Jerk; Septiplier

Chapter Thirty-Two: Mark

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Friday, November 4
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"Shut up, Ken." Jack grumbled as Ken immediately commented on the marks on Jack's neck. I had a few too but Jack's were more noticeable on his pale skin.

"I can't even think you two would be getting nasty." Felix laughed as he leaned in front of Jack. "Don't worry Jack, I'm joking." He ruffled Jack's faded hair and cause the boy to let out a sigh.

Jack turned his head to me. "I hate you so much, you have no idea."

"You're such a liar, you love me." I laughed as I leaned closer to his face so our noses were almost touching. He rolled his eyes and turned his head away from me.

"So guys, we should hang out tomorrow. It's felt like it's been a really long time." Felix said and the group nodded a bit.

"Yeah where are we going?" Jack asked, he looked really thrilled with the idea of being able to spend time with his friends.

Then I remembered something. "Jack, you can't."

"What?" He turned to me, it looked like I had just spat on his ice cream. "W-Why not?"

"Because.." I said quietly. "You have that thing with your father." And it looked like I had just grabbed Jack's heart and squeezed it until it broke, because of the expression on his face.

"I must have heard that wrong," Felix laughed nervously. "He has a thing with his father? That's not right."

"It's right." Jack said, barely above a whisper.

"No. No way!" Felix snapped, becoming quite angry at this point. "He can't just want to hang out with Jack, he's been so horrible to him for so long. He-He can't do that! Mark!"

"What do you want me to do about it, Felix?" I rolled my eyes. "I have no power over this."

Felix looked as if he was losing it, or like he might even cry. Marzia moved next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. None of us said anything else. When I reached for Jack he pushed away from me, and when class ended he ran out before I could even bother.

I let out a sigh and ran my hand through my hair. What was I going to do with him if he just kept pushing me out? Whether he would admit it or not, he was going to need me tomorrow. And I wanted to be there.

I continued on through my day, everyone was a little off when they knew about Jack's Saturday plans. No one trusted the man that they had never met, but we had no power over it. Jack didn't either.

In band class, I sat down next to Cerise like I did every day. But she looked different for some reason. She seemed vile when I knew she was the same person.

I turned my head to see Jack fiddling with his drumsticks. I stood up and leaned over the set before pressing a kiss to his head that caused him to look up at me.

"Hi Mark." He said quietly.

"Hi baby." I gave a small smile and Jack did his best to return it. "How are you?"

"Fine." Jack responded. "How are you?"

"Better now that I'm talking to you." I said and it got a bit of a chuckle from Jack. "Do you feel better now? You were really upset earlier." Just the mention of it made the smile fade from Jack's pale face and I almost felt bad for bringing it up. "I'm going to go with you."

"What? No, Mark -"

"Jack, let me help you." I said and I reached over and held onto his hand. "You've helped me so much and I want to be able to help you with something too, I know you're really afraid and I would be if I was in your position, but I want to be able to stand by you through even your darkest moments." I pulled Jack's hand up and kissed it, he was red in the face and for a second I thought he wouldn't believe me.

"Are you sure?" He asked, his voice nothing more than a whisper.

I nodded. "One hundred percent."

That was the end of the discussion, class began and I looked over to see Cerise eyeing me every once in awhile, I hope Jack didn't notice. He seemed too focused on the drum set anyways to even see a side-glance.

I was putting away my equipment and then going to walk back to Jack when Cerise tripped and fell directly onto me, I caught her in my first instinct and she laughed lightly as she leaned there for a moment before pushing off of me and speaking. "Sorry, Mark! I'm just so clumsy sometimes."

"Sure.." I said quietly. It was obviously staged I mean, what did she trip on, the flooring? I turned my head to see Jack picking through his bag, did he not see it? I hoped not. I mean, nothing happened but I know Cerise made him worry more than he should.

"I had a question for you, Mark!" Cerise asked with a bright smile.

"What is it?" I returned, at this point I knew very well that Jack was paying attention even if he wasn't looking.

"I wanted you to come hang out with me and a couple of a friends tomorrow." Cerise suggested.

"A couple of friends and I, learn grammar and then try to fuck Mark." Jack said sourly before grabbing my wrist and pulling me out of the room, I was laughing hysterically but Jack wasn't. He must have been serious with her. I pushed gently on his arm and gained his attention. "What?"

"What's the matter?" I asked.

"I don't like her." Jack sighed. "You know this."

"I know, but I don't want you being upset about it." I gave a small smile and used my forefinger and thumb to see Jack's face. "I just want a happy little Jack."

"What are two fags like you doing out in the hallway sucking face?" I felt myself freeze when I turned to see Bo and Wayne standing there. One with their hands on their waist, the other their arms across their chest. "Well? I'm talking to you." Bo spoke up. "Can four eyes and stutters not hear me right?"

"I don't think they can." Wayne laughed.

"Shut the fuck up, both of you." Jack spoke up, which surprised me the most. "Why don't you go suck one another off in the bathroom? You'll never score with anything else, might as well make the most of it, huh fellas?"

"Excuse you?" Bo said, his voice turned to ice. "Who the hell do you think you're talking to, McLoughlin?"

"A couple of fucking idiots," Jack scoffed as he walked up in front of Bo, what was he doing? I had no idea, but I guess it was good for him to stand up for himself even when he was going to get punched in the face. "Who are no better than the dirt on my shoes." He was staring Bo directly in the face when he spoke again. "Hit me, make my day, asshole."

Bo looked ridiculously angry, as if he was going to snap at any moment, and like a call went off in his head, David appeared behind the two and put a hand on each of their shoulder. "What's going on here?"

"Keep your dogs on a leash, David." Jack said sourly before taking a few steps back. I put my hand on his back when he was finally close to me.

"Please, if anyone is the dog, it's Jack barking shitty insults." Bo scoffed.

"Bo, please. I can take care of it. Just do what I say." David said and the two bullies turned, walking down the hallway. Leaving Jack and I with the uncomfortable feeling of having David in front of us.

David grabbed Jack's face and pulled him close to him before he whispered something that even I couldn't hear. Either way, he didn't look amused. His eyes wandered to me as he released Jack. "You better watch this one." He told me before walking away. Jack stared down at the floor, but when I asked what David had said he only shook his head.

This wasn't right.

~AN

Almost time for turrrkeeeeey. I'm so excited I love food. I'm so American holy shit.

Rinny!