Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Spoilers: "100"
Summary: "I'd be worse off without you."
Jack ran as fast as he could to the dress rehearsals just in time to grab the pen out of Liz's hand.
"Lemon, don't sign those papers!" he yelled.
Liz looked at him with a frustrated look.
"What are you doing here?"
Dennis quickly stole the paper from Jack and put it in front of Liz.
"Just sign it, dummy. It's for some lez pants you bought or whatever," he said.
Jack grabbed the paper from Dennis and ripped it into pieces.
"You tricked me!" Liz said to Dennis.
"You wanna fight, Donaghy?" Dennis yelled.
Jack looked at him weirdly and chuckled.
"Are you sure, Dennis? I have three other versions of me upstairs and I'm not afraid to bring them up here."
Dennis scoffed.
"Go ahead. I can take them."
Liz looked at him with a disgusted face.
"Go," Jack and Liz simultaneously said.
"You'll be back, dummy!" he yelled.
Liz turned around to face Jack and thank him, but before she could do that, Jenna walked towards them with a very swollen stomach. Was Jenna pregnant?, thought Liz.
This was gonna be a long day.
**
When they got Tracy back, everyone started writing and hurrying.
"Come on, people! We have a show to air!" Liz kept yelling. She was scared. The cue cards looked horrible and no one was prepared. There was no sanity whatsoever in the room.
Suddenly, Liz had an idea. It was a crazy idea, but it was probably the only way. She looked at Jack and he knew what she was thinking. He nodded in approval.
"Just keep it! Everyone get ready."
Liz ran to where the source of the gas leak was and tried to bust the pipe. It finally busted open with gas and Liz started thinking funny.
"I should tell Jack about my foot problem," Liz said as she walked back to the room.
30 minutes into the show, everyone was laughing. The show made no sense, yet it had people laughing and rolling on the floor...literally.
Hank Hooper walked to where Jack and Liz were.
"This is hilarious! I'm giving you a million more episodes!" he said, before they all busted out laughing again.
Liz finally looked at Jack.
"Jack," she said.
He turned to look at her with those blue eyes that got her every time.
"Yes, Lemon?" he replied calmly.
"I was wrong about Dennis. You're the ONLY guy that never left me no matter what."
Jack smiled at her.
"Lemon," Jack said.
"Yes, Jack?"
Liz looked at him with her innocent face. Jack always loved that about her. He loved how they had no secrets and how he could be himself around her without business getting in the way. He loved how she never hesitated to tell him something, like she was his listening box. He loved how she would always go with him to special events. Avery never bothered to go, so he always took Liz with him.
"I'd be worse off without you," he said to her.
Liz chuckled and pretended to hold a glass of wine in her hand as Jack did the same. They clinked their "glasses" and "drank" their wine.
"To a million more episodes!" Liz yelled.
"What do you say we get some more drinks up in my office?" Jack asked her.
"What, right now? I can't. I'm in a middle of a show."
"Lemon, we are suffering from a gas leak right now. No one cares what they do. Plus, Pete is here. He'll cover for you right, Hornberger?"
Pete smiled and nodded.
Liz thought about it for a moment.
"Okay!" she finally said.
Jack grabbed her arm and ran to the elevator.
The elevator ride from the sixth floor to the fifty-second floor was awkward.
"Soo," Liz said, trying to break the ice.
"Soo," Jack repeated, moving closer to her.
"What's all this about?" Liz whispered.
"Maybe we should just take a deep breath and both say our ideas out loud."
They both took a deep breath (next to where the gas thing was) and calmly tried to tell each other their ideas. It didn't work. No words came out from the both of them because they were so nervous of what the other was going to say.
Jack scooted a little closer to Liz, slowly entwining his fingers with hers.
"What are we doing?" Liz whispered.
"I don't know, but I just wanted to say sorry for earlier. Your hand isn't flaky. In fact, it's soft and...and comforting."
Liz chuckled.
"Thanks, buddy."
Buddy, Jack thought. That was all Jack was to her; a buddy.
The elevator doors dinged, signaling them that they were on Jack's floor.
Liz smiled and exited the elevator first.
**
Future Jack looked at Present Jack with Present Liz. He chuckled as Liz accidentally fell on top of Jack. That was where it all began.
"Oh, god. I'm sorry," Liz said, chuckling.
Being high on gas and drinking wine was not a good combination.
Jack smirked.
"Today would be a good time to get off of me, Lemon."
"Oh. Right."
For the next hour or two, they did nothing but drink and tell each other things they haven't told anyone before.
"Favorite wife?" Liz asked him.
Jack chuckled.
"I've only had two, Lemon. I'm still currently married right now."
"I know. Pick your favorite."
"Hmm...I would have to say I hated Bianca. There was never any love. I like my second wife better. She's really nice and she takes good care of my daughter. I look forward to the hours I spend with my wife. That, and she has very beautiful brown hair."
Liz thought about it for a minute. It can't be her. Avery must've dyed her hair brown. Ugh.
"Avery must look good with brown hair, then," Liz said shyly.
Jack looked confused, but it suddenly hit him that he was telling Liz his feelings for her, but she didn't have a clue at all.
"What happened when you were in middle school?" Jack asked her.
"Oh, god. When I was in sixth grade, everybody loved me. I swear, I was probably starting to be popular. That summer, everyone started hating me. My best friend, Olivia, told me she hated me and never talked to me again. In seventh grade, she said that she was sorry and tried being friends with me again. That didn't work at all. She just used me to get her homework done. I had a rough middle school year. What about you?"
Jack looked shocked, but then he realized it was his turn to speak.
"Oh...the usual. In seventh grade, I had my first actual girlfriend. Her name was Joanna. I actually stole her from her previous boyfriend, Harvey. I don't know why I'm remembering all these names. I guess it must be the gas. Anyway, it was good. They called us Joanna and Pinky. They called me Pinky because I broke my pinky when I was throwing a football."
Liz smirked.
"How did that relationship go?"
"It lasted about two months." He coughed. "I was a nerd in middle school, though," Jack quickly managed to mumble.
Liz looked amused.
"Were you now?" she asked.
Jack nodded.
"Explain."
Liz grabbed another bottle of wine and listened to Jack's story.
This was going to be a long night.
TBC.
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