Note: Huge apologies on the stupid long wait on this. I've been going through some stuff which doesn't lend itself to good writing, but I'm hoping to get this fic finished.

Jack

Jack sat in the hotel room, his hands shaking, his mind racing. He couldn't sit still, he couldn't think straight, he kept pacing the room, considering pulling out, locking the door, pulling the blinds but instead decided he'd take advantage of the friendly ear that Carla was always offering him. Walking across the parking lot, he tried to decide exactly what he was going to tell her but as soon as she saw him coming, she opened the door for him and enveloped him in a warm hug, "Jackie, what's wrong?"

Jack sighed, "I ran into Ennis."

"Oh dear," She walked to the bar, poured him a glass of whiskey, and said, "Sit down, honey." She handed him the glass and he gripped it tightly, his knuckles white. They sat in armchairs facing one another, "Now talk."

"There's nothin' to say, Carla. I was at the convention today and he was there, too. Wants to meet me here at 7.30. Told him I had a date beforehand." He scoffed, took a swig of the whiskey and winced, "Should have known he'd be there."

"Can I ask you a question?"

He nodded, "Sure."

"Why is it such a bad thing that you saw him?"

"How much did you know about me'n Ennis, Carla?"

Carla smirked, "Probably more than you thought I did. More'n a few times, you guys forgot to put your 'do not disturb' sign on the door." She chuckled, "I think I've probably seen more o'you than you care to think about."

Jack flushed, "I-I'm sorry…"

She laughed, "Don't be!"

"Do you think…"

"Why do you care what I think?" She leaned forward and placed a hand on his knee, "But to put your mind at rest, I don't have a problem with it. The love I saw when Ennis looked at you made my heart swell with joy."

He felt his lower lip begin to tremble. He remembered the exact look that she was talking about and it was such a far cry from what he'd seen at the convention earlier that day. That look had been full of hurt, confusion; it was hard to see any love at all in those eyes that had once shone when they looked at him.

Carla looked at the clock that was ticking on the wall, "Shit, Jackie." She swore, "You oughta be goin'. Almost time."

He threw back the last of the whiskey in his glass and tipped the glass towards Carla, "Might be needin' a few more o'these later tonight."

She chuckled softly, "If you do, Jackie, you know where to find me. That's if you can hadle me in my nightgown and curlers."

"You're a fine friend, Carla." He smiled for the first time since he'd left the convention, and she shooed him from the room. He walked back across the lot to his room. His stomach was in knots and his hands were shaking as he tried to unlock the door. It was like he was a young man again, waiting up on Brokeback for Ennis to show, scared half to death that he wouldn't, and he'd be disappointed again.

Sitting down in the chairs by the window, he wondered what Ennis could possibly want. He thought they'd said all they needed to say the last time they'd seen each other. He'd made it perfectly clear that they were over, that there was no chance at all for them, so why did he still feel the same chemistry from Ennis as he had the first time they'd met. His eyes were cold, but there had been a heat coming from his body that Jack hadn't felt in a long time.

His stomach gave an uncomfortable lurch as headlights shone through the window. The dulled sound of a car door, and then footsteps on the concrete outside the door, and he didn't dare look outside at who was approaching. The sharp tap on the door made him leap, and he made sure his composure was solid before he said, "It's open."

As soon as Ennis stepped through the door, the room grew electric. He strode to Jack in only two strides, grabbed him by the collar and pulled him up so that they were standing face-to-face, so close that Jack could feel his breath on his cheek. Once again, he grew angry, and he pushed Ennis hard with two hands on his chest, "What the fuck d'you want, Ennis?" He said, as Ennis stumbled backwards, "I was well on my way to forgettin' that you ever existed, and you pull this stunt." It was, of course, a lie, but it was one he needed to tell to preserve his pride because, deep down, he had been over the moon when he'd seen Ennis. Scared half to death, but ecstatic.

"Do you hate me that much, Darlin'?" Ennis said, taking a step back and the expression on his face just about tore Jack's heart in two, "Do you hate me that much that you'd wanna forget I existed?"

"I don't hate you, Ennis." He replied. It was taking everything he had not to step forward and pull him into an embrace, but he stood his ground, "Quite the opposite, in fact. I love you so much that you standin' here in front of me is tearin' me apart all over again, but you said you never wanted to see me again, so I'm confused as t'why you're even here."

When Ennis replied, his voice was nothing more than a whisper, "I never said I didn't ever wanna see you again. I said that we could never work, and I still stand by that." He dropped down into the chair that he'd pulled Jack out of, and leaned forward, pressing his palms into his forehead, "But I miss you, Jack."

Jack sat down on the edge of the bed, "I was so stupid to think that you'd actually let me go so easily." He sighed, "I shoulda known that you'd come back and fuck things up again."

"Fuck things up? Is that all I am to you? Someone who fucks things up?"

"Are you here to tell me that you wanna buy a ranch and settle down somewhere together?"

Ennis looked at Jack and slowly shook his head.

"Then yeah. I think you're here to fuck things up."

There was a pause.

"How's Lureen?" Ennis murmured and Jack knew he was only asking to hurt him.

"She's havin' an affair. But she and I, we're happier than we ever been." He picked at a loose thread on the bedspread. When he looked up, Ennis was standing right in front of him, and he leant back as Ennis leant forward, "What're you doin'?"

"What I shoulda done s'soon as I walked in."

Before Jack could stop him, Ennis was kissing him, hard, just like they were 19 again and in a tent on the top of Brokeback Mountain. It wasn't that Jack wanted to stop him, in fact, he wanted nothing more than to keep kissing Ennis forever, but he knew that it was wrong. But then he got thinking about Lureen and the affair that he was sure she was having, and then he thought about how fucking good it felt to have Ennis with him again, and he didn't care anymore. But then, Ennis stopped. He sighed heavily and stepped back, dropping back down into the chair that he'd just vacated, "I can't, Jack."

"I need you to leave." A cold had fallen over Jack, and he wanted nothing more to be alone.

Ennis nodded, murmured, "Sorry." And as abruptly as he had reappeared, Ennis was gone.