to my destiny 💫

006.

[cole's point of view]

i felt my stomach drop when i saw her. will had told us he was going to go do some errands. he did NOT say that he was going to pick up danny and jackie. her eyes flickered in between me and courtney. her lips parted as if she were about to say something, but before she could, i said, "welcome back to silver falls, new york."

she gave me a very judgmental, very jackie, look which quickly turned into a forced smile. "thanks." danny walked in seconds behind her. "cole!" he said with a pudgy smile. i stood up and threw my arms around him. "danny! welcome home, bro! how was the city?"

he looked absolutely mesmerized talking about new york. it obviously had to be a special place because of the people that came out of it. it made me think about last year and how much i wanted to leave silver falls. i didn't miss that feeling of utter despair, but it somehow just made me feel guilty about everything with jackie. i hoped someone had at least told her about courtney, but i doubted it from her reaction.

after about ten minutes into talking to danny about new york, courtney leaned over and whispered, "hey, i'm gonna head out. don't wanna take up anymore of your family time. call you tonight?" i nodded and looked over at her as i said, "yeah, call you tonight." she smiled and gave me a quick peck on the cheek before heading towards the door. "it was great to finally meet you, danny, and you too, jackie!" she said with a bright, colorful smile.

jackie gave her a tilted little smile. "it was nice to meet you too..." will smiled apologetically at her, making it a dead giveway that he had not told her anything... and apparently no one else had either. "courtney," he whispered softly. "courtney," jackie repeated with a bigger smile. "i'm sure i'll see you around."

courtney nodded, still smiling. "sure will. i hope we'll become good friends." jackie's eyes widened. "of course! i would love that. there are way too many boys around here." wow, that was very obviously directed at me. 

as soon as courtney was out of the house, jackie turned to will and said, "hey, i'm going to go take my things upstairs and unpack. i'll text katherine and let her know we got home safely, and i'll talk to everyone later on at dinner."

"wait, jackie, before you go--" i began to say, but it was too late. she was already determined to ignore me for the rest of the day. i guess i deserve it, but i'm not the same guy i was when she left. 

it wasn't easy. i care about jackie A LOT, but i can't just date her. not after everything with alex. i have courtney now, anyways. courtney makes things so much easier. alex hasn't even met her yet. hopefully that will ease the tension that came back when jackie left at the beginning of the summer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

[alex's point of view]

after many weeks of thinking, i realized how much i really loved jackie. i told her before she left and then whatever happened with her and cole happened, but it wasn't nearly as deep as it now. 

i think about her every day when i wake up in the morning and every night before i fall asleep. every time i learned a new skill at training camp, i thought about the moment i would be able to share it all with her when she came back to silver falls. 

we didn't call much over the summer, only four times in total. the first time was at the beginning of july. we face-timed. it was my first time seeing her since she... took a leave of absence from colorado to go back to the city.

it wasn't awkward or uncomfortable like i thought it would be. our conversation didn't have any strange moments where neither of us had something to say, and we were both genuinely happy to be together. everything was perfect.

talking to her for the first time again in a little over a month was the most satisfying moment of my life, but somehow it just felt so regular. not regular, but just right. there was only one reason that could be.

it was just jackie. my jackie. 

my sweet, loving, organized, hard-headed, beautiful, incomparable jackie. 

the second i saw her face after getting off that airplane, my heart dropped to the darkest pit in my stomach. it wasn't just my dream. she was back at silver falls, and she had been waiting in the airport for me. 

all i knew at that moment was that every bad thing and challenge we had faced as a couple was worth it for that very moment. she was worth it all, and in every universe i would do it all again.

"alex, welcome home!" she said with a lively smile. my heart started beating out of my chest, and i zoomed over to greet her with a warm grizzly bear hug. "oh my god, jackie. i missed you so much."

she hugged me back, but it almost seemed like she was holding back. "hey, is something wrong?" i asked. she pulled back from the hug, still with a smile on her face, and shook her head convincingly. "of course not! it's just been a long week getting back into the whole routine of things here."

i took her hand and squeezed it as we started heading down to the pick up line where will was. "well, now that i'm back, i'll make sure you're comfortable here again," i said with a reassuring smile. jackie smiled back. "i'm sure you will. how was the end of camp?"

i shrugged. "it was sad to leave for sure, but i'm really glad to be back here with you." jackie let go of my hand as she headed over to the car. "well, i'm glad you're glad to be back. i think everyone's kind of missed you around here."

i rolled my eyes and laughed it off as a joke because i didn't really believe it. "oh, yeah, you know i'm just the most loved out of everyone in silver falls." jackie gave me a look. "hey, don't sell yourself short. you have potential, alex."

i took that as a sign, and i didn't want to waste any time not getting to the point. "the kind of potential that includes being your official boyfriend again?"

jackie blinked harshly but still smiled. "we'll talk about it later. i want to hear about your summer first. i'm sure everyone does."