ask.

"I just need a drink." Jakob replies with a small smile.

I give it about two minutes before I give in to my concerns. Pausing the movie, I get up and make my way quietly towards the door. Without making a sound, I creep down the stairs. It's sounds awfully quiet in the kitchen until I reach the bottom of the stairs. That's when I hear the soft sounds of someone crying. Jakob has his back to me, his hands gripping the edge of the bench. He's standing up tall but his shoulders are shaking as he cries. I tip toe around the side until I can just see the tears falling from his closed eyes. Without saying anything, I walk up behind him and wrap my arms around his torso. My forehead rests on his shoulder as he leans his head back, letting out a deep breath.

"Turn around." I whisper, moving my hands to his hips and guiding him around to face me.

I immediately use both hands to cup his face gently, then press my lips to his cheeks, kissing away his tears. I can taste the salt against my lips but I don't really care right now. That's when I resort to using my thumb as they're now falling too fast for me to catch them. Neither one of us really says anything as Jakob pulls me in for a kiss. It's soft and it's passionate and I don't even know why it's happening, but it feels good. I've been away from his touch for days now and I've missed it more than I'm willing to admit.

"Don't mind me," Chris mutters as he walks into the kitchen. "Just gotta grab the paperwork."

I quickly pull away from Jakob and stare at the ground in embarrassment. Usually he tells us not to make out in the kitchen because its unhygienic or something, but today he just doesn't seem to care.

"Do you want help?" I decide to ask.

"No, you guys just relax, I've got this under control." Chris smiles at me softly, nods at Jakob and then walks out.

"What do you want to do now?" Jakob asks.

"I want to ta-" I start but he cuts me off quickly.

"I don't want to talk. Not about this."

I stare at him for a few seconds, waiting for him to crack. He doesn't. He keeps staring back at me, not breaking eye contact. In the end I decide to drop it- he clearly doesn't want to talk. Maybe it's best if he has a break from thinking about George anyway, right?

"Can I ask one question?" I try. Jakob sighs.

"Fine."

"Are you okay? Be honest with me."

"N-not when I think about it." He mutters, looking down. I bring my hand up and press my thumb against his jaw, lightly placing my fingers against his neck.

"Let me distract you."

And then I press my lips to his.