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heavenlyholland · 9 months

Text

strawberry wine | jack hughes | part three

chapter summary: your friendship takes a leap in the right direction.

word count: 2.7k

warnings: description of a panic attack, i think like three cuss words maybe, jumping off a cliff but for fun not for harm,

note: here is part three!! this was uploaded on my phone so let me know if there’s any issues.

tags: @estapa94 @cherrylipscrystal-skies

Everyone was quick to move past Jack’s brief scene, not wanting to succumb to the awkwardness that was likely to ensue if they hadn’t. Luke had thrown you one of the saddles they had on the boat so you could float around instead of wading through the water on your own. The boys started doing back flips off the boat, ignoring you as you yelled at them to be careful because you were not going to take care of them if they broke their neck. You knew you would, though, and they knew it too.

It was hard to not notice the quiet argument that was happening between Jack and Natalie as they wallowed in the water a ways away from everyone else. Whatever it was, you could tell that it had Jack on the defense as his eyes were narrowed and brows stitched together. Though Natalie looked less upset, sporting a solemn and understanding look on her face as she spoke.

“Wonder what they’re arguing about,” Cole’s voice tore you away from the pair. Him and the others had formed a lopsided circle near you.

“No telling. He’s been kind of a jackass to her this whole time,” Quinn pointed out, “And it hasn’t even been a full twenty-four hours yet.”

The six of you let out airy laughs, mouths snapping shut when you noticed the pair swimming towards you. They both looked fine, so you assumed that their discussion wasn’t about anything too detrimental. You hoped it wasn’t. There was already enough tension on this trip as it is.

“Ready to go jump,” Alex asked, jerking his head towards the cliff.

A round of agreements were muttered, with only Jack and Natalie politely declining the trip. You didn’t miss the way the others passed you knowing looks, and they didn’t miss the way you briefly tensed as you recognized that it would only be the three of you down at the boat. You were absolutely not ready for that.

“Let’s go,” You rushed out, tossing the saddle back on the boat as you swam towards the bank. Were you running away? Maybe. But you think you would rather jump off a cliff than be around the two of them alone.

You heard the other boys swimming behind you, their quiet conversation slightly reaching your ears but not enough for you to fully make out what they were saying. Climbing up on the rocky beach, you stared at the path you had to take in order to get up to the top. Fear crawled across your skin as you began regretting your decision to tag along.

“You can still go back,” Quinn reminded, water dripping off his body.

“Nope. She can’t,” Trevor called out before shaking water out of his hair, “She’s contractually obligated to jump now.”

You peered around Quinn to give Trevor the middle finger, but instead you were met with the sight of Jack swimming towards the rest of you. Natalie was climbing back up on the boat, but you couldn’t tell if she was upset or not due to the distance between you.

“Trevor’s right,” You met Quinn’s surprised stare, slight panic in your eyes, “I’m going.”

“You guys go ahead, I’ll wait for Jack,” Alex waved, hands on his hips as he watched his friend approach the rest of you.

You held your arm out, signaling for one of the boys to go in front of you. Luke decided to take the lead, passing his oldest brother a brief look as he took your hand and guided you to the top of the cliff. He kept your hand in his own, and a part of you briefly wondered what it would be like if you dated Luke. However, the thought was gone as soon as it came. It was too weird to think about.

Once you had reached the top, your heart felt like it was going to explode. You hated heights, and that combined with the fear of something happening to you when you hit the water was enough to make you stop in your tracks. The world around you spun, blood pounding in your ears and hands shaking as you slowly backed away from the edge. It felt as if your chest was going to cave in on itself. Sounds of the boys calling your name echoed around you, but you couldn’t bring yourself to reach out to them.

You’re not sure how long it had been when a pair of calloused hands delicately grasped your shoulders, your dizzying gaze falling on Jack as he stood in front of you. Your name tumbled from his lips, but all you could focus on was how hard it was to breathe. It felt like someone was clutching your throat, yet you knew that the only person around was the one person who truly knew what was going on.

“Hey,” Jack’s tone was soft and careful as it echoed around you, “Look at me, okay? Try and focus on me.”

You managed a slight nod, letting out strangled breaths as you watched him. The world around him was blurry and unfocused, so you did what you could to only look at him. You could feel the presence and the stares from the other boys around you, but they were soon forgotten as Jack instructed you to count backwards from ten with him. It was a task he knew would distract you from your thoughts, and help you regain control of your breathing.

“We’re not going to let anything happen to you,” He assured, his hands coming to your own. He softly pulled your fingers away from your palm, and placed your hands on either of his cheeks. He was grounding you back to the present. “You’re safe, you know that?”

“I’m safe,” You repeated, taking note of how warm his cheeks were from the sun beating down on everyone, “I’m safe.”

The boys watched with anxious eyes as Jack brought you back, their own hearts slowing as you started to recover. They’ve never seen you have a panic attack before and it terrified them. Guilt settled in Trevor’s chest as he watched his best friend calm you down and wipe away at the tears that were streaming down your cheeks. He shouldn’t have pressured you into coming.

“I know you were trying to get away from me by coming up here,” He whispered, gaze staying on you, “But I needed to make sure you were going to be okay if you jumped. Even if you hate me because I fucked up, you’re still my best friend and I needed to know you were going to be okay.”

Letting out a small breath, you couldn’t help but lightly smile at his admission. Your heart fluttering as you registered just how close he was to you, but you harshly brought yourself back to the gut wrenching reality that he had a girl waiting for him on the boat.

“I’m sorry,” You mumbled, reluctantly dropping your hands from his face and glancing around at the others. They sent small, comforting smiles in your direction before turning away. “I’m sorry you came all the way up here for me. I should’ve just stayed down there.

“You don’t have anything to be sorry about,” Jack reiterated, “Especially when it has to do with making sure you’re okay. You still sure you want to jump down? I’ll walk back down with you. It’s okay.”

You contemplated his proposal, eyes darting between the path back down the edge of the cliff. On one hand,

you could make the safe trek back down to the bank and swim back to the boat to watch the boys jump down. On another, you could face your fear head on with the comfort of knowing that the boys would do anything in their power to keep you safe.

“I’ll jump,” You nodded, determination briefly flickering in your eyes before you weakly continued, “But will someone jump with me?”

You watched as all of their mouths dropped open to respond, but Jack was quick to offer himself up before they even had a chance. While you were still upset with him, you knew that pushing him away, especially after what had just happened, was pointless. He was your best friend and you couldn’t just give that up. You will just have to push your feelings for him aside and do your best to go back to normal.

“Who wants to go first,” Alex asked before pointing at you, “You wanna go ahead and get it out of the way?”

You vigorously shook your head, “No. I want someone down there just in case.”

Despite not knowing just how deep rooted your fear was, they had zero objections and asked no questions. They quickly began bickering with each other for a few minutes. Quinn let out an annoyed groan before he took off, his body disappearing as he fell. Your heart raced as you waited to hear his voice from down below, panic settling back in your veins the longer you went without hearing him. It was only when you heard him yelling at the others that you let out the deep breath you had been holding.

“Hey,” Jack gently squeezed your hand, “It’s still not too late to say no.”

“I know, but I want to do it. I feel like he would want me to,” You admitted, a somber look taking over as you thought about your dad.

“I feel like he would, too,” He smiled, “Ready to do this?”

After Jack told you what to expect and what to do when you hit the water, the two of you lined up per Trevor’s instruction. Nerves ran through your veins at top speed, but all you could think about was how your dad would have wanted you to live your life to the fullest and not in fear. You were going to do this for him.

With a nod to your best friend, you both took off towards the edge and threw your bodies as far away from the cliff as you could. Wind clawed through your hair and at your skin as you plummeted down, but the feeling was gone as soon as you collided with the water. You had kept your eyes closed and took a deep breath before you plunged down just like Jack told you, but a bout of terror took hold as you blindly flung your limbs around underneath the surface.

A pair of hands wrapped around your arm, yanking you up and out of the water. You immediately clung to your savior, eyes clenched shut as you struggled to let air into your lungs.

“You did it,” Jack whispered in your ear, an arm wrapping around your waist to keep you close. He hoped you couldn’t hear how hard his heart was beating as you stuck yourself to him.

His breath was warm on your neck, making your already flushed cheeks turn an even deeper red. His touch lit your skin on fire in the best way possible, but guilt immediately took over as you caught a glimpse of the boat nearby.

“I did it,” You mustered a pathetic grin, pushing yourself away from him. You missed the way he instinctively reached out to pull you back. He missed the way you gazed at him as if he was the only person in the world.

Nearly four hours later and back at the house, everyone retreated to their rooms to shower and take naps before the night began. Quinn had watched as Jack’s jaw clenched while he watched you and the youngest Hughes race upstairs to see who was going to shower first. He shook his head as he thought about just how stupid Jack was, but he chose to stay quiet and go back up to his own room.

The sound of the front door shutting woke you, eliciting an annoyed groan as you rolled over and squeezed your eyes shut, trying to force the sleep back. You mentally cursed whoever it was that had shut the door knowing that you weren’t going to be able to fall back asleep. You’ve always been a light sleeper, and once you were awake, you weren’t falling back to sleep anytime soon.

Luke’s light snores were heard from beside you, letting you know that he was still sound asleep. Not wanting to wake him up, you slipped out of the bed and carefully opened the door before heading downstairs to find something to eat. The house was quiet, save for someone walking around downstairs, and still, and that alone was enough to let you know that at least Trevor and Cole were still asleep. They caused pure chaos when they weren’t.

Rubbing at your groggy eyes, you tripped over the bottom step and stumbled forwards. You hold your hands out as a way to steady yourself before glancing around the room to see if anyone had seen you, but the living room was empty. Slight confusion settled in because you know you heard someone down here, but both the kitchen and living room held no signs of life outside of you.

“Whatever,” You grumbled to yourself, pulling the fridge door open to see if there was anything you wanted to eat.

The fridge let you down as most of its contents were alcohol and ingredients for actual meals, and you weren’t really in the mood to cook. Moving to the cabinets, you noticed slight movement on the dock from your peripheral vision. Jack sat on the edge of the wooden platform, legs hanging above the water and eyes trained on the sight in front of him. The idea of eating was long forgotten now as you slipped outside and made your way towards him.

The sound of your feet padding across the wood was far from quiet, but he didn’t make a point to turn around and see who it was. You could tell that something was bothering him, and you almost convinced yourself to turn around and leave it alone, but you couldn’t. No matter what he had put you through, you would always be there for each other. He was there for you on the cliff and you’d be there for him now.

“You okay,” You softly questioned as you settled down a few inches away from him.

“Natalie left,” He let out a dry chuckle, looking down as he picked at his fingers.

You lightly hummed, hands gripping the edge of the dock and stare focused on the ripples of the water as you thought of what to say. “What happened? Did we not make her feel welcome? I’m sorry- I should’ve been more friendly towards her since we were the only girls. I should have tr-”

“It’s not that,” He interrupted, finally letting his focus find you. Your hair was falling in your face and you sported a sleepy look that had him smiling to himself, “Everyone, especially you, made her feel included, except for me. She said it was clear that other things meant more to me, but she’s not really mad at me. She just wishes I wouldn’t have led her on, and also she hopes that I'm able to ‘get my head out of my ass and man up’.”

You furrowed your brows together and sucked your bottom lip in between your teeth, trying to piece together what she could have meant. It didn’t make sense to you, but it seemed to make some sort of sense to Jack and that was all that mattered.

“Are you upset,” You finally asked, turning to look at him.

He was already looking at you, his gaze soft as he took you in. You were looking up at him, pupils blown and lips parted as you waited for his response. His eyes darted to your lips, but the look was so swift that you’re not sure if you had imagined it or not.

“No, I don’t think I am.”

hopefully this doesn’t suck lmao. next part will be the last part <3

#liv’s reads

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heavenlyholland · 9 months

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strawberry wine | jack hughes | part two

one

word count: 3.4k

warnings: unedited, lil angsty, cursing, if you catch anything else let me know

note: here's part two! it's not my favorite, but it's leading up to the next part ◡̈

tags: @haydee5010

Luke’s soft voice called your name as he slowly opened the door, his curly hair and light eyes peeking through, “Are you okay? Alex said you were crying.”

You had managed to mostly calm yourself down by the time he came upstairs, but all you gave him was a thumbs up as you kept your face in the pillows. You knew your face was going to be puffy and eyes bloodshot from all of the tears you shed and you didn’t want to reveal that to anyone just yet. All of the boys had seen you cry plenty of times before, but this time it was different.

“I didn’t know he was bringing someone, I’m really sorry. I would have told you so you were a little more prepared,” He tried as he sat next to you, “I know how you feel about him so I know this probably sucks.”

You jumped up at his insinuation, giving him a muddled glare as you let out a raspy, “What do you mean ‘how you feel about him’?”

His eyes slightly widened at your sudden movements and soft glare, but he was quick to say, “C’mon. We all know you like him. Like like him.”

“No, I don’t,” You denied, roughly shaking your head and rubbing at your stinging eyes, “I don’t like Jack like that. We’re just friends. Or at least I thought we were. Whatever. I’m going downstairs.”

You hated talking about the way you felt about Jack because, deep down, you knew that you had fallen for him, but you weren’t ready to admit that to yourself yet. That would make it real. That would mean starting something you couldn’t come back from. You ignored Luke’s calls for you, and left the room, but of course you come face-to-face with the one person you didn’t want to be alone with.

“Y/N,” Jack incredulously asked, eyes meeting yours, “Why are you here?”

You hated the way your chest burned with misery as his question tore into your heart. After nothing from him for weeks, that was all he had to say to you and that truly hurt you. More than his silence had.

“Why are you leaving Luke’s room,” He continued, his voice held a mix of emotions laced with one another, but you were too tired to try and piece them together.

“I invited her,” Luke stated, harshly glaring at his brother as he came out of his room. He loved Jack with every fiber of his being, but he was not going to let him treat you like that. You were important to him too, and you had done nothing wrong. Luke couldn’t say the same for Jack.

The silence that hung in the air made you want to crawl into a hole and never come out of it. You hated being the reason there was tension between the two of them more than you hated that Jack hadn’t talked to you. Your eyes stayed focused on the ground as you stood between them, but you felt his burning stare on you. You always did.

“I’m going downstairs so you two can finish whatever this is,” You breathed out, gesturing to the two of them before quickly darting back down to the living room.

The looks all the boys had plastered on their faces told you that tension from upstairs was bleeding down into the living room. A pang of guilt hit your chest, and you couldn’t help but blame yourself for the strained start of vacation. If you had just told Luke and Quinn that you were going to stay home, none of this would have happened. Jack wouldn’t be mad at you and Luke, and his brothers wouldn’t be mad at him.

Falling into the empty seat next to Quinn, you mumbled, “I’m going to text my mom and have her come pick me up tomorrow. I feel like me being here is ruining the mood, so I’ll go home.”

“Absolutely not,” Trevor interrupted before Quinn even had a moment to think, “You’re not ruining anything. Jack’s just in a pissy mood and he’ll get over it. You’re staying.”

The others nodded their heads in firm agreement, and you couldn’t help but tear up again. You didn’t realize how much you had missed being around people who genuinely wanted your presence and didn’t see you out of obligation. Of course you loved your friends back home, but these boys have always made you feel welcome without judgment. They made you feel carefree and shamelessly yourself.

Luke was the first to join everyone else, and he was sporting one vastly annoyed look. He took the seat on the other side of you, whispering something about how he’ll tell you about it later, before he fell into the conversation you all were previously engaged in. There was a certain edge to everyone that you all were doing your best to ignore, and you were grateful for that. You wanted to put the whole Jack situation aside and enjoy your time at the lake.

“You’re about to start teaching, right,” Cole’s question was directed at you, eyes flitting towards the stairs as they creaked.

“I am! I got a job at the high school,” You beamed, welcoming the brief distraction from Jack and Natalie as they found seats of their own.

“You got the job?” Jack spoke up, causing everyone’s gaze to fall on him. He didn’t miss the way his friends were sending him a few subtle glares, but he was too tired from arguing with Luke to really care. He knows he’s going to get an earful from Quinn as soon as he could get him alone, anyways.

“Yeah. I found out a couple of weeks ago,” Your tone was flat, and you wanted to add that he would know that if he had ever bothered to respond to you, but you decided to take the high road. You didn’t want to make his guest uncomfortable.

“You’re a teacher? You look so young,” Natalie proclaimed, her eyes wide as she took you in.

You let out a quiet, and uncomfortable, chuckle, “I’m 21, but I graduated a year early.”

She seemed extremely genuine in her surprise, along with her admiration, and a part of you hated it. It would be easier to not like her if she was a bitch, but she was probably one of the most genuine people you’ll ever meet. She was sweet and she actively listened to what everyone was saying, but you could tell that she still felt slightly out of place with the boys. Jack was only half heartedly paying attention to her, so you did your best to include her in the conversations.

Luckily, the rest of the day went by with only a thin veil of tension whenever you interacted with Jack in any sort of way. The dull pain in your chest was still present, but you tried to busy yourself with any sort of task that arose. You even offered to make dinner for everyone despite hating cooking for that many people. Trevor insisted on helping you, even though he was probably the worst cook ever, and you knew it was only because they didn’t want to leave you alone.

Once everyone had finished their food and the dishes were done, courtesy of Alex and Cole, everyone was worn out and ready to go to bed. Trevor had suggested taking the boat out tomorrow morning, and it was after a round of agreements that a trail of tired bodies finally trudged up the stairs. You followed closely behind Luke, trying to keep your distance from Jack, whose gaze you felt on you nearly all night. The thought of him cornering you alone after everyone had gone to bed made you want to throw up.

For the first few hours, you stared up at the ceiling that was lit only by the moonlight that slipped through the breaks in the curtain. Your brain was running a mile a minute as you thought about spending the next two weeks with Jack and his new friend, but you knew you couldn’t let it bother you too much. The last thing you wanted was to make things even more awkward for everyone than they already were, and Luke’s sleeping body pressed against your side was a reminder of that.

You woke up the next morning with Luke nearly pushing you off the bed, his arm thrown over your chest and knee digging into your thigh. Gently pushing his limbs off you, you slipped out of the bed and grabbed the bag that had your toothbrush in it. Your feet quietly pad against the floor as you rub the sleep from your eyes and walk into the bathroom. Once you had finished getting ready and had your bathing suit underneath your dress, you went downstairs.

No one else was up yet, so the house was still and eerily quiet, but you were going to take advantage of it while it lasted. It wouldn’t be too long until the boys were awake and they were filling the house with their laughter and yells. You poured yourself a cup of juice before sinking into a seat on the couch, throwing your head back and letting your eyes flutter closed. You’re not sure how long you stayed like that, but an all too familiar voice calling your name had you snapping your head up.

Your wide eyes met Jack’s, and it was as if all of the air in your lungs had been sucked out of you. He was standing at the bottom of the stairs, blue eyes soft as they raked across your body. Suddenly feeling insecure, you straightened your back and looked anywhere but at him.

“I didn’t hear you come down the stairs,” You mumbled, hands nervously fisting the bottom of your dress.

“Yeah, it looked like you were asleep,” He lightly laughed, taking a few steps closer to you, “Look, can we please talk? I feel like I owe you an explanation.”

“You feel like,” You seethed, fury quickly taking place over whatever you had been feeling before, “You feel like you owe me an explanation?!”

You were on your feet now, nails digging into your palm as you tried to steady your breathing. Jack was slightly thrown off by your sudden change in demeanor, but he knew that it was well deserved after what he had done to you. He tried taking a couple of more steps closer to you, but the way you stepped away from him made his chest tighten.

“I’m sorry,” He began, watching as frustrated tears lined your eyes and hating himself because he knew he was the cause of them, “I know I fucked up everything, but if we can talk- just us- then I will explain everything. Please.”

He desperately whispered your name like it haunted him. His eyes were glassy, filled with uncried tears as he waited for your response, but truthfully, you didn’t know what you wanted to say. Right now, you didn’t want to hear him out. You wanted to shut him out the same way he shut you out, but you also didn’t want to regret not letting him explain himself. You were torn.

“No,” You finally let out after what felt like an eternity to Jack, “I don’t want to hear what you have to say. At least not right now.”

He felt like you had reached into his chest and tore his heart out as you denied his plea. He felt as if the wind had been knocked out of him and his entire world came out from under him. Jack knows that you no longer owe him anything because you wouldn’t be in this position if it weren’t for him, and he wishes he had never done it at all. Yet the girl he had left to get ready upstairs was going to be his reminder that he had.

You watched the way the person you loved more than anything in the world deflated at your rejection. He looked at you as if you had shot him in the heart, but you weren’t ready to let him back in. Not after what he had done. Honestly, you’re not sure if you even want to let him back in anymore.

The sound of the stairs groaning, alerting you both that someone was coming, was enough to break your devastating stares away from each other. Jack made a beeline for the kitchen while you settled back on the couch with your head in your hands, focusing on getting your heartbeat back to a normal rhythm. And to let the tears pass.

“Hey,” It was Quinn, “Are you okay? I saw Jack go to the kitchen.”

All you managed was a pathetic nod, but the slight sniffle you accidentally let slip gave you away immediately. Quinn was quick to take the seat next to you, pulling you into his chest as his hand rubbed soothing circles in your back. His attentiveness was enough to break you down, and you began to let out quiet sobs. He could hear the others start to come down too, so he gently pulled you off the couch. You let him guide you to the bathroom that was a few feet away, your legs giving out as soon as the door was closed.

“You’re okay,” Quinn comforted as he slid down to the ground with you, “You’re alright. I know it’s hard, but you’re going to be okay. We’ve got you.”

“I hate feeling like this. Like I lost my best friend,” You choked out through mangled cries, “He just stopped talking to me like our entire lives meant nothing to him and I don't even know what I did wrong.”

“You didn’t do anything,” He reassured, leaning away from you to grab the roll of toilet paper, “Trevor said he tried talking to him last night, but Jack didn’t say much other than that it’s not your fault. He knows you didn’t do anything.”

As soon as the words slipped from his mouth, Quinn knew that it made the situation worse. He knows how his brother meant it, but you didn’t and your intensified weeping only confirmed that. He chose to stay quiet, knowing that all you really needed was to get the tears out of your system before you went on like nothing had happened in order to not ruin things for everyone else. Quinn knew that you being upset wouldn’t ruin anything for anyone, but he also knew that trying to convince you of that was next to impossible.

After a while, you had managed to get your emotions in check, but you practically shoved Quinn out of the bathroom so you could “fix your face”. Which meant you were going to splash cold water on you until the redness and puffiness in your face was gone. Your eyes were still tinted red, but you knew they would go away on their own and you hoped that no one would notice, or that they would keep quiet if they did.

Everyone was gathered in the kitchen when you finally exited the bathroom, so you joined the group as they were going over the plan for the day. Slipping into the spot next to Luke, you avoided Jack’s gaze and you felt a pang of guilt when you noticed Natalie’s eyes dart from you to the boy next to her.

“Yo,” Trevor called out to you, “I was telling everyone I think we should go to the cliffs for a little bit and then we can go wakesurfing after that. Is that cool with you?”

“Sounds good,” You agreed, voice slightly scratchy from crying, “I’m not jumping, though. You guys always try and get me to do it so here’s me officially saying no.”

“We’ll see,” Luke playfully elbowed you.

Rolling your eyes, you let your gaze wander and you accidentally lock eyes with Jack for the third time this morning. His jaw was clenched, eyes glancing between you and his younger brother with a hint of annoyance mixed with what you hesitantly assumed was jealousy. Drawing your brows together in confusion, you tore yourself away from him and focused back on the others.

Finally, everyone had decided that they were ready to go, and you all made your way down to the dock and on to the boat. Quinn, Jack, and Trevor were in charge of making sure the boat was working correctly while the rest of you found homes for your various coolers and bags. You glanced towards the wooden platform and noticed that Natalie was standing there with her hands clasped in front of her, an uncomfortable grimace on her face as she watched everyone work. You could tell she was unsure of what to do to help, so you grabbed her attention and asked her to make sure there were enough life jackets for everyone.

“Thank you,” She mumbled, giving you an appreciative smile.

The one she received in return didn’t quite reach your eyes, but you tried. You know that she wasn’t at fault for how things fell with you and Jack, but a small part of you couldn’t help but place some blame on her. No matter how hard you tried to remind yourself she was innocent.

Once everything was good to go, you settled in a spot next to Luke with Trevor and Alex across from you. Jack, Natalie and Cole opted to sit up in the front in order to balance some of the weight out while Quinn took his seat at the wheel. His “i am the captain” hat you had gotten him for Christmas placed snugly on his head as he started the engine.

The ride to the cliffs was like a second nature to you and the boys by now. You had discovered the spot one day a few years ago, and you all had been going to it ever since. It was secluded enough that not many people knew about it, but so off the beaten path that you weren’t able to find it again after the first time.

You hated the feeling of the wind whipping into your face and through your hair, so you buried your head into the crook of Luke’s neck as a sort of shield. Typically, it was Jack who was your personal protection from the rough breeze, and there was a slight nagging in your chest knowing that he was doing that for someone else. Still, you were going to keep it to yourself and have fun with everyone.

“So, Lukey,” Trevor teased as everyone stripped down to their swimsuits, “I didn’t know you two liked each other.”

He subtly glanced at his best friend, taking note of the way Jack’s eyes narrowed in on his brother and his stare filled with jealousy. After the short conversation he had with Jack last night, he was testing the waters to see what exactly was going on.

“Gross,” Luke grimaced, “She’s like a sister to me.”

You rolled your eyes as Trevor threw his head back in laughter, stepping up onto the back part of the boat so you could get in the water.

“Well, you’re not like a sister to me,” He dropped his left eye into a wink before jumping up in front of you.

You opened your mouth to give him a sarcastic response, but all that came out was a high pitched yelp as he threw you over his shoulder and then jumped into the lake. The cool water enveloped your body, bubbles erupting as you sunk through the water. You pushed your body back up to the surface, taking a gulp of air once you broke through.

“You ass,” You yelled, splashing Trevor as his head popped back up in front of you.

The two of you started splashing each other and trying to hold the other underneath the water. Trevor had you in some sort of weird hold when water came crashing down all around you. Water had gotten into your eyes and mouth, making you cough and sputter as you tried to clear it, slight irritation coursing through your body at whoever did that.

“Dude, what the hell,” Trevor slightly raised his voice, rubbing your upper back as you coughed.

“Sorry,” Jack shrugged nonchalantly, swimming away from the two of you as everyone else watched with disoriented gazes.

This was going to be a fun day.

#liv’s reads

391 notes · View notes

heavenlyholland · 9 months

Text

strawberry wine | jack hughes | part one

summary: for you, love was a lot like strawberry wine. intense and bittersweet.

word count: 2.2k

warnings: heavily unedited, some mild angst, jacks kind of depicted as an a-hole in this part, idk i think that it

note: this is very loosely inspired by the song strawberry wine by deana carter. like very loosely. please let me know what you think <3

For as long as you could remember, Ellen Hughes was there for your mom. She was there when your dad passed away and your mom felt like she was lost with nowhere to go now that her soulmate was gone. She helped guide her through the darkest of times, and she was there for you too. You spent many nights at her house when your mom needed a moment to herself, and, in turn, you got to meet some of the best friends you would ever have.

Quinn, Jack, and Luke became constants in your life the second you met them. You grew with them, laughed with them, cried with them, and learned with them. They treated you like you were a part of their family, and it was a relationship you would cherish until the day you were six feet under. Despite growing up with all of them, you grew closest with Jack and can confidently say that he was your best friend. Or at least, you could have three weeks ago.

Jack moving to New Jersey changed only one thing in your friendship, and that was how often you physically saw him. You talked to him just as often as you did before he left, only now it over facetime or phone calls. You were the first person he called when he won a game and wanted to boast about it, or when he lost a game and he needed someone to talk to. He called you when he needed a reminder that he was just a kid and the entire fate of his team did not fall on his shoulders.

You tried to not call him as often because you wanted him to go out and live his life in Jersey, but there some days where you needed him and only him. The night you caught your first boyfriend cheating on you with your college roommate was a big one, and you ended up having to talk him down from flying back to Michigan to handle it on his own. Luke had shown up at your dorm the next day, ready to commit literal murder because Jack had told him what happened, but you used that opportunity to move your things out of the dorm.

Now, you hadn’t talked to Jack in nearly three weeks and you couldn’t figure out what you had done. After a week of your messages going unread and calls not being answered, you stopped reaching out, but you were still hurt. Your friends were starting to notice that something was off with you, but you never gave them a straight answer. Instead, choosing to change the subject and hope they would forget about it.

You could feel your phone vibrating in your pocket, but your hands were full of groceries and you were still on the elevator. A part of you wished it was the one person you wanted to talk to, but you knew better than to let yourself have that much hope. Whoever it was was going to have to wait. The buzzing stopped as you were exiting the elevator, but started right back up again once you neared your apartment door. Placing a few bags on the ground so you could grab your keys, you pulled your phone out first to see Luke’s name on the screen.

“Why hello, Lukey,” You greeted, holding the phone between your ear and shoulder. Despite having radio silence with Jack, you maintained your friendship with his brother’s just fine.

He animatedly said your name into the receiver, eliciting a genuine smile from you as you pushed your door open. “So, when are you coming to the lake house? We’re all going to get there not tomorrow but the next day, and I wasn’t sure if you were going to come later or what.”

The smile fell from your lips, and you faltered in your steps as you placed the groceries on your counter. You had gone with the Hughes’ to their lake house more times than you hadn’t, but your presence was always requested by Jack. Despite seeing them as your second family, and them insisting you were a part of theirs, you never showed up at any of their functions without being prompted to.

“Jack didn’t invite me, bub. I’m staying here,” You meekly admitted, leaning against the counter as you let out a puff of air. Your groceries now at the back of your mind.

“What,” Quinn and Luke’s voices mixed together.

You cringed once you realized that Quinn was there, knowing he’d be able to pick up on the hints that Luke wouldn’t. “Jack hasn’t really talked to me in a while, let alone ask me to the lake house. Which is okay! He doesn’t have to,” Your voice wavering as you mentioned their brother.

“That’s ridiculous. You don’t need a formal invitation, you’re family,” Quinn explained, an understanding tone to his words. Luke was quick to chime in with his agreement.

“That isn’t quite how it works for me,” You sighed, running a nervous hand through your hair, “If I’m not explicitly invited somewhere or told anything, I’m not going.”

“Fine. Y/N you are coming to the lake house and I will be by tomorrow at noon to pick you up!”

After a brief argument with the brothers, you relented and told them they were lucky you don’t start your new teaching job for another few weeks. Putting up your groceries temporarily distracted you from the dull ache in your chest due to not having talked to Jack. However, your apartment was littered with pictures that had him in them, and that feeling was back like it had never left. You hoped that seeing him again would make things right.

Luke was knocking on your door at twelve p.m. sharp, and you let him in with the promise that you would be ready to go in ten minutes. You asked him about how his time with the Devil’s was going in order to distract you from the nerves in your body. He happily went on about how he was loving it, and he was excited to be able to play against some of the best hockey players ever.

Once he felt like he had adequately updated you on his life, he asked about yours as he took your bags and left your apartment. You were honest and told him that not much has happened. You graduated school a year early and got your first teaching job at a high school, you’d been on a few unsuccessful dates, and you had thought about getting a cat. You deliberately avoided the conversation about Jack not speaking to you, knowing he would probably bring it up in the car.

“So,” Luke hesitantly started, “Wanna talk about it?”

You were wrong. He didn’t even wait until you were in the car. You had barely made it out of the elevator.

“There’s not much to say,” You shrugged, ignoring the nagging ache in your chest, “I tried reaching out to him to make sure everything was okay, but he hasn’t said anything back.”

“Well, he said he had to go do something before he went to the lake house, so we can figure it out then. Quinn will be there soon and we better get there before everyone else so we can get the good rooms.”

Your apartment was a couple of hours away from the lake house, and the ride there was filled with any conversation other than his brother. Your nerves were bubbling to the surface the closer you got, but you tried to busy yourself with listening to Luke talk. He had such an infectious, happy attitude that you couldn’t help but smile as you spent time with him.

Luke pulls into the driveway and is getting your bags out of the car when another car pulls up. Your heart momentarily stops, thinking that it might be Jack, but Trevor, Alex, and Cole are the only people who barrel out of the Bronco. Knowing what was about to happen, you take your bag from Luke as the four of them race inside to claim the last available single room. You shake your head as you walk inside, not sure why they even bother since everyone ends up in the same spot anyways.

You could hear them fighting over the rooms as you ascended the stairs, taking claim on the room you’ve always slept in. You placed your bag on the bed, and suddenly a wave of emotions rushed over you. The hurt from Jack not talking to you combined with the heart shattering anxiety of seeing him made your eyes water. Though, the fact that any one of the boys could walk in at any moment was enough to stop yourself from actually crying, but it was still beginning to be too much. You were bound to break soon.

“Luke, you’re such a jackass,” Trevor playfully yelled as he walked out of the room directly across from your own, “You should have to room with your brother! I do it every time.”

“I live with him. I don’t want to share a room with him,” He defended.

Wiping at your eyes, you joined the boys as they walked back down to the living room. They all took turns wrapping you up in a hug, but they were suspiciously quiet about asking about Jack. Typically, they were all over teasing you about him, but all it took was one look from Quinn to know he warned them to steer clear of the topic.

Luke had gone outside to get something from his car, leaving you inside to listen to the boys argue about their respective hockey teams. You nervously picked at your nails as Trevor kept trying to drag you in and ask you whose team you think is better. You told him that you were Switzerland, pleading the fifth, or any other variation you could think of in order to stay neutral on the matter. It wasn’t long until Luke came running back inside, slight panic on his face.

He whispered something to Quinn before turning to you, “Hey, can you help me with something in the kitchen?”

He didn’t give you much time to respond before he was dragging you in there by your hand. Your eyebrows were furrowed in confusion, taking note of the way Luke had placed you in the one spot where you couldn’t see the living room. His eyes kept darting behind him, breathing slightly shaky from whatever it was he was trying to pull you away from.

“What’s going on,” You ask, folding your arms across your chest and meeting his alarmed gaze.

“Nothing,” He squeaked, literally squeaked, “I just wanted your opinion on food options. Like what do you think we should get? Do you think we need t-”

Suddenly, Jack’s voice covered Luke’s, and your eyes bolted towards the door, arms falling limply to your sides. Your jaw slightly dropped, the ghosts of words that you couldn’t get out disappearing into the air. You looked back at Luke with a mix of trepidation and confusion. It wasn’t until you heard him introduce his guest, that you understood why Luke had dragged you into the kitchen.

“Guys, this is Natalie,” You heard him announce before he went around the room to introduce his friends, “C’mon, you can take the room across from me and Trevor.”

This time, you met Luke’s panicked look with one of your own. The two of you silently communicated with each other before he was running out of the kitchen. You heard him pull Natalie and Jack’s attention to him, and you could see Alex gesturing for you to hurry upstairs. You rushed out of the kitchen, grabbing his hand as you quickly climbed the stairs.

“Dude, what is going on,” Alex asked after you had thrown your stuff, and yourself, into Luke’s room, “Quinn told us to not tell Jack you were here. You two are best friends. What happened?”

“I don’t know,” You blinked back yet another surge of tears, “It’s nothing. You can go back downstairs, though. I just needed it to seem like one of you came up here for something because the stairs are creaky and loud and I didn’t want him to ask any questions if he saw everyone still down there.”

“Hey,” He reached out and gently tugged on your arm, “I know we’re not super close or anything, but I’m here for you, too.”

You gave him a weak smile in acknowledgement, waiting for him to leave before you fell back onto the bed and let your emotions take over. His disappearance was suddenly making a lot more sense the longer you thought about it. Before he stopped talking to you, he had mentioned having gone on a few dates with some girl, and they must have gotten serious for him to bring her here. Him not inviting you made a ton of sense, too.

Luke might have invited you, but you still felt like you were intruding knowing that Jack didn’t want you there. You buried your face in the pillows, tears rapidly falling down your cheeks as you let the silent sobs rack through your body. Another girl taking the room that had been unofficially, yet officially, yours hurt for more reasons than you were comfortable with admitting out loud.

#liv’s reads

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