The Truth Is Hard To Swallow [Twenty-One]
Title: The Truth Is Hard To Swallow [Twenty-One]
Author: detourtoyou
Rating: NC-17 overall
Pairing: Jack/Alex
POV: 3rd
Summary: Of course the one time he decided to act his age, Alex would end up messing even that up. But in his defense, it was hard to act his age when he was faced with things so entirely beyond his age and maturity level, like a one-night decision that decided to follow him into the rest of his life.
Warning: Mpreg
Disclaimer: This is sadly false and a complete lie created by my mind. Title taken from Toxic Valentine by All Time Low.
Dedication: For an amazing person whom I love dearly with all my heart, Mike damnedifidoyah <3
A/N: Below
Feel free to follow me on tumblr but as a heads up, I'm pretty boring :)
Fingers bouncing restlessly against his thigh, Alex swallowed the work of nerves making its way up his throat as he stood awkwardly at the front of the metal doors. He was supposed to be in class right now, at his own school, surrounded by his own classmates. Instead, Alex was standing before the doors to Jack's school, lower lip firmly locked between his teeth as he hesitated against opening the doors and walking in.
Even if he did go in, what would he do? Knock on every classroom door and ask if Jack Barakat was in there? Even Alex scoffed at the idea, shaking his head. It would never work.
Still, it was better than standing outside where he had already gotten some curiously disapproving stares from passing parents and teachers. As another faculty member passed by to go into the doors, eyes locked on the pregnant belly defining his figure, Alex scurried away. He was no longer self-conscious, but it still tickled his nerves to be stared at so obviously. Especially with the rumors floating around this school. He still couldn't believe he had forgotten all about Jonathan, and the thought, the simple mistake continued to haunt him.
With a choked swallow of oxygen, Alex pushed through, a rush of warm heater air brushing against the exposed skin of his cheekbones. His feet felt heavy as he walked through the scuffed linoleum floors, shoes squeaking with each step. With one hand firmly planted against the outward curve housing his baby, he walked past the front office, trying to look as natural as possible. One of the volunteering parents at the front desk stared at him through the glass of the office as he passed by, surprise painting her face with bright colors. He hurried away, hastening his pace slightly as he tossed a glance over his shoulder.
The shrill of the bell overhead startled him, eyes darting wildly as he heard the hum of voices growing louder and louder. From what seemed like all sides, students poured forth. He knew he should have just stayed at his own school, and with a frantic wave of his arms and twists of his neck, Alex looked for any possible hiding spot.
"Is that...?"
"He must be that pregnant boy!"
"You mean, Jack's pregnant boyfriend?"
"Yeah, Alex or something."
"Oh my god, I didn't think it was real!"
The whispers, which weren't whispers at all, only heightened the frazzling of his nerves, eyes scuttling to the floor as he took tentative steps through the standstill crowd lining the sides of the hallways. It looked as though half of the students were pausing to gawk at his figure while the other stared as they passed by, jaws dropping to the floor.
"Alex!"
At the sound of the voice and the sight of blonde hair, he nearly cried with relief, grateful to see Kyle maneuvering through the crowd with ease as he towered over most of them. For once, he was glad that he and the other seemed to have some sort of attractive pull fastening them together whenever in the same room.
"Kyle," he breathed with a nervous smile, feeling at ease now that there was someone else with him. It helped that Kyle was leading him away from the crowd, good-natured smile picking people away as they returned the smile sheepishly and ran away.
"What're you doing here?" asked the taller boy curiously as they walked, a protective arm wrapped around his shoulders so that Alex wouldn't get suddenly lost in the dispersing, but still gossiping crowd. "I take it that you're probably not here to see Caleb, right?"
Shame doused his being as Alex shook his head, unable to verbally express his answer. He was still uncertain as to what was happening between Caleb and himself, and frankly, it was one of his lesser worries at the current state of the predicaments burying him.
"Jack?" guessed Kyle with a knowing raise of his eyebrow.
"Um. Kinda," murmured Alex, head dropping once more as he studied his beat up Converses. "He... He never came back home the other night so I was just..." he trailed off.
Kyle filled in the blank anyways, amusement lighting his smile, "Worried."
A rush of heat circled his cheeks as Alex coughed. "Yeah, I guess."
"Well, I haven't seen Jack yet, but it's lunch now so he's bound to pop up soon or later. Come on, let's go eat and just wait?"
"I-I should probably get back to my own school," said Alex in excuse, suddenly no longer certain he wanted to be here. Originally, he had come to simply see whether Jack was still alive and well. But now, the prospect of running into the other boy made his stomach clench with violent knots. The added worry of seeing Caleb only seasoned it with more broken nerves.
"Well, you've already come all this way just to see Jack, right? Might as well as see him before leaving so your trip wasn't made in vain," he laughed, already tugging Alex into the bustling cafeteria.
Contrary to cliches, the entire student population did not suddenly fall silent, every single pair of eyes making its way upon him as he walked through. Instead, the loud whispers and unabashed gossip flowed freely from mouths, people carrying on with their business as they simply inputted him into their conversation. It was worse than being stared at, and Alex leaned against Kyle a little more firmly, shuffling as the blond half-dragged, half-hid him from the others. Luckily, Kyle seemed fairly observant despite his ditzy demeanor and made the trip quick, taking them out of the gossip-ridden setting and into a more secluded area of the school where several teens were already lounging around in.
"Whoa, Alex?" spoke Rian with surprise, corn dropping off the prongs of his fork and all over his lap.
"Alex? The kid from the party?" asked another teen who Alex recognized as Jonathan. Alex bit down his bitter resentment, telling himself that Jonathan didn't mean to cause this mess and that it was his fault anyways for letting himself get caught up in the moment. After all, the conclusions that Jonathan had drawn up from what happened were only the most logical explanations. It helped calm his tongue, loosening the angry words wound tight around the appendage and wanting an escape into the air.
With a meek wave, he smiled with no feeling behind the move of his lips, saying weakly, "Hi guys."
Almost immediately Jonathan was up on his feet, standing in front of Alex with a genuinely apologetic look coloring his facial expression. His voice was just as contrite as he spoke, "I'm really, really sorry about what I said. I really thought you and Jack were dating, and so I just kinda blabbed it to Kyle and Rian and people and then like, Caleb corrected me and Jack looked pissed and just. Fuck. I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"It's okay. It was a mistake, and partially my fault too. Don't worry about it," the pregnant teen assured with a smile, all resentment fading away into nerves. He didn't want to talk about that night anyways. It had been a stupid mistake born from a mix of hormones and a rush of alcohol. Well, on Jack's part at least.
"What're you doing here?"
Alex visibly seized at the voice, a shiver of nervousness and relief running down his spine. He could see Jack's shoes cut into his line of view as he stared at the ground. Silence dominated the small group of friends as awkwardness slipped into the spaces between the oxygen, and Alex knew he was the cause of it. Like always.
"He came to see you," Kyle piped in when Alex remained quiet much to the other boy's dismay. A firm hand clapped against his back, propelling him forward as his feet tripped up.
The look of skepticism only deepened when Alex glanced up, chewing on his lower lip out of habit as he fingered the sleeve end of his hoodie. Before he could speak, however, or before Jack could speak for that matter, another voice cut through.
"Alex?"
He wondered how many more times his name would be abused during the course of his stay at the neighboring high school. Eyes roaming behind, his body jolted, lips stretching into a thin smile before falling slack like a rubber band with no outside force to keep it held.
"Caleb, um. Hi." His hand came up in an awkward wave, voice cracking with the word.
"What are you doing here, Alex?" asked Caleb, not returning the greeting. His words were clipped, discouraging Alex from speaking. He looked down at his shoes instead, stalling. "Actually, I guess it's good that you're here. I wanted to talk to you anyways," sighed the redhead as he rubbed the back of his neck with a tired hand.
"Talk?" squeaked out Alex as his eyes widened at the implications of the words. The strings of dread only pulled tighter at the nod of the other's head.
"You too, Jack. I need to talk to you too."
Without waiting for a response, Caleb walked away, leaving the other two, one nervous and the other disgruntled, to follow after him. They did, both reluctant as the feeling weighted their dragging steps.
Alex could not even identify half of the emotions plaguing him, biting at his nerve ends as he stood next to Caleb and across from Jack. If Caleb needed to talk to both him and Jack, the conversation would be anything but short of uncomfortable. Possible subjects raced through his mind as he shifted the weight onto his other leg, skittish eyes moving from Caleb to Jack and back.
"This is so fucking elementary," muttered Jack with a snort, leaning against the bricked wall and crossing his arms. "So? What did you want to talk to both of us about?"
"It's about the rumor." Sweat poured from his pores as Alex glanced up with wild, frightened eyes. The direction this conversation was about to head in was one that Alex was certain he was not ready to go in. Sincerely hoping that Caleb was simply going to clarify the faultiness of the rumor, Alex held his breath.
Jack, however, did not seem to take the declaration as seriously as the other boy had, saying with a dismissive tint to his words, "I already know that it's a bunch of bullshit. Kyle told me what happened with Jonathan and shit."
Caleb shook his head, lips pursed. "No."
"No?"
The redhead twisted to glimpse at Alex, their eyes locking for a long second. The connection broke and at that one look, Alex's heart stopped and all the blood drained from his face. Caleb couldn't possibly be doing what he thought he was going to, could he? It was too surreal to be real, but Alex had seen it. He had clearly seen Caleb's intentions and that there was nothing he could do to stop him. Panic overwhelmed every ounce of blood in his body, drowning him from the inside as he listened to every lie he had ever told come unraveled. And not even by himself but by someone else's hand, someone else's mouth.
"No," repeated Caleb, determination laced in the word. "What Kyle told you-"
"Caleb, no!" Alex cried, finding his voice as he gripped onto the other's sleeve with desperate fingers hooked into the cloth. He tried to inject as much desperation into his voice as possible, pleading, begging Caleb to rethink. He ignored Jack, the boy's confusion amounting to nothing compared to convincing Caleb to stop before he destroyed everything. Before he completely destroyed Alex and any future he had wanted to hold for him and his baby. "Don't. Please don't. Please, no. Just no. You said you wouldn't."
His eyes softened as they dropped back down over to Alex, and for one oxygen depriving moment, the pregnant teen had thought that Caleb would back off. Would realize that what he was about to do would cause the entire world to crash down on Alex from the inside.
"Please, Caleb."
The apology outlining his irises was the only warning Alex got for the world to be pulled out from under his feet.
"The rumor isn't a lie."
The impact was everything Alex didn't want it to be, and he closed his eyes with the hopes that when he opened them, there would be nothing but the remnants of a dream before him. The stuttered intake of breath from across, however, sounded more than real to his ears, raw and choked and unable to be faked into a false dream just to keep Alex from breaking. As expected, when his eyelids peeled back, the build up of lies, the deception Alex had willingly jumped headfirst into was all he could see. The reality he had created with his own hands and his own words had never looked uglier.
Alex only prayed that it was not as awful as it looked despite all odds for the selfish wish.
Brown eyes were wide with shock, incredulity lining every crack and crevice of his face as Jack stared dumbly at the other boy, too stunned to even speak beyond garbled syllables which resembled words. "W-what? What the fuck are you saying?"
"The rumor," the redhead reiterated, looking at Jack dead in the eye so as to convey every last truth in every syllable of his words. "It isn't a lie. You're the father of Alex's baby, not me."
"The baby. I'm. I'm the baby's dad."
"Yeah."
"You're saying that Alex's baby is my kid."
"Yeah. He's yours."
The world seemed to slow to a crawl, every breath exaggerated and every fluttering twitch of eyelashes disturbing the air surrounding them as a range of emotions passed against Jack's face, disbeliefshockangerconfusion. The pace did not last, however, rushing back into normalcy as the words snapped behind the boy's eyes, brightening them with the flood of anger and confusion.
"What the fuck? What the fuck is that supposed to mean? I'm the dad? What kind of bullshit is this?!"
Alex cowered at the screech of Jack's voice as his mouth set into a nasty snarl and his face twisted into pure rage. He could feel deja vu cutting into his veins, fear wrapping around his body as he unconsciously placed a protective hand against his stomach, worried that this time, Jack would really hit him.
"It's not bullshit, Jack. You're the dad," affirmed Caleb calmly, as though Jack raging before them and looking very much like he was going to punch one of them was simply nothing more than a daily occurrence. His utter calm and collected demeanor only seemed to heighten Jack's anger. "Alex didn't want you to know, so I pretended to be the father. But then this rumor started spreading, and it would only a matter of time until you figured it out yourself so I figured that telling you first would be the best thing to do. For all of us."
Internally, Alex severely disagreed with the redhead, wanting nothing more than to yell and punch Caleb over and over until his arms grew tired and all the skin had been scraped clean off his knuckles. Outwardly, however, Alex remained silent, neither confirming nor denying the claim because it was too late. Nothing he said could make the situation better, so he simply stood still, shoulders slightly hunched and making him seem smaller than he already was and mouth empty of words, empty of lies to patch the leaking holes. There was nothing but a singular thought running through his mind: It's over. He knows.
Jack glanced over at Alex, searching for any piece of falsity. The blank canvas of his face was the only answer Jack could find.
"You fucking whore!" The crunch of fist against brick wall echoed between the three of them, bouncing wildly before repeatedly making itself known.
Alex's eyes went wide, mouth falling open as he stared at Jack punching the wall over and over until spatters of blood flew from his knuckles and painted the clean surface of the floor and wall in speckles of red smears. Caleb was quick to stop him, grabbing a hold of the other boy's limb and trying to pry him away from anymore self-harm. It was a blur of colors and motions, all moving too fast for Alex to even catch a glimpse. From his spot, Alex could barely even make out the heated yells and screams exchanged between the two, numbed into a standstill. This wasn't how he wanted Jack to find out. If Jack was ever going to be told about the baby, Alex wanted to be the one to tell him. He wanted to be the one to unload the awful truth instead of stand in the sidelines, watching someone else do it for him and break every last wall that comprised his life.
"This is a fucking joke! I can't be the dad! It's fucking ridiculous."
And as though someone had muted the volume on the world, Alex could only hear bitter laughter choking the last word, harsh and piercing. He rubbed his belly with an absent hand, wondering how things would be if he had just been up front and honest with Jack about the baby instead of digging himself even deeper and deeper into the grave.
"Fucking whore! Fucking lying whore!"
There was a flurry of arms, legs, fists, words, emotions, and in the middle of it all, Alex could feel nothing but the soft kick of the baby against the inside of his stomach.
--
A/N: So, I'm really sorry this took me so long and that it's so crappy and short. I've been stupidly busy and this chapter was actually incredibly hard to get out :/ I couldn't decide how and what I wanted to happen but hopefully it worked out despite the horrible quality of writing which I'm actually really ashamed of.
Anyways, I may not be able to update again for awhile. I have finals coming up next week so studying will eat all a lot of my time D: So please don't think that I'm abandoning the story or anything! I'll try my best to update, but for once, studying > writing. :/ Although I'll probably get fed up and might either update or write a standalone out of frustration, I saw that kink meme and it is intriguing hurhur :D Feel free to bug me on tumblr or LJ though about updates or questions or anything as I actually take it as motivation. Thank you for reading and all the amazing comments that really keep me going and smiling! I love you guys! <3
Author: detourtoyou
Rating: NC-17 overall
Pairing: Jack/Alex
POV: 3rd
Summary: Of course the one time he decided to act his age, Alex would end up messing even that up. But in his defense, it was hard to act his age when he was faced with things so entirely beyond his age and maturity level, like a one-night decision that decided to follow him into the rest of his life.
Warning: Mpreg
Disclaimer: This is sadly false and a complete lie created by my mind. Title taken from Toxic Valentine by All Time Low.
Dedication: For an amazing person whom I love dearly with all my heart, Mike damnedifidoyah <3
A/N: Below
Feel free to follow me on tumblr but as a heads up, I'm pretty boring :)
Fingers bouncing restlessly against his thigh, Alex swallowed the work of nerves making its way up his throat as he stood awkwardly at the front of the metal doors. He was supposed to be in class right now, at his own school, surrounded by his own classmates. Instead, Alex was standing before the doors to Jack's school, lower lip firmly locked between his teeth as he hesitated against opening the doors and walking in.
Even if he did go in, what would he do? Knock on every classroom door and ask if Jack Barakat was in there? Even Alex scoffed at the idea, shaking his head. It would never work.
Still, it was better than standing outside where he had already gotten some curiously disapproving stares from passing parents and teachers. As another faculty member passed by to go into the doors, eyes locked on the pregnant belly defining his figure, Alex scurried away. He was no longer self-conscious, but it still tickled his nerves to be stared at so obviously. Especially with the rumors floating around this school. He still couldn't believe he had forgotten all about Jonathan, and the thought, the simple mistake continued to haunt him.
With a choked swallow of oxygen, Alex pushed through, a rush of warm heater air brushing against the exposed skin of his cheekbones. His feet felt heavy as he walked through the scuffed linoleum floors, shoes squeaking with each step. With one hand firmly planted against the outward curve housing his baby, he walked past the front office, trying to look as natural as possible. One of the volunteering parents at the front desk stared at him through the glass of the office as he passed by, surprise painting her face with bright colors. He hurried away, hastening his pace slightly as he tossed a glance over his shoulder.
The shrill of the bell overhead startled him, eyes darting wildly as he heard the hum of voices growing louder and louder. From what seemed like all sides, students poured forth. He knew he should have just stayed at his own school, and with a frantic wave of his arms and twists of his neck, Alex looked for any possible hiding spot.
"Is that...?"
"He must be that pregnant boy!"
"You mean, Jack's pregnant boyfriend?"
"Yeah, Alex or something."
"Oh my god, I didn't think it was real!"
The whispers, which weren't whispers at all, only heightened the frazzling of his nerves, eyes scuttling to the floor as he took tentative steps through the standstill crowd lining the sides of the hallways. It looked as though half of the students were pausing to gawk at his figure while the other stared as they passed by, jaws dropping to the floor.
"Alex!"
At the sound of the voice and the sight of blonde hair, he nearly cried with relief, grateful to see Kyle maneuvering through the crowd with ease as he towered over most of them. For once, he was glad that he and the other seemed to have some sort of attractive pull fastening them together whenever in the same room.
"Kyle," he breathed with a nervous smile, feeling at ease now that there was someone else with him. It helped that Kyle was leading him away from the crowd, good-natured smile picking people away as they returned the smile sheepishly and ran away.
"What're you doing here?" asked the taller boy curiously as they walked, a protective arm wrapped around his shoulders so that Alex wouldn't get suddenly lost in the dispersing, but still gossiping crowd. "I take it that you're probably not here to see Caleb, right?"
Shame doused his being as Alex shook his head, unable to verbally express his answer. He was still uncertain as to what was happening between Caleb and himself, and frankly, it was one of his lesser worries at the current state of the predicaments burying him.
"Jack?" guessed Kyle with a knowing raise of his eyebrow.
"Um. Kinda," murmured Alex, head dropping once more as he studied his beat up Converses. "He... He never came back home the other night so I was just..." he trailed off.
Kyle filled in the blank anyways, amusement lighting his smile, "Worried."
A rush of heat circled his cheeks as Alex coughed. "Yeah, I guess."
"Well, I haven't seen Jack yet, but it's lunch now so he's bound to pop up soon or later. Come on, let's go eat and just wait?"
"I-I should probably get back to my own school," said Alex in excuse, suddenly no longer certain he wanted to be here. Originally, he had come to simply see whether Jack was still alive and well. But now, the prospect of running into the other boy made his stomach clench with violent knots. The added worry of seeing Caleb only seasoned it with more broken nerves.
"Well, you've already come all this way just to see Jack, right? Might as well as see him before leaving so your trip wasn't made in vain," he laughed, already tugging Alex into the bustling cafeteria.
Contrary to cliches, the entire student population did not suddenly fall silent, every single pair of eyes making its way upon him as he walked through. Instead, the loud whispers and unabashed gossip flowed freely from mouths, people carrying on with their business as they simply inputted him into their conversation. It was worse than being stared at, and Alex leaned against Kyle a little more firmly, shuffling as the blond half-dragged, half-hid him from the others. Luckily, Kyle seemed fairly observant despite his ditzy demeanor and made the trip quick, taking them out of the gossip-ridden setting and into a more secluded area of the school where several teens were already lounging around in.
"Whoa, Alex?" spoke Rian with surprise, corn dropping off the prongs of his fork and all over his lap.
"Alex? The kid from the party?" asked another teen who Alex recognized as Jonathan. Alex bit down his bitter resentment, telling himself that Jonathan didn't mean to cause this mess and that it was his fault anyways for letting himself get caught up in the moment. After all, the conclusions that Jonathan had drawn up from what happened were only the most logical explanations. It helped calm his tongue, loosening the angry words wound tight around the appendage and wanting an escape into the air.
With a meek wave, he smiled with no feeling behind the move of his lips, saying weakly, "Hi guys."
Almost immediately Jonathan was up on his feet, standing in front of Alex with a genuinely apologetic look coloring his facial expression. His voice was just as contrite as he spoke, "I'm really, really sorry about what I said. I really thought you and Jack were dating, and so I just kinda blabbed it to Kyle and Rian and people and then like, Caleb corrected me and Jack looked pissed and just. Fuck. I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"It's okay. It was a mistake, and partially my fault too. Don't worry about it," the pregnant teen assured with a smile, all resentment fading away into nerves. He didn't want to talk about that night anyways. It had been a stupid mistake born from a mix of hormones and a rush of alcohol. Well, on Jack's part at least.
"What're you doing here?"
Alex visibly seized at the voice, a shiver of nervousness and relief running down his spine. He could see Jack's shoes cut into his line of view as he stared at the ground. Silence dominated the small group of friends as awkwardness slipped into the spaces between the oxygen, and Alex knew he was the cause of it. Like always.
"He came to see you," Kyle piped in when Alex remained quiet much to the other boy's dismay. A firm hand clapped against his back, propelling him forward as his feet tripped up.
The look of skepticism only deepened when Alex glanced up, chewing on his lower lip out of habit as he fingered the sleeve end of his hoodie. Before he could speak, however, or before Jack could speak for that matter, another voice cut through.
"Alex?"
He wondered how many more times his name would be abused during the course of his stay at the neighboring high school. Eyes roaming behind, his body jolted, lips stretching into a thin smile before falling slack like a rubber band with no outside force to keep it held.
"Caleb, um. Hi." His hand came up in an awkward wave, voice cracking with the word.
"What are you doing here, Alex?" asked Caleb, not returning the greeting. His words were clipped, discouraging Alex from speaking. He looked down at his shoes instead, stalling. "Actually, I guess it's good that you're here. I wanted to talk to you anyways," sighed the redhead as he rubbed the back of his neck with a tired hand.
"Talk?" squeaked out Alex as his eyes widened at the implications of the words. The strings of dread only pulled tighter at the nod of the other's head.
"You too, Jack. I need to talk to you too."
Without waiting for a response, Caleb walked away, leaving the other two, one nervous and the other disgruntled, to follow after him. They did, both reluctant as the feeling weighted their dragging steps.
Alex could not even identify half of the emotions plaguing him, biting at his nerve ends as he stood next to Caleb and across from Jack. If Caleb needed to talk to both him and Jack, the conversation would be anything but short of uncomfortable. Possible subjects raced through his mind as he shifted the weight onto his other leg, skittish eyes moving from Caleb to Jack and back.
"This is so fucking elementary," muttered Jack with a snort, leaning against the bricked wall and crossing his arms. "So? What did you want to talk to both of us about?"
"It's about the rumor." Sweat poured from his pores as Alex glanced up with wild, frightened eyes. The direction this conversation was about to head in was one that Alex was certain he was not ready to go in. Sincerely hoping that Caleb was simply going to clarify the faultiness of the rumor, Alex held his breath.
Jack, however, did not seem to take the declaration as seriously as the other boy had, saying with a dismissive tint to his words, "I already know that it's a bunch of bullshit. Kyle told me what happened with Jonathan and shit."
Caleb shook his head, lips pursed. "No."
"No?"
The redhead twisted to glimpse at Alex, their eyes locking for a long second. The connection broke and at that one look, Alex's heart stopped and all the blood drained from his face. Caleb couldn't possibly be doing what he thought he was going to, could he? It was too surreal to be real, but Alex had seen it. He had clearly seen Caleb's intentions and that there was nothing he could do to stop him. Panic overwhelmed every ounce of blood in his body, drowning him from the inside as he listened to every lie he had ever told come unraveled. And not even by himself but by someone else's hand, someone else's mouth.
"No," repeated Caleb, determination laced in the word. "What Kyle told you-"
"Caleb, no!" Alex cried, finding his voice as he gripped onto the other's sleeve with desperate fingers hooked into the cloth. He tried to inject as much desperation into his voice as possible, pleading, begging Caleb to rethink. He ignored Jack, the boy's confusion amounting to nothing compared to convincing Caleb to stop before he destroyed everything. Before he completely destroyed Alex and any future he had wanted to hold for him and his baby. "Don't. Please don't. Please, no. Just no. You said you wouldn't."
His eyes softened as they dropped back down over to Alex, and for one oxygen depriving moment, the pregnant teen had thought that Caleb would back off. Would realize that what he was about to do would cause the entire world to crash down on Alex from the inside.
"Please, Caleb."
The apology outlining his irises was the only warning Alex got for the world to be pulled out from under his feet.
"The rumor isn't a lie."
The impact was everything Alex didn't want it to be, and he closed his eyes with the hopes that when he opened them, there would be nothing but the remnants of a dream before him. The stuttered intake of breath from across, however, sounded more than real to his ears, raw and choked and unable to be faked into a false dream just to keep Alex from breaking. As expected, when his eyelids peeled back, the build up of lies, the deception Alex had willingly jumped headfirst into was all he could see. The reality he had created with his own hands and his own words had never looked uglier.
Alex only prayed that it was not as awful as it looked despite all odds for the selfish wish.
Brown eyes were wide with shock, incredulity lining every crack and crevice of his face as Jack stared dumbly at the other boy, too stunned to even speak beyond garbled syllables which resembled words. "W-what? What the fuck are you saying?"
"The rumor," the redhead reiterated, looking at Jack dead in the eye so as to convey every last truth in every syllable of his words. "It isn't a lie. You're the father of Alex's baby, not me."
"The baby. I'm. I'm the baby's dad."
"Yeah."
"You're saying that Alex's baby is my kid."
"Yeah. He's yours."
The world seemed to slow to a crawl, every breath exaggerated and every fluttering twitch of eyelashes disturbing the air surrounding them as a range of emotions passed against Jack's face, disbeliefshockangerconfusion. The pace did not last, however, rushing back into normalcy as the words snapped behind the boy's eyes, brightening them with the flood of anger and confusion.
"What the fuck? What the fuck is that supposed to mean? I'm the dad? What kind of bullshit is this?!"
Alex cowered at the screech of Jack's voice as his mouth set into a nasty snarl and his face twisted into pure rage. He could feel deja vu cutting into his veins, fear wrapping around his body as he unconsciously placed a protective hand against his stomach, worried that this time, Jack would really hit him.
"It's not bullshit, Jack. You're the dad," affirmed Caleb calmly, as though Jack raging before them and looking very much like he was going to punch one of them was simply nothing more than a daily occurrence. His utter calm and collected demeanor only seemed to heighten Jack's anger. "Alex didn't want you to know, so I pretended to be the father. But then this rumor started spreading, and it would only a matter of time until you figured it out yourself so I figured that telling you first would be the best thing to do. For all of us."
Internally, Alex severely disagreed with the redhead, wanting nothing more than to yell and punch Caleb over and over until his arms grew tired and all the skin had been scraped clean off his knuckles. Outwardly, however, Alex remained silent, neither confirming nor denying the claim because it was too late. Nothing he said could make the situation better, so he simply stood still, shoulders slightly hunched and making him seem smaller than he already was and mouth empty of words, empty of lies to patch the leaking holes. There was nothing but a singular thought running through his mind: It's over. He knows.
Jack glanced over at Alex, searching for any piece of falsity. The blank canvas of his face was the only answer Jack could find.
"You fucking whore!" The crunch of fist against brick wall echoed between the three of them, bouncing wildly before repeatedly making itself known.
Alex's eyes went wide, mouth falling open as he stared at Jack punching the wall over and over until spatters of blood flew from his knuckles and painted the clean surface of the floor and wall in speckles of red smears. Caleb was quick to stop him, grabbing a hold of the other boy's limb and trying to pry him away from anymore self-harm. It was a blur of colors and motions, all moving too fast for Alex to even catch a glimpse. From his spot, Alex could barely even make out the heated yells and screams exchanged between the two, numbed into a standstill. This wasn't how he wanted Jack to find out. If Jack was ever going to be told about the baby, Alex wanted to be the one to tell him. He wanted to be the one to unload the awful truth instead of stand in the sidelines, watching someone else do it for him and break every last wall that comprised his life.
"This is a fucking joke! I can't be the dad! It's fucking ridiculous."
And as though someone had muted the volume on the world, Alex could only hear bitter laughter choking the last word, harsh and piercing. He rubbed his belly with an absent hand, wondering how things would be if he had just been up front and honest with Jack about the baby instead of digging himself even deeper and deeper into the grave.
"Fucking whore! Fucking lying whore!"
There was a flurry of arms, legs, fists, words, emotions, and in the middle of it all, Alex could feel nothing but the soft kick of the baby against the inside of his stomach.
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A/N: So, I'm really sorry this took me so long and that it's so crappy and short. I've been stupidly busy and this chapter was actually incredibly hard to get out :/ I couldn't decide how and what I wanted to happen but hopefully it worked out despite the horrible quality of writing which I'm actually really ashamed of.
Anyways, I may not be able to update again for awhile. I have finals coming up next week so studying will eat all a lot of my time D: So please don't think that I'm abandoning the story or anything! I'll try my best to update, but for once, studying > writing. :/ Although I'll probably get fed up and might either update or write a standalone out of frustration, I saw that kink meme and it is intriguing hurhur :D Feel free to bug me on tumblr or LJ though about updates or questions or anything as I actually take it as motivation. Thank you for reading and all the amazing comments that really keep me going and smiling! I love you guys! <3