Everything smelled disgusting after the initial ten minutes. Too floral, too soapy, too spicy. Too old man, too…

Too Kieran.

Jack sighed as he looked over the various bottles of cologne, placing the one he'd just sniffed back in its spot. He could barely tell the difference anymore. Why was it so hard to find something that was simple and subtle? Or something that was bright and happy.

And not what stuffy vampires wore.

Jack moved further down the aisle, examining bottles as he went. How long did it take to get over a guy? A couple months should have been more than enough. It also should have been enough time to settle on some sort of cologne.

If Tara hadn't been with him, he'd have given up and gone home. Throwing the covers over his head and panicking about how his new bedframe was too high off the floor seemed like a good idea. It was the cheapest thing he could find, and it had plenty of space beneath it for a full grown adult to squeeze under.

Not that he had crawled under it to check. Then immediately shoved every box he could scrounge up beneath the damned thing.

He hated it.

He hated change. He hated getting his so-called life together.

"Wrist."

He obediently raised his arm for Tara and felt her spritz his inner wrist. Another trip to the bathroom to cleanse his poor skin would be in order. If only he hadn't already ducked into the small bathroom five minutes earlier to scrub off the first sampling before Tara had found some paper strips. He was stuck with whatever she had just chosen, and he had a feeling she planned it. He reluctantly sniffed at his wrist then gave her a confused frown. "Orange?"

"Found it in the stuff for tweens," Tara said with a wide grin. "Seemed like a you thing. And how can you say no to this chubby… Dog? Penguin?" She glared at the packaging, tilting her head in confusion. "I have no idea what this thing's s'posed to be."

"It's not awful." Jack took another sniff. "Creamsicle. I smell yum— Fuck." If he smelled anything like the body spray, then he completely got why vampires wanted a bite out of him. "Yeah. Okay."

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"I'll get it for you," she said, her grin turning soft. She pointed the bottle at Jack's nose and placed a hand on her hip, narrowing her eyes as Jack opened his mouth. "It's five bucks, so shut up."

Jack's mouth snapped shut, swallowing down his protest. He could handle five dollars being spent on him. It was just like a coffee. And nowhere near the shopping and makeover extravaganza Candace had subjected him to when he mentioned wanting to make a change.

The haircut was bad enough. The new clothes were even worse. People didn't ignore him anymore. Compliments. Getting chatted up. He had to give up on finding a new bar.

Turning his life around had been a big mistake. The biggest he could make. Outside of having a thing for vampires.

"You should swing by the gym sometime. Complete your whole get-over-the-boyfriend thing," Tara said as she headed toward an aisle full of mascara.

"I'm not helping you get a bonus."

She rolled her eyes as she poked through the different brands. "As my family, asshole."

Jack threw her a skeptical glare before pointedly examining his hands as he turned them over. "For some reason, I don't think that'll work."

"Everyone does it," she said dismissively. "I'm covering Jenny's yoga class while she's on maternity leave. It's pretty chill and full of eye candy."

"I don't think being stuck with my own thoughts is a good idea."

"Then take up kick boxing. There's room in my Wednesday afternoon class. I promise I won't call you out for bad form in front of everyone."

Being able to properly fight back would be nice. It would at least give him a leg up if he encountered a normal person. And learning to kick pushy assholes in the nuts would give him the confidence to hunt down a new bar. "I guess learning to fight would be a good thing."

"It's not that kinda class, but if you do have to go up against someone, then you'll be less likely to hurt yourself." Tara settled on a tube of mascara and frowned at it before turning to Jack. "Hopefully. Actually, stick to the taser."

"I did. Wasn't much help," he replied, hunching his shoulders and staring at the floor as the reminder of his uselessness barreled into him.

"That's 'cuz you got ganged up on."

He hadn't exactly been ganged up on, but he never argued against the story everyone had come up with. He was more than happy to just agree with the assumptions that he'd been physically overpowered and threatened.

"Besides, that guy's dead-dead, so it shouldn't be an issue anymore."

"Thanks for jinxing me. If I get kidnapped again, it's your fault."

Tara snorted out a laugh. "I'll get you a gift card the next time it happens."

image [https://i.imgur.com/eZY0YUq.png]