Jail-Broken

FIVE.

Tom

I guiltily met her glossy  eyes as they began to wash with tears. I could hear her gulp aggressively, obviously dreading my response. Hell, I dreaded my own response.

"What happened with me and Laura that day, wasn't supposed to happen. I don't even know why it happened, and I quite frankly wish it didn't. I would never do anything to hurt you purposely like that."

"What was supposed to happen that day then? Huh? Why was Laura even there?"

"That's the thing, I don't even know. She just... Showed up..." My mind began trying to process everything that happened at that moment. The moment she pressed her lips against mine. The moment everything came crashing down. My memory had been foggy, but that specific moment had been engraved into my mind.

"I think it was after I kicked Harrison out," I blurted after regaining some sense of those moments, "he told me that you'd leave me just like Laura did, and it stung. After hearing that, I couldn't help but look through the box of memories that I had kept of Laura. I had to. It wasn't Laura that left, but it still had hurt so much. Some part of me just needed some closure. She just happened to show up, though. She seen the box as well as the engagement ring that I had planned on giving her, she took it as if I wanted her back, as if you didn't exist at all. I didn't want to physically hurt her. I didn't even know she'd kiss me. It just... Happened."

My eyes wandered around the room, refusing to look at anything but at Zendaya's eyes. It wasn't because I was lying, but because it hurt too much to see the pain in her eyes even if I did tell my truth. Whether it was meant to happen or not, it still took place and it would always be an unwanted tattoo on her heart.

"Seeing her kiss you the way she did will be one thing I will never forget," she mumbled weakly as if the words had been forced, "especially after everything Harrison had thrown at me before. I was convinced, after seeing what I did, that I was truly just another one of your girls. I mean, I wouldn't blame you. You two had so much history together, you only dated me for a solid forty-eight hours, what do I have on her-"

"Everything. If I wanted her, I would be with her. I wouldn't be in this hospital bed right now. I would've let Harrison have you and we would've gone our separate ways. But I didn't do any of that, I chose you. If I could do this all over again just to come back out and know that at least I did it for someone who truly makes me happy, then I would."

I could feel her sniffle and rest her head back on my chest, "if you knew all of this would happen from us simply falling for each other that night, would you still chose me?"

"Yes, if I could have seen myself crawling out of an enclosed, sweaty casket for you, I definitely still would've chosen you," I said, giggling and so did she.

She rested her chin on my chest, her glistening brown eyes gazing into mine, a few glossy tears striking down her soft cheeks. A gentle smile curled upon her face, the first time I had seen it in a long while. A little too long.

I stroked her cheek softly, brushing some of her tear-soaked curls from her face and behind her small ears. My thumb traced her caramel skin for a few short moments as she slid her body up against mine until our faces met.

"Thank you." She said suddenly.

"For what?"

"For loving me." She said before she lowered her face to mine, her lips brushing against mine before we both made the move to lock them.

Jacob

With both of us visibly irritated, I answered the phone, already knowing who would be on the other line.

When I answered the call, the only thing I could hear for a short while was constant, loud banging, followed by angry mumbles and curses. It took a while before I could hear a clear voice.

"Jacob?" Laura cried out loudly as if she had been desperate or in pain.

"Laura, what's going on? What're you doing?"

"Where are you?!" She practically screamed into the phone, followed by more banging.

"I asked first, what is all that noise?"

"Why aren't you answering the door? I've been knocking for ten minutes! We need to talk!"

"I-" I began to answer, looking up at Jax who had been glaring since I had picked up the phone, he motioned for me to put it on speakerphone.

I did so, but Laura began speaking again before I could respond, "what? Jacob, answer the door!"

"I'm not there, Laura! You need to go home!"

I could hear her growl loudly, like a growl that belonged to an angsty teenager that couldn't get their way. The banging continued, getting louder with each blow to the door. It sounded as if she was about to smash the door down if she were to knock for just a second longer.

"Jacob, this is important! Where are you?"

Before I could answer, Jax viscously snatched the phone from my hands, putting the speaker up to his lips as they twitched with anger.

"Laura, what the hell do you want?"

"Who the hell are y- wait, you're Jax, aren't you?" She quickly caught on, "you're the one who practically helped Harrison kill my boyfriend."

"Tom isn't your boyfriend, nor is he alive like you claim. I don't know what fucked up and twisted games you're trying to play on us, but they aren't going to work."

The line got quiet for a short second before I could hear a car door slam in the distance, followed by the ruffling of an engine being started, "Tom is alive! I watched him crawl out of a fucking casket! You think I would lie about that?"

"You just said Tom was your boyfriend, I wouldn't put it past you."

"This isn't a fucking joke, Jax! I need to see Jacob now, Tom is in serious danger, especially if Harrison finds out that Tom is still alive!"

"If Tom is alive, then you would have proof of it, wouldn't you? Do you have proof?"

She got silent.

"That's exactly what I figured. Bye, Laura." Jax said, his thumb hovering over the "End Call" button before Laura shrieked.

"Wait! I can get proof. I know what hospital he's being held in right now, please, just give me an hour and I'll call you when I have the proof that you need."

"Don't call. Meet me at Eldorado Resort Casino in Reno by this time tomorrow. Have your proof. Don't try to pull any tricks either, I will come prepared."

The sound of tires loudly screeching cracked the speaker and Laura's voice had yet to give a reply.

"Deal."