Rian POV

Alex disappeared over an hour ago to go to Jack’s hospital room, but Zack, Robbie and I remained in the waiting room, too scared to see our best friend in a paralysed state. I didn’t know why Alex insisted on seeing him like that… How can he be strong enough?

It was clear to see that Alex was in the middle of an emotional breakdown, just by looking at him. It hurt me to see him that way, I’ve only ever seen him like this once before. I helped him through that, but there was nothing I could do to help him now. There was nothing I could do to even help myself. It was only a matter of time before I headed the same way as Alex… So, I’ll stay up all night with these blood-shot eyes.

As the time dragged by the atmosphere was becoming so depressing that I thought I was going to crack under the pressure. Robbie, Zack and I couldn’t even find the words to talk to eachother; we were all just sat in the deathly silence, consumed in our own torturous thoughts of our unstable best friend.

I suddenly couldn’t stand it any longer. I heaved a sigh and climbed to my feet abruptly, making Robbie and Zack look up at me with questioning eyes.

“I’m going for a walk,” I told them flatly, not even knowing where I was going as I began to walk away from the waiting room.

I wanted to escape from the hospital for a while... Get away from all the devastation trapped inside its walls... These walls surround me with the story of our life. I headed outside to get some fresh air and try to clear my head a little.

The bitter night air engulfed me as soon as I stepped outside; it was literally like walking into a freezer. It was also eerily dark, which reminded me in my lost sense of time that it was the early hours of the morning by now.

I wandered over to a wall in the car park and sat down by myself. The only thing keeping it from being pitch black was the bright lights coming from the surrounding buildings. But it was still pretty fucking creepy sitting outside all alone in the dark… (Yes, I’m the most easily scared person ever.)

I quickly pulled my phone out of my pocket for another source of light. My phone gave me a sense of security, because my deluded mind believed that if anyone attacked me there was more chance that I would see them coming (but still probably not be able to do much about it), and also, I would be ready to ring for help… If there’s even any point in ringing for an ambulance when I’m in a hospital car park. They might just tell me it’s easier if I crawl back inside.

I looked down at my phone in my hand, suddenly captivated by the bright background picture of me, Cassadee, Jack and Jade. The photo was taken on the night of my birthday, just before that night turned into a disaster…

I instinctively cast my mind back to that evening. It feels like a hundred years. I had never fully forgiven Jack for embarrassing in front of everyone by revealing that I kissed him. No one was ever meant to know about that. Especially Alex. Oh man, did he get pissed off…

I was pissed off too, at Jack for spilling our secret when he swore to me he wouldn’t. I knew that Alex would react the exact way that he did and I was worried that Cassadee would think I was seriously cheating on her or something. But she was actually totally cool about it after I explained what really happened; she was just shocked that it was the first time I’d ever kissed a dude. I didn’t know whether to be relieved that she didn’t get mad or annoyed that I apparently seemed gay.

I was in a pretty shitty mood with Jack for a few weeks after that incident… I didn’t talk to him at all for a few days, and then when I did I was just pretty blunt with him. I wish now that I hadn’t been. I guess it wasn’t really his fault… He was drunk and he didn’t really know what he was saying. After all, we all do stupid stuff when we’ve been drinking.

I focused on the mischievous Jack in the photo, sitting on my right with his arm around me, and looking at me and grinning like an idiot. He had just told the ‘classic’ story about Alex taking a heater in the shower. (Which, by the way, happened ONE time. And only because the hot water had run out and He was freezing my balls off…)

In the photo, I am just glaring at Jack, whilst desperately trying to think of an equally dumbass story about something he had done to tell everyone. In the end, I had to settle on the time I walked into the bedroom on the tour bus and found him lying flat on his face on the floor with his pants down by his knees. He told me at the time he was “getting dressed”, but I couldn’t help but notice when I told the story the way that Jack glowered at Alex, who just smirked at him knowingly… And it makes sense to me now that Alex may have been responsible for that. Especially the part where Jack’s pants were down…

I continued to stare at the photo for a few moments, my eyes lingering for the longest amount of time on Jade; she was cuddled up to Jack under his arm and leaning against his chest, laughing at my expense. We all looked like we didn’t have a care in the world; it was like a picture perfect world… But in reality, life isn’t so perfect. It could be so much better.

I suddenly realised Jade was completely oblivious to the fact that her boyfriend is currently in a coma. Sighing, I started searching for her number in my phone contacts, deciding that someone needed to be the bearer of bad news and it might as well be me.

I dialled her number and lifted my phone to my ear, listening to the dial tone and waiting patiently for her to answer. Several seconds passed, but there was no answer. I realised that since it was 1am in the UK, it must be 7’o’clock back in Baltimore where Jade was. It must be a busy time for-

“Hello?” Jade’s voice suddenly sounded just in time as my finger ghosted over the end call button.

I stopped and swallowed hard. It wasn’t going to be easy breaking the terrible news to her.

“Hey Jade… Uh, it’s Rian,” I greeted her half-heartedly, a sickening feeling in my gut.

“Oh... hi,” she replied slowly.

It wasn’t the warm greeting I usually receive from her. She sounded uncertain. Did she know something was wrong? Had she seen the news? Or was it just obvious from my broken voice?

“I, uh… I’ve got some bad news…” I began slowly, pausing to take a deep breath.

“Yeah, I already know,” she interjected, before I had a chance to continue.

Her pissed off tone of voice threw me slightly; it’s not exactly the sort of news to be annoyed about.

“Y-you do?” I questioned skeptically, frowning to myself.

Something tells me she doesn’t know the news I rang to reveal, but I’m curious about what she does know…

“Yeah, you’re going to tell me that Jack cheated on me with Alex, aren’t you?” She asked flatly.

Whoa, WHAT?

Her blunt question caught me off-guard slightly, causing me to nearly drop my phone in surprise.

“Uh, no - I don't - What?” I stammered blankly, momentarily distracted from the real truth by this unexpected, bold accusation.

What is she talking about? As far as I know, since Alex married Lisa and Jack got together with Jade, they have both been faithful to their partners. I’ve seen how they act around eachother; it’s not the way it used to be… Things have changed between them.
And even if it WAS true, how could she possibly know about it?

“Lisa told me,” Jade retorted bluntly, taking me even more by surprise.

“Lisa? But she - what?” I blurted out, getting increasingly confused by the second. Don’t know what’s going on...

Why is Lisa getting involved? There’s not even anything going on between Jack and Alex!

“Look, Jade, I don’t know who has been filling Lisa’s head with this nonsense, but she must have got it wrong… Jack and Alex wouldn’t do that to you and Lisa,“ I continued insistently, trying to argue their innocence.

I was confident that I was right and Lisa had just overreacted or something, because I knew my brother wouldn’t cheat on his pregnant wife... I know he’s an asshole sometimes, but he’s not that much of an asshole! And Jack would just never cheat on Jade... He’s not like that.

“Oh, really? Well, Alex was the one who told her, so I’m pretty sure it’s not a misunderstanding,” Jade sighed bitterly.

Wait... Hold the fucking phone! ALEX told Lisa that he cheated on her with Jack? Holy shit… Why would he do that?

“Uh… You’re going to have to break this down for me,” I muttered slowly, completely lost now.

What the mother of crap is going on here?!

I could feel my confidence rapidly draining from my system. It was obvious I was missing a huge part of the story...

“Well, I assume you know that Alex and Lisa broke up?”

…And there it is.

“WHAT?” I choked, as a tidal wave of confusion crashed over me.

No... That couldn't be true. Surely not. How could I not know that Alex’s marriage had failed?

“Or not…” Jade spoke in a small voice.

“I… I just - They can’t - When?” I stumbled over my words in my state of shock and disorder.

“Earlier today…” Jade told me slowly, sounding almost as confused as me that she was having to explain my brother’s life to me.

Well, at least it hasn’t been like 3 weeks without him telling me… But still, he should have told me! Now it makes sense that he never turned up at the concert venue earlier… But he should have fucking told us instead of avoiding our calls!

“What happened?” I demanded in disbelief.

How could he and Lisa just break up? They’re married with a kid on the way! What could possibly be so destructive that it would make their marriage completely fall apart? Don’t know what went wrong...

“I don’t know. From what I gather, Alex just told Lisa that he loves Jack and that he slept with him last night,” Jade mumbled.

Oh dear God… Why would he tell her that?

“Why the fuck would he - Wait. Last night?” I interrupted myself abruptly, pausing to process this absurd information. “No… No way, I was in the same room as them… I would know if they had had sex!”

Even though I was defending them strongly, deep inside I was having doubts, because I was remembering how I found them cuddled up asleep in eachother’s arms this morning… I should have known...

“Well, you must have been asleep, because I see no reason why Alex would lie to Lisa and ruin his marriage if he and Jack never even did anything,” Jade replied brusquely.

I don’t understand why Jack and Alex would cheat in the first place… I know they have feelings for eachother, but I thought they both agreed to end their ‘relationship’... I thought they loved Jade and Lisa. So, why would Alex just admit it to Lisa and throw his marriage away? ...Gone forever… There MUST be a reason why he told her the truth, because he’s cheated on her loads of times before with Jack and never said anything! So why confess now...?

“I really don’t understand,” I exhaled heavily. “Alex wouldn’t leave Lisa when she’s pregnant with his baby… And I can’t believe Jack would ever cheat on you… He loves you. And he’s just not like that!”

What the actual fuck is going on?!

“I didn’t think Jack was like that either. But he hasn’t even had the fucking guts to ring me and tell me the truth, so I guess he’s not the guy I thought he was,” Jade ranted heatedly.

Her words instantly reminded me of the reason I rang her in the first place and I suddenly felt the confusion and frustration inside of me be replaced by an overpowering feeling of sadness and emptiness. I decided it was time to move onto even worse news…

“Oh… Uh, I know why he hasn’t rang you…” I mumbled regretfully.

Jade was silent for a moment, most likely wondering why my tone of voice had suddenly changed and become more solemn instead of confused.

“You do?” She asked curiously, and I could practically hear her narrow her eyes from her suspicious tone.

“Yeah… Actually, it’s the reason I rang you in the first place…” I trailed off hesitantly, pausing for a few extensive moments.

“Yeah?” She encouraged me eagerly.

Ah, Jesus. How do I put this...?

“I’m sorry to tell you this, Jade… But Jack… Well, a few hours ago… He - he was hit by a car,” I revealed reluctantly, hating to speak the devastating truth out loud, because it made the situation real. There was no hiding from the truth now.

Jade inhaled sharply in shock and then the phone line went deafeningly silent suddenly. I pictured her with a hand clasped over her mouth, wearing an expression of horror on her face.

“He’s not in a good way right now… He’s not dead, thankfully, but he’s not really fully alive either," I continued sadly in an uneven voice that was going to break any second now. “What I’m trying to say is, he’s - well, in a coma.”

The sound of Jade’s heavy breathing filled my ears as she clearly started to cry. Hearing her cry triggered something inside of me, and my eyes started to sting again and my vision blurred.

“I - I can’t b-believe it!” Jade spluttered in disbelief at the tragedy.

“We’re all in a state of shock too,” I mumbled in a strangled voice that was on the verge of breaking, fighting the tears in my eyes.

“Oh my God. I need to see him,” she cried.

“Are you sure?” I asked doubtfully, thinking of Jack’s betrayal and wondering just how much Jade loves him. Does she love him enough to swallow her pain and be by his side when he needs her?

“Yeah… Positive. The fact that he cheated on me is irrelevant right now. This is way more important,” she stated shakily. I admired her inner-strength for doing this. “I’ll get the first plane tomorrow.”

“Okay. We’ll see you tomorrow,” I replied slowly, silently wondering how Alex would react to Jade turning up. And I was equally curious about how Jade would react to Alex, knowing that he slept with her boyfriend.

“I hope he’s going to be okay,” Jade whispered after a short, deafening silence.

“Me too,” I exhaled heavily. “Let’s just keep praying for him.”

“Trust me, Rian, I will be.”

And with that departing promise, the line went dead.

I remained outside for a while longer, sitting on the wall so I could cry in private. I needed to be strong around the other guys, especially Alex, because if one of us started crying we would all break down and it would be ten times worse.

After several moments, I finally managed to pull myself together and stop the tears. Heaving a shaky sigh, I started heading back inside the hospital, with the intention of tracking down Alex and getting the whole story out of him.

I wanted to know exactly what had happened between him and Jack and him and Lisa... There were a lot of confusing holes in the story I had been given and I was finding it hard to ignore my gut instinct, which was telling me that whatever had happened has something to do with why my best friend is lying in that hospital bed, in a coma...

Notes

Sorry i havent updated, ive been so stupmed with school lately, final grades are coming up and i really want to start updating Nameless Beauty Boy more often...

Song: Three Days Grace