This might make you sad.

---

Alex

An hour later, Alex was on the couch, reading a book. He heard steps approaching and turned his head to see Jack, carrying his belongings with him.

“Jack? What are you doing?” Alex asked. He was having a strong suspicion.

“Going back… to Matt,” Jack replied, lowering his gaze. Alex’s heart sank.

“Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean he probably will get bad again soon,” he said softly.

“I want to try,” Jack said, still avoiding Alex’s eyes.

“Jack, please don’t. I really like you and I don’t want you to get hurt. You are worth too much for this, you are too precious to go back to Matt. I’m so scared you will seriously get hurt… Please, stay with me. I’ll take care of you,” Alex begged. He had a lump in his throat.

“I can’t stay here,” Jack answered quietly.

“But why?” Alex asked desperately.

“I need to go back,” Jack insisted.

“Jack, please take good care. And if anything comes up, please call or text me.”

“I will,” Jack said, looking at Alex for a tiny bit. He got closer, bent down and gave Alex just the lightest, tiniest kiss on the cheek. He backed away and looked at Alex. Alex caught sight of the tears in his eyes. Alex’s eyes started to burn. As soon as Jack turned around, the first tear escaped, rolling down Alex’s cheek.

“Please take care,” Alex whispered.

---

Later, it was time to do the service. Alex waited for Jack, biting his nails, nervously pacing around. Finally, he appeared. He looked normal, nothing bad. No new bruises. Alex was relieved.

“Hey Alex,” Jack said.

“Hi. You okay?” Alex asked.

“Yeah. You?”

“Same. Let’s get started.”

Alex was really dying to ask about Matt and how he had behaved but he didn't want to overstep any boundaries so they worked silently for a while. But then Jack looked at Alex.

“Alex… I guess the thing we had for the past few days is over,” Jack said, looking down. Alex thought he had seen tears again. Alex’s heart dropped. But he had known they wouldn’t keep it up.

“I… I know,” he replied, swallowing hard.

“You alright?” Jack asked, sounding concerned.

“Yeah,” Alex replied, lowering his head so Jack couldn’t see the tears in his eyes. He hadn’t thought this would hit him quite as hard.

“I’m sorry,” Jack mumbled.

“Nothing to be sorry for,” Alex said expressionlessly. His heart was kind of burning weirdly, it was very painful.

It was 6.59. Time to get started.

Notes

No :c

Gosh I'm so sorry please don't hate me... Even I got sad when writing this and I contemplated whether to post this for quite a bit. But maybe it can still be fixed?

Title credit: Amy Winehouse.

-Laura