[Later That Night] [Video Call]
After cleaning up, neither of them seemed interested in ending the call.
Jack lay on his side across the hotel bed with his head resting against one arm, the laptop propped several feet away on a pillow so Haley could still see him clearly.
On the other side of the screen, Haley lay on her stomach across her bed with a pillow tucked beneath her chest. Her feet moved lazily through the air behind her, crossing and uncrossing every few seconds while a faint blush still lingered across her cheeks. She looked much more relaxed now, though the little smile she kept trying to hide gave her away.
For a while, neither of them said much.
They simply stayed there looking at each other.
Haley finally broke the silence while resting her chin against her folded arms. "When are you coming home?"
Jack shifted slightly against the pillow and rubbed one tired eye. "Probably in a day or two. Christopher and Phil are reviewing everything we shot tonight, and they want everyone around in case they notice something that needs a quick reshoot."
Haley's feet stopped moving for half a second. "So there's still a chance they'll drag you back into that amusement park tomorrow night?"
"There's always a chance somebody watches one angle and suddenly decides my left eyebrow ruined the entire movie," Jack replied with a tired smile. "Hopefully everything works, though. Everything else is finished, so I'm basically waiting around until they tell me I can escape Georgia."
Haley smiled softly. "I'm voting for tomorrow."
"So am I," Jack said as he adjusted the laptop slightly. "I miss my bed, my house, decent sleep, and a certain girl who keeps distracting me during video calls."
Haley's smile widened as her feet started moving again. "That girl sounds amazing."
"She's extremely troublesome."
"She's probably worth it."
Jack looked at her for a moment and smiled. "She definitely is."
Haley buried part of her face against the pillow, clearly pleased with herself. "You're getting really good at boyfriend answers."
"I've had three years of training."
"Three years with me should qualify you for some kind of degree."
Jack chuckled, though his expression changed a moment later as something he had been thinking about since the set returned to his mind. He looked toward the screen with a little more seriousness. "Actually, there's something I need to tell you."
Haley immediately lifted her head. "Why did your voice suddenly turn into the voice people use before bad news?"
"It's not bad news," Jack said quickly. "At least I don't think it is. I just don't want to keep something from you and have it become weird later."
Haley studied him carefully. "Okay, now I'm listening."
Jack took a breath before continuing. "Emma said something tonight before we filmed the kiss. We were sitting around while they were setting everything up, and while talking I asked whether she had a boyfriend... and she said no..."
Haley stayed quiet, though the smallest knowing expression appeared on her face.
Jack noticed it but kept going. "Then she said the good ones were already taken. The way she looked at me when she said it made the meaning pretty obvious."
Haley pressed her lips together.
Jack narrowed his eyes slightly at the screen. "Why do you look like you already know where this is going?"
Haley tried to maintain an innocent expression and failed almost immediately. "Keep talking."
Jack stared suspiciously before continuing. "After the shoot, we talked for a second. She basically admitted without fully admitting that she has feelings for me. She also made it clear that she knows I love you and isn't trying to interfere with us."
Haley slowly nodded against the pillow.
Jack rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm planning to talk to her properly tomorrow because I don't want this hanging between us. Emma's one of my closest friends, and she's your best friend too. I really don't want something like this to screw up our friendship."
Haley watched him for another second before giving a small sigh. "Jack, I already know..."
Jack froze.
"...that Emma has a crush on you."
Jack stared at the screen in complete silence for several seconds. "How long have you known?"
Haley's eyes moved toward the ceiling as though she were calculating whether honesty would get her in trouble. "A while."
Jack sat up slightly. "Haley, what does 'a while' mean?"
She winced. "Long enough that you're probably going to make that exact face."
"What exact face?"
"The one where your eyebrows do that disappointed-parent thing."
Jack immediately touched his eyebrows. "My eyebrows don't do a disappointed-parent thing."
"They absolutely do."
Jack dropped his hand and stared at her. "Haley, focus. You knew Emma liked me, and you never said anything?"
Haley pushed herself slightly higher on the pillow. "Because she made me promise that I wouldn't tell you."
Jack's expression shifted from confusion toward surprise. "She told you herself?"
Haley nodded. "Yeah. She came to me about it because she felt guilty. She didn't want me thinking she was secretly trying to steal you or anything."
Jack leaned back against the headboard and processed that. "When did this happen?"
"A while ago," Haley repeated, then quickly added, "and don't make the eyebrow face again."
Jack gave her the eyebrow face anyway.
Haley sighed. "She told me she'd started realizing her feelings were getting complicated, but she also said she knew you loved me. She wasn't planning to do anything about it."
Jack looked down toward the blanket for a moment. "And you were okay with that?"
"I wasn't exactly thrilled that my best friend had a crush on my boyfriend," Haley replied while tracing one finger across the pillow. "I'm still human, Jack. Of course part of me went, 'Great, another gorgeous woman likes him. Fantastic. Love that for me.'"
Jack tried not to smile.
"You're like a chick magnet," Haley immediately pointed toward the screen. "Don't you dare enjoy that."
"I'm behaving."
"You're smiling."
"That's just my face."
Haley rolled her eyes before continuing. "Emma was honest with me, though. She didn't hide it, she didn't try anything behind my back, and she made it very clear that she respected our relationship."
Jack's expression softened.
Haley continued, "She asked me not to tell you because she wanted to tell you herself when she was ready. And since you two were about to spend weeks filming together, I didn't want to make everything weird before you even got to Georgia."
Jack thought about that for a few seconds. "That actually makes sense."
Haley gave him a small smile. "Thank you for finally recognizing my brilliant emotional strategy."
"I wouldn't go that far."
"Excuse me?"
Jack laughed as she gave him an offended look. "I mean, I get why you stayed quiet. If you'd called me before filming and said, 'Hey, just so you know, Emma has feelings for you,' I probably would've started overthinking every conversation we had."
"Exactly," Haley replied. "Then you would've become painfully awkward around her."
"I'm not painfully awkward."
"You once escaped a serious relationship talk by pointing behind three women and yelling, 'Oh my God, what's that?'"
Jack closed his eyes. "You really had to bring that back?"
"I'll bring that story back at our wedding."
Jack opened his eyes again and looked at her. "You're already planning material for our wedding?"
Haley realized what she had said and quickly looked away. "That is completely beside the point."
Jack's tired smile returned.
Haley gave him a warning look. "Do not start."
"I didn't say anything."
"Your face said something."
"My face is innocent."
"Your face is never innocent."
Jack settled onto his side again and let the teasing fade into a quieter expression. "I'm glad she told you, though. That makes tomorrow easier."
Haley nodded slowly. "Just don't make her feel embarrassed about it."
"I won't," Jack replied. "I care about her too much for that. I'm just going to tell her what she already knows. I love you, I value her friendship, and I don't want any of us turning this into something dramatic."
Haley's expression softened. "She already knows you love me."
"I still think she deserves to hear everything directly from me."
"That's probably the right thing."
Jack looked at the screen for a moment before asking, "Are you actually okay with all this?"
Haley considered her answer carefully. "I'm okay enough. I'd obviously prefer a universe where every beautiful woman in Hollywood looks at my boyfriend and thinks, 'Wow, what a completely unattractive man.'"
Jack's mouth twitched.
Haley continued before he could interrupt. "Sadly, you keep having the nerve to be charming, caring, talented, rich, famous, and annoyingly good-looking. So I've accepted that girls are going to like you."
Jack's smile slowly became more smug.
Haley noticed immediately. "Oh, God. I know that expression."
Jack pushed himself up slightly and ran one hand through his hair as though posing for an imaginary camera. "What can I say? I'm too hot, ain't I?"
Haley stared at him.
Jack raised his eyebrows. "You basically just said it."
"Please don't make me regret being emotionally mature."
"You said beautiful girls keep falling for me."
"I said girls are going to like you."
"Dakota."
Haley's eyes narrowed.
"Willa."
Her expression became more dangerous.
"Emma."
"Jack Preston," Haley grumbled.
Jack grinned wider. "And somehow I still picked the hottest one."
Haley tried to hold onto her glare, but the compliment broke through it. Her lips twitched before she buried her face against the pillow.
Jack laughed softly. "There she is."
Haley lifted her head again, cheeks warming for an entirely different reason now. "You're lucky you're cute."
"I thought I was too hot."
"Don't push your luck."
Jack settled his head back onto his arm and watched her fondly through the screen. "For what it's worth, none of that matters to me. Dakota can have a crush. Willa can have a crush. Emma can have feelings she didn't ask for. I'm still coming home to you."
Haley's teasing expression faded into something warmer. "I know you are."
"And tomorrow I'll talk to Emma, make sure everything's good between us, and hopefully keep one of my favorite friendships from becoming unnecessarily complicated."
Haley nodded. "She'll be okay. Just give her a little time afterward if she needs it."
"I will."
They fell quiet again.
Haley rested her cheek against her folded arms while her feet continued their lazy movement behind her. Jack watched her through the laptop, already wishing the distance between Georgia and California could disappear overnight.
After a moment, Haley smiled. "So, one or two days?"
"One or two days," Jack replied. "Then I'm coming home."
Haley's smile widened. "You'd better."
Jack closed his eyes for a second, still smiling. "Trust me, girlfriend. I'll be back before you know it."
Haley watched him settle deeper into the pillow as his exhaustion finally started winning. "You look like you're about to fall asleep."
"I'm completely awake."
"Your eyes are closed."
"I'm resting them responsibly."
Haley laughed quietly. "Go to sleep, movie star."
Jack opened one eye and looked toward the screen. "Love you, Haley."
Haley lowered her head against the pillow. "Love you too, Jack."
...
[Next day] [Cafe]
Emma and Jack talked things through. And they were still friends... In her heart, Emma regretted not meeting him a bit earlier. Maybe then, they could've had something. But she was happy for Haley and Jack and maybe a little jealous too...
--
The next chapter will start with a brief time skip. And it's time to include the remaining household in the story. So far I focused mainly on the Dunphy family and Hollywood. 🫡
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