Trust Your Instincts

-17- The Morning After

 Mark woke up the next day with a splitting headache and his face pressed into the hard tiled floor of the upstairs bathroom. He had somehow managed to usher every guest out of the house before he passed out, including Josh, who had fought valiantly to stay back and help tidy and what not. It took so much energy for Mark to push the drunken boy through the front door that he didn't even make it to bed afterwards, seemingly.

 Mark wondered what had happened to Isaac, he said he was just going to the toilet, but he never came back... Maybe he just went to a different part of the party, but he should've at least said goodbye when he left, shouldn't he have? 

 Jack hadn't even bothered to show up. This saddened Mark slightly, Jack had promised. Mark had to respect his choices however, and he knew that Jack was never keen on the idea of attending. He knows he tried at least. If Jack didn't want to show up, then that wasn't Mark's fault, and whatever reason he had for not going was none of Mark's business anyway. 

 Heading down the stairs, Mark wished he had taken up Josh's offer, as the house was a complete mess. Half empty pizza boxes were strewn around the place, balloons scattered the floor, and alcoholic drinks stained the carpet, leaving behind a very strong scent of vodka and beer. Half empty cups littered the floor and countertops and there were even a few items of clothing left behind.

 Mark looked outside to see that the back yard was looking to be in about the same condition as the house. He'd deal with that later, but for now he diverted his attention back to cleaning the inside of the house, trying to work through his throbbing headache, cursing himself for not making it to his bed the night before, considering he didn't even drink. He must've just been really tired.

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Jack woke up before Isaac, making him breakfast as he slept soundly on the couch, the blanket pulled up to his nose. He brought a plate of eggs and toast over to Isaac, and lay it on the small end table before shaking him awake, receiving a groan of displeasure at the early awakening. Isaac pulled the blanket over his head completely, and turned so his body faced into the couch. Jack smirked and left the eggs on the table, getting up and going to eat his own breakfast on the small balcony that looked out onto the park on one side and an alleyway on the other.

 He was almost finished with his eggs when he heard Isaac stepping out onto the balcony, groggily nodding him a hello, and taking a bite of his own toast. It took him a few seconds of silent chewing to remember the reason why he was at Jack's, and he jumped to his feet, looking over at him concerned, beginning to ask what had happened.

 Jack felt it was safe to tell the whole story, earning a mixture of facial expressions from his tall bearded friend, ranging from anger to bewilderment, even a satisfied look of understanding when he mentioned the part about Ken. Isaac didn't break his focussed stare once, he continued to look on intently throughout Jack's story, nodding along frequently. Jack enjoyed that. He felt important. At some points, he felt the tears filling his eyes, but he didn't care if he cried, he felt safe around Isaac.

 Isaac was clearly fuming. He hated Will almost more than Jack did on a normal day, but the vein in his forehead threatened to burst when Jack had finished the story. Jack just hoped he wasn't about to be responsible for a fight breaking out. What scared Jack the most was Isaac's face when he heard about Mark's role in it. It was a face of shock, disbelief, and genuine disgust. 

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A/N Hey again!

Just a short chapter again about the aftermath of the party!!

I hope you all enjoyed the little chapter, and I think that the next one will be a little longer, so please stay tuned and give any feedback you want to!! I'd love to be able to improve my writing in any way possible!

Until next time though! Goodbye! :D