A Little Laughter Left In Me... (Laughing Jack x Reader)

~Departure and Planning~

About five hours went by before you finally arrived at a decent looking motel, it had a closed off pool area and the main building seemed to have three floors.

"We're here." Your stepfather announced, smiling.

You stretched your arms and legs, feeling stiff from sitting in the car for so long.

"I'll grab our stuff, you go on inside, okay?"

You looked at him, feeling bad that he'd be doing all the work.

"Are you sure?" He simply nodded with a grin.

With that, you prepared yourself and took a deep breath, then opened the car door and snow almost instantly blew in your face. You jumped out and shut the door, then made a mad dash to the front doors of the motel. You pulled one door open and ran inside, quickly shutting it and hugging yourself in a desperate attempt to warm yourself, but you sighed in relief that it was over.

"Ah! Welcome! You must be (Y/n)!" A voice said, making you look ahead of you despite having snow littered hair in your eyes.

A middle aged man was approaching you, he looked pretty well built and had dark brown hair with small strands of grey scattered around. His eyes were an aged hazel, and were looking at you welcomingly.

"Y-Yes, th-th-that's me..." Your teeth chattered from the cold, making you stutter, but you gave him the best smile you could manage.

The older man looked at you sympathetically, noticing your condition.

"Aww, you poor thing, you're freezing! Come on, sit by the fire." He led you over to the lounge area, taking your coat for you before seating you at one of the two chairs closest to the fire. You were also wearing your (f/c) hoodie underneath, but it wasn't wet so you kept it on.

"I'll go get you some cocoa." The man said, then walked away after placing your coat on a nearby coatrack.

You called back to him with a "Thank you!", and though he didn't respond you were fairly sure he heard you.

You looked around the lounge, seeing that it was decorated in Christmas lights and the whole room had velvet and brown in the furniture and carpets, it looked cozy all around. You noticed it seemed oddly vacant for such a beautiful place, but your father told you on the way that this motel didn't usually get a lot of people, it was more like a rest stop nowadays since it was so far out and people were usually traveling so they didn't have time to stay for too long.

You dug into your hoodie pocket and pulled out a familiar ripped piece of a picture, looking at the little boy that was once Jeff. You'd nearly forgotten the photo was still in your pocket, but you were thankful it was because you knew you'd need something to help you with the homesickness. You sighed, wondering what Jeff and the others were up to, and if Jack and Miles were holding up okay so far. That was when you laughed at yourself for a moment.

"It hasn't even been a day and I'm already worried sick. I'm just like mom." You thought, cringing slightly at the last part in dismay.

You heard the motel's doors open again and two voices spoke, your father and who you'd guessed was his friend. The two greeted each-other and you could hear your father setting down the bags.

"Here, this is for your daughter, she's over by the fire. There's a mug for you on the desk."

"Thanks, pal." Your stepfather thanked him, and you heard your luggage being wheeled away.

You hid the picture back in your hoodie pocket as your father approached and pretended to be warming yourself by holding your hands in front of the fireplace, looking over once he was present. The two mugs had matching reindeer and snowflakes on them, and you could see the faint steam rising up from them.