"Poetry spills from the cracks of a broken heart, but flows from one which is loved."
—Christopher Paul Rubero
Let's rewind the clocks back a bit...
"Ah, Mrs. Clarke! Come on in!" Evelyn cheered, her blush tinted glasses slipping down the curve of her nose as she opened the door widely.
"Lovely to see you again, Evelyn." Mrs. Clarke smiled, her wiry gray hair pulled into a tight bun as she shuffled through the front door of Evelyn's orphanage.
"We currently have twenty-six children," Evelyn explained, the heels of her stilettos clicking loudly against the wood floor as she led Mrs. Clarke into the large house. "Fifteen girls and eleven boys, ranging from three to seventeen years of age."
Evelyn led the stocky old woman into a nearby office, littered with stacks of unorganized manila folders piling on top of an old oak desk. A single broad window sat behind the desk, the mahogany curtains drawn back to allow light to enter the slightly small room.
"Please, take a seat." Evelyn smiled, outstretching her arm in the direction of a plush carob tinted chair as Mrs. Clarke quietly sat, her leather purse resting comfortably on her lap as her beady eyes scoped out the office.
"So, what age were you interested in, again?" Evelyn requested, taking a seat in her leather swivel chair as she began to shuffle through the manila folders.
"Between eight and eleven, preferably." Mrs. Clarke said, chewing mindlessly on her bottom lip.
"Lovely. Let me show you the children we have in that age range." Evelyn shuffled quickly through the folders, placing several of them on the opposite side of the desk in front of Mrs. Clarke.
"I have three girls and one boy between that age range," Evelyn explained, folding her hands and resting them on the desk as Mrs. Clarke retrieved the boys' file.
She flipped open the folder, a neat arrangement of documents held inside by a paperclip as she admired the little blonde boy with a very toothy grin.
"His name's Jackson. He turns ten today, actually." Evelyn informed the woman.
"He's adorable!" Mrs. Clarke observed, skimming over his information as she snapped the folder shut. "Can I see him?"
A grin tugged at Evelyn's lips. "Certainly."
She brought Mrs. Clarke out back to the playground, which was littered with screaming children as they played cheerfully.
Evelyn scanned the area for the little boy Mrs. Clarke was interested in adopting. She finally spot him off to the side, perched against the wall as he sat shoulder-to-shoulder with a dark haired girl known as Ember.
"He's right over here, Mrs. Clarke." Evelyn pointed.
Mrs. Clarke's gaze settled upon the boy, giggling gleefully beside a girl as they bounced little red balls against the pavement.
"Is that his sister?" Mrs. Clarke inquired, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
Why wasn't Jackson playing with the other boys?
"Oh, no." Evelyn stammered, tucking a loose strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "That's his best friend Ember. She was brought in when she was four, and him three. They've be inseparable ever since. They share a birthday, actually. They're both ten today."
"Are they always... together?" Mrs. Clarke openly scoffed.
Evelyn's gaze darkened, her weight shifting between each foot as she observed the womans peculiar reaction.
"Yes. Always."
"Well, I don't want her too, so I guess I'll be going. I wouldn't want to be the asshole that splits them up. Thank you for your time." Mrs. Clarke grunted, turning on her heel before abandoning a rather stunned Evelyn.
A sigh tumbled from her purple painted lips as she approached the giggling children.
Jackson and Ember's nearly identical golden brown eyes met hers, their lips sealing as they shuffled awkwardly in place.
"Happy birthday, babies." Evelyn smiled.
"How about I take you guys to the gift shop so you can pick out a present each?"
Jackson and Ember's expressions brightened, exchanging excited glances as they stood from their positions and wrapped their small arms around Evelyn's torso.
"We'd love that, Miss Evelyn!" Jackson cheered.
"Thank you, Miss Evelyn!" Ember added, squeezing tightly around the womans torso as she chuckled above them, patting the top of their heads before leading them inside.
"Remember children, one item each." Evelyn gently reminded the rather giddy duo, their lips pulled into excited smiles as they roamed around the small gift shop down the road from the orphanage.
"I wish it was our birthday everyday, so Miss Evelyn would buy us gifts!" Ember exclaimed, her eyes roaming the shelves filled with nonsense as Jackson slipped his hand into hers.
"Oh my god, Ember, look at these!" Jackson shouted enthusiastically, halting in place as he eyed the set of necklaces hanging from the nearby shelf.
"They're little paper plane necklaces!" He added, unlatching his fingers from Ember's as he pried them off of the metal bar, handing one to his best friend as he rotated the pendant between his fingers.
"They can be our friendship necklaces!" Ember said.
A smile crept onto Jackson's lips, nodding his head excitedly as they scurried towards Evelyn on the opposite side of the shop.
"Miss Evelyn! We want these!" Ember announced, thrusting the silver paper plane necklace upwards for the woman to see.
"You both want one?" Evelyn politely asked, her gaze shifting between the two children.
"Yes!" They chirped in unison.
"And you both promise they won't end up at the bottom of a drawer?" Evelyn lightly scolded, handing the cashier a twenty dollar bill as Jackson assisted Ember in putting her necklace on, and vice-versa.
"I'm going to wear it everyday, because Jackson is my best friend, and I want everyone to know!" Ember loudly proclaimed.
Jackson flashed the girl a toothy grin.
"Same here. Every single day."
Five years later
Ember sat cross legged on her twin-sized canopy bed, her crooked nose shoved into a textbook as she scribbled down the answer to the equation.
The orphanage had three quite large bedrooms, where several children slept in their own beds. Ember shared a room with two other girls: Kayla and Teagan. Kayla, being eleven, is a bit reserved and hardly says a word. Teagan, on the other hand, being sixteen and nothing less than a stuck-up snobby bitch, never seemed to leave Ember alone.
Ember's free hand clutched loosely onto the silver paper plane that dangled from the chain around her neck, her fingers tracing the outline of the pendant subconciously.
"Ew, the freak is here." Teagan's nasally voice piped, the pendant toppling from Ember's grasp as it collided with her chest.
Jackson shuffled slowly over towards Ember's bed, a genuine look of hurt present on his features as Ember shot Teagan a disgusted glare.
"Don't fucking call him that." She seethed.
Teagan lounged in her bed, picking aimlessly at her sloppily painted nails as she merely rolled her eyes.
"Everyone thinks he is except you, weirdo." She taunted.
Ember ignored her comment, sitting upwards slightly to tug the canopy closed around her bed as Jackson folded his legs, easing closer to her on the mattress.
"Please don't listen to her, Jackson. She's a bitch." Ember lightly reassured him.
"It's alright, Ember. The only opinion I care about is yours." He whispered, twiddling his thumbs in his lap as his paper plane pendant slipped out from the collar of his shirt.
Ember dropped her pencil onto the book, her eyes focusing on the necklace around the blonde boys neck as she smiled.
"Can you believe that we've both worn these necklaces every single day for five years?"
"We've been best friends for ten." He grinned. "Want to go grab some ice cream?"
"Hell yeah." She cheered, shoving the heavy textbook from the mattress as she ripped open the navy blue canopy once again, taking Jackson's hand in hers as they ignored the ugly mug plastered on Teagan's face.
"Can I have a lick of yours? I wanna see what it tastes like." Ember begged, the liquidy mint ice cream dripping from the cone and onto her hand as she eyed Jackson's chocolate filled cone.
"Seriously, Em?" He rolled his eyes, pushing the cone in her direction as she squealed in response.
"See! This is why you're my best friend!" Ember cheered, running her tongue along the side of the ice cream scoop as Jackson playfully scoffed.
"Ew. Now I'm going to get cooties." He teased, a giggle escaping his rosey red lips as he took another lick from his ice cream, directly where Ember just licked off of.
She swung her left arm around his torso, cradling him close to her as they walked through the park, silently consuming their ice cream as birds chirped overhead.
"I think they call me a freak because I don't have any guy best friends." Jackson stated, his gaze fixated on the ground as he walked. His right arm snaked around Ember's bony shoulders, squeezing her skin lightly as his fingers traced circles onto her flesh.
"Chord is your friend!" She said. "And Eric!"
"But they're not my best friends." He sighed. "You're my best friend."
"Did you bring the book of poetry?" Ember interjected, finishing off her ice cream as she tossed the cone into the nearest trash bin.
"You're a weirdo for not liking the cones. I would've eaten it." Jackson teased, finishing the butt of his cake cone in one large bit before retrieving the folded book of poetry from his back pocket.
"Yay!" Ember cheered, clapping her hands together enthusiastically as she led them over to a nearby bench, the golden paint chipping off in shards as she tugged him down into a sitting position, wrapping her arms tightly around his left bicep as he grinned.
"Ready?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Just read." She pressed, resting her chin on his shoulder as she snuggled close into him.
Jackson flipped open the matted book, several pages hanging on by a single thread as he rummaged to where they'd left off.
He cleared his throat, tapping his left foot anxiously as he began to read.
"'I cannot live with You', by Emily Dickinson." He began.
"Oo! I love Emily Dickinson!" Ember announced.
"I know you do, sugar pie." Jackson mused, stealing a side-eyed glance at the giddy girl before continuing.
"I cannot live with you. It would be life, and life is over there, behind the shelf. The sexton keeps the key to putting up our life, his porcelain, like a cup. Discarded of the housewife, quaint, or broke, a newer Sevres pleases, old ones crack." Jackson licked his lips, his leg bouncing steadily as Ember tightened her hold on his arm, urging him to continue.
"I could not die with you, for one must wait to shut the other's gaze down. You could not, and I could I stand by. And see you freeze, without my right of frost, death's privilege? Nor could I rise, with you, because your face would put out Jesus' that New Grace."
He paused momentarily, craning his neck to meet her eyes. Ember's golden gaze met his, her pupils dialating as her pink lips tugged into a smile.
"Keep going." She whispered.
"Glow plain and foreign, on my homesick eye, except that you than he shone closer by. They'd judge us, how for you served Heaven. You know, or sought to, I could not. Because you saturated sight, and I had not more eyes for sordid excellence as paradise."
His stomach fluttered when the tip of her nose grazed his neck, her breath fanning over his skin as goosebumps arose.
"And were you lost, I would be. Though my name rang loudest on the Heavenly fame. And were you saved, and I condemned to be where you were not, that self, were Hell to me. So we must meet apart, you there, I here, with just the door ajar. That oceans are, and prayer. And that white sustenance despair."
His thumb pressed firmly against the softened cover of the book, slowly snapping it closed before exhaling deeply.
"You'll never let us be apart, will you?" Jackson whispered, his gaze meeting hers as she squeezed onto his arm reassuringly.
"Never. Plus, who would read me poetry if you aren't around?" She cheekily commented.
Jackson's lips tugged into a smile, the dimples on his cheeks appearing as she nuzzled into his neck.
"You're my everything, Em."
"And you're mine."
"Hey Em," Jackson began, stacking his paper plate with fluffy pancakes as he joined the girl and several other hungry children at the long dining room table.
"Yeah?" Ember asked through a mouthful of pancakes.
"Want to go to the park again today? I peeked at the next poem, and it's a really good one. I want to read it to you today." Jackson shyly spoke, coating his shortstack with thick maple syrup. "I know that typically we go on Fridays, but I'm just a bit impatient."
"I'd love that, Jackson." Ember smiled, wrapping her arm around the boy in a side-hug.
"Freak." A voice hissed from behind them.
Jackson's stomach churned at the word, his gaze darkening as he whipped around to see a small group of guys.
Joey, Xavier and Tyson seemed to think that they ran Evelyn's Orphanage, mainly because they were all seventeen and only months shy of being able to move out. Their biggest victim, however, was Jackson.
Nobody ever thought of Jackson as being a freak until Evelyn ran her mouth three years ago.
On the eve of Jackson and Ember's twelfth birthday, Jackson revealed to Evelyn that he would sometimes hear voices in his head. She insisted that he speak with a psychiatrist, but the idea of it frightened him and he never mentioned the voices again. However, Evelyn accidentally let it slip in front of Xavier one day, and it's been downhill ever since.
Ember shot up from her chair, spinning on her heel as her fist suddenly came into contact with Tyson's jaw.
A chorus of gasps erupted throughout the dining room, Tyson's eyes widening as he dropped his plate of pancakes upon impact, his stubby fingers darting upward to massage the sore skin.
"What the fuck, Ember?" He yelped, eyes wild as Xavier and Joey shot Jackson a menacing glare.
"Don't call him that!" Ember exploded, her hands curling into fists once again as she began to raise them towards the three boys.
Joey, Xavier and Tyson lept backwards, their hands darting upwards in surrender as Ember fumed before them.
"Why's Ember always fighting your fights for you, pal?" Xavier mocked.
"Because he's too fucking nice to say anything!" She pressed. "Leave him alone, or I'll break all of your noses."
"He's a loser." Joey stated.
Ember fell silent, trembling with rage as she tugged at Jackson's arm.
"C'mon, Jack. Let's go." She urged.
Jackson happily obliged, glaring one last time at the three boys before abandoning his spot and following Ember out of the room, his hand clutched tightly in hers.
"Got your book?" She whispered in his ear, standing on her tippy-toes to reach it as his cheeks flushed pink.
"Always."
They walked to the park in silence. Jackson's thumb traced circles against Ember's palm as he kicked several pebbles out of the way.
Ember dropped his hand, her deep brown locks swaying side to side as she skipped to the park bench, hopping onto it as she giggled prefusively.
"Someone's excited." Jackson beamed, taking his place on the bench as he removed the ratted book from his back pocket.
Ember instantly curled into his side, just as she always did when he read to her. Her arms laced around his bicep, her pointy chin digging into his shoulder.
His lanky fingers flipped through the pages, finally settling upon one with a largely creased corner.
"Ready, pumpkin?" He mused.
"Set." Ember giggled.
"This ones called 'I Carry Your Heart With Me' by E. E. Cummings." Jackson shakily began, butterflies stirring in his belly as Ember gripped tighter onto his arm.
"Oh! I've never heard one by E. E. Cummings!" She cheered.
Jackson pressed his forehead against hers only for a moment, his nose brushing against hers before turning his head to the book once again.
"This is a special one."
"Read it! I'm getting impatient." Ember whined, the wind tossing her hair astray as her fingers pried the strands from her eyes.
"Here is the deepest secret nobody knows. Here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows higher than soul can hope or mind can hide." Jackson clearly spoke, his leg tapping anxiously as his heart raced.
He was going to tell her.
"And this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart." He paused once again, pulling away from Ember's grasp as she raised a confused eyebrow. He rotated in his spot, staring deeply into the confused girls eyes as he recited the very last line from his memory.
"I carry your heart, I carry it in my heart."
He silently observed her reaction. Ember's brown eyes widened, her lips falling open as her round jaw fell ajar, her fingers darting outward to claim his knee as his heart hammered in his chest.
"I love you, Em."
In that moment, Ember felt absolutely extroardinary. Her heart physically fluttered at his confession, her toes curling in her shoes as her lips curled into a broad smile.
Jackson sat idly beside her, holding his breath as he awaited a response from the girl he so helplessly adored. He's loved her since the moment he met her.
Ember shuffled forward, her hand snaking around his neck, her fingers tangling into the curls at the nape of his neck as she softly pressed her lips to his.
Jackson sat stunned beside her, his lips remaining unmoving for several moments too long as his brain tried to process what the actual fuck was happening.
He was kissing Ember.
Jackson's palms darted upward, cupping the beautiful girls face as he moved his lips in sync with hers.
Fireworks.
It was as if something inside of him had completely transformed. A warm, tingly feeling spread through his veins, leading all the way down to the tips of his toes as his mind simply exploded.
He felt simply weightless.
She'd pulled away abruptly, leaving him a bit disappointed and dissatisfied as he practically begged her to kiss him again.
"I love you too." She revealed.
Jackson's heart fluttered at her words, his mouth beginning to ache from smiling so big.
"Do you really?" He asked.
"Yes. I always have." She assured him, reconnecting their lips once more as she crawled towards his lap, her legs slung over his knees as she gripped tightly onto his neck.
Ember's tongue darted outward, tracing the bottom of Jackson's lips as he obliged, opening his mouth as a satisfied moan emerged from him.
The feeling of being able to finally kiss the girl of his dreams was almost indescribable.
She was his home.
"You're so beautiful." Jackson hummed, dipping downward to press another open-mouthed kiss to Ember's lips.
She lowly groaned in response, her index finger pressing against his lips to silence him as she stifled a giggle.
"Shh, we don't want to wake Kayla and Teagan."
"Sorry." Jackson murmured, his lips detaching from hers as he peppered soft, delicate kisses along her jaw, a sigh of content falling from her lips as she stirred beneath him.
"Evelyn'll get suspicious if she checks on us and sees my curtains closed." Ember breathed, but let out another sigh when Jackson's teeth lightly clamped down on her neck.
"If you stay quiet, she won't come check." Jackson lowly spoke, his voice vibrating against the flesh of her neck as she dipped her head down, swiftly reconnecting their lips.
It had been an entire three months since Jackson confessed his love for his sweet Ember, and the rest has been bliss.
Most nights were identical to this one. After lights out, Jackson would sneak into Ember's room, curl up underneath the blankets and simply kiss her until his lips went numb.
"Jackson?" Ember croaked.
"Yeah?" He breathlessly inquired, an eyebrow raised as he admired how swollen her lips had become.
Because of him.
"Do you want to try?"
Jackson's expression contorted into that of confusion, his elbows resting on either side of her head as he pressed a soft kiss to her mouth.
"Try what, baby?"
Ember pressed the palms of her hands against Jackson's shoulders, shoving him away from her slightly as her cheeks went hot.
"C'mon, Jack. Don't make me say it."
Jackson's eyebrows knit together in confusion, his thumb caressing the indents of her jaw as he searched her facial expression for some type of answer.
Suddenly, it dawned on him.
Oh.
"A-Are you serious?" He croaked, the blood immediately rushing—down there—at the mere thought of becoming intimate with Ember.
"Yes." She coolly replied, cradling his face as she tugged him back down to her level, pressing sloppy kisses to his lips and chin before suddenly pulling away once again.
"I think it'll be fun."
Jackson let out a staggered breath at her response.
Were they really going to do this?
"Right now?" He squeaked.
"Right now."
Her legs wrapped around his waist, bucking upwards as they suddenly met his.
A loan groan resonated through his chest, his fingers tangling in her brunette locks as it suddenly became difficult to breathe.
"I love you so much, Ember Laine." He hummed, pressing an open-mouted kiss to her jaw as she giggled beneath him.
"I know, baby. I love you too."
"I don't k-know exactly what to—" He stammered, but Ember silenced him with her lips.
"Just do what feels right, Jackson. It's both of our first time, it's not going to be perfect."
"But I want it to be." He whined.
"You deserve the best."
"And you're the best theres ever gonna be."
Jackson blushed, leaving behind a trail of wet kisses down her neck as he began to tug at the hem of her shirt.
Her hands cupped his, halting them in place as she sucked in a breath.
"What?"
"I think we should try to leave as much clothing on as possible, just in case Evelyn walks in or something." Ember frowned. "I'm sorry."
"No, you're right."
Her fingers trailed downward, her nails scratching against the zipper of his jeans as his breath hitched in his throat.
"Are you okay?" She whispered, slightly concerned by the expression plastered on his face.
"Y-Yeah." He rasped, his forehead crinkling as she fumbled with the zipper on his pants. "I'm just nervous." He openly admitted.
"Don't be, baby." Ember cooed, pressing a kiss to his jaw. "It's only me."
Jackson instantly calmed at her statement. She was right, it was only Ember.
He was going to lose his virginity to Ember.
"Kiss me." She ordered, clutching onto his curls as she tugged his face down to meet hers once more.
"Yes ma'am." He moaned, shrugging himself out of his jeans as Ember tugged her pajama shorts down her legs.
"We have to be quick. Kayla always wakes up at midnight to go to the bathroom." Ember rambled, but was immediately silenced by the foreign feeling of Jackson's fingers against her.
Her breath hitched in her throat, a rather loud moan tumbling from her lips as Jackson's free hand clamped down on her mouth, his eyes wild as he halted his actions.
"Em." He scolded.
"I know, I'm sorry. I just didn't expect that to feel so—good."
Jackson's lips curled into a smirk, his tongue darting outward to lick his bottom lip as he resumed his gentle assault on her.
His lips attached to her neck, mumbling a chorus of I love yous against her skin as her toes curled in ecstacy.
"We're going to be happy." Ember whispered.
"Ember!" Evelyn called, the familiar sound of her heels clicking against the tile piercing the girls ears as she stirred awake.
"Ember! Are you seriously still sleeping?" Evelyn scolded, her tall frame standing in the doorway as her palms rest on her hips in annoyance.
The teenage girl stirred awake, her insides tingling at the glorious night her and Jackson shared only hours prior.
"Go away." She grumbled, turning over in her bed as she buried her face into the pillow.
Evelyn clicked her heels impatiently, her arms crossed tightly across her chest as she approached Ember's bed, tugging the blanket off of her.
"Get up, Ember! There is a couple here who are interested in adopting you!"
Ember's eyes flew open, her chest becoming painfully tight as she flew out of her bed.
"Are they interested in adopting Jackson too?" She immediately asked.
Evelyn raised an eyebrow, her gaze lingering on the paper plane pendant that sat around the teenage girls neck. Just as Jackson and her promised, they'd both worn their necklaces every single day for the past five years.
"No, Ember. Get ready, please. Meet me in the office in fifteen."
With that, Evelyn left the room, leaving behind a hyperventalating Ember in her bed.
She quickly shuffled around the room, pulling on a pair of faded boyfriend jeans and a navy t-shirt, brushing her fingers through her matted hair before exiting the room and bolting towards Jackson's.
Ember found the room deserted, Jackson's bed empty as her heart thumped in her throat.
Where was he?
She paced the orphanage, her eyes peeled in search of the lanky boy with curly hair.
"Ember?" Jackson questioned, grabbing onto her shoulders as she nearly ran into him around the corner. "What is it?"
"I'm getting adopted." Ember spat.
Jackson's heart plummeted in his chest, his hands immediately clamming up as he shook his head.
"N-No. No you're not..."
"Well, I don't know for sure yet. I have to go meet the couple first." Ember shook, her gaze fixated on the floor as she desperately thought of ways to make the couple absolutely despise her.
She couldn't leave Jackson... not now... not after last night...
"Whatever happens, it's going to be okay."
He assured her, cupping her face as she trembled beneath his touch.
"I-I have to go. Wait for me outside the office." Ember cried, tearing from Jackson's grasp as she darted towards Evelyn's office, making it only just on time.
A fairly nice looking couple sat in front of Miss Evelyn's desk, a sincere set of smiles erupting on their lips the moment a panting Ember entered the room.
"Uh, hi. I'm Ember." She breathlessly said, taking a seat between them as Evelyn raised an eyebrow.
"Nice to meet you, Ember." The red-haired woman smiled, her green eyes sparkling as she outstretched a manicured hand. "I'm Georgia, and this is my husband, Evan."
Ember shook Georgia's hand, swiveling in her chair to shake Evan's hand next, which was warm and beefy, the opposite of Georgia's cold, bony palm.
"Now, Ember, you're fifteen, right?" Georgia wondered, her red painted lips pulled into a sincere grin.
"Yes ma'am." Ember blandly replied.
"Well, I know you don't have much longer in the system, but Georgia and I have really been looking over your file, and we'd love to give you a proper home, a home that you can come back to and feel safe at even when you're grown." Evan heartily explained, the black mustache on his upper lip slightly distracting the girl.
"I appreciate your offer, but I—"
"Ember, they've already adopted you." Evelyn interrupted.
Ember's heart seemed to stop beating entirely. Her stomach did a million flips, the sudden urge to vomit arising.
"Congratulations, Ember. Go collect your things and go home with your new family!" Evelyn dryly cheered, a sympathetic look present in her eyes as she thought of the one person Ember couldn't bare to leave: Jackson.
"Oh-Okay." She stuttered, slowly rising from her seat as she shuffled from the room.
Jackson stood outside the door, his hands tucked into the front pocket of his jeans as he chewed mechanically on his lip.
"Em! What happened? What's going on?"
Ember's jaw hung lowly, silent tears slipping from her golden eyes as she stood dumbfounded before the love of her life.
"I was adopted. I have to go pack my things and leave today."
Jackson's face fell.
"You got adopted?"
"Jackson—"
"You said you'd never let us be apart!" He cried, his hands clenching into fists as tears stung in the corners of his eyes.
"I can't help it, Jackson! Do you think I want to leave? Especially after everything we've been through? Especially after last night?" Ember sobbed, her palm clamping over her tear-drenched lips as her chest heaved.
"I can't live without you, Em." He rasped.
"You never have to." Ember pressed, taking his face in her hands as she wiped his fallen tears with the pads of her thumbs. "I'll write to you. As soon as we turn eighteen, we can be together again. I love you, Jackson. I always will."
"Ember," Evelyn interrupted, a brow raised at the scene before her. She always suspected that something more was going on between the two, but she never once questioned it. "Go pack your things. You can say goodbye to Jackson out at the car."
"Meet me outside." Ember whispered, Evelyn tugging her away from Jackson's grip as her adoptive parents strut from the room.
"Oh," Georgia chirped, slightly alarmed by the boys disheveled state. "And who are you?"
"The love of Ember's life." He said.
Ember angrily threw her belongings into a large suitcase, loudly sobbing as she collapsed onto the floor, her knees failing her. She couldn't go... she wouldn't...
Seventeen minutes later, Ember found herself outside of the orphanage, her face flushed as the tears began to dry up.
Evan had already tucked her suitcase into the trunk of the car, taking his seat the the drivers side as Georgia pat her gently on the shoulder.
"We'll be waiting in the car, whenever you're ready." She cooed.
Jackson stood across from her, his left hand tugging at the curls on his head as he choked back sobs.
"I want you to take this." His voice cracked, his hand fishing into the back pocket of his jeans as he handed over the bedraggled book of poems.
"Oh, Jackson." She cried, taking the book from him as she held it closely to her chest. "Thank you."
His eyes trailed downward towards her chest, the paper plane pendant resting nicely on top of her t-shirt as she chewed on her lip.
"You'll always keep it on, won't you?" Jackson wondered.
"Every single day until I die." She promised.
Jackson whimpered, blinking away an array of tears as he outstretched his arms.
"C'mere, baby."
Ember enveloped herself in his arms, squeezing his torso so tightly that he could barely breathe. However, breathing wasn't necessarily important right now. Ten years... ten years of seeing each other every single day, to possibly not seeing each other for several years. The thought alone made his stomach churn.
He buried his face in her hair, memorizing the scent of her shampoo as he held her close, her lips pressing kisses to his collarbone.
"I love you, Jackson." She said, her voice muffled by his shirt as he held her closer.
"I love you more than words will ever describe." He told her, pulling away slightly to look into those beautiful brown eyes.
She pressed her lips to his, lightly, yet passionately. Her bottom lip quivered as he sucked lightly on it, kissing away the tears that slipped down her cheeks as she held him close.
"Time to go, Ember." Evelyn urged, standing several yards away as she watched the two teenagers exchange painful goodbyes.
"Goodbye, Jackson." Ember whispered, pressing one final kiss to his lips before pulling away, the book of poems held against her chest as she climbed into Georgia and Evan's car.
Jackson watched as the car peeled from the driveway, Ember's face watching him through the back window as the vehicle rounded a corner and disappeared from view.
That would be the last time he'd see her for fifteen years.
TOTAL SAP FEST I KNOW.
I'm sorry if Joker was out of character here. Obviously, he was always smitten with Ember, and she gave him a true purpose in the world. Her departure is only the beginning of his downfall.
Up next: the story of Joker's infamous scars.
Stay tuned...