8. The Shit Hits the Fan

Thank you all so much for the review! It's appreciated a lot! If any of you have seen Memoirs of a Geisha, I sort of used a line/concept from it in this chapter! Just letting you know! Enjoy!

A couple days later I received a letter from school and a phone call from my parents. It had seemed like it had been so long since any of my previous life before Detroit had contacted me. It was a wake-up call for me. I had been so absorbed in my work and being with Jack that I had almost completely forgotten why I was even in Detroit in the first place! My parents called asking me about my work and how it was going. They also told me that they bought me a plan ticket home for the holidays. I couldn't wait to finally get home and be with my family for the holidays. But there was a catch—I wanted to bring Jack along with me. How could I possibly take him away from his brothers during the holiday season when their mother had just been murdered a month prior? I'd have to do a lot of talking and conning with Bobby, that's for sure.

As for the letter from school, well, I was to report back to my advisor before the holidays. Not such a bad set-up, I figured—except Jack. I didn't know what to do about Jack…

"So, Jack, have you ever been to Boston?" I asked him that same night while eating some Chinese food take-out on the sofa. He smiled and let out a little laugh as he swallowed his lo mein.

"No, no I haven't," he replied. "Why?"

"Well, my parents called today and they told me they bought me a ticket home for the holidays," I stated.

"That's great, Ange!" Jack exclaimed, not realizing at first that I would be leaving him for a little while. I looked at him as though I had more to say.

"But that's not all," I said finally. Jack looked at me through concerned eyes. "I have a bit of a dilemma, because, well, I'd love for you to come with me,"

"I'd love to go! Of course I'll go!" He exclaimed again, this time kissing me. "When do we leave? Christmas is in a few days,"

"Well that's the thing—I have a couple things to do at school before-hand, so you'd have to fly out after me and meet me in Boston," I explained.

"I could do that," he said quickly. "I'll pack tonight,"

"Jack, don't you understand why this is a dilemma though?" I asked, taking his hand in mine. He looked again at me, this time harder. "I can't take you away from your brothers when your mother was just murdered a month ago," Jack was silent for a little while as he processed all that had gone on in the past month.

"I understand, and I really shouldn't leave them for Christmas," he said finally, "but I want to spend this holiday with you,"

"Jack, this is going to take a lot of reasoning with Bobby, you know that…"

"I know, but I'm willing to do it," he said, standing up and getting his coat on.

"Where are you going?" I asked, standing up with him.

"To go talk with Bobby,"

"But Jack, I'm leaving tomorrow," I blurted out suddenly. "If he doesn't want you to come, then I probably won't see you until I get back in about a week and a half or so. Tonight's our last night for a while," He paused again, but then leaned in and kissed me.

"I'll make it work," he said determinedly, and then left the house.

At the Mercer Household…

"No, Jack—you aren't going!" Bobby said as soon as Jack told him his proposition.

"Oh come on, Bobby! It's not like you've never spent Christmas with me before," Jack argued.

"Jack, does the fact that ma died last month mean anything to you at all?"

"Yes, Bobby! Of course it does! But it's over now. She's in a better place and the bastards who took her life are gone too. What more can we ask for? We did what we wanted to do and now we have to move on with our lives," Jack reasoned, trying not to get too upset.

"Jack! All ma woulda wanted would be for us to spend one more holiday together—especially this year," Bobby spit back.

"Bobby, we have the rest of our lives to spend more holidays together," Jack stated.

"Unless something like what happened to ma happens to one of us before next Christmas," Bobby explained bitterly.

"Bobby, I just don't get why you don't understand," Jack sighed, his voice low and shaking his head as he went upstairs.

Jack was pretty much dormant the entire evening in his room. He played around on his guitar while he lay in bed, smoked his cigarettes and quietly cried over the loss of his mother, Bobby's misunderstanding, and missing Ange.

The next day…

Jack woke up relatively early and staggered into the bathroom to take a shower. After getting all clean, he dressed himself in his black tee-shirt with the skull and cross bones on it, and his jeans. He dragged himself down the stairs and into the kitchen where he made himself from breakfast. He sat at the table for quite some time, eating slowly, waiting for either Bobby or Angel to come down.

Finally, Bobby came into the kitchen and sat down at the table across from Jack. The two men were silent as Jack finished eating and Bobby just sat there. Jack finished his breakfast and then stood up and turned to leave when Bobby grabbed him.

"Sit down, Jack," Bobby instructed finally.

"You tell me I can't see my girlfriend and now you're telling me I have to stay in the kitchen?" Jack asked, a bit frustrated.

"No, that's not it at all Jack," Bobby sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "I just wanted to tell you to have a safe trip to Boston," Jack's eyes widened and his mouth dropped.

"What?" he asked finally.

"I said I wanted you to have a safe trip to Boston, Jack," Bobby repeated.

"Are you sure?" Jack asked, extremely surprised at his brother's change of heart.

"Yes I'm sure. Now get your ass upstairs and packed before I change my fuckin' mind!" Bobby firmly instructed. Jack quickly got up from the table, ran out of the kitchen, then back in again. He grabbed Bobby and hugged him, lifting his brother off his feet. Bobby squirmed in Jack's arms, struggling to be let go.

"Thanks Bobby!" Jack exclaimed. He put down his brother and then ran upstairs to pack. Moments later, he came bounding down the stairs with his guitar in its case and his large duffel bag. Jack paused at the door and turned to see Bobby.

"She probably left already," Jack said, finally, dropping his stuff to the floor.

"Well she did say you'd have to fly in after her, didn't she?" Bobby asked, walking over to his brother and picking up his things.

"Yes, but, now she probably thinks I'm not going—and besides, I would have flown out tomorrow," Jack said.

"Jack, are you going to spend Christmas with your girl or not?" Angel piped in, coming down the stairs.

"I want to…" Jack began.

"Then shut the fuck up and get the hell outta the house, 'bro!" Angel hollered. Jack smiled and his brother smirked back at him. He picked up his bags and headed out the door.

Bobby and Angel ended up driving Jack to the airport, where they said their temporary good-byes and parted for the holidays. Once inside the airport, Jack scanned all the people, wondering if he'd see me anywhere—perhaps I hadn't left Detroit yet. He figured if I was anywhere, I'd be waiting at my plane's gate, and no where near the ticketing counters. He briskly walked through the masses of people traveling for the holidays towards the Southwest ticket counter, but something stopped him in his tracks.

"Ange!" Jack called out my name as he saw me waiting in line at the Southwest counter. "Ange!" He dropped his bags and ran through the people towards me. I heard my name being called and turned around to see Jack running through the airport. I quickly got out of line and ran towards him like in some cheesy romance film.

"Jack!" I exclaimed as we finally collided and embraced. We kissed for the sake of the moment and then pulled away.

"Jack, what are you doing here?" I asked in disbelief.

"Bobby changed his mind—I think it had a lot to do with Angel, actually," Jack laughed.

"That's wonderful!" I smiled and kissed him again. But as I pulled away from him, a frown darkened my lips.

"What's wrong?" He asked, taking my face in his hands.

"I have to go to school first," I replied solemnly, avoiding eye contact with Jack.

"That's fine, baby. We'll be in Boston together—I don't mind going to school with you," Jack smiled. "Don't worry about it. This is going to be a great holiday,"

"That's not it, Jack," I said finally, taking a deep breath, trying to look him in the eyes.

"What's wrong Ange? What's going on?" Jack asked, concerned for my sudden change in mood.

"Jack, there's something I have to tell you," I said finally, breathing in again.

"What is it?" He asked. I could tell he was getting nervous, like maybe I wanted to break up or something.

"Jack, I hate to say this to you, but I wasn't entirely honest with you about school. Actually, I lied to you…" I began. I could just see Jack die inside as I said the words "I lied".

"Why? About what?" He asked, getting more intense.

"I lied to you about going to grad school, Jack. I'm still an undergrad going to school in North Carolina. I'm a senior on internship here in Detroit—not a grad student," I admitted.

"Why'd you lie to me!" He exclaimed. He was nearly shaking from the suspense, and the let down that I lied to him about something.

"Because I wanted to impress you!" I blurted out—and it was the truth. The only thing I had wanted in Detroit was Jack, and I felt I had to be impressive in order for him to want me. As if saving his life wasn't enough to win him over.

"Impress me? Ange, are you fucking kidding me or what? The fact you graduated high school and even went on to college is impressive enough for me—I dropped out of high school! I've never even had the 'college experience'. You saved my fuckin' life and you felt the need to lie to me about something as unimportant as going to grad school in order to impress me! No, I don't think I can believe that…"

"Jack, please, that is the truth. I know it is hard for you to trust, and I know now it's even harder to trust me because I just lied to you about school, but that is the truth. I saw you after I saved your life that day, and after that, you were all I could think about. You were this mysterious man whom I saved and didn't even know, and for some reason, I wanted nothing more out of this city than to be the girl you called 'yours'," I pleaded.

"So you thought that saving my life wasn't enough to make me attracted to you? Or impressed by you? Ange, do you think I'm that shallow?"

"No, Jack, I don't! Please try to understand—everything I have done has been an attempt to get me closer to you…"

"And it worked," he said finally. "You don't need to impress me, Ange. You do impress me, but I just want you to be you—to be the same woman that saved me. That was selfless, Ange. You put yourself in danger by doing that—that's more impressive to me than whether you're a grad student or not,"

"Are you mad at me?" I asked, softly.

"No. I'm not mad at you," he said finally. "Sort of flattered, actually,"

"Why's that?" I asked, a grin forming on my lips.

"That you'd go to such lengths just to have me…and it wasn't even that big of a lie—that's the funny part," he laughed and embraced me again.

"You still wanna come to school with me, Jack?" I asked.

"Only if you don't mind your undergrad friends meeting your high school drop-out boyfriend," Jack replied with a smiled.