Stories Yet to Unfold.
Taught.
Mind if I sit here, it's just my team' 'you go ahead' Jack smiled, 'you're from Cincinatti' 'sorry, I know it's still gotta hurt' the redhead smiled sitting down, 'it does' 'but we have cool helmets, I think that's why we won' Jack laughed, 'are you a big football fan?' 'In my house you're an outcast if you don't' Jack smiled, 'new haircut?' 'Yeah, a couple of days ago' 'it suits you' 'thanks' he grinned watching the game, 'do you wanna drink?' 'please' passing him a ten, Jack smiled, 'thanks' heading to the bar as the Bengals took a touchdown and people glared at her, 'come on, you're adults, it superbowl, football wins here' Jack laughed as she sat down and watched the game again getting back into it, Jack passed her a beer, 'thanks' 'no problem' watching the game.
Jack smiled, ‘congratulations’ ‘thanks’ laughing, ‘so you go to the university’ ‘I lecture in art there, I specialise in comic work at Baltimore, I enjoy it’ ‘are you full time?’ ‘I am indeed, they tend to look after their lecturers, but I have three comics of my own that do ok online, so I’m fortunate in that way’ Jack smiled, ‘you write comics?’ ‘Yeah, I’m looking to do another right now, but it’s coming up with an idea and stuff’ ‘I wish someone would do one about a band’ ‘it might be cool, cos you have character development, what would the band do’ ‘maybe they would have powers each to help somebody?’ ‘Do you like comics’ ‘I’m a huge batman fan’ ‘are you good with words?’ ‘I can try’ ‘Do you wanna work on it with me’ ‘I’m in a band’ Lucy laughed, ‘even better, we can make it realistic, well as realistic as band with magical powers can be’ Jack laughed, ‘that would be awesome’ ‘see my work, and then I’ll get in touch’ ‘fine with me’.
Lucy smiled, ‘Lucy!’ Jack grinned, ‘I ermm, own most of your comics now’ ‘you probably paid my rent then, you liked them’ ‘I wanna do the thing with you’ ‘oh, awesome!’ Alex looking up, ‘are you sure about me and writing’ ‘I’ll help you, if you need any to do the writing’ Jack smiled, ‘ok, but you will do a lot of the work and stuff’ ‘it takes a long time to come up with a storyboard and characters’ ‘I know the characters’ Jack whispered, Lucy looked at him, ‘why are you whispering?’ ‘Alex, there he’s in the band with me’ ‘oh, right’ Jack nodded, ‘so, we have this idea, and characters’ ‘here’s the band’ ‘see this one, we could make a thing kind of character, it’s head shape would be perf-’ ‘No, you can’t do that to Rian’ ‘well, he has well defined arms, but he looks too nice to kick butt, see your friend, I see him as a geek, what if your powers were man made?’ Jack was laughing, ‘like Spiderman, he made the webslingers’ making notes, ‘what are you doing?’ Alex asked, ‘nothing’.
-x-
Lucy smiled, ‘I can’t do this’ ‘you can, really, I promise, think about you on your bus, is that how you travel?’ ‘Yes’ ‘well, what happens? For example, we have to like figure why you want powers in the first place’ Jack smiled, ‘hmm, good point’ ‘also, we have to make sure though these characters are based on people you know, it doesn’t look like merch’ Jack nodded with a smile, ‘I agree, I don’t want them to really know it’s them’ ‘ok, well, we’ll work on that, so why would you want powers, and think about why the others would?’ Jack nodded, ‘now, I have a picture’ ‘awesome’ Jack grinned, ‘I promise I’ll work hard’ ‘I can’t work on drawing until there’s a script, you see?’ ‘Of course’ Alex coming over, Jack covered the work, ‘what are you doing, are you dating?’ Jack looked bewildered, ‘yes, we are, she’s my girlfriend, I didn’t think you’d believe me’ ‘ok, hello’ ‘hi, you’re Ax, I mean Alex’ ‘yes’ Jack wincing.
'I'm so sorry' 'don't be, I could be doing worse' Jack laughed, 'it's just Alex, isn't great at confidence boosting, and I wanna prove him wrong' 'then we will' he grinned, 'thank you' 'no need' Jack smiled, 'you wouldn't be a bad person to date, I just don't do commitment' 'let's not go all masters of sex, Jack' he laughed, 'what sleeping with your workmates?' 'that' laughing, 'that's fine with me' 'am I going to have to like be your 'girlfriend” 'but, that is gonna suck, I'm such an idiot' 'what about we come clean when it's published, then you don't have to worry, cos it's there' Jack grinned, 'I like that, we'll do that, ok' Jack hugged her, 'I've always wanted to do this, thank you' 'no problem, you are very funny when you write, I wanna see how this works, cos my work is very good but quite serious' Jack grinned, 'thank you' 'no need, keep trying, and we'll look at it next week' 'thanks' 'no problem, see you Wednesday'.
Jack knocked on her door, ‘Lucy’ ‘yes, Jack?’ ‘you know, I have a problem’ ‘it’s a girlfriend problem, isn’t it?’ ‘they wanna meet you, I’m in New York, would you come with me?’ ‘I will, cos you and alcohol are hilarious, give me a second to get my go bad and a decent dress’ heading off, ‘nice choice’ ‘thought I’d go with the poison Ivy look’ ‘damn’ laughing and heading for his car, ‘I’m so sorry’ ‘I quite like the spontaneity’ he grinned, ‘I had a feeling you would, do you have marking’ ‘not yet, Jack, I’ll have the whole of Christmas for all that’ Jack grinned heading for New York, ‘that’s Lucy, Jack’s girlfriend’ Alex pointing at her, Rian smiled, ‘you’re Lucy Caswell, you do comics’ ‘I do’ Alex smiled, ‘that’s awesome’ ‘I saw you do a thing at ComicCon’ ‘yeah, I did’ Jack grinned, ‘how did you meet?’ ‘Bengals fan, his bar, good music’ ‘you met on Superbowl night’ ‘yes’ ‘awesome’ Jack smiled.
-x-
Lucy came back, ‘these are the first three pages’ Jack smiled, ‘how many pages will it have’ ‘this ones will have ten pages, every story should be about that’ Jack smiled, ‘how many editions should we have’ ‘well, let’s start with four, so one every few months, cos then you have a few weeks to think of inspiration’ ‘thank you, thanks for being so patient with me’ ‘it’s fine, you’re new at this, it will get easier and if you wanna do more than four, Jack then we can’ he grinned, ‘awesome, can I see?’ ‘sure, let me know if it differs from your perspective’ just helping herself these days and putting cash in the till, Jack smiled, ‘you like sours and ginger beer’ ‘apple sourz, it’s really nice’ ‘so weird, you know?’ ‘thank you’ he grinned, ‘can I try?’ ‘sure’ putting another strw in her glass, ‘oh, get one for me would you?’ reading the comic, ‘this is awesome’ ‘thank you, I came to get colours unless you like black and white’ ‘no, I have it in my head’.
Jack smiled seeing the complete comic coming together, ‘whatcha reading?’ ‘Oh, nothing, it’s just some of Lucy’s work, she’s giving me a preview’ Alex smiled, ‘I like her, you did good’ ‘yeah’ Jack smiled, ‘if someone based a comic character on you would you be mad’ ‘depends who it was, it’s one thing to be Flash and another to be some dweeb’ ‘yeah, true’ ‘I wouldn’t mind, to be honest, I think it’s pretty cool’ ‘me too, I’d like that’ Jack smiled talking about comics with the guys, he got back to Baltimore seeing the complete comic all coloured in, it’s segments now completely together, ‘it looks awesome’ ‘I thought you’d like to design the cover, I’ve made some images, I thought you’d like that’ Jack grinned, ‘thank you!’ kissing her cheek softly, Alex smiled, ‘he really likes her’ ‘he does’ Rian added with a smile as Lucy smiled helping him with her mac, ‘they totally think we’re together’ ‘I know’ laughing.
'I don't know how to tell them' celebrating the end' 'why don't we have a launch here of the comic Jack and then you can ermm tell them in a speech, you can't be mad then' Jack grinned, 'good idea, here' 'yeah, your artwork is quite comicky' Jack laughed, 'and I know you'll wanna share this with the world, I'll get some physical copies printed up for you' Jack smiled, 'thank you' 'no problem' 'I'll pay for the copies actually, cos I wanna keep copies for them, and I know it's not merch, but they would be good on tour' Lucy smiled, 'it's just more difficult to split the money, no offence' 'oh, yea, course, well, I'll know, and pass a cheque on' 'ok, well, ok we'll print some copies for tour' 'well, ok' 'thank you, it's not merch, I'll make it clear' 'ok' 'ok' Jack smiled.
Jack smiled doing a speech with Lucy on the comic, ‘I based the characters on my best friends’ Lucy smiled watching him do the speech, ‘I hope you like it’ Alex looking gobsmacked, ‘you made a comic with her?’ ‘well, she’s not my girlfriend’ Jack murmured, ‘I didn’t know if you would mind being a character so, erm I lied’ ‘oh, dude, but you like her, I know you do, you’re a bit obsessed’ ‘we were keeping in touch cos of the comic’ ‘my ass, you like her, a lot, I mean, how are you so blind’ Lucy interrupted, ‘Alex, it’s fine’ ‘are you friends with’ ‘no, no, we just’ ‘that’s mad, you’re perfect for one another’ Rian smiled, ‘you didn’t make me the ugly one, thank you’ ‘yeah, we went with a sonic boom, drums’ Alex smiled, ‘you two not being real blows my mind more, to be honest, who wrote’ ‘he wrote everything’ ‘serious’ ‘yes, and that’s why he didn’t tell you, you’re not a confidence boost’ ‘I’m sorry’ ‘it’s ok’.
-x-
6 months later:-
Lucy looked at him, ‘oh man, what did we do, we went all masters’ Lucy slumped in bed, ‘I’m sorry’ she murmured, Jack sighed, ‘I didn’t want us to be a casual thing’ ‘then we won’t be, I think we know one another too well, to do that’ Jack smiled sitting up with her, ‘I fell in love with you, I don’t even know how it happened, I know all the reasons why’ ‘come here’ hugging him, he grinned just holding her back, ‘it’s ok, I love you too’ he grinned, ‘thank god’ she smiled, ‘let’s get some coffee and mumble uncomfortably’ Jack laughed, ‘I love you’ ‘I love you too’ making coffee for them, Jack dressed a little and sat down in her home, ‘how did that happen?’ ‘tension was higher than friendship’ laughing, ‘yeah, I guess’ he grinned, ‘I had the feeling a long time ago, I’d just friendzoned my ideal woman’ laughing.
Jack smiled playing video games with her, ‘when do you release your comics?’ ‘I have one a month, Jack’ he smiled, ‘good, and your lecturing?’ ‘I am indeed’ he smiled, ‘cool’ ‘I do have news by the way?’ ‘oh?’ ‘you need to get those letters after I beat you with the Bengals as usual’ he smirked as he got a touchdown and taking the lead, ‘a mere fluke’ laughing and playing the game, Jack got the letters, ‘we’re up for awards’ ‘look which ones’ ‘best writer is me’ Lucy nodded, ‘and your up for best illustrator, oh my god’ Jack murmured, Lucy smiled wiping his eyes, ‘people think I’m that good’ Lucy nodded, ‘they do’ Jack hugging her tight, ‘thank you’ ‘no need, it’s all down to you, I just herded your talent’ ‘it would suck without you’ ‘well, I’m too rude to be a manic pixie dream girl’ he grinned, ‘you’re not a subplot, you are my plot, thank you’ ‘ok’ laughing.
Alex smiled on stage, ‘can I just say congratulations to Jack, whose up for Best Comic Writer at the America Comic Book Awards, for short comic, right?’ ‘I am indeed’ he grinned, ‘you work with someone who is pretty awesome too’ Jack nodded with a smirk, ‘proud of you’ ‘you guys are my inspiration and you can buy a copy from the merch stand’ Jack smiled, ‘that’s awesome’ getting on with the show, ‘Lucy’s my actual girlfriend now, we sort of accidentally slept together’ Alex laughed, ‘I knew it, you two were so inevitable’ ‘awesome’ Rian smiled, ‘I’m glad’ Zack nodded, ‘did good’ ‘yeah, we did, you don’t mind your characters do you’ ‘I like how you see us, I think that’s the best of it, and the way the team works’ ‘good, I’m glad’ ‘no problem’ ‘to be honest’ Alex added, ‘Lisa was not happy, how you portrayed her, but she’s my ex now’ laughing, ‘I didn’t think it was that bad’ ‘apparently needy’ ‘but she is’ laughing.
Jack got home to Lucy, ‘hey’ ‘man, you were the first person I wanted to see’ hugging her, Lucy smiled hugging him back, ‘mutual’ he grinned, ‘so, these awards, they’re very soon, and you did stuff’ ‘I got you a good suit and I have a really awesome dress’ ‘you got a dress inspired by Elie Saab’ ‘No, cos she’s a fan and said I’d make it for you’ ‘Elie Saab, like your work’ ‘yeah’ Jack smiled, ‘that’s awesome’ ‘yeah, she said it would be a honour, so I was down’ Jack grinned, ‘that’s amazing’ ‘I have to go to some fittings in New York, cos I have boobs and hips’ Jack smiled, ‘I like your boobs and hips’ ‘and I am very glad you do darling’ he grinned heading for the bedroom making love all afternoon, Jack rested, ‘man, you have stamina’ Lucy murmured, ‘thank you’.
Lucy smiled standing on the red carpet in a dress, ‘Elie Saab is making your wedding dress as well’ Lucy smiled, ‘you’re cute’ he grinned, ‘thank you, think I look ok?’ ‘definitely, you look incredible, my penguin’ Jack laughed, ‘thank you’ holding her waist gently, ‘I’m so glad I met you’ Jack murmured, ‘mutual’ heading inside and sitting down at a table, ‘think we’ll win’ ‘we have strong competition, it’s a tough year, but we could’ Jack grinned waiting for categories, ‘..and the winner is’ waiting Jack gulped, knowing Lucy had a chunk of glass for her work, ‘for Rock Gods, Jack Barakat’ his jaw dropped, ‘oh my god’ Lucy smiled, ‘you deserve it’ ‘thank you’ kissing her deeply, ‘whoa, dude’ he grinned running up, ‘you have no idea, how amazing this is’.
'Just marry me?' 'huh?' 'We'll go to Vegas, and get married' Lucy smiled taking his hand, 'is it a dare?' 'it's a dare' he grinned at her, 'alright, tomorrow' Jack smiled snuggling into her, 'you looked beautiful, is it your dress?' 'it is indeed a gift' he grinned, 'wear it tomorrow, please?' Lucy smiled, 'I promise' 'did you have to do anything for her?' 'she wants a comic theme at her next catwalk, I said I'd do some displays' 'so cool, you're amazing' 'thank you' 'I'm in love with you' 'I'm in love with you too' making love and heading for Vegas in that long gold dress, Jack grinned, 'you're now husband and wife'.
-x-
3 years later:-
'We'd been friends for months, but only together two when we got married, but I just knew' 'are you glad the comics stopped now?' 'I really loved doing the comic, but when I had one good idea, like that, I had more and so I wanted to stop writing that, so I could concentrate on my other ideas' 'does your wife mind you working with other illustrators?' Jack smiled, 'No, she recommended it actually, cos we get on too well, and she worried my writing would get complacent, so she set me up with Josh who will poke me and tell me this may not be a good idea, but I run things past her, Lucy was a great comic writer before me, so it doesn't really matter, and she works with all kinds of people and one of her comics is now a cartoon, so for her it's not a big deal, she has the big deal' laughing.
Lucy smiled holding Freddie in a papoose, ‘daddy will be home darling’ as she heard the door, Jack smiled, ‘you can work like that?’ ‘you learn to’ laughing, ‘I’m home’ ‘welcome home’ kissing him softly, ‘I love you’ ‘I love you too, you wanna take this little guy’ ‘please’ Jack grinned holding him, ‘thank you for everything you’ve done for me, helped me learn I’m good at stuff, boosted my confidence in what I do, I’m just better with you’ ‘mutual Jack, thanks for making me see the good things in life and not take life so seriously, thank you’ ‘no problem, any time, and mother of my child’ ‘I love that guy, worht every moment being sick in the toilet’ laughing.
they lived happily.
Jack smiled, ‘congratulations’ ‘thanks’ laughing, ‘so you go to the university’ ‘I lecture in art there, I specialise in comic work at Baltimore, I enjoy it’ ‘are you full time?’ ‘I am indeed, they tend to look after their lecturers, but I have three comics of my own that do ok online, so I’m fortunate in that way’ Jack smiled, ‘you write comics?’ ‘Yeah, I’m looking to do another right now, but it’s coming up with an idea and stuff’ ‘I wish someone would do one about a band’ ‘it might be cool, cos you have character development, what would the band do’ ‘maybe they would have powers each to help somebody?’ ‘Do you like comics’ ‘I’m a huge batman fan’ ‘are you good with words?’ ‘I can try’ ‘Do you wanna work on it with me’ ‘I’m in a band’ Lucy laughed, ‘even better, we can make it realistic, well as realistic as band with magical powers can be’ Jack laughed, ‘that would be awesome’ ‘see my work, and then I’ll get in touch’ ‘fine with me’.
Lucy smiled, ‘Lucy!’ Jack grinned, ‘I ermm, own most of your comics now’ ‘you probably paid my rent then, you liked them’ ‘I wanna do the thing with you’ ‘oh, awesome!’ Alex looking up, ‘are you sure about me and writing’ ‘I’ll help you, if you need any to do the writing’ Jack smiled, ‘ok, but you will do a lot of the work and stuff’ ‘it takes a long time to come up with a storyboard and characters’ ‘I know the characters’ Jack whispered, Lucy looked at him, ‘why are you whispering?’ ‘Alex, there he’s in the band with me’ ‘oh, right’ Jack nodded, ‘so, we have this idea, and characters’ ‘here’s the band’ ‘see this one, we could make a thing kind of character, it’s head shape would be perf-’ ‘No, you can’t do that to Rian’ ‘well, he has well defined arms, but he looks too nice to kick butt, see your friend, I see him as a geek, what if your powers were man made?’ Jack was laughing, ‘like Spiderman, he made the webslingers’ making notes, ‘what are you doing?’ Alex asked, ‘nothing’.
-x-
Lucy smiled, ‘I can’t do this’ ‘you can, really, I promise, think about you on your bus, is that how you travel?’ ‘Yes’ ‘well, what happens? For example, we have to like figure why you want powers in the first place’ Jack smiled, ‘hmm, good point’ ‘also, we have to make sure though these characters are based on people you know, it doesn’t look like merch’ Jack nodded with a smile, ‘I agree, I don’t want them to really know it’s them’ ‘ok, well, we’ll work on that, so why would you want powers, and think about why the others would?’ Jack nodded, ‘now, I have a picture’ ‘awesome’ Jack grinned, ‘I promise I’ll work hard’ ‘I can’t work on drawing until there’s a script, you see?’ ‘Of course’ Alex coming over, Jack covered the work, ‘what are you doing, are you dating?’ Jack looked bewildered, ‘yes, we are, she’s my girlfriend, I didn’t think you’d believe me’ ‘ok, hello’ ‘hi, you’re Ax, I mean Alex’ ‘yes’ Jack wincing.
'I'm so sorry' 'don't be, I could be doing worse' Jack laughed, 'it's just Alex, isn't great at confidence boosting, and I wanna prove him wrong' 'then we will' he grinned, 'thank you' 'no need' Jack smiled, 'you wouldn't be a bad person to date, I just don't do commitment' 'let's not go all masters of sex, Jack' he laughed, 'what sleeping with your workmates?' 'that' laughing, 'that's fine with me' 'am I going to have to like be your 'girlfriend” 'but, that is gonna suck, I'm such an idiot' 'what about we come clean when it's published, then you don't have to worry, cos it's there' Jack grinned, 'I like that, we'll do that, ok' Jack hugged her, 'I've always wanted to do this, thank you' 'no problem, you are very funny when you write, I wanna see how this works, cos my work is very good but quite serious' Jack grinned, 'thank you' 'no need, keep trying, and we'll look at it next week' 'thanks' 'no problem, see you Wednesday'.
Jack knocked on her door, ‘Lucy’ ‘yes, Jack?’ ‘you know, I have a problem’ ‘it’s a girlfriend problem, isn’t it?’ ‘they wanna meet you, I’m in New York, would you come with me?’ ‘I will, cos you and alcohol are hilarious, give me a second to get my go bad and a decent dress’ heading off, ‘nice choice’ ‘thought I’d go with the poison Ivy look’ ‘damn’ laughing and heading for his car, ‘I’m so sorry’ ‘I quite like the spontaneity’ he grinned, ‘I had a feeling you would, do you have marking’ ‘not yet, Jack, I’ll have the whole of Christmas for all that’ Jack grinned heading for New York, ‘that’s Lucy, Jack’s girlfriend’ Alex pointing at her, Rian smiled, ‘you’re Lucy Caswell, you do comics’ ‘I do’ Alex smiled, ‘that’s awesome’ ‘I saw you do a thing at ComicCon’ ‘yeah, I did’ Jack grinned, ‘how did you meet?’ ‘Bengals fan, his bar, good music’ ‘you met on Superbowl night’ ‘yes’ ‘awesome’ Jack smiled.
-x-
Lucy came back, ‘these are the first three pages’ Jack smiled, ‘how many pages will it have’ ‘this ones will have ten pages, every story should be about that’ Jack smiled, ‘how many editions should we have’ ‘well, let’s start with four, so one every few months, cos then you have a few weeks to think of inspiration’ ‘thank you, thanks for being so patient with me’ ‘it’s fine, you’re new at this, it will get easier and if you wanna do more than four, Jack then we can’ he grinned, ‘awesome, can I see?’ ‘sure, let me know if it differs from your perspective’ just helping herself these days and putting cash in the till, Jack smiled, ‘you like sours and ginger beer’ ‘apple sourz, it’s really nice’ ‘so weird, you know?’ ‘thank you’ he grinned, ‘can I try?’ ‘sure’ putting another strw in her glass, ‘oh, get one for me would you?’ reading the comic, ‘this is awesome’ ‘thank you, I came to get colours unless you like black and white’ ‘no, I have it in my head’.
Jack smiled seeing the complete comic coming together, ‘whatcha reading?’ ‘Oh, nothing, it’s just some of Lucy’s work, she’s giving me a preview’ Alex smiled, ‘I like her, you did good’ ‘yeah’ Jack smiled, ‘if someone based a comic character on you would you be mad’ ‘depends who it was, it’s one thing to be Flash and another to be some dweeb’ ‘yeah, true’ ‘I wouldn’t mind, to be honest, I think it’s pretty cool’ ‘me too, I’d like that’ Jack smiled talking about comics with the guys, he got back to Baltimore seeing the complete comic all coloured in, it’s segments now completely together, ‘it looks awesome’ ‘I thought you’d like to design the cover, I’ve made some images, I thought you’d like that’ Jack grinned, ‘thank you!’ kissing her cheek softly, Alex smiled, ‘he really likes her’ ‘he does’ Rian added with a smile as Lucy smiled helping him with her mac, ‘they totally think we’re together’ ‘I know’ laughing.
'I don't know how to tell them' celebrating the end' 'why don't we have a launch here of the comic Jack and then you can ermm tell them in a speech, you can't be mad then' Jack grinned, 'good idea, here' 'yeah, your artwork is quite comicky' Jack laughed, 'and I know you'll wanna share this with the world, I'll get some physical copies printed up for you' Jack smiled, 'thank you' 'no problem' 'I'll pay for the copies actually, cos I wanna keep copies for them, and I know it's not merch, but they would be good on tour' Lucy smiled, 'it's just more difficult to split the money, no offence' 'oh, yea, course, well, I'll know, and pass a cheque on' 'ok, well, ok we'll print some copies for tour' 'well, ok' 'thank you, it's not merch, I'll make it clear' 'ok' 'ok' Jack smiled.
Jack smiled doing a speech with Lucy on the comic, ‘I based the characters on my best friends’ Lucy smiled watching him do the speech, ‘I hope you like it’ Alex looking gobsmacked, ‘you made a comic with her?’ ‘well, she’s not my girlfriend’ Jack murmured, ‘I didn’t know if you would mind being a character so, erm I lied’ ‘oh, dude, but you like her, I know you do, you’re a bit obsessed’ ‘we were keeping in touch cos of the comic’ ‘my ass, you like her, a lot, I mean, how are you so blind’ Lucy interrupted, ‘Alex, it’s fine’ ‘are you friends with’ ‘no, no, we just’ ‘that’s mad, you’re perfect for one another’ Rian smiled, ‘you didn’t make me the ugly one, thank you’ ‘yeah, we went with a sonic boom, drums’ Alex smiled, ‘you two not being real blows my mind more, to be honest, who wrote’ ‘he wrote everything’ ‘serious’ ‘yes, and that’s why he didn’t tell you, you’re not a confidence boost’ ‘I’m sorry’ ‘it’s ok’.
-x-
6 months later:-
Lucy looked at him, ‘oh man, what did we do, we went all masters’ Lucy slumped in bed, ‘I’m sorry’ she murmured, Jack sighed, ‘I didn’t want us to be a casual thing’ ‘then we won’t be, I think we know one another too well, to do that’ Jack smiled sitting up with her, ‘I fell in love with you, I don’t even know how it happened, I know all the reasons why’ ‘come here’ hugging him, he grinned just holding her back, ‘it’s ok, I love you too’ he grinned, ‘thank god’ she smiled, ‘let’s get some coffee and mumble uncomfortably’ Jack laughed, ‘I love you’ ‘I love you too’ making coffee for them, Jack dressed a little and sat down in her home, ‘how did that happen?’ ‘tension was higher than friendship’ laughing, ‘yeah, I guess’ he grinned, ‘I had the feeling a long time ago, I’d just friendzoned my ideal woman’ laughing.
Jack smiled playing video games with her, ‘when do you release your comics?’ ‘I have one a month, Jack’ he smiled, ‘good, and your lecturing?’ ‘I am indeed’ he smiled, ‘cool’ ‘I do have news by the way?’ ‘oh?’ ‘you need to get those letters after I beat you with the Bengals as usual’ he smirked as he got a touchdown and taking the lead, ‘a mere fluke’ laughing and playing the game, Jack got the letters, ‘we’re up for awards’ ‘look which ones’ ‘best writer is me’ Lucy nodded, ‘and your up for best illustrator, oh my god’ Jack murmured, Lucy smiled wiping his eyes, ‘people think I’m that good’ Lucy nodded, ‘they do’ Jack hugging her tight, ‘thank you’ ‘no need, it’s all down to you, I just herded your talent’ ‘it would suck without you’ ‘well, I’m too rude to be a manic pixie dream girl’ he grinned, ‘you’re not a subplot, you are my plot, thank you’ ‘ok’ laughing.
Alex smiled on stage, ‘can I just say congratulations to Jack, whose up for Best Comic Writer at the America Comic Book Awards, for short comic, right?’ ‘I am indeed’ he grinned, ‘you work with someone who is pretty awesome too’ Jack nodded with a smirk, ‘proud of you’ ‘you guys are my inspiration and you can buy a copy from the merch stand’ Jack smiled, ‘that’s awesome’ getting on with the show, ‘Lucy’s my actual girlfriend now, we sort of accidentally slept together’ Alex laughed, ‘I knew it, you two were so inevitable’ ‘awesome’ Rian smiled, ‘I’m glad’ Zack nodded, ‘did good’ ‘yeah, we did, you don’t mind your characters do you’ ‘I like how you see us, I think that’s the best of it, and the way the team works’ ‘good, I’m glad’ ‘no problem’ ‘to be honest’ Alex added, ‘Lisa was not happy, how you portrayed her, but she’s my ex now’ laughing, ‘I didn’t think it was that bad’ ‘apparently needy’ ‘but she is’ laughing.
Jack got home to Lucy, ‘hey’ ‘man, you were the first person I wanted to see’ hugging her, Lucy smiled hugging him back, ‘mutual’ he grinned, ‘so, these awards, they’re very soon, and you did stuff’ ‘I got you a good suit and I have a really awesome dress’ ‘you got a dress inspired by Elie Saab’ ‘No, cos she’s a fan and said I’d make it for you’ ‘Elie Saab, like your work’ ‘yeah’ Jack smiled, ‘that’s awesome’ ‘yeah, she said it would be a honour, so I was down’ Jack grinned, ‘that’s amazing’ ‘I have to go to some fittings in New York, cos I have boobs and hips’ Jack smiled, ‘I like your boobs and hips’ ‘and I am very glad you do darling’ he grinned heading for the bedroom making love all afternoon, Jack rested, ‘man, you have stamina’ Lucy murmured, ‘thank you’.
Lucy smiled standing on the red carpet in a dress, ‘Elie Saab is making your wedding dress as well’ Lucy smiled, ‘you’re cute’ he grinned, ‘thank you, think I look ok?’ ‘definitely, you look incredible, my penguin’ Jack laughed, ‘thank you’ holding her waist gently, ‘I’m so glad I met you’ Jack murmured, ‘mutual’ heading inside and sitting down at a table, ‘think we’ll win’ ‘we have strong competition, it’s a tough year, but we could’ Jack grinned waiting for categories, ‘..and the winner is’ waiting Jack gulped, knowing Lucy had a chunk of glass for her work, ‘for Rock Gods, Jack Barakat’ his jaw dropped, ‘oh my god’ Lucy smiled, ‘you deserve it’ ‘thank you’ kissing her deeply, ‘whoa, dude’ he grinned running up, ‘you have no idea, how amazing this is’.
'Just marry me?' 'huh?' 'We'll go to Vegas, and get married' Lucy smiled taking his hand, 'is it a dare?' 'it's a dare' he grinned at her, 'alright, tomorrow' Jack smiled snuggling into her, 'you looked beautiful, is it your dress?' 'it is indeed a gift' he grinned, 'wear it tomorrow, please?' Lucy smiled, 'I promise' 'did you have to do anything for her?' 'she wants a comic theme at her next catwalk, I said I'd do some displays' 'so cool, you're amazing' 'thank you' 'I'm in love with you' 'I'm in love with you too' making love and heading for Vegas in that long gold dress, Jack grinned, 'you're now husband and wife'.
-x-
3 years later:-
'We'd been friends for months, but only together two when we got married, but I just knew' 'are you glad the comics stopped now?' 'I really loved doing the comic, but when I had one good idea, like that, I had more and so I wanted to stop writing that, so I could concentrate on my other ideas' 'does your wife mind you working with other illustrators?' Jack smiled, 'No, she recommended it actually, cos we get on too well, and she worried my writing would get complacent, so she set me up with Josh who will poke me and tell me this may not be a good idea, but I run things past her, Lucy was a great comic writer before me, so it doesn't really matter, and she works with all kinds of people and one of her comics is now a cartoon, so for her it's not a big deal, she has the big deal' laughing.
Lucy smiled holding Freddie in a papoose, ‘daddy will be home darling’ as she heard the door, Jack smiled, ‘you can work like that?’ ‘you learn to’ laughing, ‘I’m home’ ‘welcome home’ kissing him softly, ‘I love you’ ‘I love you too, you wanna take this little guy’ ‘please’ Jack grinned holding him, ‘thank you for everything you’ve done for me, helped me learn I’m good at stuff, boosted my confidence in what I do, I’m just better with you’ ‘mutual Jack, thanks for making me see the good things in life and not take life so seriously, thank you’ ‘no problem, any time, and mother of my child’ ‘I love that guy, worht every moment being sick in the toilet’ laughing.
they lived happily.