a/n: one bed trope you will always be famous!
Everything starts when you laugh at Jack Howl in front of his entire Spelldrive team
“You know,” you say, watching him finish practice drills for what feels like the hundredth time, “I’m starting to think you actually like making everyone else look bad.”
Jack wipes sweat from his face with his sleeve and doesn’t look bothered at all.
“If everyone else trained harder, that wouldn’t happen.”
Epel groans loudly from somewhere nearby. “See? This is exactly why nobody likes talkin’ to you after practice.”
“I’m gonna hit him with a rock,” Epel mutters toward you.
Jack glances at you right away.
Since you can’t help yourself, you grin and say, “I could probably beat you in a race, though.”
The entire field goes silent.
“Oh, wow. The confidence.”
“It’s not confidence if it’s true.”
You spot a quick hint of amusement on Jack’s face, almost too fast to catch.
“Fine,” he says, crossing his arms. “Race me.”
Epel immediately perks up. “OH this is gonna end terribly.”
“You’re serious?” you ask.
Jack tilts his head slightly.
That’s your first real mistake.
Your second mistake is agreeing to race him down the mountain trail behind campus.
To be fair, it didn’t seem that bad at first.
When you started, there was only a light snowfall. You could still see the path, the air was cold but not unbearable, and Jack almost looked relaxed standing next to you at the trailhead.
“You can still back out,” he’d said.
“You’re the one who challenged me.”
“You accepted suspiciously fast.”
“That’s because I know I’m gonna win.”
“You are unbelievable.” Jack’s ears twitch a little.
“You’re talking a lot for someone who’s about to lose.”
Then he took off running.
For the first few minutes, it’s fun.
Cold air burns your lungs while snow crunches beneath your boots. You can hear Jack ahead of you occasionally throwing smug little comments over his shoulder.
Jack immediately doubles back. Concern flashes across his face so quickly and naturally that it catches you off guard.
He studies you for a second longer before stepping back again.
He says it in a surprisingly gentle way.
Something you know is going to linger in the back of your mind.
Unfortunately, that’s around the same time the storm starts getting worse.
Then, all at once, the whole mountain disappears under a blanket of white.
The temperature drops sharply enough to hurt.
Jack notices before you do.
His posture changes instantly.
No more teasing. He stops racing.
The firmness in his voice makes you obey automatically.
Snow whips violently around both of you now, obscuring the trail almost completely.
For the first time all evening, Jack looks genuinely worried.
“We need to head back. Now.”
The walk back should have been easy.
Instead, the storm gets worse much faster than you expect.
Wind screams through the trees. Snow gathers thick around your ankles. Visibility drops lower and lower until Jack is little more than a dark shape beside you.
Still, he never lets you fall behind.
Every few steps, he glances back.
Jack exhales sharply through his nose before shrugging off his varsity jacket.
“You literally look cold.”
“That’s because it’s snowing.”
“Which means you are cold. Idiot”
“You’re trying to give yourself hypothermia out of chivalry.”
Jack opens his mouth to retort but stops.
His ears flick once in irritation before he shoves the jacket toward you harder.
As soon as you put it on, you feel warmth all around you.
And somehow, it feels like he’s there too.
The jacket smells like winter air and detergent and cedar and something unmistakably Jack.
Your heart reacts in a way you’d rather not admit.
Jack notices your silence immediately.
The words leave your mouth before your brain can stop them.
His face turns bright red right away.
Jack actually looks offended that you’re laughing. Unfortunately for him, it only makes you laugh harder.
And even with the storm, and despite the cold and the wind getting worse,
You notice the tiniest smile at the corner of his mouth too.
The inn appears like a miracle.
Warm golden light shines through the windows, and snow piles up on the roof.
You practically stumble through the front door.
The elderly woman behind the desk takes one look at the storm and sighs sympathetically.
“Roads are closed tonight.”
“That’s fine,” Jack says immediately. “We just need a room.”
“Luck you, there’s only one room left!”
You both feel a wave of relief.
Jack freezes next to you so suddenly that you almost laugh.
The poor woman looks between the two of you knowingly.
Jack looks like he’d rather fight the storm again.
The room upstairs is tiny.
One bed shoved against the wall. One flickering heater. One small window rattling from the wind outside.
Jack immediately drops the bags beside the door.
“I’ll sleep on the floor.”
“You absolutely will not.”
“You say that like you’re not built like an old man.”
“That has nothing to do with your back problems.”
“I don’t have back problems.”
“You stretched for twenty minutes after practice yesterday.”
“You make noises every time you stand up.”
Jack pouts, and you laugh so hard you nearly miss the fact that he’s smiling now, too.
Suddenly, the room feels a lot warmer than it did before.
The heater dies around midnight.
Cold immediately creeps through the room.
You curl tighter beneath the blanket instinctively.
Across the bed, Jack sighs heavily before sitting up.
“You’ve said that like six times tonight.”
“You’re literally shivering.”
Carefully, awkwardly, he shifts closer beneath the blanket until warmth radiates against your side.
Being this close changes everything right away.
You become painfully aware of every little thing.
The warmth of his arm brushing yours.
The steady sound of his breathing.
The way his hair falls messily over his forehead when he’s tired.
Jack goes rigid beside you.
“…You can’t just say stuff like that.”
Jack cuts himself off harshly, clearly frustrated with himself.
You tilt your head slightly.
Golden eyes flick toward yours briefly before away again.
“Because you make me nervous.”
The confession lands softly between you.
“I don’t know how to act around you sometimes,” he admits quietly. “And I hate that.”
Something in your chest soars, then aches.
“I mean, look at me right now.” He laughs once under his breath. “I can stand up to Leona. Compete in front of crowds. Handle basically anything.”
His ears flatten slightly.
“But you look at me for too long and suddenly I forget how to function.”
Your heart almost stops. Before you can answer, exhaustion finally pulls you under.
The nightmare comes hard and fast.
Your lungs burn while panic claws violently through your chest.
A sick, heavy fear settles in your stomach.
You see him collapsed in the snow.
Blood staining white beneath him while the storm keeps covering him more and more and—
You wake with a broken gasp.
For one horrible second, the dream still feels real.
Your breathing comes too fast.
Beside you, Jack Howl wakes in a groggy haze.
He’s about to start complaining, but then he looks at you.
He sees your frazzled state and teary eyes.
His voice is rough with sleep but steady.
Jack’s expression changes the moment he sees your face.
Worry appears on his face right away.
Jack pushes himself upright beside you without hesitation. The blanket has slipped from your shoulders at some point, and before he says anything else, he pulls it back around you carefully.
“It felt real,” you whisper.
Jack’s ears lower slightly.
The admission barely leaves your throat.
For a second, Jack says nothing at all.
Wind rattles violently against the windows while snow taps softly against the glass.
“That scared you that bad?”
You laugh weakly despite yourself.
Jack looks down for a moment, thoughtful in that faraway way he sometimes gets. Moonlight shines softly on his face, silver on tan skin and tired eyes.
You move closer slowly, and the second you do, Jack pulls the blanket around both of you more securely until warmth settles between you again.
This close, you can hear the steady rhythm of his breathing.
Feel the warmth radiating from him.
Jack leans back against the headboard slightly, one arm resting loosely behind you like he’s trying to comfort you without making a big deal out of it.
“You know,” he murmurs after a moment, “you’re really bad at hiding when something’s bothering you.”
“You looked like you were about to cry.”
Embarrassment burns instantly across your face.
“You don’t have to be embarrassed.”
“You won’t look at me right now.”
A quiet huff of amusement leaves him.
You finally glance toward him.
Jack’s expression has softened completely now, all the usual sharpness gone from it.
When Jack cares, he cares with his entire heart.
“You wanna know something?” he asks quietly.
“When we got stuck out there earlier…” He pauses briefly. “I was more scared for you than myself.”
Jack looks away toward the storm outside.
“I kept thinking if something happened to you because I agreed to that stupid race, I’d never forgive myself.”
The honesty in his voice hits you even harder than the nightmare. His jaw tightens slightly. “I know you can handle yourself. I know you’re not weak.” A faint breath leaves him. “But the idea of losing you still scared the hell out of me.”
Silence settles softly between you.
Just full of everything you haven’t said yet.
Heavy with everything neither of you has said properly yet.
“Is that why you kept checking if I was still behind you?”
“You gave me your jacket.”
“You looked ready to fist-fight the weather itself.”
“That storm was annoying me.”
He sounds reluctant, but the way his hand tightens around the blanket gives him away.
Something warm blooms in your chest.
“You care about me a lot, huh?”
Jack freezes immediately.
You watch as he realizes, in real time, that he’s walked right into a trap.
Your smile widens slightly.
“And you’re in love with me.”
His face turns violently red.
You swear that even his ears are red now.
“You are unbelievable,” he mutters, horrified.
It’s small, helpless, and he can’t hide it at all.
You laugh softly, the last remnants of panic finally easing from your chest.
Jack watches you for a second too long after that.
The gentle way he asks catches you off guard.
Jack studies your face carefully like he’s making sure you mean it.
Then finally, he relaxes too.
Outside, the storm continues raging against the mountainside.
Inside, wrapped in warmth and soft golden lamplight, Jack hesitates for a moment, then carefully intertwines your fingers under the blanket.
Neither of you teasing or flustered.
And this time, when you fall asleep beside him, neither of you lets go.
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