CHAPTER FORTY ONE

Reagan's chest hurt the entire ride back to her house. The charm bracelet Jack apparently got her was such a small, simple gift but the thought of him wanting her to find it when he left—a reminder that he was thinking of her, made her heart want to implode.

She was a mess. She couldn't help it. And she kind of wishes she stayed home that day.

When she got home, she wanted to get to her bedroom as quickly as possible in fear of seeing Jack, afraid that seeing him would completely crumble her resolve given the fact that his gift already weakened it, but Jack must've anticipated that.

The moment she came through the dining room, he was already sat on the chair at the end of the table. He looked up at the sound of her footsteps and there it was.

The sight of him, tear-stained and nervous, made her weaken.

"Reagan," He coughed out as he promptly stood up, "Daniel told me you promised him five minutes."

She wanted to turn around and walk to her bedroom door, tell him he didn't deserve it and just give herself more time to think.

She hated the fact that such a small, insignificant gift was enough to change her mind.

She sighed and set her bag down on the floor, folding her arms in front of her as she said, "Fine. It starts now."

Jack looked like he was in shock—disbelief that she actually agreed. By the time he came to his senses, however, he nodded quickly and promptly pulled out a few things from his button up's inside pocket.

The first thing she noticed, however, was a sheet of paper neatly folded into quarters.

He unfolded it hastily with shaking hands and by the time Reagan realized what it was, he already confirmed her thoughts.

He didn't waste any time apprently because the first words out of his mouth was, "This was a contract I signed to be in a relationship with Emma."

And, well.

Reagan just stared at him blankly.

"She's an upcoming actress. Has a permanent role in some daytime show but recently she's been signed to some big screen pictures," He gulped, "Our managers are from the same agency and being in a relationship seemed like a good idea. With the upcoming album and all."

Reagan didn't say anything and fought the urge to turn around.

"I admit," He said in a shaky breath, nervously playing with the cuffs of his button up, "I gave my manager the impression that I would be fine with it because," Jack paused, looking like he was choking on his words, "This sounds awful but I didn't care who I was in a relationship with. Being in a fake one didn't seem too awful to me, to be honest, because it wouldn't be different from any other relationship I've had. Relationships didn't matter to me, Reagan. I've never liked someone for it to matter."

Jack let out a labored breath, like having to say it physically pained him.

She did her best to stay quiet because she promised five minutes.

"I thought," He sighed, shoulders slumping along with him, "I thought I just had to act like I was in love with someone for the public and with just that I'd get so much out of it. I could only imagine the headlines. Acting like I liked someone should've been easy but then," He gulped audibly, "You... happened."

Reagan bit down on her lip, forcing the repressed anger threatening to spill out to remain at bay.

Jack must've noticed because he limply nodded, "You can say it."

"That was a fake relationship then?" She practically spat out, "That's why she calls you at ungodly hours of the night, calls you babe and—and she even got you a gift, God, I don't want to guess what that must be."

Jack frowned.

"I," He sighed, "I had to at least try, you know?"

"You had to try?"

"To like her back," He continued, "I was forced to be in a relationship with her for show, I thought I owed it to myself to at least not dread every single day I had to pretend. I thought I owed to it to myself..." he paused, looking like he was racking his brain for the proper words, "I thought I owed it to myself to see if it could've been something real."

The next few words she wanted to say physically hurt her but she had to ask, even if she was too scared to hear the answer.

"Do you think it could've been real?" She choked out.

Jack didn't even pause for a beat.

"Not even close," He shook his head, his waterline watering up as he spoke, "Now that I've been with you, Reagan, I know what real feels like and believe me," He looked her square in the eyes, "Nothing has ever come close."

"How could I even believe you?" She croaks out, forcing herself to stay calm despite the turmoil his words lit in her head, "How do I know you haven't said those exact same words to her?"

He didn't look phased.

Jack looked down at the table and Reagan finally noticed what he fished out of his pocket moments earlier.

There was a scrap piece of paper with ink scribbled on it and what looked like a car remote key.

It took her a second too long to realize what it was.

"Remember the first night you invited me up to the roof?" He didn't wait for an answer and let out a shaky breath, "The morning after that, I found the key there and I hid it. And this one," He pointed to the piece of paper with numbers written on it, "Is the alternator delivery's contact number. Found it on the cork board above the telephone and I cancelled the order."

Reagan fell silent.

Her breathing felt like it stopped at that point.

"I hate buying every second I have with you, Reagan," Jack admitted, his voice cracking at the end and Reagan looked at him to see him furiously wiping off a few tears with the cuff of his shirt, "I'd give everything up and stay here if you told me to."

"You don't mean that," She shook her head, "I know you don't."

"Then you don't know me well enough because I do," He sighed, letting out a heavy breath, "The same night you found the texts, I walked all the way to the valley looking for good signal to call Em."

Jack took a step closer but Reagan's feet felt like they were cemented to the hardwood.

"I called to apologize," He continued, "I explained that I did truly try to have a relationship with her and I'm still well aware of the contract but I just couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't act like I liked her behind closed doors," he gulped, "I couldn't because I was already in love with someone else."

welcome to one of the v few chapters that was already planned out from the start

HELLO WHAT WOULD U LIKE TO SEE HAPPEN NEXT the story is near its end and i wanna know if there's anything u'd like to see/know about before it comes to a close

i'd like to say a big, big thank you to the people who still continue to support this story ❤️ i wouldve abandoned this long ago if it i didnt have u

anw hope this chapter did the past few ones justice and i always appreciate feedback ❤️