What will Jack do now?

What every poorly developed character does; brooding.

GUILT IS LIKE GLUE, THE FURTHER YOU HOLD IT IN, THE MORE IT STICKS
— Orange man

"So we're under heat for the shit you stupidly caused!"

"Look, the card was fake, I only had it in my pocket just in case those people decided to peg me for further identification. After I figured I botched, I kept my head down, but it looks like it wasn't enou..."

"Three people died that night, Heep!"

"And we gonna be joining them if we don't do something to clear this wreck up."

"You mean the wreck you caused?"

"We've been over this, Jackie. You hate my guts, you want nothing to do with me, but your temper ain't booger compared to the Black Mask madness. He screwed with my mind, you know? All these years and he didn't touch a single hair on my scalp when he found me out, it's just driving me nuts, I just couldn't stop spilling my guts..."

"So what the fuck do we do? Huh? We can't go to the cops."

"You outta ya mind? Forget the blue boys, they probably work for him. They lick the very ground people like the Mask walks on. No, when we need to get shit like this done, we go to the Downtown. That's where you come in, why I came to you, Jackie, you can use that charm of yours to smoothen things out."

"..."

"What do ya say?"

"Just go, Heep. I need to think."

"Think away, but remember, we don't get very long. Beep me on this when you're ready."

Whilst crouching, you absentmindedly fiddle the card Heep gave to you, the urge to throw it in a nearby bin gnaws hard at you. But you can't, Heep has drag you in far too deep and he might also pave a way for salvation. With an exhausted sigh, you reluctantly pocket it and stand to your full height. But even, if you pull this off, you will never forget that day, that moment, not when basically every nightfall reminds you of it. You just can't forget. If only you had refused to follow on that operation.

A sigh breezes out from your lips once again. Your dark blue eyes looks up to the arched moon pasted to the night sky,

Five years ago...

The agelong memory reruns itself very vividly, the gunshots, the chaos, the dead boys, how their eyes glazed over, dead... dead!dead!dead It haunts you. Fast forward to five years now, you are still wondering why and how you survived and if you are truly worthy of surviving.

Your house shows up in the distance.

You stand still, staring at it from afar, longer than you should have, as if in a daze, unconcerned with the chill that is now permeating the atmosphere. The crass sound of singing from a bunch of homeless folks warming themselves by a fire snaps you back to life. The street is quickly becoming deserted. You better get a move on before the unsavory elements starts coming out.

Therefore, You forcibly will yourself to move.

Let it be known that this is the kind of shit life throws at you when you're busy making other plans. Earlier today, you are trying to sort yourself out, and now, out of nowhere, a bowling ball made entirely out of problems is seeking to knock over your pins. You wonder why anything just doesn't seem to go the way you want for once? Is once too much to ask for? A past you had thought buried, a past that had a hand in your supine withdrawal from the society, a past that had only existed in your nightmares, has once again reemerge to plague you and by extension, your only sibling.

It looks like even when you think you're trying, you only succeed in stalling the inevitable failure for the time being. You have unwittingly dragged her into your guacamole of piping hot mess.

Which is why you are procrastinating in front of the same door that you'd have hurriedly barge through a day ago. While so unlike you to feel this much guilt, you find a constraining limit in looking Tessa in the eyes when you enter. How the fuck are you suppose to act with the knowledge that you've somehow implicated her? With no answer forthcoming from your mind, you shuffle on a spot in slight frustration. Then suddenly, the door creaks open. It is Tessa, her pretty face fixed on you, crisscrossing between mirth and disgruntlement, like she's trying to figure something out. She's wearing a fitted aquamarine tank top and hip hugging black shorts... God! She's also braless, the two pointy indications on her chest is a certain no-brainer. Seriously Jack, this is really not helping your brooding process. At all.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you like staying outside." She says, leaning back to usher you inside.

Thank goodness she breaks the silence first, words escape you for a second there, as your brain goes through some needed old-fashioned rebooting.

You rub awkwardly at the back of your neck and step in. So much for not looking her in the eyes, or chest, well, no time like the present. "You've watching me for long, haven't you?"

She shrugs like it is no big deal, "someone's got to do the watching and worrying around here, and with you emo-ing all over the place, I guess it falls on me, worry girl."

You manage a tasteless chuckle, if only she knows how much you worry, like right now.

"I'm not an emo."

"It's so emo-ish to say you are not an emo," she shoot back as she goes toward the kitchen... kitchenette? The small table at the edge of your living room is already furnished with dinner. It warms your face into a smile, that she's doing so much in her own little way. And to think... You hear her arrival and you stop your train of thought. Maybe she's right, maybe you're really an emo. Once settled, you begin to eat. You can't claim to enjoy the food all that much, not that the meal wasn't epic, Tessa is a great cook, but your turmoiled mind trashes your appetite.

"So you gonna tell what's wrong with you? You are acting very weird today." Tessa asks as she swallow her food.

"Weird how?"

"Like, you were more... tender this morning," she pause and blushes, "now, you are looking like someone murdered your cat... Wait! Did someone **** your cat?"

"I don't have a cat, Tess"

"Is it work?"

Yikes! You really don't want to tell her about having an impromptu day off today. Informing her now will just spiral into an unwanted hassle, so you decide to go about it in another way that will no doubt interest her. "Not that. I...uh... I met someone today."

You watch as she stop eating and focuses on you with sudden inquisition. So predictable, you mused.

"You. Met someone?"

Feeling pleased with yourself, you add, "yep, even got her contact along the way. It was pretty ea..."

She cuts in, "her? as in a girl?"

You nod as you chew on your morsel without a clue. "Oh," she says and looks away, as if pondering. You cock an eyebrow at the rather offbeat behavior. "Um, Tessa? Is anything the matter?"

"No!" She half-yell as she jerks to attention. "Uh... It's great, I'm so happy for you, I bet she's such a nice person. So where did the two of you meet?" she rabbles.

"The park... Tessa, are you sure you're..."

"I'm fine. I just want you to be happy, you know?" She reach across the table to entwine your fingers, beaming a smile that you can tell doesn't quite reach her eyes. A few seconds later, she breaks off and say, "well, I better get these washed." She then got off her chair and clear the table of its contents, including your unfinished portion before slinking off to the kitchen, leaving you to bask in the silence of awkwardness.

What just happened? You figure that Tessa would be happy...well more sprightlier than this. She's usually the one interested in meeting new people. Her lack of enthusiasm boggles you. Why is she looking like someone killed her cat? You are spacing out when your phone buzzes in your pocket and you bring it out to check.

"Tessa?"

She doesn't turn around when you called, just kept on washing the dishes. It's okay, you don't really expect her to respond.

You swallow thickly before continuing, "Tessa, look, I'm sorry. I...um...I'm just a hot mess right now." You reach out to touch her shoulder. "I can't claim to have been blind to your feelings. It just took so long to realize..." You trail off.

Your hand descends on her shoulder and she flinch on contact. Thankfully, all she did is flinch, you take that as a signal to forge ahead and turn her slight frame around. Her eyes were glistening with tears. It wounds you, you hate seeing her sad.

"I'm sorry. I know how hard it's been for you. Our parents, the lives we live..." You aren't a sappy kind of guy but right there, your heart screams at you to say it, yell it if possible, fuck everything else. "I just want you to know even if the world burns tomorrow or the day after, I will always love...mmmh."

That is all you get to say, at least, before she muffled you with a such liplock that exudes pure love and passion to the ****. In that small haven of yours, this moment is all that matters. The two of you were making a whole new story. She gnaws at your mouth like a fruitcake on Christmas, which you're happy to indulge her, you've kept your own desires under wrap for a long while too, sure feels good to let it all out. You duel with tongue swords, marking the caverns of each others mouth with slobbers and all. In the end, it only hurts your pride a little, when you are the one to break the entanglement for sweet air.

She's just as flustered and red faced as you, but nevertheless, the little tigress is looking eager to continue

Letting just a tiny amount of humor to seep into your tone, you smirk, "does that mean you love me too?" Her reply is a growl before she leaps into your arm, you hold her by her doughy asscheeks, giving it one or two experimental squeeze. "Shut up and kiss me," she moans out, and the outside world fades into the background once more.

Well, for the two of you, that is.

Meanwhile, your phone, temporarily abandoned on the dining table sets off into a deluge of buzzing, then lights up, revealing:

DING !

INTERACTIONS

Heep Rupert Templeton.

{Tap to unfurl} +

Theresa Jericho

-5 Affection pts with Tessa [85/100] she thinks you might abandon her for your new 'girlfriend'.

*Hint* Go fix it.

+10 Affection pts with Tessa [95/100]

+30 Love pts with Tessa [40/100] for saying the those three powerful words.

+5 Affection pts with Tessa [100/100]