This is my first thing like this EVER so please donāt slime me out if this is ass
This is an AU where Pope moved to Pittsburg and became Jack Abbot š
MAJOR SPOILERS FOR ANIMAL KINGDOM SEASON 4 FINALE!!
Everyone in the Pitt knows that Jack Abbot takes the same 3 days off every year with no question.
Sure, he takes sick days and vacations, but there are 3 days where he goes completely off the map. Unreachable.
One of the days is the anniversary of his Wifeās death.
The second day is the anniversary of the death of his mother.
He tells people they both died of cancer, which is only half true. His wife died of cancer. Slow, painful, quiet. A death she didnāt deserve.
His mother? She died quick, painless. A death she didnāt deserve either. Screaming cut off with a single gunshot through the head. Jack knows she deserved to die, knows she was horrible. Heās tried so hard to move on, and separate his old life in California from his new one in Pittsburg. Still, it hurts. He hates how it affects him, how people can tell his mood changes when the time comes around. So he just takes the day off. Every year he has the same thought about trying to find Deran, or Craig, or even J- but he never does.
The third day is a mystery. June 27th. Nobody, not even Robby, knows why he goes off grid. People have asked him over the years, of course. Ellis, Shen, Lena- even some nosy day shifters like Perlah and Princess. He gives them all the same response. A quirked smile, a wink, and a playful comment about āa man never sharing his secretsā.
Like clockwork, June 27th comes around, and Jack wakes up at 5:30PM on the dot with no alarm. He always does. Old habits die hard. Usually, he starts getting ready as soon as he wakes up, and gets to work half an hour early, at exactly 6:30PM. Today though, he lays in bed, staring up at the popcorn ceiling of his bedroom.
A couple deep breaths later, he stands up, and gets ready. Pulls on a pair of Jeans. A Black polo shirt. He looks in the bathroom mirror, and runs his hands through his hair. Itās greyed now, a far cry from the brown curls of his youth. Still, as he looks in the mirror, he starts to see Andrew instead of Jack.
Itās Andrew who walks out of the house and down the street. Itās Andrew who strolls into the store, and buys a single slice of cake. Itās Andrew, who pays in cash.
Itās Andrew, who sits down at his kitchen table in the dark, placing two candles on top of the slice of cake and lighting it with a match.
He cups his hand around one of the candles, protecting it as he blows out the other one. Finally, he leans back in his chair, looking at the remaining candle as it burns.
Eventually, the flame goes out.
He grabs the plate, tossing the entire slice into the trash, untouched. He leans onto the kitchen counter beside the bin, closing his eyes and bowing his head. His voice is quiet and strained as he finally mutters into the dark.
āHappy birthday, Julia.ā
Anyways uhhh I hope you enjoyed. Again, Iāve never done anything like this so-
If you see any mistakes no you didnāt š
Pope means so much to me ššš
I have more little fics like this planned so depending if people think this is good or not I will keep writing.
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