Crash & Burn || Roadtrip Tv

e i g h t - j a c k

Jack had gotten an early flight back to Dublin, where he was met and greeted by his best friend in the whole world, Ricky.

The fawn haired boy smiled a wide toothy grin as he saw his little Irish buddy. He ran up to him and they trapped each other in a tight embrace, their arms wrapped around each other in a hug. "Man, I missed you." Ricky beamed, his accent much heavier than Jack's was.

"I missed you too, bro." Jack smiled weakly back.

"I'm so sorry about Rye, and Brooklyn." Ricky said apologetically. Jack winced. "Could we please not talk about them please, neither of them, please." He begged, his voice weak and pleading. Ricky sighed, nodding, understanding why his best friend didn't want to talk about his dead friend and now ex boyfriend.

"Come on, man, lets go home." Ricky suggested, wrapping his arm around Jack's shoulders and pulling him. Jack nodded, taking his suitcase in one had and walking out of the airport with Ricky.

The drive back to their house was a silent yet comfortable one. Ricky understood that Jack was upset. He understood that Jack was going to be broken for a long while. Every time Jack had called the boy up, he would always go on about how amazing Brooklyn was and how much he loved him.

After a short drive, they arrived at Ricky's house. The house that Jack had lived in after his parents kicked him out. This house was his home. Not the one that he had grown up and been raised in. That place was no longer home to him. Not after his parents had disowned him for something that he couldn't possibly control or change.

Actually, his home with back in London, with the boys, with Brooklyn. But this was also a place that whilst in London, he would consider part of his home as well as the flat.

"Welcome home." Ricky announced as he pulled his car into the driveway. Jack unbuckled his seat belt, opening the door and getting out to admire the place he had lived in before Roadtrip. "Thank you." He said sincerely, smiling at the boy. Ricky just shook his head. Jack did not need to thank him, he was his best friend, and he'd do anything for him.

For the rest of that day, Jack and Ricky spent the rest of the day just catching up. Ricky talked about college and how things were going for him, before moving on to Jack. Ricky listened while Jack spoke passionately about the band. About Brooklyn. About everything that he had been doing. Ricky listened while Jack cried about how much he missed Brooklyn and the boys already, despite only being away from them- excluding Rye- for less than a day. He hadn't seen Rye, however, in two weeks. And that hurt him.

Ricky hugged Jack tightly again. "Let's do something. Let's go to the cinema and watch a film." He suggested as they pulled apart. Jack sniffed, wiping away the stray tears under his eyes with his hoodie sleeve that was pulled over his hands. He nodded. "Thank you."

•

Hours later, Jack and Ricky returned home from the cinema and restaurant that they went to for dinner. "That was such a good film!" Jack beamed as him and Ricky walked through the front door of the house. Ricky smiled at his friend.

Jack appreciated Ricky and everything that he did that day for him. He had been able to take his mind off Brooklyn and Rye, and make him focus on something else. "Thank you for today." Jack smiled at the fawn haired boy. Ricky just shook his head. "It's nothing, bro, anything for my best mate."

They both took off their coats and jackets and shoes, placing them back in the under stairs cupboard. Jack began up the stairs. "Hey, wanna play Xbox?" Ricky asked, leaning against the wall as he rolled the sleeves on his hoodie up.

Jack thought about it for a second before shaking his head. "Nah thanks mate, I'm really tired and just wanna have an early night." Ricky nodded, understanding. This was something that Jack loved about his best friend, he was understanding and would never push him or pressure him to tell him anything. "Alright man, have a nice night. I'll see you in the morning." Ricky smiled, waving and bidding Jack and goodnight.

Jack made his way up the stairs and into his old bedroom. He looked at his phone for the first time that day, the tears returning to his eyes as he saw the photo that he had saved as his lock screen. It was a collage he had made of all of his favourite photos.

Looking at Rye, looking at Brooklyn. He felt his heart break as he looked at each of those photos. There was one of him and Brooklyn, them both smiling, Brooklyn leaning his head against Jack's.

Then, there was his favourite photo of Brooklyn individually. It was a picture Jack had taken himself whilst him and Brooklyn were out on a date. Jack had thought Brooklyn looked especially handsome that night and just had to capture it.

Then there was one of all of the boys from Halloween 2017. They were all dressed up in different costumes, Rye was a ghostbuster while
Brooklyn was something that Jack couldn't quite remember- he had a pair of white teeth in however.

There was also another photo of each of all the boys together. They were sat on a bench, side by side. Jack was sat on the end, his arm around Brooklyn, his hand on his shoulder. Mikey and Rye sat on the other side, Rye holding Mikey's face as he tried to kiss him jokingly, one of his legs over Mikey's lap, Mikey resisting the kiss. Andy sat broodingly in the middle, looking into the camera. Chris had taken it on the day that they filmed the video for their cover of Rise.

There another photo of just Jack and Brooklyn. It was taken about six months ago when they were in the small playground opposite the flat. They had all been out there playing football or something when a pair of roadies turned up and asked if Jacklyn was actually real. Brooklyn and Jack had just turned to each other, silently communicating with their eyes. Jack smirked as he grabbed Brooklyn's face, holding it in his hands. He pulled Brooklyn's face towards his and smashed their lips together, both of their eyes closing. The two roadies cheered and clapped as Rye filmed it, Mikey taking a picture of the loved up couple.

Jack didn't even bother getting undressed and changed into his pyjamas. He just kicked of his shoes from his feet and crawled under the cold duvet of his old bed. He led on his stomach, his arms crossed on top of the pillow, his face buried in the crook of his elbow. He cried into his arm, attempting to keep the volume of his loud and suffocated sobs to a minimum. But it just wasn't working.

Jack stayed like this, crying for hours until he finally had no tears left for that day and fell into a deep sleep due to the sheer exhaustion from crying for so long.