Opposites Distract

I arrived at the Thai restaurant just in time to see Jack and Warren being forced into the back of a cop car. What the hell! I hurriedly got out of the car and approached the police officer. “Excuse me, sir, could you tell me why these two young men have been apprehended?” I asked politely, glaring at the boys in the backseat. Warren’s nose was bleeding and he looked at me pleadingly. Jack’s lip was busted and he wasn’t looking at me at all.

“Started a fight on public property,” the officer drawled, eyeing me ever so indiscreetly. Pig. Jack was glaring at the officer for that, at least. “I’m sorry, miss, but if you want to talk to them, you’ll have to come up to the station…”

“Alright,” I said with a soft sigh, going back to my car. I followed the police car up to the police station. I went to pay their bail first…which cleaned out my fucking bank account, but we needed to be at dinner with May and the others. Jack and Warren were placed in a holding cell, their handcuffs finally removed. I didn’t like seeing either of them behind bars. The officer let me into their cell after handing me a tazer, going off to process something and work out the paper work. “Seriously, you guys, what the hell was that about?”

“Real mature, Taylor,” Warren sneered, and I couldn’t help but flinch. I always did that when someone took a stab at my maturity. “Getting your boyfriend to come beat me up since you couldn’t fight your own battles?” Warren scoffed, getting to his feet. “Real fucking mature!” he yelled, taking a few steps towards me. Jack got up, too, ready to tackle Warren to the ground… but he never got a chance.

The police officer just handed me the tazer, no tutorial beforehand. But I shot it at Warren anyway. He stopped in his tracks and convulsed violently as a light buzzing sound pervaded the air. I let go of the trigger and he collapsed. “Oh, shit! Warren, are you ok?” I asked, dropping the tazer and trying to help him up, but Jack wouldn’t have any of that. He pulled me up and away from him.

“After what he put you through, you’re still on his side? Taylor, what the fuck!”

“Jack, you don’t know anything, alright?” I said as I wrenched my arm out of his grip, kneeling down to roll Warren over. “Warren. Warren, you’re fine, alright?” Warren just moaned, still twitching on the ground. I decided to leave him there.

Jack folded his arms across his chest and sat back down, looking away. “Jack…Jack, please, don’t-“ He shrugged off my hand when I tried to touch his shoulder. I bit my lower lip, trying not to cry. Warren was out like a light now. I sighed and sat down beside Jack. He turned his body so his back was to me.

I sighed and tiredly rubbed my face. “Jack…it’s so complicated.” Jack didn’t move. Back to that immaturity, but…I deserved it. “Warren’s been fooling around with another girl behind May’s back, and I found out, so-“

“What the fuck?” Jack yelled, getting up and going over to kick Warren repeatedly.

“No, Jack, no, please!” I begged, hugging him tightly from behind. I could feel his chest heaving with his angry breathing, but he did stop. “Will you listen to me now? Just listen?”

Jack slowly turned around, pulling my arms off him. “Later. We need to go to dinner now. May will be worried.” He turned around, nudging Warren with his foot now. “Hey, asshole.” Warren groaned, curling into the fetal position. “Get the fuck up, we need to get back to the restaurant.” I sighed in relief when Jack draped his arm over my shoulders. He kissed my temple, but I could still l feel the tension in his jaw. “You’re not off the hook, either, bitch,” Jack laughed, so I knew he was joking. “I’m spending the night at your apartment, and you’re telling me everything.”

I nodded. The drive to the restaurant was awkward as hell. Jack sat shotgun, glaring at Warren from the rear view mirror. Warren was still kind of woozy from the tazer, though. Dinner was…nice. Jack kept me close all night. May thought we were cute, but Jack just wanted me away from Warren. Warren didn’t interact with Reese at all, and I could see that her patience with him was wearing thin. It made me happy.

Jack and I got so much shit for it when he was all, “Oh, go ahead and go back to the hotel, guys, I’m going home with Taylor tonight.”


“…and after all that, you came to visit me in the hospital and were just the sweetest boyfriend ever.” Jack and I were lying down together on my bed, looking up at my ceiling. Jack held my hand the whole time, but it didn’t make it any easier to tell him this. “Jack, I can’t tell May this. I just can’t.”

“Taylor, she’s my sister. I think I should be obliged to tell her if her fiancé is cheating on her.”

“Warren said he would tell her himself, and after tasing him, I think he will. Please, Jack, I told you Warren didn’t directly hurt me.”

“Oh, yeah, he just locked you in the trunk of his car, where you could’ve suffocated and died.”

“Please,” I repeated, because I didn’t know what else to say. Jack was so mad at Warren, and it was nice to know that it was because he cared about me, but I don’t like conflict.

Jack rolled over onto his side to rest his head on my chest, but the action was innocent. He wasn’t, like, rubbing his face all over my boobs, he was just laying his head there, wrapping his arm around my waist, too. “Why can’t I say ‘No’ to you, Taylor?”

I sighed in relief, playing with his dark brown hair. “I don’t know, but I’m glad for that.”

“What if I was the one who told May about Reese and Warren?”

I bit my lip. “Jack, I think that would make it worse.”

Jack sighed and we lay together in silence for a while before he leaned up to kiss my neck. “Fine, but if he doesn’t do it tonight, we’re telling May tomorrow.”

“Compromising? How mature. I’m proud of you,” I teased, closing my eyes and enjoying the feeling of his lips on my skin.

“I try,” Jack chuckled, and I felt him bite my collar bone. “Hmm…that’s gonna look good tomorrow,” Jack observed when he was done giving me a hickey.

“I fucking hate you,” I laughed before I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled his face up to mine so I could kiss him properly...

And, well, before I knew it, we were naked.

...Damn, Jack.