Soulmates: Writing on Skin [Seaycee AU]

Twenty-two

Two days after her conversation with Kylie, Kaycee sat across the table from Jack at a small diner in Northeast Los Angeles. They'd been there for a total of five minutes and neither had said a word to each other, staring at their menus in complete silence. It wasn't until after they'd ordered their drinks and the waitress brought them over that a conversation started.

"So, what have you been up to?" Jack asked sweetly.

Kaycee jammed her straw through the lid of her drink. "What do you mean?"

He chuckled without much humor, the look on his face remaining neutral. "I mean, you haven't really been talking to me much these past two weeks. I don't really know what you've been up to."

"I really haven't been up to anything." She replied, twirling the straw around in circles in her fingers.

"You've been acting weird." Jack stated flatly. "Ever since that Christmas party when you left without so much as a goodbye."

Kaycee shrugged, "I don't know what to say to that."

"Did I do something that I'm not aware of?" The tone in Jack's voice grew more urgent with each word he spoke. "Because all you have to do is tell me, I'll fix it."

You can't change people. She remembered Kylie saying that a few days earlier. If Jack isn't compatible now, he never will be; it would be selfish of Kaycee to string him along, waiting for him to change.

"You can't fix it." She answered honestly, keeping her eyes on the straw in between her fingertips. "People can't change."

"Kaycee, what's going on?" Jack pulled the drink away from her, forcing their eyes to meet. "Why are you talking like that?"

She had been trying so hard to not meet his eye, she knew once she did, her newfound confidence would go out the window. And of course, that's what happened; she looked into his dark eyes, the ones that she'd grown to trust, defeat radiating from his irises. It broke her heart.

Kaycee could feel her walls breaking down, every brick that she'd set was crumbling beneath her, leaving her vulnerable and afraid again. As silly as it seemed, she couldn't remember what her life was like without Jack in it. She felt like if she lost him, she'd lose a lot more than just a boyfriend, she'd lose one of her best friends, she'd lose her number one supporter.

But that wasn't true. Her best friend and number one supporter was her partner, the one who'd always be there to pick her up when she fell, the one who knows everything about her, the one that she physically couldn't live without, even if she tried. The one who wants her to be happy no matter the circumstances, the one who said her happiness was dulled when Jack was around. Sean is her rock, he's someone who she trusts with her life, and if he feels that Jack isn't good for her, then she needs to find the strength to cut the ropes.

"Kayc, are you in there?" Jack stuck his hand in her face, waving it around frantically.

She sighed, mustering up any strength she had to speak. "Where do you see this going?"

Jack froze, "What do you mean?"

"Where do you see us in the future?" Kaycee swallowed the lump in her throat. "Where is this relationship going?"

Jack's shook his head, his gaze falling to the table. "So you've been thinking about it, too?"

Kaycee was taken aback. "Thinking about what?"

Jack exhaled, "The whole 'soulmate' thing. After however many months we've been together, you'd think if we were soulmates, the writing would've shown up by now."