Morning light peeked through the thin navy curtains of Jack and Jamie's bedroom, streams of light flickered on the scuffed floorboards almost dancing. Jamie stood at the foot of the bed, folding his favorite worn Beatles T-shirt, he smiled slightly remembering how Jack used to steal it sometimes or sleeping with it whenever he was away.
Just then the sound of the shower running interrupting his thoughts, Jamie then sighed shoving it into the green duffel, he still had a lot of packing to do for their trip. The hiss of the shower echoed from the bathroom, a rare break from the weeks of silence they'd been living in.
It wasn't always like this, it used to be different. Laughter, soft touches, Jack belting Beatles lyrics until Jamie threw a pillow at him was now replaced with awkward silence and occasional tense smiles, a still and cruel reminder of how far they had drifted.
Jamie pressed his back to the wall for a moment, briefly closing his eyes letting memories of tangled blankets, flirty chatter, soft kisses stolen mid-sentence enter his mind. Somehow something had changed. Lately Jack's voice had taken on an edge, slightly annoyed and tired.
At first Jamie blamed Jack's new producing job at the studio but now it felt personal, heavier, as if he were the problem.
The shower abruptly cut off, snapping Jamie from his thoughts. Jack later stepped inside, wet, grunting, his towel clinging to him as he went to the closet searching for his favorite faded black shirt and broken-in jeans. Jamie caught himself staring, recalling Jack's once flirtatious nature that was now replaced with a couple sighs and scowls.
Jack then turned, noticing Jamie's gaze, "What?" He frowned quick, defensive.
"Nothing." Jamie said shaking his head, his voice brief, returning back to the duffel, placing more garments inside.
Jack quickly regretted his tone, he exhaled, sounding softer. "So… looking forward to our trip tomorrow?" He said smiling a little.
"Yeah," He replied. "Should be fun," Jamie added, forcing a smile.
Jack briefly gazed at him before continuing his shuffling through his wardrobe, but he kept pausing, his eyes lingering, staring blankly. The guilt was still sitting heavy because he knew and had known for a while that things between them were fragile. This trip wasn't just a trip. It was actually an ending of a wonderful relationship, a clean goodbye disguised as a fun getaway.
Jack winced at that wishing he could call it something else, something kinder but he couldn't. Still, he kept telling himself it was better to end things this way. No slamming doors, no yelling matches, no blaming. Just one last moment together before leaving him.
Jack knew he probably should've ended things earlier but whenever Jamie looked at him with those sad amber eyes, always paused unable to hurt him.
Deep down he was hating this growing unhappy tension between them. It wasn't Jamie's fault, things just changed plus there was someone else, Jack sighed heavily thinking about him. His name was Adam, a dark haired, brown eyed young man with an amazing smile from North London.
He still wasn't sure how it happened, he was just a guy that Jack had a chance meeting with at a producer's office, and suddenly a few simple conversation quickly became something more. And even though he hadn't cheated, physically, anyway, there was no way he would do that, but he would be lying if he said the temptation wasn't strong so that in itself was betrayal enough. Enough for Jack to realize it was time to let Jamie go. After all he deserved better.
From outside, Jack could hear Jamie's soft, innocent hums along with the Beatles tune on the radio as zipped up his bag. Jack felt his chest tightened with dread, glancing at the man he once loved, knowing this was also the man he was about to hurt.