A Little Therapy

Jack and Alex look exhausted the next morning, and Vic and Kellin are attached at the hip. Resuming his usual daily broadcast, the ebony haired boy tried to pester them both; even though his eyes were tired and his sarcasm lacked bite, he managed to keep them out of the cesspool of their minds. The Mexican boy, however, looked his same reserved self, with tangled brown hair pulled back under a beanie, quietness becoming his most basic solitude. Solitude, but Kellin would forever be his solace. Jack would marvel at the two, their communication was very broken, as Kellin would talk for years about nothing whereas Vic spoke as if his words were on rations.

The charcoal haired boy, with his hair pulled back in a bun, tried to make pancakes, until he was pushed out of the way by a lanky boy from Baltimore, Vic laughed, and Jack's eyes crinkled with his smile as they watched their lovers (Or whatever the labels could become) argue through laughter. They wished they could stay like that, in that moment forever.

Mike shows up halfway through the day and it's obvious he's trying to put on a brave face, but even him with his tough exterior looked a little drained, weakened by his own life and now Jack's. The room seems to tense up, as if realising they couldn't live in their bubble for much longer. "Are you ok?" The younger Fuentes asks, and it's soft despite his rough look, his eyes are without a fight, his lips have been bitten from anxiety. Jack understood that, more than ever now. The sincerity cause him to reach out and pull the taller into a hug.

"I will be," He replies, moving a hand up to the bruises and scars that he can feel. His fingertips brush down his arm, and his eyes close briefly; he flinches and rests his head against the wall. "My mum's going to make a statement too, but she's scared, I'll have Alex, she'll have no one,"
He whispered "We won't be able to keep the house without his money you see, so I don't know what's going to happen, but she's so close too, if she'd been in hospital then she wouldn't be alive, we're both scared," Both Vic and Alex reach out to squeeze his hands, but it's not their comfort or attention he wants. He just wants this out, wants it gone, so he can live his life without stepping on eggshells. His eyes lock with the cocoa eyed boy across him, whose smile was made of diamonds and hands were like comfort around him.

He remembers what they did last night, and suddenly his face burns crimson, for a moment he has to duck under his ruffled ebony hair. Kellin doesn't miss a beat and chuckles lightly, pulling his smaller significant other closer by his hand, "Alright then, let's get this shit done," He exclaims loudly, suddenly a galaxy of his own now that his constellations are holding his hand. His eyes shot bright and his smile tilted, Jack wonders if he looks that happy with Alex. He certainly feels it.

He doesn't question the hand in his as he walks out the door, more bruises in the light than he could hide in the shadows. Alex swallowed as he stared at the boy that somehow, somewhere, he had come to care for more than anyone or anything. Perhaps it was love, it didn't matter, what did was the fact he was here, alive, and he wanted that heart to beat for as long as possible with his.

The outside world seemed more intimidating now, everything bigger, or maybe he just felt smaller, whatever the paradox may be, the young man was still shaking. His fingertips sought his lover's and his body craved the affection he hadn't found in his entire life; his eyes were sore with tears un cried and throat red raw from the shouting he kept locked in his lungs. What mattered now were his friends, his freedom, and his escape. Kellin was familiar, it seemed, with the inside of police stations, and appeared jittery even as they clambered into the car. His arms twitched, going over the pale skin where his own bruises lay, before letting out a long, drawn sigh. Vic grasped his hand, and just like that he stopped fidgeting. Mike, who was driving, looked both determined and uncomfortable. "I gotta call Tony later," He sighed to anyone who was listening, which turned out to be just Jack as Alex and Kellin began to bicker in the back.

There's a fairly long break in which the five of them go completely silent. They stare out at the police station that's in front of them; Jack is trembling and everyone notices. It seems the only person who isn't deathly pale and shaking is Vic, who looks completely stoic as he clenches his jaw. Beside him, his younger brother absorbs whatever energy he can from the elder, but he looks unnerved. This boy had been involved in gang warfare since he hit puberty; this was a threshold that wasn't all that safe for him to cross. But he's doing it anyway.

Kellin is just reliving the last time he was here, to see his own father behind bars, but that's a story that won't live through this. He remains sandwiched between his best friend and who appeared to overnight become his boyfriend. Alex, however, sighed deeply and grasped Jack's hand, clutching him so hard he's worried his bones might break. For a moment, they all individually consider backing out, but rise to the challenge as if it's the only thing they're built for

(What else would they be built for?).

It's a hassling process, and somewhere between it Jack starts crying; he starts calmly, going through the past ten years of his life, but then he's taking off his shirt to show the welts and bruises that decorate him. And he looks at his friends. Alex looks as if his heart had been taken from him and ripped apart, left on the floor in ruins, his eyes are watering but he refuses to cry.

More than anything he wants to take his friend into his arms and hold him away from the world, as he had done the night before. He can't. But Vic squeezes his hand gently, as if to say 'he's going to be ok', miraculously Alex believes him too.

It's nearly 3PM when he stumbles out. He's cold, and his tongue is exhausted from answering questions. His hand blindly seeks comfort from anyone, but it's of course the other Baltimore boy who grabs that hand a leads him into a light of warmth and comfort, embracing a gentle kiss on the forehead and arms like a fortress around him. He watches the other's filter into the car, waiting for them as he buries his damp face into the other man's shoulder, shaking. "I'm scared," He admits, but Alex doesn't reply, only tilts his head up and presses their lips together.

His heart beats in a slow mantra, which makes his body feel brave, pulling him close and holding him as if he needed a lifeline more than anything right now.

"It's gonna be ok,"

Notes