𝖜𝖆𝖓𝖉𝖊𝖗𝖊𝖗 | ᴄᴏʀᴘꜱᴇ ʜᴜꜱʙᴀɴᴅ x ᴏᴄ | ʙᴏᴏᴋ ᴏɴᴇ

The Markings Of The Boy In The Bar

Once they got back to their hotel room, Violet took their to-go boxes as Jack held the door open for her. As she put them away in the unnecessarily large kitchenette, her brain and body buzzed in a calm excitement. It was all so new and fun. Reality was settling in, making her aware of the logistics that would come with a dynamic like theirs, but however they worked it out, she was surprisingly excited for their next step.

Jack tried to calm his own nerves, popping open another bottle of wine and pouring them two glasses. He slammed his own and refilled it before joining her in the kitchenette. He could feel his neck reacting to how hard his heart was beating while he tried to make himself interested in anything but her bending down to put the food away in the fridge.

"Will it bother you if I still need some liquid courage? I mean, since you know how in love with you I am now..." He chuckled, muttering against her neck as he wrapped an arm around her from behind- placing her own glass in her hand.

"I don't mind... I mean, I'd like you to remember tonight." She poked his ribs playfully. "Am I really that scary though?"

"If I don't remember- I'll take a long walk off a short pier..." He chuckled softly, taking a sip of his drink and setting it down before wrapping both arms around her tighter, leaning his head on her shoulder. "But yes you absolutely are... the dress does not help that either..." He trailed a few innocent and tentative kisses on her shoulder.

"Hmm, seems you only have yourself to blame there pal..." She chuckled and turned around, wrapping her arms up and over his shoulders. "What would make me less scary?"

"Nothing..." He huffed anxiously, beaming down at her. "You're always this terrifying- I just usually have a lot more... supplemented courage... but now I don't, and everything is amplified by emotions and uh-" He let his eyes wander down to her chest, immediately regretting it as he groaned and met her eyes again. "-my own stupid masochistic choices..." He scoffed lightly.

"Oh no, what terrible emotions to be feeling right now..." Violet pleaded loudly before laughing. "I mean, at least now you know how I feel too." She took a sip of her own drink. "Is there-? Um, is there something still holding you back?"

"I don't know, I guess a little..." He huffed. "I'm worried I'm gonna fuck this up again honestly-"

"How so?" She prompted.

"Cause- I seem to have a pattern of this now... I just- I think I'm still reeling that you gave me another chance, I feel like I really don't deserve it- like it feels too good to be true I guess." He brushed her hair from her face, attempting anything to keep his mind from spiraling with anxiety.

"I get that." All her life she'd been made to feel like failed relationships were all because of her. "Honestly. After the past year, it feels surreal." She let out a heavy breath at all the memories throughout the months. "And honestly, sometimes I'm surprised you're still here. I've done my fair share of fucking up but you gave me another chance too."

"You really haven't, my fuck ups have been much worse..." He chuckled dryly. "I don't know, I just really want to do everything right- but I know I can't cause I'm bound to mess something up at some point. I don't want to hurt you ever again..."

"It's not a competition." She reminded him softly, reaching up to push a curl out of his face. "The point is that we've both made mistakes. And neither of us are going to do everything right all the time. It's a day to day process and it's gonna take working on it individually and together."

"I know, and I want to work on it all together. I'm not half-assing this... I'm just- nervous." He chuckled sheepishly. "And- I guess I'm hesitant cause, I never want you to feel like 'I'm only using you for one thing'... I know I probably really let you down on that, but it wasn't my intention." He pulled back a bit, and scoffed at himself. "I'm not going anywhere this time... you are stuck with me until you tell me you want otherwise." He chuckled again.