Opposites Distract

“…and this here is the grotto,” I informed the small group of students that I was touring around the campus. Thank god there were only five of them, and there were three with architecture intents. They asked a lot of questions, so there was never a silent moment with this group. We spent some time here at the grotto while I sat perched on the steps.

I loved to see the looks on kids' faces when we toured the campus with them, the wonder and awe at our massive, amazing school. I always walked backwards during our tours to talk to them, even though every now and then I would trip up on something. Seeing how impressed they were by Notre Dame made me proud to go here.

It was hard to believe that not even a month ago, Warren and I were giving kids tours of the school together. It’s amazing how much can change in such a small amount of time. “Tay-Tay!” a familiar male voice cooed, and then arms wrapped around my waist as a pair of lips pressed against my forehead.

I grinned, leaning back into Jack’s chest. “Why are you here, Jack?” I asked with a half laugh, turning so I could nuzzle his neck and pull his arms tighter around me. Jack’s aftershave smelled all sorts of amazing.

“To see you,” he murmured, leaning his head against mine. We had both been studiously ignoring the elephant in the room for the past few days – the fact that he was returning home to Maryland rather soon. If I could pretend hard enough, I could believe he wasn’t really leaving.

…Well, I couldn’t pretend hard enough.

“I’m busy now, though,” I sighed, motioning to the kids milling about the grotto.

“You’re always so busy, Taylor,” Jack muttered, his brow furrowed. “What are you doing later?”

I smirked. “You.”

Jack laughed. “Dirty girl!”

“I’ve been hanging around you too much,” I teased, kissing his jaw.

“But seriously, Taylor, can we talk later?”

I’m not going to deny it, his serious tone caught me off guard…and scared me a little bit. He even looked a little more serious, now. He hadn’t shaved in a while, but the scruff was kind of cute on him. I just never noticed how much older it made him look until now, I guess. “Ok.”

Jack got up, pulling my up with him. “Alright,” he said contentedly, turning me around so I could see his wide grin. “Let’s eat lunch together when you’re done, yeah?”

“Sounds good, Jack.” He leaned down to kiss me before practically skipping away. There’s the Jack I know and…love.

But…what’s gotten into him?



“Taylor?” Jack said my name softly. We were walking into The Cheesecake Factory hand in hand. He wanted to come here with me since we didn’t get to that one time.

“Yeah, Jack?” I asked as the hostess lead us to our table. I thought it was funny how she was totally checking out Jack and how he was totally ignoring her.

“Do I make you happy?” he asked innocently, seriously again. He was starting to make me nervous.

“Y…Yes,” I tried to say, but my inflection made it sound like a question.

Jack pouted and playfully threw his bony hip into mine. “You hesitated!”

“I-I don’t know what you want me to say!” I admitted, flustered.

“Why don’t you start with what’s on your mind?” Jack laughed, pulling me into the booth with him. He reserved a table for us and everything. Well, damn.

“You know what’s on my mind, and I don’t want to talk about that yet,” I mumbled, tracing the bunny tattoo on his arm. Jack sighed, kissing the top of my head. “We can talk about it later, alright?”

Jack nodded and unfolded a menu for both of us to look at. “So,” he began, flipping straight to the cheesecake menu. “Is it later yet?”

“Ja-ack,” I whined, pressing my face to his chest.

Jack sighed and shut the menu. “Taylor, why don’t you wanna talk about me flying back home?”

I sat up and out of his arms. “Ugh, you said the bad word,” I joked, though it really made me sad inside. It was weird how we had somehow changed roles – for once, Jack was the mature one, and I was the immature one.

Jack smiled sadly. “Taylor, as much as I want to, we can’t pretend like I’m never going home.” I nodded, stirring my orange juice and vodka. Jack had a long island iced tea. I would probably be driving us home tonight. “So…”

“So,” I repeated uncertainly, leaning down to take a sip of my drink.

“Taylor, I really, really like you, and I want to make this work,” Jack told me firmly, not once breaking eye contact as he grasped one of my hands in both of his. “So, here are my ideas – we can try this long distance relationship thing,” Jack began, scoffing at the words, “Or…and I like this one much better… you can come with me to Maryland,” Jack said, a wide grin on his face. He blinked a few times, seeming to hear skepticism in my silence. “Or, or! I can stay here with you, I think, i-if you want…” he trailed off hesitantly.

I bit my lip. I didn’t just really, really like Jack…I fucking loved this guy. And I wasn’t about to try a long distance relationship with him. I couldn’t work with that. I couldn’t tolerate him liking me enough to want me to move in with him, either. No matter how many “really”s he put between the “I” and “like you”, it wasn’t enough for me. I don’t half ass things. It’s always all or nothing, and I expected the same from Jack. I would rather have him stay with me, but I know him. I know how to be selfless and I know how much he appreciates that selflessness in me. I know all about his band, and how May and his family rarely get to see him, and how he’s not always home, even for the holidays. I know how popular his band is, how well traveled he himself is, how big his fan base is.

I wasn’t going to tie him down to me in the middle of Nowhere, Indiana.

Jack was panicking all of a sudden, and he wrapped me in his arms. “Please don’t cry, Taylor. I didn’t mean to make you sad, I just…this makes me sad, too, but I just want to figure this shit out. You don’t have to give me an answer tonight, but…you know when we fly out, so…” I nodded, fiercely rubbing at my eyes and hugging Jack tightly.

I wasn’t crying because I was faced with a difficult decision, though.

I was crying because I already made up my mind to break both our hearts.