My Song Has Not Been Sung

Jack hoisted himself from the unsteady apple box to the windowsill. The hard brick had been worn down by the hundreds of hands that had done this hundreds of times. The many many hours spent underneath a car had given Jack the arm strength to pull himself up with little difficulty.

Just as he was about to roll into the building, he turned his head to shoot Alex a smile. Once he got through the window, he ran through the dark room towards the staircase he knew was there. He made sure to avoid all the broken bottles and warped pieces of wood that had remained in the same spots as always. Jack raced down the creaking steps towards the small sliver of light he could see at the bottom.

After reaching the bottom of the stair, Jack was able to see what was blocking the rest of the light. He pulled open the heavy iron door and had to very suddenly adjust to the bright lights.

“Pete! Unlock your sewer!” Jack screamed through the doorway.

“If you’re bringing someone to screw use the family bathroom!” Pete yelled back.

“Dick!”

“Slut!”

Jack laughed to himself and shot back up the staircase. After re-dodging the slightly dangerous clutter in the ancient room, he crawled back out the window sill and lept back down into the alleyway.

“Sorry about that, Pete always locks the cellar door, from the inside of course, so I have to climb up there to get him to unlock it.” Jack said, almost out of breath.

He immediately grabbed Alex’s arm and sprinted back up the alley to the door. Not that it could be considered a proper door seeing as it was hinged to the ground not a wall. This would be the only place in Baltimore that Pete could find a pizza oven in.

Jack pulled the trapdoor open to reveal bright lights and an onslaught of strong cheese scent. He gestured for the other boy to go first, maintaining his gentleman status of course. Alex hesitated for a while It looked like he was trying to find the stairs, not that that was an easy task. Of course they were painted so that they just reflected the lights from inside the building and were impossible to see properly. Jack had mostly given up on ever trying to find them and normally just started walking downwards. He only tripped and fell most of the time.

Once Alex finally began to descend, Jack followed close behind him. They both got through the cramped entryway and the taller threw his arm across Alex’s shoulders.

“Pete, get us some slices! I’m starving! Also grab a beer while you’re at it!” Jack yelled through the restaurant, towards the bar on the other side of the room. Pete turned around when he heard the skunk-haired boy and leaned towards him over the counter as Jack and Alex sat down.

“Jack! Haven’t seen you all month. Who’s the powersuit?” Pete smiled at his friend.

“This is my new friend Alex. He’s British so he’s never had good pizza in his life before. I want you to change that.” Jack explained.

“Hey, there is perfectly good pizza in London!” Alex shot back, only sounding completely adorable.

“Holy shit, you weren’t kidding.” Pete looked at Alex in pure amazement, “Say yogurt and tomato.”

Jack accepted the glare from the brunette and turned back to Pete.

“He’s not a zoo animal, Pete. And I’ve tried to casually get him to say yogurt but that’s a hard one to bring up in conversation. More importantly, pizza. Now.” Jack demanded. He turned around to look at Alex and saw he was still receiving a glare about the yogurt thing.

“Fine, I’ll give it to you for free cause I’m nice and business is booming as it always does over spring break.” Pete interrupted Jack’s mild staring and darted into the kitchen. He came back in a matter of seconds with two plates of pizza. Each had three pieces (bless his soul) that looked like they were going to plummet to the disgusting floor at any moment.

Pete set the plates down in front of the two boys, Jack snatching up a slice immediately. However, he refused to take a bite until Alex had. The younger inspected the food for just a second before he also delicately picked up a piece.

“Get ready for the best food you will ever eat in your life.” Jack warned through a smile. Alex took a small bite at the same moment Jack did. Reading Alex’s face well, Jack could see that he was clearly enjoying the food.

“This is the best thing I have ever put in my mouth.” Alex nearly moaned.

“I bet you could change that.” Pete whispered to Jack.

“I will hit you, Wentz.” Jack retorted, not bothering to lower his voice. He’s not wrong but still.

“Wait, what’d he say?” Alex asked innocently.

“I said-”

“No! You’re not forcing a stranger to hear your gross comments. You have to have annoyed someone for a full two months before you’re allowed to talk like that.” Jack waved his finger in front of Pete’s face.

“I’m sure it’s not that bad, Jack.” Alex assured, obviously desperate to hear what was said about him.

Pete explained it in a fit of giggles. It took the British boy a while to understand, thinking as he gnawed on his pizza. Once he finally pieced it together, he turned bright pink.

“That’s just…. gross or whatever.” Alex put down his food and wrung his hands.

“Look what you did, Pete. You weirded out the cute guy. Whole day of my perfected flirting tactics, down the drain. You also ruined the best damn pizza place in this city, this kid’s only gonna think of your grossness when he comes in here for pizza.” Jack tried to say without grinning. He looked at Alex from the corner of his eye and saw that he blushing even more intensely. Holy shit, does this guy actually like me or does he just do that? He was doing that a lot earlier so he probably is just like this if anyone compliments him.

Jack shook himself out of his thoughts and turned back to the boy he was developing a small crush on. Okay maybe not that small.

“I think we should head back to courthouse, your friend probably finished her meeting with my father. I doubt he’ll be terribly pleased that I left without telling him.” Alex mumbled.

“Yeah we should jet. It’s been like two hours but your dad’s office is only like twenty minutes from here. Your house is a farther walk, I mean.” Jack smiled reassuringly. He was slightly troubled that Alex seemed to be so afraid of his dad.

He helped the boy up from his seat and guided him through the tightly packed room. Pete was right about his restaurant booming during spring break. The two made it back to the creaky stairs and out into the alleyway. The sun was beginning to set, leaving an ever dimming light across the stone street.

“You do know how to get back to the courthouse right?” Alex asked timidly.

“Yeah, I kinda pass by it every time I come here from my house.” Jack responded, “We should really hurry though, if my old man was anything like yours then we’re both gonna get our asses kicked if we don’t haul them. Also your dad might be allowed to literally kick our asses without getting sued for it. I mean who’s gonna sue him, he’s the DA.”

Alex laughed at the taller boy’s joke and let him grab his hand and sprint out of the alley and back onto the sidewalk. They carried on like this for only a few minutes before Jack felt Alex slowing down and pulling his hand back. They walked for the rest of the journey, however Jack still refused to let go of Alex’s hand. He held everyone’s hand, regardless of their relationship status or gender or anything like that. Unless they weren’t cool with it then he stopped.

He had once gotten into major trouble with Lynn’s girlfriend after Jenna had seen them holding hands. Jenna thought Lynn was cheating on her with Jack, which gave both of them a laugh about how obscenely gay Lynn was and about how Jack was “a weird skunk brother who was undatable”. Luckily for Jack, all for quickly forgiven but he still made sure to keep his hands to himself when Jenna was around.

Jack and Alex were less than a block away from their destination when the younger completely stopped.

“Sorry, I haven’t eaten much over the last few days, I didn’t even finish a slice back there before we had to go. I’m really not that fit and we’ve been walking around all day.” Alex panted. His voice was difficult to understand through both the heavy breathing and the thick accent.
“I can carry you.” Jack offered.

“What? No, I can’t let you do that.” Alex replied.

“Seriously it’s fine, I’m stronger than I look.” Jack insisted. Not that he didn’t look strong. He’d built up a fair amount of muscle from his time spent working on cars and just his lifestyle in general. He did a lot of weird shit that required pretty decent strength.

Alex caved and crawled onto Jack’s back when the taller crouched down. Wow, this kid is basically a feather. The rest of the walk to the courthouse was cut short as Jack was able to nearly run now that Alex didn’t need to go slower.

Once they got to the massive staircase leading up to the pillars and the double doors, Jack set the younger down. He’d already made a bad enough impression in this place, he didn’t need to stroll in with the DA’s kid on his back.

“You gonna be alright to make it up the steps?” Jack asked after placing Alex back on the ground, only half joking. He was still concerned about the other.

“Yeah, I should be fine.” Alex replied, having fully regained his strength and composure. Jack took this as a good sign and snatched Alex’s hand again to sprint up to the doors. He let go in time to try to wrap his arm around one of the pillars and spin around it. It was far too large and the stone scrapped roughly against his skin.

“You are very dumb.” Alex observed jokingly.

“I can’t argue with you on that one.” Jack replied. Even though his arm hurt, he still wore a wide grin.

They both strolled back into the ornate building, Jack hanging his head so the woman at the front desk wouldn’t recognize his face and Alex rolling his eyes. They both were able to walk through the lobby without question, Alex still being recognized as the DA’s son.

Once they got out of the lobby, Jack raised his head back up and power walked down the long hallway with Alex on his heels. He slowed a small amount when he heard panting from behind him. They soon reached the familiar office.

“The meeting’s probably over, right?” Jack asked, slightly worried about just barging in if Lynn was still speaking with her lawyer.

“I got a text earlier, it was probably my dad asking where I was so yeah we should be good to just go in.” Alex replied. Jack could see some hesitation in his eyes and something else with it. Fear?

“Alright, let’s do this.” Jack shot Alex a warm smile, hoping to reassure him a little. He swung open the door to reveal a less than pleasant sight.

Lynn was sitting at the table close to the door with a box of tissues. Her eyes looked slightly red and her makeup was smeared. The lawyer was leaning against his desk on the far side of the room. He looked up from his phone with a perfectly calm composure and absolute fury in his eyes.

“Alexander, I appreciate you informing me that you were leaving the building, and responding to my texts.” He said coldly.

“I’m sorry that I left, father.” Alex mumbled. He stared down at his feet and wrung his hands.

“What was that?” Alex’s dad held his hand to his ear to mock his son’s quiet tone.

“Hey, how about instead of being a dick you tell me what you did to make my friend as upset as she is now?” Jack said before Alex could answer.

“Excuse me?” Peter demanded, “Who are you to tell me how I am to speak to my son and who are you to have him leave this building without telling me especially after you stormed in here unannounced and nearly break down my door or are you so brain deficient that you can’t remember the events of the earlier afternoon?”

“You didn’t answer the question, what did you do to Lynn?” Jack growled.

“He just had me tell him what happened, Jack. I was crying cause I don’t particularly like talking about it.” Lynn interrupted quickly, “Our meeting’s over anyways, let’s just go home.”

“Fine,” Jack grumbled, “one of the detectives better call us when the DNA from Lynn and Bryar are a match.”

“They will, now let’s go.” Lynn near dragged Jack from the office and out into the hallway.

They walked back into the lobby and out of the building in silence. Neither of them even bothered to duck their heads as they walked past the front desk. Once they made it out into the cool air, Lynn followed Jack back to his house. They both knew that she would be staying there for a while.

“That was stupid what you did.” Lynn broke the silence after it became too uncomfortable for her.

“I know I blew up a bit at the lawyer but I was worried about you and he should get that especially after you told him the whole story.” Jack replied.

“What about that stuff you said about his kid?”

“He seemed afraid when we were walking back to the courthouse. I don’t know, I was worried about him. The last time I saw that was when you left your parents’ house.”

“Are you sure you’re not overreacting? He could just have strict parents, I mean they’re British and rich. Also you might just have gotten lost in the puppy eyes of the cute boy you’re crushing on.” Lynn suggested.

“I don’t know, but I can’t shake the idea that there’s something fishy going on there.”

“If you keep making Baltimore’s DA hate you then he’s going to realize that there’s something fishy going on with you.” Lynn pointed out.

“What’re you talking about?”

“Jack we never should have gone to the police in the first place. If there’s anymore investigation into this then they could find out about you. If that happens then the DA won’t care about some random rape case, he’s going to put you in jail.” Lynn explained.

“I’m going to be fine, Lynn. What matters is that the asshole who hurt you sits behind bars. Besides, I’ve managed to evade the law for this long I can do it again.” Jack grinned.

“Jack, when you needed stitches in your head you had Rian sew you up. You had a concussion and you could have had internal bleeding or something but you refused to go to the hospital because it was too risky and you could’ve gotten caught. The only time you’ve entered a Baltimore hospital in your lifetime was when you brought me there to make sure I was okay. Now you’ve made an enemy of the guy who gets paid to put people who break the law in prison. You can’t keep putting yourself in danger to help me.” Lynn pleaded.

“You’re my bestfriend, just like Rian and Zack. If they were in your situation I would do the same for them and hell maybe even Jenna. Although I doubt anyone would try any shit with any of them. Rian and Zack look like they could kill someone with one punch and Jenna has half this side of town under her thumb.” Jack rambled.

“I’m not kidding Jack, if this gets anywhere near your legal situation then I’m pulling out of all this. Case dropped. I don’t care if Bryar walks as long as you stay safe as well.” Lynn stated, “Now tell me about this Alexander kid that you have a huge crush on.”

“I don’t have a crush on him.” Jack mumbled.

“You totally do and you’re going to tell me all about him and where you went while I was in my meeting.” Lynn insisted.

“He was hungry so we went to Pete’s.” Jack said flatly.

“Jack! Last time you took someone to Pete’s you got laid and she tried to call you for like a week and I know you don’t do relationships or whatever but you totally liked her.” Lynn squealed.

“You’re right I don’t do relationships. Yeah I think he’s hot but I’m not going to date him. I brought him to Pete’s cause he was hungry and he’s also British so that means he doesn’t know what real pizza tastes like.” Jack tried to change the topic.

Unsuccessful.

“Are you just gonna sleep with him then ditch him like everyone else? Don’t get me wrong, I’m okay with your lifestyle it’s not like you tell people that what happens is anymore than it is but is my lawyer’s kid the best target for your next sexual partner?” Lynn questioned.

“I’m not going to have sex with him, that’d be super weird cause you’re right he is your lawyer’s kid and he’s a virgin so that’s no way to pop the cherry.” Jack reassured.

“How exactly did you find out that he’s a virgin over pizza?”

“We walked to his place before we went to Pete’s cause he needed to grab some money. We talked while we were walking and me being the intrusive person that I am, I asked about the details of his personal life and romantic and sexual history.” Jack explained frankly.

“Well you just keep on undressing him with your eyes every time you see him I guess. Maybe you can take him to the gas station after someone else has their way with him so you don’t feel guilty about it.” Lynn laughed.

They reached Jack’s house to find Zack manning the front counter in case any customers came in. He handed over his duty to the owner of the garage then went to the home upstairs with Lynn. Jack figured he could work on one of the easier projects taking up space in his work area.

He left the counter to put one of the cars awaiting his attention on the raisers then grabbed his skateboard. He dug around in his cluttered tool bin for the blue jumpsuit he always left there. After quickly changing behind the car, just incase someone came downstairs or came in through the front, he laid down on the skateboard and shot underneath the vehicle.
New brakepads and an oil change. Boy do people like to think their car is going to explode when there is almost nothing wrong with it.

Jack continued with his work until the little light that was streaming in through the windows became so dim that he could hardly see two feet in front of him. He put his normal clothes back on, left his jumpsuit in the bin, and rehung the skateboard back on the wall. He walked up the stairs as slowly and quietly as possible, knowing that Lynn was probably already asleep. Rian was definitely still doing homework and Zack was also definitely working out or something weird like that.

He immediately crawled into his bed the second he had gotten to his room, not bothering to change. Not that he owned any actual pajamas and he knew full well he would be wearing the same outfit tomorrow.

Jack fell asleep quickly, his mind completely occupied by thoughts of the caramel haired boy with sparkling eyes and a beautiful voice.

Notes

So I'm alive.... shocking yes I understand. I actually tried to update in a reasonable amount of time but writer's block is a bitch so. Unrelated, guess who made it to district for forensics.... this guy! Just when yall thought I couldn't be more of a dweeb. More unrelated, I wrote this in the notes of my other fic at some point, cause boy do I love oversharing on the internet, so a bunch of teachers from the other high school in my town got fired for having sex with students (one of them was my health teacher last year before she moved to the other school she also works at costco now so that uncomfortable) and I tried to read a student/teacher fic which did not go well. Excellent writing, wonderful storyline, problem was that I am gong to be forever creeped out about that so thanks horny teachers, you ruined a whole AU for me.

Title Creds: Love At First Sight - The Brobecks

Your boy, PJ