Episode Seventeen "New Loves, Old Loves"
"You kissed him? You mean an all out, tongues colliding, filled with passion, no time for breathing, type of kiss?" Jen asked her best friend, who blushed furiously. "And you're only telling me this now?"
"I'm sorry. Everything was just so crazy you know?" Jack sighed, leaning over Jen to take some popcorn.
They were watching a movie in Jack's room, until about five minutes into the movie when they started talking, the movie completely forgotten.
"Yeah, I know." Jen said, thinking back to her drama last week. "But you and David. Actually kissing."
"You sound surprised." Jack mused.
"I'm not. I know David likes you. I just didn't know you had realized it, or even felt the same."
"I do. I think I do anyway."
Jen watched as Jack's expression changed to one of confusion. That happened a lot lately.
"So what happened after you kissed him?"
"Nothing. The kiss was amazing, but after it was awkward and we didn't really stay anything. I just left." He admitted.
He hadn't known what else to do. Now that he thought about it was a stupid thing to do. He just kissed him, apologized, and left. David must think he was an idiot.
"You left?" Jen was shocked. "How could you just leave?"
"I don't know. I wanted to say more, but I didn't know what to say. It's just…"
"Tobey?"
"Right." Jack nodded. "It's like, on one hand Tobey and I have been through a lot together. I really thought I loved him. But he's so far away and all I feel is the distance between us. But on the other hand there's David who has been there for me all year and I really like him. I feel closer to him than I do Tobey."
"So, what are you going to do?"
"I really don't know."
"You want my advice?"
"Sure."
"You have to choose. Either end things with Tobey or David. Talk to Tobey, tell him how you feel. You can't keep denying your feelings for David, Jack. You'll only get hurt, and you'll hurt Tobey and David in the process. Tobey will understand."
"I know. It's just so hard. There's still a part of me that's holding on, you know? A part of me still wishes Tobey and I could work things out and be together. But there's nothing really wrong to work out."
"People drift apart Jack. It happens. Clinging to something that isn't there will only make things worse."
"I know." Jack sighed. "Thanks Jen."
"No problem." Jen grinned.
"I've missed this."
"What?" Jen asked.
"Us."
"Me too."
"I don't know what I'd do without you."
"Well luckily you won't have to find out because I don't plan on going anywhere."
-&-
Jack took a deep breath before knocking on the door. He waited patiently, trying to build up his courage. The door opened a few seconds later and Jack smiled at David. He had obviously just woken up, but didn't seem surprised to see Jack there.
"Hey." David said, moving to let Jack inside.
Jack followed him inside, nervously. He sat on the bed while David went into the bathroom to wash his face.
David could hear Jack fidgeting outside and he tried to calm himself. He knew Jack would come to see him sooner or later, but he still hadn't figured out what he would say when the time came.
Jack waited patiently, trying to think of what he was going to say when David came back. He had prepared a whole speech before he came, but now, seeing him everything he had prepared seemed so wrong.
"So…" David said, walking back into the room.
"I wanted to talk."
"I thought you might. Although, I didn't expect you to wait an entire week before we spoke again." David said, trying to hide the hurt he felt when Jack hadn't contacted him.
"I'm sorry." Jack said, looking down. "I just…I didn't…I don't know what to do."
"Well I hate to say this Jack, but you really need to figure it out. You can't keep kissing me, then avoiding me and then kissing me again. It's just going to end up ruining our relationship."
"Do you want a relationship?" Jack asked tentatively. He didn't actually know what David was feeling and it would definitely clear things up if he knew.
David took a deep breath, knowing what he was going to say would change things between them. "I like you Jack," he admitted. "You've been the one strong thing in my life since I moved here. I care about you and if you wanted I would love to be with you."
David watched Jack's expression change before continuing. "But, I know you're with Tobey and you care about him. If you decide you still want to be with Tobey then I would still want to be your friend. I don't want to lose you."
Jack took a deep breath, taking in this information. It basically came down to him. He had to make a choice. David or Tobey? He didn't know what that choice was yet.
"I need some time. I know I've been sending you mixed signals for a while and I'm sorry. But I just need some more time before I do anything."
"Okay. I understand. I just don't want this to ruin things between us."
"Me either."
-&-
"Why did I agree to this again?" Joey asked she changed into a dress Stacy had picked out for her.
"Because you are still trying to make it up to me over the whole Steve thing." Stacy grinned, as she waited outside. "Are you done yet?"
"Almost. I thought I already had your forgiveness?" Joey slipped on the dress and looked in the mirror, turning from side to side to check it out.
"You do but it's fun using that as an excuse to make you do stuff." Stacy laughed. "And don't tell me you're not having fun?"
"I am." Joey said, as she opened the door to the dressing room. "But this is so not me." Joey said, gesturing at the dress.
"Not you? Joey, you look gorgeous." Stacy beamed, as she looked the dress over.
It was black silk, covering her like a second skin. The back was non-existent to the point of indecency as the silk pooled at her feet. The neckline also dipped lower than anything Joey would normally wear.
"Pacey would flip out if he saw you in that."
"Too bad he won't. Why do we try on clothes we obviously can't afford?" Joey mused.
Despite her protests she had actually fallen in love with the dress.
"Hmm, maybe one day when I'm rich." Joey laughed, turning around one last time for Stacy before going back inside.
"I don't know which I like better, this one or the one I tried on."
"They're both gorgeous." Joey said as she stepped out of the changing room, wearing her normal attire. "Where to now?"
"Shoe shops."
"Oh god, you're worse than Jen."
"Jen likes to shoe shop?"
"No. That's why you're worse." Joey laughed as Stacy dragged her out of the shop they were in and into another.
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Brenda was smiling when she got home that afternoon, something Jen hadn't seen her do in a long time. Not just an 'I'm trying to get on with my life' smile or a 'Things are okay' smile, but a real smile. Jen's face lit up, genuinely pleased to see her roommate enjoying herself again.
"You seem happy." Jen said from over the magazine as Brenda went and collapsed on her bed.
"I'm so tired."
"Where have you been? It's not like you to stay out all night." Jen rose her eyebrows suspiciously and Brenda sat up in her bed.
"I went to a club with Noah last night and it just got really late so we crashed at his house." Brenda said casually and Jen looked at her shocked. "What?"
"You spent the night with Noah?"
"Yeah." Brenda said, not getting what Jen was thinking. Then it dawned on her. "No! I didn't spend the night, I just spent the night. We slept, that's all."
"Right." Jen teased.
"I'm serious!" Brenda said really defensively. "We got back and we were so tired, but we stayed up talking the rest of the night. It was about seven this morning when we finally fell asleep." Brenda finished and Jen was still giving her a look. "It's true!"
"I know, it's sad."
"What do you mean?"
"It's obvious Noah is into you, and you seem really happy, why won't you give it a chance?" Jen asked.
"You know why." Brenda said a little quietly, thoughts of Matt coming back to her. "Noah's fun. We have a good time together. But I'm not ready for anything else. How can I be with him when I'm so messed up by myself?"
"You're not…"
"I am. I'm so confused inside, and anything more than friendship will just makes things more complicated."
"I know what you mean. I'm just glad you're smiling now. Noah's a great guy." Jen said, as she got up. "And who knows what could happen in the future?" Jen said teasingly and Brenda just gave her a look before falling back onto her bed.
-&-
Joey was walking out of her lecture and was going to head over to see Pacey. She had the rest of the day off and she thought they could do something together. She was so lost in thought about what she and Pacey could do today that someone accidentally knocked into her, causing her to drop her books. She bent down to pick them up and when she stood up she realized she was standing outside an art room.
She stood up and took a step forward, to look inside. Something was compelling her to go in. She walked into the room slowly and looked around the empty room. She saw various paintings, drawings and other artwork scattered all over. It reminded her of a time when her house used to be covered with pictures her mom had drawn and when she was little. Secretly, Joey had always dreamed of becoming an artist.
That dream had been forgotten as she grew up and other things in her life took over. But now, looking around she wished she hadn't forgotten about it. The last time she had actually drawn something was when she had been dating Dawson, and he hadn't been exactly encouraging. She had painted her mural after that for the school, which had also turned into a disaster. And then there was the wall Pacey bought her, she had never had a chance to paint on that, but the thought of it still made her smile.
She went to the back of the room and picked up a spare easel and a pencil, setting her bag and books on the floor next to her she started drawing. She didn't know why she suddenly had the urge to draw, but she couldn't stop herself now.
-&-
Pacey walked out of his 'office' after one of the workers said someone was here to see him. He was surprised to see David standing by the boats, looking a little lost.
"David?"
"Hey Pacey."
"Hey man, what brings you here?" David wasn't usually in the habit of visiting Pacey, although they had become friends during Christmas break when everyone else was in Capeside. Since then they hadn't really spent any time together.
"Nothing much." David lied, and then added, "Are you busy?"
"Nah, it's a bit slow. You want to talk?" Pacey guessed, thinking this was about Jack.
"It's nothing really," David shrugged, realizing it probably wasn't a good idea to talk to one of Jack's friends about his feelings. But they had kind of become his friends too and he didn't know what else to do.
"Is it Jack?"
"Sort of. Did you…uh…do you know…uh…"
"That you kissed?"
"Yeah," David blushed a little, feeling stupid he couldn't say it himself.
"He mentioned it."
"I just don't know what to do, Pacey."
"What's the problem exactly?"
"Everything. Jack says he needs time to sort things out and I told him that I understood. I also said I'd be his friend whether he breaks up with Tobey or not, but I don't think I can be. Jack says he cares about me, but if he stays with Tobey I don't know how I can be around him. It's too hard."
"David, I don't know what to say. I know Jack cares about you, a lot. He just needs some time. Jack never wants to hurt anyone's feelings. It's probably taking him time to get up the courage to break up with Tobey."
"He didn't even say he would break up with Tobey." David mumbled, having the sinking feeling that when it came down to it Jack would still choose Tobey.
"He might surprise you."
"I don't know."
"I think you should just wait and see what happens. That's all you can do really." Pacey said.
He felt really bad that there wasn't much else he could say to David except to wait.
"I guess." David sighed. He did actually feel better after talking to someone.
"I'm serious. If you want Jack, then don't give up. He'll realize what's standing in front of him sooner or later." David smiled, feeling better.
"Thanks Pacey."
"For what?"
"Listening."
-&-
Pacey walked into his apartment to find Drue sitting on the couch watching TV, looking bored.
"Hey." Drue said, glancing up at Pacey for a second before looking back at the TV.
"What's up?"
"Watching TV." Drue said, not looking up.
"Was there any mail?"
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes.
"Positive?" Drue groaned and turned the TV off, following Pacey into the kitchen.
"Yes I'm sure there is no mail. You still have at least a week till you find out if you got into BU!" Drue reminded him.
For the last couple of days Pacey had been checking the mail every second, waiting for his letter from BU. Drue really hoped Pacey got in because he knew how much he wanted it.
"I know but I'm nervous. I mean Joey helped me a lot and we studied so much for the SAT, but I'm still nervous. I have all the grants and loans worked out to pay for college, now all I have to do is get in."
"I'm sure you will." Drue said encouragingly.
Pacey sighed, he should just stop thinking about it. Drue was right, there was atleast another week to wait and thinking about it all the time was just making him more nervous.
"So why are you all mopey at home." Pacey asked, taking in Drue's state.
"I'm not all mopey. I feel a bit ill. And I was watching TV until you interrupted."
"Sorry." Pacey said sarcastically.
"You should be." Drue joked. "Actually, I was getting bored so I'm glad you came home. Jen's got class until three so I'm all alone."
"You really need a life." Pacey laughed.
"Tell me about it."
-&-
Everything was telling him to break up with Tobey and be with David, but Jack still didn't know what to do. He didn't know why he couldn't do it. Why couldn't he just end it?
He knew he cared about David. He was even falling for him. And that scared him. Being with David meant being with him every day, seeing him every day with the added pressures of a relationship. But he also knew he would lose David if he didn't make a decision soon. And he knew that decision was to break up with Tobey.
He didn't even realize what he was doing until he was standing outside David's class. He waited patiently for the lecture to end and for him to come out. When the class started spilling out, Jack took a deep breath.
David came out of the class, talking to someone, when he noticed Jack. He said goodbye to the other person and walked over to Jack.
"I'm going to break up with him." Jack said, before David said anything.
"Really?" David couldn't keep the smile off his face.
"Yes. It's the right thing to do. I can't keep stringing him along when I feel this way about you." Jack admitted.
"Are you sure? I want you to be sure, Jack."
"I'm sure." Jack said, squeezing David's hand lightly. "Can I meet you later?"
"Sure. About six at the beach?"
"Ok." Jack smiled. "See you then."
"See you." David said.
He watched Jack walk away and couldn't help feeling incredibly happy.
-&-
"Here. Try this." Noah said, holding out a strawberry for Brenda to eat.
Brenda looked at him skeptically, but leaned forward and took a bite of the fruit.
"Wow. That's really sweet." Brenda smiled at Noah before looking back out at the water.
Noah had come around a few hours after she got home and told her that her plans for lunch were already made and here they were, sitting on the beach eating lunch together.
She could feel his eyes watching her, but she tried not to turn and look at him.
"What?" She said finally.
"Nothing. Sorry." Noah looked away, realizing he was staring. He just couldn't help it. The more time she spent with this girl the more he liked her.
"So, what time do you have work?" Brenda asked. She actually knew the answer but she needed to say something to end the awkwardness of the moment.
"About seven."
Okay that didn't really work. Usually, conversation was so easy between them but for some reason she felt really nervous. She tried to convince herself the butterflies in her stomach were just because they hadn't eaten yet but she knew that wasn't it. It was him.
"So, what else did you bring for lunch?" Brenda asked, leaning over Noah to get the bag of food he had packed, but he grabbed it first and held it out of her reach.
"I think you're just going to have to fight me for it."
"Noah!" Brenda tried to get it from him but she was having no luck. He was leaning back enjoying her leaning over him, trying to grab him. She reached up again and tried to grab it. Instead she ended up losing her balance and falling so she was half lying on top of him.
She looked up at him and he wished she would just stay that way. But she quickly moved away, lying on her back.
"Fine. You invite me to lunch and then don't even feed me." Brenda pouted.
"I gave you strawberries."
"One strawberry. And don't think I don't realize your reasons behind choosing that fruit." Brenda joked.
"Yep, it was my plan all along to seduce you."
"Seduce me?" Brenda's eyes widened in amusement. "I just thought they were your favorite. Damn you and your ulterior motives." Brenda laughed.
"Oops. I better remember to keep my plans quiet next time." Noah smiled as he put the bag of lunch in front of her. "Here. But I think since I bought the lunch you should feed it to me."
"In your dreams buddy."
"You have no idea." Noah mumbled.
-&-
Jen walked into the boys' apartment to find it empty. She walked down the hall, hoping to find Drue in his room. His door was slightly ajar and she pushed it open and smiled. He was asleep on the bed. He looked so innocent, fast asleep, his hair all messed and his face looked adorable.
She looked at her watch and frowned. It was the middle of the afternoon and however cute it was, it wasn't normal for Drue to be asleep. She walked over to his bed and sat down, putting her hand on his head. He was a little hot.
"Jen." He mumbled in his sleep, taking her hand from his face. Jen smiled as he opened his eyes slowly.
"Hey sleepyhead."
"Hey." She leaned over and kissed him softly.
"What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing now that you're here."
"Drue, you're burning up." Jen's tone was worried and Drue smiled.
"I must have some bug. I feel lousy." After Pacey had left him earlier, the illness he had been feeling had turned into a proper bug.
"Aww, baby. Did you call the doctor?"
"I don't need a doctor."
"Drue…"
"What? All he'll say is I have a bug and I need rest." Drue pointed out.
"Oh, well too bad you need to rest. I had a great afternoon planned for us." Jen teased and attempted to move away, but Drue grabbed her.
"I don't need that much rest." Drue leaned towards her and kissed her, making her forget that he was sick.
"Drue…" Jen pulled away finally. "You don't have that much energy and I don't need to get sick too. Who'll look after you if I'm sick?"
"True. But you can't just tease me with such ideas." Jen laughed and Drue leaned back on the bed again. She held his hand for a few minutes even though she knew she shouldn't before finally getting up.
"Where are you going?"
"To get you some soup. I want you fit and healthy as soon as possible."
"Yes ma'am."
-&-
Pacey looked at his watch and frowned. He knew Joey finished classes at about one thirty today and it was three now. She always called him after class or came by and it was weird that she hadn't. It wasn't that he always had to know what she was doing, it had just become a sort of ritual for her to call.
He picked up his cell phone and dialed her number, waiting for an answer. It rang ten times before it went to voicemail.
"Hi, I'm sorry I'm not available to answer your call right now, but leave a message and I'll get back to you." Her voice said and he smiled.
"Hey Jo. It's me. I was just wondering where you are. Give me a call at work when you get this, okay? Love you."
Pacey left the message and went back to work still wondering where his girlfriend was.
-&-
In the art room Joey was oblivious to Pacey's worries, or anyone else around her. She was deep into her drawing. She didn't know how long she had been sitting here and didn't seem to care.
She didn't notice as someone walked into the room, eyeing her curiously. He watched her concentrating on her drawing and smiled. He didn't recognize her, but from the looks of her drawing she was really good.
"Hey," he said as he approached her, causing her to jump suddenly, her first instinct being to cover her drawing.
"Jeez, sneak much?" Joey said, angry at being disturbed.
"Sorry," the guy apologized. "I'm Luke." He held his hand out to shake and Joey eyed him warily. He was quite tall and looked a couple of years older than her. His dark brown hair was spiked up and his smile seemed genuine enough.
"Joey." She finally said, shaking his hand.
"So, you don't take any art classes? Do you?" Luke asked and Joey's face dropped.
"Did you see my drawing? Is it that bad?" She asked, really hurt.
"No! No! It's really good. It's just I haven't seen you around here before." He quickly explained. "I'm a third year art major. I spend a lot of time here so I know most of the regular faces."
"Oh."
"Why don't you take art?" Luke asked.
"I…I don't know. I used to draw a little, but I didn't have much time to spend on it." Joey lied.
Truth was between doing what Dawson wanted to do and supporting him in pursuit of his dreams she didn't have time for her 'hobby'.
"Well that's a shame because you have a lot of talent." Joey blushed slightly, she didn't really think of her drawing as talent, it was just something she did.
"Thanks." She said, turning to the easel again. Luke took that as his cue to leave.
"Well, I'll let you get back to it. You're lucky this room is empty for the next few hours so you can use it. I hope I'll see you around again."
"Sure. Thanks."
Luke smiled and walked away looking back to see that Joey was already deep into her drawing once again. He wondered who the guy was that she was drawing. Whoever he was, he was a really lucky guy.
-&-
Jack picked up the phone and pressed redial. He'd been rehearsing what he was going to say for about an hour now. He had tried to call Tobey about five times, but only got as far as dialing. It was five thirty and he had to meet David in half an hour. He needed to do this now; he couldn't put it off any longer.
"Hello?" Tobey answered.
"Hey Tobey, it's me."
"Hey Jack, what's up?" Tobey said cheerfully, as if nothing was wrong. Jack hated that, it just made everything harder.
"Nothing much, I just needed to talk to you about something."
"Sounds serious."
"It is." Jack took a deep breath and was about to say it when he heard someone in the background.
"One sec Jack." Tobey said as he spoke to someone Jack couldn't recognize.
Jack held the phone and he wanted to just say it, but he couldn't. Not like this. Not now. Not after everything.
"Sorry about that. Sasha lost her keys and I was helping her find them."
"Oh. Did she find them?"
"Yeah. So you were saying?"
"Yeah I…"
"Oh I just remembered, it's our ten month anniversary in a few weeks and I wanted to know if you wanted to do something special. I could come there? Or you could come here?" Tobey said happily and that did it.
Ten month anniversary? It had been that long? How could he break up now when he sounded so happy?
"Jack?"
"Huh?"
"So, what did you want to do?"
"Um, I'm not sure yet. I don't mind either way."
"Great." Tobey beamed. He wanted this to be special. "I'm sorry, you wanted to talk about something?"
"Yeah I…It was nothing important. I gotta get to class now. Talk to you later. Bye Tobey." Tobey didn't even have a chance to say bye before Jack hung up.
God this was such a mess. What was he going to do now?
-&-
"Brenda!" Jen called from across the street. She had just left Drue's and was heading home when she spotted her roommate.
"Hey Jen," Brenda smiled as Jen approached her. "Where you heading?"
"Home."
"Me too." Brenda said as they started walking together.
"I just came from Drue's. The poor baby's sick. I made him some soup and he fell asleep."
"Aww."
"So… how was lunch?" Jen asked, a slight teasing tone in her voice.
"It was fine." Brenda said, ignoring the teasing. "What's new with you?"
"Nothing much. You know it's Drue's birthday next week." Jen mentioned.
"I didn't know what."
"Yeah, I want to do something special, but I don't know what to do." Jen said.
She had been thinking about it for a while now. Drue had been so good to her this year and was always surprising her with romantic gestures. She wanted to be able to do the same back.
"Well, what does he want to do?"
"I don't know. I kind of wanted to come up with something by myself. A surprise, you know?"
"Okay, well, you have two options. A: you and Drue spend a romantic evening together or B: you can throw a huge party for him."
"Which do you think he'll like?"
"Well the romantic evening has the benefit of you being alone and will be big on the romance. But the party will be a hit too because he'll be touched that you went to the effort of organizing it."
"Good idea. But I think I might go for the romantic evening."
"I thought you might. You don't want to share the love. Greedy." Brenda joked.
"I'm not greedy. I just want Drue all to myself. Is that so bad?"
"Not at all."
-&-
"Noah! You're late!" Pacey tried to say in a stern voice, but didn't really pull it off.
"Sorry boss, I was a bit busy." Noah grinned.
"Yeah I noticed you've been spending a lot of time with a certain brunette lately." Pacey joked.
"There's no such thing as too much time with Brenda." Noah said as he started work.
"How are things going?" Pacey asked.
He knew Brenda had been through a lot with her last boyfriend and he didn't want his friend to get hurt by getting too close.
"Things are fine. We're just friends." Noah said.
"Yeah, friends. But you want more?"
"No. I'm fine with just friends." Noah lied unconvincingly. "Okay, well, fine isn't the word. I'm okay with it though. I know she's got some heavy baggage."
"Has she told you about it?"
"No. I didn't ask. I don't really want to push her."
"Good idea."
"So, why are you still here? Where's Joey?" Noah asked.
Pacey's shift was over and usually he would be gone in a second to spend time with his girlfriend.
"I don't actually know. She's kind of disappeared on me today."
"Weird."
"I'm sure she's at home working on a paper or something." Pacey shrugged off. "But I think I'll go find her anyway."
"Bye Pacey."
-&-
Pacey came home and smiled at the sight of his girlfriend lying on his couch. She looked asleep, but as he walked towards her she opened her eyes. She sat up, smiling at Pacey.
"Hey." He walked over to her and kissed her on the forehead before sitting next to her. "Where have you been all day?"
"I was at school." She told him. The time had just flown by while she had been drawing and when she finally decided to stop it was pretty late. She had heard Pacey's voicemail and decided to just head to his place instead of calling since he would be heading home himself.
"I thought you didn't have any classes after one today?" Pacey asked. He put his arm around her and she leaned into him.
"I didn't. I was working on something. A drawing actually."
"Really?" Pacey grinned. "Can I see?"
"It's not finished yet."
"It's only me. You can show me." He tried, but she shook her head.
"You'll be the first person I show when I finish it okay?" Pacey nodded.
"So what made you draw today? I thought you said your schedule was too full to take any art classes." Pacey said, remembering what she had said when had bought it up once.
"It is. But I don't know. I was passing by one of the art rooms and something made me go in there. I started drawing and I couldn't stop. I really loved it."
"That's great. You know how much I love it. You have so much talent, you shouldn't let it go to waste."
"It's not talent. I can draw, that's all." Joey shrugged it off.
"It is talent Joey. Your drawings are beautiful."
"You really think?"
"Yes!"
"Thanks. I met this guy today who is an art major. His name's Luke. He came in while I was drawing and said I should think about taking some classes next semester."
"He's right. If you love it, you should try it. Who knows, maybe that dream of yours is meant to come true?" Joey sat up quickly and looked at him. She had never told anyone.
"How did you know?"
"I knew. Your mom was an artist and I saw the way you used to look at her. And I knew when you got into drawing in high school that it was coming back."
"Dawson just thought it was a hobby."
"Well, Dawson doesn't usually see what's right in front of him."
"I really think I want to do this Pacey."
"So do it. There's nothing stopping you, Jo. With your talent you can do anything you want to." Joey smiled at his words and leaned over and kissed him.
"I love you." She said, amazed at how wonderful Pacey was.
-&-
Jen was sitting at her desk trying to write a paper which she had been putting off for over a week now. She still wasn't able to write it because all she could think about was her sick boyfriend.
She could tell it was probably a twenty-four hour bug and all he needed was rest but she couldn't help feel worried. She was planning to go over in a couple of hours when he woke up, but for now she figured he didn't need her there while he slept.
The phone rang and she quickly grabbed it. "Hello."
"Hey babe."
"Drue." Jen smiled, he sounded much better. "How are you feeling now?"
"Good. I feel much better. The sleep did me good. And of course having my own personal nurse doesn't suck." Drue grinned.
He had really loved the way Jen had been there all afternoon with him, taking care of him. When he was younger and he was sick the most his mother would do was tell him to stay in his room so he didn't spread any germs.
"Yeah well, don't get used to it. I was feeling generous."
"You were worried." Drue said smugly.
"Was not."
"Was too."
"Drue!" Jen laughed. "Has your fever gone completely?"
"No."
"Do you want me to come over?" She asked, really wanting to see him again.
"A sponge bath would be nice." Drue joked.
"In your dreams." Jen said before hanging up.
Drue laughed, he could already picture her walking out the door to come over. And she was.
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Jack walked towards the beach and he could already see David there waiting. He stood back and watched as David fidgeted, looking at his watch and then around the beach. He was a little late, but he didn't know how to do this.
Finally, Jack took a deep breath and walked towards him. David turned sensing someone behind him and smiled. Jack smiled back, but his eyes gave him away and David's face dropped. He knew.
"You didn't do it." David said, a statement more than a question.
"I couldn't. I…"
"Couldn't or wouldn't?" David accused.
"No. David, I…" Jack stepped forward, but David moved away. "I'm going to. I will. I just couldn't. Not over the phone."
For a second David wanted to believe that, but he knew Jack and he couldn't do this anymore.
"You said you would. And I believed you. But I was stupid. You won't do it. I know you won't."
"I…" Jack didn't know what to say. Maybe he couldn't break up with Tobey. But the look on David's face was killing him.
"Don't." David said and that was the first time Jack had heard him really angry. David walked away, leaving Jack standing there.
"David!" Jack called after him but David didn't turn around.
He'd done it. He pushed away the one person who really cared about him here. And Jack didn't know if he could ever make it up to him.