Next time you point a finger
I might have to bend it back
Or break it, break it off
Next time you point a finger
I'll point you to the mirror

After our initial fight, I was fully expecting to have another blow out with Jack the following morning. I loved him, but I had to stand my ground on this one, and nothing he said was going to change my mind that I did the right thing.

...well except for telling him about it before I signed the contract. And asking Midnight if they were even up for it before agreeing to such a commitment. But, still, I was going on tour with Fall Out Boy and that was it. End of discussion.

I had been up for hours by the time I finally heard Jack get up. I couldn’t sleep, my mind replaying our unfinished fight again and again like a torturous rerun. I kept my eyes glued towards the hallway where he’d enter, my ears listening intently to every move he was making as if knowing when he’d come out would somehow make things any easier. I took a shaky breath from my spot on the couch, Zero happily oblivious by my side. My palms began to sweat, nervous of the imminent yelling that was about to erupt once Jack emerged from out bedroom.

I heard the water turn off, and the soft shuffling of steps getting closer and closer. The door creaked open. Then--

“Morning.” He greeted me, his voice raspy and eyes still half-open.

I felt my jaw unhinge, taken aback by his change in mood. “Um...morning?” I frowned, watching with a weary gaze as he approached me, even daring to place a soft peck on my lips. “...are you okay?” I asked, thoroughly confused.

“Yeah, I’m good.” He smirked, bending down slightly so he could pet Zero, who happily attacked him with puppy kisses. “Hey buddy!” He chuckled. “Oh, I love you, too...”

“Jack.” I pressed on, my voice firmer. “Are we seriously not going to act like nothing happened last night?”

He winced slightly at the mention of our last conversation, but otherwise kept his composure. “I think we both made it clear there wasn’t anything left to talk about.”

I rolled my eyes, frustrated at the way he was going about this. “Jack, we can’t just ignore--”

“And we won’t.” Finally, his eyes met mine, his voice filled with a desperate tone that, like everything else, had thrown me for a loop. “We’ll hash it out--fight like there’s no tomorrow. Just...not now, okay?”

I raised a brow. “That doesn’t even make sense, Jack. Why would we fight later when now I’m the most pissed off at you and I kinda want you to know why.”

He shot a glare towards me. “Well for what it’s worth, I’m pretty fucking pissed off at you, too.”

“But you don’t wanna fight.”

“Not right now, no.”

“It kinda sounds like we’re fighting right now.” I countered, trying to get his blood boiling so we’d just get it over with. The last thing I wanted to do was sit on this. We had to talk about it.

His lips fell into a thin line. “No we’re not.” He countered stubbornly.

“Why don’t you want to fight right now, anyway?” I continued. “We’re both angry, and if going to therapy has taught me anything, is it’s healthy to get things out in the open.”

“Maybe I don’t wanna say something I’ll regret.”

I eyed him for a second, contemplating his response. Then, I shook my head. “That’s not it. We’ve fought before and you’ve said shit to me before. You know I can take it.”

“But this is different. This is our first fight as a married couple. It’s like, the big leagues, okay? We officially have no barriers when it comes to our fights, you know that, right?”

I scrunched my nose. “I don’t think that’s a thing, Jack.”

“Why do you want to fight so badly, anyway?” He added, looking exhausted despite just getting out of bed.

“Because you pissed me off and I’m angry!” I repeated, annoyed that he was being so stubborn about this.

He rolled his eyes. “Ditto.”

“Okay, glad we’re on the same page.” I scowled. “So we’re talking about it?”

He let a few seconds go by, the gears in his brain clearly thinking of his next play. Then, he shook his head, even daring to smile as he told me, “Nope.”

I growled, letting my head fall back in exasperation. “Fucking hell, Jack! Come on!”

He shook his head again, his eyes still bright despite our tense conversation. “If we’re going to do this, then I’m not holding back, Sally. I’m going to say some lame ass shit and you’re gonna probably hate me--”

“I’ll never hate you.” I cut him off, knowing this to be true. I may have been mad, but that just seemed like crazy talk.

The look he gave me in return was dripping with doubt. Cautiously, he continued. “This is your last chance to back out. We can give it a few days, calm down a bit and talk like mature adults.”

I bit my lip, the offer sounding tempting. That is, until he mentioned option number two.
“...or we can fight it out and have the best make up sex ever.”

I couldn’t help but let out a tiny laugh. “Oh really? Better than that time in--”

“Hell yeah.” He smirked, wagging a brow. “So. What’ll it be? Remember, with option number two, we won’t pull our punches.”

“Oh, I know we won’t.” I smirked, oddly finding this version of fighting much more pleasurable than any of our past fights. In my mind, if we went the ‘mature adult’ route, it would be less stressful, sure. But it would also be less of a reward. After all, a promise of the best make up sex ever, well I’d be a fool to pass that up.

Plus, we might me married and technically adults, but Jack and I were far from mature.
So option number two it was. But first, I wanted to add to the prizes. After all, sex was still sex, amazing or not. “How about we make things more interesting?”

Jack tilted his head. “...more interesting than making a game out of our first fight?”

I nodded. “What if whoever wins this argument--me--gets to pick something like...oh, I don’t know, the location of our wedding?” Something, that for almost a year now, had been a huge undecided factor for our big day.

“You serious?”

“I’ve never been more serious in my life.” I shot back with a wink. “And besides, it’s something we really do need to decide like, yesterday, so might as well make a part of this while we’re at it.”

He shrugged. “Fair enough. So it’s agreed; whoever admits they’re wrong first loses.”

I smiled back. “Let’s do this thing.”

He shrugged. “Okay, you asked for it...” He took a breath, glancing back at me one last time with those soft, adorably brown eyes that I’d fallen in love with. “Before we start this, I’ve gotta say one more time that no matter what comes out of this stupid mouth, I love you, Sally.”

“I love you too, Jack.” I wrapped an arm around him, hugging him tightly. “And you’re so going to lose this fight.”

I could feel his stomach contract in a huff of a laugh. “Oh, it is on.”

~*~

He really wasn’t kidding when he said he wouldn’t hold back. As soon as we decided to continue our fight, he started with the meanest thing of all:

The silent treatment.

That son of a bitch knew it was something that I absolutely hated. I had always been the type who needed things to be out in the open. If you were mad at me, tell me why. At least that way I knew and could actively try to fix it. But with silence there’s just...well, silence. Nothing. It’s like talking to a brick wall and I couldn’t stand it.

So over the next few days, that was our fight: a big fat, silent, nothing on Jack’s part. It was quite the feat, too, considering we lived together, but somehow he managed to act like he and Zero were the only ones in the apartment, driving me absolutely nuts.

At first, I tried to ignore him right back, focusing instead on the lyrics Jo had sent me via email for our next album. This worked out for a little bit, as I became too preoccupied with helping out Jo finalizing lyrics to even remember that my significant other was giving me the cold shoulder.

But then Jack got a call from Alex, who, since breaking up with Lisa, had been renting an apartment in LA not too far from us. “Paramore is playing tonight? Dude, that’s awesome. I’ll totally tag along!”

My ears perked up at the mention of one of my favorite bands. Though we were now label mates, I’d still yet to meet Hayley and the rest of Paramore in person. “What’s that?” I cocked a brow, momentarily forgetting our ‘fight’ and instead getting excited over seeing such an awesome band live.

Barely glancing at me, Jack casually continued his conversation with Alex. “Nah, just me tonight, dude. Sal--she’s...busy.”

“Ooh ho ho, I am not. Tell him I’m not!” I slapped my laptop shut and jumped over next to Jack, who continued on ignoring me as if I wasn’t currently giving him seething death glares.
But I was. I totally was.

“Yeah, I’ll stop by your place in like...” he glanced over at the digital clock just to the left of him. “Twenty minutes?” A pause. “Cool, see you then.”

As he hung up, I wanted so bad to punch his arm, but showed restraint. “What the hell was that?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Jack innocently shrugged, brushing past me as he went for his keys by the front door. “I’m going out. Don’t wait up for me.”

“You’re really seeing Paramore without me?”

“I was invited--”

“Sounded like I was invited too, but you told Alex I was busy. Do I look busy to you?”

Ignoring me, he continued, “We’ll probably go to the bar after the show, too. Don’t be surprised if I end up sleeping over at Alex’s.”

“This is so not fair.” I grumbled, hating how he knew me so well. If there was one way to get me rilled up it was through music. Especially when I couldn’t be there to enjoy it. “You really are playing dirty...”

He looked more amused than anything, probably figuring I’d back down easily. “Just wave the white flag and I’ll stop, babe.”

I huffed. “Yeah, right. Keep trying.”

His half smile faded. “Fine.”

“Fine.” I repeated.

He rolled his eyes, the friendly teasing and playfulness he had been boasting before fading as the mood shifted into uneasiness. “Bye.” He muttered, turning his back towards me and shooting out the door before I could even flinch.

Dammit.

I guess he won that round.

Notes

Another update! Initially I was going to have this fight resolved pretty quickly, but it just seemed like more fun to do it this way. And don't worry, just because they're making it a 'game' doesn't mean there won't be a blow up. They need to talk this out.

Opening lyrics are from "Playing God" by Paramore