-Alex's Point of View-

Days drug on like a snail's march across pavement. I hadn't spoken more than three words to Jack since the other day. He spends most of his time drinking, in his room, or out on the town seeing Josh and spending time with him.

Truthfully, I didn't know what was going on in between the two, but I knew that Josh was doing everything in his power to stay away from me. He looked scared the day he left when I had walked in on him and Jack.

I had spend my lonesome days at the park playing guitar and chatting with Elissa. She was a nice young lady and I found out she had a brother who was also a musician and lived around here. She told me we'd have to meet one day and I was looking forward to it.

"Have you had anymore guy trouble, Alex?" Elissa asked as I sat on the bench trying to tune my guitar. I had finally explained my Jack issue to her and she understood me clearly when I had said that I had loved him and regretted my actions.

"Jack's ignoring me. He's been at his new boyfriend's the past few days. He's also been ignoring my calls to get him come home," I said, stroking a chord gently as Elissa's face fell into sympathy for me.

"Sounds like what my brother went through with his last boyfriend," she said, sighing as if she remembered it all like yesterday, "It's a rough place to be in, but hopefully you'll get out soon enough. I know Josh did. He left Dan and from what he's told him, he's found someone better than him who makes him feel a lot happier," she said, but I was frozen like a stone statue.

Josh. The name of Jack's romance. Was there any chance that Elissa was related to him? No... It can't-

"Are you okay, Alex? You're as pale as a sheet," she said, worrying like a mother over her child. I still didn't move though.

I saw a resemblance in the face. The Josh I saw had blue eyes and scruffy dark brown hair. Elissa had brown green eyes and long straight brown hair.

My heart pounded against my chest and I almost lost my grip on my guitar. I stared at her and she put a hand on my shoulder and stared at me with wide eyes.

"I think you need a doctor, love. Do you feel faint?" She asked and I felt my head suddenly feel light. I felt like I was just walking around without my body. There was a loud crash and everything around me went as black as night.

~~~

When I woke up, the smell of tea and lavender hung in the air and I knew I was somewhere unfamiliar from the scent and the feeling of the sheets under me. They were smooth, too silky compared to mine.

I opened my eyes and was greeted with pale pink walls with little white butterflies painted on them. They were scattered around the room and I knew that I wasn't home. I didn't recognize this place one bit.

Slowly, I climbed out of the bed feeling groggy and made my way down the hall where I heard a woman's voice singing. It was a beautiful voice that could be compared to that of an angel's. The song she was singing was also beautiful.

"That night I slept,
On your side of the bed so,
It was ready when you got home,
We're like noughts and crosses in that
opposites always attract."

She never told me she could sing...

"You have a lovely voice," I said and she jumped up in fright. She turned around and faced me while nervously placing her hands behind her, accidentally putting on right on the stove.

"Bloody hell," she muttered pulling her hand away and looking at the damage.

"Good to see you're awake, Alex. Sorry about not being there when you woke up. I stepped out of the room for a moment to make some tea and... yeah..." she trailed off and I nodded my head.

"Do you feel any better?" She asked and once again I nodded.

"Sorry about earlier. It was just too much," I said and she looked at me for a moment before getting down two teacups and pulling her kettle off the hot stove. She placed teabags in the cups and poured a little bit of steaming water before turning back to me.

"Any chance you can tell me what happened earlier?" She asked and a sigh escaped my lips as I thought about Jack, Josh, Elissa, and myself. Was there a way we were all connected?

"Josh, your brother, is there any chance you know who he's dating?" I asked and she shook her head.

"He hasn't told me yet, but I haven't asked. I don't know if it'll end up being another Dan incident. What does this have to do with earlier, Alex?" She asked, glancing at the tea for a moment like she was waiting for it to be ready.

"When I walked in on Jack, I saw the guy. Now that I think of it, he looks like you and his name is Josh. I have the feeling your brother is the one sleeping with Jack. Do you have a picture of him anywhere around here?" I asked and she grabbed a photo frame off the wall that was behind my head.

My eyes fell on a happy little family. A mother, a father, a daughter, a son, and a small pug dog. This was a recent photo of the Franceschi's and I looked at the son and a gasp fell from my lips without a warning.

"My Josh is Jack's boyfriend?" She asked and I nodded.

"I hate to say it, but your brother stole my lover."

~~~

I lay on the couch listening to the clock tick on the wall. I was the only one at home and I was hoping that Jack would return soon.

Though the two of us were currently separated, I still enjoyed knowing that he was here, still closer to me. I just missed having him next to me where I could cuddle with him and bask in the warmth and scent that was defined as Jack.

My phone rang from the coffee table and I picked it up, glancing at May's photo on the screen, telling me it was her calling.

"Alex Gaskarth speaking," I said into the phone and I heard breathing on the other end of the line. Not a word was spoken as I sat there for a few moments.

"May?" I asked.

"Is Jack there? He won't pick up his phone and I'm hoping that you're with him," she said, her voice sounded like she had been crying for a while now.

"He's not. I don't know where he is, May," I said and she sighed softly.

"I've got some bad news for him that I just couldn't tell him when we talked last week. I-I didn't know how to break it to him," she whispered.

"What?"

"My father passed away two hours after my flight touched ground. I was at his bedside and he took my hand and told me to tell that Jack that he was sorry. He didn't mean to be a bad father," she choked on her words as she began to cry, "and he regrets not getting him to come with me. T-t-the last thing he said was, 'Tell my son I love him,'" She finished and I heard her take a ragged breath.

I was stunned. I had only seen Mr. Barakat in person only once in my life and he was passed out. He was in a drunken rage about May leaving. Now he was confessing his love for his kids just before his last dying breath?

"May?" I asked softly.

"What, Alex?" She asked, voice still thick with tears.

"Things aren't looking up for Jack and I," I said and I could feel in my gut that she had that deep frown on her face that she gets when something is bugging her.

"Alex... Have you two tried talking?" She asked.

"He's been ignoring me completely. May, he wants nothing to do with me," I sighed and I thought that I was staring to get on her nerves. She hung on me last time because I was being a thorn in her side.

"You'll win him back, Alex. I know you will. It'll take some time love, but I know that he'll come around eventually. Trust me, I'm a Barakat," she said and I sighed, "I hope so."

There was silence between the two of us until she finally said, "Would you tell Jack what I said? My father's last words, I mean?"

"I don't know if he'll listen May, but I'll try my best to get him to," I said laying down on the couch and pulling a blanket over myself.

"Thank you, Lex. You're the best," she said and I smiled a little.

"Oh, Mom is calling for me. Would you call me later, maybe?" She asked softly like she was teenage girl and it was late so she wasn't supposed to be talking on the phone.

"Yeah. Love you, May," I said softly.

"Love you too, Lex," she said and I heard the click of the phone being hung up.

I dropped my cell down on the coffee table and curled up under the blanket thinking about how I was going to tell Jack his father's last words and make him understand what they meant.

"I'm home!" He shouted slinging open the front door causing me to jump like a scared cat. He came in swinging around a bottle of vodka, dropping half of it on the wood of the floor.

Speak of the devil.

Notes

Title Credit: Salt by Elissa Franceschi

EmptySighsAndWine