chapter word count: 440

noir heart: seventy-nine

A trip down Third and Nostalgia via Chinese takeout, the presence of whiskey and a couple of his emergency beers later - every man should have a secret stash, fact - and Jack nestles in the ephemeral good cheer of inhibition-loosening tipsiness, while trying to ignore the ache in his heart.

He twists right on the sofa, and rests his temple on a loose fist while he faces her and asks, "Why are you here, Rapunzel?"

Bottle halfway to her lips, she freezes and watches him blankly. "What?"

"You could have told me over the phone, but instead you came all the way here. Thirty minutes ago, we just had takeout together like we used to. What gives?"

He watches the rise and fall of her chest as her breaths deepen a little, how some colour adorns her cheeks, and how she's breathing through parted lips. Throw in the dilated pupils…

"I...was…" she stammers as she tries to deflect by putting the bottle on the coffee table, but it's not out of fear. This is different. Jack shuffles closer, testing her. She doesn't flinch.

"Did you come for something...else?"

She doesn't answer immediately, but does glance down at his lips and back up. "After what I told her…" she says breathlessly, "I guess...I just wanted to be sure…"

Jack shuffles closer, his heart thudding. "About?"

"How I felt…"

"About us?" Closer. She slowly nods, and a vein in her neck is pulsing. "And are you sure?"

"I don't...know," she whispers, moments before Jack surges forward and takes them back to happier times, where sunshine and humour reigned, simply by capturing her lips in a sweet kiss. She snakes her arms around his head, mouth moving in unison, moaning into his throat. He leans further into her, and she responds by pulling him down.

This is happening, he thinks. She's coming back.

Touchdown. He positions himself on top, never leaving her lips. She knows where he's going with this; her hands stroke down to the base of his shirt. Maybe they'll do this fully clothed. Who cares, as long as she doesn't stop kissing him.

But, abruptly, she does. Her lips cease their heavenly caresses, she turns away and her hands shoot up to his shoulders to push him back. "Stop," she says. "I can't do this."

Bewildered, his mind blank but his heart a maelstrom of confusion, longing and hurt, he murmurs, "Do what?"

Bolting upright, she closes her eyes, resting a hand on her heart as she calms her breathing. "Let myself fall for you again."

Welp. :/ Sorry it's been so long, but I'm working on making a buffer in between writing OGaV. Just...so tired all the time. Civil War was excellent. Fell just short of Winter Soldier imo, but still well worth a ticket.

special thanks to: doomstone, whimsical acumen, jpbake, vrupd.1992, lunasnoir, ghost angel14, anastasia, hornedgoddess, oninoko, stefalove, invisible me, booyah and maravillakatana47 for the reviews!