Chapter 13

Alex’s POV

I was disappointed in myself. I couldn’t let Jack know about this. Or Tom. Last time. I stared in shock at what I had done, the four fresh cuts, and dropped the razor and it clattered to the ground.

“Oh fuck.” I whispered, grabbing a band-aid from the cupboard and placing one over each cut. I went back out, shaking in nerves, and checked my phone. Jack had called. I called him back and he picked up on the third ring.

“Hey babe.” He answered, sounding distracted by something else.

“H-Hey Jay, whatcha doing?” I asked nervously, as though he knew I had cut and was waiting to see if I told him.

“Making food, why do you sound nervous?”

“I-I’m not.” Shit. I stammered, of course he knew I was nervous.

“Is there a break in? Is someone holding you hostage?” He asked sarcastically.

“N-No, that’s not it.”

“So what?”

I bit my lip. “Can you come over?”

“Um, sure, I guess so. I’ll see you in a few minutes.” He ended the call and I tossed my phone to the side. What was I going to tell him? I couldn’t just come out and say, ‘Jack, I cut myself four times’, because that’s just too blunt. Damn it, why did I have to do that?

I waited a few more minutes before the doorbell rang. I let Tom get it and Jack came up to my room, giving me a quick hello kiss. “Hey, what’s the matter?” He asked, getting right to the point.

“You’re going to hate me.”

“Are you breaking up with me?” His eyes flashed into worry.

“No! No, you’ll just be really disappointed in me.”

“Why?”

I took his hand and laid it over my cuts, biting my lip in nerves over telling him. “Alex, why are yo- Alex, you didn’t.” He said in disbelief. I nodded. “Alex! Oh my god! No, you’ve been clean for so fucking long, why did you do this?” He half yelled.

“Shh! I can’t let Tom hear! After we told people about us at school, a few people were beating me up and Josh rear ended me for ‘being a fag’ and I couldn’t help it and I just did it and I’m so sorry!” I said, tears welling in my eyes and slowly rolling down my cheeks.

“My god Lex, you can’t do this anymore! I don’t want to lose you over THIS, I don’t want to lose you at all!” He exclaimed.

“I’m sorry! I couldn’t control it! I regretted it the minute I saw them.”

“THEM? There’s more than one?”

I nodded. “Four.”

“Alex!”

“I’m sorry! I didn’t want to!” I cried, wiping away my tears, but they continued to stream down my face.

“But you did! Hold on.” He got up and stormed into the bathroom for a few minutes before coming out with a towel in his hand and razors and blades in it. “These are getting thrown out.” He said firmly. I nodded. He walked over to the window and threw them as far as he could into the distance. When he was done, he turned back to me. “I don’t want you doing that EVER again. With ANYTHING. Understand?”

“Y-Yes.” I whispered, wiping away my still flowing tears. Jack sighed and sat next to me, swiping away the falling tears for me.

“I just don’t want you to die. I can’t stand losing the one person I love more than anything.”

“I-I love you too.” I sniffed.

We lay there and talked for a few hours before Jack had to get home. I kissed him goodbye, long and sweet. “I love you.” I whispered to him.

“I love you too baby, I’ll see you tomorrow. No cutting.” He said firmly before giving me another quick goodbye kiss and leaving.

I went back up to my room and put on my sweatpants, then climbed into bed. Tom came in after a while. “Hey kid, what’s up?”

“Not much. Jack just left and- Um- You can’t flip out, okay?” I said, biting my lip.

He raised an eyebrow. “Okay...”

“Promise you won’t?”

“Promise. What?”

I pulled my sweatpants down and showed him the four band-aids on my thigh. His jaw dropped and his eyes went wide. “Alex! Oh my god! You promised you wouldn’t do this again!”

“And you promised you wouldn’t flip out!”

“Why should I not? You just fucking CUT yourself! Why?”

“Jack and I told the class that we were dating and now I’m getting called names and someone rear ended me today because I’m a fag and I couldn’t help it! I’m sorry! Jack threw out all the razors.”

“Thank god SOMEONE knows what to do with them. Where did he put them?”

“He threw them out the window.”

Tom sighed. “Alex, you can’t do this anymore, you’re going to end up killing yourself. I know kids can be mean, trust me. But cutting is not the way to ease the pain. Music and fucking Jack is. Okay?”

I laughed shallowly. “Okay, I’ll try.”

“Good. Now, it’s late, go to bed.” He said before turning around and walking out. I got back under the covers and flipped the light off, closing my eyes in the process.

I tossed and turned all night, finally just opening my eyes. Tonight, I was fucking POSITIVE I saw movement outside my window. My heart stopped, then began racing to make up for the lost beats. My breathing hitched and I ran into Tom’s room, getting in his bed on the other side.

“Lex, what the hell are you doing?” He grumbled.

“There was something or someone outside my window and it’s been there three times now and I’m fucking scared.”

I guess it made him nervous too because he got up from the bed and took my hand, leading me back to my room and flipping the light on.

There was a person running through our yard, clearly having been outside my window. I whimpered and Tom opened the glass. “GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!” He yelled. “YOU’VE DONE ENOUGH!”

I looked at him curiously. “What do you mean, ‘He’s done enough’?”

He looked back at me, confliction on his face. “Um... That... That was the guy who... Um...”

“Spit it out!”

“That was the guy who kidnapped you!” He blurt.

My heart stopped again and I tightened my grip on his hand in fear of passing out due to fear. I didn’t even cry. I was just terrified. “Can I sleep with you tonight?” I asked shakily. He nodded and pulled me back to his room.

“How do you know?” I questioned.

“Hard to forget. Do you remember looking through all the criminals in the police station?”

I nodded. Of course I did. I saw so many criminals in there, it had scared the hell out of me.

“Can you tell me who the man was? The officer asked me. I was so little, only eight years old. I had tears running down my face and I was shaking, my mom’s arm around my shoulders and she was holding my close to her. She cried too. As did my dad and my brother. The man took us into a small room with lots of binders over a table. He handed me one and told me to flip through the pictures and tell me if I saw the man.

We spent hours in the station. I looked through every binder, finally finding him in the very last one, of course. My brother had stayed in the room with me, I only wanted him at the moment. My mom and dad didn’t understand me quite like he did. After oh so many hours of looking at criminals, I found the man and pointed to the picture, whispering, “That’s him.”

The cop took the binder from me and snapped a picture of the picture, then sent it to his computer and sent an email to all the other officers telling them that if they saw this man, arrest him immediately. Tom and I went home after that and I slept in his bed instead of mine. I did for a long time, at least a month and a half. He didn’t mind though, he knew it had been hard on me.

I snapped out of my flashback. “Um, yeah, I remember. I guess that guy did look like him. So what do we do about it?”

“We,” Tom said, getting out his phone, “Call the police.” He dialed 911 and told them about the guy and which direction he had run off to.

I fell asleep, but not easily. Tom had to find some way to calm me down enough for me to close my eyes, which meant he called Jack. I loved Jack, but I didn’t REALLY want him here at the moment. But I was so glad when he came and took me back to my own room, not even asking questions, just cuddling with me. He rubbed my back and I didn’t say or do anything. I didn’t cry. I just lay on my stomach, all sprawled out. Jack didn’t do all the shhh’s, it’s okay’s, or call me baby. He didn’t say a word.

It was an unspoken agreement that we had to sleep at some point, so I reached up and flipped off the light, then snuggled into Jack’s front as his arm rested comfortably across my middle. I closed my eyes and he kissed the place where my neck and shoulder met, lightly nipping at it a couple times before kissing it again and squeezing my waist in a half hug. A silent ‘I love you’. I linked our fingers together as a return of the soundless words.

~~~
We woke up in the same position. Last night’s events came flooding back to me and I pushed the thought from my mind, deciding to ignore it forever. Tom came walked through the door and saw Jack and I the way we were position, raising his eyebrows. I flipped him off.

“They caught the guy, he’s going to prison for the rest of his life. You’re safe.” He said. I nodded and he left. What day was it today? Friday? Awesome. I’d let Jack sleep for a few more minutes.

I allowed my eyes to close again, apparently longer than I expected, because when I opened them again we had fifteen minutes before we had to leave for school in order for Jack to be on time. “SHIT!” I shouted, waking Jack up. I scrambled from the bed and started to throw on clothes, telling Jack to do the same. He checked the time and flipped out like I had, stealing my clothes and we ran to the bathroom together. I decided to just put on a beanie instead of doing anything with my hair. We quickly brushed our teeth, Jack finger brushing his hair in the process of doing so.

We didn’t eat anything, I had food in my car. We each got in our own cars and sped to the school like maniacs, but got there on time. I walked into his classroom and laid across his desk like the other morning, not flirtatiously, but conversationally. We talked for a while before the bell rang and a small wave of panic swooshed through me at the thought of all the guys teasing me or beating me up. At least I had Cass on my side. She came up to me and stood over my desk.

“Hey baby, how’s life?”

“Good and bad. I’ve got you and Jack, so that’s good, but people are teasing me and beating me up for dating him.” I sighed.

“Aw, I’m sorry darlin! You should be able to date whoever you want.” She smiled and kissed my cheek. Unfortunately, I moved to do the same thing and we accidentally kissed on the lips. We backed up as though we had been electrocuted, staring at each other.

“Um... Sorry, that was an accident.” I said awkwardly, blushing. She nodded.

“I know, same here. Let’s not let that happen again, alright?” She laughed lightly. I laughed a little too.

“Sounds good.” I smiled and she went back to her seat. I saw Jack looking at me and I went up to his desk. “Sorry baby, that was an accident. I tried to kiss her cheek.” I smiled sheepishly and he nodded, smiling back.

“Okay, I trust you.”

I grinned and kissed his nose before going back to my seat. Rian came in and as he walked by me, shoved into my shoulder. My hand rose to rub at the area in attempt to soothe the slight pain. Jack was glaring after Rian. Rian noticed.

“What are you looking at, Barakat?”

“You. Why’d you just shove Alex?”

“Jack, it’s fine. It doesn’t matter.” I muttered.

“No, it does, especially after recent events.” He said, referring to the cuts.

“Jack! Really?” I exclaimed, a little bit mad he had to bring that up.

“What recent events?” Rian sneered.

“Nothing.” I said quickly. “It doesn’t matter.” I looked at Jack, silently telling him he doesn’t need to stand up for me. He looked back at me with an expression saying that he was just worried and didn’t want me to cut myself again.

I sighed and waited for him to start the lesson, scribbling down lyrics before he began to teach. I could feel Rian’s piercing stare on my back the entire time.

“Alex? Alex, pay attention.” I heard Jack saying.

“What? Oh, sorry.” I said, shaken from my thoughts about how he had stood up for me. Or tried to, until I stopped him. I looked up on the board and started to copy down the notes, not really paying attention to what they meant.

I don’t know why people were so against me dating Jack. We loved each other, I was of age, what’s the problem? Was it because it was two guys instead of a girl and a guy? So what if I was gay now, at least Jack saved my life and wasn’t some one night stand or anything. I thought about why Rian had suddenly turned on me. We used to be ‘friends’, and now he thinks I’m the most vile creature on earth.

Whatever, I decided. He can deal.

Jack finished teaching and let us have some free time. I got my guitar and started to sing Blink-182, All the Small Things. No specific reason why, just because. Unfortunately, people took it the wrong way. By people, I mean Rian.

“Did Barakat carry you home?” He smirked. My jaw dropped, as did Jack’s.

“No!” I exclaimed.

“Was he at your house last night?”

“Yeah, but I was upset and my brother called him.”

“Awww, little lexy was upset.” He said, drawing a tear down his cheek.

“Oh my god, I wasn’t crying, was I Jack?” I turned around to look at him.

“No.” Jack frowned at Rian. “He wasn’t.”

“So why were you upset? Barakat fuck you too hard?”

I fought the urge to lunge at him and beat the shit out of him. “No, we didn’t fuck last night. If you MUST know, I was kidnapped when I was eight, but I got away and went home, and last night the guy who kidnapped me was running through my yard after looking through my bedroom window, watching me attempt to sleep.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Why should I believe you?”

“Why SHOULDN’T you? Why would I lie about that sort of thing? Anyway, the guy was caught and he’s in prison for the rest of his life. Happy for teasing me about having Jack help me?” I snapped. He didn’t reply. I just scoffed and played more Blink.

Cass and I walked to history together today. “I’m sorry about Rian, babe.” She said.

I rolled my eyes. “I’m just sick of him assuming things about Jack and I. We don’t fuck every night.”

“I know. I had no clue you were kidnapped.”

“I’ve been trying to forget about it.” I sighed. Rian approached me and I took a step back.

“Don’t back up, Alex. I wanted to apologize for automatically thinking you and Barakat were fucking last night. I’m sorry about that guy.” He said, his eyes truly sorry.

“I’ll let it slide. Just don’t make fun of us anymore, it gets really tiresome.”

He nodded and smiled a little before moving on. I glanced at Cass with a shocked expression. Never once have I heard Rian apologize. We just went to history.

At lunch, things weren’t so fantastic. I sat with Cass, but some girl was on my arm. “Um... Sorry, but can you get off?” I asked her.

“Alex baby, I know the rumors about you and Barakat aren’t true, do you want to go out with me?” She asked, trying to be cute.

“Actually, the rumors are true, Jack and I are dating and I’d appreciate it if he didn’t think I was cheating on him, thanks.”

She pouted and before I knew what she was doing, her lips were on mine. I shoved her off of me, anger flowing through me. “What the hell? Did I NOT just say that I’m dating a GUY?” I yelled in her face. “I don’t fucking like you! I. Love.JACK. You,” I pointed to her, “Are a dirty little slutty whore. Now please go the fuck away.”

She glared at me and stood up, going to sit with some other girls, probably bitching about me. Whatever. Cass just grinned. “What are you smiling about?”

She was looking past me. “Jack saw that whole thing.”

I gasped and spun around, seeing Jack looking at me in shock. I turned back to Cass, fear in my eyes. “Oh god, why are you smiling over that?! He probably fucking pissed!” I exclaimed, getting up and running towards Jack, grabbing his hand and pulling him into the school hall. I started babbling apologies and how it wasn’t my fault. “I’m so sorry Jack, it wasn’t my fault I promise, she just kissed me and I pushed her away and I’m sorry I love you-“

“Alex!” Jack cut me off. I immediately stopped talking. “I’m not mad!”

“W-Well why not?”

“Because you just let me know that you really do love me and you aren’t afraid to shout it to the entire world, not caring who hears! And it was kind of funny when you called her a dirty little slutty whore.” He chuckled. I just stared in shock.

“A-Aren’t you mad at that girl?”

“Of course. She kissed you when she would have known you were taken.”

I started laughing. “You scared the shit out of me! I thought you were going to break up with me!”

“I won’t.” He grinned and quickly pressed his lips to mine.

I grinned and told him to get back to work as I went back to the lunch room. I frowned when I saw Rian over by Cassadee, who looked like she didn’t want him there and had told him so. I walked over and heard him pestering her.

“Come on gorgeous, just one date.” He said.

“No, I don’t want to date you.” She said, crossing her arms across her body as though to protect herself.

“Look Rian, stop it. She doesn’t want to go on a date with you and you need to respect that.” I cut in, sitting next to Cass and wrapping my arm around her shoulders. “Go away.”

“Why? She’s fucking hot and I want her.”

“You’re asking her out for her looks, not her personality. Go away, now. She isn’t going to go on a date with you.”

He glared at me and stalked away. Cass smiled at me. “Thanks Lex.”

“He would have hurt you somehow, I know it.” I smiled back and kissed her temple, stealing one of her pretzels. Jack was back in the lunch room, leaning against the wall and watching us with a smile on his face. I smiled at him and turned back to Cass.

~~~
Jack’s POV

Alex was so sweet. And innocent. I was almost envious of his relationship with Cassadee, not because it seemed like they were dating, but because he had that best friend who he could talk to about anything and cuddle and comfort without it being awkward or weird. I never had that sort of friend. Alex works just perfect for that, but he’s my boyfriend. Not my best friend. I couldn’t do that with Matt.

The end of lunch bell rang and Alex kissed Cass on the cheek goodbye and came running up to me. “Hey Jay, whatcha doing here?”

“Hey Lex, I wanted to make sure no more girls were kissing you.” I grinned and winked, making him laugh.

“No, I was protecting Cass from Rian. Asshole was trying to force her on a date. Anyway, I gotta get to my next class, I’ll see you after school.” He gave me a quick kiss and scurried away. I smiled after him and went to my next class, who was all waiting outside the locked room. I fumbled with the lock, trying to get it open.

“Are you really dating Alex Gaskarth, Jack?” Someone asked. I didn’t look up from unlocking the door.

“Yep.” I replied, finally getting the door open and letting them in.

“Why?” The same person asked.

“Why? Because I’m in love with him?”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I am. He’s in love with me too. So there, I have a hot boyfriend who loves me. Go me.”

“Did you seriously just call Alex hot?” Kyle asked.

“Yep, because he is.”

“Dude!”

“Mhm?”

“Gross!”

“You asked.” I shrugged. “Okay, enough about Alex. Yes, I am dating him, yes, I am in love with him, now you need to listen to me.”

They rolled their eyes and started taking the notes. It didn’t take long, it was a pretty short lesson. After the notes, the whole class wanted to know more about Alex and I.

“Have you had sex?” Danny asked.

“Are you seriously asking me that?”

He nodded. “Okay, yes. Before we were dating, when we were friends with benefits.”

“Ew.”

“No ewing my relationship.”

“Sorry.”

“What were the recent events you were talking about it in first period when Rian shoved into Alex?”

“Great, is that going around the school?”

They nodded. “So can you tell me the recent events?”

My answer was immediate. “No. Never. That’s Alex’s business. He only chose to tell me because I’m his boyfriend. If he wants to tell you, he can. But you can’t count on me to give away Alex’s secrets.”

“When did you first kiss?”

“After school on the third day. The day he came back from the hospital.”

“How did that come about?”

“He was telling me about what had happened and I gave him some advice that he clearly liked because he kissed me.”

“Did you kiss him back?”

“Yes I did.”

“Come on, tell us what you gave him advice on!” Someone pressure. There were all murmurs of agreements, nodding and ‘yeahs’.

“No. Like the c- recent events, that’s his business.” I stopped myself before I said cutting. God, that would have been a disaster.

“What were you going to say?”

“I almost accidentally told you what those recent events were. He would have killed me if I had.”

“Literally?”

“No, but he’d be fucking pissed.”

“Why is it only his business?”

“Well it’s mine too, because I’m dating him. But it’s only ours because that’s the only people he wants to know. And his brother.” I didn’t mention Cassadee because that would ensure that they would all go to her and pressure her to tell them. “And someone else.”

“Someone else? Who?”

“You don’t get to know. Too obvious.”

“Damn it, tell us Jack! Come on, it can’t be that bad or secretive!”

“It is.”

Everyone started in. “Come on Jack, Barakat tell us, say it, we can keep a secret!”

I laughed. “You can keep a sercret? You’re gossiping seniors. I’m not telling you. Ask Alex if you want, he won’t tell you though. He’ll just get all defensive and nervous about it.”

“Why nervous?”

“Because the matter scares both him and I.”

“What matter?”

“I’m not fucking telling you!”

“Fine... Can I quiz you on how well you know Alex?”

I shrugged. “Okay...”

“His favorite sports team.” Greico called.

“Ravens.”

“Favorite band.”

“He can’t choose.”

“How long had he played guitar.”

“Freshman year.” I know I knew Alex very well.

“How many secrets does he keep from us?”

I hesitated on that one. Should I tell them? “Um...”

“You don’t know?”

“No, I know, but I’m debating whether to tell you.”

“Okay, different question!” Danny said. “When’s his birthday?”

“December 14th.”

“His best friend?”

“Cassadee Pope.”

“Damn, you know a lot about him.”

I laughed. “Well, we are dating...”

“Let’s keep going. His middle name.”

“William.”

“Any pets?” The entire class had joined in now.

“No.”

“Why does he keep secrets?”

I hesitated again. Why were they so insistent on knowing his secrets? “Um... Because not everyone needs to know about his life and what he does with it?”

“Can you please tell us ONE secret?” They begged, all murmuring in agreement that I tell them one.

“Guys, no. That is Alex’s business. If he wants to tell you, he will. Just because I’m his boyfriend doesn’t mean I’m going to betray him and tell you everything about him.”

They all sighed. “Fine.”

The bell rang and they all left, talking about Alex and I. That was my last period, so Alex came in after a few minutes. “Hey babe.” He smiled and gave me a quick kiss. “Why is everyone talking about you and I?”

I chuckled. “My last period decided to quiz me on how well I knew you.”

His eyes widened. “You didn’t tell that about the whole thing, right?” He asked nervously, glancing at his thigh to tell me he was talking about the cutting.

“No. I just answered the basic questions, like your birthday and your middle name.”

He relaxed. “Okay. That’s fine.”

“I would never give away your secrets, you know that.”

“I know, I was stupid to think you would.” He laughed shallowly and took my hand in his, looking at our now intertwined fingers. At that moment, Danny walked in.

“Hey Jack, hi Alex.”

Alex nodded in greeting and didn’t let go of my hand. Oh well. “Hey Barakat, I have one last question about Alex.”

I raised an eyebrow. “If this is about any of his secrets, don’t even try.”

“No, it’s not. When did you realize you loved him?”

Alex started laughing. “Um... He had just asked me to be his boyfriend and I rejected him and since he’s a devious little child, he used Cassadee as a fake girlfriend to make me jealous and it worked pretty damn well because when he told her he loved her, I wanted to chop her head off.”

Alex kept laughing, Danny laughing a little too. “Pleasant... Alex, when did you realize you loved Jack?”

“Well, at first I loved him as a friend, but it just sort of grew to the point where I saw him and thought, I love him so much, without really realizing what I was thinking.” Alex shrugged and squeezed my hand.

I smiled and squeezed it back. “I’m happy for you guys, despite what other people think.” Danny grinned and left.

Alex smiled at me and kissed me, not for long, but still sweet. “I’m cold.” He complained.

“So put on a sweatshirt.”

“I don’t have one!” He pouted. I laughed and pulled him onto my lap, his back against my chest and my arms wrapped around his stomach.

“Better?” I asked.

He smiled and nodded. I chuckled and kissed his neck. Cassadee came in. “Oh my god, you guys are so cute!” She gushed at the sight of us.

Alex laughed lightly. “Hey babe, whatcha doing here?”

“I need you and figured you’d be here.”

“Why did you need me?”

“Rian.”

I felt Alex tense. “What the fuck did he do.” He growled.

Her eyes filled with tears. “H-He threatened me to go on a d-date with him.”

“Threatened how.”

“H-He said he’d r-rape me unless I d-didn’t.”

Alex jumped from my lap and sprinted from the room. He was pissed, I could tell. I just walked over to Cassadee and hugged, her letting cry into my shirt.

~~~
Alex’s POV

Rian was fucking dead. Threatening to rape someone? Who the hell goes there? I sprinted down the hallway, knowing which class he came from. I saw him and ran right towards him and shoving him by his shoulders against the wall. His friends looked confused.

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” I shouted. “Inflicting RAPE on an innocent girl?”

“What?”

“Cassadee! You got her to go out with you by telling her you would rape her if she didn’t? Why would she want to date an asshole like YOU? Now she’s fucking terrified out of her mind and it’s all your fault, and she’ll be a nervous wreck on this date you plan on taking her on!”

He laughed bitterly. “The girl’s hot. Who wouldn’t want her?”

That made me so fucking mad that my fist went flying into his face. “You are a hypocrite! You don’t tell someone you’re going to RAPE them in order to go on a date with them! Cassadee’s in with Jack probably crying her eyes out over you and you have no idea what you’ve just done to her! She’s sensitive, she doesn’t know how to stand up for herself! Especially when someone scares her as bad as you have!” I screamed.

“Woah, Rian, you told her you would rape her?” One of his friends asked.

“Yeah, what of it?”

“That’s not a good idea. You just scared someone you want to date, that’s not going to get you anywhere with her. She’ll just be afraid of you. What were you thinking?”

“I just wanted to go out with her, god! It’s not a big deal!”

They all exchanged glances and began to walk away. I sent one more punch into his stomach before running back to Jack’s room. He was hugging her and she was crying. I took her into my arms instead and she hugged me tightly. I mouthed thank you to Jack.

The door opened and Rian’s friends came in. Cassadee shrunk into me, cowering in fear. “What the hell do you want?” I snapped.

“We wanted to say that we’re sorry for what Rian said. He’s an idiot. That’s not the way to approach a girl you want to date. We’re done with him. Are you okay, Cass?” One asked.

“No, she isn’t. She wants an apology from Rian, but thanks anyway.” I said.

One rolled his eyes. “Rian doesn’t apologize. The only time he apologizes is if he thinks he’s done something really wrong and apparently this isn’t, but it is. To us it is.” He smiled in apology.

I smiled back and kissed Cass’s forehead. “Do you forgive them?”

She nodded weakly. “I-I forgive them, but not Rian. What am I going to do if I don’t show up for that date? I’ll get raped!”

“No you won’t baby, I’ll protect you. He deserves to be stood up.”

“He really does. Oh sorry, I’m Caleb Turman.” The redheaded guy said. I recognized Kyle.

“Hi.” Cass said, wiping a fallen tear away. Jack was standing next to me, just sort of watching everything. Observing.

“That’s Kyle, Kellin, and Vic.” He pointed to them all and Cass just waved shyly.

“Why are you done with Rian?” I asked.

“He’s an asshole. Cass didn’t deserve that. She’s gorgeous, not hot. And she isn’t a bitch either, like Rian described her. I don’t know about the others, but I want to be her friend.” Kellin said. Cass smiled.

“I think I can allow that.”

I smiled too. “Being the protective friend I am, I’m watching you guys. You hurt her, you’re dead.”

“I wouldn’t.”

“Then I approve.”

Cass let go of me and dried her eyes. Jack moved over to me and put his arm around my waist. “We should go.” He smiled at me.

I nodded. “Okay. Cass, you’ll be okay?”

“Yeah, I think so. If I’m not, I’ll come over to your house.”

“Okay. Works for me.” I smiled and kissed her cheek before leaving with Jack. Kyle, Kellin, Vic, and Cass left together, but went their separate ways at the door. Jack’s hand slid in the back pocket of my jeans, the pocket farthest away from him. I did the same to him so our arms crossed in the back. It was an affectionate position.

Jack told me to come to his place tonight, just for a while so that I could go back home if Cass came over. I agreed and we drove over in our own cars.

We walked in and Matt wasn’t home. I sat in the living room and waited for Jack to make something to eat. I heard the phone ring and he picked it up. “Hello?”

There was silence and then a crash. I figured he had just dropped a plate or something, but there wasn’t any sound heard from him for a while, so I went in and saw him sitting on the ground, sitting against the cupboards with his head leaning against it. I couldn’t even read his expression. Mad? Sad? Disappointed?

“Jack? What’s wrong?” I asked, sitting next to him.

“My mom has terminal lung cancer.”

Notes

So I kinda hate this chapter but whateverrrrr. You guys are so fucking amazing, I love you! Tell me what you think? <3