After Before and After

Phase 4: Chapter 95

Given that every member of the Merridew family was angry at every other member of the Merridew family, Paige knew better than to try and stay the night at their designated government hotel. She was the transient one, not having rights to the room she shared with Jack nor the one she just as often shared with Evan. So Paige returned to Evan's room before he did that afternoon to gather her necessities. She  made the only logical choice to strike out and book a room at another hotel up the road. She wasn't sure how long Jack and Evan would stay angry at her for her testimony, but she knew the storm wasn't about to pass anytime soon.

Jack too knew that Paige wouldn't dare try and stay with him after the events of the day, which meant that there would be no audience to his anger. Jack wasn't very good at planning for any part of the future that wasn't immediately in front of him. He never bothered to anticipate the consequences of his actions until he was already sitting in the principal's office or the local police station. And yet, even after repeated incidents of this nature, Jack Merridew never learned a thing.

And as usual, Jack failed to consider something critical to the success of getting away with his most recent act of rebellion. Ralph Langley. In spite of how much he loved Ralph, Jack often forgot that Ralph loved him too. Especially in times like this.

"Jack?" Ralph's soft and reluctant voice interrupted the overwhelming sensations of violence and rage.

Ralph found Jack sitting on the floor near the foot of the two adjacent queen beds. The formerly presentable hotel room was completely trashed. The TV screen was smashed, it's remote in pieces, the beds were unruly and unmade, holes sporadically covered the walls, the lamp was knocked over along with the chairs at the little kitchenette table, the microwave door was hanging by a thread, the fridge door completely off its hinges, food was all over the kitchenette floor, the curtains had been ripped down, everything was breaking or broken. Everything.

Ralph stood stunned in the ajar door, taking in the disastrous room before him. Jack sat on his knees in the middle, his head in his hands, rocking back and forth urgently. He wasn't making an audible sound, not that Ralph would've been able to hear from where he stood anyway. The brunette boy could barely process what he was seeing. It looked like the tail end of a rave party gone wrong.

"Jack?" Ralph repeated again as he slowly stepped into the mess. His reluctance was radiating off him like a disease, like he knew that he didn't belong in such a dangerously destroyed place. Still, Ralph slowly made his way through the room, stepping over shards of broken things, until he found himself standing a foot in front of Jack. He crouched down and carefully touched the older boy's shoulder. "Jack?" he anxiously repeated a third time.

"Get out" Jack finally responded without moving a muscle. He covered his face still, muffling his voice.

"No" Ralph gently insisted as he sat down more comfortably. "I'm not leaving."

"I said get out!" Jack raised his voice, though it was still muffled by his hands. He shifted his shoulder in an effort to shake Ralph's hand off.

"No" Ralph repeated more firmly this time. If he was afraid, it wasn't showing as much as it usually would, Jack couldn't help but notice. "Talk to me. I'm not leaving until you do."

"I don't wanna talk" Jack insisted, his voice was scratchy and hoarse from screaming, crying, or perhaps both. His tone was less aggressive now, which of course only gave Ralph more hope.

"Okay" Ralph sighed, "fine. We don't have to talk. But I'm still not leaving" he insisted. He gently laced his arm around Jack's shoulder and pulled the older boy closer, forcing him to lean into him. Ralph was surprised that Jack didn't resist at all, but when he took another glance around the room, he realized that Jack must've been exhausted.