~YOUR P.O.V.~
An hour after you finished washing dishes, you found yourself with Jack outside, wearing your trench coats, and sitting on top of the compressed cars. You each had a can of Reddi Wip, and you were sharing a bottle of cheap vodka and a jar of Nutella, as you talked, Jack sitting on your left side.
"So, what got you get into magic?" Jack asked at one point. "I know your grandfather got you into it, but was there a trick specifically?"
You shrugged. "The first time I saw him perform metamorphosis, I knew I wanted to be him up on the stage."
He nodded, and grabbed the vodka from you, and took a sip.
"What about you?" you asked, as you sprayed a small dollop of whipped cream into your mouth.
"First grade, our teacher's husband came into class and passed a quarter through my teacher's water bottle. Then the next week he came in and performed a simple card trick. I was the most curious out of everyone to know how he did it."
"Lemme guess, when you asked how he did it he just told you 'magic'?"
"Yeah. Then I rented a book on magic from the library and the rest was history, I guess."
You smiled at the thought of a 6-year old Jack watching his teacher's husband perform a card trick, completely bug-eyed. You sprayed some more whipped cream into your mouth.
"Hey," Jack got your attention.
"Whu?" you asked, your mouth still slightly open, and the whipped cream sitting on your tongue.
He leaned over, and kissed you. You quickly realized it was all a trick, as he sucked the whipped cream out of your mouth. He pulled away, grinning widely.
"Hey!" you exclaimed, as you stuck your finger in the Nutella, and wiped it on his face. You licked it off, laughing.
"Good God how drunk're you?"
"I've had 5 sips of vodka tonight. You've had 7."
He took his can of Reddi Wip and sprayed it on your cheek. Maybe out of annoyance, or maybe because he was a little tipsy. Who knows.
"Hey!" you laughed, leaning away from Jack. "That tickles!"
He leaned on you, and sucked the whipped cream away. You used your sleeve to wipe away the stickiness. You felt your phone vibrate, and you pulled it out. It was an email, from Henley. You and Henley emailed back and forth often, mainly when you became a Horseman, to get to know what you were getting into. It was 3 news articles.
"Who is it?" Jack asked.
"Henley. Eh, I'll answer her later."
"Oh," he said, before shaking the red spray can slightly. You quickly pulled up the camera on your phone, and took a picture of him just as he sprayed the whipped cream into his mouth. You posted it on Instagram, with the caption Shout-out to Merritt McKinney for buying 3 cans of whipped cream, a jar of Nutella, and a bottle of Vodka right before the OCTA show.
"So, how were your first few days on your own?" you asked Jack. "After your mom was deported?"
"Lonely and depressing. I spent my days hanging around my apartment, eating frozen pizzas and drinking cheap wine out of the bottle in nothing but my boxers. You?"
You tried not to laugh at the last piece of that comment. "I made my way to Nevada. They were very calm days. It was the first time I didn't have to worry about anything or anyone other than myself. When my parents were alive, I constantly had to worry about them overdosing, but then I didn't."
"Sounds fun. Then I realized I needed money, so I had to enter the actual world again. That sucked."
"I bet so. That was what I was like when I reached New York. I was like 'okay. I need a job. Shit'."
Jack laughed. "So what states did you travel through?"
You thought back. "Let's see, California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, then New York. My favorite state was Illinois, other than the shitty drivers."
Jack laughed. "Worse than New York drivers?"
"Nooo. Well, some of them were worse," you said, as you took the bottle from Jack, and drank a large sip of vodka. "Good God I was almost killed like 12 times by drivers."
"Sheesh."
You smirked, and rested your cheek on his shoulder, and closed your eyes.
"Tired?"
"A little. Just kinda cold," you muttered. Jack started taking his coat off, but you slapped his arm. "Uh-uh. You'll get hypothermia. I appreciate the motion, but I don't want you to get sick for Valentine's Day."
Jack nodded, and stroked your right cheek with his left hand. You sprayed whipped cream in your mouth. "Is it just me, or is what we're doing right now super cheesy, like something you'd see in a rom-com?" Jack asked.
You thought about it. "Kinda, yeah. But I doubt it'd be 2 magicians. It'd probably be like a chef and an insurance agent or something."
Jack laughed, and stuck his finger in the Nutella jar. He ate the spread off of his finger. "What time is it?"
You looked at your phone. "Almost 2. We should get to bed."
"Yeah. But 1 thing first."
"What's that?" You asked, as you sprayed some whipped cream into your mouth.
"We finish off the whipped cream."
"Sounds like a plan," you said, and you both sprayed whipped cream into your mouths. Jack finished first, because he downed over half of the can earlier, and you had almost three quarters of yours left. After he finished, he screwed the lid of the Nutella on the jar, and put the cap back on the vodka. After he finished, he looked at you. You looked at him, and sprayed about 12 dots of whipped cream on his face.
Jack laughed. "That tickles!"
"What'd I tell you?" You kissed each dot, sucking the cream off of his face. After the dots were off of his face, you rested your forehead on his. "Jack?"
"Yes?"
"Can I have my can back?"
He smirked, and sprayed a small dot of whipped cream on your lips. He kissed you, and sucked your lips clean.
You giggled, and grabbed the can from him, then proceeded to finish the can in 1 spray. You succeeded, and the condensed air in the can ran out.
You and Jack walked back into the cabin, and threw the whipped cream cans away, and put the vodka and Nutella back in the cupboard. You went into the bathroom to change into a pair of spandex shorts and a crop-tank top you kept in your satchel, and put your hair up into a messy bun. You walked into Jack's bedroom, where he was in bed, wearing nothing but a pair of sweatpants. For reasons no one could explain, Jack's room was always super warm, even if it was -50° outside. You crawled into bed with him, and fell asleep.
--------------------
You woke up about 2 hours later, to the feeling of the other side of the bed moving. You thought Jack went to go to the bathroom, but when you didn't hear any footsteps, you opened your eyes. Using the light from the full moon that shined through the window, you saw Jack, who was sitting up, with his face in his hands. You sat up. "You alright, love?" you asked him quietly, placing a hand on his shoulder.
He didn't respond.
"Nightmare?"
He nodded.
You sighed, and reached over to turn on the lamp. "Is it the fire again?"
He dropped his hands, and nodded.
You didn't even have to ask. You knew it was the fire, it was the anniversary of Reign's death. You saw a tear flow from his eye on the opposite side of you. You wiped it away with your free hand, and kissed him on the cheek. "Do you need anything? Anything at all?"
"No," he whispered back after a few long seconds of silence. "Just be here."
He looked at you, and you nodded. His eyes were slightly bloodshot, suggesting he's been silently crying for awhile. You leaned over, wrapped your arms around his neck, and kissed him gently. He placed a hand on your back, then you parted a moment later. Jack laid back down, and so did you, as you reached over to turn off the lamp.
You rolled over to look at Jack. He was turned to look at you, and you saw that he was no longer crying, instead he was smiling. He pushed a strand of hair out of your eyes, and wrapped his arms around you. "Always," you whispered in a voice that was barely audible, even to you. You felt Jack gently kiss your forehead. "I love you," you whispered, and you kissed his chest.
"I love you too."