They spent the next week inseparable. When Catherine was at work, Jackie was back at her apartment finishing up her unpacking for her. In which it removed a lot of stress when Catherine would return home at night.
Midway through the week, Catherine was surprised to find Jackie knocking on her office door.
"Is this okay?" Jackie asked.
"Yeah, of course. Come in," Catherine smiled as she got up and hugged her.
"I brought some lunch. I tried my best but I'm sorry if it's awful."
"I'm sure it's delicious. Thank you," Catherine beamed as she kissed her.
"So I have some good news," Jackie said after taking a bite of the sandwich.
"Oh?"
Before Jackie could speak, there was a knock on the door.
"Come in," Catherine called out.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know you had company. We were just going to lunch and didn't know if you wanted to join."
"I've got some already but thanks! This is my girlfriend Jackie. Jackie, this is Jennifer. She's another Psychology Professor here."
"Oh, it's so nice to meet you!" Jennifer smiled as she shook Jackie's hand.
"Likewise," Jackie replied, in somewhat shock.
Once Jennifer left, she turned to Catherine.
"New chapter, right?" Catherine said.
"It sure is," Jackie smiled. "Is it weird how easy this all suddenly feels? Why did we stress out about it so much?"
"We are complicated people. So what was your news?"
"Oh! I got the role!"
Catherine's mouth dropped before turning into a giant smile. She got up and came around the desk to hug Jackie tightly.
"Congratulations! I'm so proud of you!"
"Thanks, and thanks for getting me back out there. I'm really excited for this one."
****
After a month of blissful living and office visits during lunchtime, Jackie had to head back to LA to prepare for her new movie. The night before her flight back, Wade sent her the filming schedule and as she looked over, her heart broke.
She would have to film overseas during Thanksgiving when she had promised Catherine that they would go back to Bloomington for the holiday. Making it worse, was the fact that despite Jackie's wishes, Catherine had decided to put the house on the market and it would most likely be the last time they could visit.
Catherine was going to be devastated. Not knowing how to tell her, Jackie just handed her the schedule.
"I am so sorry."
Jackie watched as Catherine tried to not look upset, but could see the disappointment in her eyes once she saw the date.
"It's okay. There's nothing you can do."
Jackie just hugged her.
"I'll be okay. I've made it through for so many years. I can handle another holiday and it's not like I'm completely alone. You will just be across the ocean. This is huge for you. I don't want you to feel guilty."
As hard as it was, it was the happiest farewell they had ever had. Knowing this time it was different in the best way possible.
This time they didn't have to worry about an uncertain future.
****
Thankfully to have made friends, Catherine left Ethan with one of them as she made her journey back to Bloomington. The last week had been hard. Jackie was overseas now filming, so communicating was rough. She was also dealing with the emotional toll of finding out her home in Bloomington had been sold, and she wasn't able to tell Jackie yet.
When she landed in Indiana, her nostalgia was becoming painful. She couldn't believe this would be her last trip home. Driving the hour from the airport, she couldn't help but cry after feeling extremely overwhelmed with the idea of packing up the house and spending Thanksgiving alone.
She wanted nothing more than to just talk to Jackie, but she hadn't been able to get in touch with her. All she had received in the last few days were apologies sent through messages.
When she finally got home, she opened the door and turned on the lights. Her realtor had dropped off a bunch of empty boxes for her. Even the sight of them alone stung. Unable to deal with it yet, she went into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of wine.
Starting a fire, she rested on the couch and reminisced about the holidays she and her family had spent in the house before her they passed away.
Falling asleep that night wasn't easy.
She wasn't used to not having Ethan there and she was missing Jackie terribly, but after much tossing and turning she was able to drift off finally.
****
In the morning, Catherine poured herself a cup of coffee and attempted to call Jackie.
"Hey!" Jackie responded cheerfully on the other end.
"It's you!" Catherine said excitedly.
She was relieved to have finally gotten Jackie on the phone.
"I'm sorry. The service here is awful and we've been so busy."
"I need to tell you something."
"Catherine?"
"Jackie?"
"Catherine, you're breaking up."
"Jackie, can you hear me?"
"Catherine? I can't hear you. I'll try calling you back later. I love you and miss you so much! Happy Thanksgiving!"
Feeling disappointed, Catherine put her phone down on the counter and sighed. As she drank her coffee, she went into the foyer and stared at the empty boxes that she avoided the night before.
"Happy Thanksgiving," she muttered aloud.
****
Not wanting to wallow in self-pity, Catherine threw herself into making a Thanksgiving feast for herself. The hours ticked by and she still hadn't heard from Jackie.
She stared down at the plate she had spent so much time on and smiled, impressed with herself, before taking it into the living room in front of the fire. She never ate in there but figured what the hell, it isn't her house anymore any way.
Just as she was about to take her first bite, the doorbell rang. Who in the heck was that? Especially on Thanksgiving. Maybe the neighbours saw the lights on and were worried; since she hadn't been home in so long.
When she opened the door, she couldn't believe her eyes.
Jackie was standing on the porch with pumpkin pie in her hands.
"Happy Thanksgiving!" Jackie yelled.
"What are you doing here?" Catherine asked excitedly as she grabbed her, carefully not to spill the pie.
"Do you really think I would have left you to spend Thanksgiving alone?"
"But your movie?"
"They were nice enough to give us a few days off and I managed to get them to help me find the earliest plane ticket to take me home. I was so pissed because the reception wasn't working and had to go down to the closest travel agent for help, but can I come in? It's freezing and my hands are full!"
Catherine grabbed the pie and set it down on the coffee table. Then she put her arms around Jackie as soon as she got in the door.
"You don't know how much this means to me."
"Yes, I do. That's why I'm here," she said and kissed her. "Woah, what's all of this?"
Jackie froze as she was looking at the boxes.
"That's what I've been trying to tell you on the phone. I sold the house."
"No!" Jackie moaned in sadness.
"I know. I'm having a harder time than I thought, but come on. You came at the right time. I just finished dinner."
****
After they caught up with each other and talked all about Jackie's movie and how Stanford was going, Catherine poured them glasses of wine while Jackie went to change.
When she came back down, she had a grin on her face and placed her hands behind Catherine's back.
"What?" Catherine smirked, suspiciously.
"I have an early birthday present for you because I'm going to miss it," Jackie said, pulling out a box out from behind her.
Catherine smiled as she handed it to her. She slowly undid the ribbon on the box. When she opened it, she gently pushed back the tissue paper and then looked at Jackie when she saw what was inside.
"My bunny! You jerk! I thought I lost this in the move!"
Jackie laughed, "I told you that you would find it when you were least expecting it."
"When? How?"
"I'm sorry. I stole it that last day we were here when we weren't doing well. I needed something to remind me of you while we were separated. I honestly didn't think you would notice, but then when you called me that day I knew I would have to find a creative way to give it back to you; so you don't hate me for taking it. However, that's not all. Look closely at it."
Catherine looked harder and she saw a key tied around the bunny's neck.
"A key? What's it for?"
"Take it off and I'll show you."
Jackie took a sip of wine before she stood and held her hand out to Catherine, smiling.
Catherine untied the key and placed her hand in Jackie's, as she opened the door and led her outside. They walked to the porch and she looked around as Jackie closed the front door.
"Where are we going?" She asked curiously.
"Home," Jackie grinned as she placed her hands on Catherine's shoulders and turned her back around to face the house.
She put her hand over Catherine's and slid the key into the door to unlock it.
"I don't understand."
"I'm the one who bought your house. I told you that I would never let you sell it. This is your home and as happy as I know you are in California, it will never compare to this place. You were robbed of a life filled with traditions with people who love you, so I promise to do everything I can to make up for it. Weekend escapes, holidays, summer trips, whenever you want to come back here. We can. Forever."
Catherine's eyes watered as she turned to Jackie.
"I can't believe you did this."
"I can't believe you picked me," Jackie smiled.
"Good thing I'm a procrastinator and didn't start packing yet," Catherine laughed through her tears.
****
Later that night, as Catherine sat and cuddled up next to Jackie in front of the fire, she felt like this was all just a dream.
She was in her family home, on Thanksgiving, sharing a piece of pumpkin pie with someone who had completely shown her what it felt like to be loved.
Something she hadn't felt in a long time.
Glancing over at the table, she saw the stuffed bunny and smiled while looking at Jackie.
"What?" Jackie laughed uncomfortably when she caught her gaze.
"Nothing," Catherine replied softly and returned a smile.
Her heart finally felt full again.
NOT THE END (technically supposed to be the end)
A/n: Okay, so technically this was my ending plan for Bloomington 2. As I was writing this up, I couldn't help but want to write up an EXTRA SPECIAL chapter (or 2) for both Catherine and Jackie.
I started to cry while writing this chapter because Catherine finally felt that she was loved ð¥¹, so I couldn't help myself for just ending this story like this.
Sooo, I will give you all one last chapter or 2. It's probably the best ending I drafted out in my opinion. xx
Thanks for reading my story. Please vote and drop a comment. Comments will help me a lot more than you might think. â¤ï¸