“Jack?”
The curtain shakes once more, before being pulled back slightly. Jacks long, lanky fingers curl around the curtain, his eyes peeking around it. “Jack…?” You say again. He doesn’t say anything, he doesn’t respond. He continues to stare at you, before pulling the curtain fully back, swinging his legs over the side and looking down at his feet. He stands up and walks to the back of the tour bus, before sitting down onto the lounge. You follow after him, awkwardly taking a spot next to him. He continues to look down at the floor, when you notice something very off about him.
The dark circles were more prominent now that fell under his eyes, red rims were lined around his eyes, tear stain marks fell down his cheeks, his mouth slightly turned down at the sides, his hair messy and unkept. Jack picked at his fingernails, not speaking. You rise from your seat and walk in front of him, squatting down to look at his face.
“Jack, what happened?” You ask, he sits back, straightening his back and looking you dead straight in the eye. “Nothing ever ‘happened’, I'm just like this,” he announced. “This isn’t you,” you state, knowing from what you’ve seen, from the videos, the interviews, that this wasn’t Jack. “And how would you know?” he snapped, before looking back down. “Sorry” he mumbled, obviously in a very vulnerable state. “I have to, um…” he trails off, standing and walking around you. He stops walking when his phone buzzes in his back pocket. He pulls it out, and You walk up behind him, sneakily reading the text message over his shoulder.
‘Going out with everyone, and the girls. See you when we get back x’
The message was from Alex. Jack snapped his phone shut as sobs began to rise from him again. You didn’t know what ‘the girls’ meant, but it was clear to see that Jack was being excluded, and was suffering from it, hell Alex didn’t even offer for him to come out with them. Jack throws his phone across the bus, then crumbles in front of you. He falls down to his knees, and then falls to his side, curled up, knees to his chest and head hidden behind his arms. Almost like an instinct, you drop down next to him, an arm gently placed on his shoulder. He flicks his head up, small tears falling from water pooled eyes. You put your arm around his shoulders and straighten him so he’s not lying on the floor. Your arms wrap around him, pulling to your side, comforting him, gently stroking up and down his arm. You had never seen someone so weak, so vulnerable, and so submissive towards you. He curls up next to you, tucking legs and arms to your side, hiding his face on your shoulder. Not a word is said between either of you, just a soothing sound of heartbeats slowing down and sobs quietening. Jack snuggled up comfortably to your side, and although you had only just met him, he seemed to be comfortable with where he was.
Your hands stroked lightly up and down his arms, trailing from his shoulder, down to his fingertips, where you would play with them, fumble with them in your hand. Jack surprised you when he got up, taking your hand in his, and twisting around. He slowly pulled you in for a tight hug, squeezing his arms around your waist and tucking his head in the crook of your neck. You wrap yours around his waist and lightly squeeze back, although you knew this wasn’t going to make everything better for him. He let you go and walked over to his bunk, he slid the curtain back and rolled into it. You went to leave, to walk off that tour bus and to probably never see Jack, or the rest of the band again, when something caught on you as you were walking by. You turn to look at the thin, pale arm out stretched from a bunk, Jacks nimble fingers gripping at the bottom hem of your shirt. He pokes his head out and looks up at you, then glances at his bunk, then back to you. “Don’t go,” he says, as quiet as a whisper, twisting his fingers in the fabric. His big brown eyes look up at you, pleading for you to stay. “I just, don’t really, uh you know, want to be by myself tonight… if that’s okay” he admits quietly. You look at his hand, still pulling at your shirt, when he retreats it back to his bunk. You stand there, just thinking. It took a few more moments for your brain to function and realize what Jack was asking for. You kneel down and lean over into the bunk, when you feel Jack lean out and wrap both of his arms around you, then pulling you into his bunk. His long fingers trail down your sides until they find your ticklish spot just under your ribs. “Jack. Don’t you dare” you stare up at him, warning that if he dared to tickle you, you will no longer be held responsible for your actions. He wickedly smiles down at you, and it made your heart stutter, from after what you had just recently witnessed, someone being so broken, to this now someone teasing playfully, smiling. “Oops” he mouths, then digging his fingers into your sides, making you squirm around and flip over in the small space. “JACK” you start to scream, trying your hardest to get hold of his hands, but failing as they move around too quickly. You jump up and around, not paying attention to where you were flailing. Jack shuffles closer to you as you jump even more, you roll around with your back to him, when he pulls you so you roll back, but with Jack being so close, you end up rolling on top of him. His fingers freeze as the tips of your noses lightly touch. The bunks were that small that you couldn’t retreat your face from him, not that you wanted to. He smiles and looks down at your lips, and then he meets your eyes again.
Your eye connection is suddenly cut short by loud noises, banging and heavy footfalls. Jack's head flips over and looks down the bus. The curtain was still open, showing you lying on top of Jack. He slides you off him, so that you’re hiding behind him. The rest of the band scrambled onto the bus, as Jack reached down and yanked up the curtain just in time. You could hear Alex ramble and shout, tripping over his own feet as he stumbled up the bus. His bunk was just on the other side of Jack's. You duck behind Jack, trying your best to hide away so that they won’t notice. Jack turns around in the bunk so he’s facing you once more. “Thank you” Jack whispers, placing one hand on the side of your face. He rests it there gently, and then places the softest of kisses on your forehead. You smile and close your eyes, praying that this indeed wasn’t a dream.
