Helplessly; j.g.

Four

Jack sighed, running a hand through his hair. Rome had leaned back in her chair again, crossing her arms on her chest. It had been five minutes since Rome had pointed out that Jack hadn't smiled the whole night and Jack still hadn't said a word to Rome. 

"Jack," Rome spoke first, looking into his brown eyes. "Talk to me please." 

"I don't want to talk about it," Jack mumbled, shaking his head and looking away. 

"Jack, please. I'm not going to say anything to anyone about it. And, it's just you and me here," Rome pleaded. "I want to help you with whatever you're going through." 

"Rome, it's not as simple as that. You can't just say a few words and expect that I'm suddenly... fixed," Jack said, shaking his head.

"Fine. I'll go first," Rome said after a few moments, sitting up straight. "My parents always fought whenever I was young, they divorced three years ago, they hate each other still to this day... er, night, my brother decided he didn't want to be a part of the family anymore so he decided to marry a stripper and took her last name and has never been to any family holiday in six years, and to top it all off, my boyfriend cheated on me with some slut six months ago." 

Jack's eyebrows raised, not knowing Rome had this much going on with her life. His life was a little harder, granted, but she seemed too happy and joyful all the time. Jack still had only met her a couple of hours ago but she still had so much spirit that made Jack a little sick to hear and see when he was around her--although she did make it a little better.

"Okay, I'll tell you," Jack breathed. "Three months ago, one of my best friends, Jack Johnson, was diagnosed with cancer. He's been in chemo and it doesn't really look good. My mom moved out the day I'd found out about Jack, and my girlfriend broke up with me as well. I handled it well the first week, since it was Jack's first actual week of chemo and he looked like he was getting better. But, then, the second week rolled around and he couldn't even talk. He didn't look like himself one bit. He wears a beanie, his glasses, and sweats all the time. His mom doesn't even visit him in the hospital; even the nights where it seems like it's his last night on Earth."

Rome stayed quiet, knowing there was more that Jack had to tell her. He shook his head, wiping a single tear off his cheek and sniffling, looking down at the floor. 

"Keep going," Rome whispered, nodding her head. Jack sighed. 

"It just makes it harder on me since I'm the only one who visits him. I'm supposed to be happy all the time for him, to make him happier, make him think that there's hope for him because he's just ready to stop fighting and give up," Jack explained. 

"I'm sorry, Jack. Really sorry," Rome empathized. "But... it still doesn't explain why you haven't smiled the whole night." 

"Last week, Jack was told that he had another year to live. It just made the world crash down around me, and I started thinking about when he goes, I'm going too. And I know it's a year away, but I just see no need to be happy when I'm not around Jack," he said. Rome's eyes flickered around the store, looking anywhere but Jack. 

"Do you want to go see him now?" Rome asked cautiously. Jack's eyes looked up to her as he sat up slowly.

"Yeah, I would like that," he nodded. Rome smiled and cleaned their plates and trays up, walking and putting it on the back counter. 

"I'll clean them up in the morning," she said, waving them away as she put on her coat, leading the way out of the cafe. 

Jack walked beside her, both of them silent as they made their way to the hospital. They arrived there in fifteen minutes, instantly going to the front desk. 

"I'm sorry, visiting hours are over," the receptionist said, tilting her head in an apologizing way. 

"We're family of the patient," Rome blurted. Jack made sure his face didn't move in surprise at her saying that, as to not blow their cover. The receptionist looked between them for a few moments, debating on wether or not to let them see whoever they'd come to see. 

"Fine. I need you to sign in," she said, pushing a clipboard towards them. "Patient's name?" 

"Jack Johnson," Rome answered as Jack wrote his name down. Jack finished and moved the clipboard over to Rome, who signed her name down as 'Rome Gilinsky' to pass off that they were part of the family by being married to Jack. Jack then confirmed he was a step-brother of Jack Johnson. 

"I can't believe that worked," Jack mumbled to her as they walked to the elevator. Rome smirked, pressing the button for the second floor. 

"Don't doubt me, Gilinsky," Rome said, pointing up at him. The elevator dinged, the gold doors sliding open and Rome and Jack exited, Jack looking for room 219. 

"Here it is," Jack said, stopping in front of the door. He took a breath and pressed down on the silver handle, stepping into the darkish room after. 

"Jack, should we really be in here?" Rome whispered, following him in and closing the door. 

"It's fine, guys, come in," a voice from the bed spoke. Rome froze in fear while Jack kept walking over to the bed, turning on the lamp on the bedside table. 

"Hey, Jack," Jack said softly, taking a seat in the chair beside the bed. Rome cautiously walked forward, not wanting to make the other Jack feel uncomfortable with her being there. "How are you holding up?" 

"Uh, not too bad, not too bad," the beanie-wearing boy said, his voice sounding hoarse and worn out. He went into a coughing fit, making Rome feel pity for him. "Who's this?" He barely lifted his hand towards Rome.

"Jack, this is Rome. Rome, this is Jack, more commonly known as Johnson," Jack introduced. 

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word count {1037}

oml this was a long chapter but i really liked it. don't worry, i'm going to introduce the other characters soon. i wanted to start putting some gifs of jack and jack as the chapters go on, so i think i'm going to do that fairly soon. next chapter, rome and johnson are going to get a little closer as friends, along with rome and jack getting closer... romantically ;) k byeeeee

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