#the urban stitches

[thackeroy]

Started working on this bad boy again today in stream after being bested by black fabric. It feels nice to get some progress on this piece by Urban Stitches after mostly focusing on cross stitch and knitting recently.

[spooky-the-evil-squeektoy]

[eerie-embroidery]

What a coincidence.

[gentlyrowan]

*✴ Post-post Apocalypse ✴*

[marjitea]

[demento-mori]

old man yaoi in my dnd dream

[tahyirasavanna]

4 Home & Tech Gifts They’ll Love This Holiday Season

Two of the most important things in anyone’s modern life are their home and their favorite device, so why not choose something from one of those categories for their holiday present? We’ve rounded up four standout products that will make your loved ones’ faces light up brighter than the Rockefeller Christmas Tree, while giving you the peace of mind knowing that your gift will definitely go to…

[emdotcom]

Remember! If you share, more answers will be there.

[brittanyinterviews]

Brent Duplessis, Editor at The RealReal

Brent Duplessis, Editor at The RealReal

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This interview was conducted via email in November 2022. It was edited slightly for clarity and consistency. 

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Brittany: Can you tell me a bit about yourself? 

Brent: I grew up in the San Fernando Valley on the north side of Los Angeles, but have called San Francisco home for the past 15 years. I moved here for school and stayed for the weather. Yes I like the perpetual cold and fog, yes I still love it here. And no, I will never move back to LA! I currently work as the Editor for The RealReal, a luxury consignment company, and spend my spare time honing my cooking skills, watering my plants, eating & drinking across SF and hunkering down with a video game.

Brittany: Taking a peek at your LinkedIn, it's clear that you've been interested in and have worked in fashion for a while. Do you remember how this interest developed? 

Brent: It definitely started much sooner than I can put a finger on, but my earliest memories were draping sheets & towels on myself and my little sister and playing around the house. Back-to-school shopping was my favorite time of the year and my mom has told me that I always had an opinion on what I wanted to wear. My interest grew by flipping through fashion magazines that belonged to my mom and sister — Vogue, Marie Claire, YM stand out — and would casually peruse catalogs for mall stores when I was bored.

I think the first time I fell in love with "capital F" Fashion was around 2000 / 2001 when I saw photos of Alexander McQueen's VOSS. It completely changed the way I thought about fashion and is still one of my all-time favorite shows. I dove into his work (thanks, Style.com!) and became obsessed with the storytelling he was able to achieve through his choices of textiles & embellishments and the strange forms he created that were at once bleak, unsettling, and undeniably beautiful. John Galliano's work at Dior also quickly became a favorite of mine for its opulence and escapism, the campy opposite of the seriousness of McQueen, but with a similar deft handling of fabric and daringness with silhouette. Also have to admit, totally lowbrow, but I was a huge fan of Heatherette, too! The pure fun and frivolity of neon debutante cupcake dresses and frothy pastel tulle spoke to my little queer heart at the time. It still does! 

From there I found myself excited again and again with everything the fashion world had to offer: designers, collections, garments, all the way down to an interesting sleeve detail (hello Nicolas Ghesquière's Balenciaga A/W 2003!). Fashion was a total escape — not from anything bad, but from the ordinariness of the everyday.

Brittany: I see you studied textiles in college. What did you learn in this program?

Brent: Ultimately I learned that I am a fussy control freak. I started to explore other majors in the second semester of sophomore year and took a flat pattern design class. In that class I realized that a lot of what I wanted to make relied on specific fabrics or fabric manipulations that I would spend ages (sloppily) developing. The teacher was just asking for a basic pair of pants, not a Comme des Garçons inspired drop-crotch short with wool-laminated wire mesh. Because of my interest in developing product from the ground up, my professor suggested I take a couple textiles classes.

Within the first few weeks of these classes, it felt like all the boxes were being checked and I could see a viable career ahead of myself. I loved the math and planning of weaving & lacemaking, the chemistry of dying & processing fabric, the art and intuition of surface design, and the futurism of novel fabric development. I learned that I really needed a full, top-to-bottom, vertically integrated, ideation-to-runway understanding of how the garments from designers I was worshiping were created. I was encouraged by my professors and mentor to integrate my POV and interests in science and technology into my work and really felt a connection to everything I was doing. Beyond the skills I learned, I honestly do think learning about textiles and production helped me understand how my silly little brain works. 

Brittany: It was also during college that you started working at Urban Outfitters in sales and merchandising. Can you tell me more about your time there? Any insights you can share as an insider?

Brent: What a time! I met some incredible people during those 5 years, many of whom are still close friends. I was a regular sales associate for a few years at the gigantic flagship, so things were hectic ALL the time. I then moved into specializing in shoes for the rest of my time with the company. I saw the launch of some cool designer collaborations, always had dibs on the good shoes, and got to work with the super talented merchandising team for a couple years. Since it was a flagship and had one of the larger set-building teams, I got to help execute the merchandising vision that would be rolled out of stores nationwide. It was neat to see how homegrown the merchandising was for such a massive company! 

Brittany: While at Stitch Fix, a subscription-based styling service, you were a liaison of sorts between stylists and clients as well as a stylist and coordinator. What did you learn pivoting from a major brick & mortar retailer to what might have been considered a startup at the time?

Brent: I think a lot of companies like to say that they are client-first or have great customer service, but Stitch Fix — and it may be liiitle bit experience bias — really took it to the next level. I went in being very fashion-fashion-fashion, but had to pull it back and remember that everyday clothes can be just as important. 

After I was a stylist, I moved into a customer-stylist liaison position where I worked closer with a mix of customers that were a higher touch: VIP clients, those who weren't having a great time with the service, and women that had very specific needs that could make or break a buying decision. Prior to that role, I never considered the difficulty in shopping when you have to accommodate a medical device, find something flattering after a major surgery, or consider how a garment gets on your body when you have mobility issues. It was quite eye-opening and helped me think more about the utility of clothing. 

My last 3 years at Stitch Fix were spent in product development for the in-house brands. It was a great opportunity to flex my knowledge of textiles and construction, and apply that to the customer framework I developed over the two years prior working directly with clients. I'll admit, the product wasn't exciting to me, but I genuinely respected that the company was filling a hole in the market and empowering women to push their style. I was also so excited by the way that technology and data science were being leveraged to design clothes that were more democratic and also less wasteful. This was the first time I had seen such a modern approach to design. 

One really cool project that stood out, and ended up being one of the last things I worked on, was a collaboration with the data science team where we developed a tool that generated clothing designs based on a model that was fed sales, client info, and customer feedback. It would spit out designs for product with proven combinations of silhouette, color, print, and design details that were vetted by my team, then sent into production. With a very high level of accuracy we were able to predict which specific clients the styles of work for, what to price them at, and how many units we should buy without losing money or sending unsold product to landfill. It was kind of surreal to see these items perform better than things designed by a human.

Brittany: At The RealReal, an online luxury consignment marketplace, you've been working as an editor. Can you tell me more about this? What does your typical day as an editor entail?

Brent: I finally reached the intersection of some of my favorite things! My role as an Editor is a little interesting as it's a mix of a copyeditor, fashion editor, and a bit of site merchandising. 

The big headline is that I help steer the language on our product pages and build the tools that enable a great shopping experience. With our Authenticators / copywriters, I ensure they are equipped with the knowledge and technical wherewithal to publish product on the website that is as descriptive as possible — from trends that are happening on the primary market to the silhouette of a dress. Because we have had millions of individual items come through our doors, a lot of this work is around creating and maintaining a catalog of discreet attributes and language that can be applied en masse without losing the fun of buying a ridiculous beaded party dress. Once we have an optimized catalog of things like neckline, jacket type, fabric, skirt shapes, and even special colors used by designers, we can start connecting dots together and improve the total shopping experience. 

Like most online stores, the goal is to get you to that dream coat in as few steps as possible using those little filters on the side bar — charcoal vs. light grey, double vs. single breasted, wide lapel vs. collarless, polyester vs. wool — then we use some BTS magic. We are looking to change this by using really good product recommendations where, in an ideal world, that coat would find you along with a dress you didn't know you wanted, a cardigan that you've been looking for, and a bag that goes with the whole outfit. Basically a mini-shop that is curated specifically for you where you don't have to wade through thousands of pieces. I also get to browse an incredible catalog and pick out my favorite items!  

Brittany: You've had so many roles in fashion. Do you have any advice for others trying to break into the industry? What are some common misconceptions about working in fashion that some may have?

Brent: You kind of just have to dive into whatever area of fashion excites you! Once you're in, talk to as many people in different roles as possible to expose you to other areas of the industry — you might find there is something else that excites you. SO much goes into getting an item on a rack, and every person that contributes to the supply chain has a unique perspective and something to say that could greatly impact your work. I once spoke to an accounts payable associate about tops and dresses we were shipping in from China and found out that although it was more efficient and cheaper to hang garments before shipment, we were losing a ton of units because of damage made by the hangers. Something so small and almost insignificant like that helped reshape our shipping practice. The industry is wasteful enough, we don't need more garments in a landfill. 🙃

Brittany: What fashion brands are you excited about right now? Any trends you'd wish would go away?

Brent: Too many, I'll keep it short-ish! Loewe & JW Anderson, Sacai, Hanifa, Y/Project, Botter, Willy Chavarria, Ottolinger, Barragán, and the return of Blumarine and Diesel. As far as majors go, Balenciaga, Valentino, Rick Owens, Jil Sander, Iris van Herpen, and Dries Van Noten are consistently good! 

I find a way to love all trends and think that all can be done well, but there are definitely some that I have reservations about. I am not usually impressed by unhinged, super maximalist trends like clowncore / kidcore — you need to have a little bit of restraint. At the other end of the spectrum, the rise of the "clean girl aesthetic" made me laugh since it's just a repackaging of late ‘90s and early 2010s minimalism with different accessories. I also winced at trend reports about ketamine chic, but am curious to see how it pans out since it reminds me of scene kids. 

In general it's not really individual trends I want to go away, it's the way people are buying into microtrends and ultra-fast fashion. I think the speed of the trend cycle has gotten unhealthy and as a result, consumer demand for cheap-and-cheerful fashion has skyrocketed. We really need to pump the brakes on buying from stores like Shein and Fashion Nova — they are creating so much waste and are known to have some of the worst working conditions. There is a reason that trendy dress is only $8. But I could go ON about about that like a little fashion curmudgeon.

Brittany: Has being a stylist influenced your own sense of personal style? What's your philosophy around your own style?

Brent: If anything, I think my style has gotten a bit more reserved over the years! Gone are the days of silver loafers, my American Apparel Tyvek jacket, "the casual cummerbund," and the jodhpurs I used to love with it. A few years ago a friend and I were talking about how we both create characters in our heads to come up with styling ideas. We came to the conclusion that I have become "supervisor of the boiler room on a spaceship" and that ended up ringing true after all these years. 

These days I tend to go for neat utilitarian pieces and let materials and silhouettes speak for themselves. I somehow got to a place where my closet is a little more Doug Funnie and not as crazy as it was 10 - 15 years ago when I would buy things with little consideration of how it would fit in my wardrobe (see items listed above). I unintentionally created a uniform where I rarely stray from variations on the configuration: a button-up, a midlayer knit or overshirt, and some sort of outerwear. I never wear t-shirts, I exclusively wear black or navy pants, and only own black shoes — mostly boots. I play with color / pattern with tops and everything in my wardrobe goes with almost everything else. 

When shopping, I look for special pieces that are great quality and seem to have longevity in both style and wear, but of course I still go for the drama from time to time! Also, it's a little neurotic, but when I really love something I tend to buy multiples of things. It's becoming a problem... I have five pairs of the same pants in different fabrics / lengths / sizes, three neoprene sweaters in two colors, and two of the same giant horse print shirts just to name a few.

Brittany: I know you can sew and are a great cook. Can you describe your creative pursuits for when you're off the clock?

Brent: Yes! This past year I have been having so much fun making costumes for a friend that is a drag performer. It has allowed me to explore more out-there looks in proportions that I have never worked with before — her hip pads are HUGE. I'm always looking for fun hobbies and have been stalking eBay for knitting machines for the past few months. I also love to cook and try to do so 5 - 6 days of the week. If I could throw a dinner or party with great food every week, I would. I'll see you this Thanksgiving! ;)

Brittany: What can we look forward to seeing from you in the future?

Brent: More drag costumes! I'm starting work on a shiny, fully rhinestoned, fringy little number for my girl Juannina Million's holiday performances. Maybe I'll get around to making something for myself, too!  

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Photo provided by Brent Duplessis.

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Special thanks to Brent for discussing his work with us. You can learn more about him by checking out his Instagram and LinkedIn.

[mrs-ravens-nest]

I actually finished the stitch-a-long in time! It's the day of, but still, that's blowing my mind that I'm actually finished before the next section is posted. Now I'm at home all pumped and ready and bored...

[marzipanandminutiae]

there is a reproduced 1909 magazine story in this book I read recently (The Female Economy by Wendy Gamber it is amazing oh my god) that just makes my soul depart my body

it's about a woman who decides to make her own new dress undersleeves to save money, and enlists a dressmaker to do the actual sewing. but she can Totally Cut The Sleeves Out Herself With This Paper Pattern So She's The One Making It Really

for reference as to why this is absolutely insane, cutting/fitting is the single hardest part of Victorian and Edwardian dressmaking. this is where all the Mathing and Thinking and Make Two-Dimensional Shapes Into Three-Dimensional Garments come into play. and contrary to popular belief, while most women at the time were accomplished seamstresses- in the sense of "putting fabric together using stitches, and likely also mending" -they didn't necessarily have a clue how to shape a garment. especially not the highly fitted bodices and imaginative sleeve shapes of the day. custom-made clothes from dressmakers were commonplace for most social strata in urban and suburban areas; even lower-middle and working-class women had "lesser" dressmakers they patronized

you do start seeing commercial patterns and home dressmaking manuals steadily increasing throughout the latter half of the 19th century and the early 20th, but in general there was no reason to assume that a random woman on the street could make herself a properly-fitted gown- or even just sleeves -from scratch. (not even with a pattern, which were notoriously scant on instructions back then)

a modern hobbyist historical costumer probably has more knowledge of how to actually make clothing from 1909 than the average woman living in 1909

so anyway this lady tells the professional dressmaker to stop giving her advice, she's got this, she's FINE HONEST. and then gets pissed at the dressmaker for not telling her she needed to include seam allowance in her pieces

for more reference, that is...

...the absolute most basic Day One sewing knowledge

[thackeroy]

I've only done a very small amount of the double strand stitches, but already you can see how much of a difference it's going to make. I don't know about any of y'all but I'm excited with how it looks!

[spooky-the-evil-squeektoy]

[eerie-embroidery]

Trying something new.

[creative-anchorage]

If you were to imagine the first car-free neighborhood built from scratch in the modern US, it would be difficult to conceive such a thing sprouting from the environs of Phoenix, Arizona. [...] But it is here that such a neighborhood, called Culdesac, [...] an unusual experiment has emerged that invites Americans to live in a way that is rare outside of fleeting experiences of college, Disneyland or trips to Europe: a walkable, human-scale community devoid of cars.

[...] The apartments are also mixed in with amenities, such as a grocery store, restaurant, yoga studio and bicycle shop, that are usually separated from housing by strict city zoning laws. ... “It’s positively European, somewhere between Mykonos and Ibiza,” said Jeff Speck, a city planner and urban designer who took a tour of Culdesac earlier this year. “It is amazing how much the urbanism improves, both in terms of experience and efficiency, when you don’t need to store automobiles.” ... [C]ar dependence has been reinforced by zoning laws that not only separate residential from commercial developments, but require copious parking spots added for every new construction. “The result is a nation in which we are all ruthlessly separated from most of our daily needs and also from each other,” Speck said.

Culdesac can be seen, then, as not only a model for more climate-friendly housing – transportation is the US’s largest source of planet-heating emissions and, studies have shown, suburban sprawl fuels more of the pollution causing the climate crisis – but as a way of somehow stitching back together communities that have become physically, socially and politically riven, lacking a “third place” to congregate other than dislocated homes and workplaces. ... Vanessa Fox, a 32-year-old who moved into Culdesac with her husky dog in May, had always wanted to live in a walkable place only to find such options unaffordable. For her, Culdesac provided a sense of community without having to rely on a car every time she left her apartment. “For some, cars equal freedom, but for me, it’s a restriction,” she said. “Freedom is being able to just simply walk out and access places.” ... Driving to places is so established as a basic norm that deviation from it can seem not only strange, as evidenced by a lack of pedestrian infrastructure that has contributed to a surge in people dying from being hit by cars in recent years, but even somewhat sinister. People walking late at night, particularly if they are Black, are regularly accosted by police – in June, the city of Kaplan, Louisiana, even introduced a curfew for people walking or riding bikes, but not for car drivers.

If neighborhoods like Culdesac are to become more commonplace, then, cities will not only have to alter their planning codes, but there will also have to be a cultural switch from the ideal of a large suburban home with an enormous car in the driveway. [...]

Johnson, who said he is planning to bring the Culdesac concept to other cities, is upbeat about this. “This is something that the majority of the US wants, so they can work all over the country,” he said. “We have heard from cities and residents all over the country that they want more of this, and this is something that we want to build more.”

[harlowcomehome]

October nights and spooky stitches:

Series link!

The front door of your apartment slammed shut behind you, alerting Layla that you were finally home. You struggled to carry the numerous bags in your hands.

“Why didn’t you call me and tell me you needed me to meet you at the car? I would’ve helped you.” Layla rushed over grabbing some of the bags that were nearly falling out of your hands.

“It would’ve taken entirely too long, and I was already running late!”

You had sweat dripping down your face, and you were irritated from getting out of work a lot later than expected, but that was the theme of this week.

“Can you set up the table? I just want to take a quick shower before Jack and Urb get here.”

Layla immediately knew that something wasn’t right, you were jittery and anxious, your fingers trembling as you asked her to set up the table but she agreed anyway.

Jack and Urban showed up as soon as you were done in the shower.

Layla wanted to warn Jack about how you were feeling but didn’t get the opportunity, and instead helped Urban set up snacks in the kitchen.

Jack immediately ran over to you, his arms wrapped around your torso as he lifted you in the air. You sighed against him, feeling a lot better in his presence, the smell of his cologne lingering on your clothes.

“What’s wrong?” He pulled back, looking you in the eyes as you were still suspended in the air.

You had a love/hate relationship with how easily he picked up on your emotions.

“Work was just hectic and I wasn’t able to get home early enough to set up and I just feel overwhelmed” you rambled in one breath as he sat you back down on the floor.

“We’re here now, it’s fine. Everything’s fine” he bent down to kiss you, you felt like he really saw you, for you, and that made you comfortable enough to be vulnerable with him.

You were unhappy with your job, not because the job itself was difficult but because you felt a constant push and pull between going to work and being present and constantly wanting to be with Jack on the road.

Every fiber of your being knew Jack was who you were meant to be with, you had never had that immediate “this is the one” moment everyone talked about until being with Jack, and a big part of that terrified you.

You didn’t want to be too much too quickly, especially when his career was just starting to take off.

The four of you had planned on this “pre-Halloween” night for a few weeks now knowing at the end of October tour kicked off again.

“While the pizza is cooking, do you guys wanna start carving the pumpkins?” Layla asked excitedly pointing to the pumpkins placed in front of each table setting.

“Of course!” You smiled, Jack still wasn’t sold on your false display of happiness but he was going to let it go for the sake of the night.

“Ewww pumpkin guts” Urban had a hand full of pumpkin seeds in his hands, teasing Layla as he pretended that he was going to throw them at her.

“Whatcha going to carve?” Jack bumped you lightly with his shoulder. He had realized you were spaced out, as you looked through designs.

“I think this one” you pointed to a design that came with the pumpkin carving kit.

“I’m going to freestyle mine,” Jack said confidently, making you giggle.

“Oh yeah?” You smiled as you started to cut the top off your pumpkin, placing the seeds into a big bowl in front of you.

You knew you would tell Jack about how you were feeling but you wanted to do it one-on-one so you pushed the feelings aside for now, or at least attempted to.

“Are we doing anything with these?” Layla asked as she also put her pumpkin seeds in the bowl. You silently shrugged, not wanting to make any decisions.

Urban and Jack made silent facial expressions at one another, as they could feel your sorrow and uneasiness fill the room.

Jack was about to speak when your eyes opened wide, you pulled your hand back quickly, putting pressure on your finger.

“Fuck- fuck-“ you threw your head back wincing in pain, as your finger bleed profusely. You used your other hand to put pressure on it but it wasn’t doing much at all.

“Babe! Holy shit!” Jack jumped up motioning for Layla to hand him something to help you.

Layla scrambled to find a clean kitchen towel, throwing it to Jack immediately.

“That looks really bad” Urban's face grew pale, splotches of red covering his cheeks.

Layla forced him to sit back down, realizing Jack was nearly identical-looking.

Jack handed you the towel, holding it down with you with as much pressure as he could.

Tears started streaming down your face, you were more embarrassed than hurt. The adrenaline and shock helped as you barely noticed how deep the cut actually was.

“Are you both seriously squeamish over blood?” She clicked her tongue, seeing the fear in your face.

“Jack, sit down before you faint” Layla sighed.

“Let me go with you!” Jack scrambled to find his keys, he had normally put them on the counter but couldn’t find them in a panic.

“You can’t! You’re- you. ” Layla panicked as you stood there stoic, and in shock.

Jack knew she was right, but you were his girlfriend and he hated not being able to just show up at places with you, especially when you needed him.

“Watch the pizza, we’ll be back” Layla grabbed her car keys ushering you out of the apartment as you leaned half of your weight onto her.

Jack and Urban were silent for a moment, shocked at what had just happened. Jack turned to where you had been sitting, noticing the droplets of blood that were left behind.

“She is going to need stitches for sure” Urban followed Jack's gaze and sighed, standing up to find something to clean it with.

“I wonder what she was so distracted by tonight” Jack chewed the inside of his cheek nervously.

“She told me it was work, which I believe but she didn’t seem like herself, right?” He took the antibacterial wipe from Urban and cleaned up the remainder of the droplets before washing his hands and waiting for the pizza timer.

Urban wasn’t sure what was going on, usually, Layla told him everything but she hadn’t mentioned anything to him, so he was just as lost as Jack.

Meanwhile, the drive to the hospital felt like it was hours long. You, just like Jack and Urban couldn’t handle blood, and you had never had something happen that would likely involve stitches.

“We are almost there okay?” Layla's voice was calming, she usually knew how to channel that side of things. She was always your calm in the storm, so to speak.

Once you got sat in a room, you were given some numbing shots that made you cry in pain, and stitches were given. You were given an antibiotic ointment, and then you were sent home.

“Have you heard from the guys?” You sighed, as you got into Layla's car.

“You haven’t checked your phone?” Layla seemed surprised, realizing now that you hadn’t paid attention to your phone all night.

“I left it at the apartment” You shrugged, and Layla couldn’t hold back any longer.

“You know, Jack was worried sick about you, I’m pretty sure he and Urb are still at our place” she reached to turn the heater on before pulling out of the hospital parking lot.

You looked at the time on her car dashboard, it had been several hours.

You didn’t say a word, knowing she was about to tell you the truth that you desperately needed to hear.

“We both know what happened tonight was because you are distracted. I don’t know what’s going on with you, but you’re my best friend. Talk to me. If you’re not going to talk to Jack, at least talk to me.”

You started to cry, the words on the tip of your tongue felt like a giant sandbag sliding down your throat. You started crying so hard you could barely breathe.

“Talk to me, you can always talk to me” Layla pulled over, ironically into the parking lot where you and Jack had your first date.

You looked up, seeing the arcade sign and laughing through your tears, feeling like it was a sign from the universe.

“Are you laughing?” Layla felt confused by your mood changing so drastically.

“Remember how I took all that time off so that I could spend more time with Jack?”

Layla nodded, not wanting to interrupt your thought process.

“Well, someone else in my department was supposed to pick up my projects. They didn’t, so I’ve been having to work all of this over time to make sure everything meets deadlines. I don’t think I’m going to be able to go back on tour with Jack, and it’s going to break his heart Lay. I don’t want to lose him.” You were trying not to cry but were unsuccessful as you tried to catch your breath.

“Oh Y/N. Jack is in love with you, he’ll understand. Just talk to him.” She rubbed your back for a brief second.

The drive back to the apartment felt long, the pit of your stomach was uneasy and your entire mouth was dry.

The living room was only illuminated by the TV, Urban stood up immediately following Layla to her bedroom and leaving you and Jack alone.

“Can I turn the lights on?” You mumbled, wanting to see his face better once you spoke.

“Yeah babe” he turned them on for you, rushing over to you to examine your hand.

“Babe” he quietly sighed, “How’re you feeling?”

“Better now, the shots were painful though” You sat down on the couch as he followed closely behind you.

“Can we talk about something?” You avoided his eye contact, making the anxiety he was already having grow more intense.

“Those words feel a lot like a breakup” he nervously mumbled, catching you completely off guard.

“No! It’s nothing like that. I promise” You leaned into him, giving him a reassuring kiss on the lips.

“You always think that! I’m not going anywhere” you winked before continuing making him relax as he laughed in response.

You explained what was going on at your job, your lip trembling as you told Jack that you weren’t sure if you could finish out the tour with him or not.

Jack was silent, letting you vent and get it all out but it was making you more and more nervous.

“Please say something” you begged, grabbing his hand with the one hand you had left that wasn’t injured.

“Quit” he smirked, catching you by surprise.

“What?”

“Quit, I’ll find a job for you on my team.”

“Babe? I can’t ask you to do that though” You were worried he felt pressured.

“You didn’t ask. You told me you had an issue, and I’m solving it. Quit” he smiled, before leaning in for a kiss.

“Quit?” You asked between kisses making sure you heard him correctly.

“Quit, put your two weeks in, whatever you want to call it” he reassured you.

“Are you sure?”

“Never been more sure” he smiled.

“Well, I guess I made tonight eventful” you laughed nervously.

“Don’t worry, Urban and I remained busy” he stood up showing you the pumpkins they carved while you were at the hospital.

“He did two and I did two” Jack winked making you giggle as you could definitely tell which two were his.