Seconds (An Eyeless Jack X Oc Story)

Chapter 5

    "Text them and tell them to leave you alone,” he told me. I got mad at him. I talked with Jack and he didn’t seem to be too happy. They would think something was definitely wrong and come. He finished eating while I was still whisper fighting with him.

    “Why are you whispering again?” he asked. I facepalmed myself mentally. The guy lived in my house for four days. I’m pretty sure he would have caught onto the fact a man living upstairs in the best room, yelling at people, was going to be charging me extra.

    “The Landlord here is going to charge me for being ‘loud’,” I say. “Besides, my friends are going to think something is wrong because I’m the one that suggested that we visit each other and they are going to want to see what's going on.” Jack growled in frustration, causing me to stumble a bit.

    “Fine, when do they come over?” He asked. I was surprised by him saying yes, I didn’t expect to get to him that easily. I get out my phone to check the time. Jack then suddenly comes over and looks over my shoulder. The time was six at night so that meant we had about sixteen hours and thirty minutes remaining. So I could go to sleep and in the morning I could find somewhere to hide Jack where he can’t be spotted.

    “They come at ten-thirty tomorrow. In the morning, not at night,” I say. I questioned to myself why he had to lean over my shoulder to see what I was doing but kept it to myself. “I need to find somewhere you can stay while they are here so you won’t be spotted and freak out about a random guy they don’t know in my apartment.” Where was he going to sleep? The question made me stop. 

    “For now we need to get to bed at about eight or nine tonight. Plus, I need to get the couch set up for you to sleep on,” I told him. The whole thing was perfectly planned. I have the strange habit of making everything perfect. I might have OCD or something, I don’t know. 

    “Okay,” He said. He walked to the couch and started to get the couch cushions out. I walked over to the couch and got the foldable bed out. I walked to my closet and grabbed out some pillows and two blankets. I was tired but I knew that getting too much sleep is going to make me really lazy and ruin my schedule.

 I set down the pillows at the back support of the couch. I put the back part to where it was flat out and set the pillows on it. I got one of the blankets and Jack helped grab the other blanket while we laid them down on the couch-bed. 

“Thanks,” he said quietly. I nodded in response. Before heading to bed though, I walked to my pantry to get chips and then walked to the mini fridge, grabbed queso, and started eating. 

“You're eating chips for dinner? With salsa?” He questioned and tilted his head at me. I look at him with the ‘do you think I care’ face and continue.
“Yes. Because, A). I don’t drink like other people who are faced with strange situations. B). Chips are great and I don’t have anything else. C). I feel like eating something that isn’t healthy.” He snickered and I started chuckling too. He… He doesn’t seem all that bad you know. He’s been so kind lately. It just feels like I know him from somewhere. But where? 
I put the chips away when I felt like I had enough. I go to my mini fridge to put away the queso. Of course, on the way, I stub my toe on the table leg.

“SON OF A FUDGE COOKIE!” I shrieked. Jack, on the other hand, was laughing so hard he was banging on the couch to try and stop himself, while I felt like I’m suffering. After a little bit I was still on the floor but was laughing a bit with Jack.
There was a sudden knock on the door that was hard. I get up and Jack runs to my room, under the bed. I walk to the door and open it up. Great. Just great. The Landlord was towering over me and held out his hand. Showing he wanted my money since I ‘disturbed’ him. Just a few days ago he took my money I earned. 
That was all I had other than the money in my savings jar in my closet. I hid it from anyone who tried to find it. All that money was going to my college education and I couldn’t give it to him.

“I don’t have anything,” I said. The Landlord deepend his scowl and was as red as a tomato. I step back and put my hand on the handle. Ready to close the door but he stops it with his hand. 

“What do you mean! I GIVE YOU A PLACE TO LIVE AND YOU DON’T GIVE ME WHAT I NEED!” He grabs my wrist and twists it. I yelp in pain as he continues to shout at me. I’m on the verge of tears because of the pain and the fact I’m being yelled at. I haven’t been yelled at in years and I remember how much I hated it.

“YOU UNGRATEFUL BRAT!” He is about to hit me and I close my eyes and brace for it. I hear smack but he doesn’t hit me. I open my eyes to see a pale, brown haired man in a black sweater holding the arm of the man. The guy is taller than me so of course I would feel weaker than I already did. He turned his head and his dark storm blue eyes stared into mine. All of a sudden the Landlord came out of his grasp and ran off.

“T-thank you,” I said. I was still shook from that and I didn’t know what to think now. That's when I realized that I knew him.

“Why haven't done anything about this?” His voice let me know this was Jack. He put his hands on my shoulders and looked at me with anger in his eyes. “WHY!” He shouted at me so suddenly, causing me to stumble and hit the floor. I put my head down and tears started to build up again. 

“I-I couldn’t. He wouldn’t let me. He said if I did anything, he was going to make sure I never step foot in here ever again. This is the only place I can go.” I looked up at Jack, expecting him to hit me but instead he had the look of pity over him.

Pity. Why does a person like him pity someone like me? He walked over and extended his hand. I took it and got up. He shut the door and shook his head. He was still mad but he was more sad than angry at me. 

“You know, it’s okay to ask for help. You shouldn’t think that it’s okay to do things alone,” he said quietly. I walked over and contemplated whether I should hug the guy or just go brush my teeth and get to sleep.
I chose to hug him. I always hugged my friends or family whenever they were sad. I don’t know what came over me. I just did. He seemed surprised at the sudden contact but put his arm around me and crushed me a bit. This guy was sort of muscular, but not too much, he still was incredibly strong so all my air seemed to come out from it. 

“Are we friends now?” He asked, he was joking around to lighten the mood. I shrugged and snickered as he looked confused now. “You are a strange, confusing human.” Before he took off the bracelet he put on the mask then turned back into his other form. I wasn’t used to seeing this happen so I got out of the hug and put the queso away.

Walking over to the restroom, I get ready to brush my teeth and get to bed. I took my tooth brush and started. After the two minutes were up, I rinsed my mouth and washed my toothbrush. I exited the bathroom and saw Jack. He was on the couch, maybe passed out?

It was hard to tell. His mask was still on but I heard some soft snores coming from him. I walked over and carefully took off the mask. But I didn’t look. I made sure I didn’t see his face since he didn't like it when I tried looking at his face under the mask.

I set the mask down on the table next to the couch. I walk to my room and shut the door. This was going to be a tiring night. At least I would see my friends…