mexican standoff [addy]

[JOHN ELLIOT CLARK]

5 September 2027

Sunday morning had passed in a haze of memorising every bit of Addy Slater. She'd departed once they'd both had their fill of one another, and Jack had watched her go, satisfaction bubbling in his chest. He'd padded out to the balcony to find Mal sprawled there, an arm flung over his eyes. Jack had burst out laughing, pressing a finger to his brother's burnt skin before teasing him mercilessly. It seemed that the night had gone better for Jack than for Mal, which was unusual to say the least. He'd at least expected Mal to get a cheeky handy in the loos, but Mal shuffled off to get a proper sleep and Jack let him go.

Jack changed into a pair of swimming trunks and slung a towel over his shoulder and grabbed his rucksack before sauntering down to the beach, dark sunglasses perched on his nose. He held the air of confidence about him, of a man who had a wild night. He thought about Addy as he made his way down the boardwalk, pausing briefly at the concrete wall where they had shared a steamy kiss. With a smirk, Jack continued on, passing over five euros to a guard so that he could have a sunbed with an umbrella. Jack flopped onto the cushion and reclined back. Mal was missing out.

The sun beat hot on Jack's pale shoulders, which he lathered with sun cream. He wasn't going to turn into a lobster like his brother. Jack grinned to himself at the look on Mal's face, his ill temper when Jack had found him out front after giving him the space he'd needed. Leaning back, Jack tilted his face towards the sun and drifted off to the sound of the waves, the Greek language and the crow of seagulls.

It was some indeterminate time later that Jack sat up on his lounger. The sun was high overhead and the beach was more crowded. Jack glanced around, and the smirk settled firmly on his face as he spotted a familiar blonde a few rows behind him, settling into her sun lounger. With a confident swagger, Jack leaped from his chair and sauntered over to Addy, his blue eyes raking hungrily over her body from behind the sunglasses. "Need someone to do your back?" he asked, offering her a crooked smile.

addilyn elara slater

[addilyn elara slater]

i lost my mind
i don't mind

where's my mind?

September 5, 2027
JOHN ELLIOT CLARK

It had been an eventful morning after an even more eventful evening. Despite a bath and sleeping until just after lunch, Addy still couldn’t shake off the exhaustion. But after lunch with the girls, Addy opted for some sunshine rather than staying in. Perhaps a short nap in the sun would do her some good, she’d brought extra sun cream for such an occasion, and it hadn’t failed her yet. It was good she’d opted not to say she was ill to have these days off or explaining a tan would have been quite the ordeal.

Behind her sunglasses, she scanned the beach. It was crowded, but she spotted somewhere she could sit for a while. It would be nice to have time to herself and possibly process all of this. Addy hadn’t told Brígh about how the morning had really started. Rolling over and thinking Cheese was next to her, expecting to see one of his many tattoos on his bare skin. But it hadn’t been him. Telling Brígh would mean Addy would have to admit that she’d been sleeping with him since the beginning of summer. And that was not a conversation she wanted to have right now.

She approached a lounger and set her towel on it, removing the shorts she’d worn over her bikini. It was a simple black. Addy was not looking for attention today. But her peace lasted about three minutes when she heard a voice—that voice. Her head turned, and she inspected him head to toe behind her sunglasses. ”Clark.” Addy acknowledged him before sitting up. ”Please tell me your oaf of a brother isn’t around.” If Mal had sauntered over, Addy would have left. Jack had at least been pleasant to talk to, while Mal had never been. Redirecting the conversation helped Addy not lose control of her thoughts.

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[JOHN ELLIOT CLARK]

Jack narrowed his eyes infinitesimally at Addy's dismissive response. Had she already forgotten the activities of last night? Of the way his name tore from her throat in the throes of passion? Of the way her nails had scraped his back, urging him onwards? Maybe he ought to remind her. Usually, the lasses came crawling back for more. There must have been something in the Slater blood that made them stubborn as all hell. But Jack, well he didn't mind a challenge. So he sat on the edge of her lounger, invading her personal space.

Lips quirking upwards, Jack inclined his head. "Nah, he fell asleep outside so he's trying to get a few more hours in a proper bed," he said by way of explanation. "Mal can't help how tall he is. No need to poke fun at his disability," he added, leaning forward slightly. He reached forward, his hand resting on the spot on her thigh that he had paid special attention to this morning. "Just you, me, and the sea," he added, the dimple in his cheek deepening. After a moment, he added "And well, all the others here, I suppose. But they don't count." Jack leaned back, but kept his hand where it was.

Despite keeping Addy up most of the night, she wore the exhaustion well. Or maybe it was hidden behind the shades, as his eyes were. Her hair was much neater than it had been when she left his bed this morning, and all evidence of their exploration had seemingly been washed off. That didn't matter. Jack was certain there was plenty of time for that and more. "Did you have a nice sleep? A shower? I hear the sea is very refreshing after a long night... something about the salt water helps relax muscles..." he went on, his thumb rubbing circles in her thigh in a vague repetition of the morning they'd spent together.

addilyn elara slater

[addilyn elara slater]

i lost my mind
i don't mind

where's my mind?

September 5, 2027
JOHN ELLIOT CLARK

Addy realized it was too much to ask for a bit of time to herself on her holiday. The last person she wanted to interact with was Jack, while so much was on her mind. It wasn’t fair. Her guard was down by default. Though she’d struggled all year with it. But either he didn’t get the hint, or he didn’t care because Jack sat down close to Addy, his hand resting on her upper thigh as if it belonged there. But the feel of his fingertips on her skin tested her resolve. Addy didn’t have much experience, but she’d never experienced anything like the previous night.

From behind her sunglasses, her eyes locked on him. He was the same Jack she remembered walking around the Common Room talking to the sixth and seventh-year girls. Even in the library, she’d seen him and his brother cozying up next to students from other houses. It was all so shameless. But then, why had she fallen for it? Her resolve would have to be stronger. And sober, it should be easier. It should’ve been. ”Did you need something, Jack?” Addy asked, forcing a stoic expression. Thankfully her sunglasses hid her eyes.

”I never knew you to talk to the same girl twice.” She was in control of all her senses or tried to be since she hadn’t yet removed his hand from her thigh. If Brígh had been nearby, she would have likely squealed with delight at Addy and Jack finding one another again. It was her mission to help Addy get out of her slump. Which is why Addy hadn’t the heart to tell Brígh that her ex-boyfriend was still very much on her mind and not even the previous night had pushed him out.

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[JOHN ELLIOT CLARK]

Addy's frigid attitude was quite different from the pliable girl she'd been this morning. This was the Slater personality Jack was more used to. But even with her biting words, Jack wasn't cowed. With his free hand, he pushed his sunglasses up onto his head and appraised Addy. "Aye, Addy. I need something," he replied. His hand dropped to his chest, hovering over his heart as he pulled a pained expression. "You wound me. We spend a magical night together and then you air me?" He shook his sandy hair, his lips turning down at the corners.

"You mistake me for my brother. I'll talk to anyone twice or three times even," Jack replied easily. He felt Addy's glare from behind her glasses. So, she thought she had Jack all figured out? That he would use and abuse anyone so long as he got what he wanted? While that was partially true, evidenced by the string of broken hearts left in his wake, Jack was more than that. He'd enjoyed his night with Addy thoroughly, and he knew the feeling was mutual. Otherwise she wouldn't have stuck around for the morning.

Jack's hand drifted further up Addy's thigh, coasting over her hip as her thumb edged her swimsuit bottoms. "I'm just trying to be helpful - the sun here is unforgiving on our poor, British skin you see," said Jack, replacing his sunglasses on his nose. "You wouldn't want to burn. Consider it chivalry, or whatever you like." Jack's mind was drifting already, wondering what had brought about the change in her. Certainly he looked better in the daylight, but perhaps sobriety had carried something toxic in her. Jack had thought they would be able to talk, to work, to keep to the very scientific explorations of one another's bodies in the morning. He'd be damned if he was wrong.

addilyn elara slater

[addilyn elara slater]

i lost my mind
i don't mind

where's my mind?

September 5, 2027
JOHN ELLIOT CLARK

Good god, the amount of willpower she had to muster was enormous. Merlin himself might have been impressed. But Jack hardly seemed phased by her short responses and guarded nature. Oh, Merlin, he didn’t think this was one of those times when a girl was playing hard to get, was it? Or that she was some challenge. She scoffed, shaking her head slightly. Jack was right though. Mal was far more tactless in his approach to women. And sober, Addy could see how charming Jack really was. The easy way he spoke and addressed her, no wonder she had swooned the night before.

But she kept her resolve in her expression despite the route his hand was taking and rather liberally of him. But that was her brain speaking because the rest of her body tingled at the memory of that morning. She’d been completely sober for that. ”Handsome and gallant.” Addy commented, determined not to be affected by how his fingers moved. ”You always get your way, don’t you?” Maybe Jack saw a challenge but so did Addy, and as she’d mentioned before—she didn’t like to lose. But really, she just wished she had more control of the situation.

He annoyed her, and yet she couldn’t stop thinking about him. But it wasn’t the same pull she felt for Rafe. That was a different matter entirely, and right now, her eyes were busy appraising his shirtless form. The way his fingers toyed with the edge of her bottoms made her desperate for some distance, but she didn’t even want to think about drinking, let alone request one. There had to be another way, and as she glanced away for a moment, her eyes landed on the sea. Addy sat up slowly, leaning toward him before moving her sunglasses to the top of her head to look him in the eye. ”What about a swim then?”

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[JOHN ELLIOT CLARK]

Addy's countenance remained resolved, even as Jack wheedled her. He quite liked that she stuck to her values, even if they were completely different values from 4 hours ago. He left his hand rest on her thigh, rubbing tantalising circles until he trailed his fingertips up to her hip. He'd had a taste of what she was hiding, and Jack was starved for more. He went on about how he was only trying to be helpful, as the southern sun was much stronger than in Britain. And he wouldn't want her to go back with sun damage - not once did he have a selfish thought.

Jack paused his ministrations on her hip, seeing as Addy was determined not to let it affect him "If I did, we wouldn't be having this conversation," said Jack lightly. "I'd have my mouth full with something else." A low chuckle rumbled in his chest as he leaned back to look at her fully. She glanced away from him, towards the water and Jack took the time to shift slightly in his place so she couldn't see how much tempting her was tempting him. She sat up and Jack swore his stomach leaped at the movement, her golden hair brushing his arm as she neared him.

"As you wish," Jack replied smoothly, rising and offering a hand to Addy to help her up from her perch. He tossed his sunglasses onto her lounger, and appraised her standing form. She was so petite, it was a wonder where she hid all that stamina. "Let's see if your doggy paddle is up to standard with your doggy style," he added with a smirk, gesturing for her to lead the way down to the tide.

addilyn elara slater

[addilyn elara slater]

i lost my mind
i don't mind

where's my mind?

September 5, 2027
JOHN ELLIOT CLARK

Addy was immensely grateful the sun was beaming, so it wasn’t noticeable that the tips of her ears had turned red. Whether Jack was speaking in smooth and subtle metaphors or being very blunt, he could make her squirm. It annoyed her that he had easily gained that control over her. But it was temporary. It had to be. Addy just needed some distance to forget about him and move on with her life. That was the trip's theme, after all, to move on. That was Brígh's goal, wasn’t it?

She took the hand offered, removing her sunglasses to leave on the lounger. But she gave Jack an immediate side-eye, her eyes clear of annoyance. ”Are you always this crass?” She wasn’t amused, and mentally she formulated the vague outline of a plan which involved a current sweeping him away to another beach. Addy took her hand back as soon as possible, and they walked toward the water. The tide washed over her feet, but the water was not cold like back home. She stopped, crossed her arms, and looked at him. ”You seem to know a lot about doggy paddling. Maybe you can show me how it's done.” Maybe drunk, she would have sounded as if she was inviting him to something, but she wasn’t trying to hide her lack of amusement in his presence.

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[JOHN ELLIOT CLARK]

Addy accepted Jack's proffered hand to rise, then dropped it as quickly as was acceptable. Jack held back an eye roll, remembering a tidbit of their conversation last night. I don't like to lose. Never had. Well, Jack didn't like to lose either. As Addy had so aptly observed, he liked getting what he wanted, even if he wasn't always successful. As they made their way down to the beach, both were equally deep in thought but about entirely different things.

When Addy stopped, Jack shot her a sidelong glance. He arched a brow at the challenge. "Would you care to disagree?" he asked, stepping deeper into the water. The sand moved under his feet, and Jack remembered the last time he'd been swimming. It had been with Mal (obviously, they were essentially inseparable) and they'd both been high as kites. He remembered the feeling of his hands moving through the water as if it was some other worldly substance. When he got to his mid thighs, Jack swan dived into the water, popping up and shaking his hair out of his eyes.

"Scared of a bit of sea water, Slater?" Jack called back to her, finding her still with just a toe in. "You know, I bet I can hold my breath much longer than you. If you don't trust my work from last night, that is," said Jack, beckoning her forward. "Unless you think you'll lose?" he added, twisting away from her and submerging himself again. The water felt freeing, though not quite in the same way as it did when he'd been with Mal. He wondered if Addy would be able to resist the bait - if she could stand the thought of losing some sort of silly contest to him.

addilyn elara slater

[addilyn elara slater]

i lost my mind
i don't mind

where's my mind?

September 5, 2027
JOHN ELLIOT CLARK

Addy was growing a little frustrated at how easily Jack used her words against her. Well, he had been in Slytherin after all. Jack entered the water first, Addy a few steps behind him. But she took her time. Jack dove in, and when he popped back up, he quickly issued Addy a challenge. She bit the inside of her cheek. Arms crossed as she fought that fire inside her. That will to meet every challenge given to her. Damn him. With her height, it didn’t take long for the water to reach her chest. They had swum a bit the day before and then dried off on the beach while drinking margaritas and filling their brains with too much tequila. The thought made her stomach flip, and not in a good way. Tequila had not helped her at all this trip.

She dunked her head underwater for a second and stood back up while pushing her wet hair out of her face. She narrowed her eyes at him but couldn’t think of how he would turn this against her. Still, beating him at something simple would help her gain the upper hand. She might sit behind a desk for work these days, but she was still an athlete. ”Fine. But if I win, you leave me alone for the rest of the day.” That seemed like a long enough time for Jack to get distracted by another more revealing bikini on the beach. While she knew what he was bragging about, it didn’t deter her. However, she had to tell her brain to stop speeding up her heart rate whenever her mind wandered to one of those memories. And with that, they began. Addy dunked herself into the water. Not even the lingering hangover could deter her.

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[JOHN ELLIOT CLARK]

Jack had his fair share of games - so many of the lads and lasses he'd bedded had been fond of playing them. Though Jack wasn't entirely certain this was just a game to Addy. She looked rather frustrated, and Jack divined all the ways he could tease that frustration from her body. She seemed like the sort of girl who had a hard time letting go - which would track, given her older sister was Claire Slater. "Hmmm..." Jack replied to the terms of Addy's deal, crossing his fingers under water. There was no chance he would leave her alone. She needed his help. And Jack was determined to give it to her.

"Three, two, one," he counted down, then moved to dunk his head under water. When Addy was fully submerged, he shifted through the tide so that he circled her, ending up behind her. When Addy ultimately surfaced, she would be the winner - but Jack hadn't agreed to her terms explicitly. He swept her small frame into his arms, creating a cage she could easily break from.

"You know, back when Mal and I were little, our mams would through us through the air as if we weighed nothing. I remember screaming at the top of my lungs, feeling like I was flying," said Jack, his arms tightening around her infinitesimally. "I never took to Quidditch though. It was just that split second that I could handle. And when we got too big for them to throw us, I remember being so devastated," said Jack. He didn't know why he was telling Addy any of this. Just that it had suddenly seemed essential that she understood there was a level of depth to him beyond the boy who got what he wanted.

addilyn elara slater

[addilyn elara slater]

i lost my mind
i don't mind

where's my mind?

September 5, 2027
JOHN ELLIOT CLARK

Addy could hold her breath for a decent amount of time. Technically this was something that could be helped with magic, but it was a spur-of-the-moment competition. And she didn’t know how long she’d spent under but eventually, as her lungs began to burn, she surfaced gasping for a breath. But before she could even push her hair and water out of her eyes, a pair of arms circled her. She hadn’t expected that and immediately began to look who it was. Nobody expected to be grabbed right when they got out of the water, but he spoke. It at least put her at ease that it hadn’t been a stranger, but she’d been ready to muster all her will into a wandless spell had he not spoken.

Now she felt more annoyed, but she realized he was hardly grabbing her. She breathed heavily, still catching her breath. But his words weren’t his usual attempts to slide his way back into her good graces. Though he would use ‘good graces’ as a metaphor, surely. These were a person's words and not just a man whose single brain cell was not in his skull. That feeling of flying was something Addy could relate to. She missed Quidditch terribly. The rush, the competition. She'd always felt at peace when she’d fly high enough in the pitch where you could barely hear the crowd.

Lost in her thoughts for that split second, his arms tightened around her. ”Why are you telling me this, Jack?” Addy asked, her tone lacking its bite from before. Apparently, he could not only make her skin feel like it was on fire with a light touch and words, but now she just felt a longing and the presence of the void she’d been ignoring in her life. She missed when her life had been more straightforward, and NEWT exams had been the biggest worry in her life. But there was no going back to that.

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[JOHN ELLIOT CLARK]

Thankfully, Addy was only shocked and not seething that he technically didn't take part in the challenge he had set. Nor was she thrashing about in the loose circle of his arms, and as a bonus, she didn't try to break away. Instead, Jack found himself admitting a memory - a fond one at that. One where he'd been able to forget his mums arguing over bills or what they could do to get the boys on the straight and narrow or the crease that appeared in Daisy's brow when Jack brought home further poor marks. So much had changed since then.

Why was Jack telling Addy this? He was silent for a moment, thoughtful as the blonde before him. "I..." he trailed off, at a loss for words. "I think it's important. To think of tiny things you're grateful for. No matter how small they are. And that was something I was grateful for that I haven't thought about in a long time," he said at last, his arms falling from around her and dropping to rest just above her hips. "In the end, we're all just a series of memories, played out over a lifetime," he added after a moment.

Jack's gaze dropped to Addy's. They were barely a few centimetres apart, yet Jack felt far more hesitant and vulnerable now than he had just five minutes ago. "Strange how the slightest things can bring on the biggest shifts," he added, hitching a crooked smile onto his face. But this grin lacked the smug twinkle in his eye, and he felt much more forlorn. He wished for the days where he'd be sent off to music lessons with Mal in tow, without an inkling of how his mums had to rub pennies together to pay for it.

addilyn elara slater

[addilyn elara slater]

i lost my mind
i don't mind

where's my mind?

September 5, 2027
JOHN ELLIOT CLARK

Addy wished that Jack would resume his attempt at suave smooth-talking. At least, that was something she could direct her annoyance at. Genuine words, however, elicited only other unwanted thoughts. The kind you typically tried to bury away. Jack seemed like the words had escaped him before he even realized it. The two hardly knew one another aside from their names and shared a level of physical intimacy, but that was it. Why were they delving into the past and about memories?

Her eyes searched his. Was there some angle he was exploring to get her guard down? He didn’t have tequila on his side this time. Addy had many memories. Some made her laugh or brought a smile to her face. Others made her feel proud, and then some only brought her pain. ”And what about the painful ones?” Surprisingly, she didn’t swim away. There was that pull again. Jack had something magnetic about him that she was fighting. But even this new side of him he shared had its own pull. The memory he shared sounded like a lovely one, yet Addy could only recall her painful ones now.

Momentarily transfixed by that smile, she looked away for a moment. ”You didn’t hold your breath.” It was clear to Addy that he hadn’t participated in the challenge. She was the winner now, right? She should swim away. Addy wouldn’t have to deal with Jack Clark, her one-time fun night, ever again. She knew that hindsight would show her how her sense of control was not what she thought it was.

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[JOHN ELLIOT CLARK]

Jack flinched. The painful ones? There were so many. The time when he'd had a tooth knocked out after scrapping with a boy two years older and twice his size. The look on his mums face when she came to collect him from detainment, and the subsequent tears, begging to know where she'd gone wrong. She hadn't gone wrong though - she just hadn't been there. And perhaps worst of all, when the news of Toby's suicide broke. The pain that had washed over him, almost drowning him, the thought that it could have been any one of them to succumb to the darkness that lurked within them all. "Those ones change us the most," Jack replied at last, any hint of teasing gone from his voice.

Jack's smile lacked his usual bravado, something to hide the painful memories that helped make him up. Addy searched his face, as if looking for the cracks in his mask. But for once, he laid his expression bare to her. Toby's loss hung around him, clinging to him like a blanket. Jack wanted to think of the positive memories, the laughs he'd shared with Mal, being thrown in the air with his mums, his fingers tangling through Addy's blonde hair. There was good and bad in all of them, shaping them. Slowly, very slowly, the pain leaked away.

"And you didn't leave," said Jack in response to Addy. She could have ducked out of the loose circle of his arms, she could have ignored him rather than indulge in his games. Yet she stood here, looking up at him, her face a mixture of conflicting emotions. She was a tempest, on the edge of sweeping him up in her wake. Jack bent forward, his lips finding hers in a gentle and tentative kiss, missing the fervent edge from the night before.

addilyn elara slater