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Jamie's birthday hasn't been an easy day for him ever since he lost his wife seven years ago, so you really wanted to make this one special. It was the second one that the two of you would be spending together as a couple, but since the last one had happened just after you started dating, you hadn't really been able to make much of a big deal.
You've been planning this birthday dinner for ages, wanting every detail to be perfect. You even got a day off from work so you'd have enough time to prepare everything.
While you're busy in the kitchen, you're not really paying attention to what is happening on TV. It's just on to provide a little bit of background noise while you work. But when you hear that news, the news that a comet is on a collision course with Earth and humanity had just 34 days left, it's hard not to take notice. You want to scream but no noise comes out.
Immediately, you scramble for your phone to call Jamie. You don't really know what you're going to say to him but you just need to hear his voice, to make sure he's okay, and for him to reassure you that things are going to be okay as well.
The phone rings, but Jamie doesn't answer. You try another four times, still nothing. Then you try Dave, nothing. It's getting really late and even if it weren't for the news of the world ending, you'd be starting to get concerned anyway. You're just about to try calling Paula to see if she knows what's going on when you hear a knock at the door.
You open the door to see Jamie standing there, and waste no time in throwing your arms around him. "Jamie, oh God, I was so worried about you!" you say, your face pressed against his shoulder. He doesn't push you away but makes no move to reciprocate the embrace either. "Did you hear the news? About the comet?"
"Yeah. Sorry. I... I've had a long day," Jamie tells you, very little emotion in his voice. You pull away from the hug to look at him, though you take his hands in yours. He looks wrecked, his hair is all messed up and he's definitely been crying.
"Trouble at the bank? Other than the whole extinction-level event thing." You try to lighten the mood, not wanting to think too much about your impending doom, especially not right now.
"I got arrested," he says plainly. "The police have been interrogating me all day."
"You? You got arrested?" If there were a list of people that you believed most likely to be arrested, Jamie would have to be dead last.
Jamie nods. "Yeah. I got arrested, Layla's alive, I'm adopted and I might have an identical twin brother that's a cyberterrorist."
"Jesus Christ."
Up until now, Jamie has been doing a good job of keeping his emotions in check despite the circumstances, but all of a sudden you've been pulled against his chest and he's sobbing. So much so that you can feel his body shaking and his tears are falling in your hair.
"I... I don't know what's going on anymore... what am I supposed to do now?" he asks you, barely audible. You pull back from him a little bit so you can look at his face, soaked from tears with red eyes. "Nothing makes sense!"
Wordlessly you lead him to the sofa so that you can both sit down. If he wasn't careful he'd end up collapsing from exhaustion. As soon as you're seated, he buries his face in his hands, the tears certainly not ready to stop anytime soon.
“Hey, look at me. Focus on me alright?” you tell him gently, and he does what you say. You place your hands on either side of his face, stroking your thumbs against his cheekbones. Slowly, he begins to calm down, the shaking stops but there are still tears rolling down his cheeks. "I know nothing makes sense right now, but no matter what I'm going to be here with you, okay? If we only have 34 days to live I want to spend them with you. I love you."
"I love you too," he whispers, voice strained from all of the crying, and you smile softly. "But what do I do about Layla? She's alive, and... and she was with this man, the cyberterrorist who looks like me."
"Jamie, if you want to find Layla... that's okay..." You try and push down the part of you that believes if he finds Layla, you might end up losing him. "She's your wife, it's only--"
"I only want to know the truth," he assures you, resting his forehead against yours. "I just need answers. I'm not going to leave you for her, so... please don't worry about that."
"That's good to hear," you tell him. It actually did make you feel a lot better. It was always difficult to feel like you could measure up to the one that got away. "So, before we go and start searching for answers, we're going to need to eat, and I've spent all day cooking. Hopefully it hasn't gone too cold."
Jamie nods, managing the faintest of smiles. Even if everyone on Earth only has just a little over a month to live, the apocalypse might not be quite as bad, as long as you were together.