Fracture

"Why would you care so much about what those bitches thought?" Juliet asked, her legs pulled protectively to her chest.

"Again, watch the language, Jules," I told her, "But I hadn't learned at that point to just let things roll off my back. I wasn't secure in my own skin yet, either. It would get easier, though."

I sat beside Jack a few nights later on a cliff overlooking the ocean. We'd stumbled across the amazing view while wandering the grounds after hours.

"This is so beautiful," I sighed contentedly, staring out across the dark water.

"Yeah," He smiled, studying my face.

I turned to him and smirked, "What're you looking at?"

He smiled back and reached up to brush away hair that had fallen onto my face, his fingers lingering on my cheek. I lavished in his touch and scooted closer to his warm frame.

He pointed to the sky, "There's the Big Dipper."

I laughed, "And there's the Little Dipper."

"I think this is what we can have when I go on tour in the fall and you're at school," Jack told me, his eyes transfixed on the sky.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

He reached behind me and rubbed my back, "You know, we'll see the same thing, even if we're really far away from each other."

"I've been trying not to think about that, Jack," I admitted with a sigh, resting my head on his shoulder.

He put his head on mine and we sat in silence for a minute. I knew we were both thinking about the separation that would come between us in less than two months.

"I'm happy we've got this moment, right now," Jack finally broke the silence and kissed the top of my head.

"Me too," I smiled up at him, turning so my legs were draped over his lap.

He leaned down and kissed me softly on my lips. I ran my hands through his dark hair, quickly changing position so I was completely on his lap, chest to chest with him. It felt natural to be this close to him, to feel so light from his kisses.

His warm hands lingered on the bare skin peaking out from where my shirt had risen up. I felt the almost familiar electricity and our kisses deepened.

Jack groaned and pulled away, "You're such a tease."

"I am so not a tease!" I glared at him.

He looked down at how I was straddling his lap, and I quickly crawled off, "That wasn't intentional!"

"So you're an unintentional tease?" He laughed.

"You better be nice, Barakat. Pretty soon I won't be teasing you at all," I told him seriously, standing up and brushing grass off my shorts.

"Don't make threats you can't stick to, Emily Rae Reed," He smirked and stood up.

"Oh you so did not just go there," I raised my eyebrows.

"I definitely went there," He nodded, mocking me.

"I guess you did... Jack Bassam Barakat," I shrugged and laughed at the expression that overcame his face.

"You're dead!" He said seriously.

I cracked up and started sprinting toward the bus lot. Jack and I were wrestling around on the ground only a few moments later.

"Mercy! Mercy!" I yelled, Jack starting to tickle me.

"You just had to pull out my middle name," He laughed.

"My phone's ringing!" I managed to tell him.

He paused and listened, "You're a liar."

"Lemme go and you'll see I'm not lying!" He obliged and I pulled my phone from my hoodie, showing him Natalie's name flashing across the screen.

I rolled away and answered the call, "Hello, darling!"

"Why are you so out of breath?" She laughed.

"Jack plays dirty," I told her.

"Ew, I don't even want to know."

"You're the one who went there," I laughed, "What's up?"

"I have some not so great news," Natalie sighed.

"Please don't tell me you're not coming," I bit my lip and Jack looked at me questioningly.

"Oh, I'm going to make it out," She told me quickly, "It'll just be a week later than I thought. A chick at work broke her leg, so we're one waitress short. My boss told me he really needs all the extra help he can get, but I told him I'm taking a week no matter what. I've been doing doubles almost every day, anyhow."

"We'll have fun no matter what!" I smiled.

"We always do, don't we?" She laughed.

We wrapped up the conversation and said goodbye, promising to call the next day. I put my cell back into my pocket and looked at Jack. He was laying on his back, fiddling with his own phone.
I crawled over and laid beside him, smiling when he forgot about the gadget and reached out to hold my hand.

I looked up at the stars we had claimed as our own, reveling in the feeling of my mind in his.

***

Hours later I found myself in Jack's bunk, without the same amount of clothes I'd had going in. I felt completely comfortable in his arms, and I didn't even think twice about laying there beside him, brushing against his bare chest. We hadn't had sex, but we'd gotten close.

Surprisingly, Jack had been the one to slow down the action. Mumbling something about it being too soon before rolling over and going into the bathroom. I was confused at first, but was happy when we came back and laid beside me in his boxer briefs.

"I feel like this should totally be reversed," I chuckled, running my fingers gently down his spine.

"I just don't want you to regret anything," He smiled softly, his eyes fluttering tiredly.

"I'm not going to regret anything about being with you," I smiled and kissed his forehead.