Work Text:
And no one could remember the ending of the story, because it hadn't happened yet.
He either kissed her or killed her.
The hunter either kissed the fox, or killed the fox.
Evangeline stopped breathing and slowly scanned the ornately decorated dancefloor. Looking for a glimpse of that golden hair, or those ice blue eyes.
There.
Slightly to the left, beside the towering ever green, talking to an elderly gentlemen with his back to her, holding a blood red apple in his left land.
Her greatest heartbreak. Apples and blood.
Without the slightest hesitation, Evangeline found herself start to turn her whole body in his direction and be drawn to him, the gravity of her realization tugging at her heart. As if a vacuum was slowly opening up between them, begging her at a fundamental level to close the gap. Now.
With almost a frantic pace, she made her way through the crowd, completely unaware of who or what was happening around her.
She needed to get to him. She needed to know if the hope that was blooming within her on his behalf was not a trick of fate.
'Jacks'
And as he turned around, she saw those ice blue eyes, the ones that had looked upon her with almost every emotion, but one.
She needed to know.
"Evange-" he started in his usual uninterested tone, with a hint of surprise, and underlaced with confusion, but she never let him finish. For once she couldn't give a damn about the consequences.
Using the momentum that was building within each step, Evangeline sealed the gap between them. Her determined hands framed his face as she closed her eyes, hoping that this would not be the last time she looked into the familiar shade she had come to admire, and then within the same heartbeat, she placed her lips upon his. Not leaving him a second to realize what she had decidedly done. How her future had now split in two, leaving it to the hands of fate to decide which path she was to go down. Like a paper boat on a stream, hopelessly bound to the forces of nature to determine what bank it was to land on.
He was frozen. And silent.
Evangeline's heart dropped.
'What have I done'
In her mind, a voice silently echoed her own, disbelief and something new to Jacks's character, starting to tinge its tone.
'What have you done, Little Fox'
Although she knew she had to, Evangeline didn't want to pull back, because then that meant her fate was decided. And that she had to face it. Face him.
She could feel the tears sting at her tightly closed eyes as sorrow started to fill her chest, heavy as if filled with something akin to lead. She felt the first tear escape between her lashes and she knew it was time. Evangeline started to pull away from his still frozen lips.
Her only warning was the sound of the apple hitting the floor.
Suddenly, she was enveloped. His right arm going completely around her waist, searing through the thin gown she wore, and leaving imprints of each finger along her right rib. Crushing her to him to the point where Evangeline could feel every line along his body, every breathe he took, and every beat of his heart. Winding his left arm up her spine, he dug his hand into her rose tinted hair, completely undoing the intricate arrangement she had done, locking her in place.
Evangeline tried to gasp at the sudden change in Jacks, but he didn't allow a single millimeter of space to pass between their lips.
His lips bruisingly returned the force, becoming the pinnacle of all the sensations of him that she felt along her body. She had made the choice, and he was not going to waste any precious moments, especially when it was possible that she didn't have many left.
Frantic happiness tore through Evangeline as she felt every second pass by. The heaviness in her chest lifting and making her heart gallop like a horse let lose in an open field. Bittersweet tears raced down her cheeks onto his, continuing their race along a new track, but Jacks hardly noticed.
He tightened his grip and brought her closer than she could have thought possible, his body feeling like a heated iron cage, trapping Evangeline to him while setting both her skin and heart aflame.
She'd be happy if this moment could last forever, but the burn in her lungs was reminding her that they were on borrowed time. That if she was wrong about the story, about Jack's curse, about herself, then this would be where her story ended. Evangeline knew it, and so did he.
Jacks's arms started to tremble as he realized with panic that she needed to breathe. He had to pull away. Let her go.
A choked out, 'please', is all she heard.