Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous

I wasn't talking to Jack when the last bell rang. I had both headphones in as we walked out of school and to our cars. It was a coffee shop day, so I made sure my brother had a ride home, then followed Jack to the cafe. After the first day I wasn't expecting to become an add-on to the ritual of destressing over really good coffee, but all four of my new friends insisted that I go with them – especially Jack.

Once we all had our coffee and had taken our seats, I noticed Zack wasn't with us. I turned to Lzzy and questioned his absence.

She shrugged and sipped her coffee. “He made mention of some concerns of his that were...less than satisfactory in the department of kindness.”

I quirked an eyebrow. “Oh?”

Rian snorted. “He was an asshole, plain and simple. I'm glad you dumped him.”

“I didn't dump him, we weren't dating.” She muttered as she took another sip.

Jack rolled his eyes. “You stopped your friends with benefits bullshit, whatever. I'm just glad he's gone. I told you I never liked him.”

Lzzy shook her head and swallowed before saying, “Oh no, you said you had class with him last year and that he “didn't suck too bad”. Don't pretend you were against him from the start.”

“I was,” he insisted.

I rolled my eyes. “You totally weren't, you guys were perfectly friendly until he started being a dick to me.”

“Shut up, Gaskarth, no one asked you,” he grumbled.

I sighed. “You're a real shithead today, you know that?”

I knew I had pissed him off because he threw the spotlight on me...again. “Haven't had sex in a week, wanna come back to my place and fix that?”

“Gross! Jack, I don't wanna hear about your sex life!” Cas squealed.

I laughed. “Then you shouldn't have become friends with him. Everything that comes out of his mouth is about his sex life.”

That got a laugh out of everyone but Jack. He muttered something I couldn't hear across the table under his breath and finished his coffee in one gulp. “I'll be right back.” He swiftly stood and walked out the front door.

Rian sighed. My eyes stayed on Jack as he said, “I should go talk to him.”

I watched as he disappeared down an alley fifteen feet down from the cafe. I shook my head and stood. “I'll go, he's mad at me or something. He's really just being a baby.”

No one disagreed.

I followed Jack's footsteps slowly as I realized I had no clue what I was going to say to him. I couldn't just go up to him and say, “Listen you're being a jerk so you need to take the stick out of your ass and be more like you were yesterday.” That wouldn't go over well. Plus, Rian had said that there were problems in Jack's life too, and I don't think I would ever forgive myself if I was ignorant and said something that struck a chord with these unknown issues. Just ask him what's wrong. No, scratch that. Ask if he's ok. No, fuck. I wasn't very good at this whole “comfort and soothe” thing. I had decided on some combination of the two questions when I got up to the alley. However, when I turned into the corner and saw Jack, that's not what came out.

“Are you fucking smoking?”

His eyes stayed on the sky. He flicked some ash to the ground as he shrugged. He took a long drag and held it for a couple seconds before blowing it up.

“Since when do you smoke?” I was still astonished.

He shrugged again, flicked some ash, took another drag.

I ground my teeth. “What the fuck is your problem? Are you going to fucking talk to me?”

He shook his head and lifted the cigaret again, but this time his hand was trembling.

“Jack's life really isn't perfect,” Rian's voice echoed in my head. I swallowed and softened my voice. “Jack, are you ok?” I watched his jaw work as he ground his teeth before shaking his head sharply and taking another drag. I took a careful step towards him. “You want to talk to me?” He shook his head again. “Do you want me to leave?” He hesitated and I thought he was going to say yes, but then he slowly, almost uncertainly, shook his head again. “Ok.” I took the last step towards him and put a hand on his shoulder, rubbing soothing circles on his upper arm, knowing he liked having some form of physical contact.

We stood like that until Jack finished his cigaret. He dropped it to the ground and crushed it under his boot with a sigh. I took that as a sign to drop my hand, but he caught it and held it in his. I let him, and waited until he had gathered his thoughts. A minute or two later, eyes still on the ground, he mumbled, “Thanks, Lex.”

I gave him a small smile. “Hey, what are friends for? You ok?”

He shook his head. “Not really, but it's fine. I'm not in danger of breaking anyone's jaw anymore.” Anger management issues, that's what had him shaking.

“You ok to go back inside?”

He shook his head again. “Just give me a minute?”

I nodded, and tried to distract him from his thoughts – they had always made things worse for me, so I figured it was worth a shot. “So when did you start smoking, Richie Rich?”

He looked up at me, a crooked smile on his lips. “Did you just call me Richie Rich?”

I grinned back. “It suits you. You're avoiding the question.”

He rolled his eyes. “Just a year or two ago. I don't do it often, don't really want to be super addicted or anything. It just,” he rolled his shoulders, “helps take the edge off sometimes.”

I nodded. “Yeah I get it.” My free hand twitched towards my hips, but I stuffed it in my pocket.

There was a moment of silence before Jack sighed, casting a long look in the direction of the cafe. “We should probably go back in.” But he really looked in no shape to go back to the lively environment.

I shook my head. “How about we go watch some more low budget sci-fi movies? I think Sharktopus vs Pteracuda is on tonight if your up for it.” Yesterday's lazy day had involved a large bowl of popcorn and all three Sharknado films.

He chuckled. “Yeah, sounds good.” I only remembered he was holding my hand when he squeezed it in silent gratitude before letting go to shove his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket.

I shoved that hand in my other pocket. “I'm just going to grab my coffee and tell them we're going. I'll follow you to your place?” He nodded and followed me to the end of the alley, then turned to go to his car as I went the other way to go into the cafe.

“Everything ok?” Lzzy asked as I walked over to where I had previously been sitting.

I nodded. “Yeah, Jack and I are going to go back to his for a while, he needs to decompress.”

They all nodded. We bid our goodbyes and I turned to leave, but Cas's voice stopped me. “Alex?”

“Hmm?” I turned.

She bit her lip. “Be careful? He can be a bit...” she trailed off looking for the right word.

“Belligerent,” Lzzy offered. Cas agreed.

I shot them a smile. “I'll be fine, it's him I'm worried about. See you guys tomorrow. I'll text you if the shit hits the fan.”

When I got to my car, Jack was idling next to it. It was nice to know that the looks of my car kept up with his, even if he didn't think my wardrobe did the same. I followed his car to the castle he called home, then followed him down the hall to the kitchen. Jack immediately went for a bottle of whiskey, but I snatched it from him and put it back in its place.

“What the hell?” he asked, annoyed.

“The last thing you need is alcohol. You're stressed and prone to violence. The very last thing I need is you getting belligerent. Go sit, if anyone knows what to do for stress, it's me.” I smacked his ass as he walked by (which made him jump), just to spite him a little.

He chuckled as he hopped up onto a stool at the island. “Oh, I can believe that.”

I stuck my tongue out at him as I took the milk from the fridge. “Where do you keep cups?” He pointed to a cabinet above the sink. I got out two mugs and set them across from Jack. I filled each with milk then dumped it into a pot on the stove. While it was warming, I walked into the pantry and scanned the shelves, grinning when I found hot chocolate mix. I grabbed two and returned to find the milk steaming. I dumped in the contents of the packets and stirred it while I made Jack get whipped cream from the fridge.

He quirked an eyebrow as he watched me pour the mixture into the cups. “Hot chocolate?”

I chuckled. “You'd be amazed how soothing it is.” I heard the hiss of the whipped cream can and turned to find Jack spraying it directly into his mouth. “Jack! Behave!” I laughed as I put the pot in the sink and filled it with cold water.

“Hey, Lex?”

“Yeah?” I turned my head and was met with Jack's finger as he wiped whipped cream onto my nose. “Hey!”

He put himself in hysterics. I grabbed the can off the counter and held it parallel to the ground, but at just enough of an angle that when I pressed down on the nozzle... Ssst! Mostly air, but little bits of whipped cream shot all over Jack's face. “Now it's war!”

I laughed and held the can out of his reach. “Only if you can get it!”

He smirked. “I don't need to when I can do this!” His hand met my exposed side and he actually started to tickle me.

I may have squealed a little, but I was caught off guard so...whatever. “Jack! Stop it!” I laughed. “Drinks are, gonna get cold!” I managed to get out.

His eyes went wide before he abandoned me to run and grab a mug. He took a sip and grinned at me. “Nope, still warm.”

I rolled my eyes as I walked over to take my cup. I put a large swirl of whipped cream on it, then did the same for Jack's when he shoved his mug in front of me. “Bad sci-fi movies?” I asked before taking a sip.

He chuckled. “Absolutely, but you got whipped cream on your nose.” He swiped the tip of my nose with his thumb, making me blush. “There.”

What followed was two hours of possibly the most ridiculous film I've ever seen. We laughed so hard that when the credits rolled my abdomen hurt, and Jack was wiping tears from his eyes.

He shot me a huge goofy smile. “That was the worst movie ever.”

I laughed, even though it hurt to do so. “It really was.”

I watched a bit of pink appear on his cheeks as he looked down before looking back up and giving me a small shy smile. “Thanks, Lex. I needed that.”

I couldn't help myself, I leaned over and hugged him. “Of course, man, any time.” I might have surprised him, hell I surprised myself, but he did hug me back after a very slight hesitation. He squeezed me tighter quickly before pulling back and giving me another shy grin.

I heard something crash somewhere in the house and watched Jack's smile quickly turn to a frown. “What was that?”

He shook his head. “Don't worry about it. I'll be right back.” He slipped out the door, shutting it behind him.

Less than a minute later, May ran in the room. “Jacky!” She scanned frantically for her brother, but instead met my eyes. “You're...” she frowned as she concentrated but it quickly disappeared when it came to her, “Alex!”

I chuckled. “Yeah, are you ok?”

She looked back at the closed door. “They're doing it again.”

“Hmm?”

She jumped as something else crashed. “Mommy and Daddy, they're yelling again. I don't like it, so Jacky says I can stay with him when it happens. Where is he?”

I sighed. “I don't know. He walked out not long before you came in.” Some very distant shouting could be heard, and May looked terrified. “How about you come sit with me and we can wait for Jack together, ok?” She nodded and hopped up next to me on Jack's bed, hugging a stuffed monkey. I didn't have much experience with little kids, but I knew that sitting in silence until Jack got back wouldn't be helpful or comfortable. “Who's that?” I pointed to the monkey.

She brightened up. “This is Beverly. She's a monkey. Jacky won her for me when we went to the carnival.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah! It was so cool! There were these little balloons on a wall and he had to throw these sticks at them, but I couldn't touch them because they were sharp, and he asked me what I wanted and I said the monkey so Jacky threw the sharp sticks at the balloons for a while until he won her for me! Then we got cotton candy!” she gushed.

“Wow, sounds like you had a good time,” I said.

She nodded excitedly. “Jacky even brought a friend who tried to do the thing with the pointy sticks, but he wasn't very good. Jacky wasn't either, but he won me Beverly.”

“Who was that? Rian?”

She shook her head. “No, I like Rian, he's nice. Jacky's friend was weird.”

“Between you and me, Jack's a little weird.”

She giggled. “But he was weirder. All he did was yell when he came over.”

Oh! It took a lot of effort, but I managed to not laugh hysterically. “Do you know who the weird guy was?”

She pursed her lips as she concentrated. “Something with a V, it was weird, kinda like him.” Thwack! That was the unmistakable sound of someone getting slapped. May scooted close to my side and whimpered. I wrapped an arm around her, rubbing her back. “Hey, it's ok, hun. What were you up to today? Do you have school?”

She nodded, excited once again. “Yeah! I'm in kindergarten!”

“Wow, look at you! What'd you do in school today?”

Unless you really want the answer, or you're trying to keep them occupied while their parents fight, that is a very dangerous question to ask a five year old. She gladly told me all about her day. I heard about the craft they made, the letter they learned, the story they read, and even how one kid spilled his juice on a girl's head. She was just telling me all about her recess when Jack walked back in. He watched for a moment as May told her story then smiled at me and mouthed, “Thank you.”

I smiled back and nodded. This caused May to stop mid-sentence and turn to see what I was looking at. “Jacky!”

He sat on her other side. “I see you've made a friend.”

She smiled at me. “I like Alex, he's nice.”

“He is. What were you two talking about?”

“I was hearing, in great detail, about May's day at kindergarten today, but I also heard all about Beverly here.” I gestured to the monkey still in the girl's grasp. May nodded to confirm this.

“Sounds like a good time, but it's now past your bedtime, Missy.”

She pouted. “I don't want to go to bed!”

“Well that's just too bad then.” He picked her up and held her over his shoulder, causing her to squeal and giggle. “Say goodnight to Alex.”

“Goodnight, Alex!” she giggled as Jack took her out of the room.

“Goodnight, May!” I called after her, chuckling.

Jack:
I heard Alex call goodnight back to May as I carried her down the hall. I smiled, he was unexpectedly good with her, and I owed him unbelievably for watching her while I defused my parents.

“I like Alex,” May said again as I put her down on her floor.

“Me too.” I got her a pair of pj's from her dresser and handed them to her. Once she was changed I tucked her in.

“Jacky?”

“What's up, sweetie?”

“Are Mommy and Daddy ok?”

I smiled. “They're fine, baby, they're in bed, just like you.” I booped her nose.

She giggled. “Ok. Goodnight, Jacky.”

“Goodnight, sweetheart.” I kissed her forehead, then turned out her light as I left the room.

Once I was back in my room I leaned against the closed door and sighed.

“Everything ok?”

I jumped. “Fuck, sorry, I forgot you were here.”

He chuckled. “I mean, I can leave if you want.”

I shook my head as I crossed the room to sit with him. “No please, stay as long as you like, sleep over for all I care. I owe you big time, thank you so much for watching May. I thought she was in bed already.”

He shrugged. “It was no problem, she's a good kid. She told me about your weird friend that yells when he comes over,” he chuckled.

I groaned. Why me? “What'd she tell you?”

“Apparently you took him to a carnival and both of you suck at throwing darts – or as May liked to call them: “pointy sticks” – and that she thought he was very weird with a weird name that started with a V. She liked Rian better.”

I shook my head. “He wasn't weird. He's not a kid person, doesn't really know what to do with them.”

“Do I get to know who he is yet?”

I sighed. “His name is Vic, he's a senior, and we were almost going out for a bit, but it didn't work out. Happy?”

“Yes. Why didn't it work out?”

I groaned. “It just didn't, ok?”

“Alright, calm down.”

“I am calm.”

“Your hands are shaking.”

I fisted my hands in the sheets and breathed slowly. Alex watched as I counted to ten and back down until the trembling stopped. I kept my eyes on the ceiling the entire time, trying very hard to not lose my dwindling patience. It wasn't Alex's fault, not really. My parents had been at each other's throats – quite literally – all day. It was the first thing I heard when I woke up this morning, and I was praying it wouldn't be the last thing I heard before I went to sleep...again.

“I'm sorry,” Alex said quietly. I looked over to him confused. “I didn't mean to make you upset – just now and earlier.”

I shook my head. “It's not your fault, it's been a rough day.”

He chuckled darkly. “So I heard. This is normal for you?”

I shrugged. “Not really. They're not usually around each other long enough to start a fight. It's a miracle if they're both in the house at the same time.”

I was surprised when Alex engulfed me in another hug, but I certainly wasn't opposed to it. “I'm so sorry, Jack. I mean, you can be a real shithead sometimes, but you don't deserve this.”

That very nearly brought me to tears as I held Alex tightly. I didn't say anything – in fear of my voice breaking – but Alex didn't seem to mind, and hugged me as long as I needed. I thought I had myself under control, but Alex pulled back quickly and frowned at me. It was only when he swiped my cheek that I noticed I'd done a very poor job of keeping my emotions in check, and had, in fact, put a small wet patch on his shoulder.

“I'm sorry, I'm really not good at this, but if you ever need I'll sit here and listen. I'm really good at keeping my mouth shut.”

I laughed, though it came out a little choked. “Yeah, I found that out when we first met.”

He grinned at me. “Yeah, I guess it's a good thing you're a flirtatious prick, huh?”

I laughed again. “Yeah, I guess so.”

Alex leaned over to my nightstand and grabbed a box of tissues. “You also kinda look like you might need these.”

I nodded and took one, wiping my face. “Sorry, didn't mean to let that out on you.”

He shook his head. “Don't apologize, if I didn't want to put up with you I would have decked you in the hallway after history.”

I chuckled. “Thanks for wanting to put up with me, then.”

“Any time.” He check the time on his phone. “It's getting kinda late, do you want me to go?”

I bit the inside of my cheek. I really didn't want him to leave. “Oh, um if you need to go that's cool.”

Alex rolled his eyes with a smile. “You avoided my question. Is it cool if I stay?” I nodded. “Ok, then you're stuck with me for the night. Let me just go tell Tom.” He walked out to the balcony as he pulled out his phone.

I let out a sigh of relief. I really didn't want to be alone tomorrow when my parents got up for work. I went to my closet to pull out some sweats, and found the bags of clothes I had bought for Alex to wear when I took him to parties. I heard the glass door close as he returned to my room. I chucked a pair of sweats and a t-shirt at him. “Here, and you even have clothes for tomorrow.”

He poked his head in and grimaced when he saw the bags. “We'll see.”

Once changed, I laid on my bed and waited for Alex to get out of the bathroom. Somehow, in just over a week, Alex had become my best friend. Hell, he knew more about my problems than even Rian. And he gets along so well with May.

I was jerked from my thoughts by a sharp pain on my cheek. I looked over to find Alex sitting beside my head frowning. “What's wrong?”

“They hit you, didn't they?”

I was taken aback by the question. “Why would you say that?”

I felt his thumb trace under my cheekbone. “May and I heard the slap, and you're starting to get a bruise.”

I quickly made my way to bathroom mirror, and sure enough just off the corner of my eye was a small redish-purple mark where my father's wedding ring had collided with my cheekbone. I'm not really sure why – maybe it was because my parents had never actually hit me before – but that was what broke me. I feel to the floor as heavy sobs wracked my chest. Alex scurried to my side, pulling me into an awkardly angled embrace. “Shh, Jack it's ok. You're ok.”

When my sobs inevitably calmed to sniffles and hiccups, Alex led me back over to my bed. I ended up cuddling up to his chest without the influence of alcohol. I needed the contact; the reassurance it brought. I don't think Alex ever understood that, but he did understand that I needed this. So he ran his hand through my hair, like I remember him doing before I blacked out, and rubbed my back and murmured reassurances if I ever seemed like I was about to break out in any more gross sobbing.

I don't really remember when I fell asleep, or if Alex had knocked out first, but I do remember that I was perfectly content sleeping in my best friend's arms, and I wasn't sure how to feel about that.

Notes

Long chapter because sometimes I actually have inspiration and an idea where things are going. Sorry that I can't update on a schedual like most people. Enjoy! - Anna