twisted wonderland one-shots (requests CLOSED! for now)

jack x male!reader

synopsis: just jack being jack. kind of an excuse to write a character study on how i think he deals with feelings, and also an open ending bc i like those too :)

"Hey there." You're approaching Jack with a wave and a grin and he nods in acknowledgement, arms crossed and face set into his usual frown. You sit down on the bench, glad to be able to escape Vargas' extreme regimen for a second, and even though Jack only grunts when you ask how his day is going.

You nod in agreement, even though Jack didn't really give you anything to agree with. "Yeah, it's just one of those days, huh?"

Jack only grunts again.

Ace and Deuce aren't far behind you, all too eager to crowd into Jack's personal space just to get a spot on the bench.

"Trying to escape us again, are you?" interrogates Ace, leaning over Jack's side to poke you. You swat his hand away.

"Are you really surprised? You use all of your energy to annoy me instead of actually working out," you tell him, although you can't wipe the grin off of your face.

"Untrue! Those are lies!" Ace shouts right in Jack's ear. Jack growls at the other student, huffing in satisfaction as Ace backs up. You merely raise your eyebrow at the display, still grinning. Deuce is starting to look a little wary, but Ace, as always, takes joy in testing his limits.

"Getting a bit annoyed, are we?" Ace asks, knowing damn well that Jack hates the teasing. Deuce stays silent, letting Ace dig his own grave.

"Shut up." He stands corrected.

"C'mon, Jack, don't be like that!"

"Shut up."

"Jack—"

"Alright, Ace, that's enough. Stop teasing Jack," you tell him, patting Jack's shoulder. "Let's go grab something to eat after this, hm?"

Jack knows you're just trying to get everyone back to getting along, but he still scoffs. "Whatever."

"Sure, sounds good," says Deuce, giving you a grin that you return.

Everyone hears Ashton's whistle blow, high and piercing, and you sigh. "Maybe after we're done here."

Jack is standing and jogging off before anyone else can follow. He's glad the flush of his face is hidden behind the excuse of exhaustion; having you so close always makes him more nervous than he'd like to admit.

The cold front was something he put up out of some self-imposed necessity. He doesn't know how to act around someone like you so he's as brash as he can be, but somehow none of that seems to deter you. You simply let him grump along without trying to press more out of him.

He's not trying to repress himself, either. That's not what this is about. He's been aware of the fact that he likes other boys for a while now, and since his family never brought it up or questioned him about it, he had no reason to be insecure or ashamed about it. What others think matters very, very little to him anyways, so he sees no need to hide it should anyone ask, which they haven't, but still.