25

sierra sits against the headboard of the bed while jack trims his beard in the bathroom. boredly, she flips her phone back and forth in her hands. truly, she just wants to be laid up under jack for the rest of their trips, to forgive and forget, but something keeps gnawing at the back of her mind, not letting her forget or even completely forgive him.

she's not an insecure girl, but like everyone else, she has her moments. she doesn't think jack would ever cheat on her, believes that he would never, but you can't predict anything. and given the lifestyle he lives, and all the shit that comes along with it, she's on guard. that doesn't go to say that she's never had her moments where she thought he was cheating on her—the missed phone calls, coming late when he said he'd be there on time, the constant being on the road—she had her suspicions, especially towards the end.

but something feels different, like they're both holding something back. she knows what she's holding back about cole, even though she never actually did anything with him. all she did was call him for company that she never received.

the bathroom door opens, and jack comes out with a slightly shorter beard. "better?" he asks, walking over to her and giving her a quick kiss.

"mhm."

jack puts a hand on the side of her face, gently stroking her cheek. it's the gentlest he's touched her since that first day here. when the switch got flipped and they started going at each other's throats, sierra doesn't even know. she wants to reverse time to make none of their issues happen, but she can't.

"you wanna go out with me tonight?" jack asks, running a hand through her hair.

"we can't stay in tonight?" she questions, toying with the chain around his neck. she drags her fingers down the diamonds bezel's, watching her hands.

as much as jack wants to stay in with her, he also wants to go out to celebrate finishing the video. "just for a few hours," he says, rubbing her leg. sierra sighs and reluctantly nods. after three days of nonstop partying and drinking, she wants to just relax and let her liver take a moment to regroup.

jack smiles triumphantly and kisses the back of her hand. "just let me change," she says, getting out of the bed. she's wearing jeans and a small top—the most clothes she's put on in days, but it's not very 'club-ish'. sierra goes to her suitcase and digs around before pulling out a gold, silk, long sleeve dress with puffy sleeves and a deep v.

she takes the dress and goes into the bathroomto change and touch up her makeup, leaving jack alone in the bedroom. he lays flat on the bed and closes his eyes, unable to keep them open. he's honestly tired, but he wants to go out. it would be easier to just stay in, and do everything tomorrow but something is pushing him to go out tonight.

"you're sleeping?" sierra asks, coming out of the bathroom ten minutes later.

"huh?" jack asks, barely opening his heavy eyes. sierra shakes her head, as if to say i told you so. jack doesn't even try to sit up, and closes his eyes back. "give me ten more minutes, baby."

"i'll give you the whole night. we're staying here," sierra says with finality. she's slightly annoyed that she just got ready for nothing, but it's not like she even wanted to go out. so, in a way, she wins.

jack lazily beckons her over and him and she sits down on the edge of the bed. he puts his hand on her back and starts rubbing up and down before pulling her down onto his chest. she doesn't protest about her makeup, or the fact that her dress is probably getting ruined. instead, she lets herself enjoy the first moments of peace they've had all trip.

-

loud ringing sounds through the room. jack rolls over, smushing his face into his pillow to try to drown out the sound. he knows it's not his phone because his is on silent and in his pocket. "turn that shit off," he groans, gently hitting sierra.

she continues to sleep, unmoved by jack and ringtone. it finally stops and jack sighs, readjusting himself and trying to fall back asleep. sierra rolls over and throws an arm across his abdomen.

just as he gets comfortable again, her phone starts ringing again. jack opens his eyes but doesn't sit up. he lets it ring for a moment before his eyebrows start to furrow. who the fuck is calling her at 4 in the morning? he pushes her arm off of him and leans across her to grab her phone. there's no caller ID, it just says 'unknown'.

poking his tongue in his cheek, he goes through all of the possible 'unknown' caller IDs that could be calling her. the only people he can think of are bill collectors, kids playing pranks, or somebody with the wrong number. but even then, none of them make sense because it is 4 in the morning on a thursday. jack rubs his eyes and clicks answer, putting the phone up to his ear and immediately retracting it when the background on the other line is loud. "hello?"

"sierra? i was just thinking about you-who is this?" jack interrupts, the frown on his face deepening at the sound of a male voice. he glances at sierra who is still sleeping and contemplates shaking her awake.

the person on the other line says something that he can't make out. "who is this?" he asks, and it clicks for jack—he knows that voice.

jack doesn't answer and hangs up the phone, setting it back on the nightstand. it clatters and sierra stirs in her sleep, but remains asleep. jack runs a hand through his hair roughly, gripping at his roots tightly. his brain swarms with many emotions, most of stress and anger. why, out of all people, was cole calling her at four in the morning, telling her that he was thinking about her? and why did he ask jack who he was?

looking down at sierra, jack clenches his jaw, his stress turning into anger at the most obvious conclusion: she's cheating on him.

shaking her shoulder—not roughly, but not gently either—jack says, "sierra, wake up. cmon, wake up." his voice is urgent and rushed, and the more she mumbles incoherently and bats at his arm, the more frustrated he gets. "cmon, bro. wake up." he says, shaking her harder.

sierra pushes his arm off of her and opens her eyes, her face contorted into a scowl. "what?" she barks, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her hands.

"we need to talk," he says calmly, his hands folded in front of him.

sierra grabs her phone off of the nightstand to check the time and squints at her phones brightness. "at four in the morning?"

"yes, at four in the morning. you didn't hear your phone ring?"

"i thought it was yours," she says, laying back down. jack shakes his head, letting out a bitter laugh.

"nah. you know why cole was calling you at four in the morning? and don't lie, because if i find out the truth another way..." he trails off and shakes his head, biting his bottom lip.

even in the dark room, he's able to see her face transform from confusion and then into shock. "what do you mean cole called?" she asks, her voice measured. jack doesn't notice, but she sits up against the headboard and cracks her knuckles, a tell tale sign of anxiety for sierra.

"that's what i'm trying to figure out," he says, staring at her. sierra is unable to to hold his gaze, which pisses him off. "are you cheating on me?" he asks after a second, his heart beating wildly in his chest. he never thought he'd ever have to ask her that. he trusts her more than he should, probably.

sierra frowns at him, offended that he would even think that. "what? no, jack. why would you ask me that?"

"why is cole calling you?"

"i don't know! i haven't spoken to him since va-" she cuts herself off when she realizes her slip up. jack purses his lips and runs his tongue across his teeth.

"so when i asked you what was up with y'all on valentine's day, and you lied and told me nothing. and you don't think i should ask you if you're cheating on me? really?" he asks, throwing his arms up exasperatedly. sierra bites the inside of her cheek and downcasts her eyes. "tell me what the fuck was said, sierra, i swear to God. i'm not about to do this shit with you—just a few hours ago you told me that we need to communicate better, and i come to find out that you've been holding this back for a month? you're different, dog, i swear." jack adds after a second of silence.

he hasn't taken his eyes off of her since she woke up, but she can't even look at him. she plays with her fingers and tries to ignore the pounding in her chest. "i called him the day before valentine's day, when you told me you weren't going to make it back in time," she says.

"with the intentions of what?"

sierra shrugs. "company, i don't know. i was feeling lonely and i didn't expect you to make it back in time. it's not like you're the most reliable in that sense," she says, slightly defensive.

"well, you must've said more because when i picked up that phone he said that he's been thinking about you. what did you say to him?" jack asks, rubbing his temple.

"nothing! he went on about shit that i didn't want parts in, i swear. i felt guilty the entire time, still do. i just... i don't know. i was just in my feelings," sierra says, wiping her nose. jack only stares at her, unsure of what to say.

he knows he's not the most reliable in terms of setting dates, but he always shows up. whether he's late, he doesn't ever back out completely with her, ever. usually, he can always understand her frustrations with him and being late, with the women, with the lack of consistency. but this is a new low he never thought he'd reach with her, never expected this type of behavior from her of all people.

"and since we're being honest, he did call me again a few weeks later, trying to get at me but i turned him down. i promise, nothing ever happened between me and cole," sierra says. jack won't look at her, and instead looks across the room at nothing in particular. "and it's not like we were even dating, jack." she mumbles.

he lets out a short laugh. "alright, sierra," he sighs. he gets off of the bed and grabs a jacket, slipping his feet into a pair of slides.

"where are you going?" she asks, sitting up on her knees, her voice pleading.

"don't worry about it," he says, patting his pockets and feeling his wallet.

"you said we needed to talk!"

"yeah, and we did. i heard what i needed to hear," he says, putting his hood on and walking towards the door. sierra quickly slides out of the bed and follows after him, grabbing his arm. "i don't want to see you right now, sierra. let go."

she looks up at him with wide eyes, her hand still wrapped around his forearm. "jack, please don't be mad at me," she says, trying to pull him back into the room.

"too late for that," he grabs her wrist and pries her hand off of him.

"please, jack," she whispers, but she's not even sure what whats begging for: forgiveness, maybe. but she didn't even do anything wrong. maybe it was uncalled for, but they weren't dating.

jack just looks at her one more time and clenches his jaw, turning back towards the door. he pulls it open and slips out without a word, leaving her standing alone for the second time.

——

mwahahahhahhaha .... we'll see what happens next.

thanks for ALL OF THE LOVEEEEE I LOVE YALL AND JACK

And i forgot to add thank you to a lovely reader for the inspo!'