You did WHAT?!?!

Part 3

Jack's eyes slowly opened as the driver called out to him from the front seat.

"Oi, boys, we're here."

"Oh, uh, thanks." Jack muttered tiredly, wiping the sleep out of his eyes.

"It was my pleasure." The driver responded with a kind smile.

Jack turned towards Brook, who was still fast asleep, his arms now clamped tightly around Jack's. The taller boy reached up with his left hand and began the run his fingers gently through Brook's hair.

"Hey, Brook, wake up, we gotta go."

The blonde boy's eyes started to open, confusion swimming around in his green irises for a moment before his eyes closed again. Jack sighed, knowing that there was no way he was gonna get his friend to wake up completely. So he took it upon himself to slowly drag the boy out of the car so that the driver could take his leave. When Jack was made apparent that Brook was struggling to stand up, he went ahead and maneuvered himself in such a way that he could lift the boy up onto his back. Without a word, Brook instinctively hugged his arms and legs around Jack, nothing shy of how a koala would a tree.

"You nut." Jack thought.

From there, they made their way up the stairs of the building. Once they arrived at the door, Jack kicked the base of it with his foot. He heard quick footsteps rush towards them and watched as the door opened slowly. Andy's head came peaking around the corner and his eyes opened wide when he spotted Brook on Jack's back.

"Is he... okay?"

"Yeah." Jack responded, the slight grudge he was still holding against the two pranksters audibly resonating in his response. Hurt and guilt shown in Andy's eyes.

"Bring him inside. We need to get him to bed."

The tall brunette pushed passed the oldest boy and carried his small blonde friend through the house and into their shared room.

As Jack sat down on Brook's bed to deposit him into his warm sheets, the smaller boys whined, something Jack hadn't heard him do unironically before, holding tighter.

"Don't... leave me alone..." he mumbled, clearly speaking in his sleep.

"Brook, you're home now, you don't have to worry about anyone leaving you. And we sleep in the same room, remember? I'm not far away." Brook only snuggled his head into the back of Jack's neck in response. The taller boy sighed. He resorted to prying at Brook's arms and legs until he was free, the blonde boy easily transitioning from his warm spot on Jack into his comfy bed sheets. Jack exhaled in relief, but against his better judgment, decided to sit there and watch Brook for a bit. Thoughts began to whirl around his brain.

Brook was annoying. He was that one friend who never shuts up. He said weirdly sexual things all the time that made the atmosphere awkward. There were a lot of reasons to not like Brook. Frankly, Jack didn't know why he was friends with him. I mean, they were in a band together but their relationship could have just remained professional, but I guess being friends was more worth the time. And Jack never thought of Brook in any other way. He was just a friend. An annoying, inconvenient friend.

Jack frowned. He frowned because his body went into immediate conflict. He knew he was lying to himself.

Something about Brook not being on his bed playing a video game, jerking it in the bathroom, singing in the kitchen, or laughing obnoxiously loud at something hardly funny at all, had unleashed a feeling in Jack that he had buried deep inside himself a long time ago. Something that, for almost a year, he had rejected over and over again until it finally left him alone.

Jack wasn't afraid of a lot of things. He was raised up in a tough family where he wasn't allowed to fear things. Yet, because of what he was taught, he developed a deep fear for the thing that he was supposed to be able to reject and squash beneath his feet. And what happened with Brook today... his fear only rose to the surface again.

It was the fact that he really cared.

Jack didn't need to be emotional, it wasn't something he wanted to feel. But the truth was, it was there, whether he was ready to accept it or not. And it drove him absolutely insane.

Brook being in trouble worried him. It tore deep into the depths of his mind and rocked him in ways that he didn't want it to. This... caring emotion that he felt. God, it wasn't even just caring. It was so much more than that. He hated it.

It would forever change how he interacted with people, how they saw him, how much they trusted him. Times were getting better but there was so much still wrong with what he felt.

The devilishly sweet feeling he once buried deep down was back. It was strong and it was fighting hard. It consumed him.

Brook... why?

Why you?

Why when I can't just, up and leave?

Why do I have to like you?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I really hope y'all are enjoying this shit so far xD Also hope y'all r having a good day <3