LOTF: Before and After

Phase 3: Chapter 16

Ralph settled down on his bedroom floor later that same night after he and his father returned home from the grocery store.

The truth was that Ralph didn't really want to go to the store, but he did want to get away from Jack. After the latter had shut him down when he tried to talk about the previous night, Ralph felt... rejected. Though, he wasn't planning on admitting that to Jack. He'd considered asking to stay in the car when they arrived at the store, but that would've just raised more questions. So Ralph followed his dad into the store and grasped onto the man's hand. And brave as he was, Ralph kept his eyes closed almost the whole time, letting his dad act as his seeing eye dog. If Jeffery noticed this, he never said it.

The sound of Ralph's bedroom door creeping open was enough to bring him out of the sleep he'd been slowly drifting into. He shot up, on guard, a habit he couldn't break after he'd formed it to protect his life during his last days on the island.

"Hey" Jack's groggy voice came from the dark silhouette standing in the open doorway.

"Uh, hey" Ralph's equally as groggy voice responded. "What are you doing in here?"

Jack didn't answer, he just stepped out of the doorway and closed the door behind him before venturing over to where Ralph was sitting on the floor. Jack plopped down beside him, leaning his back against Ralph's unoccupied bed.

Ralph waited for an explanation, staring at Jack in the dark as he held his weight up on his tired arms.

"What are you doing in here?" Ralph asked again, the hurt he'd been holding against Jack all day coming to the surface a little.

"I don't fuckin know" Jack admitted lazily but frustratedly.

Ralph scrunched his eyebrows with confusion. Jack's response didn't answer his question, it only raised more.

"I talked to your mom" Jack spoke into the bitter silence again.

"About us?" Ralph asked worriedly.

"No, dipshit!" Jack scoffed rudely. "About me. Me staying here and whatever."

"Okay" Ralph said slowly. "And?"

"And nothing. I just thought she hated me."

"She doesn't hate you" Ralph insisted.

"She used to" Jack argued.

"Why do you think that?" Ralph wondered cluelessly.

"I can just tell. Grownups have hated me my whole life, I got good at picking up on it" Jack explained.

Ralph was puzzled by the way Jack tended to tell sad stories in the tone of voice one might ask for the time or to borrow a pencil in. Ralph didn't know what to say; he never did.

It was silent for a few, awkward minutes. Ralph still didn't know what to say to Jack, or why the blond boy had snuck into his room after 2200 hours.

"I let it out on purpose" Jack said seemingly out of nowhere.

"What?"

"The fire watch."

Ralph was sitting up properly now, eyes bugging out of his head, confusion and anger boiling inside him, his blood flowing through his veins at what felt like a temperature of a hundred degrees. "You did what?!" he finally found the words to shout.

"On the island" Jack elaborated unnecessarily. "I knew the fire was gonna go out and I just... let it. I told my tribe the hunt was more important."

Ralph, as angry as he was, was wondering why Jack was telling him this now.