My Only One (Jalex)

Alex's POV:

I discussed with my mom about my, well Jack's, idea of having our own little ceremony for Dan. She loved the idea and was more than happy to help me with it. I'd also told her about Jack, leaving out the fact that he was my student. She was happy that I'd found someone who could be there for me and I was too. Regardless of whether Jack and I will actually get into a relationship, I know that we'll always be there for each other and that was something I never wanted to let go. I was slightly disappointed that I wouldn't be at his actual funeral but I knew that it wouldn't be what he wanted. He'd want everyone to celebrate the life he had, not mourn for the loss of his life. I'd already started to plan what I was going to do for Dan, re-reading our e-mails and Facebook conversations. That task proved to be a little difficult at times but I got through it. I was just glad that I had the time that I did with him.

It was Saturday night and I was sat in front of the television with stacks of papers to grade. I hadn't been in the best frames of mind so it went without saying that I'd fallen behind on my work. I'd tried numerous times to grade the papers over the past few days but my mind was always elsewhere. I was constantly thinking of the ceremony that I would be holding for Dan and if I wasn't thinking about that, my mind was always on one particular seventeen guy called Jack. He was the only thing that kept me sane right now. He's become my rock and I couldn't thank him enough. We hadn't really done much more in terms of our relationship though. Yeah, we'd steal the odd kiss here and there but I wanted more. I wanted a lot more. The only thing is, it's always a little risky at school. We could wait till the majority of people have left school but there's always that possibility of someone walking in mid make-out. I'd thought about asking him to come over to mine, just to hang out, but I was paranoid that someone would see us. I'm not ashamed of liking Jack, not in any way, shape or form, but if anyone was to see us and report us, I'd be jailed and that would mean that we wouldn't be able to see each other at all. Neither of us wanted that.

It was about eight in the evening and I still had half of the papers left to grade. I was starting to get bored with the same monotonous actions but it was something I had to. I'd turned the TV over to a music channel for some background noise, not really caring about how shit the music was. I was just about to pick up another paper to start marking when my phone buzzed on the table. I picked it up without looking at the caller ID.
"Hello?"
"A-Alex, can I c-come over? P-please? Some-something's ha-happened at h-home..."
"Jack? What's happened? Are you safe?"
"I can't t-tell you now...he'll hear me."
It only then dawned on me that Jack was whispering, his hushed voice shaking with fear.
"Yeah, of course you can. Do you want me to pick you up?"
"N-no, I'll sneak out my window and w-walk. He'll see y-you if you c-came."
"Okay, only if you're sure, Jack? Pack a bag too. From the sounds of it, it's not safe for you to go back there yet. You can sleep here."
"Th-thank you, Lex. Wh-where do you l-live?"
"8 Thames Street. See you soon and stay safe, yeah?"
"I'll try."
I heard shuffled on the end of the line before it went dead. My heart was racing, my mind overwhelmed with possible scenarios that could've happened. I had a feeling that it had something to do with Jack's father but I didn't want to jump to conclusions, although it was the more probable one.

Half an hour had passed and Jack still wasn't at my house. It only takes ten minutes to walk between the two and I was starting to get a little worried. My leg was bouncing up and down, my heart feeling heavy in my chest. My hands were starting to clam up too. I grabbed the keys to my car and went to put a jacket on when I heard three timid knocks at my door. I bolted over to it and flung it open. Jack stood there, tears streaming down his face, his lip bleeding a little and his right eye slightly swollen with a purple tinge starting to colour his skin, a bag slung on his shoulder. I ushered him inside quickly, engulfing him into a bone-crushing hug as soon as the front door was closed. Jack sobbed into my body, his entire frame rattling with each sob. I continued to hug him until I felt a warm liquid on my skin. I pulled back and looked down at my grey t-shirt. There was a patch of blood on it, not too large but large enough to be alarmed. Then again, you'd be alarmed anyway if you hugged someone and for them to bleed through onto your clothing.
"Jack, you're bleeding."
Jack sobbed even harder into his hands. I lifted him into my arms and took him upstairs into the bathroom.
"Come on, let's get you cleaned up and we'll see what's going on, yeah?"
Jack nodded in my arms, more tears running down his face.

I kicked open the bathroom door with my foot and set Jack down on the counter. I grabbed the first aid kit that I had in the bathroom cabinet and turned back to face Jack.
"I'm going to have to take your shirt off, Jay. Is that okay?"
Jack nodded, an evident blush creeping up onto his cheeks.
"You don't have to be ashamed, okay? If it makes you feel better I'll take my shirt off too, so then we're both the same?"
"P-please, Lex?"
Jack's voice was small and timid, almost as if he was scared that I was going to hurt him if I spoke any louder. I pulled me shirt over my head and discarded it on the tiled floor. I helped Jack out of his hoodie before slipping his shirt off over his head. I gasped at the sight, my eyes stinging with tears I refused to let fall. Across his stomach were several cuts, varying in depth, all spelling out the word 'fag'.
"Oh, Jay. Was it your father?"
"Y-yeah."
My heart ached. How could anyone do such a thing to such a beautiful person? I opened the first aid kit, getting out cotton wool, alcohol wipes, dressings, bandages and tape.
"This is going to sting, Jay."
I opened a wipe and started to clean the blood up with cotton wool that was dampened with warm water, wiping over the wound with the wipe afterwards. Jack hissed from the pain, biting his lip, making it bleed even more.
"I'm sorry, Jay. I'm really sorry. It'll be over soon."
I continued to clean the cuts until the blood was gone, all that remained was the actual cuts, red and raised, standing out against the pale skin of his stomach. I had to admit, Jack was hot. He was skinny but he suited it. He was beyond beautiful. I then taped on the dressings over the cuts, not needing the bandages. I then started to clean his face, dabbing more damp cotton wool on his lip, making him whimper out in pain. I kept apologising, although it was futile. There was nothing I could do for his eye: it had already bruised, the swelling already starting to go down. I packed the first aid kit away and flushed the bloody balls of cotton wool, binning the wipes.

I picked Jack up off of the counter and carried him into my room, laying him down on the cotton sheets.
"I left your bag downstairs, do you want one of my shirts?"
"Please, Lex. You know, you should leave your shirt off more often."
I chuckled, amazed at how he seemed to be dealing with the situation.
"I could say the same to you, Jay."
Jack tried to hide his reddened cheeks behind his fringe, his attempt useless. I threw one of my baggy t-shirts to Jack and watched as his put it on, wincing slightly. Silence feel upon us. Jack looked ashamed, my face probably showing worry. I heard Jack mumble something, it was so quiet, though, that I could barely make out a word he said.
"What was that, Jay? I didn't quite catch it."
"You're going to think I'm ugly now..."
I walked over to the edge of the bed where Jack was now sat and wrapped an arm around his waist, pulling him into me gently.
"No I'm not, Jay. You're still as beautiful as ever."
"But...they're going to scar. I'm going to have the word 'fag' permanently scarred onto my stomach."
Jack broke down once more, crying into my bare chest. I tried my best to calm him down, my attempts paying off after a short while. I pulled away from the hug, holding Jack at arms length.
"Look at me, Jack. You're the most beautiful person I've ever laid eyes on and I want you to, one day, believe me when I tell you. What the monster did to you is not going to change my opinion."
"You won't be saying that when I'm scarred..."
"Yes I will, Jack. I...I want to ask you something..."
"Um, okay?"
"Will you b-be my boyfriend, Jack? I know it's not been that long but I can't continue like this. I want to call you my boyfriend."
A smile crept onto Jack's face, his eyes lighting up slightly. Jack nodded before smashing our lips together. We pulled back a moment later, both needing to breathe.
"I take that as a yes then?"
"Definitely, Boyfriend."
I chuckled before pulling Jack into my side again, enjoying the moment.

I really wished that Jack would see how perfect he was. I know people say that perfection doesn't exist but I knew I'd found it in Jack. Others might not see him as perfect but he was perfect to me. His personality was amazing, so bubble yet gentle. He was beautiful, inside and out. His eyes were a beautiful shade of brown, flecks of a lighter shade of brown speckled them. His eyes were so wide, so captivating. His smile could easily light up a world without a sun. His nose were a little bit too big for his face but it suited him. His body was beautiful too. He was lanky but, again, he carried it well. His legs were so long and they way they looked in skinny jeans was enough to turn a straight man on. I quickly came to the conclusion that Jack was the most beautiful person I'd ever laid eyes on.
"What are you thinking about, Lex?"
"You."
"Oh."
"About how beautiful you are to me and how perfect I think you are."
"But I'm none of those things, Lex. If I was perfect, this wouldn't have happened to me."
Jack gestured down to his stomach. I sighed, he really didn't know how perfect he was.
"Lex, strange question, but do you have any sad films?"
"Um, yeah...Why?"
"Can we watch one? When I'm upset or something I always watch sad films. I don't really know why, it just helps."
"I know where you're coming from with that. The only one I've got is The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Will that do?"
"It's my favourite."
I got up off the bed and fetched the DVD, coming back to see Jack snuggled under the covers, his jeans lying on the floor all crumpled up. I walked over to the TV and slid the disk in.
"You're not naked under there, are you?"
"N-no, I've got my boxers on...I could p-put some shorts on or somethi-"
"Jack, it's fine, honest. I was just messing with you."
"Oh. Sorry."
"It's okay. Come on, let's cuddle."
I wriggled out of my jeans and joined Jack under the covers, noticing how Jack's eyes scanned my body as I walked around my room in only my boxers. I didn't bother with a shirt. Jack snuggled up to me, lying his head on my chest, our bare legs tangled together. We watched the film, not moving from our embrace at all. We both cried when it got to the point in the film where Charlie was home alone and imagining when his Aunt Helen died and the events that followed it. We were both starting to feel our eyelids droop soon after the end credits finished rolling.
"I feel infinite right now, Lex."
"What?"
"I feel infinite."
We both fell asleep cuddled together under the covers, both of our faces stained with tears.

Notes

Hey,

I really like this chapter, a lot. If you haven't read/seen The Perks of Being a Wallflower, I seriously suggest you do because that film/book is just incredible and it's easily my favourite film/book ever. It's so sad too :(

I'm sorry for not updating yesterday. Over the past few days, I've done seven different performances and performed to well over 800 people so it's fair to say that I need at least a week to sleep. (Also, I accidentally hit my crush in the balls with my bass guitar too...so, sorry, dude. You probably won't be able to have kids in the future...)

Thanks for reading/commenting/voting, it means a lot. Also, I'm sorry if anyone was triggered by anything in this chapter, you're worth a hell of a lot more than you think.

Em x