five times smiled for zahara bitchass
five times smiled / no longer accepting / @brewalone
ONE. he’s a year above her in all of his classes, and he knows that might cause at least half a problem, but that doesn’t really stop jarrod from pining occasionally sneaking a glance at the absolutely GORGEOUS girl with the same lunch period as him. he tries to be LOWKEY - because, goddamn it, he’s not a creep, he’s just got eyes, and they function well enough for him to know that this girl is beautiful. the first time she catches him staring, she gives him a small wave, raising her eyebrows ever so slightly before turning back to whatever work she’s doing in that “thick fuckin’ textbook” ( according to kenny, the linguist ). he swoons, dopey GRIN frozen on his face - right up until kenny smacks him in the back of the head for being “too damn soft for his own good”. ( he doesn’t stop smiling for the rest of the day. )
TWO. jarrod invites everyone to his football games, but this specific invite feels different. it’s definitely not a DATE, because he basically asked her to come watch him “kick some staten island tech ASS”, which earned him a slightly painful pat on the back from kenny, but it was definitely worth it. he’s got the football under his arm, running for the goalpost, trailed by three - no, four members of staten island’s defensive line. the student section of the bleachers is almost indistinguishable amidst all of the lights, but that hair is absolutely unmistakable. he shoots zeph a toothy smile - very charming with the bright orange mouth guard - about to wave at her when he’s driven directly into the ground by the defensive tackle. he’ll have to go back to the clinic tomorrow for the way his shoulder twists at the hit, but right now, it’s absolutely worth it.
THREE. jag knows that zahara cares about him. she’s proven it more than enough - she tended to his awful wounds after all of that torture, and she let him RAMBLE about loving her while he was woozy and disoriented without much protest. ( which would be really nice to think about if jag actually REMEMBERED that. ) the bandages she initially applied to his chest have since been removed, which may have been against zahara’s wishes just a little, but jag was getting really itchy, and it was DAMN NEAR unbearable. despite the chill in the air, he’s kept his shirt off, mostly under the pretense that “he’s just that handsome” - it’s definitely nothing to do with how badly his chest aches every time something so much as brushes against the fresh wounds. he catches zahara glancing at the burns and cracks a halfhearted smile, wiggling his eyebrows at her. “i know, z, i’m pretty damn good-looking.” she heaves a sigh, shaking her head, and his smile grows a bit into something more genuine. there’s the zahara he knows.
FOUR. it’s absolutely clear to see that zahara hasn’t been sleeping. she looks and sounds exhausted - which, of course, jag wouldn’t point out, because he’s not a dick, and she’s still BEAUTIFUL, but he’s worried. he tries not to let that concern shine through when she takes his offer for him to help her sleep - he has about two hours worth of knowledge about golf that he thinks will put her right to sleep. he plops down next to her, throwing his arm around her shoulders, deciding against making any sort of comment when she puts her head on his shoulder. instead, he smiles softly, rubbing her back lightly with his palm. “so,” he begins, “golf originated from a primitive stick and ball game in scotland in the 15th century…” ( he fades off at the sixteenth century, resting his head against the wall behind the both of them so he can get some rest as well. )
FIVE. jag has said “i love you” to zahara more times than he can count - it’s not that he’s expecting a response, or some sort of compensation for his troubles, or any STUPID thing like that - he just likes to be absolutely certain that she KNOWS how much he loves her. he says he loves her like it’s easy, because it is, and he knows that no matter how hard he tries, he’s not ever going to love anyone more than he loves zahara - twenty-five years and he’s never ONCE grown tired of her. ( she might have grown tired of him - definitely more than once, maybe enough times to compensate for the both of them, but he doesn’t mind. she can be tired of him and his persistence as long as it makes her smile even occasionally. ) his “i love you”s certainly don’t hold any meaning, it’s just that he can say he loves zahara and hardly even think about it - it’s almost second nature at this point. so, to say he’s a BIT caught off guard when she replies to him with an “i love you, too” - no ifs, ands, or buts - his heart stops. he almost wants to ask her to REPEAT it, because the words sound so gorgeous in her voice that they’re only comparable to masterfully composed music, but he doesn’t want to jinx it, and he’s starting to feel a little dizzy, because he might not be breathing, and the words “i love you” in zahara’s voice are twisting around in his head, and it’s all a little overwhelming. so he just laughs, and that comes out more like a sob, and he smacks his hand over his mouth so he won’t EMBARRASS himself any further. when he pulls his hand away, he’s not thinking about embarrassing himself, though - he’s not thinking about his teeth being crooked, or the awkward way that his nose scrunches up ( and how much he HATES that ), or how long he’s waited for this. he’s just smiling. and he feels so high that he may NEVER come down.