Let's Try to Keep Talking (30 Rock, Jack/Liz)
Title: Let's Try to Keep Talking
Prompt: 100_situations #011. Fair
Fandom: 30 Rock
Pairings: Jack/Liz, Liz/Other
Notes: This got away from me a little, which is okay because it doesn't really fit any of the prompts left in my drabble table. But, anyway! The rest of the parts, I will keep at 300 words as planned.
Word Count: 532
Rating: PG
Table: Number Two.
Summary: Liz doesn't want him to leave. (Part of the ' Not Moving On' series.)
Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue!
*
Liz doesn't want him to leave. This he's sure of, but what he doesn't know is how to convince Liz to give in to her impulse to accept what he's saying as the truth it is. He pondered -- not brainstormed; he stopped applying that particular technique to his personal life years ago -- it for a while last night, and the best he came up with was delaying the start of their romantic relationship, but he suspects she'd worry he would lose interest after he's completely won her over.
"It's not just you," she says. "I'm not good at this, either. Making things last. I go crazy trying to get a guy to like me, and then it fizzles. And don't say we're different, because I spent a week wearing outfits that you said make me 'look like a woman' because it was the best I could think of, since you already know me well enough that I couldn't pretend to be what you'd want, and you didn't notice. I may not have gone crazy, but still. Now I'm with some dude... and yes, I realize calling my boyfriend 'some dude' doesn't make the case for my relationship, but we're not even talking about him, we're talking about us, but he probably should come up more often, so maybe I should break up with him, but--"
"Was it October?"
"Huh?" She discerns what he meant without him clarifying. "Yeah."
"I didn't think it was for my benefit. But I noticed." He'd thought she was attempting to entice a guest actor who was from some alternative comedy troupe Toofer belonged to. (He was brought on for his apparently dead-on Obama impersonation. Jack couldn't tell, as he wouldn't know a bad Obama from a good one.) His jealousy didn't surprise him, but the depth of it did. He waited for her interest in this other man to fade. (It had to; his primary source of income was a comedy troupe.) Jack assumed it had by the following week, when Liz showed up to work wearing clothes even she admitted were hideous, but he failed to make any sort of move because he didn't want her to assume he was being sarcastic. Then, out of nowhere, she was dating someone Jack had never heard her speak of before. "I suppose we haven't had the best of timing."
"We still don't."
"We could. If you'd let us."
"I'm the jerk, I guess?" She says it half-heartedly, like a joke she knows is bad. He believes her making a slight attempt at humor is a positive sign.
"You're the person who doesn't appreciate how much I need you. I have no intention of hurting you."
"I'm not worried that you want to hurt me. I'm worried that you're going to anyway. I'm worried that I'm going to lose my best friend and my boyfriend on the same day."
"It's not as if losing you wouldn't be difficult for me. Every relationship is a risk--"
"I know--"
"But it would be worse to never take the chance. If you love me even a little, you should at least say maybe."
And she says, "Maybe."
TBC
Prompt: 100_situations #011. Fair
Fandom: 30 Rock
Pairings: Jack/Liz, Liz/Other
Notes: This got away from me a little, which is okay because it doesn't really fit any of the prompts left in my drabble table. But, anyway! The rest of the parts, I will keep at 300 words as planned.
Word Count: 532
Rating: PG
Table: Number Two.
Summary: Liz doesn't want him to leave. (Part of the ' Not Moving On' series.)
Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue!
*
Liz doesn't want him to leave. This he's sure of, but what he doesn't know is how to convince Liz to give in to her impulse to accept what he's saying as the truth it is. He pondered -- not brainstormed; he stopped applying that particular technique to his personal life years ago -- it for a while last night, and the best he came up with was delaying the start of their romantic relationship, but he suspects she'd worry he would lose interest after he's completely won her over.
"It's not just you," she says. "I'm not good at this, either. Making things last. I go crazy trying to get a guy to like me, and then it fizzles. And don't say we're different, because I spent a week wearing outfits that you said make me 'look like a woman' because it was the best I could think of, since you already know me well enough that I couldn't pretend to be what you'd want, and you didn't notice. I may not have gone crazy, but still. Now I'm with some dude... and yes, I realize calling my boyfriend 'some dude' doesn't make the case for my relationship, but we're not even talking about him, we're talking about us, but he probably should come up more often, so maybe I should break up with him, but--"
"Was it October?"
"Huh?" She discerns what he meant without him clarifying. "Yeah."
"I didn't think it was for my benefit. But I noticed." He'd thought she was attempting to entice a guest actor who was from some alternative comedy troupe Toofer belonged to. (He was brought on for his apparently dead-on Obama impersonation. Jack couldn't tell, as he wouldn't know a bad Obama from a good one.) His jealousy didn't surprise him, but the depth of it did. He waited for her interest in this other man to fade. (It had to; his primary source of income was a comedy troupe.) Jack assumed it had by the following week, when Liz showed up to work wearing clothes even she admitted were hideous, but he failed to make any sort of move because he didn't want her to assume he was being sarcastic. Then, out of nowhere, she was dating someone Jack had never heard her speak of before. "I suppose we haven't had the best of timing."
"We still don't."
"We could. If you'd let us."
"I'm the jerk, I guess?" She says it half-heartedly, like a joke she knows is bad. He believes her making a slight attempt at humor is a positive sign.
"You're the person who doesn't appreciate how much I need you. I have no intention of hurting you."
"I'm not worried that you want to hurt me. I'm worried that you're going to anyway. I'm worried that I'm going to lose my best friend and my boyfriend on the same day."
"It's not as if losing you wouldn't be difficult for me. Every relationship is a risk--"
"I know--"
"But it would be worse to never take the chance. If you love me even a little, you should at least say maybe."
And she says, "Maybe."
TBC