After Before and After

Conclusion: Chapter 8

Ralph Langley's jaw hung open a little as he watched with wide eyes as Jack kicked the crap out of half the shit in Ralph's bedroom.

"I fucking hate that bastard!" Jack shouted as he gave a third boot to Ralph's poor little garbage container. "He's an abusive shithead who nobody fucking loved enough to stay. No wonder Rebecka left! It was never because of me, it was him, that fuckwad!"

Jack emphasized Rebecka like a curse word, one you might whip out to add intensity to an argument.

Ralph watched Jack kick his dresser hard. He thought Jack would've reacted to the pain of a badly stubbed toe, but he didn't.

"Who's Rebecka?" Ralph asked softly from where he sat with his legs hanging off the center of the bed.

Jack stopped assaulting Ralph's belongings long enough to meet the brunette boy's eyes. Without a word, he stalked over to Ralph and slammed his lips against the other's with so much force, Ralph was now back down on the comforter.

Jack pulled away and climbed off Ralph to return to stomping around the room. "She's the witch who donated the ovaries to my existence" he spat angrily as he kicked at a fallen action figure on the floor.

"Babies don't come from ovaries" was all Ralph could bring himself to say. He was still a little out of it from the unexpected, passionate kiss. He pinched his legs together so Jack wouldn't notice his hard-on at a time like this. It didn't feel... appropriate.

"What?" Jack spat the word forcefully as he looked back to Ralph again.

"They come from eggs" Ralph clarified in a small quiet voice.

"You should really just go back to sitting there and looking hot in silence" Jack advised in a snarky, heated tone. Ralph tried not to smile at the compliment, because that didn't feel appropriate right now either. "I can't believe that fucking bastard had the audacity to talk shit about us. I would've fucking beaten his ass into next Tuesday if I wasn't so sick of courtrooms... Fuck! I hate 'im."

Jack sighed heavily and stopped kicking things. His hands were on his hips as he caught his breath in the center of the room. Ralph watched him curiously as he considered how good Jack looked right now with his face all red and hot with anger.

Still not appropriate, Ralph scolded himself.

"You wanna have sex?" Jack asked suddenly, as if he'd been reading Ralph's mind for the last few minutes.

"You mean right now?" he questioned curiously.

"No, I was thinking I could pencil you in for next Thursday" Jack rudely joked. "Yes, right now, you bonehead."

Jack kept looking at Ralph in anticipation of his response, but the latter just kept staring at him.

"So? You down or what?" Jack asked again.

"Yeah" Ralph whispered as he nodded rapidly. If he'd been thinking with his head rather than a less tasteful part of his body, he probably would've thought better than to do this now while Jack was so angry about the custody hearing. Ralph still didn't entirely understand where Jack's anger was coming from. This war between Paige and Evan had been going on for a long time, and Ralph thought it was about time they took steps to end it. How Jack found Evan's cruel words surprising was beyond Ralph. What had he been expecting his father to say?

The rest of February went by in pieces, or so it felt to Ralph. A lot was going on with his readjustment to being back home and physically in school for the first time in a year. It was hard to focus on school, even knowing he was a whole semester behind because of the trial. School felt like background noise to the rest of his life. Jack's sudden anger towards Evan for his words at the custody hearing, Paige panicking at the prospect of her unscheduled visit from DCS, and his own parents juggling the Merridew kids, Ralph, and their own work schedules.