Trust Your Instincts

-24- News

 Friday night went by uneventful for Jack. He walked home with Ken, enjoying the company more than he thought he would, and after that he just went up to his apartment and tried to sort out all of the homework he had gotten over the week. He checked his phone multiple times, Josh hadn't answered his texts, nor had Mark or Isaac, but Mark and Isaac never normally came to the phone.

 He went to bed, all hope of his friends replying leaving his mind. He wasn't necessarily sad, at least he had friends, thats better than the last few years of his life, but it does get lonely with no family.

 Mark spent the night pacing around his room. He hadn't heard anything about Josh, didn't get any kind of indication of his state of wellbeing, which worried him more than anything. Nevertheless, he didn't try to phone him. He didn't attempt to reach out in the fear that he was actually gone. 

 Did he need an alibi? Something to prove that he wasn't there that day. Too many thoughts were running through his head. He couldn't think straight. Eventually he sat down on his bed, and took out his phone. 

 He realised he had received a text from Jack. Just a simple 'hey how are ya', sent about four hours ago. He didn't want to tell Jack what had happened, but he didn't wanna lie about his whereabouts in case Josh was still alive, because if Josh was alive, he'd be able to tell the whole story. This didn't faze Mark in the slightest. At this point he'd give up all of his friendships for Josh to be alive.

 He decided against texting back, and placed his phone on the desk, before burying his head into the pillow, and staring into the darkness, unable to sleep. 

---

 Jack awoke reasonably early on Sunday morning, as he usually did. He checked his phone, noticing that Isaac had sent him a text apologising for not replying. He still had nothing from Mark or Josh, which made him bite his lip, slightly nervous for some reason.

 He walked to the kitchen and turned on the grill, taking out a pack of bacon from the fridge and pouring himself a mug of coffee. As he sat down to eat his bacon, he heard a knock on the door.

 Jack smiled widely, nobody ever came to visit, except Josh, Isaac, or occasionally Felix. He got up and strolled to the door, smiling as he opened it, expecting to see one of the three. 

 His smile soon faded when he was greeted by a police officer, who regarded him with a sympathetic stare.

 "You Jack McLoughlin?" The policeman said in a low gravelly voice.

 "Y-yes, that's me." Jack replied, a confused look on his face.

 "I need to ask you a few questions son." The police officer said. The use of the word son made Jack shiver a bit, though he did not know why.

 He nodded stiffly, inviting the officer into his flat.

 They sat across from each other, in the only two armchairs that Jack owned, as the police officer spoke. His voice was still rough, but it was obvious that he was trying to speak politely, sympathetically.

 "I need you to cooperate with me here Jack." The police officer said, matter-of-factly. He took a deep breath and looked to the ground before continuing. "Your friend Josh was found dead behind the school yesterday at 5:03pm. We think it was a murder, but whether it was intentional or not is still to be confirmed." 

 The officer continued to talk, speaking of the details of Josh's death, but Jack had blocked out all noise. He sat staring at the ground in disbelief. He wasn't crying, because he didn't believe that it was the truth. His hands shook and his mind raced as his body rocked back and forth on the chair he was sitting on.

 He was brought out of his trance by the police officer, waving his hand close to his face and yelling his name. He looked up slowly, expressionless. He told himself he would cooperate. The faster he speaks, the earlier the police officer will leave his flat. 

 And so he answered every question truthful. They gradually became harder to answer as it became more apparent that this wasn't a prank, his voice getting more nasal as he held back the tears.

 Josh was gone, and Jack had lost one of his only friends.

 He managed to answer every question without breaking down, and when the officer left, he quickly put his shoes on and headed to the only place he could think of going.

 He knocked on Isaac's door and waited a second. Isaac eventually answered the door, his eyes puffy and red, he had obviously been crying during the questioning.

 Now it was confirmed in Jack's mind, set in stone. Josh was gone, and Jack was finally unable to hold back his emotions. Before he was even in the door, he had broken down, tears streaming down his face as Isaac picked him up and half carried, half dragged him into the house.

 They cried together for what felt like hours, not saying any words, just crying.

 After a while, when they had calmed down, they stopped. Isaac was slouched back on the couch, Jack laying with his head in Isaac's lap. They didn't say a word, but Jack had no doubt in his mind that he had made the right decision to come here.

 The only other person who understood what he was going through was Isaac. Josh and Isaac were best friends too, and for a hell of a lot longer than Jack even knew them.

 With Isaac, Jack felt safer, like everything was going to be okay. He asked if he could stay the night. He didn't wanna be alone.

---

 Mark was greeted by a different police officer, this one female. He was lost for words when she said that Josh had been killed. His heart sank and he let the tears come immediately. 

 He wasn't sure what to do. Did he tell the truth and face the consequences, or lie about where he was yesterday. He thought about who had really killed Josh. Will would lie, and so would everyone else involved, and so Mark lied too. He just hoped that the others didn't pin it all on him. 

 "I asked if he would walk home with me, but he said he was going to help Will study for Geography, he said he was waiting out behind the school, and so... I walked home myself." Mark said, lying between his gasps for air, his tear streaked cheeks turning slightly redder. He had kept most of the story truthful. Josh was supposed to help Will study, and he did walk home alone that night.

 The officer reached out and placed her hand comfortingly on Mark's knee. "Thank you for your time, and I'm really sorry for your loss, Mark. I can tell you cared about him," she said sympathetically, and got up to leave.

 Mark wondered immediately why he had just lied, what if Will or Blake tell the truth, and then I'll be in more trouble than I would've already been in. 

 He tried to force the thought from his mind, and went to bed. He had done this. He killed Josh, and he was just worrying about his own consequences. He felt like he was being insensitive, selfish. 

 Mark took out his phone, and unlocked it, going into his messages, and started to type.

 'Jack, I'm assuming you heard too? please text me, I hope you're ok.' 

 He hit send without hesitating, and lay down, self loathing running through his mind.

________

A/N hello folks!!

 Yeah, Josh is gone now, I'm sorry :'( It was actually quite sad writing about it, I liked writing about his character, but...its my story and....yeah he's dead, I do have something planned because of it, so it wasn't like 'oh lets just kill someone for the shock factor'... promise.

But I hope you enjoyed that chapter and it wasn't too boring for you! and if you liked it, then i will see you in the next chapter!! :D