Trust Your Instincts

-19- Cheerer Uppers

 Ken sat in the nurses office, slumped in the chair next to Mark's. Mark sat with his head in his hands, his elbows resting against his knees. He was shaking slightly, Ken assumed that he was crying silently, and therefore didn't press him to talk much. 

 The others had already vacated the room, led by Will. They were off to devise a new plan to get back at Jack, obviously keeping Mark out of the conversation, as Ken knew for a fact that Mark would protest against the plan. Ken had refused to take part in whatever was going to happen without hesitating, and so the others left the room without a word, except bidding their farewells to Mark. Blake lingered momentarily, but eventually he followed the others. Ken looked on in disgust. What was Will's obsession with Jack's suffering? And why did Blake and the rest see it as healthy?

 The nurse entered the room once more, and knelt down in front of Mark, smiling sympathetically. Ken had seen her a few times from afar, but this close up, he was taken aback by her beauty. She can't have been any more than three years older than him, or so it looked. 

 She put her hand under Mark's chin, forcing him to look up at her, his cheeks damp and his eyes red, a slight foreshadowing of a bruise appearing on his right eye. 

 "Okay, Mark," she started softly, not breaking eye contact with Mark, "I think that's you all set, you're free to go whenever you'd like." She smiled and stood again. 

 "Thanks Nurse Mary."  Mark croaked, his voice rough from crying. Mary turned her head as she reached out for the door handle, her dyed pink hair falling over her eyes before she pushed it back over her ears again. 

 She looked directly at Ken. "Don't you let him get in any more fights!" She joked, giggling slightly, "though I dread to see what the other boy looks like." She received an awkward chuckle from Ken. Mark's head returned to his hands. She exited the room, and Ken was once again alone with Mark. His face was slightly red from the interaction, but Mark certainly wasn't in the position to be noticing that sort of stuff.

 Ken looked over at Mark once again, concern in his eyes. He knew what he had to do, but he'd wait until Mark wasn't in need of him. He tentatively put a hand on Mark's shoulder, causing the other to look up at him, new tears forming in his eyes. 

 Mark threw his arms around Ken, digging his head into the crook of his neck, wincing slightly at the pain in his nose. Jack had broke it, but thankfully did nothing to his jaw. Ken hugged back, enveloping Mark in his arms, allowing him to sink into him a little.

 "I'm sorry this happened." Ken said into Mark's shoulder, causing Mark to shake his head. 

 "It wasn't your fault Ken, whatever happened to Jack, I'm sure it wasn't your fault." Mark whispered. "Thank you for staying with me." He said after a pause, tightening his grip on Ken.

 "S'what friends are for, isn't it?" Ken said, trying his best to sound cheerful, enthusiastic.

 "Yeah," Mark said solemnly, once again saddened. "Friends."

---

 Jack sat behind the piano, his head pressed against the keys. The notes had long since fizzled out, leaving him in silence, the sound of his steadying breath being the only noise. He was taken aback by how much of a struggle it was to contain himself while confronting Mark. He even felt he might have slipped up slightly at one point. He hoped that Mark hadn't noticed his eyes, or anyone else around, for that matter.

 He heard the door to the practice room creak open slowly, refusing to look up from the darkness of the grey carpeted floor. The door eventually swung the whole way, and he was forced to accept that he would just have to communicate with whoever had just walked through. He just hoped it wasn't Mark.

 He was slightly uplifted when he looked up to see Josh standing timidly by the door. He looked scared, concerned, as he held the door open, half of his body peeking around it.

 "I... don't know if this is a bad time, I understand if you want to be alone, but... I just want you to know that I'm here for you Jack, should you need me." Josh said, his voice was smooth, Jack could only compare it to melted caramel, rich and deep. He didn't falter, he didn't stutter, the words sounded like they came straight from the heart.

 Josh motioned towards the still open door, indicating that he could still leave if Jack wished him to, but Jack shook his head, beckoning him to come closer, and share the piano stool with him. "No, ya silly. You know I love talking to you Josh." Jack said, feeling calmer already.

 Josh sat beside Jack and smiled warmly, putting an arm around him and feeling Jack sink into his shoulder slightly. It was comforting, really.

 "I'm okay Josh, really," Jack stressed, "I promise. I hadn't put all my faith into mine and Mark's friendship, so it's not as if I lost my best friend, that spot's still being held by you," he said, faking sarcasm, but both of them knew it was the truth. Jack only had two... maybe two and a half friends anyway. 

 Josh smiled and punched Jack in the arm playfully, lost for words. He stayed silent, but it was a comfortable silence. Jack had forgotten most of his problems, he was just happy to be with Josh in the moment, he knew he could always count on him and Isaac.

 Josh broke the silence, he still respected Mark. He still saw the good in him, and was struggling to believe that he had a role in any of this. "Have you actually considered the possibility that Mark was oblivious to this whole plan, Jack?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow at his friend.

 Jack didn't reply. To be honest, he had assumed without thinking twice that Mark had a role, it only made sense, why else would he pry so much to get Jack to attend? There was still the possibility that Mark was being overly friendly. He looked ahead at the wall, the room returning to its original silence, as he thought about what Josh had just said.

 What if Mark was innocent? Then he didn't deserve any of this. He did look genuinely confused when I confronted him. Jack thought.

 He heard a soft knock at the door after about two minutes of silence, and stood from the stool to go and answer it.

 When he opened the door, he was greeted by Ken, grinning sheepishly. Jack's smile fell immediately, transforming into a scowl. 

 "What do you want?" He demanded, his voice low and angry. He watched Ken's expression go from shyly optimistic to worried and scared in about half a second.

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A/N Hey folks!

It's me again, with another update, heck these are almost daily now!!

Anyway, I know I don't have much readers, but for those of you who have made it to this point, I really do love you!! And also, I'm having a great time writing this!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I will look forward to speaking to you,,, in the next A/N! :D