Almost Lover
Characters/Pairings: Ian/Jack
Genre: Romance/Hurt/Comfort
Rating: T, just to be safe =]
Summary: "Almost Lover?" he raised a brow "You're listening to Almost Lover? Did someone hurt you, Jack?" he asked as if he didn't know. As if he didn't know she was crying because of him, because he was leaving again. As if it didn't tear him apart inside to leave her again. As if he wanted anything more than to really comfort her, hold her and let her know everything would be alright. And most of all, as if he didn't love her just as much as, if not more than she loved him. Two-Shot Song Fic, A Fine Frenzy's Almost Lover.
Disclaimer: Usually, I don't so these things cause they're very much pointless, but here, I don't own anything except this ratty old compaq laptop, my fingers and my keyboard =]
A/N: Hey guys! Wow, it's been a while since I've uploaded something. Life has just really been a pain in the ass lately, and I'm trying really hard to get my other chapters finished. So I'm giving this average fanfic format a shot, it's cool with me so far, but tell me what you guys think =]
Anywho, this is just something that came to me the other day when I discovered A Fine Frenzy, through her incredible song, Almost Lover. And it instantly reminded me of Ia&Jack. So I thought I'd write a little something for it =]
Oh, and just so you know, it is 4:45 am here in the wonderful and amazing New York City, therefore, this is quick and unedited so I must ask you to forgive any grammatical or spelling errors. Nevertheless, Enjoy!
Jackie "Jack" Starbright felt terrible. She was in one of those moods where she was upset and frustrated beyond even her own comprehension without any way to release it whatsoever. And she had absolutely no idea why either-Well...yes, she did. She was just in horrible denial was all. No, no, it wasn't that either...god, she didn't even know what it was. All she knew was that the reason behind it was Ian. Ian Rider, her strange, slightly mysterious boss was usually the reason for these moods of hers. She loved him with her life, there was no doubt in her mind about that. She had for quite a while now; for the most part of her seven years knowing him. And she would like to believe that he felt the same...but it was so hard to tell with him. Ian was always just so...god, she didn't know what he was. He was...he was...
Jack wanted to throw something. What did she know? She buried her face deeper into her knees that were drawn to her chest, arms wrapped protectively around them. He was leaving. Correction, he was leaving again. He'd returned from a business trip just two days ago after two whole months...and now again? No phone calls, no emails, nothing to let her know he was alive for two whole months was torture to her heart. And just the thought of him having to do it again tore her apart. She wanted to cry so badly, but knowing the Riders, someone would inevitably stumble upon her and hassle her with concern and at the moment, god knew if she had to see any of the oh so familiar Rider features right now she would have an emotional breakdown. She spotted the small remote to her stereo on the bed a few feet from where she sat and reached slowly for it. Music, yes that would make her feel better...that or it would fuel her sadness even more. One or the other. She hit the power button and waited for a track to sound.
And her stomach sank as she recognized the song that began playing. A Fine Frenzy's Almost Lover. Just great. Just fucking great, just the god damned song that reminded her of Ian every single time she heard it and made her cry. She didn't even remember putting that CD in! A strangled cry escaped her throat and she threw the remote aside in her frustration. Dammit, dammit, dammit! She closed her eyes and buried her face in her knees and tried to relax.
Eventually she felt more exhausted than frustrated and lightly dozed off. And it seemed like she was that was forever before she felt a touch on her shoulder. She jumped up about a foot and quickly shot away from whoever-or whatever it was that touched her.
"Easy there, Jack, it's me" the smooth, charismatic voice of Ian Rider reached Jack's ears. Jack looked up and saw it was indeed Ian, sitting at the edge of her bed, a concerned look on his face and his hand still where it was before Jack shot out from underneath it.
Great, just the person she needed to see right now. "Go away, Ian" she grumbled, looking away from his piercing gray eyes.
"What's wrong?" he spoke, completely disregarding her previous comment.
"Nothing, Ian. Just go away" she repeated.
"Really, because when nothings wrong people don't usually just burst into tears, run out on breakfast and lock themselves in their rooms" Ian said with soft humor in his voice. Jack opened her mouth to say something, but almost as if Ian had read her mind, he beat her to it, "I picked the lock."
"I didn't even hear you come in..."
"That was kind of the point" Ian said. When Jack didn't reply, he remained silent and listened to the song humming in the background for a moment. "Almost Lover?" he raised a brow "You're listening to Almost Lover? Did someone hurt you, Jack?" he asked...as if he didn't know. As if he didn't know she was crying because of him, because he was leaving again. As if it didn't tear him apart inside to leave her again. As if he wanted anything more than to really comfort her, hold her and let her know everything would be alright. And most of all, as if he didn't love her just as much as, if not more than she loved him.
"...Yes" she muttered after a long time, still refusing to look at him.
"Who? Which...worthless man would bother to hurt you, knowing that I'm here to personally deal with him?" Ian tried to joke. Jack remained unresponsive. And after a while, when Ian realized that trying to cheer her up wasn't going to help, he reached out a hand towards her and gently placed it on her shoulder. "Jack-" but before he could get any further, she spun around, moved closer to him, threw her arms around his tightly packed torso (she still wasn't sure how the banker kept himself so fit...), buried her face into his chest...and cried. The second the smell of Ian's strong Davidoff cologne hit her, she broke down and just began crying. Not even caring anymore that he was her boss and that to this point there had been a line that she never would have crossed. Now however, all that had gone out the window, and all that mattered to her was keeping Ian close.
And Ian, instead of speaking, hesitantly brought his arms around her back and held her close in a comforting embrace.
"Don't go" she whispered after a while, still sobbing. It vaguely occurred to her that she was staining his rather nice looking dress shirt, and his tie as well, but she really didn't care. Maybe all the ruined clothes would convince him to stay...
"I'll only be gone for two weeks this time" Ian replied softly.
"Cornwall is far..."
Ian chuckled "I've been to Spain, Italy and America before, and you're telling me Cornwall is far?"
"I just don't want you to go-I don't think I can handle the stress of worrying about you for months and months on end anymore. I am physically no longer able to handle it" she choked out. "It'd be good for all of us...if you could take a vacation or something..."
"I can't, Jack, this is my job. If I get fired, then you get fired and I don't think I can physically handle you being that far-" Ian abruptly stopped himself. Too much, Rider, too much He chastised himself Too much emotion. Stop it now. Leave. Say goodbye and leave. "Listen, Jack, I have to go...I'm going to miss my flight-I just stopped by to say goodbye."
"No, no, no" she whispered as he released her and began to stand.
"I'll be back soon, ok?" He smiled, standing up.
"Please, Ian..."
"Geez, even Alex doesn't get this emotional" Ian chuckled.
"Please..."
"Tell you what, after this one, I'll take a vacation just for you, ok? We'll go out, me, you and Alex. I'll take you guys somewhere nice, somewhere like...The Great Barrier Reef, that place is beautiful, or we could go to Cape Town, or The Great Wall"
"No, I just want you to stay home. I just want you to be here, with us."
"I'll be home soon. I promise" he whispered, leaning over a bit. He brushed a finger across her cheek and kissed her so gently and properly on the forehead, that one could have easily mistaken it for just another friendly kiss. But both Ian and Jack knew...it was much more.
Jack closed her eyes softly as his soft lips came in contact with her skin.
"I promise" she heard him whisper, and yet it was so clear that she felt as though he was right next to her ear. And for a second she wondered if he actually was next to her ear. But when she opened her eyes, her room was empty, and Ian was gone. Her room was just as it was before his visit. Nothing had moved an inch from where it belonged, even the door was closed. And if Jack didn't know any better, she would have thought it was all just a dream. But she knew this was a habit of Ian's. He was here one moment and the next moment...gone. But he'd be alright...he'd be back. He promised, right? He had to be back.
Almost Lover was just starting to fade away. Yes, he'd be back. Ian Rider always came back.
Jack Starbright's Almost Lover.
Alright, hope that came out alright, hope no one was too OC or anything like that. The actual Song-Fic is going to be in the next chapter; yes this is a two-shot. So I hope you guys liked this enough to stick around for the next chapter =] And if you haven't heard A Fine Frenzy's Almost Lover, then please, go listen to it. It's an absolutely amazing song =]
Hope you guys picked up that one line where Ian mentions he's going to Cornwall, which means the Stormbreaker mission, which *sighs* unfortunately means bye bye Ian. So for those of you who know the song, I'm sure you know how this is going to tie into the second chapter.
Cyber love for those, who like myself and Jack can or at any point of their lives could relate to this incredible song =]
Reviews are appreciated!!!