Work Text:
February 1998
Only a few days after she was released from the hospital, during their first trip to the grocery store together, Jackie suffered an intense panic attack.
Whether it was the noises, the bright fluorescent lights, or the overwhelming number of people in the aisles—good work taking her during rush hour, Shauna—she didn’t know.
But she held her hand in the freezer section, watching her gaze frantically flicker to the red meats on display.
Jackie had remained tight-lipped about what happened to her, what happened to all of them, out there. And truthfully, none of the remaining girls would say, either. Not that Shauna was demanding her to speak or anything. She was trying to be patient, but her best fucking friend was alive. Was it a crime that she desperately needed to know how?
Soon after the girls were rescued, Shauna got to work in Wiskayok’s local library, checking out as many books about plane crash survivors that she could find. There ended up being a wait list, considering half the town wanted to piece together their own stories, but she got a hold of them eventually. The details of The Andes plane disaster alone was enough to sketch a picture for her; it was hard to stomach that they’d been stranded for even longer, and that they were people so personally close to her. Shauna kept her research to herself—there was no reason to trouble Jackie with it.
The time came where Shauna was forced to return to Rutgers. It was only the beginning of the semester, and she couldn’t afford to fall behind so soon. There’d been a fight with her mother about it initially, arguing that she was far too distracted to even attend her classes. The surviving girls would need her. Jackie would need her.
Or maybe she needed Jackie. Either way.
She’d lost, finding herself trapped in her pink dorm room with Crystal, of all fucking people. Her scheme for Jackie to take her side of the room was still brewing in Shauna’s head, though, mark her words.
The first time Jackie called her dorm room phone, she’d practically wept out of relief. Hearing her over the line was surreal, something she used to dream of nightly. The days when she waited on a call that never came.
But it was different now. Jackie did call nightly, and Shauna had made it a priority to visit Wiskayok every weekend since she returned. It was the least she could do. When Jackie felt ready enough, Shauna was fully prepared to have her there for an extended stay on campus. As long as it was approved by Jackie’s doctor, she didn’t think it would be too much of a problem.
Jackie was… coping, she supposed. Shauna didn’t know if there was another way to put it. She had no idea what was normal in her situation—or frankly, what her situation even was. Her words were stilted occasionally, she’d shut down rather quickly at seemingly harmless conversation topics, and, to an extent, she was closed off to Shauna. It was to be expected, she told herself. Jackie lived through an enormous trauma, and she would be different now. Shauna didn’t love her any less because of that.
As for the topic of love, they agreed it was best to keep their relationship private for a while. Jackie didn’t need another hurdle to overcome, not during her recovering. It’s not like Shauna didn’t understand; Jackie’s mental health came first.
That being said, it didn’t mean they weren’t together. In fact, it was Valentine’s Day weekend, and Shauna was home until Monday. Jackie, of course, had schmoozed her parents into letting her spend the night at Shauna’s, claiming her presence as a comfort.
The idea made her swoon.
Jackie had fallen asleep earlier than Shauna thought she would. Pre-crash Jackie would’ve commented on needing to stay up as late as possible at a sleepover, lest you become a victim to someone’s permanent marker.
Those rules likely went out the window after almost two years worth of sleepovers with the majority of their soccer team. High school was far removed from Jackie at her present point. Shauna never thought she’d see the day.
Jackie’s chest rose and fell in quick succession, her mouth parted ever so slightly as she slept. It wasn’t exactly the most picturesque sight—who even knew if it was peaceful for her?—but it was worth just about everything to Shauna.
To have her back, to really have her back after so long? The feeling couldn’t be topped.
Two blankets were wrapped around her body, and her legs were a bit restless, kicking out every few minutes. Shauna welcomed it every time. It was just another reminder that Jackie was next to her.
That didn’t last long, as a light rapping at the front door could be heard from downstairs.
Well, that didn’t make sense. Her mother was working the night shift, leaving them in the house alone. No one should be knocking at—she glanced at the analog clock—11:14pm. Sneaking a peek toward Jackie, Shauna noticed her movements stilled, eyes remaining shut. The rapping continued after a few moments of silence, causing Shauna to pull herself out of bed and regrettably away from Jackie’s sleeping figure. With a quick look from her bedroom window, she could make out Jeff’s car parked out on the street. Shit. Of course he was stopping by to see her on the weekend. Shauna sent one last look toward Jackie and left the room, quietly making her way downstairs.
She’d spoken to Jeff the following day after her reunion with Jackie in the hospital, and he’d agreed on giving space for the time being. But she couldn’t hold him off for long; they all knew that. He was always asking about her, asking how Shauna was doing with the news. Trying to be supportive where he could. Admittedly, he was still terrified to see her, but Shauna could work with that. A conversation with the three of them in the same room would probably do more harm than good, given current events.
Crossing her arms over her chest for warmth, Shauna opened the front door to the frigid night air. Before saying anything, she closed the door behind her, moving their conversation to her front porch. Jeff took a few steps back, a crooked grin splitting across his face.
“Welcome back home!” He exclaimed a little loudly, Shauna shushing him with a whack to his arm. “Ow, what the hell?”
“Jackie’s sleeping upstairs.”
His mouth formed a small o, head cocking upward to her bedroom window. “No shit. I didn’t know she’d be here.” He winced. “Sorry, I would’ve been here earlier, but I just got off the evening shift.”
“Jeff, it’s just Jackie.” She huddled into her crossed arms in an attempt for warmth, her bare legs already falling victim to the February temperature. “You don’t need to be so scared of her.”
“I’m not.” His cheeks blushed a slight pink. “I’m not scared of her. It’s just kinda weird right now. How’s she doing?”
He was fond of that question, as he’d asked it every single time he spoke to Shauna.
“Work in progress.” Shauna nodded, not wanting to let too much slip. There was a time when Jeff would’ve been right alongside her to see Jackie’s reentry into society, but he was right. It was weird now. “You haven’t really come up yet.”
“Oh, really?” He seemed surprised, tucking his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. A nervous habit Shauna had picked up on. “I just thought, like…” Jeff trailed off, allowing the silence to finish for him.
“I’ve been letting her set the pace for it.” Shauna shrugged. “I’m not exactly jumping to talk about it anyway.”
He accepted that answer relatively easily, settling his eyes on Shauna’s pajamas. “Am I interrupting something?”
Shauna snorted, playfully smacking his other arm this time. “Can you not do that?”
“Well, you told me you guys kissed at the hospital, and tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, so, y’know.” He wiggled his eyebrows, and Shauna held up another hand in mock threat. “But in all seriousness,” he continued, pulling his hands from his pockets and holding them up in innocence, “I’m really happy for you. You both deserve it after everything.”
Shauna nodded, taking a step forward to use his body to block the incoming wind. “Thanks for not making this into, like, a thing.”
“Yeah, don’t worry about it.” He shrugged, keeping a cool exterior. “It’s past the bridge or whatever.” Jeff nodded, brows creasing. “Um, what’s that one saying?”
Shauna stared at him for a moment, the question of how they managed to become genuine friends repeating in her head. “Close. It’s water under the bridge.”
Pointing a finger toward her, he smiled again, all teeth. “Yeah, that! You got into Brown, like, you are the smartest person I’ve ever met.” He grabbed the sides of her arms, slightly shaking her until she laughed. “Are you a genius? Have you ever taken one of those tests?”
“Okay, Sadecki, get the hell off my porch.”
Jeff relented, taking a step down while laughing. “Fine, fine. You need a jacket or something?” He nodded his head toward her shivering frame. “I think I have one in the car. It’s freezing out here.”
“Oh, uh, no.” She shook her head, dropping her arms back down to her sides. “I’m just going back to bed anyway.”
“Well, I know I keep saying it, but,” he stopped, nodding his head toward Shauna’s bedroom window, “if either of you need anything, let me know.”
“Thanks.”
“I’m taking Tammy out tomorrow.” He shifted his feet, suddenly nervous in her walkway. “But I’ll be free other than that.”
“Out for Valentine’s Day?” Shauna felt herself smirk, cocking her right eyebrow at him.
“Don’t do that,” he sighed, defeated.
“If you can tease me, I can tease you.” She took a step toward him, a burgeoning smile replacing her smirk at his embarrassment. “But really, thanks for everything. You’ve been helpful.”
He was on flat ground as she stood on the step above him, a head or so taller than him from their current positioning. Wordlessly, he held out his arms and wiggled his fingers in her direction.
“C’mon,” she chuckled, appeasing him with a halfhearted embrace. “You’re getting a little too much like Randy with these requested hugs.”
“Shut up.” He pulled away laughing, walking backwards toward the street. “I’ll call you tomorrow, Shauna.”
Feeling a slight pulsing begin at the front of her skull, Shauna shook her head as he walked toward his car. How she got so casually friendly with Jeff Sadecki would always be a mystery to her. Even during the years he’d been dating Jackie, they were never exactly close . Somehow, he’d wormed his way into a more permanent fixture in her life, and she barely found herself complaining. Only on occasion. One of the doctors from the emergency room mentioned the words “trauma bonded” after the girls had been rescued. There was no doubt in her mind that the same could be said for Shauna and Jeff, just different scenarios. Separate traumas.
As she heard him close his car door, Shauna turned around to grab her doorknob, the cold beginning to chill her skin. She was stopped abruptly, though, as Jackie was standing near the threshold, Mr. Flops tucked under her left arm.
“Fuck, Jax, you scared me.” She felt her heart begin to race at the sight of Jackie—and not the usual stuttering it was used to. No, her face was hardened, gaze focused just behind Shauna’s head. Pivoting to follow it, she saw Jeff still sitting in his car, making direct eye contact with Jackie from behind the steering wheel. It was difficult to make out with the distance, but his face looked devoid of its usual color, and he had yet to shift the gear into drive. Not afraid of her, my ass. She broke away from Jeff, gaze landing on Jackie again. This time, their eyes met. “Sorry, I didn’t know you were awake.”
“I’m a light sleeper these days.”
Her voice took her aback, all steel and dripping with something Shauna couldn’t quite identify. To Shauna’s knowledge, Jackie had never been a light sleeper before. The reason she would often be late was because she struggled to wake up to an alarm. Being shaken awake was sometimes the only way to have her up and ready. At least, that was the case for pre-crash Jackie. Now? Apparently not so much.
“Right. Uh, Jeff just stopped by after work.”
“You’re wearing a t-shirt and shorts.” Shauna heard the sound of an engine outside and mentally congratulated Jeff for being able to leave the curb. Her suspicions were confirmed when Jackie took a step forward, using her free hand to loudly slam the front door closed behind Shauna. She fought back a flinch. “It’s eighteen degrees out. Why the fuck aren’t you wearing a coat?”
“Oh, shit, um,” she stumbled on her words, the intensity in Jackie’s tone catching her off guard, “I mean, I was only out there for a few minutes. I’m fine.”
“No, that’s not the point! You—“ she cut herself off, taking a jerky breath. “You can’t just do that.”
“I’m sorry, I swear I’m fine.” She put up her hands, contemplating if touching her would be the right decision. “Look, hey, I’m okay.” Jackie continued to bore a hole into her head, unblinking. “It’s not like I was going to sleep out there,” she reasoned. “I was coming right back inside.”
A pregnant pause. If the expression on Jackie’s face was anything to go by, that’d been the wrong thing to say. Her jaw clenched, and she squeezed Mr. Flops closer to her side. “How do you think Mari died, Shauna?”
Oh.
“Wait, what?”
Shauna’s confusion went ignored as Jackie realized the words that left her mouth. She finally looked away from her and to the side, fixating on a trinket on the living room bookshelf. “Forget it.” Jackie brought her right hand up to her face, covering her eyes with her fingers. “Forget I said that.”
“Jackie—“
“No, just,” she stopped, body tense. Dropping Mr. Flops to the ground, she held both hands to her face, silent for a moment. Inching closer, Shauna stood still, eyes analyzing Jackie’s body language. “It’s like I can’t turn it off,” Jackie whispered shakily. “I just can’t turn it off.”
“What do you mean?” Shauna responded, keeping her voice equally as low, so as not to scare her. Holding her hands out, she hesitantly placed them against Jackie’s biceps, and when she didn’t protest, gave a light squeeze. “Can’t turn what off?”
Shaking her head from behind her hands, Jackie’s chest began rising and falling faster, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Without wasting any more time, Shauna gently pulled Jackie’s hands away from her eyes, watery and a touch frantic. Roughly wrapping her arms around Shauna’s frame, Jackie rested her head in between her shoulder and neck, harshly sobbing into her.
“Hey, woah, it’s okay.” She brought a hand up to rest in her hair, her head shaking from the cries. “Jackie, it’s okay.” Resting her chin atop her head, Shauna allowed her to let it out. “I won't push.”
“It’s—it’s like my body hasn’t come home yet,” she finally spoke into Shauna’s neck, muffled enough for her to have to strain to hear it. “I can’t turn it off.” Jackie’s right hand balled up the back of Shauna’s shirt, raising it up slightly. Almost like a lifeline.
“That’s okay.” Shifting her head downward, she dropped a kiss to the crown of Jackie’s hair. “That’s normal.”
Shauna could feel her shake her head against her neck, wetness forming on her skin and against the collar of her shirt. “It’s not.”
It wasn’t, really. Not in usual circumstances, but for Jackie, it was bound to happen. Adapting would be no easy task. Her behavior was exactly as the doctor described it; she would have trouble reentering society after almost two years of simply trying to survive.
“You’re home with me,” she gently reminded her. “You’re in good old Wiskayok. The Dirty Jerz.” Three years ago, that would’ve been a shared joke, not a comforting fact. “The heat is on.” Another kiss to her right temple. “The fridge is full of whatever food you want.” Jackie tensed a bit in her arms, and Shauna quickly continued, “You’re with me. You’re okay.”
Jackie’s crying slowed, loosening her grip on Shauna’s shirt. Shauna held her close, rubbing lazy circles on her back.
Muffled, she attempted to speak again, but Shauna couldn’t make it out. “What was that?”
Sniffling, Jackie pulled her head back, eyes red-rimmed but less terrified. “It’s actually a little hot in here.” A smile seemed to be playing on her lips, and Shauna shook her head in disbelief, a light laugh leaving her.
“Oh, yes ma’am, I’ll turn it down.” She made to break their embrace, but Jackie stopped her, a look of contentment now on her face.
“Thanks for putting up with me.” Smiling sadly, she finally pulled out of their hug and leaned to grab Mr. Flops from the floor. She didn’t go far, though, instead plopping down on the second step, bunny in her lap. The sight tugged at Shauna’s heartstrings: Jackie, hair mussed from both sleep and Shauna’s kisses, eyes half-mast and teary, holding that damn worn bunny between her legs.
“Stop it.” She took the seat next to her on the step, a lazy arm making its way around her. Jackie took the contact as an invitation to rest her head back onto her shoulder. “It isn’t like that.”
“I know you don’t have to be here, but I appreciate that you are.” She flipped one of Mr. Flops ears, keeping her eyes forward on the front door. “If I told you the truth about any of it, I don’t think you’d stay.”
“That’s not true,” Shauna said with conviction, staring down at Jackie’s slightly distant demeanor. “You don’t get it.”
“Get what?” Shifting her head to meet Shauna’s eyes, her eyebrows were creased, genuine confusion in her tone.
“I know you’ve been through a lot,” Shauna began, tightening her grip on her shoulder. “Stuff that I probably will never understand or, like, imagine.” Don’t fail me now, English degree. “We’re not the same people from before, are we? Neither of us.” She nodded, a scuff mark on the old wooden floor catching her attention. Easier than Jackie’s curious gaze. “But there was a time—a pretty long one—where I didn’t even think there was a version of you to be there for anymore.” She let the words settle between them, and when Jackie remained quiet, she cleared her throat. “Did that even make sense?”
Jackie continued to study her, worrying Shauna that she might’ve struck the wrong nerve. Making eye contact again, Shauna noticed she was more pensive than anything.
“I was really worried about your leg.” Jackie tapped the top of her thigh. “And I told you that I’d call, that I’d be home to help you with your physical therapy.” She shook her head against her shoulder. “I didn’t get to follow through on any of it. It felt so cruel, like, sitting out there, feeling like I let you down.”
“Jackie, you didn’t—“
“No, I know.” She placed her hand back on Shauna’s leg, just a few inches above her surgery scar. “I ended up having a lot of other shit to worry about, but I always thought about it.” She breathed, “About you.”
“I did—“
“Let me finish,” she interrupted, lightly nudging her with a smile. “I, uh, wondered what was going on here. What everyone thought happened. And, yeah, I realized eventually that you probably thought I was dead.” She let it hang there for a moment, the words like an acidic barb. “I wish I could’ve told you. That couldn’t have been easy, either.”
“It’s not a competition.”
Jackie nodded, swallowing. “Yeah, we’re both fucked up, Shipman.”
It wasn’t like she had a rebuttal for that; it was true. They sat there for a while in a comfortable silence, Shauna rubbing Jackie’s arm through her flimsy shirt sleeve.
Mari, one of the many people that never made it home. Exposure, it sounded like, which is a perfectly understandable way to die in a situation like theirs, but there seemed to be more to it than that. Shauna knew they found shelter to survive, but for some reason, she must’ve slept outside purposely, considering Jackie’s reaction. Mari’s cause of death was certainly not known publicly, the remaining Yellowjackets giving only a blanket statement to the press on what happened to the missing members. Not all of it could’ve been pretty, yet people were keen on finding out the truth. It couldn’t have been easy to watch those you’ve known for years slowly die around you. In the most horrible, likely preventable, deaths imaginable. It didn’t really matter that Jackie was never Mari’s biggest fan—who would want to bear witness to that? Jackie spoke the truth: they were both fucked up.
“I didn’t forget what you said.” Jackie spoke up again, the ticking from the grandfather clock in the living room seemingly gaining volume as her voice strained.
“About what?”
Jackie seemed to hesitate, avoiding Shauna’s gaze and staring ahead at the front door she’d slammed shut. “You two seemed pretty cozy out there.”
Jesus, not Jeff. She should’ve figured it would come up, clandestinely meeting with him on her porch so late at night—when Jackie wasn’t actually sleeping. Shauna meant what she said earlier—she wasn’t jumping to have the conversation, but it sounded like Jackie at least wanted to touch on it. Next time she saw Jeff she’d have to remember to smack him upside the head.
“Oh—I—no,” Shauna stuttered a bit, tenseness injecting itself into her muscles. “No, you know we’re,” she stopped, wondering when she started suffering from chronic dry mouth, “we’re friends now.”
Jackie accepted that silently, lips downturned. “How did it happen?”
Shauna let out an uncomfortable laugh, desperately trying to swallow down the lump in her mouth. “Are you sure you wanna get into that tonight?” After all, Jackie did just stop crying over a completely unrelated topic.
“I mean when you slept with him.” It was blunt. Blunt enough to warrant a blush from an increasingly uncomfortable Shauna’s face.
So she wasn’t actually inquiring about her newfound friendship with Jeff. If only. “Well, it happened a while ago. Not, like, when you were, well, gone.” She couldn’t bring herself to say ‘dead ’. “Like a month before the crash, I think.”
Jackie shifted a little under her arm, and Shauna silently thanked her lucky stars that she hadn’t pulled away yet. It was not the kind of conversation she wanted to go into Valentine’s Day having.
“Can I be honest?” Shauna hadn’t even opened her mouth yet before Jackie continued, “it would’ve made more sense to me if it happened while I was out there.” She shrugged, tone cool. “You both thought I was dead, and that’s, like, a thing that happens. Grief bonding or some shit.”
“It definitely didn’t,” she assured her, fixated on Jackie’s profile. “It was just the one time before.”
“Why?”
Shauna had already explained the why to her in the hospital, but she was asking for more. The whole rundown. Yet Jackie still couldn’t look her way.
“Right,” she breathed. “We already kinda said we’re both fucked up, right?” An uncomfortable laugh lodged itself in her throat. “So a lot of that shit doesn’t even apply anymore. The way I was feeling then.”
“It’s just so different now,” Jackie added, contemplative.
“It is,” she agreed, clinging to any words Jackie might say that weren’t negative.
“So why’d you do it?”
She still wanted an answer. Did Shauna really have one? Did she even know the why, or just the circumstances?
“You’re not the same person,” Shauna began, “but I think part of it is because I felt like I was in your shadow a little bit,” she admitted, eyes dropping to Mr. Flops. “And I guess I had these feelings for you, but I didn’t exactly understand them.”
“I think the distance helped us figure that part out.” Jackie’s face was impassive, still unmoving from her spot forward.
“I think, yeah.” Bringing her left hand up to play with Mr. Flops' ear, she hesitantly continued, “Jeff was there, and he was… convenient, I guess.” She wanted to bite back the words, but Jackie barely reacted. “I never liked him or anything, and I don’t know if that makes it worse, but it was just so stupid. We both agreed, like, never again.”
Placing her hand atop Shauna’s, Jackie pulled it away from the stuffed bunny, taking it into her own. The contact surprised her, but she held back a flinch. That was good, touching was good. “It’s so funny.” She smiled, but it lacked the actual humor she was discussing. “This would’ve destroyed me a few years ago.” Lightly tracing the outline of Shauna's hand with the pad of her pointer finger, she remained steady. “Like, inconsolable. Jeff would’ve been one thing, but him cheating with you?” Jackie guffawed. “But now?” Finally, she lifted her head to meet Shauna’s gaze, hand still touching hers. She shook her head, intense eyes fixated on her. “It sucks, don’t get me wrong.” A light smile flitted across her lips, and Shauna watched her eyes flicker downward. “It’s just so low on my list of priorities. It feels so far away now.”
“I want you to focus on getting better, Jackie.” Shauna squeezed her hand, getting a light one in return. “Not on the stupid shit I’m trying to make up for.”
“Oh, Shauna, c’mon,” she nudged her shoulder, Mr, Flops shifting with the motion. “I forgot about Jeff pretty quickly out there,” she admitted shamelessly. “Like, really, it put a lot of things into perspective for me.”
“What do you mean?”
“Let me just put it this way.” She situated herself toward Shauna, but she kept her arm around her shoulder. “I worried about you the whole time. I wondered how you were doing.” Jackie gave a lazy smile, brows raising. “I kept forgetting I even had a boyfriend with you invading my every thought.”
How is it that after almost two full years into college, taking language class after language class, that Jackie, mustering up the most meaningful words she could think up, could leave her speechless? It wasn’t the most Shakespearean of confessions, but it rendered her useless anyway. Jackie evidently noticed, smile widening and leaned further into her half-armed embrace.
“It does hurt if I think about it too long.” Another squeeze to her hands. “But we’re gonna be fine, Shauna. I’m not holding it against you.”
It wasn’t exactly forgiveness, but it was about as close as she could expect. Frankly, it was more than she could’ve imagined, and though she wished the crash never happened, she realized it was why her mistake ended up on the back burner. Silver linings, right? That inconsolable Jackie would’ve been a nightmare to deal with, and that was miraculously avoided. If only it hadn’t been replaced with something immeasurably worse for them.
“In my shadow, huh?” Jackie’s hand fell away from hers, instead placing it against Shauna’s cheek. “Hillary Whitney, we both know you’re the wind beneath my wings.” She barely uttered the words without laughing, Shauna’s face heating up at the reference.
“Pretty sure Hillary’s the one who dies, Jax. Think that’s you now.” Shauna playfully threw Jackie’s hand from her cheek, a slight smile flirting with her mouth.
“Semantics.” She waved her hand, the other one pulling Mr. Flops closer to her. “You never told me you felt like that before.”
Allowing her arm to fall, she faced Jackie completely, a more relaxed smile on her face. It was the most her she’d looked since she came back. “You got all the attention, and sometimes it felt like I was left with your scraps. Like,” Shauna gulped, avoiding her eyes again, “I barely liked soccer, but I did it for you. Most things I just,” she stopped, “did for you.”
Silence fell between them for a moment, Jackie’s eyes inspecting every inch of Shauna’s face. There was no visceral reaction, but Shauna felt herself hold her breath. “I could be selfish,” Jackie amended, barely surprised at her soccer admission. “Believe me, I had to come to terms with that out there.”
“I should’ve been more open with you,” Shauna shrugged. “Instead of just self-destructing all over the place.”
Jackie snorted, tucking her chin back into Shauna’s neck. “Ya don’t say?” She pulled her into a side hug, her arms around Shauna’s waist. “We both could’ve done shit differently. You were afraid to talk to me about anything. Didn’t feel like you could.” She lightly kissed her neck, and Shauna squirmed under her, still blushing. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry, too,” she parroted back, close to giggling from how ticklish she was. Embarrassing. “We’ll be better.”
They would be. That much time apart hadn’t been wasted only to fall back into old patterns. No, it’d be different. They’d both make sure of that. It was a relief having that much out in the open—speaking the words to a living, breathing Jackie rather than a tombstone. She’d been weighed down so heavily for the last two years of her life, it didn’t feel real not to carry the burdens with her anymore. Jackie, with her own baggage to lug around now, was the new focus. Gaining closure for old wounds could only help both of them in the long run.
Before Jackie could answer, the grandfather clock in the next room sounded off twelve times, marking midnight. She lifted her head from her neck, hair hanging in her eyes and smug. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Shipman.”
Shauna kissed her then, Mr. Flops having fallen to the step below them. With her lips still pressed against hers, and their foreheads touching, she responded, “Happy Valentine’s Day, Jax.”