Status: --- Hiatus ---

It's Just Our Fate

Date Night

There was sound of jingling coming from a distance and slowly getting louder, than repeating itself all over again. The faint sound of footsteps and the murmurs of Shh’s, came every now and then as well. Jackson kept his eyes closed as he listened to the noises around him. It was calming being home again and not having to worry about much of anything.

After the job he had done, he called up the boss and told him he would be taking a month leave from it all. Being that he was the best in the business and the boss really wasn’t as smart as many believed he was, he gave in. He even gave Jackson some tickets for Italy to take Lily on. She’d always wanted to go there and Jackson loved to spoil her.

The bedroom door opened slowly, the jingling becoming loud as it entered the room, and the “shh” that came from Lily to quiet it. The sun was coming through the curtains enough to give the room a nice dim look to it, very soothing. Lily tip toed with Max at her heels to the bed side table nearest to Jackson. She kneeled down and opened it slowly and carefully, to retrieve her car keys.

Jackson listened to her as she made her desperate attempt to make sure he would stay sound asleep. She successfully got her keys out, moved some of his hair from his face, and kissed his cheek lightly. Max made a small playfully growl but was shushed once more from Lily as they quickly and quietly left the room. Jackson kept his eyes closed ‘til he could hear the front door shut and the ‘OK’ bark from Max.

He sat up in the bed, and scratched his head, smiling a bit as he got up out of it and walked to the window. He pulled back the curtains and looked out as Lily got into her car, to start her way to work. She used to be a teacher but then stopped so she could just become a sub and finish her degree in Psychology. He smiled thinking of how they met and let the curtain fall back into place as he headed into the bathroom.

He could hear Max growling and playing with his squeaky toys, and shut the door behind him. Jackson stretched and let out a loud yawn as he undressed himself and hopped into the shower. He turned the hot water on and place his hands on the tiles, holding himself up, as the hot water ran down over him. He kept his eyes open and stared at the necklaces that dangled from his neck still. Lily had given them to him. He was never one for jewelry but at the time she didn’t know that, so he kept it on, and from there it stayed on. Without them it almost felt like he was naked.

He washed himself, looking over some of the cuts and bruises he received from his latest job. Sighing angrily as he looked at them, thinking of the event once more. All he had to do was hit two guys, but these two guys knew that the hit was on them and that he was coming. Long story short, they had a lot of damn bodyguards and it was inconvenient as hell for a job.
Jackson shut off the water and got out, wrapping a towel around his waist and stood in front of the mirror, wiping the steam away.

He put his hands on the sink and leaned forward examining his face. He didn’t look tired which was good, but he did look too alert. Jackson rubbed his face a bit and slapped the sides, “C’mon, relax. Got a month off. A month off with Lily.” He bounced from one foot to the next, like a jock about to get out on the field.

He walked out of the bathroom, pulled on some boxers, jeans and grey v-neck, and walked to the kitchen. Max, hearing that someone was coming, barked and ran around his feet trying to play. “Not now Max, let daddy eat.”, he said laughing down at the pup. Jackson reached for the handle of the fridge but then glanced at the yellow post it that was on it. He peeled it from the handle and read, “Only have to sub for two periods at the high school. Be back around 1. Xo, Lil”

He smiled and placed it on the fridge, opening it up and snatched the Chinese food he had from yesterday. He pulled open a drawer and grabbed a fork then headed to the couch. Max jingled after him, hopping on the couch and laid down snuggly. Jackson clicked the power button on the remote and watched the news as he ate some of his food.

“In other news, Eight men were found dead in the north side of New York today. It is said from police that they believe this tragedy had to do with gang violence and is being further investigated.” Jackson sighed and switched the channel to MTV and cracked his neck, trying to forget everything. Max yawned and shut his eyes, trying to get some rest now that he wasn’t getting any entertainment. Jackson laughed and reached to pet him as there was a knock on the door.

Jackson got up from his seat, putting down the food he had and walked to the book case. Max sat up quickly, hearing the knock, and ran towards the door. Jackson moved some books and pushed a panel of wood behind it, opening up a small compartment withholding a gun. He took the gun from it’s place, cocked it, and held it to his side.

Max barked at the door, hearing a knock once more and then the bell ring. Jackson made his way over to the door and looked through the keyhole. “Hello! Lily! Jackson! You there?” Jackson sighed as he placed the gun in the back of his pants and pulled his shirt over it. He opened it up seeing Darren and smiled, “Hey.” Darren opened up his arms and hugged Jackson, “Welcome back, man.”

Jackson hugged him back and then opened up the door for him to come inside, “Yeah, thanks.” Darren came in the apartment, shrugging off his coat and headed to the couch, sitting down, “So how was it?” Max ran up to Darren jumping up into his lap, snuggling into him as he lay down once more. “It was good, a bit boring, but good nonetheless.”

Darren stroked Max’s fur as he lay on his lap and nodded, looking back up at Jackson, “Yeah, I here you man. Business is business though right?” Jackson nodded and walked to a sofa chair and sat down, “So what brings you by?” Darren yawned for a moment and scratched his head, “Ah, Claire wanted me to come over and ask when you guys wanted to do the double date thing.” He said as he rolled his eyes. Jackson laughed at his reaction to it, “Has Claire never heard of these cool things called phones?”

Darren sighed, and tossed his hand up in defeat, “She also wanted me to go to the store, so I decided to just stop by as I passed.” Jackson nodded and smiled, “Well, Lily never told me an exact day… so I really can’t help you out there.” Darren nodded and then snapped his fingers as if having an epiphany, “Why not tonight?” Jackson scratched his head and nodded as he thought, “Yeah, sounds okay. We’re not doing anything special.”

Darren laughed, “Perfect cause neither are we. We can just go to dinner and then a movie, I guess. Simple enough, right?” Jackson nodded, “Sounds good to me.” Darren carefully moved Max from his lap to the couch and stood up, “Well good, better get on my way then.” Jackson nodded and stood as well, as they walked to the door together, “Yeah, wouldn’t want Claire to make you go all the way to Florida for oranges or something.”

Darren laughed loudly and smacked Jackson’s arm, “You got that right. See you guys tonight then.” Jackson waved after him as Darren headed out of the door as he put his coat on, and shut it behind him. Jackson let out a sigh, and fixed the gun to make it more secure heading back to the couch to finish his noodles.

-Later that evening-
The front door opened, letting out the loud Atreyu music come spewing out. Lily stepped inside and closed the door behind her, holding some grocery bags. In the living room was a shirtless Jackson, doing one handed pull-ups from a noose that he set up near where Max’s bed was set. He looked over at her and dropped to the floor, moving quickly to grab her bags.

“Aren’t you deaf by now?!”, Lily yelled. Jackson walked with the bags into the kitchen, setting them on the counter, “What?!” he yelled back. Lily slipped her coat off and threw it on the couch, “The music-“ she motioned to the stereo, “-is too loud!” Jackson nodded and ran back to the stereo turning the volume down, “I’m sorry babe.”

She laughed as she walked into the kitchen and started to unpack the groceries, “You would think after hearing that, you would become deaf.” Jackson grabbed a towel he had set out and wiped his chest and shoulders to get some of the sweat off. “I’m sorry, what??”, he hollered. Lily laughed once more as she put some milk and eggs in the fridge. He came into the kitchen and leaned on the frame of the door, “Darren stopped by.”

Lily grabbed some apples and walked back to the fridge, “Oh, did he? Did he talk about the date night?” Jackson nodded and chuckled, “Yeah, Claire made him come over here.” Lily shut the fridge door and shook her head smiling, “She can be truly ridiculous sometimes.” Jackson nodded his head, “Yeah, so we’re going to have it tonight.”

Lily looked over at him in shock, “Tonight!?” He nodded and stood up straight, “Something wrong?” She quickly grabbed the bags and stuffed them into one of the cupboards, “I have to change!” She ran past him quickly, snatching up her coat and ran towards the bedroom. He laughed and followed after her calmly.

“Baby, we’re going to dinner and a movie. You have loads of time.”, he said as he sat down on the edge of the bed, watching her search the closet. “You know how I am about these things, I want to look nice.”, she said as she glanced over her shoulder. Jackson smiled softly as he continued to watch her, “You always look beautiful.” Lily pulled out a green spaghetti strap top and a black light open jacket, and turned smiling at him. “Thank you, babe.”, she smiled as she walked over and kissed him.

Jackson held onto her waist and pulled her onto the bed. She let out a loud laugh, “Jack! C’mon, I have to get ready!”, she squealed. He laughed and kissed her neck, “But baby..” She pushed him off and laughed as she walked into the bathroom. He laid back on the bed and listened to her trying to get ready for date night. “Don’t you think you should shower? You kinda smell.”, she said as she came back in the room pulling the shirt down, fixing it here and there.

He leaned up onto his elbows and smiled, “Yeah, guess I do, huh?” He got up and moved into the bathroom with her, shrugging off his pants and hopped into the shower. “Care to join?”, he smirked as he winked to her from behind the curtain. Lily let down her hair, letting it stay wavy and laughed at him, “Take a shower..”, she slowly closed the door, popping her head back in, “JACKSON!”

She shut the door, giggling and rummaged through her closet once more. Jackson quickly took a shower, laughing at her remark. Lily never called him Jackson but he used to hate when people called him Jack—Well unless it was Lily. For some reason he’d just grown accustomed to hearing her say it. He laughed quietly as he washed his hair thinking about it.

She called him Jackson when she was either annoyed with him or just wanted to pick fun, that was how he could tell if he was in real trouble or not. He smiled and shut off the water.
Jackson stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around his waist and walked out of the bathroom and back into the bedroom. Lily sat on the bed, slipping on some black heels, then looked up at him and stopped what she was doing, “Now there is my Jack.”, she smiled. He smiled and winked as he walked to the closet and tossed out some clothes for himself, “Because I’m not stinky ole` Jackson, how nice.”

Lily finished putting her shoes on and came up behind him, kissing his back, “It is nice, isn’t it?” He looked over his shoulder at her; Her green eyes smiling back up at him, “Yeah… Guess it is.” She tapped his back and walked back into the bathroom, “Hurry up, so we can go.”

Jackson tossed off the towel and got his clothes on, listening to Lily hum a tune as she put on her makeup. He grabbed a long sleeve black v-neck and walked back into the bathroom as he pulled it over his head. He leaned against the door frame, crossing his arms and resting his head on it, and watched her.

Lily finished with her eyeliner and began putting on some lipstick; she glanced over at him and smiled wide, “What?” He shook his head and continued to watch her, “Nothing.” She put the cap back onto the lipstick and leaned on the sink, the other hand on her hip, “Nothing?” He pushed himself off of the door frame and wrapped his arms around her waist.

Lily put her arms around his neck and smiled wide as she looked up at him, “We have to get going, Jack.” He rubbed the lower part of her back and nodded, “I know,” and kissed her. She smiled, tilting her head seriously, “We have to go.” He nodded once more, kissing her lips and pulled back again so he was only inches away, “I know…”

Lily stared into his dark brown eyes and pulled his face to hers, kissing him gently. Jackson pulled her closer to him, holding her tight, and kissed her eagerly. Lily pulled back some, holding his face with her hands, “Baby, C’mon, I don’t wanna be late.” He shut his eyes for a moment, then looked back to her, “Alright.” He let go of her and walked back out grabbing his wallet and leather jacket.

Jackson walked back into the living room and looked around, grabbing his cellphone, and shoving all the items into his pocket. Lily came out of the bedroom with a jacket and slipped it on, carrying a small silver purse with her as well. “You have the keys right?”, she asked giving herself a once over in the mirror.

He nodded and patted his jean pocket, “Yeah.” Lily walked into the living room and nodded, “Alright, let’s go then.” He smiled and opened the door for her, “After you.” She smiled and walked out, heading for the stairs. Jackson walked out after her and then suddenly cringed, “Ah, I forgot something. Wait in the car for me?” Lily turned around and nodded, “Yeah, toss the keys.”

Jackson tossed the keys to Lily and ran back inside, listening to her heels as they began to descend. He shut the door behind him and walked back to the bookcase, pushing the panel, and grabbing his gun. He put the gun in the back of his pants and pulled his shirt over it. Max still slept in his bed, and Jackson leaned down to pat him softly, “See you in a bit bud, Mom and dad are gonna have some fun.”
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