August 20, 2017, 11:02 AM
"He keeps staring at me."
Beth turned to look at Jack, eyebrow raised and a hint of a smile forming on her face. "He's a dog, Jack."
"Yeah, but..." Jack trailed off as he stared back at Toto, who was laying in the grass several feet away. The dog tilted his head slightly but made no effort to break eye contact. "He's creeping me out."
"He's your dog," Beth shrugged, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a dog treat. Toto immediately sprang to his feet and trotted toward her, happily gobbling up the treat from her outstretched hand.
"Oh sure, when it's time to name him he's your dog, but when he's being weird he's my dog."
Beth chuckled lightly, ignoring Jack and patting Toto on the head. He hopped up on the park bench next to her and laid his head down in her lap.
"He likes you better than me," Jack complained with a petulant frown, reaching over to pet the dog. He stopped short as a low growl escaped Toto's mouth.
"He's smart," Beth explained with a smirk.
Jack crossed his arms and pouted. "Does he know he owes his adoption to me?"
"I think technically he owes his adoption to Paul," Beth corrected, absentmindedly scratching behind Toto's ear, much to the dog's obvious delight.
When Jack had brought the dog home a week prior, Beth had been furious with him for about... twenty whole minutes. Jack, luckily, had been unconscious for the majority of those twenty minutes, having quickly passed out on the couch from overconsumption.
Toto, as Beth had named him, was a mottled white and black pit bull with a black patch over his left eye and ear and a few large spots on his back. His uncropped ears, which were still too large for his head, flopped down on either side of him. He was already massive, despite being barely half a year old, and Beth didn't seem to mind that he was all but laying in her lap.
Toto's eyes closed and his tongue lolled out of his mouth as Beth continued to pet him. Jack, of course, continued to pout. Go figure the dog I adopt hates me.
"You got a dog?"
Beth's head snapped up at the sound of Liam's voice. Somehow he had managed to sneak up on them with Schultz in tow, and Jack felt his anxiety begin to creep up the back of his neck.
Pit bulls were not particularly known for playing well with other dogs, but Toto seemed more curious than anything. He hopped down off the bench as Liam and Schultz stopped next to the bench, carefully sniffing at the strangers. A low whine escaped his mouth as Schultz plopped down in front of him.
"They seem to like each other," Liam mentioned, smiling as he glanced between the two of them. "What's his name?"
"Toto," Beth answered casually, smiling as the pit bull looked up at her in confusion.
Liam chuckled. "You named your dog after the band?"
"Something like that," Beth agreed with a smirk.
Jack was happy to see her finally comfortable around Liam. He had spent weeks texting back and forth with Liam, working to get as many details about his relationship with Beth as he could without drawing any suspicion. He had a whole notebook at home that Beth had studied to make sure their future interactions would seem normal, and it seemed to pay off. Jack was glad because he was starting to feel like a stalker.
"You know, I was actually hoping to run into you here," Liam continued as the two dogs continued to sniff each other. "Are the two of you busy tonight?"
Beth glanced at Jack as subtly as she could - a warning glance if ever he'd seen one - but Jack just shrugged. "Not really," he responded, much to Beth's obvious irritation, "why?"
"Emily and I are going out tonight and I thought you two might want to come with us," Liam suggested. He seemed surprised when Beth laughed.
"You mean like a double date?" she asked.
"Uh, yeah," Liam returned with a confused frown. "I mean if it's a problem then-"
"We'd love to join you," Jack answered before Beth could respond. He placed a hand on her thigh, both to comfort her and keep her from saying anything. It worked, although he was sure he'd be getting an ear full later.
"Great, then I'll see you tonight," Liam replied with a grin. "We were planning on 8 o'clock at Francesca's. You know the place?"
Beth nodded with a laugh. "We had our first date there."
Jack turned to look at her with a frown. Their first date hadn't been at Francesca's, it had been at... Oh... my God. She thought that was a date. That explained why she had looked at him so strangely when he'd suggested it.
Beth clearly noticed his sudden discomfort and patted his leg with a smile. Jack closed his eyes and sighed, smiling slightly. It served him right - it sort of had been a date, after all.
"See you at eight, then," Liam told them with a smile before tugging lightly on Schwartz's leash. The corgi, who had managed to curl up with Toto, barked in protest. Toto whined sadly as his new friend departed.
"Good to know Toto's alright with other dogs," Jack mentioned as Liam disappeared into the park. "I was worried we'd have a fight on our hands."
"Only between you and me," Beth returned, her previously jovial expression dropping into a glare.
"This'll be good for us," Jack assured her, leaning away from her slightly. She rolled her eyes.
"I would have said yes if you'd let me."
Jack hesitated before responding. She was right - he should have trusted her. "I'm sorry, Beth."
She let out a deep breath before standing up, tugging on Toto's leash as she began walking out of the park. He whined in annoyance, but quickly got up and followed her. Jack similarly pushed himself to his feet and fell into step behind them. She was definitely annoyed, and he deserved it.
"I'll get you the good cheesecake," he offered after a moment, smiling nervously as she and the dog both stopped to look at him. Beth stared at him, her expression stony, but after a painfully long moment, her face broke into a smile.
"You're impossible to stay mad at, Jack Joyce," Beth announced, shaking her head as she turned and continued walking.
Jack sighed in relief as he jogged to catch up. "How do you think I've survived this long?"
"Sometimes I really wonder."
August 20, 2017, 6:02 PM
Jack checked the time on his phone again, then glanced over his shoulder. Beth was still in the bathroom, where she had been for the last twenty minutes. Much to her dismay, he had checked ten minutes previous to make sure she was physically okay, which left one of two things. Either she was getting ready, which seemed unlikely, or she was panicking.
If he called in after her again, he risked her canceling the entire evening. While he knew it would be awkward for both of them, he would be lying if he wasn't looking forward to going out. He hadn't taken Beth on very many real dates, so he didn't want to let the opportunity pass by.
Finally, Beth emerged from the bathroom and judging from the look on her face she was going to need a morale booster. Jack said nothing as she rounded the edge couch and plopped down next to him with a defeated sigh.
"This is going to be a disaster," Beth declared after a moment of silence.
"It'll be fine," Jack assured her, wrapping his arm around her and letting her sink into his shoulder. "You've studied the Liam Bible so much it's falling apart."
Beth smirked. "It's just a legal pad, Jack."
"Yeah, well you nearly tore out a few of the pages," Jack reminded her with a grin, happy to hear her chuckle lightly. "You'll be fine."
"You better back me up if I'm not," she demanded.
Jack smiled as he leaned over and placed a kiss on her forehead. "Promise."
The two of them sat there like that together for several minutes. Usually, Jack was uncomfortable by long periods of silence, but this time it felt right. Beth's arm reached around his waist as she wriggled her way even closer to him. Jack rested his chin on top of her head and rested his free hand on her arm.
"What if I say something dumb?" she finally asked without moving.
Jack looked down at her with a smirk. "Just tell him I'm rubbing off on you."
"That's completely believable," Beth agreed with a chuckle.
"You know, sometimes I forget alternate universe Liam could kill me."
"He still can," Beth told him very matter-of-factly.
Jack laughed. "That's comforting."
"So can I."
Jack pulled back slightly to see her looking up at him innocently. "Thanks for reminding me."
"Any time," she laughed. "So... what if Liam says something dumb?"
"You're overthinking this," Jack assured her. "It'll be totally fine, and then we'll come home and eat the extra slices of cheesecake we're going to get to go, and we'll... I dunno, watch Whose Line Is It Anyway."
"You have terrible taste in TV, Jack," Beth accused with a laugh.
"Maybe," Jack agreed with a grin, "but so do you."
"You win this time, Jack Joyce."
He kissed her head again. "When we watch Whose Line, we both win."