Jonnor, Please!

Chapter 7

Chapter written by benji2795 and originally posted on AO3 on February 17, 2016

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Eric hates to break the news to Jude that he's sharing the attic with Con. There's been no shortage of information forthcoming from Jude about how strange and distant Con's been acting towards him since Winter Screw. Eric really doesn't want to subject Jude to an entire winter break of more of the same, but his hands are frustratingly tied. There's no coherent argument he can make to the other boys without saying too much.

He apologizes profusely, and talks Jude down, since he's about on the edge of panicking. Once he calms down, Eric pushes him up towards the attic to stow his bags, and so Eric can have a minute alone. Eric leans heavily against the counter, hanging his head and taking deep breaths.

This winter break seems to be spinning out of whack faster than he can figure out how to get it back under his control. He could've handled Jude and Con and their awkwardness, no problem. Then Jack said he was staying at the Haus over break, and that kinda just...

Well, the problem is, Eric's still avoiding dealing with the fallout from what he saw on Winter Screw night, and so he's been incredibly stand-offish with Jack. Mostly because it's hard to be in the same room as Jack without wanting to cry; he's decided to just evade that situation completely. Jack has definitely noticed, and Eric's only gotten away with doing it because the Haus is always crowded and that doesn't give Jack the opportunity to call him out without everyone knowing. So with only the four of them there for nearly three weeks, he was going to have to deal with it. Add that on top of keeping Jude level-headed around Con, and you were asking a lot of Eric.

And now Shitty was going to be here too, and that's just going to cause issues because a) Shitty knows enough to think that he totally understands what's going on, even though he really doesn't, and b) Shitty doesn't normally keep his nose out of other people's business. Eric would be shocked if Shitty didn't try and meddle, and with Jude especially on edge now that he has to share the attic with Con, and Eric trying to deal with Jack andJude, he just can't handle that on top of it all right now.

"Bittle?" Jack says, awkwardly standing right outside the kitchen.

"When it rains..." Eric mutters to himself as he waves Jack in. He's a little surprised that Jack has decided to make the first move regarding the situation, but he's probably just gotten tired of Eric's tactic of not talking about or dealing with it.

"Is—is everything okay?" Jack asks hesitantly as he moves to stand awkwardly by the kitchen table.

"Of course honey, everythin's fine," Eric replies, his smile far too wide to look real or be reassuring. Of course he's really not fine; the universe is conspiring against him right now, and all he really wants to do is scream, rather than smile, but he wouldn't ever tell Jack that.

"You don't seem fine, eh?" Jack prods, and silently, Eric curses Jack for knowing him well enough to know that he's not fine. Though he isn't sure if Jack's talking about how he's been since Winter Screw, or how he seems right now. Not that it matters; either way, Eric can't—won't talk about it.

"It's nothin', just some leftover exam stress," Eric lies.

"Oh," Jack says, and that means he's accepted Eric's lie, or he's not sure how to call him out on it. Either way, there's a long, uncomfortable silence that follows, so Eric starts babbling about the first thing that comes to mind, out of the need for self-preservation, because he's feeling the urge to cry again.

"So Jude's family is comin' to the Haus for Christmas!" Eric blurts out, and he cringes at how enthusiastic he sounds, but honestly he is excited about having company over the break besides Jack, Jude and Con, if only to give Eric a chance to spend at least a day and a half buried in his baking, because at least he'll be distracted from the veritable shit show that has been and will be surrounding him.