Chapter Text
The beach is quiet, the night sky spreading above his head, dotted with thousands of stars. The sea is humming calmly, drowning out the sounds coming from the street, making it feel like an entirely different world. Jack is standing barefoot on the sand, his eyes trying to find the line when the sky and water meet. And suddenly, he can feel someone beside him, someone's presence, warm and familiar, and he turns to see who that is, and-
"Excuse me?"
Jack flinches awake, his temple cold from resting it against the window for who knows how long. His head feels heavy and tender, an echo of a headache pulsing in the back of his head, and he has to blink a couple of times to get rid of bleariness in his eyes.
"Excuse me, but we're almost in Sète." a ticket inspector tells him, his smile full of sympathy, before he moves along in between the seats.
"Thank you." Jack mumbles to the man's back, wincing at the unpleasant dryness of his mouth. He reaches for his backpack, resting by his feet, and takes out a bottle of water, grateful for the last remaining sips.
Outside the window, the landscape is familiar; the line of a road, and a blue ribbon of water glittering in the sun.
It's good, to be back here for the summer. The last time Jack was in here, it was a gloomy day in early January, when everything was cold and grey. Now, with the blue sky and everything bathed in the sunlight, Jack truly feels that the summer has begun, and the thought fills him with something pleasant and warm. In the end, it's really good to come home after a couple of long months. He's going to see his family, eat properly, sleep till noon, and lounge on a beach.
But also, to try and avoid the memories that still make his heart swell in his chest. It's not a comfortable feeling, albeit one Jack is used to, so he rubs gently against his breastbone while thinking about a bookshelf in his dorm room, trying to remember all the titles in a correct order.
The train arrives at the station like a giant snail, and when it stops, Jack stands up to grab his suitcase from a shelf above his head. The car is quite full, a lot of tourists in their summer hats and colourful shorts, and a couple of vaguely familiar faces of the locals. It takes him a couple of minutes to get off the train, but when he steps down onto the platform, he barely has time to look around when a high-pitched squeal rings near to him.
"Jack!" Leo throws himself into his arms with such force that the impact sends Jack two steps back. But he collects himself almost immediately, letting go of the handle of his suitcase and wrapping his arms around Leo.
"You got taller since Christmas." he chuckles against the top of Leo's head, and a familiar laughter makes him raise his head.
"I swear we had to change his wardrobe twice during the past couple of months." Damien says with a grin, stepping closer, and Jack unwraps one arm and reaches out to grab his stepfather's broad, warm hand.
"Thanks for picking me up." Jack says, ruffling Leo's hair and gently untangling himself from his embrace before reaching for his suitcase, but Damien is quicker, basically snatching it from Jack's hand.
"After travelling through the entire country, it's only fair you get a ride." Damien pats Jack's shoulder before leading them all through the crowd and outside to where he has parked the car.
"Parking in an illegal spot?" Jack teases, and Damien rolls his eyes dramatically before putting the suitcase into a boot.
The drive home is pleasant, a nice breeze coming through the half open windows, and Leo keeps on chattering like a barrel organ, bringing Jack up to date with his school and talking excitedly about a sports camp he's going to go to in a couple of weeks.
It's familiar and comfortable, and Jack leans back against the headrest, fighting with an urge to close his eyes. He had to wake up very early, and that train nap hasn't recharged his batteries fully.
Jack wins the fight with himself, and a few minutes later they park outside their building. When they get out of the car, Jack inhales deeply, the faint scent of the sea tickling his nose, and it truly sets in now, that he's back home.
They climb up the stairs to the apartment, and Jack barely makes a step inside before he drowns in his mom's warm embrace.
"My sweet boy!" she exclaims, pressing a kiss to his forehead before pulling back a little, her hands on his elbows as she's taking a good, loving look at him, "You've lost weight! Here, I will get you some late lunch." she basically pushes him towards the table, but he doesn't have a chance to sit down, because Lizzie emerges from her room, her eyes shining bright.
"Hey." Jack says softly as they embrace, and Jack is overtaken by a huge wave o calmness.
"Missed your dumb face." Lizzie says with all the affection of the best sister.
They stay like that for a moment, quietly sharing that special connection of theirs, although Leo is basically dancing in circles around them, excited like a small bird when all his siblings have come back to the nest.
"Here, sit down and eat while it's hot!" mom's voice is urgent, so Jack does just what she wishes, stepping out of Lizzie's embrace and sitting down, her doing the same on his side.
The plate mom has put in front of him contains a mountain of pasta and a side of salad, and Jack has no idea how he's going to fit it all inside him, especially since he's bombarded by questions from everyone present, demanding to learn about the faraway city he's living in.
"I'm still angry that you ran away so far away from us." mom says, sitting down as well, a cup of coffee in her hands. Her words speak of complaint, but Jack knows that at this point it's just teasing. Although, it wasn't the these couple of years back when he sat by the same table and told everyone that he would attend University of Strasbourg. It wasn't easy, not at all. There were tears and pleading, and long talks with sometimes raised voices, but Jack was set on his decision. Back then, his main desire was to go somewhere far and start anew. And well, the fact that he qualified for a pretty decent student aid program was something that tipped the balance in his favour.
"But I do have many stories to tell, don't I? And pictures to show." Jack says, taking another bite of the pasta before swiftly changing the topic, "Is Jordan coming tonight?"
"Yes, after work."
"His place still looks like a bear's den, by the way." Lizzie says, wrinkling her nose in disgust.
"Well, I won't be insisting on a visit very hard, then." Jack smiles before standing up and taking his plate to the sink, "Thank you, that was delicious. But I'm kinda falling over, I'll go get a quick nap, alright?"
Everyone smiles at him, their expressions open and honest, and Jack would love to be in a better shape, but after filling his belly with delicious food, his sleepiness comes back with a force.
He drags himself into his room, and when he closes the door, a small sight of relief escapes his lips. The curtains are drawn, blocking most of the harsh sunlight and filling the space with a soft blue glow. The window is cracked open a bit, letting some fresh air circulate, and the sheets look fresh and cool.
Jack takes off his pants and basically throws himself on the bed, which is indeed pleasantly cool. He turns on his side and closes his eyes, letting out a deep breath.
It's good to be home. Even when this place carries more than only good memories.
Jack wakes up unprompted, without anything startling him awake. The room is as quiet as it was before, the light similar, so he knows he hasn't slept for too long, but just enough to make him feel quite refreshed.
"Your phone buzzed a couple of times."
Jack blinks rapidly, pushing himself into a sitting position to see Lizzie sitting on the floor, leaning against his bed and smiling up at him.
"Thanks." Jack says, his voice still thick with sleep, and reaches for his phone, unlocking the screen.
"Who's that?" Lizzie asks, with all the curiosity of a sister, and Jack doesn't answer at first, typing a response to a selfie he has received, "Hello?"
"Jeremie." Jack says, putting the phone down and catching her gaze.
"Ah." she nods, "The 'definitely-not-your-boyfriend', right?"
"Exactly." Jack agrees, and then groans when Lizzie makes a face at him, "We're only friends. He's on an internship in Marseille and asked if he could maybe visit sometime."
"How very friendly of him." Lizzie says, her tone a bit mocking, but Jack knows she's just teasing him. She's been doing that since the first time Jack mentioned Jeremie, excited about a possibility of Jack getting together with someone.
And it's not like Jack hasn't thought about that, either. But he's not ready. It's been a long time, but he's not ready. The wounds of the past are still not completely healed.
Jack shakes his head slightly, trying to get away from the unwanted thoughts. He looks at Lizzie again, and he instantly notices that her expression has changed. She looks... torn, and worried, and that puts Jack into an alert.
"What's wrong?" he asks, scooting closer, "What's the matter?"
Lizzie sighs, and stands up, only to sit next to him. She reaches for his hand, squeezing it, and the seriousness in her gaze makes Jack's stomach feel empty.
"What's wrong?" he repeats, quieter than before, and Lizzie sighs again, softly, like she regrets what she's going to say.
"I went to a store yesterday before dinner." she starts, "Mom had forgotten a couple of things, milk and-"
"Lizzie, you're stalling." Jack says, the fingers of his free hand twitching.
"I know, I'm sorry, it's just..." her bottom lip quivers slightly, "I saw Rayane, okay? He's back, I guess."
Jack's chest feels empty, and his throat is full. He can't breathe. He can't think.
"I wondered if I should have called you, I'm sorry if that's what you... but I didn't want you to cancel, we all missed you so much, and..." her shoulders drop, and her eyes turn misty, her grip on his hand tightens, "Jack, will you say something?" she pleads, her lips twisted with worry, and Jack just leans in, resting his head on her shoulder and trying to breathe deeply through his mouth.
"Okay." Lizzie says softly, bringing her free hand to gently touch his hair in a comforting gesture.
Jack closes his eyes and tries to breathe as his heart cracks a little in the same place it was broken years ago.