𝟐𝟏𝐂 | 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐰.

Chapter Thirteen.

For weeks, Ava and Jack made things "work"; luckily they were in the same time zone. They FaceTimed and texted as often as their schedules allowed. Everyday Ava would walk by Jack's door, the rusted "21C" on the outside of it staring back at her with the same depressing feeling.

When she got into her room, she felt her phone vibrate, and she knew it was a call from Jack. "Hey honey!" she beamed, propping her phone on her dresser while she changed out of her jeans into some cotton shorts. Jack immediately hid his phone screen from those in the room, being as he was in the studio. "Aye baby girl, that ass is for my eyes only," he warned, making her bite her lip as she took her phone over to her bed.

"I know, I know. I still have hand prints on it that haven't gone away," she joked, smirking lightly. Jack had a kink for ass slapping, both during sex and in general. "When I see you, you'll have more than that.." he bit his lip, making her squirm a little. "I know, you-" "Look mamas, I gotta go. We're about to start recording, so I'll call you when I get a minute," he told her sheepishly, "Okay, b-" he hung up before she could finish speaking, and she let out a breath. "Bye.."

—

At this point, it had been months since Jack left, and Ava was nearing her wits end. She'd texted Urban earlier in the day to tell Jack to call her when he was free, and he replied saying he'd let him know. Every day felt like they spoke less and less; they'd reach the point where they only spoke once a day for no longer than 10 minutes. Ava respected Jack's dedication to his music; she always told him that his music should come before anything. But she couldn't see an end with the way he had no time for her at all, and she wasn't one to be needy, but she needed a lot more reassurance and communication for this relationship to work.

When she didn't receive a call, she sent Jack a text that got his attention. "We need to talk." he read those 4 words while he was sitting in his car, and when he parked, he called her. "Ah, he makes time when he wants to," she mumbled, and he sighed. "I'm sorry, I've just been busy," he told her truthfully, but it was still the same line she'd heard many times before.

"Jack, I don't know how much longer I can do this, I really don't," she sighed, feeling her lip starting to quiver already. "I have made so much time for you with my classes and workload increasing, and you can't even respond to my text messages some days," she stood up, not sure if she should continue to be sad or angry.

"Ava, what don't you understand about me being busy?" he snapped, and she scoffed, rolling her watery eyes. "You know what, Jack, I'm over it. I am done trying to be patient with your schedule. You told me before you left that you would try to make things work, but I see now that you just don't give a damn," she told him, each word sticking to him like a fly to a trap. "Ava—" she hung up the phone, slamming in down on her bed.

If Jack didn't care about making things work, then Ava wouldn't either..

+ how are we feeling?
is Jack trying hard enough? -k.