Starlight

Rian sat dumfounded on Jack’s worn out couch trying to understand everything that Jack has just told him, starting from the note that just appeared on his coffee table and ending with the one that happened to be left on the same table during this night. He understood that he have to told Jack about the time in hospital. He deserved to know this. The only problem was his reaction. Rian knew that Jack’s usually a nice guy and it’s hard to get him angry, but when he was angry you don’t want to be there to witness it.

“And those notes say nothing about…well, nothing about him? Not who he is, not what he wants?”

“No,” Jack still held the note he found this morning, he hadn’t put it down for two hours, “he can’t say it now and that… I’m his human…” he almost whispered the last part. It just didn’t make any sense. How can he be someone’s human. No one is someone’s. That’s just not how it works.

“He must be crazy,” Rian muttered, still feared to tell Jack about the hospital, but he had to, “Jack?”

“Mhm?”

“You…you remember that time…that time you were in the hospital?” he asked carefully.

“It’s hard to forget,” Jack mumbled, finally tearing his eyes away from the note in his hands. What does these memories of hospital had to do with all this?

“Yeah, sorry…but there’s something you probably should know about it… I know, I should’ve told you this earlier…well, actually I should’ve told you this while you were in the hospital…or at least when you got out…”

“Just get to the point! I don’t want to remember that time, you know that.”

“Yeah, sorry…the thing is that…shit, I don’t know how to say this! The thing is that there were some notes…left in your hospital room…next to your bed…I…I kind of took them…I know I should’ve showed them to you, but you weren’t in good state and I thought it just would’ve made it worse, so…”

“But…you…you didn’t say that…why didn’t you…just show them to me?”

“I…I asked your doctor and nurses if someone had been in your room, but they said no. I wanted to show them to you, but when they said that…that’s not normal! That’s impossible. The notes can’t appear just like that! There has to be some explanation! There has to someone!”

“Well, this someone is Alex.”

“What? You gave him a name?” That is just too much. For Rian it looked like Jack had lost his mind. He just give a name to someone who’s acting so…so weird.

“No, he wrote it. He wants me to call him Alex.”

“And you’re gonna do this,” Rian looked at Jack like he would be out of his mind. Even if this Alex wrote his name that doesn’t mean that’s his real name. And just the way Jack said it – he wants me to call him Alex. Like he would have some magical power over Jack. Like he would own him. But again, from these notes it looks that Jack owns Alex. That’s what he wrote – you’re my human.

“At least now he has a name. Now he’s not someone who writes me. Now he’s Alex.”

“You know that you sound crazy, right?” Rian had pulled his eyebrows impossibly high. If he will continue this way, they’ll be lost under his short hairs and he will definitely have some problems with his face muscles.

“What did these notes say? The ones in hospital,” Jack sounded incredibly normal. Peaceful, like all this situation wouldn’t be about him.

“Well, there was nothing about who this person is…”

“Alex.”

“What?”

“This person. His name is Alex.”

“Will you stop repeating his name! You sound like a very bad parrot, you know that?” he tried to laugh at his own joke, but it was hard, “anyway, the notes were mostly about…how you’re getting better and that you’re strong, he believes in you and soon you’ll get out. Nothing much. They were never this long. Just a sentence or two.”

“But why…”

“There were never anything about why he would write. He’s just weird.”

“No. Why did you never told me?”

“I…I said…no one was in your room and…it was just too…not normal, I couldn’t just show you some note and say that I found it in our room. It would be too weird.”

“But these notes for me. You had no right to take them, not even to read, but you read them, took them and never show or told me about them! You know I trusted you, but apparently you don’t care about me! This someone, this Alex cares about me more than you!”

“Jack…”

“Maybe he is weird or some psycho, but he cares enough to get into my room and apartment unnoticed just to leave some note!”

“Exactly! He gets in unnoticed, that’s why…wait, what? He was in here?”

“Well, yeah…I told you that I found a note on my coffee table that means that he was in here.”

“That’s not how it sounded when you said it,” Rian scooted closer to Jack and looked dead in his eyes, “what are you hiding from me?”

“Nothing!”

“Liar,” he whispered, “I know you too well. Tell me the missing parts.”

“There’s nothing missing in my story.”

“Yeah and I’m a fairy!”

“You would be pretty bad fairy,” Jack chuckled.

“Don’t try to change the subject. What are you hiding?”

“I think I saw him in my kitchen last night. When he left me this note,” Jack said with a loud sigh, showing Rian the note.

“The one where he said his name?”

“Mhm…”

“You saw him? And…?”

“Well, it’s not that I saw him. I just saw something, that looked…like human, like…I heard steps and then he probably pushed some cup on the kitchen counter, well it sounded like that, and then…he said something, but I didn’t hear what and I…got back in my room…and…well, then I fall asleep and you woke me up.”

“He just…he left? He just…have a walk in your apartment and then just leaves? But…how did he even get in here? You did lock your doors, right?”

“Yes.”

“You sure? I know how you can forget about things.”

“I’m sure,” and Jack was sure. He clearly remembered how he checked his doors for three times to be sure that he locked them.

Both of them fell in silence, both of them thinking about Alex, but in completely different ways. Rian didn’t believe what he wrote. He wanted to, but he couldn’t. From what this Alex had wrote to Jack in hospital he wanted to believe that he meant no harm. Not much has changed ‘cause now he also didn’t write anything that would show any signs of hate or something along that way, but Rian just didn’t trust him. How could he trust someone when he didn’t know anything about this person? Just their name and maybe that even wasn’t his real name.

Jack, on the other hand, somehow had this weird trust towards someone he had never seen or met in his life. At least he thought he had never seen him. Somehow he believed that what Alex is writing is true. Well, from all the normal things he had written. Jack still didn’t understand what all this human thing meant, why Alex can’t write too much and tell who he is. Is it really that hard and about his true personality would be so different that Jack wouldn’t be able to understand that if he read that. What is so special that he need to show it to Jack to make him understand?

Little rational part left in his brains said to him not to trust this Alex, but there was something that made him believe, that made him hope to meet him sooner. If he would tell this Rian, he’ll pack all his stuffs and drag Jack back to his house so he can keep an eye on him.

“So what will you do?” Rian’s voice broke into Jack’s thoughts.

“About what?”

“All this! You will keep writing to him, not actually knowing to who you’re writing?”

“That’s the only way to get to know more.”

“So you will…”

“Yeah…I guess I will,” he got up from where he’d been sitting and went to grab his notebook.
“And what will you write to him?”

“Something to get to know him better. As you said – I don’t know anything about him so I should get to know more.”

“But he didn’t even ask you anything in the last note, maybe he don’t want you to write him anymore?” Rian asked with a slight hope in his voice.

“He said that I probably have many questions and he’ll be happy to answer all of them so I’ll just keep asking,” Jack mumbled starting to scribble his note.

“I should’ve never allowed you to move out when you suggested that idea.”

“Why? You always complained that I ruin you’re peaceful life,” Jack answered, focusing more on the note and not what Rian said.

“You know what I mean. At my house no one sent you these notes and your life was…normal…now you have some mysterious penfriend.”

“He’s not my penfriend,” Jack quietly said, rereading what he just wrote.

“You’re writing to each other so you are.”

“Whatever. You’re ready to go or you’ll stay here while I….send it or…whatever it’s called.”

“Na-aahhh, I’m not leaving! Do what you have to do with that note, but I’m not leaving this place!” he said, stretching his legs.

“Fine,” Jack said more to himself than Rian and left the apartment to place the little note into his mail box.

Waiting for the elevator he reread his note one more time to make sure that he really wrote everything he wanted to know. For now.

So Alex that is. Nice name, if that is your real name.
It looks like you can’t write anything about you, why’s that? And what’s so different about you that you need to show me first to make me believe and understand? And when will be this soon when we’ll meet? And why do you keep saying [writing] that you are not allowed, that sounds like someone’s controlling you! Sorry, maybe that’s too personal, but that’s how it looks to me.

Notes

Just something... I don't know... I'm tired and I want to sleep...it's not even 3pm yet where I live, but I'm ready to pass out...that's what you get if you have to wake up at 10am on saturday morning. that's just not how saturdays work ;D I'm going back to sleep, enjoy this chapter ^^