Sonnet CXVI
By: Ellie J.
Rating: G
A/N: I wrote this a while back for a livejournal flashficathon in which we were given a series of prompts to choose from and to write a fic in 24 hours. The prompt I chose was Shakespeare, and this is what I got. I never got around to posting it here. This is the closest thing to a songfic I probably will ever do.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue.
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
-----
"Jack … Jack, are you here?" Chloe called into the darkened apartment. She cursed Audrey as she searched for the light switch. She had been trying to get a hold of Jack for a couple of days and had finally called Audrey at work to see if anything was wrong. Audrey had informed her that she had moved out of their apartment several days earlier.
"He's changed so much, Chloe," Audrey had told her. "I just couldn't deal with it. He's not the man I fell in love with."
"He's Jack," Chloe had hissed at her over the phone. "He's been through hell and back, and of course that has left its mark, but he's still Jack."
"I … it's just wasn't working, and wasn't fair to either one of us to pretend that it was."
Chloe had hung up on Audrey at that point, told Buchanan that she had an emergency and had left for Jack's apartment.
----
O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
----
Chloe gasped when she saw the mess in the apartment. Several holes had been punched in the walls, and the floor was littered with broken glass and torn books. Her heart began to race.
"Jack?" she called out again, annoyed at the tremor in her voice. Chloe thought she heard a noise towards the back of the apartment and headed that way and found him sitting in a chair looking out of the large window in the bedroom.
"Jack," she said in whispered relief. He turned to face her and gave her a serene smile that was at odds with the jumbled chaos of his surroundings.
"The mess didn't frighten you away?" he asked.
"That little bit of clutter?" she scoffed, trying to hide her worry. "I've seen much worse."
----
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come;
----
"Audrey left," he told her.
"I know," she replied. "I called her when you didn't return my phone calls."
"I'm sorry. I just didn't want to deal with anyone."
"I understand."
"She was right to leave, you know," Jack told her sadly.
"Don't say that."
"No, we weren't working. I was trying to be the person that she remembered. A person that I'm not entirely sure ever existed in the first place. And I just never felt like I could share everything that I went through with her. I … didn't trust her enough."
----
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
----
"Oh Jack," Chloe murmured and instinctively reached out to grab his hand. He squeezed it tightly as he continued to look out the window.
"I was so angry when she left. Not at her, but at myself. I've been through so much and now that I'm … free to come and go as I please, I just can't seem to get my life together." He turned to face her and Chloe noticed that he seemed lighter than he had in weeks. "But then I did some thinking. About my life and the people in it and who I trust, and who's been there for me. And I realized that you've been there for me through everything."
Chloe felt her cheeks flush. "Jack, it was nothing. You needed the help. I'm just glad I was able to be there for you."
"You did more than that, Chloe. You stood up for me when they fired me because of my drug addiction. You trusted me during that day with Marwan. You helped me keep my sanity after I had to fake my death." He turned to face her and gently caressed her cheek with his calloused hand. "I can't imagine what my life would be like without you. In fact, I don't even want to think about what my life would be like without you. I don't know why I didn't see it until now."
"Jack …" Chloe began, ignoring the feelings his words were causing, wanting to choose her words very carefully.
"You're afraid that I'm reacting to the emotion of the moment." He smiled at her surprise. "I know you, Chloe. I know that your first instinct will always be to protect me, even from myself." He leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. "I know it may take a while to convince you that I'm not trying, however unintentionally, to turn you into the rebound girl, but I've got time. I'm not going anywhere, Chloe."
Chloe looked into his earnest gaze and wanted to believe him. She raised her hand to run her fingers through his hair. He sighed and leaned into her hand.
"Do you need help cleaning up?" she asked after a moment.
Jack chuckled and nodded. She started to walk towards the front of the apartment when he caught her hand. She turned to face him. "Thank you." She smiled and, together, they left to put his apartment back in order.
----
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.