𝟐 | 𝐈'𝐌 𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐘 𝐁𝐎𝐍𝐊𝐄𝐑𝐒 ♗ 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐇𝐨𝐨𝐤 ♝

𝑡𝑤𝑜. 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑘𝑒𝑛 𝑐𝑦𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠

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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐎:

𝐵 𝑅 𝑂 𝐾 𝐸 𝑁 𝐶 𝑌 𝐶 𝐿 𝐸 𝑆

Jax grunted as he put out the fire with the miniature extinguisher in his hands. "Shouldn't you be doing this in a more, I don't know, controlled environment?" He panted towards Wyc. The March Hare's son was an amateur inventor and had unfortunately decided to take his current project back to his dorm, resulting in a miscalculation that led to the small fire occurring.

Wyc scratched his head with a guilty expression on his face. "Yeah, usually I spend a lot of time in the mechanics' lab but," He paused, not knowing what to say and before he could think twice, all that came out of his mouth was, "I don't know man."

Jax caught on to Wyc's hesitation. It wasn't difficult, Wyc never says something that he doesn't mean. "What?" He went rigid, his back straightening and wanting to know what was wrong.

Wyc pursed his lips as he slightly banged the wrench in his hand against his work desk. "I- I didn't want to leave you here alone." He revealed.

Jax didn't know how he felt about that answer, "Really?" His voice wasn't surprised, well it was, just not in an amusing way as usual. It was much more soft with the question.

Wyc nodded slowly, "You've been dealing with a lot this year, constantly switching dorms, you've almost never stepped outside" He gestured towards the curtained windows, "And we've all got classes five days a week, pretty soon we'll be converted from students to staff because you know they'd never let us leave the area." His voice quieted at the end before walking up to the Hatter to let him know that this was serious, "Jax, you're practically isolated."

Jax wagged a finger at him, "I survived the Isle, my friend, this here," He presented the room with his hands, but both knew he was talking about his current situation, "It's almost a vacation." He boasted, a grin upon his face once more as he turned and picked something up from Binx's area, but Wyc couldn't tell what it was.

The March Hare's son sighed softly, walking behind Jax. "I wouldn't judge you if you were going through something, you know that right?" He asked gently.

Jax went stiff, "I know. Thank you, Wyc." He was a good friend, but Jax hated to share his feelings unless absolutely necessary.

If he had taken him up on the offer to talk things through, he probably would've fallen apart right there on the dark carpet beneath their feet. Jax had so much running through mind and heart that he couldn't even pick just one emotion to describe what he was feeling. His heart ached to have Harry back in his arms, to kiss his full lips and run his fingers through his dark curls. He missed him for company at night, to be encased in each other's arms. It was an unspoken promise to protect the other in that strong embrace throughout the night and beyond.

He felt guilty over leaving Uma to her own merits, while Jax knew that she could survive practically anything, it didn't excuse his abandonment. His soul hated itself for what it chose to do that night, to leave behind one of the few friends he made outside his people. Even if by some miracle that Uma eventually forgave him, he would never forgive himself for that atrocious act. And it was because of those two that the Hatter felt torn.