joseph, jack, and jealousy
18+ only | push and pull | for @outsideexistentlines
joseph
"you've been spending a lot of time with them," joseph says. it's a statement more than a question. an accusation more than an observation. he's seen you talking to them while wrapped in the shadows behind the set, your hand covering the smile he thought was his. don't you remember, sunshine? you were the one who told him that only he could ever see you like that.
it's because he's been so busy, isn't it? because the show's gotten so popular? he can't help that it's topped the charts or that he keeps getting calls for more gigs. after all, he was doing this to support the both of you. one day, you would leave the studio with all of its lights and crowds to find a place that was warm and quiet. a new life together - that was the plan, right?
the studio is bustling with activity: techs rolling in fake trees, extras chatting by the craft table, the grips adjusting the spotlights. for a moment, joseph considers taking advantage of the chaos by grabbing your hand so you could walk through the double doors towards anywhere else. if stardom and stability meant being away from you, then that was a price he wasn't willing to keep paying.
but even after everything the two of you have been through, abandonment is a wound that his bones know well.
a production assistant yells that there's only five minutes left until the break is over. it's them, your friend. when their eyes find you, they smile.
jack
"i need a smoke," joseph says as he turns towards the door. he feels the brush of your fingertips against his wrist. it's gentle, like a whisper across his skin. but he keeps walking, because a whisper isn't loud enough to drown the voices in his head. the voices that tell him he should leave before he is left.
"i'm just worried about you," jack says, draping his arms around your shoulders. you feel his soft blue locks brush against your neck, the warm puff of his breath settle along your collarbone. your fingers pause over the keyboard, surprised by his sudden embrace.
"worried?" you ask, wrapping one of your hands around his wrist. if there was a hesitance to the way that he held you, it melts instantly with his sigh. there's something about your touch that makes him relax, as if he had just been met with an answer he was anxiously waiting to hear.
"you've been coming home late, sunshine," he says, voice barely a murmur. "and you haven't been sleeping well."
somehow, you're not surprised that he's brought this up. ever since you met, jack has been particularly attuned to how you are feeling at any given time. it's a nice trait to have in a friend, especially one as caring as him.
"i just have something on my mind," you tell him.
"someone, you mean." the sharpness in his voice is enough to cut through the fog. you grip his wrist tighter, suppressing the tears welling in your eyes.
meeting your ex had been a mistake. even after all this time, he was the same selfish idiot who only wanted to make amends because he couldn't bear the idea of someone hating him as much as you did. you're not sure what you wanted out of the conversation, anyway. despite how long it had been since the breakup, a part of you missed the companionship you had once shared, though you would never admit it.
when you open your mouth to reply, your breath hitches at the sensation of jack's tongue sliding along the length of your neck.
"you aren't alone, sunshine." jack's voice is a low murmur, filled with a hunger that strays from his usual cheeriness. he tightens his grasp on you, caging you in his embrace as his teeth rake across your skin. "should i remind you?"
you find yourself nodding, desire curling within your core tight as a vise. when you part your lips again, he slips two fingers into your mouth, and for a moment you have no idea where you end and he begins.
