Jack Barakat Imagines
Age Gap
Your POV
Jack was the nicest boyfriend I had ever had. He took me to dinner, he called me whenever he could, and even though he still toured, he tried his best to always talk to me whenever he could. The distance wasn’t the problem.
I am twenty years old. I’m old enough to make my own decisions about who I date or what I do. Jack’s 34. When I told my parents about it, it didn’t go over too well.
“You’re too young!” They’d tell me. “He’s too old for you.” “Is he going to be able to keep up with you?” “What’re you going to do when he dies first?”
The endless questions didn’t help. However, when Jack came out to the twitter base of our relationship, it didn’t go over so well, either. Girls were constantly reeling on me, calling me a slut and a whore. They called Jack a pedophile even though it was perfect legal. I could usually take it well, and never really paid attention to it. But when your own family even tells you that you’ve made the wrong decision, it’s hard to ignore.
Jack was home for the time being, and I was visiting him. We were hanging out, just watching TV, when my mom texted me asking if I could go over.
“Jack?” I asked him nervously. I know he doesn’t like going to my parents’. They always insult him or something.
“Hmm?” He turned to look at me.
“My parents invited me over for dinner.”
He sighed and turned away from me, now gazing at the television. We were watching Adventure Time. Thirty-four years old, and he still watched Adventure Time. He’s a kid at heart. “I guess so,” he mumbled.
I smiled. He always tried to make an effort with me. That’s one of the things I love about him. He always tries. “Thank you,” I replied sincerely and hugged him from my spot on the sofa.
He mumbled something about not wanting to get pummeled with words but hugged me back anyway.
When we got to my parents’ house, we knocked on the door, waiting for them to answer. “Y/N!” my mom greeted me. “You made it.” She let us both in, but she didn’t even address Jack. He was used to it, but I know it still hurt him to know that my parents would never approve of our relationship. “Dinner’s ready, you made it right on time.”
We walked into the dining room, and took our places at the table. They made spaghetti and garlic bread. I could almost bear the tension just for this.
“So, Y/N, how’s school going?” my dad asked me. I was a year before graduating at the university in town. It was hard for Jack and I to see each other, but we managed.
“Good, finals are almost coming up.”
“That’s good. I assume Jack stays away for that then?”
Ouch. Wow, rude. I slipped my hand under the table to squeeze his hand in support. His face showed a little hurt on it, but he covered it up well. “No, Jack’s in town for a couple weeks, I want to make the most of it.”
“Speaking of which, Jack, honey, how’s the tour going?” my mom asked him. She put some noodles on her bread and bit into it.
“Pretty well actually, the new songs are fun to play, and I think everyone is really enjoying them.” Jack seemed happy that this question wasn’t a backhanded comment, and his face lit up at the mention of his passion.
“That’s good. So it’s not getting too much to still play on the stage? You’re not as young as you used to be, you know.”
Never mind, I spoke too soon. Jack’s face fell again, and he started to play with his food rather than eat it.
“No, I’m perfectly fine on stage,” he seethed through his teeth.
I sighed and tore my gaze away from my parents. It was times like these where they disgusted me. Men who were fifty were allowed to have girlfriends the age of 25 but I have a boyfriend of 34 and that makes me a whore? Even middle aged women often had trophy husbands. It seems like if you’re middle aged, you can do whatever the fuck you want. Just ask the politicians.
I decided I wouldn’t talk to them for the rest of dinner. How could I? Every time I opened my mouth to speak they’d shut it back up again with ridicule. We couldn’t stay here any longer.
“I’d love to stay and chat, Mom and Dad, but there’s only so much asshole I can take.” I stood up from my chair, put mine and Jack’s plates in the sink, and walked out without so much as a goodbye.
They were probably pissed off beyond reason, but I think I had more of a reason to be pissed off. So Jack and I went back to his apartment to cool off and recover from the night. I sat down on the couch to relax and Jack went to go straighten up the kitchen. I took out my phone to gaze through social media. All I happened to see was hate against me.
Ew I can’t believe Jack is dating someone so much younger than him, that’s so creepy.
Haha, she must be such a slut to even be with him wtf
Omfg have you seen Jack’s girlfriend?? She’s 14 years younger than him but she looks like she’s ten
The tweets were endless. All of them tagged me. No one tagged Jack. No one wanted him to see how much of a douche canoe they were. I’d usually just be able to turn off my phone and focus on something else, but after the events tonight, I had trouble even putting my phone down. All I could do was read more and more tweets. I couldn’t stop.
“Y/N?” Jack’s soft voice came from the kitchen, but I didn’t look up. “Y/N, why are you crying?”
I didn’t notice until now that I had tears streaming down my face. They didn’t like me. No one liked me. Everyone thought Jack was so wrong for me, but he felt so right. I felt good with him. I felt like he and I could make it.
“Y/N? It’s okay you can talk to me.”
“They hate me, Jack,” I sniffled. He looked over to my phone and noticed I was on Twitter. “Everyone hates me. Even my own parents.”
“They don’t hate you, love.” He pulled me into his arms and I rested my head on his chest. “Shh, it’s okay, shh. Just let it out.”
“They think I’m wrong for you. They think I’m too young.”
“They’re wrong, Y/N. Don’t listen to them. You’re not too young. You’re the most mature woman I’ve met. They’re just jealous, Y/N. Don’t let them bring you down.”
“Jack, even my parents think you’re wrong for me.”
“Your parents are too hard headed to see past things that don’t matter once you’ve matured. Sure it’s weird to date a 16 year old when you’re thirty, but you’re a young woman. Fully past 18, and you can make your own decisions. They’re just stubborn, love, they’ll come around.”
I didn’t say anything and instead listened to the sounds of Jack’s voice as he comforted me with his arms. His steady breathing helped me steady my own, and for a while we just sat there on his couch, embracing, knowing that we didn’t want to be anywhere else.
“I know what will make you feel better,” Jack smiled, pulling me out of his arms to look down at my tear-stained face.
“What?” I sniffled again, trying to dry my running nose with my sleeve.
“A bubble bath! Let’s go take one right now.” He pulled me up from the sofa and towards the bathroom. I couldn’t help but smile. Jack really loved to take bubble baths with me. We played in the bath with the bubbles, and he held me close to him. It was his favorite thing to do whenever either one of us needed cheering up.
We both got in the bath, and thankfully it was large enough to fit the both of us. I sat with my back against him, and his arms wrapped around me. His warmth was radiating from his body and I nuzzled in close.
“You know I love you, right?”
I nodded.
“And I’d do anything to make you happy. You’re my sunshine.” He smiled and squeezed his grip around me tighter. “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine,” he started to sing. “You make me happy when skies are grey. You’ll never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don’t take my sunshine away.” He swayed to the beat with me in his arms, and I swear I didn’t want anything more than this. This was perfect.
Jack was the nicest boyfriend I had ever had. He took me to dinner, he called me whenever he could, and even though he still toured, he tried his best to always talk to me whenever he could. The distance wasn’t the problem.
I am twenty years old. I’m old enough to make my own decisions about who I date or what I do. Jack’s 34. When I told my parents about it, it didn’t go over too well.
“You’re too young!” They’d tell me. “He’s too old for you.” “Is he going to be able to keep up with you?” “What’re you going to do when he dies first?”
The endless questions didn’t help. However, when Jack came out to the twitter base of our relationship, it didn’t go over so well, either. Girls were constantly reeling on me, calling me a slut and a whore. They called Jack a pedophile even though it was perfect legal. I could usually take it well, and never really paid attention to it. But when your own family even tells you that you’ve made the wrong decision, it’s hard to ignore.
Jack was home for the time being, and I was visiting him. We were hanging out, just watching TV, when my mom texted me asking if I could go over.
“Jack?” I asked him nervously. I know he doesn’t like going to my parents’. They always insult him or something.
“Hmm?” He turned to look at me.
“My parents invited me over for dinner.”
He sighed and turned away from me, now gazing at the television. We were watching Adventure Time. Thirty-four years old, and he still watched Adventure Time. He’s a kid at heart. “I guess so,” he mumbled.
I smiled. He always tried to make an effort with me. That’s one of the things I love about him. He always tries. “Thank you,” I replied sincerely and hugged him from my spot on the sofa.
He mumbled something about not wanting to get pummeled with words but hugged me back anyway.
When we got to my parents’ house, we knocked on the door, waiting for them to answer. “Y/N!” my mom greeted me. “You made it.” She let us both in, but she didn’t even address Jack. He was used to it, but I know it still hurt him to know that my parents would never approve of our relationship. “Dinner’s ready, you made it right on time.”
We walked into the dining room, and took our places at the table. They made spaghetti and garlic bread. I could almost bear the tension just for this.
“So, Y/N, how’s school going?” my dad asked me. I was a year before graduating at the university in town. It was hard for Jack and I to see each other, but we managed.
“Good, finals are almost coming up.”
“That’s good. I assume Jack stays away for that then?”
Ouch. Wow, rude. I slipped my hand under the table to squeeze his hand in support. His face showed a little hurt on it, but he covered it up well. “No, Jack’s in town for a couple weeks, I want to make the most of it.”
“Speaking of which, Jack, honey, how’s the tour going?” my mom asked him. She put some noodles on her bread and bit into it.
“Pretty well actually, the new songs are fun to play, and I think everyone is really enjoying them.” Jack seemed happy that this question wasn’t a backhanded comment, and his face lit up at the mention of his passion.
“That’s good. So it’s not getting too much to still play on the stage? You’re not as young as you used to be, you know.”
Never mind, I spoke too soon. Jack’s face fell again, and he started to play with his food rather than eat it.
“No, I’m perfectly fine on stage,” he seethed through his teeth.
I sighed and tore my gaze away from my parents. It was times like these where they disgusted me. Men who were fifty were allowed to have girlfriends the age of 25 but I have a boyfriend of 34 and that makes me a whore? Even middle aged women often had trophy husbands. It seems like if you’re middle aged, you can do whatever the fuck you want. Just ask the politicians.
I decided I wouldn’t talk to them for the rest of dinner. How could I? Every time I opened my mouth to speak they’d shut it back up again with ridicule. We couldn’t stay here any longer.
“I’d love to stay and chat, Mom and Dad, but there’s only so much asshole I can take.” I stood up from my chair, put mine and Jack’s plates in the sink, and walked out without so much as a goodbye.
They were probably pissed off beyond reason, but I think I had more of a reason to be pissed off. So Jack and I went back to his apartment to cool off and recover from the night. I sat down on the couch to relax and Jack went to go straighten up the kitchen. I took out my phone to gaze through social media. All I happened to see was hate against me.
Ew I can’t believe Jack is dating someone so much younger than him, that’s so creepy.
Haha, she must be such a slut to even be with him wtf
Omfg have you seen Jack’s girlfriend?? She’s 14 years younger than him but she looks like she’s ten
The tweets were endless. All of them tagged me. No one tagged Jack. No one wanted him to see how much of a douche canoe they were. I’d usually just be able to turn off my phone and focus on something else, but after the events tonight, I had trouble even putting my phone down. All I could do was read more and more tweets. I couldn’t stop.
“Y/N?” Jack’s soft voice came from the kitchen, but I didn’t look up. “Y/N, why are you crying?”
I didn’t notice until now that I had tears streaming down my face. They didn’t like me. No one liked me. Everyone thought Jack was so wrong for me, but he felt so right. I felt good with him. I felt like he and I could make it.
“Y/N? It’s okay you can talk to me.”
“They hate me, Jack,” I sniffled. He looked over to my phone and noticed I was on Twitter. “Everyone hates me. Even my own parents.”
“They don’t hate you, love.” He pulled me into his arms and I rested my head on his chest. “Shh, it’s okay, shh. Just let it out.”
“They think I’m wrong for you. They think I’m too young.”
“They’re wrong, Y/N. Don’t listen to them. You’re not too young. You’re the most mature woman I’ve met. They’re just jealous, Y/N. Don’t let them bring you down.”
“Jack, even my parents think you’re wrong for me.”
“Your parents are too hard headed to see past things that don’t matter once you’ve matured. Sure it’s weird to date a 16 year old when you’re thirty, but you’re a young woman. Fully past 18, and you can make your own decisions. They’re just stubborn, love, they’ll come around.”
I didn’t say anything and instead listened to the sounds of Jack’s voice as he comforted me with his arms. His steady breathing helped me steady my own, and for a while we just sat there on his couch, embracing, knowing that we didn’t want to be anywhere else.
“I know what will make you feel better,” Jack smiled, pulling me out of his arms to look down at my tear-stained face.
“What?” I sniffled again, trying to dry my running nose with my sleeve.
“A bubble bath! Let’s go take one right now.” He pulled me up from the sofa and towards the bathroom. I couldn’t help but smile. Jack really loved to take bubble baths with me. We played in the bath with the bubbles, and he held me close to him. It was his favorite thing to do whenever either one of us needed cheering up.
We both got in the bath, and thankfully it was large enough to fit the both of us. I sat with my back against him, and his arms wrapped around me. His warmth was radiating from his body and I nuzzled in close.
“You know I love you, right?”
I nodded.
“And I’d do anything to make you happy. You’re my sunshine.” He smiled and squeezed his grip around me tighter. “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine,” he started to sing. “You make me happy when skies are grey. You’ll never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don’t take my sunshine away.” He swayed to the beat with me in his arms, and I swear I didn’t want anything more than this. This was perfect.
@SecretsDontMakeFriends
RIGHT SOMEONE POINTED THAT OUT ON MY WATTPAD VERSION AND I WAS LIKE ???? how did i do that I'm magical
9/19/16