why don't we - imagines & preferences

golden | jack

"Take me back to the light, I know you were way too bright for me; I'm hopeless, broken, so you wait for me in the sky."

Jack groaned loudly as he rolled off of his bed, feet hitting the floor with a thud before he stood up straight. He stretched out his arms and cracked his knuckles, heading to the bathroom. Jack took a long look at himself in the mirror and if he was being honest, he didn't like what he saw. The usual spark in his eyes was gone. The issue wasn't one he knew how to solve though—he had never been heartbroken like this before. Instead of sulking around his apartment he decided to go out and get himself breakfast, breathe in fresh air and get out of the black hole that his bedroom had become. After a shower and an unnecessary amount of time spent on picking out an outfit to walk three blocks away, Jack headed out the door with his sunglasses over his eyes and keys in his pocket. He had one AirPod in, helping him stay grounded as he swerved through pedestrians on the crowded sidewalks. Suddenly his shoulder smacked into someone else's, causing both him and the stranger to trip slightly. "Shit, sorry I-" "Jack." you breathed, collecting yourself from stumbling. Jack's heart sank to his stomach once he realized it was you; the ex-girlfriend that he was wrecked over. "Y/N, hi." he said, lifting his sunglasses. "How have you been?" you asked genuinely, wondering how he'd been dealing with your break up. "I've been great, you?" he flat out lied and you shifted your feet, "I could be better honestly." An awkward silence fell between the two of you as you stood on the side of the sidewalk, unsure of what to say to each other but so hesitant to walk away. "I miss you." Jack choked out quietly and you bit your lip, trying to fight back the urge to hug him. He looked so tired and defeated."Do you miss me? Does this hurt like hell for you too?" he asked when you were silent for too long. "I do miss you. And yes, I'm hurting too." you admitted, avoiding eye contact with him. "Nothing feels right without you." he said and you started to get overwhelmed, not wanting to have this conversation here. "Jack, I don't think we should—" "Call me later, please? I just wanna talk for a little bit. It's been a while." he asked and you sighed. "I'll call you at 5." you agreed and Jack nodded, putting his sunglasses back down to cover his eyes. The two of you exchanged soft, sympathetic smiles and went your separate ways knowing that all either of you would think about 'til five was each other.

"You're so golden, you're so golden; I'm out of my head and I know that you're scared, because hearts get broken."

4:59PM. What were you guys gonna talk about? Why did you even agree to call him? You internally fought with yourself while your thumb hovered over the call button. You inhaled sharply and dialed his number, heart pounding as you heard the line ring. Quicker than you anticipated, Jack answered. "Hey." he said and you let out your breath, "Hi." "Wow, you really meant 5, huh." he lightly chuckled and you smiled slightly. "I'm always punctual, you know this." "You're right as usual." he teased back and you let out a giggle, not realizing how easily you fell back into talking with him. Before either of you knew it, you'd been on the phone for hours catching up: talking about your careers and things that have changed, new tattoos that he'd gotten and updating each other on your friends. It was comfortable and it almost made you forget that this was supposed to be super awkward. You glanced at the time and your eyes widened at how late it had gotten, but Jack didn't seem phased by it at all. He cracked a joke about one of his friends and you let out a laugh—a real, joyous laugh and it made Jack's heart skip. "Wow." he said as your laughter died down. "Wow what?" you asked and you could hear his smile through the phone. "That laugh. I've missed hearing your laugh. It's loud and happy and I haven't heard it in months." he said, apparently not fearful of what you'd say in response. You let your mouth hang open for a second before it curled into a smile involuntarily. You knew that this probably wasn't the best idea, talking to your ex-boyfriend like this and not thinking about the break up, but it felt good. It didn't feel like you were guilted into talking to him or falling for a trick. It genuinely felt good to talk to him again. "I haven't laughed like that in a while." you said and you heard Jack shift around on his bed on the other end of the line. "Can we talk about us?" he asked and you felt your heart sink a little. "What about us?" "About this, how we're talking right now. I know we broke up for real reasons, but right now those don't feel like good enough reasons Y/N." Jack was nervous as hell, but persistent. You sighed, "They may not be good enough reasons but they're still big issues, Jack. We can't just pretend like they don't exist because we're feeling good right now." you replied. "I know, I know. But what if we try to fix them? I know I have plenty of flaws and you do too but just because they clash sometimes doesn't mean we can't manage a relationship." he said. "We couldn't before." you half chuckled, a hint of sadness behind your words. Jack inhaled deeply before talking again, "All I'm asking is for you to think about it, okay? Think about trying again. It's been over half a year and I feel like I'm different than who I was when we broke up. Not having you in my life made me realize a lot and I want to show you that we can do this." he said. You chewed your cheek and sat on the idea for a moment, going over his words in your head. You weren't ready to open yourself back up to him fully, but you couldn't deny that part of you wanted to do the same thing. "Take me to dinner." you said plainly. "Dinner?" he asked, surprised. "Yes, dinner. Maybe a movie afterwards. I don't want to rush anything so let's just start with dinner." you said, trying to make yourself sound much cooler than you were. Jack let out a small 'yes!' that you couldn't hear, but you were feeling the same way. "Does Friday work for you?" he asked. "Friday is perfect." you said with a small grin. "Okay, okay. I will let you get some sleep now and I'll see you on Friday." he said, a cheeky smile on his own lips. "I'll see you Friday, Jack." "Goodnight Y/N." "Night." With that, you both ended the call and tossed your phones aside, laying on your backs and staring at your ceilings. Across town from one another, each of you feeling your own version of butterflies in your stomachs in anticipation of the plans you just made. You weren't sure what to expect from it, but you reminded yourself of how much better that phone call was than you thought it would be so that gave you a good feeling. Jack was excited to see you and to spend time with you, and in the end hopefully win you over.

"But I, I can feel it take a hold, I can feel it take control; Of who I am and all I've ever known, loving you's the antidote."

Ten minutes later than he said, as per usual, Jack came to pick you up on Friday. You dressed cute but not too fancy because you had a feeling you knew where he'd be taking you to dinner. There was this small restaurant just outside of L.A. that you went to for your third date, neither of you knowing it existed before that day. It was such a quaint but adorable place; you instantly fell in love with it. You and Jack went to that restaurant every Sunday for lunch during your relationship. You got into the passenger seat and fiddled with your hands on your lap. "You look really pretty." Jack said, smiling at you from the driver's seat. You rolled your eyes and blushed, caught off guard by his compliment. "Thank you." you chuckled, looking over at him as he pulled away from your house. The ride there was comfortable, Jack playing familiar music you both loved and you fell easily back into conversation. Slowly but surely you started to recognize the route and knew that your suspicions from earlier were right. "I knew it." you gloated. "Knew what?" Jack asked and you watched him as he watched the road. "We're going to Frankie's, aren't we?" you asked and Jack held back a smile, trying to keep a straight face. "Maybe." he let out and you laughed, turning your attention back to the road. Your dinner was great, both of you ordering what you usually used to order. Throughout dinner you let yourself fall back into the idea of being with Jack again; the nostalgia of the location definitely helped, but you were having such a good time with him. He did seem different than when you broke up. He was more attentive to things that you didn't think he noticed and he complimented you a lot more often. You hoped that he could tell that you've changed and he did. You seemed more confident in accepting his compliments and you were much more positive about things. You weren't a total pessimist eight months ago, but you'd definitely started seeing more of the pros in life than the cons. Both you and Jack could feel that things were going well and on your way out of the restaurant, he reached for your hand. You let him take it and laced your fingers with his, indulging in the small gesture that you missed more than you thought. "So, what are you thinking about?" he asked you as you strolled through the parking lot. You hummed, "I'm thinking about how good that food was, and how great I feel right now." you admitted, earning a smile from Jack. "I feel great too. This is the best I've felt in weeks." he told you and you looked at him, studying his features. Once you reached the car he followed you to your door. You leaned against it and still held his hand, making eye contact with him. "Do you really think we can do this again without hurting each other?" you asked, breaking the silence. Jack nodded, squeezing your hand lightly. "I want to try again, if you do. If you don't I understand but Y/N, you make me too happy not to at least try and make it work again." he said sincerely but softly. You bit your lip, holding back a grin. "Okay." "Okay?" "We can try again." you affirmed and Jack smiled, "Really?" You chuckled and nodded at him, "Yes, this feels too good to not fight for." you said. Jack let go of your hand and wrapped his arms around your torso, holding you tightly. You put your arms around his neck and giggled as you hugged him back. When he pulled back he left a small space between your face in his, his eyes flickering from your lips to your eyes. You raised your eyebrows at him and he laughed before leaning in and pressing his lips to yours. It was a soft, quick kiss but it made up for so much missed time. You both broke away grinning, grateful that you bumped into each other on the street.