LOTF: Before and After

Phase 3: Chapter 71

Jack refused to look at Ralph, despite feeling the obvious intensity of the boy's stare. He decided in the heat of the moment that if the secret was going to get out, he'd rather be the one to tell it, to ensure that the others wouldn't perceive it as Roger taking his power. Jack had talked with Roger earlier in the night about the fact that he was considering telling the others about him and Ralph anyway. Clearly, Roger had a death wish, Jack thought. He never gave Roger permission to out them himself. He would have to pay for this, Jack knew, even if his intention was to take his anger out on Ralph, not him. That wasn't the point.

"Whoa whoa whoa, wait" Tony stuck his arms out at his sides as he tried to grasp what Jack meant. "Are you saying that you and Ralph are—" but he abruptly cut himself off, unsure of how to finish the sentence.

"Holy shit" Rapper dropped his jaw as he glanced back and forth from Jack to Ralph.

Ralph was simply petrified, and it showed. He was evidently stunned to his very core; grappling with the confliction of emotion within him. Should he have been mad that Jack outed them without asking him first or should he be happy that Jack loved him enough to let the very people who both hated his guts and looked up to Jack know it?

"That's right" Jack admitted confidently. "Ralph and I have been together for a long time. And that's how I know he was telling the truth about what he said to the Flag State investigators. So back the fuck off him already or I'll slit all your throats before any of you even make it to trial."

"You knew about this?" Tony turned to Roger as he remembered that his comment is what started this conversation.

"Yeah" Roger shrugged boredly. "I've known for like a year."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Rapper asked emotionally, feeling betrayed and left out.

"You really think I'd do that?" Roger pressed him. "It has shit to do with how I feel about Ralph. I wasn't protecting him, I was protecting Jack, as should you and Tony when you decide whether or not you wanna blab about this to the rest of the academy."

Tony and Rapper both went silent as they considered their respective allegiance to Jack, and even to Roger. Without directly saying it, the two alphas made it pretty clear that they were to keep this to themselves. Tony swallowed the liquid in his mouth and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah" Rapper nodded too, "course we will."

"Good" Roger said, satisfied with their promised vow of silence.

"And you two" Jack chimed in, stepping around Ralph to address the twins. "You utter a goddamn word about this without my direct consent and I'll rip both your heads off and sew them onto the body of the other. We clear?" he fiercely threatened.

Both Sam and Eric nodded quickly and eagerly, in a simultaneous, nervous fashion.

Jack stepped away from them to finally address Ralph, surprised that he was still quiet after all this time.

"Nobody here will say nothing to nobody, alright?" Jack said gently to him, the space between them an inch or two at the most. The others in the room watched intently. "Are you mad at me for telling them?" he added when Ralph didn't respond.

After another agonizing moment of silence, Ralph finally lifted his head to meet Jack's desperate eyes, the blond urgently waiting for a response.