God, I haven't written for Silent Witness in a very long time...

I've not been in the right frame of mind for a while and the writer's block has been absolutely shit on top of that :) as well as exams and coursework and teachers… But I'm back and hopefully writing again for a while! I know I have other fics to tend to and I'm going to try my best to be a little more consistent (I say that every time with my fics and end up publishing chapters months apart… but we're going to give it a go!)

Anyway, I was listening to You Belong With Me by queen Taylor, and I started to realise that if the song was from Jack's point of view (with some lyrics changed ofc) it would basically be about how he's in love with Nikki :') and how he feels like he'll never meet up to Matt and his important job and huge house and fancy suits. And so, I created a lil fic, using the lyrics and tiny bits from the music video to piece it together.

Hope you enjoy xx

It was a Tuesday evening when Jack heard Nikki raise her voice, an occasion that rarely happened. If a student pissed her off, she'd be stern. If someone was rude to her, she'd bite back, much to Jack's amusement. But it still didn't happen often.

Now, she had her phone to her ear, standing in the corridor, clearly trying to hold her tongue. Jack could see the frustration in her eyes, as she hissed replies to the speaker on the other end. She had been out there for 10 minutes already, the conversation becoming more and more heated, Nikki shaking her head in disbelief.

It was obvious that her argument was with Matt. About what, Jack wasn't entirely sure, but there was no doubt that he would find out when Nikki stormed back into the room. He knew her too well. She'd throw herself down at her desk and give him the silent treatment, desperately waiting for him to ask her what was up so she could rant to him. Jack didn't mind, he never did. The reason for not minding, however, was probably not the right one.

Any form of tension between Nikki and her boyfriend pleased him. He sounded like an awful person when he thought such things, secretly praying that one day one of them would just give in and break things off.

It was so conflicting. The last few years had been incredibly tough for Nikki, terrifying in fact. Matt had been there to comfort her, make her smile when Jack felt it wasn't his place too. He'd made her happier than Jack had seen her in a long time.

But, there was a selfish part of Jack, a selfish voice whispering to him in the back of his mind. Every time he thought about it, he instantly felt guilty, cursing himself for not putting Nikki's happiness before his own. Of course, Nikki deserved to be happy, but why couldn't she be happy with him?

It seemed as though Nikki and Matt's relationship was straying far from perfect in recent days, as Nikki paced yet again past the window. Jack tried not to be nosy, but it was hard to concentrate on anything else, the silhouette of Nikki's frame constantly appearing and exiting his line of sight. He looked up at her when she passed in front of him for what must have been the tenth time. Her cheeks were rosy, the tears that were beginning to form in her eyes being frantically blinked away. She wasn't shouting, but Jack could tell she was holding her anger back, her fist clenched; each time she spoke she took a deep breath before, as a way to calm herself down.

Jack couldn't hear the entire conversation. There were some words that he managed to pick out, from the movement of her lips. Something about work, Matt's or hers he couldn't quite tell. Washington was mentioned once or twice. Multiple mentions of a date. And there was one sentence she seemed to repeat a few too many times, as if Matt was blatantly ignoring what she had to say.

You came here to see me.

Each time Nikki said it, she became more distressed. Jack wanted to go out there and wrap his arms around her, even if it was the worst possible time to do so. When the person who was supposed to give her comfort was the one that was making her sad, Jack felt like it was his duty to take that position up. He refrained from interrupting however, and let her wrap up the conversation. Hang up, in fact. Jack could still hear Matt's muffled voice on the other line as Nikki came back into the room, cutting him off as she ended the call. With a thud, she threw her phone onto the desk and sat down, staring at the computer in front of her as a distraction. She was silent, just as Jack had predicted. A single tear rolled down her cheek, leaving a trail of wetness, dripping onto a pile of papers in front of her. As she attempted to wipe it away, Jack thought that it would be best to break the silence and check on her, instead of leaving it any longer.

"You okay?"

As she caught another tear with her finger, Nikki half smiled, making a noise that seemed to be an attempt at a laugh.

"Clearly not."

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

"I don't need to bore you with the details, honestly."

There was another silence, this one longer. Jack could tell Nikki was aching to open her mouth again, her constant glances up from her computer at him revealing so. When she still didn't say anything, he questioned her again.

"You sure you don't wanna tell me?"

With another glance, Nikki gave in. She stared at him for the briefest of seconds, before leaning back in her chair and closing her eyes.

"Matt's been asked to go into work tonight."

Jack could hear the shakiness in her voice as she spoke, her voice higher than usual, almost hysterical.

"I thought he had a few days off," Jack said slowly, trying to understand the situation. Matt would take time out of his work to visit Nikki, fly over from Washington and make a week out if it. The visits hadn't occurred so often in recent months and this time, Nikki hadn't seemed as excited as she usually did.

"He does."

With patience, Jack waited, until Nikki felt the desire to carry on.

"He came over to spend the week with me and I've barely seen him."

She smiled sadly.

"This isn't the first time. It's been happening a lot recently. I know how passionate he is about his work, like I am with mine. But I'm starting to think he loves it more than me."

That was Jack's cue to become the supportive best friend, as much as it pained him to do so. He got up out of his chair and crouched down beside her, clasping her hand in his own.

"I'm sure that isn't true."

Let's hope it is, a quiet voice said in Jack's head.

He needed to stop with the thoughts against Matt. It wasn't getting him anywhere. Why couldn't he just help her without his selfish desires getting involved? Squeezing her hand tighter, he looked up at her encouragingly.

"Yeah, I'm not so sure anymore," Nikki replied quietly.

Despite the disagreeing statement, Nikki kept a hold of his gaze. Jack became a little too lost in her eyes, almost forgetting that his hand was still laced with hers. He didn't let go, and she didn't seem to be bothered about it. She just carried on staring at him.

"Do you want to come round later?" she asked, her voice suddenly softer, "Matt's not coming back till early morning and from the way that conversation ended I'm not sure he's going to be back at all tomorrow."

Jack dropped her hand then, rising to his feet. He'd made the atmosphere unnecessarily awkward doing so, explicitly showing Nikki that he was hesitant. It wasn't that he didn't want to, he would have cancelled all of his plans to spend time with her. But he wondered if Nikki truly wanted him there or if he was just a replacement for Matt.

Nikki ignored his awkwardness, looking up at him with pleading eyes.

"I went all out with buying stuff for dinner. I don't want it to go to waste on just me."

Jack stupidly considered reasons as to why he shouldn't accept the offer. Would Matt be pissed if he found out that Jack was taking his place for the night, drinking expensive wine and having a nice dinner? Even if he would be, why was Jack caring about his opinion? Nikki asked him round, it was her choice to invite him and that was all that mattered.

"Of course. If it'll cheer you up."

Nikki's face lit up finally. Jack could tell she was extremely grateful that she wasn't spending the night alone, and the relief on her face made him smile.

"You always do," she replied, returning his smile, turning her attention back to the computer screen in front of her.

Jack didn't do the same. He kept his eyes on her, simply unable to take them away.