PLAYING PRETEND ; JACK HUGHES

CHAPTER FIFTY FIVE: A LONG NIGHT
jack hughes

        IT had been a long night. The kind where the bar was too loud and the whiskey burned going down. Where I laughed at my teammates' jokes but didn't hear any of them.

Where I nodded through conversations but couldn't stop seeing her. Vivienne. She was everywhere.

In the curls of girl's hair across the room. In the perfume that clung to someone's coat. In the sharp click of heels on tile.

And then suddenly, she wasn't just in my head. She was in front of me, outside the glass.

In a dress that looked like it had been slept in, hair half-up, half-wind. Chest heaving, eyes wide. My stomach dropped. I blinked once, twice. And still- she was there.

Looking at me like she'd run through the city to find me.

I was moving before I knew I was on my feet. I was shoving past bar stools, elbows, people calling my names. I pushed the door open and stepped into the cold night air.

She was there, frozen on the sidewalk. Her dress was dragging, straps slipping, her bottom lip trembling as she took a step forward.

"Vivienne?" I asked, barely able to breathe her name.

But she started talking first, and she didn't stop.

"I took the subway here." She panted out, tears already spilling, her hands flying anywhere. "I hate the subway, Jack. You know I hate the subway. But I...I had to get here and the car wasn't fast enough and..."

She looked down at herself, her voice cracking.

"My dress is wrinkled, and I lost half the pins in my hair. I had to hold it up the entire way here, and people stared, and I think I almost fell twice."

Her words caught. Her throat worked through the sobs she was trying not to let out.

"I'm sorry." She choked. "Jack, I'm so sorry."

Tears slipped down her cheeks, fast, messy, and raw. I was stunned. I hadn't even moved. I just stood there, watching this hurricane of a girl unravel in front of me.

For me.

"I messed everything up." She cried. "I was so scared, and I pushed you away, and I said the worst things, and I didn't mean any of them. And I didn't say enough."

My heart thundered, and then I saw it. The ring on her ring finger. Blinged out, diamond-heavy, glinting on her finger like a scar.

"Is that Nolan's?" I asked.

She looked down, and then, she ripped it off. No hesitation, no pause. She yanked it from her finger like it burned her and she hurled it into the concrete.

The jewelry hit with a sharp crack, a few of the diamonds scattering slightly as it rolled to a stop at the curb.

She looked back up at me, tears in her lashes, shoulders trembling.

"I love you." She whispered. "I love you so much, it hurts."

I couldn't breathe.

"You changed everything for me." She continued, voice barely audible. "You listened. You saw me. You made me feel like I was allowed to be something more than what everyone expects of me."

"I don't want Nolan. I never did after you." She swallows. "I just, God, Jack, I want you."

I didn't even let her finish. I took her face in my hands and kissed her like she was my life line. Soft, slow, and deep. Like I'd been waiting my whole damn life.

She melted into me, her hands clutching the front of my coat, her body curling into mine like she belonged there. And she had, she always had.

When I finally pulled back, her forehead rested against mine, our breaths tangled, hearts pounding.

"Shhh." I whispered, brushing a tear from a cheek. "It's okay."

She let out a broken laugh. "I ruined everything."

"No." I said gently, holding her face. "You found your way back. That's what matters. I've waited." I bit my bottom lip. "I would've waited for years."

She nodded against me, her fingers tangled in my coat like she was afraid I'd disappear.

But I wasn't going anywhere. Not now, not ever.

MY SWEETIES