Trust Your Instincts

-30- Lonely

A whole week had passed, Jack never looked at Mark once. Mark could tell that he was actively avoiding him, and this time, he couldn't blame him. If Jack had been a part of Wade, Bob or Arin's death back home, Mark would be beyond pissed off. He told himself that in that circumstance, he would eventually forgive Jack, in the hope that Jack would do the same thing, but as the days went on, he began to accept that Jack wasn't as forgiving a person as he was.

That hurt Mark the most, knowing that he'd potentially lost Jack forever. He didn't know what he felt for Jack, but whatever it was, he didn't want to let it go. To let him go.

Jack had obviously told Isaac and Felix, because they also wanted nothing to do with him. Mark took the time to apologise to them both, explaining the situation the best he could without trying to shift the blame onto anybody else, but they didn't seem interested. He had kept his involvement a secret, and he hated himself for it. They'd probably have understood, had he told them immediately after it happened.

It was the exact situation Mark dreaded the night before walking into school on his first day, that he'd end up friendless and alone.

He spent most of his free time in the library, his thoughts mainly on Jack, Isaac and Felix. How could he let his life fall apart like this? He had it so good a few weeks back. His friend count was in the double digits. Now he had no friends whatsoever, nobody there to take his mind off his family, nobody to talk to or feel comfortable around.

Ken was still avoiding him, nowhere to be seen in the lunch hall or the library. Mark just hoped that his absence wasn't because he still thought that he hated him. At this point, Mark wanted nothing more than to be Ken's friend again, he always seemed to understand what he was going through, and Mark stupidly called off the friendship without stopping to hear an explanation.

His classes were the same, if not worse. In math, he and Isaac sat in silence, not a word exchanged between the two at all. Mark could almost see the hatred and disgust radiating off Isaac as he sat there, determined not to give Mark the satisfaction of even a split second of eye contact.

In physics, Jack had asked the teacher to switch seats, and the next morning he got his wish. When he walked into class, it wasn't Jack who sat next to him, he sat at the front of the class now, also refusing to look upon Mark. Instead, Mark sat next to a girl called Laurel. She wasn't in many of his classes, and the ones she was in, they never sat near enough to get to know each other, but she smiled warmly at Mark every time they happened to make eye contact, and in Mark's eyes, that was the closest to a friendship he had at the moment. Even if they had never spoke, at least she didn't hate his guts like everyone else in the school seemed to, including him.

It pained him, watching Jack sit two rows in front of him, acting as if Mark had never been a part of his life at all. He seemed to be able to go about his day like he did when Mark was with him, and didn't even look back as Mark's life fell apart before him.

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Jack thought he would be able to easily cut Mark out of his life and never look back. He deserved nothing less after what he had done, and then failed to own up to. It wouldn't be hard, it'd be just like ending his friendship with Will was.

Except it wasn't. Will took on every day after their friendship with arrogance and threatening glares. He seemed to recover from their falling out almost instantly.

In comparison, Mark had spent the whole week wallowing in guilt and self loathing. Jack noticed that in class, whenever he dared to turn, Mark would be hunched over the table, not paying even the slightest bit of attention to the teacher. He would walk down the corridor alone, the spring in his step seemed to vanish over time, as he trudged dismally along the floor, his head hung and his hands stuffed into his pockets.

Isaac had chosen to stay sitting next to him in math, and he was obviously becoming pitiful over Mark, reporting back to Jack after every class how difficult it is not to speak to him while he sits with his eyes on the floor and his hands constantly fidgeting in his lap.

What shocked Jack the most about the whole thing was that he missed Mark. He missed seeing him smile. He missed his voice, his laugh.

Jack hated what Mark did, yet, he couldn't help but feel a little bit of compassion for him whenever he saw him sitting alone in the library, or walking down the corridors friendless. His mind was invaded all week by the thoughts of Mark, and what he had done, and the more he thought about it, the more he realised that, had he been in the same situation, faced with a maniacal Will and his goonies, severely outnumbered, he'd probably have reacted in a similar way.

Mark was scared, he didn't know what to do. He probably wouldn't even have been able to stop Will and Eli if he tried.

Gradually, Jack began to realise how unfair he had been, and his guilt for what he had said and did in the music room only continued to grow. It was obvious that Mark had little to no role in Josh's death, and with each day that passed, Jack's regret for what he had said to Mark became more apparent. Everyone deserved a second chance, and Jack was depriving Mark of just that.

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A/N Hello!!

BOOM! Of course they miss each other!! I cant have them separated for that long!

I don't have much to say in this A/N. I think the chapter was pretty self explanatory, so I'm gonna take the time to thank you so much for getting this far in the fic, it really means a lot to me if people like what I write!!

I will see you guys in the next chapter! I hope you enjoyed this one!! :D