Somehow

Jasmine Isabelle Raegan was no longer elegant or graceful and in that moment; contrary to her prior belief, Zachary James Baker had been anything but articulate and goofy. Standing at just shy of five foot five up on her tip toes, Jasmine had wished to hold the presence and attention of someone twice his size, but even with his five ten frame slumped and shoulders hunched in embarrassment, Zack had still dwarfed her and she still felt tiny; and albeit insignificant, no matter how loud she had screamed.

Her wide baby blues were now glued to his green; even though only one was visible from beneath his floppy fringe, and she was stood so far from him that their conversation was constantly interrupted by clumsy passersby. Everything was different in the daylight, everything, she feared was more obvious.

‘You’re a stranger now’ had been resting on two tips of two tongues since the previous evening, but both bitten down and kept their shared thought to themselves. It was an obvious development and neither should’ve been surprised at the change.

“Why did you even have say that Zack, as if it’s my one intention in life to hurt you? As if the only thing I’m capable of is hurting you”

“It slipped out”

“It slipped out?!” Jasmine guffawed, “It’s not a nipple Zack, it’s not a...”

“A nipple?” He looked amused briefly, but his lips returned to a straight line as her eyes narrowed.

“That’s not the important part. The important part is that that slipped out. That, isn’t something that should slip out Zack. That was vicious, that was...”

“There’s not a we or an us anymore. There’s just you, and then there’s me” Zack quoted, word perfect.

Jasmine hadn’t expected the shudder that ran the length of her spine at her own words being thrown back at her, nor had she expected her feet to start moving before consulting with her head first. She imagined she’d looked like a looney tune fleeing from the scene, her legs moving so fast they blurred into tornado like wheels and a cloud of thick dust chasing at her heels along the path.

“Jas”

She refused to look back and swore to herself that she would refuse to look back ever again.

“Jasmine!” Zack called, his feet sticking fast to the floor but his heart yearning to chase after her; her quick walk had switched up to a jog and he knew she was just a few shouts of her name short of a sprint. “Please, wait, I...”

“What Zack? Do you want to throw more things back in my face?” She shouted without so much as a glance backward, “Do you really need to tell me again how much I’ve...”

“You laid our love on the line Jas. You made me choose” He remained a few feet behind, his eyes watching her light blonde hair swirling and twirling in the bitter mid morning breeze. “and even though I made the right decision I still can’t believe that I ever let you go. That I stepped down and didn’t even fight to save the...”

“I made it up Zack”

The dull hum of the people strolling through the park around them only muffled her words so much, and as they danced through the air and tickled at Zacks ears she turned slowly to face him. “I never once lost sight of what we had or why we were doing it, and I never once...” Her words caught painfully a touch below her tonsils and she clasped a hand to her freezing cold neck. “I’ve missed you every day Zack, and every single day I hate that I pushed you away. I can’t believe I said I’d lay our love on the ground, but it shouldn’t matter Zack, it shouldn’t matter now, because I made it up. I lied, it was...”

“A fabrication” Zack muttered, “An exaggeration, even”

Jasmine pulled her hair up atop her head and secured it with an elastic from her boney wrist, before rubbing her tired eyes with the palms of her hands and letting a small sigh escape her quickly chapping lips, whils tZack, stepped forward so that there was but a foot between them and made a half hearted grab at her arms; planning to pull her into his chest, but her sharp intake of breath had them falling quickly from around her and she stumbled clumsily to one side. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to...I took it too far didn’t I and...”

“It’s not that Zack” She reassured, her hand planted softly in the curve of her hips as she tried to push the grimace from her face. “It’s not that at all. You just, you caught a...you caught me off guard and, I...”

“What’s that?”

She flicked her bangs from her eyes and tilted her head to one side as his eyes grew wide and her cheek burnt at his stare. “Zack? What’s what?”

Her entire body jerked a little as he pressed his fingertip lightly to her left cheek and brushed it slowly and gently along the chiseled bone.

“Your cheek is swollen” He answered softly, “It’s...”

Jasmine wimpered a little as he held her chin between his thumb and forefinger, and moved her head to one side as to catch the outline in the sunshine. “Why is your cheek bruised Jasmine?”

“My cheeks bruised?”

“Your cheek, is bruised”

Jasmine shook herself from Zack and stumbled a few steps backward, groaning as she collided with a newspaper stand; the base of her spine catching on the sharp metal corner, worsening a bruise that she knew to already exist.

“Steady” Zack exclaimed, eyeing her reaction suspiciously. She slapped his hand away unsuccessfully when he grabbed at her loose shirt and attempted to lift it as he feigned concern.

“Zack what are you...”

The second grab was more successful, and a second glance was all it took.

“Skin doesn’t bruise that quickly Jas” Zack mumbled, squinting in the harsh sunlight at the large purple bruise that spilled up from the rim of her jeans and chased her spine.

“I’ve always bruised like a peach” She stuttered as she peeled his fingers swiftly from the fabric of her shirt. “You know how I was when I was a kid, always...”

“Skin doesn’t bruise that quickly Jasmine” He repeated, his eyes darkening as he cast a fleeting glance passed her and scanning the people around them. “What’s been going on with you?”

“I work in the thrift store I live above, I went to school to study journalis...”

“That’s not what I meant” He sighed exhaustedly, throwing an obvious glance at her hand still clutched at her side.

“I have no idea what you’re getting at”

“You have every idea” He spat, “And it hurts me so bad that you do, that you’ve had to...”

Jasmine hadn’t seen Zack like this since he’d witnessed her finding out about her Grandfathers passing; the sadness washing inward from the corners of his emerald green eyes and the way in which the sides of his mouth had drooped into an uncontrollable frown was exactly the same as that day seven years ago, and with the arrival of such an expression, she wished for nothing more than him to crawl under the covers with her and tell her everything would be okay, again.

“I’m fine Zack. Everything, everything is fine”

“I don’t believe that for a second”

“You’ll have to try or it will tear you apart”

“I’d tear him apart if you told me to”

“That’s not necessary”

“And this...” Zack winced as he looped his fingers around her frail wrists and noticed the swollen lumps and bumps. “...this is? Hurting you is necessary?”

Jasmine shrugged her shoulders nonchalant and let her eyes wander to the exit of the park “I need to go home Zack”

“This isn’t home”

Her sigh was loud and purposeful hinting at confidence, but her eyes fixed to the floor and her bottom lip trembling and caught beneath her teeth sold her out. “It’s my home”

“I’m your home”

Jasmines heart pounded painfully against her bruised ribcage as her head jerked up and she watched utterly motionless as his arms engulfed her completely; savouring each tiny moment as if they’d suddenly been cast into slow motion, and welcoming every breath of cologne mixed with marlboros as if it had the power to cleanse and heal.

“I’ve been searching forever just to bring you home”