Huckleberry's era

Robby: Jack:

Thorin, eager to woo Bilbo as best as he can, overhears a conversation between the hobbit and the other dwarves and discovers that it's common for hobbits to express their feelings with flowers.

So Thorin collects the most beautiful and fragrant flowers he finds during their adventure, and one evening, after deciding the bouquet is suitable, he gives it to Bilbo.

The hobbit looks at the flowers, then at Thorin, then back at the flowers.

"Do you know what these mean?" Bilbo asks, no emotion in his words.

"Yes," says Thorin, because he's not stupid; obviously he gives the flowers to Bilbo because he knows they're a hobbit's courtship gift!

Bilbo wrinkles his nose and raises his chin.

"Well, then, I'm glad you expressed your feelings, Thorin Oakenshield. I thought we were on good terms, even friends, but apparently I was wrong. I won't bother you again for the rest of the journey."

He turns, his shoulders shaking slightly, and walks away from the dwarf without deigning to look at him again.

When Gandalf, far too amused, explains that the beautiful flowers Thorin picked and gave to Bilbo can be translated as "hatred," "contempt," and "boredom," Thorin will have to do everything he can to redeem himself in his beloved's eyes.

Dude, I'M GOING TO KIL-

Dennis—who had bought new clothes specifically for their anniversary dinner, which Robby and Jack had apparently forgotten about—reading the message while already dressed to go out:

But with Jack, oh, Jack is different, because Dennis has always seen him as the nice one, the one who responds to Robby's insults and moods with sarcastic retorts, the one who winks at him from afar and always seems so... calm.

So when one day, for the first time, Dennis comes home with Robby and sleeps in their house, he doesn't expect Jack to be angry when he wakes up in the morning and sees him fresh from the night shift.

He comes up behind him, walking on tiptoe, before wrapping his arms around his body.

He almost screams when Jack whips around, pumping a fist in the air and looking at Dennis through tight lips.

He pulls back, taking two steps back and looking into the man's green eyes.

Jack's chest rises and falls rapidly before he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He lowers his fist, returning to heating up something to eat without deigning Dennis another glance.

“Why are you here?” he asks, sharp and mean; he's never heard him like that, with anyone, not with overly rude patients, not with Gloria.

“Uh—Robby asked me to spend the night here, and I—”

“Well, shit, I thought it was basic knowledge not to sneak up on a veteran like that, maybe I was wrong.” He almost throws the spoon into the sink, the sound of metal clattering against metal making Dennis shiver.

"Go back to bed. At least when I eat, I want to be left alone." He sits down at the table, starting to bite into his breakfast (dinner? Lunch?) before the plate even touches the table.

And Dennis stands there, like an idiot, because he knows how to behave with Robby, he's learned it by now, but Jack? He didn't expect to be treated like this, not by the man who always whispered to him how lucky they were to have found him and—

"Are you deaf or something?" he continues, his voice a little higher and hoarse.

With a squeak, Dennis turns, almost running toward the bedroom where Robby is still asleep, hiding under the covers and cuddling up to the other man like a child.

He sighs when he feels the other's arms around him, but his heart is pounding too fast for him to fall asleep; he's just happy they both have the day off.

Around lunchtime, when they've both woken up and Jack has caught up on his sleep, the silver-haired man walks into the living room yawning, sitting next to Dennis while the boy is busy reading a book.

"Hey," he whispers, putting an arm around his shoulders and kissing his cheek.

"Sorry about earlier, it was a shitty shift and I was tired. It won't happen again." He buries his nose in Dennis's curls, breathing slowly, and starts talking to Dennis again. His Jack is back.

He tries to ignore the strange feeling in his stomach, he just hopes Jack isn't lying.

"Don't you dare—" Dennis hissed, pushing the man as the first drops of the storm began to fall.

"Don't you dare make excuses, Jack Abbot, I fucking loved you, I loved you so much it hurt, and you—you abandoned me and married a woman."

He bit his lip so hard it bled, but he didn't care.

Because in front of him was the only man who had ever made his heart skip a beat, the same man who'd left behind a kiss and a promise to return only to never do so.

When Dennis saw the news in the paper of Navy Captain Jack Abbot's marriage to a woman whose name he'd never heard, he cried for hours in his room, clutching in his grief.

"I abandoned you?!" Jack asked, as a clap of thunder made Dennis jump.

“I've been writing to you for days, months! A letter a day for a whole year, and I've never received a reply!”

Jack screamed, the pouring rain soaking his hair and skin, his fists clenched in pain and anger.

“What?” Dennis asked, his words lost in the lightning and heavy raindrops.

“Are you trying to pretend I didn't do it?” Jack looked exasperated now, raising his arms before letting them fall to his sides.

“I never—” he felt his stomach tighten.

“I never got any letters.”