"Hey, so what are you doing for Lea's birthday now when she's in Hong Kong?" Jerry asked as they entered the bowling alley.
"Well, she doesn't have a lot of spare time these days with school and then there is the time difference - but we are going to FaceTalk tonight," Jack explained, truly missing his girlfriend's presence in Seaford.
"Oh, cool," Jerry said, "Yeah, I thought about sending something to Lea."
"But you didn't?" Jack asked.
"Why would I? It's the thought that counts," Jerry shrugged, "Not to mention that Lea hates gifts because she doesn't like surprises."
An engine revived in another room which caught Jerry's attention, "Hey, dude, check it out," he said, leading Jack into the other room.
"Whoo-hoo! Whoa! Whoa!" a man on a motorcycle version of the mechanical bull yelled before he was thrown off.
Sorry, you lose!" a guy with a microphone said, "Who else thinks they can finish the extreme road trip challenge? Just survive the trip from California to New York, and you win this Yamasuki dirt bike. But if you fall off the bike, you lose."
"Oh, I'm up for the challenge my friend," Jerry said confidently, stepping up to the platform and then he jumped up on the bike, "Ley me show you how a real man rides a hog."
"And this is where Zalee would say something snarky," Jack sighed, missing his girlfriend.
Jerry was thrown of the motorcycle directly and crashed to the ground. "And this is where she would laugh," Jack added, not even caring for his friend's wellbeing. Jerry had survived worse.
"Sorry, you lose," the guy said.
"Why'd that hog have to be so loud?" Jerry whined.
☆★☆
The next day Jack and Jerry were back and watched as Jerry's grandmother tried to win the dirt bike. "Oh! Granny down!" the announcer yelled when the old lady flew off.
"Thanks for trying, Nana," Jerry offered her an high five as she stumbled away. Then he realised something, "Jack. Jack, you gotta win this bike for me, man. Oh, help me, Jack. You are my only hope."
"I'd like to help you, Jerry," Jack sighed, "But I can't miss my birthday FaceTalk with Zalee. You know how punctual she is."
"You at least gotta try," Jerry tried to persuade him, "Look, give me your phone. If she calls you, I'll let you know and you can just hop off the bike."
Jack sighed in defeat, "Fine," he fished up his phone from his pocket and handed it to Jerry.
"Oh, you're the man!" Jerry patted his shoulder excitedly and Jack jumped up to try the game. It couldn't be that bad.
☆★☆
When Jack had managed to hold on long enough to win the challenge the crowd cheered loudly. "WE WON!" Jerry yelled.
"Looks like we have a winner. I couldn't be happier," the guy said unenthusiastically.
When he hesitated to give Jack the keys he snatched them and jumped off the bike, "Thank you," he said before running over to Jerry, "Dude! Dude, we won!"
"Dude, that was incredible. How did you do that?" Jerry asked him.
"You are not gonna believe this. But I think it was - the force," Jack said, having gotten inspired by the Star Wars exhibit that was taking place in the mall.
"Alright people, new rule, okay?" the announcer said, "From now on no one can use The Force."
A few guys dressed like Jedi warriors walked away with slumped shoulders. But Jack didn't care about that when he saw his phone in Jerry's hand. He quickly took it and looked at the screen, "Are you kidding me? Zalee called five times and you didn't tell me?"
"You seemed busy," Jerry tried to make an excuse.
"'I guess you couldn't talk. Maybe another day'," Jack read her message before glaring at Jerry, "Jerry, you knew how important this call was to me. I thought you were my friend."
Jack turned to leave, "Yo! Jack, wait! Look, I can't let you walk away like this. You have the keys to my bike."
Jack threw the keys at him before storming away.
☆★☆
"Since I made you miss your birthday FaceTalk with Zalee, I called her like a maniac until she picked up and she called me a jerk - but I did manage to convince her to take some time off to call you back,"
"Really?" Jack asked hopefully.
Jack opened his computer and Jack looked at the black screen, "Zalee?"
"Jack, are you there?" Azalea asked.
"Zalee, I can hear you but I can't see you," Jack said, pushing the buttons on the computer in hope that she'd appear. He turned to Jerry, "What is up with your computer?"
"Are you blind?" Azalea asked as she closed the laptop, grinning down at her boyfriend who looked at her wide eyed.
"Zalee!" Jack exclaimed, standing up to hug her. He wrapped his arms tightly around her back and spun her around, "Zalee, you are here."
"How are you here?" Jack asked while pulling back slightly so he could look at her.
"Jerry sold his motorcycle and bought me a round-trip ticket from Hong Kong," Azalea explained and Jack pulled her into another hug pressing a kiss to her temple.
"You are my friend, Jack," Jerry said, "And what I did was wrong."
"Well, you made up for it, Jerry," Jack said gratefully, holding up his hand and Jerry gave him a fist bump.
"Now I'm going to leave before the two of you do something to gross me out," Jerry winked before picking up his laptop and leaving.
Jack took that as his cue to dip down and kiss her straight on the lips. Azalea let out a surprised gasp but responded to the kiss for a few seconds before pulling away.
"We are in a restaurant," she reminded him, "Better not get thrown out."
☆★☆
"Soo, how are things in Hong Kong?" Jack asked as the two cuddled on the couch in Jack's room. It was better to be there than at Azalea's because Rudy had a tendency to storm in and act like a mother hen.
"I like it, I guess," Azalea shrugged, "Everyone is really nice but I kind of miss Seaford. It's kind of lonely to live in a foreign country when you aren't a social person. I only have Charlie and we don't have a lot of classes together."
"So you miss Seaford?" Jack asked casually, "Is there something else that you might miss?"
"Of course," Azalea smirked, "I miss Jerry and Milton and Taylor and Phil and Joan and that guy who works at the frozen yogurt place-"
She was interrupted when Jack kissed her, letting out a small squeal. Jack gently pressed her down onto the couch while kissing her, one hand tangling in her hair while the other one trailed down to her waist.
"Is there somebody else that you might have missed," Jack smirked, hovering above her.
"I may have missed you a little bit too," Azalea admitted, "But not as much as I missed the guy from the frozen yogurt place. And I clearly couldn't turn down coming back to Seaford during the Star Wars festival. That I get to see you again is just a nice bonus."
Jack rolled his eyes, "I'm glad I can be," Jack kissed her nose, "a bonus to you."
"Hey, it was my birthday a few days ago," Azalea pouted, "You should be nicer to me."
"I'm always nice to you," Jack grinned, "You can't say otherwise."
☆★☆
Rudy stood in the middle of the wharf, dressed in Jedi ropes and played around with the lightsaber that was on exhibit.
"Rudy," Joan called out to get his attention, "You've had that lightsaber for ten minutes. Let someone else hold it."
"A powerful Jedi like me can never be separated from his lightsaber-" Rudy started to say when Azalea knocked the lightsaber out of his hand and caught it.
"Until an even more powerful Jedi takes it," Azalea smirked, throwing it up in the air but she wasn't able to catch it because Jack did instead.
"Sorry, I'm late," Milton walked out in a C-3PO costume, speaking in a terrible British accent, "I had to escape imperial forces that had me trapped in quadrant seven."
"Is that code for 'some bullies locked you in the dumpster behind the alley'?" Jerry asked him.
"Affirmative, master Jerry," Milton said.
"More robot less Downton Abbey," Azalea told him before looking down at her watch, "I'm sorry guys, I gotta get going. It's was great seeing you all again."
"You too," Milton said.
"We miss you," Jerry told her.
"Next time bring gifts," Rudy added, earning a glare from his little sister.
"Why? It's my birthday trip, not yours," Azalea narrowed her eyes at him, but hugged him nonetheless because he was her brother and she loved him - most of the time.
Jack pulled her slightly away from the group, "Can't you stay one more day?" he asked her, sad that she was leaving so soon.
"I'm sorry, Jackie. I can't," Azalea smiled sadly, "But hey, it's just one more month and then I will be back again."
Jack nodded in understanding and took both her hands in his, "Hey, even though we are like seven thousand miles away, I never stop thinking about you."
"You are really good at making goodbyes super difficult," Azalea said, fighting to not lose her cool. She truly hated goodbyes. She stepped forward and hugged Jack tightly, feeling his arms wrap around her waist.
They pulled apart and Jack leaned down to give her a quick kiss. "I love you," Azalea muttered.
"I know," Jack smirked.
"The fact that you said 'I know' instead of 'I love you too' is exactly why you are the best thing to ever happen to me," Azalea wiped away the single tear that managed to escape.
"I know that too," Jack kissed her quickly again. Azalea waved one last time to the other guys before walking away.
Out of habit she checked her flight information for like the hundredth time that day to make sure she didn't forget something. She was halfway to the parking lot when she logged in to see that her flight had been cancelled.
A grin broke out on her face when she realised that she'd be able to stay one more day. She quickly turned around and ran back towards the wharf, surprising Jack by jumping up on his back.
He stumbled slightly, not having been ready for the sudden ambush. "Zalee?" he asked confusedly, but happily, letting her back to the ground.
"My plane was cancelled so I guess you are all stuck with me for another day because I don't leave until tomorrow," Azalea told him and a large smile took over Jack's face.
He immediately wrapped his arms around her and then he leaned down to kiss her, keeping his hands on her back to pull her closer. She kissed him back, so overjoyed that she could stay another day that she couldn't help but think about how big part of her life he was.
"Oh my," Milton said, looking at them and without breaking the kiss Jack placed his hand on his face and pushed him away. Due to the poor balance he had in the costume Milton fell back.
And to officially ruin the moment Azalea burst out laughing at the hilarious scene of Milton falling over as C-3PO. Jack released a chuckle, pressing his forehead to hers.
"I preferred when you two were thousands of miles apart," Rudy looked at the two in brotherly disgust.
_____________
Azalea's Outfit