NOTED | JARBYN ✓

05

edited
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jack gave a short, fond smile toward the fresh white roses in his hands as he walked out of the floral shop. he gently placed them in the passenger seat, having a moment of simply staring toward the cushioned seat that was clad with the bouquet. although his trance had been broken quick enough when his eyes caught sight of the record store across the way.

"that's right," he thought, "i used to play there all the time."

without a second thought he'd exited his car and began the short walk across the street to reach the corner store. the bell dinged above and that simple familiar sound had cause for the corner of his lip to lift gently.

his eyes took in the sight, the same old shop with few translucent dust particles, many faux plants and a variety of posters from genres that seemed never-ending.

jack strolled slowly, taking in the cds coating the racks, along with the variation of the music books. he'd soon reached a rack of vinyls, biting his lip at the prominent memories of corbyn and him. they often danced around the rooms of their house, humming, singing, talking. it was always blissful for the two.

he'd picked out multiple cases that had songs they both enjoyed to listen to, as he hadn't bought any new vinyls for a while now.

the shop was quiet after the ding of the bell, jack had assumed the family had left, as they were the only few in here when he'd arrived.

the curly haired male heard a familiar hum, turning his head with no avail of finding the person. the tune had caused for his body to react, and he stepped toward the sound.

his head poked out from behind the shelves of musical knick-knacks, finding a girl at the counter with her head leaned down to a sketchpad. just the sight of her hair caused for jack to perk up, walking toward her with somewhat heavy feet so he wouldn't be a surprise to her.

her head lifted, and she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, although jack was all-too-familiar, her features were in shock and joy.

"jack!"

it wasn't long before the shorter was enveloped into a hug, as the brunette had hurried to leave the back of her desk.

"hi, chris,"

he thought for a second, "can i still call you that?"

christina pulled away, giving him a look as if he'd been crazy and releasing his shoulders. "of course, silly."

her gaze fell to the vinyl cases in his hands, and she pointed toward it. "oh, are you ready to be checked out?"

jack nodded, and she swivelled around her desk once more.

"so, how's it been?" she gave a quick glance up toward jack, who simply pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"okay." he shrugged a little, the question caused for his brows to furrow slightly, as he'd never thought of it.

"am i okay?" he pondered, before hearing christina ask if he wanted a bag, to which he merely nodded.

"barely anybody's touched those ukuleles since you last came in, its been a while since we've had very many performances by anybody, too."

christina's head angled toward the corner with guitars and ukuleles strung among the walls, and he knew she was only trying to reminisce.

"yeah, i almost didn't recognize the shop, i haven't been here for so long." he gave a somewhat forced chuckle, somehow finding himself strolling over toward the display.

his hands reached out, fingertips grazing the gentle wood as he took a ukulele down from the rack and took a wavered seat on the stool nearby. christina laid his purchases beside as she went to go help a young couple that came in, and jack, well,

jack began to strum mindlessly, finding the tune of can't help falling in love floating into his ears. his mind blanked, eyes drifting to his shoes while his hands worked the instrument.

there was something so familiar, something creeping into jack's mind while he gave quiet hums to the song. when he finished it, his eyes closed, lips sewn shut as his head fell low.

•

corbyn applauded jack, a wide smile on his face as he stepped up to hug the younger male.

"it was lovely, jack." arms wrapped around his shoulders as jack's settled on resting around corbyn's back. his face flushed at the gentle kiss to his cheek, smiling stupidly when the blond pulled away.

jack's hand reached up, touching the warmed, tingling area as he smiled at corbyn. the taller male laughed adorably, "gosh, you're such a sucker."

jack smiled as corbyn put the ukulele back onto the rack. "really though, it was an amazing performance. i hope to see more later on," he whispered, taking jack's hand and walking toward the door.

"where's our next stop on this wonderful adventure of a date?"

•

jack's head snapped up, feeling the sudden warmth leave his body from the memory. christina gave a weary glance toward him from the front desk, and he hurried to put back the instrument.

noted: corbyn liked jack's performances.

EXTRA NOTES
none! hope you're enjoying it tho (:
(december 2, 2019)