Terrible Things [Chapter 31]
Title: Terrible Things
Rating: R
Pairing: Alex and Jack
POV: Third, focused on Jack. Sometimes Alex.
Summary: Jack meets Alex after they're thrown together in a dorm at college and is desperate to have the English boy close, but after the first few nights, is it ever that easy?
Disclaimer: Fictional, may contain sexual references, violence, homophobia and a lot of swearing.
Credit: Title to Mayday Parade
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A/N: So I'm unsure about this one but at least it happens. Also, I see a few are starting to gather what Jack's plan was, but not a word, because some still haven't ;)
Chapter 31
For a week, not a word was said between Jack and Alex. They refused to share the same bed, they refused to eat at the same time and overall, they wouldn’t admit that they missed each other. The only time any words were actually said was during the night when Zack and Rian had brought around a few drinks before Alex had to leave for England for the week and even that was awkward.
They’d all sat around the table with Green Day playing in the background and it was clear that the argument had affected both Jack and Alex. To make things easier, Zack had stayed around with the American and Rian had done the same for the English boy. At least that way, neither felt alone or awkward.
“You better miss us this week.” Zack joked to Alex.
“Yea, I’ll miss you two anyway.” Alex gestured to him Zack, causing Jack to flinch further into the corner. For a few minutes, there was an awkward silence, until somebody tried to make things better again.
“You know, nobody’s said a bad word about you two being together.” Rian smiled.
“Who’s together?” Alex said. Jack couldn’t take it anymore. Jumping up, he threw the rest of his drink over Alex.
“See you when you’re back.” He yelled before leaving and practically running down the steps and into the night.
“Leave him.” The English boy said bluntly to Rian who went to follow.
“Why? It’s not exactly friendly out there.” Rian almost yelled at him.
“Well it’s his own fucking fault then, but leave him.”
“You can’t just let him go like that!”
“Watch me.” Alex spat, heading off into his room and leaving Zack and Rian to show themselves the door. Neither of them could take sides since they valued Alex and Jack equally, but they was tearing everything apart with their arguments.
“Think they’ll fix it?” Rian asked.
“Doubt it.” Zack frowned as he headed back to his own room. “Back to just us again I guess.”
When Alex woke up at 6am to leave for England, Jack hadn’t even arrived back. For a second, he’d contemplated phoning the American, but he was still annoyed after he’d had the drink thrown over him so he just left it at that. He was just going to leave and not speak to Jack for the entire week, but instead, he left a note saying “We’ll talk when I’m back, see you next week” on the fridge and left for the airport.
The plane home was dreadful too. It seemed that every couple in the entire city had decided to take a holiday and Alex even had to give up his original seat so that a happy couple could sit together. England wasn’t much better either, there was just constant rain and a gloomy cloud that followed Alex’s every footstep. His family had said that he’d have to make his own way back from the airport to his own house, but the walk to the bus station was a long and damp one that gave his thoughts plenty of time to hurt him.
It wasn’t his fault, was it? He had every right to think that something was going on between Jack and America; they spent enough time together anyway. But even that thought didn’t take away the guilt. Alex was in two minds on whether he should be allowing himself to feel guilty, or if he deserved to.
I shouldn’t have yelled. He thought. And I shouldn’t have made that joke about not being together.
Even admitting to that didn’t take away the guilt. He didn’t even know if Jack had came home that night at all, or if he was safe. Even the way he just left Rian and Zack to show themselves out was a bit harsh now that he thought of it. If he could take back that one night, he would.
The week seemed to last forever too; each day was longer than the last. Each day would also bring a new reminder of Jack and on the third day, Alex snapped.
Please, forgive me. I got worried and jealous and I’m so fucking sorry for what I said. We never split up either so I don’t know why I said that and I’m sure you have a fucking perfect explanation that I didn’t listen to. I’m sorry Jack. I love you.
After pressing send, the wait began. Part of him expected a reply within minutes, but the other part of him knew that Jack would need a better apology than that. He was going to phone instead, but realised that it would end up costing too much anyway and time differences would probably fuck that idea up.
Once the final day had come, Alex was too upset to even speak. He’d managed to say goodbye once more to his family alright, but after that, not a word was spoken to anyone. Jack seemed to be refusing to speak to him and the guilt had eaten away at the English boy’s every emotion. As he neared the airport, his phone buzzed once.
Hi Alex. I just want the fight to end. I’m sorry, don’t leave me. -J