Invisible (A Jean Hobbs fic)

Chapter 10

"Guess I forgot to lock the door," Jack said.

"Beth, what are you doing here?" Dean asked, looking at her in concern.

"I texted you half a dozen times and you never responded. I wondered what was going on," she said.

Dean's expression turned apologetic. "Sorry. There was a lot happening and I guess I didn't hear my phone go off."

"If you want to get out of those clothes, I might have some you could borrow," Jack said.

She shook her head at him. "No, that's okay." She turned back to Dean. "Dean, you and I have to talk."

Dean nodded and got up off the couch. Jack caught his hand before he could go anywhere. Dean turned to him.

"Jack, what are you doing?"

"Why can't you talk here?" he asked.

"I would rather we talk in private," Bethan said.

Jack turned to her, eyes narrowed. "No. I don't want him keeping secrets from me anymore."

Dean turned Jack's face toward him. "Jack, I'll tell you everything as soon as we're through, okay?"

Jack's expression softened. "Alright..." He released Dean's hand.

*****

"I wanted to know if you and Jack had patched things up." Bethan turned to face her boyfriend, leaning on the kitchen counter. "From what I walked in on, it seems you have," she said with a smile.

Dean smiled back. "Yeah; we talked it out and I think we're okay."

Bethan's smile widened for a second before fading.

"Is there something wrong?" Dean asked, looking worried.

She averted her eyes. "While I was running over here, I got a text from Carrie saying that she broke up with Jack. I asked her why and she said that it was because her boyfriend was in love with my boyfriend."

"Yeah, Jack told me about it."

Bethan looked back at him. "Well...is he?"

"Honestly...I don't know. When Jack told me about the breakup, he said that Carrie was making assumptions and that what he feels for me doesn't go beyond friendship, but when he was yelling at me about keeping secrets from him, he said that he wanted me to always come to him first when I have a problem and said that no one cares about me as much as he does. And just before you came in, he basically reiterated that, saying that he cares about me more than either of us realize. So I don't know if his feelings for me are platonic, romantic, or somewhere in-between."

Bethan was silent for several seconds, digesting what she'd been told. "I see...how do you feel about him?"

Dean looked down. "I...I think I'm in love with him."

Bethan's expression remained stoic. "Why?"

He looked up at her. "You were right when you said my refusal to tell Jack about the comments I was getting was straining our relationship. When he was yelling at me earlier today, I could see how hurt he was and I felt awful. I spilled my guts and even though he was angry, he understood that I didn't blame him for my low self-esteem. I felt so relieved. He told me that what those people were saying was wrong and explained why and before he was even through, I already felt better."

Bethan nodded. "Okay, but I don't see how that answers my question."

"I hope you don't take this the wrong way. The things Jack said to me were things anyone who knew me well would say but to be honest, if anyone else had said them, I don't think I would've believed it. It wouldn't have made me feel better."