Chef in the Apocalypse

After another few seconds of nauseas rocking, Jayce finally came to his senses, appearing in the destroyed Central Square which he had disappeared from earlier. He looked around in confusion for a moment before his gaze moved down to a ring sitting inconspicuously on his finger.

A smile made its way onto his face as he stroked the ring fondly. "Thank goodness it wasn’t a dream." He murmured.

With a happy expression plastered on his face, he made his way back to his house. With everything that had happened today and the long chat with Rubick, he was pining for a good nights rest.

He continued to glance down at the ring which was sitting snugly on his left ring finger, stroking it from time to time with fondness. Although he had yet to see what was inside, he knew that there would be no trash.

As he approached his building, he was spotted by a passerby. Because Jayce was so distracted, he did not even see this person, walking directly past them and to the door of his house.

"Ahem..."

The sound of a woman clearing their throat sounded out from behind him, causing Jayce to jump in fright. He quickly turned around, hiding his hands behind his back and looking towards the direction of the sound.

"Oh. Lianna! Hi beautiful." Jayce stiffened and said, trying to sound natural.

Unfortunately, this worked about as well as a car underwater. Lianna frowned, moving closer to Jayce who seemed to suddenly be sweating profusely all of a sudden. She looked him up and down as if she was a detective.

"Why are you so jittery? I thought you said you wouldn’t be home until before dawn?" She fired a couple of rapid questions his way, causing him to freeze.

"Uhh." Jayce looked around, seeing that the sky was still dark.

’Damn it Rubick. Why did you have to be so considerate of my sleeping schedule?’ He cursed inwardly. If time had passed as normal, he could have avoided this encounter altogether and instead climbed into bed for a cuddle with Lianna.

"I-It is before dawn. See?" Jayce said lamely, producing a bad excuse for a smile.

Lianna let out a long sigh. One thing that she had noticed with Jayce was that he was not a great liar, especially to those who he cared for. Usually he could get away with it by using his authority as a Leader, but not in front of her.

"Just tell me what you’re hiding." She said, crossing her arms and looking him up and down.

"Hiding? I don’t know what you’re talking about." Jayce’s eyebrows twitched, trying his best to keep a straight face.

’Shit, f*ck, damn it!’ he cursed inwardly. Rubick had just told him to keep their meeting a secret, yet here he was not even 2 minutes later being interrogated by his woman.

Lianna’s face hardened as she looked at her squirming man. Her voice became stern as she ordered "Show me your hands."

Hearing the tone of her voice, Jayce felt his fight or flight responses kick in. It took all of his willpower to not run away instantly. In the end he decided against it.

If he earnestly told her that he could not speak about where or who he got the ring from, she should understand. After all, when had he ever led her astray right? Right?

Jayce let out a sigh, his nervous body calming down a little. As ordered, he brought his hands forward and showed the ring which was sitting snugly on his left hand. He raised his gaze up to Lianna whose face was frozen.

She stared at the plain looking ring on his finger for a solid minute without making a sound. Suddenly Jayce began to get nervous. He had tried a few times to break the silence, but the words would get caught in his throat as he looked upon her frozen features.

Finally working up the courage, he opened his mouth. "I can’t tell you who I received this ring from, but you just need to trust me okay."

As soon as the words left his mouth, he heard the sound of rushing wind before his head was snapped to the side.

SLAP!

A loud slap echoed out, bouncing off the walls and throughout the alleys. Jayce felt his blood rushing towards his cheek which was suddenly throbbing with pain from the unexpected attack.

He turned his gaze back to Lianna who had tears streaming down her face. She looked crestfallen, as if he had committed the ultimate betrayal. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Jayce blinked a few times, his mind trying to catch up with the recent developments that had left him reeling. However, his mind was so worn out from the Summit, the attack and the in depth conversation he had with Rubick that he was drawing blanks.

"W-What was that for?" Jayce asked, not able to come up with an answer himself even after all this time.

"How can you ask such a thing? Why would you even show me this ring?" Lianna tried to hold back her running tears as she questioned him.

Yet before he could respond her voice turned quiet. "If you didn’t want to be with me anymore you could have just told me... I wish you both happiness."

After saying those words, she turned around and started to walk away, wiping her tears.

Suddenly, Jayce’s brain seemed to have been woken up from its slumber. He suddenly put all of the pieces of the puzzle together, finally understanding what Lianna had been so upset about.

He felt the urge to slap himself in the face a few times because of his utter stupidity. Why did he choose to wear the spatial ring on his left ring finger... The one that signifies marriage.

"Wait! Lianna I can explain." He said, reaching out towards her and catching her arm.

Thankfully, she did not resist. Even agreeing to come into the house where they could chat further.