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"What the.." The sheriff trailed off, the cigarette that was previously in his mouth falling towards the ground. His mouth was slightly agape in shock.
Never in his life has he seen such a large, blistered, yet old scar. It stretched across his back, from his shoulder blade to his waist, and was decently wide. To top it off, he can't even imagine what caused that. Or, better yet..
How did his deputy, a man he so commonly seen as the outgoing, cheerful, and straight up goofy cop— obtain such a gashing old wound? Better yet, why and when?
"Wha..?" Jack asked, and suddenly he realized what got the no-nonsense baring sheriff to stiffen like a statue. He felt slightly embarrassed, but sighed. It was bound to happen.
He didn't expect John to walk up and squeeze his hand. The sheriff was hesitant to speak, but the deputy understood what type of questions he may have.
Sitting him down, and with the two being so close, the sheriff soon realized that the closed up, healed wound on his back was not the only scar his body possessed. In fact, it wasn't really just scars, bruises were there as well. Though, they didn't stand out as much.
"My parents..." Jack started, immediately earning John's full attention. Those two words alone already gave the sheriff a brief idea of how those bruises and cuts were on him. Child abuse, the best summary he could determine from that.
And he was right.
"They didn't- err.. like me that much." He finished, squeezing John's smaller hands for some comfort. Both of them didn't make eye contact, a a reason being that haven't really had such serious conversations like this. It was awkward and slowly becoming emotional.
"They did it?" The sheriff finally asked breaking the long, deafening silence. "On your back.. they did that to you...?"
Jack inhaled sharply, his demeanor changing before John's eyes. Pain. The deputy was pained to have recalled what his parents did to him, the abuse he endured for years, how utterly neglectful they were overall.
His smile faded.
Much more agonizing silence later, they found themselves staring into each others eyes, unable to look away. They both had pain evident in their emotions. John was pained to learn that his partner's childhood was not the best, and may explain why he occasionally stared at a certain picture he carried around as well.
"I'm sorry, Jack, I didn't.."
"It's okay, really." He said softly, leaning on the sheriff. While the smaller was usually opposed to this, he let it slide for just this once. "I'm just glad to be with someone like you."
Well, that caught him off guard by a long-shot. Did he hear that right? Someone like him..
He knew Jack meant it in a good way, but he has his own problems that he unintentionally burdened his deputy with. Smoking constantly, basically invading his home after his own burned down, his grief.
On top of that, the first few months when they met were not the best either. However...
It wouldn't be a lie if he said that now- more than ever- he was extremely glad to have someone like Jack. While the sheriff wasn't the best with words, he showed his appreciation with small amounts of affection.
But this time, he felt a kiss on the forehead was a lot more necessary.
Mwah.
Jack's smile returned, and he laid on top of the sheriff, hugging him tightly. Jack showed much larger amounts of affection than John could ever muster.
"I love you." He said, kissing his forehead back.
"I love you too, Jack." He replied, letting out a soft chuckle as his partner rested on top of him.