All or Nothing

Hmmm...not sure how I feel about this one. But I'm a posting whore, so....

            "They'll kill us," Chase pointed out.

            Kim huffed and crossed her arms. "I don't care. We're doing this for their own good. They're both insufferably miserable."

            Chase laughed. "Though neither of them will admit it."

            Reaching out and taking his hand, she looked up at him hopefully. "But you'll call her?"

            "Of course I will, sweetheart. And you call your dad. It's time we got this thing sorted out."

 

***

 

            "He's beautiful," Jack whispered as he held his grandson.

            "You say that every time," Kim laughed. She watched her father happily from the hospital bed. She was set to be released the next day, and she couldn't wait to be free. "So…how are you?" she asked, trying to sound casual and failing miserably.

            Jack gave her a rueful smile. "I'm fine, Kim. Stop asking."

            "I'm just worried about you, that's all."

            "Why?"

            Kim shrugged, keeping her eyes focused on her son. "You just seem so…sad lately. Whenever I look into your eyes…all I see is pain, Dad. And I can't figure it out. What is hurting you so much?"

            Jack ran his finger up and down the baby's nose, refusing to lift his eyes to hers. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you worry. It's just…" His words were cut off as Chase opened the door into the room and ushered Chloe in.

            "I thought you wanted to see the baby."

            Chloe scowled. "Of course I want to see the baby. But you practically manhandled me down here…"

She stopped talking as her eyes rested on Jack, the baby in his arms. He refused to meet her eyes, keeping his gaze locked instead on the little boy he was holding. Chloe just stood there staring at him, a range of emotions crossing her face until she finally settled on anger. Whirling around, she slammed a finger into Chase's chest.

"You did this on purpose!" she hissed.

"Damn right, I did," Chase replied, blocked the door. "I don’t know what the hell is wrong with you two, but you're going to work it out. Now."

"Who do you think you are, making demands like that? You wouldn't listen to me when I told you to fix things with Kim. So why should I listen to you?"

"I was wrong to ignore you about Kim. Just like you'd be wrong to ignore me. You two mean too much to each other to just walk from this. You're best friends."

"Just let her go," Jack said quietly. Chloe turned to look at him, but he still wouldn't lift his head. "If she wants to go, just let her."

"No," Kim's voice cut through the tension. "This is ridiculous. You two are so sad without each other it's pathetic. You two go work things out right now, or neither of you is holding the baby again. At all."

Jack's head shot up. "You wouldn't do that. He's my grandson."

"Try me," Kim said, her voice threatening.

Nodding slowly, Jack stood up and handed the baby back. For a second Kim thought he was going to give up his grandson just to avoid talking to Chloe. But then he looked over to Chloe, his eyes still not meeting hers.

"Let's get this over with."

Chloe bit her lip to keep it from trembling. "Where are we supposed to go talk? This is a hospital. People everywhere."

Chase cut in. "There's an empty room down the hall. Number 303.

Rolling her eyes, Chloe shoved Chase aside and opened the door, waiting for Jack to follow her. Quietly they stepped out of the room and headed down the hall.

 

***

 

            They entered the room silently, not even bothering to turn on a light. Sunlight was streaming through the windows, as though the sun were being overly cheery on purpose. Jack immediately walked toward a chair against the far wall, sitting down and leaning his forearms on his thighs, his head hanging down as he stared at the floor. Chloe stared at him, silently willing him to look at her. But he kept his eyes focused down and finally she couldn't stand the silence anymore.

            "So are we going to talk?"

            Jack shook his head. "There's no point." He paused. "I'm sorry, Chloe. I can't be friends with you anymore."

            The words were like a sharp slap in the face. Tears sprang to Chloe's eyes and she was suddenly having trouble breathing. She looked around the room wildly, searching for something – anything – to explain the words that she had just heard. Dropping her eyes to the ground, her pain slowly burned into anger and she looked up at Jack with a vicious snarl on her face.

            "So what? That's it? You get to abandon me again? You get to just walk away without an explanation? Without telling me what it is I've done to earn your hatred? Well, fuck you, Jack!!!" she yelled.

            He flinched at her words, but steadfastly kept his head down. He knew that if he allowed himself to look up, he would break at the pain on her face. Letting his own tears fall, he continued to ignore her.

            "God, you can't even look at me anymore! If I knew what I'd done…but you won't even give me that, will you? This isn't fair, Jack! I deserve to know. Look at me!" Jack just shook his head, trying to conceal the shaking of his shoulders as sobs threatened to overcome him. "LOOK AT ME!!!!" Chloe roared.

            And he did. The pain in his eyes took her breath away and she took a staggering step back. The tears were streaming down his face and Chloe suddenly realized how much hurt he was carrying around. Forgetting her anger, she rushed to kneel in front of him, resting one hand on his knee and using the other to stroke his face.

            "Oh, Jack," she whispered. Hand trembling, she wiped at his tears, searching his eyes for an explanation. He just continued to stare at her, his face contorted. Then he moved his gaze downward, taking in her hand on his knee. He looked at it for a moment before his eyes widened and he grabbed her hand, bringing it closer to his face.

            "Jack, what's wrong?" Chloe asked, confused by his actions.

            "No ring," he muttered.

            Chloe looked down at her hand and then back up at him. "No. Should I be wearing one?"

            He looked up at her, his brow furrowed. "You're not engaged?"

            She pulled back slightly, her hand still in his. "What are you talking about? Of course I'm not engaged. Who would I marry?"

            "Not engaged?" Jack repeated, some of the pain leaving his face.

            "Not engaged," Chloe confirmed, looking at him warily as she tried to figure out what was going on.

            Jack shut his eyes, more tears escaping as he tightened his grip on her hand. Slowly he opened them again and looked at her, his features more relaxed. "When I left…were you and Morris planning on getting married again?"

            Chloe frowned at him. "No. He dumped me that day, Jack. Which is a good thing seeing as how he and I getting remarried would have been an even bigger mistake than the first time we tried it."

            Jack smiled sadly, realization suddenly hitting him. He looked down at her, crouching in front of him, and then slowly stood, pulling her up with him. Walking until he was behind her, he turned Chloe around, ignoring the confused look on her phase. Slowly, he backed her up against the wall, where he leaned his head into the crook of her neck, his hands resting on her waist.

            "This is all my fault," he murmured.

            Reaching up, Chloe placed her hands gently on the back of his neck. She ran her fingers up and down, reveling in the feel of touch. "What is, Jack?"

            He lifted his face up, leaning his forehead against hers. "This. Us. This fighting. I can't believe I was so stupid."

            "Jack, talk to me. What is this all about? Why can't you be my friend?"

            He forced himself to look in her eyes. "When I got back that day…after dealing with Cheng and my father…Marilyn came to me. She told me…she told me Morris had proposed. That you said yes. That you two were happy."

            "What the hell were doing listening to Marilyn?"

            He laughed. "I don't know. It was stupid."

            "That's why you left?"

            Jack nodded.

            "But…but that doesn't make any sense. I don't get it, Jack. What would my being engaged have to do with you being my friend?"

            He gently brushed some stray strands of hair out of her face. "I couldn't do it, Chloe…I couldn't watch you be with another man. I couldn't…I wanted more. I wanted it all. And I couldn't pretend to be happy for you when I wanted you for myself. It wouldn't be fair to you. That's why I left."

            "I thought you hated me," she whispered, her brain struggling to comprehend his words.

            "I could never hate you, Chloe. I love you."

            "You're stupid."

            "I know."

            Chloe scowled. "No. I mean, you're really stupid. You did this all wrong. You were supposed to come find me and tell me I was making some horrible mistake. And then I wouldn't understand what you were talking about and finally it would come out that I wasn't really engaged. And then you were supposed to kiss me. You went about this the wrong way, Jack."

            He couldn't help but laugh. "What, do girls have some plan book for every possible boy scenario?"

            "Pretty much. They're called chick flicks."

            Jack smiled at her, moving a little closer. "I never would have pegged you for a romantic comedy girl."

            "Shows how much you know."
            "I'm sorry I did it wrong."

            "You have one more chance to make it right."

            "Oh?"

            "You can still kiss me," she whispered.

            Letting his eyes travel down to her lips, Jack slowly captured her mouth with his. He moved against her gently, pushing his body flush against hers. Chloe sighed into him, opening her mouth to let his tongue slide past her lips. One hand came up to tangle in her hair as they slowly explored each other, both taking joy in their contact.

            Suddenly the door opened and they were pulling apart, both scowling at a grinning Chase.

            "Oh good," he said. "I can tell Kim to stop worrying."

            "And remind her that we get to hold the baby," Chloe said.

            "Oh please," Chase replied. "She never would have gone through with that threat. We'd be screwed if we didn't have you guys for babysitters."

            He shut the door and left them alone once again. Jack hands came up to cradle Chloe's face, his thumbs brushing across her skin. "I'm so sorry," he said. "I should have just come to you."

            She shrugged. "I probably would have done the same thing if somebody told me you were engaged. I love you."

            "I love you too. I'm still sorry."

            "Well, stop being sorry and start kissing me again. We have a lot of catching up to do."

            Jack was smiling broadly as he captured her lips once more.