Chapter 28
Jackson
The next morning, Jackson was rudely awakened by Elliot’s alarm at five thirty in the morning. The sheer act of Elliot climbing out of the bunk roused him too much to drift back off.
“Bloody hell, why so early?”
Elliot laughed, obnoxiously spritely for the time of day. Jackson hated morning people. “You didn’t think I’d let you slack off on your training while you were here, did you?”
“I hoped.”
“Jackson, I’m expecting you to not just make it to the Games, but to bring home some hardware, so get your sexy arse out of bed and get moving. I want you to get a session in before visiting hours start at the hospital.”
Jackson’s ire melted a little bit at that. Elliot wasn’t forcing him out of bed at this ungodly hour for his own annoying routine; he was way more thoughtful than he ever let on.
“You know, even if I do make it to the Games, I’m not going to medal,” he replied.
Elliot scoffed. “Not with that attitude.” He walked out of the room, already fully dressed in his tracksuit with a whistle hanging around his neck that Jackson was pretty sure was all for show.
The rest of the house was still quiet as Jackson rustled up some oatmeal for the two of them, and Elliot outlined the training plan he’d put together for Jackson for the day.
Jackson briefly read over the document Elliot had opened on his phone, seeing nearly a full week of training planned out. “This is different to what Anders had for this week.”
Elliot flushed. “I wanted to keep it light, but you need to work on your pacing, so I’ve added more variable sessions in.”
Jackson knew it, and Elliot knew it—every single time Elliot had outrun him, he’d done it in the final moments of the race. It shouldn’t have felt like a big deal, but to Jackson, this was Elliot putting him before their rivalry, giving him the tools to win, even against him.
“I’ve done a five-day plan with a sharp taper,” Elliot said.
“You really think I’ll still be able to run.
” It wasn’t a question. He was amazed that Elliot seemed so confident.
When he’d ditched the flight last minute, he’d been positive that would be it, that he’d be cut without question, and Elliot replacing him had felt like the only silver lining to it.
But Elliot was here too now, and if his dad was doing as well as the hospital said, well, maybe he could be a little bit selfish just one more time.
"I want to make sure you get in for a sports massage while you’re here,” Elliot continued as though Jackson’s awe was ridiculous.
“I’ve got a few people I can ring,” he replied eventually.
“Right.” Elliot smiled. “Guess you trained here most of your life.”
Jackson nodded. “I’ll show you around a bit. We can definitely use the track I used to train at. I’m friendly with the club and still have a key. I come back and do talks and stuff like that whenever I can.”
Elliot gave him a fond look. “Of course you do.”
“So, what’ve you got for me today, Coach?” Jackson asked with a wink.
Elliot flushed. “Don’t say it like that.”
“Did you like that?”
“Shut it.” Elliot pouted. Jackson leaned in to kiss him. “Stop trying to delay your workout.”
“I’m not, I swear. You’re just very kissable when you’re all flustered and turned on, Coach.”
“I despise you.”
“You love me.”
“I do. I love you so much that I’ve decided to start the day with a nice eight-mile tempo session. So get moving, Jennings.”
It was a short drive to the track Jackson had basically grown up on. Unlocking the gate felt weirdly nostalgic, and sharing it felt strangely like baring a tiny piece of his soul to Elliot.
He was into it.
He snuck a look over at Elliot. The dawn light made his pale skin glow a soft pink, and Jackson couldn’t resist the urge to press a kiss to his lips.
Now that his family knew about them, it was like a massive weight had been lifted that he hadn’t realised he’d been carrying.
The rest of the world didn’t need to know.
Maybe after the Olympics, or in a few years. It didn’t matter.
“Stop stalling and get out there.” Elliot interrupted his thoughts.
“Aren’t you joining me?” he asked.
Elliot grimaced. “Not today. Felt a twinge in my calf this morning—probably went a little too hard in the trial after all, and with everything…well, I don’t want to risk it.”
Jackson nodded, and this time, when Elliot gestured towards the track, he listened.
He did want to get back to the hospital as soon as visiting hours started, anyway.
He hit the track, doing a slow warm-up lap before running through a set of stretches.
Elliot watched, and Jackson could feel his eyes burning into him and his body starting to respond.
That was something he was going to need to get under control, or he’d never be able to race against Elliot again.
He got moving, willing his body to cooperate by thinking of the most unsexy things he could: Coach Anders shouting at him, burpees, barbecue sauce on pizza, race day nutrition errors.
Every time he passed by where Elliot was standing, he shot him a wink, which made his boyfriend roll his eyes at him, but Jackson could spot the pleased little grin on his face from miles away.
With only a brief pause to switch directions on the track, the workout flew by. Jackson knew he was pushing above his usual tempo pace, but the mix of having all of Elliot’s attention on him and really wanting to get over to see his dad was driving him forward.
After a quick cool-down, Elliot bundled him into the car, and they drove back to the house. Elliot handed him a protein bar to refuel as he drove. “How did that feel?”
Jackson replied between bites. “Good. Think my pace was a bit fast.”
“You looked good. Relaxed.”
“And the heel flick?”
“Still a little high,” Elliot replied with a wry grin.
They parked in the drive and exited the car. Jackson linked his fingers through Elliot’s as they walked inside.
By the time Jackson had showered and changed into street clothes, the rest of the house had awoken.
Katie had arrived in the wee hours of the morning as well.
Jackson had about thirty seconds of calm to introduce her to Elliot before Noah ran into the kitchen, and chaos descended as the toddler demanded everyone’s full attention.
He was a fairly easy kid most of the time, but when he decided he wasn’t doing something, he really dug his heels in.
That morning, he had decided he was absolutely not going to the hospital.
Anna looked like she was near tears, and every tactic in the book had failed. Jackson could tell Anna wanted to visit Dad just as much as he did, but there was no way she’d be able to bring Noah if he was like this.
“I could watch him for you,” Elliot offered quietly. “If you want, I mean. I could stay here with him while you go up to visit.”
Elliot’s voice was shaking, and Jackson reached over to squeeze his hand.
Anna levelled him with an assessing look. “Have you ever babysat a toddler before?”
Elliot shook his head, blushing.
“Dear, it will only be a couple of hours. They could go to the park. Or stay in and watch telly.” Jackson’s mum was already pulling her jacket on, anxious to get going.
Anna let out a resigned sigh as Noah stamped his feet again and reminded them all that he was absolutely not going.
“No more than thirty minutes of screen time, and his snacks are in the bottom cupboard,” she told Elliot as she was being ushered out the door.
“Make sure you remind him to drink water and to use the potty.”
Jackson snuck in a quick kiss with Elliot before he, too, was being rushed into the car for the drive up to the hospital.
The sterile hospital smell was possibly Jackson’s least favourite thing in the entire world. Between that and the sombre air that always seemed to permeate the whole building, he felt on edge from the second they stepped through the doors.
The whole group of them piled into the room his dad was sharing with three other people, two of whom were still asleep. Jackson made a mental note not to be too loud.
His dad was sitting up in bed, flipping through the sports pages when they entered. A grin broke across his face as he looked up at them. He didn’t look as bad as Jackson had expected, though he still struggled with seeing his larger-than-life da laid up like this.
The chatter was washing over him a bit until he caught his own name falling from Anna’s lips. “Jacksy’s boyfriend is watching him for us. He was being a right little terror this morning.”
“Who? The boyfriend?”
“Ha ha. Very funny, Da,” Jackson snarked back.
His dad grinned at him, and for a second it felt like the old days, the two of them shooting the shit down at the pub or driving across the country for one of Jackson’s races.
His dad had been his rock for his whole damn life, and he didn’t know what he would do if he couldn’t just pick up the phone to ring him anymore.
Jackson found himself wishing he’d spent more time at home over the past few years.
Wishing he hadn’t moved to London. All the independence he’d thought he needed, the promises of better training opportunities, paled in comparison to the reality of what he’d missed.
His eyes burned and he ducked his head so his dad wouldn't see.
Their group was apparently far too loud, and after being shushed twice by nurses, they had to make the call to split up.
Anna was already starting to fret about leaving Noah with Elliot for too long, so Jackson agreed to drop her and Bethy at home, then come back to get his mum and Katie, who wanted a little extra time.
“Mind you bring your boyfriend back with you, Jackson,” his dad called out as he was leaving. Then he stage-whispered to his mum, “Got to see if he’s good enough for my boy.”
A strange protective flare lit up in Jackson, but his mum already had it under control. “Oh, Keith, don’t you scare that sweet boy.”