falling like rain / jack harries fanfic

xvi

noelle } dec 5th } 697 days before

i entered the chilly produce section of the grocery store, weeding through the fragile old women trying to find the perfect avocado or pear in the supermarket. i was treating myself to fresh fruit-- for some reason, i thought a apple would be incredible in my odd pop tart/heat-up chicken nugget diet.

i finally reached the apples and grabbed a bag to place them in. i went with 2, then 3, then 6 apples in my bag. i inspected each apple, making sure none of them had worms or bruises. all of sudden i felt like the old women, observing all of my apples like i was.

i heard a loud crash from the shopping carts, causing the bag to slip and sending the apples all across the floor. i groaned internally and went to the ground to pick them up.

just as i was about to pick up the first apple, a hand grabbed it before i could. my hand trembled and my head snapped up the biggest, most beautiful brown eyes i've ever seen paired with strong jaw bones and a head of dark brown hair.

"need any help?" he smiled.

"thanks." i said back, observing his stunning features and feeling my stomach turn in circles. this shouldn't me happening.

he delicately placed 3 of the apples back in the bag and helped me back up.

he grinned warmly at me. "so what's your name?"

"noelle, it's a pleasure to meet you." i smiled.

"it's great to meet you noelle," he paused, then chuckled. "this might seem odd and maybe too spontaneous, but d-do you want to go out for .... like, coffee or something?"

his eyes suddenly looked nervous, only imagining the blush that was on my cheeks.

"of course, it's not odd or spontaneous at all." i laughed. "just have to pay for my apples and know your name first."

he took the bag of apples from me and smirked. "I'll pay for the apples," he took out his wallet. "and i'm jasper."

dec. 10th } 692 days before

"no, plug in the fairy lights by the other plug in," i directed jasper. "yeah, that one, by the door."

i grinned as the lights turned on and turned my livingroom into a christmas wonderland. i glanced around and saw all what we'd done in the past hour. we decorated the tree, made a batch of cookies, and untangled billions of lights. jasper smiled and wrapped his arm around my waist.

"we did a good job. we really did." he said proudly.

"thanks for the help." i lightly kissed his cheek.

"no problem. it was a blast." he rubbed my back.

just as we were going to plop on the couch, there was a knock on the door.

"i'll get it." i hopped over to the door and swung it open.

"j-jack?" i stuttered.

jack smiled warmly, grasping 3 daisies in his hands.

"surprise?"

i awkwardly chuckled. "hey, now is not a really good time..."

i heard the oven buzzer go off.

"hey noelle, you want those cookies out?" jaspers voice called through the house.

"yeah...um," i noticed jacks eyes flaring up as he heard his voice.

"who's that?" he whispered, his eyes like daggers. he pushed past me and stood in the doorway.

i gulped and took a deep breath to brace myself out what could possibly follow. "nobody, just a friend, really just-"

jasper's back was turned to us as he put the cookie sheet on top of the oven. he turned around and went toward jack and i. jack flinched and started taking in slower breaths.

jasper smiled at me and jack. "those turned out so great, nell-"

he was interrupted by jacks fist coming in contact to his face and all hell broke loose in my livingroom.

//

i sat in between jack and jasper on the dining room table like a judge in a courtroom, calmly sipping my tea and taking long, deep breaths. both of them had wet paper towels that they were gently dabbing on their bloody lips and noses.

i sighed. "well, now that the testosterone levels have cooled down a bit, i say we talk things out."

jack glared at jasper and jasper glared at jack. i sipped my tea and looked down at the table. it's going to be a long night.

"there's not really much to say about the dickhead who tried to hook up with you, really." jack spit out.

jasper rolled his eyes. "listen buddy, if you just think that you can go around -"

"you probably wanted to hookup with annie too, right?"

jasper flinched at the sound of her name, but then rolled his eyes again.

"oh please, you think that my main goal is to steal your girlfriends or something -"

"it is, though."

"i had no idea you and annie were even a thing, ok? she didn't say a word about it, neither did noelle."

jack looked to the ground and bit his bloody lip.

"i can't believe you almost were a thing with that asshole." jack muttered to me.

"we were really only friends, i mean it -" i said quickly back, not meaning it at all. jasper would really be a good boyfriend, if all of this worked out. he was smart, funny, beautifully attractive-- he always reminded me of jack though. they told the same jokes and laughed at the same things. i hated laughing at a joke and having my mind go to jack-- he wouldn't escape my mind, even if i had jasper. he just wasn't the same. "jack, he was only helping me decorate, that's all."

"how about you jack, have you found someone? i mean, you had noelle pretty quickly after annie, you'd think you'd find someone after noelle." jasper jeered.

jack tensed and glared at jasper. "actually no, i haven't." he began. "i've been giving noelle her time, but obviously she doesn't need it."

i sat up in my chair and noticed jacks glaring gaze was on me.

"you said we'd meet for coffee a week and a half. i gave you almost 2 weeks, and look where we are. " he spat.

i looked to the table to avoid his stare.

"i don't think you realise that you've literally took over my thoughts, noelle. i felt so stupid about everything i did, and you give me this? you just find someone new and forget all about everything we had? you know what, lets just be friends, ok? friends." he mocked.

i felt my eyes well up with tears. friends.