The One Without Words

❀ chapter thirty-four | words are overrated ❀

"What was that noise?" I hissed. "Aren't most animals hibernating this time of year?"

Jack only tightened his hold on my wrist.

Maybe the darkness was making me lose my mind, because I swore I saw something shift in the trees.

In another grand waste of battery, Jack turned on the flashlight on his phone and shone it in a circle, illuminating the snowy greenery around us. More green than white now. Did the temperature rise over the course of the evening, making the fluffy snow melt into slush?

At least that meant a lower chance of frostbite.

But nothing appeared. Had I imagined the noise? Or heard it louder than it was given even Jack's soft whispers sounded sharp in my ears?

"Where's the pepper spray?" I asked.

Silence.

"You didn't get it?" I shrieked.

"I am sorry," Jack whispered. "I was too busy almost falling off a mountain."

My narrow stream of pepper spray would not be enough to ward off a bear. If anything, I'd piss it off for real. But Penelope, on the other hand...

I cringed imagining her voice—or scream—breaking the silence. Her wide, green eyes popping out from behind a tree. She would've come out by now, right?

She wasn't the type to wait patiently in the dark.

"If we die tonight," Jack said, turning off the flashlight, "can you tell me about your massive crush first?"

I groaned. "You won't let that go, will you?"

"Nein."

"You do know you'd be the worst survival partner ever, right? Like imagine if we were on a deserted island in the middle of the Pacific, and I'd have to do double the work because you'd be too focused on my massive crush to go find coconuts."

"...you wouldn't care enough about me to get me a coconut."

I stood up. I needed to pace. I needed to walk far away from him, but I couldn't even see what lied in front of me. His dumb ass was all I had here. I didn't want to trip and go tumbling down a hill, so I settled on letting out an aggressive scream. Definitely enough to scare any nearby predators.

"Come back here," Jack demanded.

"Oh, now you want me next to you? Now you want to hold my hand?"

"I don't want you to get hurt."

"Right. Because I'm the only hope you have to get out of here, huh? But if not I'm sure you wouldn't give a shit if I was the one who fell off the cliff."

I heard rustling as he got up. His footsteps in the snow. My eyes darted everywhere, searching for the tree we'd been sitting against, but in the cloudy night with no moon or stars to provide the light I needed... his voice was my only anchor, comforting and infuriating at the same time.

He grabbed my arm, and I screamed at the suddenness of it. How hadn't I noticed him right in front of me?

"Kleinkriminelle. You're making my ears bleed."

I yanked my arm away. "Good."

He stepped closer. I stepped back. Then realized... we could not be playing the step-forward-step-back game right now. So I had no choice but to accept his close proximity.

"The only reason I'm this patient is because I like you way too much for my own good," I breathed.

He scoffed, "I like you too much for my own good."

"Oh, so now it's a competition? Who likes the other most and gets screwed over because of it?"

"I almost died and my arm is fractured, so I win."

"Do you want me to make a splint or something?"

"No," he sighed. "I need... a drink."

"Alcohol won't solve your problems, Jack."

"I wish I brought some vodka in a flask." 

"...I am honestly so done with you."

"You don't have the right to be done with me," he said. "Especially because of how you are."

I stepped closer to him. Felt his eyes on me in the dark. "How I am? What is that supposed to mean?"

"...you use others for your own amusement. You dismiss everyone's feelings, even your own."

"And what about you?" I felt around for the front of his jacket and pulled him closer. My heartbeat quickened at the hitch in his breath. "Confusing, indecisive, dramatic, self-cente—"

He grabbed my waist. Trailed his hand up my side. My posture straightened when he touched my collarbone, lingering there before his hand wrapped around my bare neck.

I let out a breathy laugh. "What, are you going to choke me now?"

I had to admit: that'd be a lot hotter than when Penelope did it. 

"I might be confusing," he whispered. "Dramatic. Indecisive. But you... you're all those things. And arrogant... careless... rude."  I felt like my body was already rolling down the hill, and I held on tighter to his jacket. "Those are not good qualities to have in a friend, Romy."

I could barely breathe at the way he said my name.

"We wouldn't be just friends, though, would we?" I murmured. I had paid too much attention to his hand on my neck to notice how close our faces were.

That and the darkness made me delirious. The sheer adrenaline of being near him, hearing his voice as danger lurked around us. My senses went into overdrive like never before.

"Maybe not," he said.

We stood still. Without moving away or closer to each other, our interwoven breaths the only sound.

Who would've thought Jack Michel didn't need his precious alcohol to be reckless.

"So..." he began, "about that massive cru—" 

"Aren't words overrated?" I interrupted. "Wouldn't it be easier if I just showed you?"

For once, Jack took the hint. Maybe because my face was literally in front of his. 

"Nur zu," he said against my lips.

And maybe I didn't have to speak German to understand what he meant. 

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A/N: I hope you enjoyed this "teaser" chapter 👀  👀  One reason for the shorter chapters in this book is because the first draft had over 55 published parts total and 110,000 words. I still want to use as many of the 55 parts as I can (because they contain all the old reads and votes I don't want to lose), but my final word count for this draft is going to be something like 80,000-90,000, so the chapters are quite shorter. 

How excited are you on a scale of 1-10 for more Jomy/Rock?! Has their first kiss been long-awaited? I've loved writing their banter these last few scenes. 

(PS: In the first draft this scene was only an almost kiss with Jack being a total tease again and so many readers were mad 😭 😭  If you scroll down the comments you'll see the historical record of everyone's frustration) (I could've left this as an almost kiss, but then I thought... what better time to kiss your crush than when you're both stuck in the wilderness. Couple goals right?!)