"Don't hate me for doing this but.." Jack leaned down and wrapped his arms around Karen, stopping her movements altogether. "I love you." He straightened up and walked out quickly, fearing Karen would snap at him.
Karen sat still, nail polish in hand, and tried to brush off the feeling of sadness that had buried itself in her stomach. Setting the nail polish down, she picked up the phone and dialed a number. "Stan?"
Later That Night
"Thank you, thank you so much!" Jack danced along the stage in the bar, blowing kisses to the few people in the audience. "JUST JACK will be back whenever they allow me to be.." Jack trailed off after throwing his hands up to frame his face.
About an hour later Jack was still at the bar; sitting in the janitor's closet that he had decorated to be his dressing room. The owner had trusted him with the key to the bar for some reason, asking him to lock up before he left, so he took his time changing and touching up before he decided to leave.
Just as he was making his way into the bar area the lights flashed and suddenly everything was dark, except for the light flooding through the windows from the street lamps outside. Loud claps of thunder followed as he fumbled to find the keys in his jacket pocket. Jack opened the door, still trying to find his keys when he heard a soft gasp through the sound of the rain.
"Oh my god Karen!" He exclaimed, flailing backwards and throwing his arms over his face. "What the hell are you doing?! You.." He fell silent at the sight before him.
Karen stood still, her hair and clothes soaked from the rain and her mascara trailing from her cheeks to her neck. She had been crying, sobs still shaking her shoulders as she looked up at Jack, bloodshot hazel meeting crystal blue.
"J-Jackie," Karen cried as she stepped into the bar, grabbing at Jack's jacket and pulling him towards her. He cupped her face in his hands as he pulled her closer, wiping the mascara tears from her pink cheeks and searching her eyes before he spoke.
"Kare.. What happened, are you okay?" His tone thick with concern as he brushed her wet hair behind her ears before cupping her face again, his pinkies brushing back and forth along her jaw to try and calm her down.
"No. N-no I'm not." She gasped as another sob ripped through her chest, looking down at her hands that were gripping the leather so hard that her knuckles were white.
Jack pulled her into a tight embrace, holding the back of her head gently while his other hand held on tight around her waist. Karen snaked her arms around his torso and tucked her face into his neck, crying freely as her sobs shook them both.
"I w-wanted it to be positive. I actual-ly wanted it to be positive!" Karen almost yelled as her nails dug into the skin of Jack's back before grabbing fistfulls of his shirt.
"Shhhh, calm down Karebear.. Hey, hey.." Jack kept his voice steady as his heart raced, trying not to cry. He pulled back a bit, laying soft kisses along the shell of Karen's ear while his fingers ran through her hair slowly. Her sobs lessened, replaced by hiccups against his neck.
"Tell me what happened." Jack said softly as he began to sway back and forth, another attempt to calm her down. Karen took a deep breath as she tried to find her words.
"I called Stan after I left." She said sniffling. "I told him that I thought I was pregnant and that I took a test but.. When I told him it came back negative, he was happy.." Karen inhaled sharply before choking out another sob. "He said he doesn't want more kids. And when I asked him why he said it's hard enough raising two on… on his own!" Her shoulders shook as she began to cry again.
"I d-didn't know what to say so I h-hung up on him. He doesn't even see me as a stepmother to his kids, am I that much of a f-failure?" Karen's knees buckled as her emotions overtook her. Jack gripped her tighter to him as he lowered them to the ground. Karen wrapped her legs around his waist and held on tightly as she cried into his shoulder.
Jack felt the tears he was holding back begin to fall, the sight of Karen this broken ripping his heart to shreds.
"Hey, listen to me," Jack moved to where his lips were brushing her ear, speaking in hushed tones, "You're a great stepmother, Kare—" Karen shook her head and leaned back, not looking into his eyes, "N-no I'm not—"
"Karen!" Jack spoke louder, grabbing her face with both hands, forcing her to look at him as he pulled her inches from his own. "If you're a bad mother then why did you force me to stay with you when I was sick? Why did you stay home for a week to make sure I got better? Why are you always buying me things when I don't even need them or paying for my apartment since I can't pay for it myself?" He looked deep into her eyes, searching for understanding. "Kare, you take care of me all the time." He ran his hands up and down her back, his nails lightly trailing over her shirt.
Karen let out a huff as she smiled a bit, tightening her legs around his waist. "Really, Jackie?"
"Yes. I love you so much, Karen." Jack said as he smiled.
Their smiles softened as they continued to look into each other's eyes. Jack reached his hands up to her face and ran his thumbs slowly across her cheeks, wiping away any remaining tears before he leaned in toward her lips. Karen met him halfway as he took her bottom lip between his own. His arms tightened around her waist as they shared soft kisses, a content sigh seeping between their lips. Karen traced his lower lip with her tongue, his mouth opening immediately to her. Jack's hands followed the curves of her hips down to her butt, softly caressing as she shifted against his hips causing him to lightly moan into her mouth.
They remained this way for about 10 minutes; their tongues languidly tangling between kisses before Jack pulled away enough to look into Karen's eyes.
"Thank you, honey." Karen said as she reached up and touched his cheek. "I love you so much. I don't know what I would do without you, Poodle." Jack smiled lovingly at her as she smoothed her hand from his cheek to the back of his neck, pulling him in for one more soft kiss before he helped her to her feet. He took his jacket off and let Karen drape it over her head as they stepped out into the rain. After he locked the door he reached for her hand, lacing their fingers together. They went back to his apartment that night, collapsing onto the bed as soon as they entered his bedroom.
Karen sat up and stripped out of her wet clothes, leaving just her matching underwear on as she reached down and pulled the covers over her body. Jack followed suit as he stripped down to just his boxers and crawled under the covers with her. Karen snuggled into his side as his arm wrapped around her shoulders, her leg sliding in between his. Jack leaned down and kissed her wet hair as he felt her content hum against his chest; their eyes growing heavy as they drifted to sleep.
