running up that hill

“Don’t start with me, Jack. You might actually get me to believe that I’m special or something.” The brunette teased as she pushed a strand back from her face and tucked it behind her ear. Rising her brow, she couldn’t help but smirk at him. “I guess we’ll have to see.” The two hadn’t ever been in this setting and she was curious to see how it would be. Mainly because they’d already skipped a lot of this in the past and just went to the fucking. “I’m not sober but I’m not drunk yet.” She told him with a smirk. “Why? Do you want me drunk, Jack?”

“Can’t have that.” Thankful that she wasn’t taking anything too personally or offensively, Jack found himself enjoying the mood that she was in. Their time together was always that of which didn’t involved too much conversation, so it was like experiencing a whole other side to Claire he didn’t know existed. “I didn’t say that, I just wanna know what I’m dealing with here,” he smirked, keeping his eyes on the girl. “How’d you get yourself roped into a blind date then?”

There were few people Nia would be okay not seeing again and in a small way, Jack was one of them. Not because of him exactly, however. But considering their past and well, her current situation, coming across Jack of all people wasn’t going to help her state of mind. It also didn’t help that this was completely unexpected and of all places to see him again, it was going to be an elevator inside some random parking garage in Wilmington, North Carolina. Easily one of the most bizarre scenarios, but hey, fate had a great way of messing with people. “Jack, hi.” She then let out when it became obvious there was no running from this. “I’d say fancy seeing you here but honestly, this is really freakin’ weird.” In an attempt to not making it completely awkward, Nia let out a small laugh and offered him a sheepish grin. “I’m uh…sort of living here. Sorta. To be determined. I don’t know.” Taking a deep breath, the woman tried to hold her composure as best as she could. The time they spent together in New York was easily one of the most passionate connections she had had with someone. It was also one of the most wrong connections too and that’s why she was feeling so tense right now. She was in the middle of the divorce and the last thing she needed was her little adulterous past to come out now. “Are you? I mean uh… do you live here or something? Cause this is weird. Right? Like..what the hell?”

The girl’s tone shifted but the uncomfortable vibe to the whole thing was still as present as it was when she accidentally spoke his name. It had been a while since he’d last seen Nia and their time together was definitely...a lot of things. He just never anticipated seeing here here, in Wilmington, in an elevator of a parking garage. “Yeah, it’s...definitely strange,” he winced, trying to let a small smile break through because she’d offered him the same. It was funny how her answer sounded like a carbon copy of what he’d been dishing out to people during his first few months back in Wilmington and he had to wonder whether she was in somewhat of a similar position to the one he’d been in. “Right,” he nodded slowly, letting the silence settle between them before Nia asked her next question. “Uh, yeah, I’m here now—have been for a few months. I kinda inherited this old gym, so...” Clearing his throat, finding the whole setup probably as unbearable as the strangers in the elevator did, Jack tried to sound a little less unnerved and more human. “Yeah, this is pretty weird. I, uh, to be honest with you, I didn’t really think I’d see you again.”

Nadia leaned forward slightly as she lifted her eyes up towards the male. “Are you going to pick one job over the other at some point?” She asked as she kept her gaze on him, pressing her lips together as she cleared her throat. “Well,” she mused with a smirk on her lips, lifting one of her hands from the table and flipping a bit of her hair. “I did get not only one but two job offers while I made people read over my resume at Bespoke this morning,” she chuckled, moving her hand underneath her chin.

“Yeah, hopefully I can just stick with the gym and leave it at that. It’s just kinda a juggling act of funds right now.” Jack admitted, shrugging his shoulders softly. It was a lot and it was pretty full on all of the time but it was all for the gym and he wouldn’t trade it now. Raising his eyebrows as Nadia let him know she had two job offers, Jack felt a smile threaten to take over his features. “Check you out. Two offers in one day?” Pointing over to her, he let his hand fall before continuing. “Well, go on, tell me what they were and if you’re gonna take one.”

‘‘I know that now, but I used to think it was real, mostly when I was younger… Not even concerned about the wrestlin’ stuff… moreso the actual storylines,’‘ Aubrey giggled, recalling a few times there were some dramatic moments in those rings. ‘’I’ll take a note of that,’’ She chuckled further, nodding in amusement. ‘’So, boxin’ when you were younger, too? Ever thought of goin’ pro, or…? Guess that’s my next question,’’ She couldn’t really admit that she understood what ‘going pro’ entailed in this case, but she also couldn’t keep her curiousity in check. She couldn’t blame Jack for not being able to answer such a prodding, profound question. After all, she could’ve kept it lighter than that but given the fact that Aubrey was that person – who liked to learn about people deeply, to understand what made them tick, it felt almost logical to try and get more out of it. ‘’I get it. It’s a tough one,’’ A good-natured smile peeped behind her cheeks as she nodded in his direction. ‘’Honestly, people might deny me on this but I do feel like places do have an effect on who you are as a person. As well as people, but that’s a story for another time. Environments, I guess is what I’m tryin’ to say. And if Wilmington’s bringin’ out the best version of yourself… that’s actually pretty great.’’ She smiled, loving to hear it. Wilmington was a special place for her, but she always thought it was because it was her hometown. Maybe that wasn’t the case. ‘’Uhhh,’’ She exhaled, pressing her lips together at his next question. ‘’I have a pretty damn great family and I always think that all I want in life is to see them happy and healthy. Like, they’re my number one, y’know? But… in reality…’’ Pausing, she wasn’t sure if she wanted him to hear it. ‘’This may sound like a selfish, terrible cliche… I want myself to be happy. Didn’t think I had that selfish string in me but as it turns out…’’ She shrugged. ‘’It’s definitely there and more prominent than ever and I think a lot of people have issues with that.’’

“I think they duped all of us when we were kids,” Jack offered, remembering how he himself believe it was all real and people walking in the ring with a microphone to air out their drama with another wrestler in front of a sold out stadium was just the norm. He could also vividly remember often acting out similar scenes with his brother but tried to block that thought out as soon as it entered. Reaching a hand up to scratch the back of his head as Aubrey questioned whether he ever considered going pro, Jack nodded his head along. “Yeah, actually. That was kinda my plan for a long time. I just kinda lost the discipline to keep up with the training and, well, stick to the whole not-punching-people-outside-of-the-ring rule.” Though he wasn’t entirely too proud of how he acted in his late teens and pretty much entirety of his twenties, Jack knew he had a better grasp on his anger now. Or, at least he was trying—he hadn’t hit anyone in Wilmington so far, so as far as he was concerned he was doing a pretty OK job. “Yeah, I guess I’m kinda figuring that out for myself. But thanks.” Entirely too thankful that Aubrey decided not to prod any further with her previous question, Jack tuned in to her answer to his fairly deep question. It was clear as day she adored her family but the more she spoke about them it let him in on just how much she would strive for them to be happy—maybe neglecting her own happiness in the process. “I don’t think it sounds selfish at all,” he admitted, shrugging his shoulders gently. “Sounds to me like you’ve spent a lot of time focusing on everyone else’s happiness. Why shouldn’t you now focus on your own? If people have a problem with that, then screw ‘em.” The advice was pretty straight up and maybe a little blunt at the end but he figured it skipped out a lot of empty words. “My turn, right? Uh...how am I doing as a prom date?” Letting his words settle for a moment, Jack finally let a small smile break through to let her know this question wasn’t as deep.

Nadia lifted her eyes up towards him from her phone as she waved her hand towards him, turning her phone face down as she leaned forward slightly. “Don’t even stress about it,” she would have waited all night but those words would never leave her lips. She glided her tongue along her lower lip as her gaze rested on him. “How are you likin’ it? Running in the entire thing?” She asked. She felt like lately they hadn’t really talked about how well he was adjusting.

Of course, he hadn’t anticipated Nadia to be furious that he was running ten minutes late but it still didn’t sit right with him to keep her waiting, so he was thankful to find that she greeted him as happy as ever. Catching her gaze, he shrugged a shoulder at her question and clasped his hands together on the table. “I mean, it’s a lot. If I’m not at the gym, I’m on another job. It’s constant but...I don’t know, seems to be working out,” he added, focusing on her. “How’s your work situation going now—did you find anything?”

Claire couldn’t help but feel her cheeks ablaze at the little mishap and how he pointed it out rather than help her out by skipping over it. “You’re such a little shit.” The brunette said with a shake of her head. “The date?” She questioned on what he was holding to her. Then again, she wasn’t sure if that’s what he meant and if she’d just make it painful for herself. “No, I’m not asking that ever again.” It would have to be left up to him since she now couldn’t live down this shame.

“Only with you,” he shrugged, letting the smirk remain for a moment longer before he decided to give Claire a break and let the whole thing drop. Usually, he wouldn’t have lingered on it but he was already a couple of drinks in and probably a little more talkative than his usual, brooding self. “Okay, well, we’ll see about that after another drink or two,” he added before spotting the bartender walking towards them. “You had a drink yet or are you completely sober right now?”

CLOSED STARTER: @levyjack​ LOCATION: Parking garage elevator, Murrayville 

“Hold that—can you please hold the elevator!” The brunette called out with a single hand in the air as she rushed from her car over to the elevator. There was a woman walking on, friendly enough to lodge her foot in front of the sensors to keep it from shutting on her. She easily could’ve just taken the next one or the stairs, but Nia was stubborn and took the opportunity to just jump on now. So she scurried over to the metal box and hopped on board with the rest. All together there were four patrons. Three women, herself included, and a gentleman in the back. Given elevator etiquette,  Nia stepped all the way to the back left corner and kept to herself. All good and well until, of course, she looked up from her spot, followed the trail of shoes up to the face of the man beside her. And that’s when it hit like a damn freight train. Standing right next to her, in a random ass elevator in a new town, was Jack freaking Levy—a man from her past she quite literally didn’t think she’d ever see again. The sight of him caused her eyes to grow wide, and as much as she didn’t want to draw attention toward her, Nia ended up thinking out loud and let his name slip from her lips and fill the elevator. Instantly, the two women in front of her looked back for a split second and Nia was stuck there in the corner, praying he didn’t notice it was her—despite the fact that she literally just said his name out loud. “Crap.” 

Having run around from one job to another in order to earn enough money to pay off the expense of fixing his truck for too much running around in the first place, Jack felt exhausted. Flitting between the gym to people’s homes/business in town was becoming tiring and the days were getting longer. This was the hardest he’d ever worked in his life but his mind wasn’t swaying more to returning to New York—he was working so hard to stay put. That was something that he’d figured out now and this was the place he would give things a real shot in. Feeling pretty dead on his feet, he sank into the empty corner over the elevator and heard a voice call out begging the woman in front of him to hold the elevator. Closing his eyes over for a minute, he could hear by the commotion that she’d made it inside and only opened his eyes again as he felt the shift beside him. The doors closed and that’s when he heard the familiar voice say his full name. Eyebrows knitting together, Jack turned to give the girl a real look and couldn’t have been more surprised by who he found. Was everyone just migrating from New York to Wilmington? “Nia...hey?” he replied, keeping his eyes fixed on hers. “What are you doing here?

‘‘I’ve never seen that movie. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen any arm wrestlin’ movies. As far as wrestlin’ goes… I’d say my knowledge extends to what I catch on WWE Monday Night’s Raw, that’s about it.’‘ She knew better than to think that was real, of course, staged entertainment managed to buid up a whole empire, but it was truly the only wrestling Aubrey had ever seen. ‘‘A fan of Stallone… huh. Interestin’. Usually people go for Rocky, but… guess not you?’’ She raised her eyebrows, almost inquisitively but careful as to not make it sound like a regular question. Nodding along, Aubrey confirmed his comments. ‘’I was, yes.’’ Biting on the inside of her cheek, she didn’t want to bring the overall mood down by bringing up the car accident, although that was the initial spark. ‘’Honestly, it was a mix of things… let’s just say that, there’s some things in life that happen that eventually feel like they’d opened your eyes wide and clear, and– I guess I didn’t feel like I belonged in that line of profession anymore. I needed somethin’… more. Somethin’ excitin’… and that didn’t make me smell like garlic every time I got off work.’’ She chuckled, but the truth was really that although she enjoyed it, it simply wasn’t enough anymore. ‘’Okay, okay… my turn.’’ She paused the walk itself right before a gazebo, decorated with some nice fairy lights. ‘’What are you passionate about?’’ Realizing it might’ve been a little vague, she continued. ‘’And I mean– what do you most enjoy in life? What gets you all giddy, y’know? It’s like, the one thing, or place, or even a person, that makes the blood rushin’ and where you feel at your best.’’

“That’s the staged stuff,” Jack smirked, taking a sip of his drink as they continued to move onwards. Raising his eyebrows and turning to her the most enthusiastic as he’d been all evening, he was quick to correct her assumption. “Oh, no, don’t get me wrong, Rocky’s my favorite—hence me boxing when I was younger. Over The Top’s my favorite terrible movie. Rocky’s just a classic. But yeah, big Stallone fan, as you can probably tell now.” It was the most he’d spoken all evening and he felt the strong urge to laugh at the fact that it was all brought on by his love for Sylvester Stallone. As Aubrey answered his next question, Jack sensed a shift in her tone and sincerely hoped that he hadn’t touched a nerve with that seemingly innocent one. Remaining silent, he kept his eyes trained on the girl as she explained herself and listened to the answer. It was fair enough—it was actually pretty admirable that she took the steps to change how her life was going. “Yeah, garlic’s a dealbreaker,” he smirked, pausing as she did, hearing her next question come. It was a difficult one for him to answer and as Aubrey continued with it he tried to think about certain times in his life where he could have felt that way. He thought of Nadia and being sixteen but couldn’t pinpoint another specific time. “Honestly, um...I don’t know, that’s a hard one for me,” he admitted, keeping his eyes down. “I guess I struggle with that a little. I don’t know, this place probably gets the best version of myself, which...still isn’t great but I’m working on it.” Clearing his throat, he tried to shift the conversation along so to not linger on that one. “What do you want? Like, more than anything.”

“And those fuckers sure as hell know that I will buy more, because this shit’s addictive.” Tyler spoke, still annoyed by the whole situation, even if there really wasn’t much that could be fixed. “Then we’re completely fucked. That’s great.” He groaned. “Is a double shot even enough? If this is single shot, then the whole thing’s a joke.”

The annoyance was clear in the guy’s tone but Jack could hardly blame him for that. “Two shots in an Americano, I think,” he offered, not exactly a barista with an abundance of knowledge. “That seems to do the trick for me.” Smirking as he continued to rant on, Jack reached for his own coffee and took a sip. “You’re pretty passionate about your coffee, huh?”

Don’t be a dick and avoid the gossip grapevine. Truly those were two rules that applied for just an easy life, but she understood his sentiment. Life was very different in the small fishbowl that Wilmington could be. Back in the city they could bounce from bar to bar and get kicked out of as many as they could and no one would so much as blink an eye. Here though it was a different game. Publicly aired breakdowns earned whispers and people never quite shook off the stain of it – she was pretty certain that both the Taylor sisters would agree with her on that one. “I keep my head down” Penelope shrugged, taking another cautious sip from the mug. That didn’t mean that she hadn’t gained somewhat of a reputation around town, but that reputation was for hard drinking and it wasn’t like she could deny that – there wasn’t a bar tender in town that hadn’t scraped her off the bar and put her in an Uber at least once. “Yeah I guess it has” the redhead conceded with a brief nod. “It’s nice though in its own way. Settling, putting down roots-” she paused, for a second, contemplating how much things had changed in those few years. “It’s not a death sentence I guess is what I’m trying to say. It’s different from the city yeah, but it’s got its own charm. And-” at her words, her lips quirked up into a small grin “-it’s nice to have you around here. I’d miss you if you went back”

The Penelope Bradley that Jack had known could hold her own and didn’t really care much for what anyone else thought and that’s what he liked about her. Seeing her in Wilmington a little further down the line kind of felt like a blessing in disguise—she was someone from his past who had successfully put her own mark on Wilmington without having to compromise or change too much of herself. Was she calmer than the girl he knew? Yeah. Did it change he significantly? No. That was what he kept in mind as she spoke—they were older now and growing into themselves but they didn’t necessarily have to change to fit in here—the change just came naturally. Taking another sip of coffee as she continued, Jack nodded his head slowly and felt a small smile creep upon his features as she concluded; having not expected that. “I’m glad you’re here. I think it’d be a lot harder navigating through all of this if you weren’t,” he admitted quite openly for who he was. “Plus, you know, who’s gonna keep you from getting all cheesy and sentimental around here? Can’t leave you now, can I?”

she huffed out a laugh, wondering how the guy could be so nonchalant about it all. not that it had been something worth getting incredibly upset over, but Madison had never been able to simmer down that quickly. at his words though her eyes lit up, sitting straighter on her stool. “really?! New York?!” there were plenty of people from the city, but it was still surprising to find in the small town. “god, it’s only been a week and I miss that place already.”

Raising his eyebrows as the tone of the conversation quickly shifted into one that was more much engaged, Jack watched as the girl reacted to the news of him being from New York—it sounded like she knew it pretty damn well herself. “Yeah,” he nodded slowly, listening to her as she continued. “Are you from there, too? What brings you here of all places?”

Claire couldn’t help but snort at him. “I don’t stare at the back of your head a lot, Jack.” She said with a roll of her eyes as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. He spoke next and her brow furrowed almost immediately. “Ugly frog? Please, I would have preferred to be a date with you than this Frankie no show.” She laughed, cheeks ablaze once she realized her words might be taken more seriously. “Not that… I think we would. I mean, it’s not typically our relationsh…” Her head shook as she scrubbed her face. “I’ll stop while I’m ahead and get the drinks. You can get the next round.” Her finger pointed out, almost daring him to defy her.

“Yeah, that’s true.” Jack added, smirking a little as he watched Claire roll her eyes in response. The amusement only grew as the girl became more frantic as she dug herself into a hole that she couldn’t seem to navigate herself out of. Of course, Jack knew she didn’t mean it seriously but if was kind of funny to watch her mini freakout. “I think that’s a wise choice. Alright, alright, I’m holding you to that,” leaning against the bar he tried to wave down the bartender. “You better ask quick before you accidentally ask me out again.” 

Kip had told Steph he would bring home dinner after a meeting with work. He had been planning to go back to work soon and wanted to get as much time in with Steph and Parker as he could before that happened. He had the food in his hands when he heard someone ask him a question. He turned to face where the voice was coming from and he offered a smile as she shifted the food to his other hand and reached into his pocket, grabbing his phone from it and held it out for the other to grab. “Here you go, Everything alright? Anything I can help with?”

Jack was fully prepared for the guy to turn around and tell him to get lost—his hands were pretty full, after all—but once he was underestimating the kindness of people in this town. “Thanks, man.” Dialling in a number for a tow company, he jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “I don’t know, you good with cars? My truck decided to give out, I think. Just won’t start.” Hanging fire on pressing dial, he raised the phone to his ear and kept his focus on the helpful stranger.

A lot.

“What the fuck kind of trick is that? Make my money disappear?” Tyler grumbled, still annoyed as his cup had become empty so soon. he looked around, his frown deepening when he realized that the barista was far too occuppied to take his order straight away. “I’m never buying this again. Who the fuck is so willing to buy so much for so little coffee?”

“Absolutely. They’ll hike the prices up when they know you’ll want more.” Jack added, having always believed that cafes could pretty much commit daylight robbery for a profit. “Caffeine deprived people like you and me,” he added, gesturing between them. “Order a double shot next time and call it a day.”

[ time skip ]

Nadia had gone into the diner and found their booth. It took her a few minutes of glancing it over and letting the memories hit her before she slipped into it. She adjusted herself in the seat, putting her bag next to her. She turned and dug into her bag, pulling out her phone and moving it in front of her as she opened an app and started to look through it.

There was always one wise guy who tried to push his limit and stay past gym closing time—taking even longer to get out of the lockerroom. So, of course, Jack was now running late and the last thing he wanted to do was keep Nadia waiting. After parking up, he quickly jogged inside and found the girl waiting for him at their old regular spot. “Hey,” he piped up, moving over to slid into the booth facing hers. “Sorry I’m late, people love taking their time when I’m trying to close up.”