Truth Is Boggling-Nikki's POV

Nikki sighed as she sat at the windowsill in her living room, listening to the pitter-patter of the pouring rain on the other side of the glass and watching the droplets of water hitting the pavement outside. The rainstorm had come so quickly, one minute it was perfectly sunshiny outside, and the next it was pouring. Although, Nikki didn’t mind one bit, the rain soothed her.

Grabbing the umbrella that was resting beside the door, she called out to her mother, “I’m going out for a walk!”

“In the rain? Are you crazy?”

Nikki rolled her eyes. “It’s starting to let up, mom…besides, I have an umbrella.”

“Well…okay…but be back before supper.”

“Kay, mom!” Nikki replied, sprinting out the door before her mom suddenly changed her mind.

She slowed her pace as she walked down the drenched sidewalk, humming slightly to herself and watching as the raindrops dripped off the rim of her umbrella. As she neared the center of town, she froze, a sudden abrupt sound interrupting her thoughts.

Is that….sobbing?

She glanced around herself and noticed a lone figure sitting at the edge of the fountain, their arms wrapped tightly around themselves and their shoulders heaving up and down, a sob erupting from their mouth with every shake. Their head was bowed, their bright red and black hair clinging to the sides of their—

…Wait a minute.

She gasped, almost dropping her umbrella. “Jack!” Running over to him, she wrapped her arms around his trembling shoulders. He didn’t look up, but merely stared down at the pavement as tears rolled endlessly off his cheeks. He finally glanced over at her, and she gasped for the second time.

He had the biggest black eye she’d ever seen.

Feeling sick to her stomach, she reached out and carefully brushed the side of the bruise with her thumb. “What happened to your eye?”

He let out a harsh and wheezy sigh, murmuring, “…Nothing…”

Nikki’s eyebrows creased together as she stared hard at him. “What do you mean nothing? There’s obviously something, Jack.”

He stared at the cobblestone sidewalk, more tears welling in his emerald green eyes. “Sorry…I’m just—” He broke off painfully, the tears flowing down his cheeks, causing him to sob harder. He hung his head lower, squeezing his eyes shut as his sobs rang out uncontrollably.

Nikki felt like she was going to cry just watching him. She reached out and placed her hand shakily on his back, rubbing it in a comforting manner. “Shhh…It’s okay…” She felt him tremble beneath her touch and realized that he must be freezing. Slowly standing up, she held out the hand that wasn’t holding the umbrella. “Let’s get you out of the rain, okay?”

He hiccupped, not looking at her as he took her hand, gratefully getting to his feet and under the warmth of the umbrella. Jack’s sobs had soon faded, but he was having a hard time getting out his words as he began explaining. “It’s just that….I’m…not-” He deliberately cut off his sentence and persisted, “Look, it doesn’t matter…okay?” More tears stained his cheeks as they silently fell from his eyes, streaking down his face and dripping off his chin.

Hating to see him cry, Nikki affectionately wrapped her arm around her boyfriend’s waist, pulling him closer to her. “Yes it does matter…Jack, you’re upset and…wet…and I need to know why so I can make you feel better.”

He suddenly stopped walking and turned to her. “I just don’t want to worry you…okay?”

Nikki sighed, exchanging her umbrella to her other hand. “Jack, I will worry if you don’t tell me…”

She watched as he turned his back to her, looking off into the streets. He trembled, reaching up and brushing a few droplets of blood from the gash on his lip, sighing. “I bumped into Gregory… he said some awful things, alright? It just… got to me.”

Nikki looked down, trying to put two-and-two together. Jack obviously wasn’t telling the entire story, and he wasn’t planning to. She reached out and gently placed her hand on his shoulder, whispering, “He did more than just say some bad things Jack. He pushed you around too…”

Jack glanced down, placing his soaked hand over hers. “…Yeah…”

Just as she had thought. It was obvious that Gregory had done more than “say some bad things”. Jack either really didn’t want to worry her…or was trying to keep his dignity and act as if he was okay. She couldn’t tell if he was actually in pain, or if his self esteem and pride were merely hurt.

She bit her lip, glancing up at him with a crumpled expression. “Do you want to talk about it?”

A moment of silence passed as Jack paused, not responding to her simple question. Finally, almost hesitantly, he spoke in a small voice, “He said…” Jack trembled, pausing again. “I don’t deserve anyone and… I’m starting to think that it’s true.”

Nikki flinched, her mouth hanging open slightly as she stared at the back of his head, her worry-filled eyes huge and disbelieving. He turned around slowly, glancing up at her with a sheepish expression.

“You…You don’t believe any of that, right? Because… it’s not true, Jack. Just trust me.”

Jack stared at her for a moment before he swallowed deeply, his mouth open slightly as his breath began coming out faster than normal. He grabbed her hand that was still resting on his shoulder and pressed it against his forehead. Nikki felt his pulse beating rather quickly and noted that his skin was sweltering to the touch.

She let out a sudden squeak. “Jack, you’re burning up!” Dropping her umbrella to the side, she lightly pressed the palms of her hands against his face, cupping his cheeks and trying to settle his fever down. The rain battered against their fur, soaking her once dry clothes. Nikki moved one hand from his cheek to his forehead, noticing that his face was now completely flushed, all except for a light strip of red that was forming just below his eyes from weakly blushing. He wore a tired and drained expression, looking as if he felt horrible.

He began sinking down to his knees, obviously feeling weak. Nikki sat herself down beside him, pulling the umbrella over their heads. She wrapped her arm around Jack’s shoulder, giving it a small reassuring squeeze. He reached up and grabbed the hand that she still had resting on his forehead, squeezing it as he leaned his head against hers. Nikki glanced up at him with a concerned expression as she felt his burning flesh against hers.

It was silent for a dew moments, before Nikki finally heard Jack whimper, “I’m… I’m sorry… I don’t believe him at all. And I’m sorry that you’re out here when you could be inside.”

Nikki shook her head. “No…no.” She looked deeply into his eyes. “I would rather be here, Jack.”

She saw the corners of his mouth flicker upwards for just a moment, before he abruptly leaned in and placed his lips softly onto hers. She could barely feel the heat radiating off his face before he pulled away as quickly as he had leaned in. His face was now a bright cherry red, though it was hard to tell if it was because of his condition or just from blushing so hard. “Sorry…sorry…I’m sick…I shouldn’t—” He broke off, numbly looking to the side as he subconsciously touched his black eye.

Nikki felt herself begin to blush, a small smile forming on her lips. She leaned forward and kissed his bruised eyelid lightly, watching as he looked up at her with a surprised expression, trying to open his other eye, but only wincing in reaction. He suddenly smiled his soft, crooked smile, scratching the back of his head. “Could you…could you kiss the other one too?” Nikki giggled at his adorableness, leaning in once more and kissing his other eyelid.

“Thanks…And not just for that but…for everything…”

Nikki smiled softly, placing her hands gently on his shoulders and replying in a quiet voice, “You’re welcome…” She then reached up and planted her lips tenderly on his forehead, rubbing his shoulders at the same time. She pulled away, looking up at the sky and noticing that the sun was beginning to peak out, and the rain was letting up. Her vision then lowered to her boyfriend, who was wearing the biggest smile she’d seen on his face in awhile.