Here's another of my extremely short one-shots. This one is all about Jack's wife leaving him, and his emotional journey afterwards. It's inspired by a song of the same name by Delta Goodrem and Brian McFadden.


Almost Here

Betrayal. She left him for another man. After everything that had happened, she decided that he wasn't good enough. They'd vowed to love each other forever. She'd said that she would risk it all for him. Apparently she'd changed her mind. He'd saved her life, he wondered if she even remembered that now. What a way to repay him.

Anger. He wasn't angry with her. It was the other man, the one who'd stolen her away from him, the one that had convinced her that she was better off without him. As if someone else would say that about them. They had no idea what it was like, to try to hold down a successful marriage while working every second of the day, saving lives. He thought people would cut him little slack. So he wasn't always there. Other men were able to go home to their wives because of him. Without him, they would be dead. Apparently that wasn't enough. While he was out being a decent citizen, some other low-life was breaking up a marriage. And she chose that man.

Guilt. He had kissed another woman. He'd done the exact thing to his wife that she had done to him. How ironic that the same day it happened, she told him about her own affair. It was karma. There had to be some kind of force behind all this, something that had led him down this series of events. If he could find the exact moment where he had first messed things up, the exact second where things had started to go wrong, he would be able to atone for it. He would punish himself for that moment and all the others that had followed. Then things would be in balance again.

Regret. He wasn't there for her. He was never there for her. She was right, he always needed something to fix. If only he'd noticed sooner that his marriage needed fixing. He should have spent more time with her. He should have shown an interest in what she was doing, he should have come home from work on time, bought her gifts, showed her how much he loved her and needed her. He did need her. He couldn't do this on his own.

Determination. He would fix this. He would find her, and he would apologize. He would promise her the world, make her realise how much she meant to him. He would change everything for her. Then she would have no choice but to come back to him. She would realise what a mistake she'd made in leaving him. She would realise how much she still loved him, and how much he loved her.

Relief. She was happy, at least according to Ben. He realised, at last, that this was what was important, what he'd always wanted for her. If only he'd been able to make her feel that.


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