summary: based off of the song "happier" by ed sheeran.

pairing: jack x female!reader

triggers: none

link to original post: https://youngbloodseavey.tumblr.com/post/166662931373/happier-jack-avery

audio of the song is linked above.

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walking down 29th and park, i saw you in another's arms,

it was all supposed to be a normal day for jack. well, as normal as it could get when he was feeling the way he was.

he  was out with the boys, walking down the sidewalk of 29th street when he  heard the familiar melodies of her laughter. it seemed like time  stopped as his eyes found y/n's form, wrapped in the arms of a person  that wasn't him.

his breath got stuck in his throat as he saw the  way she looked at the newfound companion. it was the way y/n used to  look at him.

only a month we've been apart, you look happier,

it  had only been a month since the fight. the fight that tore his heart in  half, and he thought it had torn y/n's too. but it seemed like he was  wrong.

he watched with a broken stare as she smiled up at her  newfound love, with a look that used to be reserved for jack, and jack  only. she looked, so, happy.

how could she be so happy when jack  felt like, well, like complete shit. how dare she walk away so happy  when jack felt like he was falling farther down a dark hole.

jack  was paralyzed, watching as y/n leaned up to kiss the lips of her lover,  his heart aching. how could he be so broken but her so whole?

saw you walk inside a bar, he said something to make you laugh,

y/n took her love's hand and began walking towards a restaurant, causing jack's heart to break even more than it was.

the boy who was holding y/n's hand pulled her closer, wrapping an arm around her waist as he whispered something in her ear.

she  laughed loudly, pressing a kiss to his cheek and they walked into the  restaurant, leaving jack's limbs numb as he simply stood. his face was  stone cold, but the tears forming in the corners of his eyes were enough  to see that this was the final step in breaking him.

i saw that both your smiles were twice as wide as ours, yeah you look happier, you do.

an image of their wide smiles burned itself into jack's brain. she was so happy.

she  looked happier than she had ever been when she was jack. what did this  new guy give her that jack couldn't? what did this new guy have that  jack didn't?

how could this guy elicit such a beautiful smile from y/n in merely a month when jack couldn't for a whole year?

ain't nobody hurt you like i hurt you, but nobody love you like i do,

he  had regretted every word he said the moment she had walked out the door  on that fateful day. he knew he had fucked up, and he beat himself up  for it every single day.

were the tears running down her face as she walked out even real? did she hurt as much as he did for what she said to him?

he knew he had hurt her, but did she know he was hurt too?

his  heart was crushed in her palm as she let it fall to the floor, and yet  his heart still beat only for her. he still loved her, he loved her so  much it pained him.

promise that i will not take it personal, baby if you're moving on with someone new.

"jack?  dude, we have to get moving," daniel's gentle voice rang in jack's ear  drums as he was lightly shaked out of his trace. jack's hands went up to  hastily wipe away the tears that were nearly spilling out of his eyes.

"s-sorry,  let's go now," the boys began walking, but jack just couldn't seem to  lift his eyes off where she had stood only a minute ago.

it was  where she had stood with the biggest smile he had ever seen plastered on  her face, a look of pure adoration stretched across her features.

jack, he thought. if you truly do love her, you should let her be happy.

seeing  the look on y/n's face as she looked up at her new love was enough to  see that she was better off without jack. and it was time for jack to  accept that.

'cause baby you look happier, you do,

y/n,

one  day when we were laying in bed cuddling, i told you that your happiness  was mine, and nothing would ever change that. and i'd like to think i'm  a man of my word.

and seeing you today, well, it  showed me that you are truly happier without me. so i'm happy for you.  when you were with him, it was like nothing else in the world ever  mattered. it was never like that when it was you and me.

there  was a look in your eye when you looked at him. a sparkle. a sparkle  that never appeared when we were together. and realizing that right now,  it makes me feel a thousand times worse. were we ever really in love?

my friends told me one day i'll feel it too,

daniel told me after we saw you, that one day i'll be as happy with someone else as you are with him.

how could i be happy after my heart was ripped in half? how could i ever recover so quickly like you did?

will i ever recover from the heartbreak? i want to believe daniel's words, i truly do. i also believe that one day, i will.

and until then I'll smile to hide the truth,

but  until then, i'm hurting. how could you move on so quickly while i'm  here stuck in the mud? how could you be so joyful while i'm drowning in  my own sorrows?

i'm hiding behind fake smiles and faux  words of joy, each laugh and grin a mere display to show that "i'm  okay". but i'm not. i'm not okay without you.

and i'm not sure if i'll ever be okay again.

but i know i was happier with you.

y/n,  you were my happiness. my love, my light. you kept me going, you helped  me see the true beauty of life. and without you here, i'm not sure what  i see at all.

every single day i regret the words i said  to you on the night we broke up. how could i be so stupid? i let go the  most important piece of my life.

and i know you're happier  now. you're a thousand times happier with him than you ever were with  me. but even though you're happier with him, i'm happier when you're  with me.

- jack

jack folded the letter, staring as tear drops made wet circles on the paper covered in his shaky scrawl.

he  walked over to his desk, opening an empty drawer and carefully placed  the folded paper in the drawer. he closed drawer, watching as the piece  of paper disappeared into the mahogany.

just know i'll be waiting here for you.