Panic! They're adopting you

Chapter 8

Jack's pov

I can't believe that Zack would do something like that, I mean, what the hell? Abandoning your little sister, with your drunk angry father, the day after your mom died, that's so fucked up.

I walked downstairs to see Alex holding his hand, and Zack with a bleeding and bruised nose.

"What the hell man! " I yelled.

" He left Lizzie, he deserves it! " Alex said.

" You really think that hurting the one person who could get Lizzie to eat will get you on her good side, and she won't be scared of you for it? Alex, you are going to go to your room and calm the fuck down, I will come and speak with you in a moment, Zack I'm going to make sure your nose isn't broken."

I can't believe that Alex is that stupid, you can't just punch people who pissed you off.

" Alex was right, you know. That's why I didn't hit back, I deserve it, I left my poor sister alone with that abusive, drunk, bastard. And the things that have happened to her in the system. . ." Zack whispered. He sounded like he expected me to swing at him as well, how fucking stupid are my friends, I cannot believe what I'm hearing from them today.

"Zack, look at me okay," He looked up, but I really didn't like what I saw in his eyes, he looked like he had given up hope. " I'm not going to be pissed at you for a mistake you made as a teenager, you feel sorry now, correct?" I said. He nodded, looking at his feet again.

"But Jack. I left her for so long, and she's so fucking scared." He said miserably.

"Look up, Zack, I need to check if he broke your nose, and yes she's scared, and hurt, but you have the chance to help fix it. Now, go upstairs and sleep it off okay, it's like 1 am." I said, his nose wasn't broken, thank god.

Great, now for Alex.

I walked upstairs to his room, all of a sudden, there was a loud banging against his door, and then the shattering of glass. Shit! I hope he hasn't hurt himself during his hissy fit.

I entered his room to see Alex on his bed, head in hands, sobbing. Glass was all over the floor in front of the door. He shouldn't be this upset, I understand that Zack, and apparently Rian as well made piss poor decisions when we were younger but, he shouldn't be mad enough to hurt one of his best friends.

" Alex, what've you done? Why are you so upset? I get it, they fucked up, but destroying your room, and trying to break your best friend's nose, isn't going to help with anything they've done."

" You don't get it do you?" Obviously not you douche, otherwise I wouldn't be asking. "Rian and Zack left her, knowing she would be hurt, how can you look at them, let alone try to defend them?" He said.

" We don't know Rians position in this, first off, secondly, how could they know she was going to be hurt, are you telling me that you wouldn't do the same thing if you found out that your significant other died? You would drink as well, and Zack didn't know it would become a habit of his father's afterward, he thought he was just coping for the night."

"He's worse off then you are Alex, how would you feel finding out that your younger sister was abused, and you could've stopped it, how would you feel knowing that now when men, yourself included come near her, or raise their voices, even jokingly, she has anxiety attacks that occasionally cause her to pass out? And she thinks she deserves it!" I yelled. 

" You need to get it through your thick skull that you aren't the only one hurting! At least you can't feel guilty for it, and your bestfriend isn't blaming you for it, as well as punching you for something that you did as a kid, that had results that weren't your fault!" I said, taking a deep breath, I knew I needed to tell him what Zack had said, " At least you don't think that you deserve the blame as well."

"That's why he wouldn't hit back, isn't it?" Alex asked in a sullen, quiet voice. " I kept telling him that if it wasn't his fault why would he not defend himself, but he already blamed himself, so I was just driving it home, wasn't I?" There were tears falling down his face now. " I'm a terrible friend, where is he? I need to tell him it's okay!" He said, standing up, and. . . Walked directly through glass.

"Fuck!" He yelled, and stumbled back towards his bed.

"Hey, dude what happened?" said Zack, carefully avoiding the glass on the floor.

" Weren't you going to bed?" I said. I'm pretty sure that Rian & Zack are in a relationship that is a bit more than platonic, as that's the direction he came from.

"Yeah, but Alex sounded hurt, so I came to check on him." He said, he looked confused by my asking, but I was trying to prove a point to Alex, Zack didn't see anything wrong with what Alex had done to him, and that was going to be a problem.

" Hey, dude, I'm sorry for what I said and did earlier, you didn't deserve any of it, I'm sure you're more broken up about her than the rest of could ever understand." Alex said, his voice laced with sympathy.

" Jack, you didn't have to force him to apologize, he was right, I deserve all of it. I probably deserve more if we're honest." Zack said. Okay then, I was right, my friends are this stupid.

"But, he didn't -" Alex was cut off.

" It's okay Alex, I hate me too. I'm going to bed guys, see you in the morning. Oh, and thanks for the effort, Jack." He said, walking to his room.