Part 2
By Joanna ([email protected])
Author's Note: I don�t own any of the characters that I write about and these situations didn�t really happen in the show. This is obviously the second part of many. Once again I am going to put emphasis on the fact that I have changed the characteristics of some of the characters, as I believe it improves the fic. Feed back is wanted, good or bad. I write for entertainment, both mine and hopefully yours. If you don�t like it let me know. Also if you love it, that would make me a very happy bunny!!! I would like to thank everyone who has written a fic and posted it on this web site. It was you who got me in to writing. Thanx. Okay. Time to read the story. I hope you all like it:
Love is a complicated emotion. It doesn�t just effect the people who feel
it but everyone around them too.
*~*~*~*~*
�Do you want to come to the mall and help me find some new clothes?� Jen asked as she shut her locker. The bell to mark the end of school had gone ten minutes ago and the halls were now completely empty.
�I can�t� Jack replied
�Why not? You�re not still mad at me are you? I said I was sorry about that whole eyes thing� Jen whined
�No, I�ve forgiven you� Jack paused �I�m going to Mitch�s�
�Oh, third day in a row!�
�I can cancel if you like?� Jack said
�No, don�t be silly. It�s a great day when a girl loses her gay best friend to a boy, or man, whatever you want to call him!� Jen smiled �I guessing that things are going well?�
�It okay, we�re taking things slowly. Why are you so excited anyway?�
�I don�t have a love life of my own to get excited about, so I have to make do with yours, no matter how twisted it is!�
�Do you think I�ve done the right thing?�
�Yes! It�s about time that you did what you wanted. You have finally put yourself first for once� Jen looked him right in the eyes �I�m so proud of you�
�Jen, stop it�
�No Jack, I mean it. I�m so happy for you. I haven�t seen you so happy for ages, since Joey actually!� Jack pulled her in to a hug.
�I love you, Jen�
�I love you too, Jackers�
*~*~*~*~*
Jack knocked on the door of Mitch�s flat. Mitch opened it almost immediately, with a large smiled plastered on his face.
�Hi� Jack smiled. Mitch didn�t answer, just pulled him in to the flat by the front of his shirt, slamming the door behind him. He pulled Jack in to a long passionate kiss.
�Hi� Mitch finally breathed
�I�m guessing you�re pleased to see me� Jack joked. Once again Mitch said nothing, just pushed him on the sofa to carry on kissing him.
*~*~*~*~*
�Jack, I hardly see you anymore, you are always out� Andie moaned as they walked in to school.
�Andie, it�s not as if you never go out� Jack replied.
�You�ve been out every night this week, where do you go?�
�Places. Is it really that important?� They stopped at their lockers. Andie was still moaning though Jack wasn�t listening. As he pulled his head out of his locker he realised that Dawson, Jen, Joey and Pacey had joined them.
�Hey McPhee�s� Pacey smiled �What is she moaning about now?� Pacey asked Jack, referring to Andie.
�I was saying that I hardly see him anymore and when I ask him where he�s been he says �Places�. I want to know what�s going on� Andie finally stopped. Everyone�s eyes were on Jack. Jen was smiling, showing off all her teeth.
�So Jack, where have you been going?� Dawson asked.
�Yeah, have you found new friends? You haven�t been with us� Joey joined in. Jack looked at Jen pleading with her to bail him out, but she was enjoying the situation way too much.
�Maybe not friends, but friend� Pacey grinned �It�s early may and the sun is shining, but McPhee here is wearing a roll neck sweater� Jack felt his heart stop. Before he knew what was going on Pacey pulled down the neck of his sweater to reveal a dark red hickey. �Just as I expected� Pacey smiled �Jack�s found himself a boyfriend� Pacey looked at everyone�s smiling faces as Jack quickly pulled the neck of his sweater back up.
�Oh, my God!� Andie giggled watching her brother turn an unusual shade of red.
�Who is he?� Joey and Dawson asked in unison. Jen couldn�t help but laugh at Jack�s expression.
�It�s no one, okay and none of your business� Jack snapped as he stormed off towards his first lesson.
�There�s no need to be shy!� Pacey yelled after him. Everyone burst in to fits of laughter, before turning to Jen.
�Who is he?� Dawson asked.
�I�I don�t know� Jen fibbed, feeling guilty for not doing anything to help Jack.
*~*~*~*~*
The gang minus Jack sat around a table in the canteen. No one had seen Jack since the morning, he was trying to avoid them until he had worked out something to say.
�So, has anyone seen this mystery guy?� Andie asked
�No� everyone but Jen answered in unison. No one noticed that she hadn�t answered.
�I wonder if we know him?� Pacey wondered.
�Who ever he is, Jack wants to keep him a secret� Joey added.
�Maybe, Maybe not. He is just embarrassed, I mean, this is his first real boyfriend, maybe he doesn�t want to jinx it� Jen tried to defend her best friend.
�Why do I get the feeling that you know more than you are letting on?� Dawson aimed at Jen.
�Come on, I�m just defending him like any best friend would. We all know Jack. He wouldn�t keep it a secret for no reason� Jen answered.
�Your right� Joey agreed.
�Where has he said he�s been?� Dawson questioned.
�Normally he doesn�t give an answer, just changes the subject, other times he just says football� Andie replied.
�Maybe he has been at football?� Jen suggested.
�Oh, and maybe one of the players gave him that hickey!� Pacey laughed.
�Come on Jen, he may lie, badly, but his eyes can�t� Andie reminded. There was a silence for a while, while everyone took in the day�s events.
�I think I am sick� Pacey sighed.
�What?� Joey asked
�I�m sick. I�m getting a conscience. I feel really bad about what I did to Jack. To be honest, I didn�t think there would be a single mark on his neck, I was just messing around�
�Pace, don�t worry, he�s just a bit embarrassed, he�ll get over it. He�s been through worse� Andie reminded him.
�Yeah, and if I remember correctly I played a large role in that too!� Pacey joked dryly. Once again there was silence.
Jack walked in to the canteen and got his lunch. He looked around for somewhere to sit. He saw his friends, he wasn�t sure if he could face them yet. Before he could turn and leave he was spotted,
�Hey, Jackers, Over here!� Andie yelled. Jack walked slowly over to the table and sat down in the only spare seat between Pacey and Andie.
�Look, Jack, I�m sorry. I really shouldn�t have done that� Pacey spoke seriously. Jack made sure the neck of his sweater was covering Mitch�s love bite.
�Forget it� Jack sighed, sipping his doctor pepper. Once again, silence.
�It�s very big� Dawson laughed. Jack went bright red.
�Dawson!� Joey snapped
�I�m sorry, but it is!� Dawson laughed.
�Give us another look� Andie begged.
�No!� Jack snapped slamming his doctor pepper can on the table.
�Please, please, please, please, please, please, plea��
�Only if you shut up!� Jack moaned.
�Promise!� Andie smiled.
Everyone crowded around. Jack felt like a freak show, but this was the only way to shut Andie up. From experience, Jack knew that Andie could go on for days. Jack slowly rolled down the neck of his light blue sweater giving Jen and evil look at the same time. Everyone stared at the large rose coloured bruise on Jack�s neck.
�Who ever he is, he must really like you� Dawson smiled.
*~*~*~*~*
�How can you laugh? It was awful!� Jack moaned
�God, I wish I could have seen your face!� Mitch gasped between laughs. Seeing Jack really wasn�t impressed he stopped �Jack, stop worrying. No one knows�
�They don�t know you�re involved, but they know that I seeing someone. How long do you think I can lie to them?� Mitch understood what Jack was saying.
He sat himself directly next to Jack and kissed him.
�It will be okay, we will sort things out. Once Dawson knows it won�t be as bad� Mitch leant in for another kiss. Jack opened his mouth, excepting Mitch�s roaming tongue. Mitch had a way of making Jack feel safe in his arms, in a way no one else had ever done before; Jack melted in Mitch�s embrace.
Pacey had been right, wearing a roll neck sweater in such warm weather has stupid; Jack was baking. As Mitch pulled away he noticed how red Jack was.
�Take it off� Mitch whispered. Jack did as he was told; pulling his heavy roll neck off. He barley had time to drop it before Mitch was plunging his tongue back into Jack�s mouth. As Mitch�s hands travelled over Jack�s chest, Jack�s travelled Mitch�s back.
While in mid-kiss there was a knock on the door.
�Dad, are you in?� Mitch could feel Jack�s heart speed up under him.
�Damn, It�s Dawson� Mitch gasped.
�What do we do?� Jack was beginning to panic and Mitch knew it.
�First of all, calm down. Go in to the bedroom� Mitch instructed.
�Dad?� Dawson yelled through the door.
�Just coming� Mitch yelled back, watching Jack run off. After checking Jack was out of sight, Mitch opened the door. �Dawson, what are you doing here?�
�I was just passing� Dawson answered as he walked through the door.
�Do you want a soda? I have some doctor Pepper I the refrigerator.� Mitch offered.
�You hate doctor pepper. You wouldn�t even allow it in the house� Dawson said surprised.
�Well, it�it�s for you, for when you come round. So do you want one?
�No thanks, I never really liked it either� Dawson answered. �Have I caught you at a bad time? You seem a bit flustered� Dawson knew something wasn�t quite right. He noticed that the bedroom door was shut, it was never shut. �If I didn�t know any better, I�d say you had a woman here� Dawson joked.
�Don�t be so stupid!� Mitch snapped, scared that he would work something out.
�Dad, I was only joking� Dawson answered. He saw something out of the corner of his eye. A light blue roll neck sweater lying on the floor. Jack�s light blue roll neck sweater. He froze, putting two and two together, really hoping that four wasn�t the answer. �Oh�I�I have to go� Dawson mumbled and left before Mitch even knew what was going on.
*~*~*~*~*
Dawson stood across the road from his dad�s apartment as his worst nightmare came true. He saw Jack exit he building in the sweater he had seen on the floor. Jack turned to face Mitch; Dawson witnessed their kiss. Dawson felt the anger grow from inside him. How could Jack do this to him? How long had this been going on? He couldn�t believe he had joked about Jack�s love bite, which was put there by his dad. Dawson found himself following Jack down the road.
Jack couldn�t believe the day he had been having. As he was trying to come up with an excuse about where he had been to feed to Andie he heard footsteps close behind him. He turned to see who it was.
�Dawson?� Jack asked. Jack fell backwards from the force of the punch that had landed right between his eyes. �Dawson?!� Jack yelled �What the hell was that for?!�
�You bastard! How dare you ask me that?!�
�What are you talking about?�
�You and my dad!� Jack had no idea what to say �I know you don�t have a good relationship with your father, but that doesn�t mean you can steal mine! Have you made a hobby about stealing things I love?!�
�How�how did you find out?�
�You left your sweater on the floor, my dad�s refrigerator is filled with your favourite drink though he hates it and I just watched you kiss him as you came out of his flat!�
�Dawson�I�m�I�m sorry� Jack gasped, finally getting up from the ground.
�Your not! But you will be!�
*~*~*~*~*
�Hey Andie!� Jen called across the student green before running towards her.
�Where�s Jackers?� she asked.
�I don�t know, he didn�t come home last night, he�s probably with his secret boyfriend� Andie answered. Jen couldn�t help but smile �Jen, do you know who he is?� Andie asked.
�I might!� Jen laughed. She had no intention of telling Andie, that was down to Jack.
�Jen, If I don�t see Jack before I go could you please say bye to him?�
�Why? Where are you going?�
�I have an appointment with the doctor. I am going to see mum too. I promised I would go and see her in the holidays. I might as well do it at the beginning and then I can spend the rest of the two weeks down here� Andie smiled. �So will you?�
�Yeah, sure. If I ever see him!�
*~*~*~*~*
As Jen made her way home she began to get worried about Jack�s whereabouts. He hadn�t been at school all day or at home the night before. Jen had assumed that he was with Mitch, until she had seen him in the hallway. Jen walked up the steps to her porch. As she opened the see through door she notice Jack sitting at the far end of the porch with his back to her.
�Jack?� There was no answer �Where have you been? I have been so worried!� By Jack�s chill Jen knew something was wrong, really wrong. �Jack, are you okay?� Jen could hear him crying �Jack?� Jen moved towards him. �Jack, what�s going on?� She crouched down infront of him. Jack�s face was buried in his hands. �Jack?� She lifted his face from his hands �Oh, my God!� Jen gasped as she saw the cuts and bruised that covered it. �What happened?�
*~*~*~*~*
Mitch walked in to his flat wondering why Jack wasn�t at football practise. He removed his jacket and sat down on the sofa. He pushed the �play� button on his answer phone and waited for the message.�Uh hi, it�s Jack� Mitch smiled �I�uh�it�s not going to work, we are fooling ourselves to ever think it would� Mitch couldn�t believe his ears, tears found his eyes. The message carried on. �Mitch�I�m�I�m really sorry� A click ended the call. Mitch sat numb.
Suddenly the phone rang. He took a deep breath and then answered.
�Hello?�
�Mitch, is that you?�
�Yeah, Jen?�
�Yeah, look you have to come over here right now�
�Why?�
�It�s Jack�
�He�s made very clear how he feels!�
�What are you talking about?�
�I just got a phone message from him, dumping me.�
�Why?�
�I have no idea�
�Look, if you care for him you must come round to mine, now! It�s important, I wouldn�t call if it wasn�t�please?!� There was a silence
�I�m on my way!� Mitch put down the phone and grabbed his jacket before he left the flat.
*~*~*~*~*
Jen sat besides the sleeping Jack on her bed crying. She hated to see Jack hurting, mentally and physically. She had only just managed to get the cold and scared Jack in to the house. He hadn�t said a word to her, and hadn�t stopped crying. His clothes were soaking wet; she guessed he had been wondering in the rain all night and day. He looked absolutely shattered and after having Jen remove his sweater and Jeans he fell asleep instantly.
Jack didn�t just have cut and bruising on his face but his chest, stomach and arms too. Jen had pleaded with him to tell her what happened but he didn�t say a thing. It was like she was face to face with Jack�s battered body, but his soul wasn�t there. It wasn�t the real Jack.
She hated who ever did this; Jack wasn�t the type of guy who went out looking for trouble. Jen looked at his clothes on the floor, they were dripping wet and covered in mud and dirt. She couldn�t even imagine what Jack had been through and why had it driven him to dump Mitch? Even though he had never told her, Jen knew that he loved Mitch, she also knew that he was scared. He was scared of getting close; it was a complicated relationship, it involved so many people.
Jen began to cry even more. Suddenly she heard a knock on the front door. Jen checked that Jack was okay before going to answer it. When the door was finally opened Mitch came face to face with Jen, she was still crying.
�Jen, what�s going on?� Mitch asked feeling his heartache.
�You better come in� Jen motioned for him to sit down, she did the same.
�Jen, what�s happened? Where�s Jack?� Mitch�s eyes were full of fear.
�When I got back from school Jack was sitting in my porch, soaking wet and covered in bloody cut and bruises� she began to cry uncontrollably
�Jen, it�s okay� Mitch comforted her, though he didn�t believe his words himself.
�It�s not okay, Mitch. He won�t talk to me, he won�t say anything. I don�t think he knows what he is doing. It�s like he�s not really here, it�s not really him. As for dumping you, I don�t know. Maybe he doesn�t want you to see him like this� Jen paused � Mitch, he loves you�
�Is he bad?�
�He looks like hell, I don�t think he slept last night� Jen had a thought �How did he sound in the phone message?�
�I don�t know? There was something weird about his voice, maybe scared. But it sounded like he meant it�
�Mitch, think about it. Think about why you�we love him so much. He would never dump someone in a voice recording. Never! He obviously didn�t want to do it to your face because he wasn�t capable to do so. One: because be loves you and doesn�t want to see you hurt or Two: He had just had the crap beaten out of him and all he really wanted to do was be close to you�
�If that�s the case, why did he dump me?�
�I don�t know. There�s only one person we know who can answer that� There was a long silence.
�Can I see him?�
�Of course�
*~*~*~*~*
Mitch couldn�t believe his eyes. Jack was so battered. The tears that he has been trying to store away quickly escaped. Jack was the most kind and caring person Mitch knew; he didn�t deserve this. Mitch went to the bed in which Jack lay, too scared to touch Jack�s tender body.
�Who would do this? Jen couldn�t answer. The patches of Jack�s skin that weren�t cut or bruised were so pale; his hair was a mess. Even in his sleep he wasn�t relaxed. Tear trails were still visible on his face. Jen seated herself next to Jack and ran her fingers through his still wet hair. �What did he say happened?� Jen stared at Jack.
�He hasn�t said a word, not one� Jen cried, �His eyes aren�t talking either. I feel so helpless, I should have been there to help him, he�s my bestfriend, I love him� Mitch couldn�t respond, he couldn�t utter a word. The one he loved with all of his heart was lying almost lifelessly infront of him and he could do nothing to stop the pain; he felt the same way Jen did. Both Jen and Mitch couldn�t take their eyes off of Jack; though they
were struggling to see through their tears.
�What on Earth!� Grams dropped the bags she was holding and ran over to Jen, Mitch and Jack. Jen and Mitch hadn�t even heard her come in. �what�s happened?� she whispered seeing Jack and his spectator�s distraught faces.
�I don�t know, he was here when I got back from school. He was sitting in the porch, soaking wet, and looking like this. He hasn�t said a word. We don�t know what has happened!� Jen cried in to Grams� shoulder. Grams looked at Mitch.
�I don�t mean any offence, but why are you here?� Mitch and Jen shared a look.
�I�I have been� Mitch paused �I have been seeing Jack for the past week. Only Jen, and now you know�
�When you say �seeing�, you mean�?� Grams started
�Dating� Jen finished for her.
Grams said nothing, they all knew that now wasn�t the time. They all loved Jack dearly; he was all that mattered.
To be continued...