I’m sorry, but I just have to make a post about that last diamond scene in Chapter 11, OH2 cuz it’s literal perfection and can’t get it out of my head. (I’m writing as someone who’s playing as F!MC and is romancing Jackie but I think most things apply to the other LIs.)
This scene despite having to spend 25 diamonds and being rather short, I think it was the best diamond scene I’ve ever read in any LI x MC scene. It was beautifully heartbreaking and I’ve never seen PB write any scene like this. No sex, no kisses, no sickeningly sweet and cute dialogues or actions, just two people being with each other in the moment and yet, they managed to portray them in a way that shows that they deeply care for each other.
Jackie staying behind and MC seeing tears in her eyes, MC regretting that she might not ever be able to kiss Jackie or feel her heartbeat ever again, Jackie reassuring her, trying to convince her that she will. The realisation and admitting to MC that she is the most important thing to Jackie and them holding onto each other. Not to mention that everything Jackie does and says in this chapter is her. There’s not a line written for someone else that they were too lazy to change, it was all Jackie.
PB perfectly captured the tragic, intense, intimate and emotional interaction between two characters, one on their deathbed. They just want to spend their possible last moment together despite not being able to touch and hold each other, skin-to-skin so they have to make do with what they can but MC is terrified she’ll never feel Jackie’s skin again.
So she kisses Jackie’s hand through the glove, desperate for some kind of contact with her, wanting to feel her. Knowing that Jackie felt that kiss, even if it was just a little, MC was at peace with that. They couldn’t feel each other and touch each other properly but they could still hold onto each other as they slept and that was enough because it had to be.
The comfort MC must have felt, being waken up to stabbing pain but having Jackie be there to reassure her that she was alright. The relieve between the two of them when they found out MC was going to be alright. You could feel it in the way this entire scene was written because it was written incredibly.
Requested fic by anon. (If you have any fic ideas or requests you'd like me to write, you can leave me an ask!)
Book: Open Heart 2, (after) Chapter 15
Pairing: Jackie Varma x f!MC (Casey Valentine)
Genre: Fluff
Rating: PG13
Word Count: 3,145
A/N: Jackie has something special planned for MC. Okay ngl, I STRUGGLED with this one. Idk why but I did so I’m sorry if it’s not the best but dw, there’ll be more hopefully better Jackie x MC fics in the future! Also @playchoices make MC and their LI official challenge.
Tag list: @ineedskyecrandall @kamilahsayeet2063 @avalawrencefl @lovekamilahsayeed @thequeenkamilahsayeed @heygmicheelle @djtjsmith14 @jjlover01 @soft-for-drake @dopeyouth @alexroyard @satrinadia @toalltheboysididntlove @mypegasifly @samanthadalton @playallthechoices @queensayeed (lmk if anyone would like to be included or removed in my next fics and if you only want to be tagged for certain pairings.)
"Do you know what's up with Jackie?" I asked Sienna and Elijah while we had brunch together at the dining table. Aurora and Jackie were at work but we were off today. "She's been a little jumpy lately."
They looked at each other then back at me.
"I mean I know she had that whole thing with Panacea Labs but I don't know... this feels... different," I explained further. "She won't even tell me what's wrong!"
Elijah let out a cough while Sienna just ate her cereal quietly, suddenly very interested in the little loops floating in milk.
I squinted at them. "You both know something."
Elijah looked away, not wanting to face me but Sienna's head shot up and her eyes widened.
"What? Of course not!" she exclaimed defensively. "Why would we? Right, Elijah?"
She chuckled nervously and I heard her murmur, 'oh god' under her breath. Elijah glared at Sienna and whispered to her 'shhh!'.
"I'm right here!" I threw my arms up in disbelief. "If you guys know something, you better spill! And don't even try lying to me."
"Okay, yeah we know something," Elijah admitted and Sienna gazed at him worriedly. "But we can't tell you, I'm sorry."
"Why not?" I questioned, feeling myself get annoyed. "I'm worried for her, I've never seen Jackie so on edge and it's stressing me out!"
"She's planning to take you out tonight!" Sienna blurted then immediately covered her mouth with her hands.
"Sienna!" Elijah shouted.
"What?" Sienna screamed back. "She was gonna find out eventually! Jackie's gonna call her anytime now!"
And just like magic, my phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Casey," I heard Jackie say nonchalantly. "What's up?"
"Just having brunch with Sienna and Elijah." I shot them a glare and saw them shrink a little in their seats. "Did you need anything?"
"Uh, yeah, actually," she replied awkwardly. "How do you feel about dinner?"
"I have strong feelings about it," I joked. "I don't have it every day but it is pretty important."
I heard her scoff on the other side and I could almost see her eye roll and smile. "I meant with me, doofus."
"Dr. Jackie Varma," I said dramatically. "Are you asking me out on a date?"
"God, I'm regretting it already."
She wasn't.
"That wasn't an answer," I teased.
"Hypothetically, if I were to ask you to put on something nice and get ready by 7 for me to fetch you to take you out for dinner, would you?" she avoided the question and I couldn't help the grin forming on my face.
"Hypothetically, of course!"
"So I'll see you at 7?"
"I thought you said it was hypothetical?" I messed with her.
"Oh my god," she groaned. "You're such a dork, I'll see you later."
I laughed at her frustration. "Alright, alright, bye, have a good day at work."
We hung up and I turned to find Sienna and Elijah looking at me cautiously.
"But I don't get why she's been jumpy, we've been out for dinner together before," I stated, confused.
The only response I got was Elijah shrugging while Sienna covered her mouth.
I narrowed my eyes at them. "Is there anything else you want to tell me?"
"No! Of course not!" Sienna squealed in a voice that was higher than usual.
Obviously, I didn't believe them but I decided to let them off the hook.
"Fine, I'll figure it out myself. But at least just tell me Jackie is alright. Tell me nothing bad happened."
"Nothing like that!" Sienna said immediately.
"She's fine, don't worry about it." That was Elijah.
"Okay. Okay, that's all I need to know."
They were visibly relieved that I dropped the subject but I couldn't help but wonder, what the hell was going on?
~*~*~
It was just before 7p.m. and I was touching up my make up. I leaned back and looked at myself in the mirror to make sure I was presentable.
I was wearing a black body-con mini dress with a plunging neckline that was covered in sequins, making it glitter. My makeup was done to perfection and so was my hair.
I turned to admire my reflection and you know what? Screw presentable.
I looked amazing!
I heard the doorbell ring and I grabbed my purse, rushing out to answer it.
I saw Elijah and Sienna sitting on the couch in the living room watching TV. I remembered him saying something to Sienna about showing her this action series he's been into during brunch but my mind was still too busy on Jackie to be focusing.
"Oh my gosh!" Sienna shouted when she saw me. "You look great!"
"You planning to make Jackie pass out?" Elijah joked.
"Thanks, guys," I laughed and grinned, moving to answer the door.
I opened it and there she stood, the woman I came to care for, who's always had my back and been there for me through thick and thin. The woman I adored and was the most important person to me in the world, staring at me as if she's be struck by lightning.
And I was sure I was looking at her the same way.
She was wearing a dazzling dark blue halter neck dress that ended mid-thighs, showing off her body. The collar was covered in rhinestones and she wore a bracelet to match.
Her hair was in her usual chignon style while her makeup highlighted her already strikingly beautiful features.
Jackie looked gorgeous!
"Damn," she whispered. Her wide eyes started to smoulder and her slightly agape mouth turned into a grin. She bit her lip.
She sauntered up to me and slid her hands to my waist, eyes running up and down my figure and finally landing on my chest. I shivered under her touch and gaze.
"You cleaned up good."
"Are you talking to me or my boobs?" I laughed and she dragged her eyes up to mine, offering me a mischievous smile.
Her hand grabbed onto the back of my neck and she pulled me into a kiss. Our lips met in passionate haste. Her other hand roamed my back as mine rested against her hips. I felt the familiar butterflies start to flutter in the pit of my stomach when she kissed me.
We pulled away when we heard Sienna shout, "Not again! Please!"
We burst out laughing against each other's lips and decided to stop traumatising the poor girl.
"Hey, Sienna, Elijah," Jackie greeted them, peering into our apartment.
They greeted her back and before we could walk away to head to her car, Sienna shouted, "Have fun! Good luck!"
Jackie shut the door in a hurry and placed a hand on the small of my back, leading me away from our apartment.
"Good luck?" I looked at Jackie questioningly. "What for?"
Jackie shrugged her shoulders. "Who knows with that girl."
My brows creased skeptically but once again, brush it off. Maybe she was right.
When we made it to her car, she stopped me.
"Wait, I got something for you." She opened the back door of her car and pulled out a bouquet of sunflowers. She presented them to me, avoiding eye contact and said, "Here."
"Aww, Jackie! This is so sweet!" My heart melted at the sight.
"Yeah, yeah, you're welcome," she murmured.
I accepted them and stepped closer to her. "Aw, you're embarrassed too!"
"I'm not!" she huffed and I giggled, placing a hand on her cheek to direct her gaze to meet mine.
Her skin burned under my touch. Yup, she was definitely blushing.
"You're so cute," I said and gave her a peck on the cheek.
"Not exactly my brand," she said with a sly grin. "But I'll take it."
She opened the passenger's seat door for me and I ushered me in, me still holding the bouquet.
She closed the door behind me and got into the driver's side. She started the engine and pulled out of the car park.
Throughout the entire car ride, Jackie was jittery. I noticed her fingers drumming against the steering wheel which I've come to learn meant that she was nervous even if her face was stoic.
"You okay?" I asked her worriedly.
"Oh, yeah," she said mindlessly and turned the corner.
"If you say so," I said quietly and the rest of the ride was silent until we reached our destination.
Jackie parked a few blocks away so we had to walk to the restaurant. Once again, she opened the door for me and this time, offered me her arm hesitantly.
To say I was shocked was an understatement. It was definitely a pleasant surprise but this was way out of Jackie's character, I wasn't even sure if this was the same woman.
Wordlessly, I looped my arm around hers as we made our way to dinner, trying to neutralise my surprised expression.
We stopped in front of a grand restaurant which definitely looked like a meal here cost more than our rent.
"Jackie!" I turned to her. "We're having dinner here?"
"Yeah, is it too much?" she asked hurriedly. "If it is, we can just go somewhere simpler."
"No! No, it's just that, can we afford this?"
Jackie's face fell into relief. "Oh, don't worry about it, I've been saving up for a while now." She bit her lip and she lead me into the building. "Also the parents of one of my patients owns the place and they said they'd give me a discount but that's not important," she said jokingly with a smile.
I let out a laugh as Jackie checked our reservations with the maître d'. A waiter lead us to our table and we took our seats.
We opened the menus and after a while, Jackie said, "Okay, I have no idea what any of these are."
"Me neither," I giggled, trying to make out some of the words. "I think this one is... duck?"
"How sure are you?"
"Not at all."
We laughed and Jackie spoke.
"Alright, alright, why don't I randomly pick something for you, just tell me when to stop."
She ran her finger up and down the menu.
"Stop!" Jackie stopped her finger and squinted at the menu item her finger landed on. "What is it?"
"As if I know," she replied laughing. "You'll find out later."
I did the same for her and after we ordered when the waiter returned, I asked, "So was this outfit what you were sneaking out in that garment bag this morning?"
"You saw that?" She gave me a surprised look.
"'Cuz I definitely couldn't see it behind your back when you came into my room this morning to kiss me goodbye," I grinned as I watched her soul leave her body.
"You were awake?!"
I nodded, trying to hold back my laughter. "I always am when you do."
"Oh god," she groaned and hid her face behind her hand. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I was waiting for the perfect moment to reveal it so I can tease you and revel in your embarrassment. Which so happens to be now!" I stated proudly.
"That's it, I'm never giving you a forehead kiss ever again." She crossed her arms and slumped in her seat.
"Aw, come on," I reached out to take her hand in mine. "Pleaseeeee?"
She rolled her eyes but fought the grin appearing on her lips. "I'll think about it."
Just then, our food was placed in front of us and we just stared at our respective orders for a good minute.
"What is this?" Jackie asked.
"I wish I knew."
We looked at each other's plates and burst out laughing.
"After you," I said.
"No way, we're doing this together!" She smirked at me. "Unless the great Dr. Valentine is scared of a little..." she trailed off, trying to figure out what was served in front of us. "Whatever that is."
I grinned. "Of course you'd make a competition out of this."
"Hey, less talking, more eating."
We both cut out a small chunk of our food and lifted it to mouths.
"Okay," she said. "Three, two, one..."
Jackie and I bite into the forkful and braced ourselves for the worst. But it wasn't the worst... nor was it the best either?
"I can't tell if I like it or not.. or what this even is," I admitted.
"Me neither."
We looked at each other and started laughing again.
"Let's just stick to sushi next time."
"Agreed," I said, still giggling.
We talked as we ate but I could still sense that Jackie was tense.
"Am I missing something?"
"Hm?"
"The sudden dinner date, the flowers, the opening doors for me," I explained. "Don't get me wrong, I love it, and it's really sweet of you... but you, well, normally you don't do stuff like this. Is there a special occasion today? Did I forget something?"
She glanced at me then back at her food.
"I just wanted to do something nice for you," she said quietly.
I grinned at her, "Well, I definitely won't complain about that, so thank you, but is that it?"
Jackie started playing with her food, obviously trying to avoid the question.
"What's wrong?" I took her hand in mine from across the table. She let me intertwine our fingers together and I squeezed.
"Nothing, nothing, just a little tired from work."
"Jackie..."
She looked me in the eyes and her gaze softened from seeing my worried expression.
"Can we get out of here?" she asked.
"Are you done eating?"
"We can grab a hotdog or something if you want," she grinned and stood up. "Not like you were actually enjoying it, right?"
I chuckled and let Jackie guide me out of the restaurant.
When we got out, she turned to the opposite direction from where she parked her car.
"Er, where are you going?"
"To go get you a hotdog," she motioned me to follow her. "There's a stand nearby. Also, I need to talk with you."
Uhhh, that didn't sound good.
"Talk to me?" I puzzled, worried. "About what?"
"Nothing bad, don't worry, I'll explain after I get you some food."
She bought me a hot dog but didn't get one for herself.
"You don't want one?"
"Nah," she shook her head. "And I, uh, I'm not gonna lie, a little too nervous to think about food right now."
"Why...?"
She took a deep breath as we strolled down the empty street. "Promise me you won't say anything until I'm done? I just... I have to get it all out."
"Is that why you got me a hotdog?" I tried to lighten the mood even though I could feel my heart sink to my stomach. "To shut me up while you talk?"
She snorted. "Even if I did, would you complain?"
"About getting free food? Never."
"Exactly," she let out a soft laugh.
I glanced at her and I knew she was trying to gather her thoughts. I let her, finishing my hot dog in the meantime. Finally, after a few minutes, she spoke up.
"Okay," she began. "I think it's pretty obvious, I'm not one for romance. I'm not the most romantic and I'm no good at it. But it didn't matter, because I thought it was a waste of time, that relationships were a waste of time. I was used to hookups and one-night-stands. And when I first saw you, I thought it would be the same." She paused for a moment and glanced at me. "Except it wasn't."
My heartbeat picked up at her confession and my eyes never left her face even though she wasn't looking at me. A million emotions raced in me.
"I told you during our intern year that I was avoiding you because you were a distraction. Which was true, but I was also avoiding you because I couldn't remember the last time I felt this way about someone. Or if I ever have. I don't do the whole relationship thing, hell, the last was probably in high school. And I thought I'd never get into another one again... but then you came along. I pushed you away but you were still there for me."
She stopped walking and I followed. She looked me in the eyes, gaze never wavering and I stared back into hers. You didn't have to, but you did and suddenly, I could picture me doing all of this... with you. The romance, the commitment, everything. I've never cared about anyone more than I do you. You're the most important thing in my life, Casey. And I don't want to lose you."
She inhaled deeply and slowly let it out, steeling herself to say the next words. "So what I'm asking is... what I'm trying to say... ugh!" she slid her hand over her face and blurted out, “Will you be my girlfriend?”
She composed herself and cautiously took both my hands in hers, adding on softly, “And can I be yours?”
I looked at her, stunned. “Really?”
“Uh, yeah,” Jackie let go of hands rubbed the back of her neck. “Unless, you don’t want to,” she quickly said. “The forget I even asked-“
I cut her off by pulling her into me by the waist, smashing my lips against hers. Hers arms instinctively made their way around my neck to bring me closer. I could feel her racing heart drumming against my own as our lips moved in sync, passion crashing between us.
I broke off the kiss, feeling breathless, arms still around each other. "Yes!"
Jackie laughed blissfully into the night, "Yeah, I think you made it pretty clear."
“That’s why you’ve been skittish all week?”
Jackie scoffed. “I have not been skittish.”
“You so have been!” I argued. “That explains the flowers and everything!”
“That’s Bryce’s idea,” she muttered. “Blame the Scalpel Jockey for most of it.”
“More like thank him,” I laughed. “I can definitely see Bryce written all over this evening.”
“Ugh, I can’t believe I went to him for advice,” she smiled. “I must have been pretty desperate.”
I giggled. “And I’m guessing Bryce told Sienna and Elijah?”
“And Raf and Kyra. And Sienna told Aurora,” she went on. “They were more excited than me.”
“’Cuz you were peeing your pants?” I teased.
She rolled her eyes but let out a small grin. “I plead the fifth.”
“Whatever you say, girlfriend.”
Jackie beamed and pulled me back into her. “Shut up,” she whispered against my lips as she kissed me.
And so there we stood, under the streetlight with no one else in sight, trapped in each other’s arms as our lips locked in an embrace, with me finally getting to call this amazing woman my girlfriend.
