Roger glanced down at their clasped hands and smiled softly. He intertwined their fingers without say a word. It just felt right...Maybe Simon wasn't so shy after all huh?
"Yeah I just wanted to know what you'd prefer,"Roger said, wanting to make Simon as comfortable as possible. He felt the need to prove himself to the boy again after what he did. He felt guilty...Why'd it have to be Simon he yelled at?
Simon nodded, smiling to himself a little as he held Roger's hand, feeling safe. The other boys hand was surprisingly warm, and feeling their fingers intertwine was nice.
Roger heard a familiar voice from behind them and it sent a shiver down his spine. He quickly released Simons hand and turned around seeing his worst nightmare. Jack. Standing tall with his painted face and matted red hair.
"What gives you two the right to run off together and sleep outside our tribe huh?"He asked crossing his arms."Both of you...Get over here,"Jack growled, choosing to ignore their closeness and hand holding.
Simon nearly jumped upon hearing Jack's voice, his brain setting off an alarm of warning. Simon turned to look at Jack, trying to hide his fear the best he could, not wanting to fuel Jack's power.
He quickly went over to Jack, not wanting to disobey the other. When he was close enough, he realized just how big Jack was, big as a tree compared to him. "I'm sorry...I convinced Roger to stay overnight with me somewhere else." He lied, not wanting Roger to get in more trouble than he already is with Jack. He knew that it would result in probable punishment either way.
Roger listened to Jack with crossed arms and a stern expression. Simon and him didn't have to take his bullshit. He didn't control them, he wasn't even chief. He was a nobody. All Jack was was a blood thirsty jerk.
The red haired boy looked down at Simon with an angry expression."Do you understand how much time I spent looking for you two? I thought something might have happened to you guys. I wasted my night!"Jack yelled at Simon."And what I'm hearing is it's all your fault, huh?"
Simon tried not to look at Jack for too long, knowing that he'd eventually give in and look away out of fear. Instead of waiting for that to happen he simply turned his head to the ground.
"I'm sorry.." he said quickly, giving him a response as soon as he was done talking. He understood why Jack was mad, but he didnt know why he went looking for them, was it because he cared? Proably not, but the thought of that is nice.
"Jack knock it off. You shouldn't have come looking for us. Since when do you even care about anyone other than yourself? And get away from him it's not all his fault and you know that. He didn't even want to stay with me,"Roger said pulling Simon away from the angry boy who seemed more like a beast at that moment.
The dark haired boy stared at Roger, wondering why he didnt just let him take the fall for the situation. When the other boy pulled him away, the feeling of security and protectiveness was practically radiating off Roger, or maybe he was mistaken, and it's something else.
"Shut up Roger I don't care! The point is I wasted time for you two and this is the thanks I get,"Jack exclaimed."Don't you talk back to me,"He exclaimed pushing Roger away from him."Do you think you're better than me?"
Roger grit his teeth."I'm not doing this again Jack. I'm sorry that we left there's nothing we can do about it. We are here now, but you aren't the boss of u-"
"You don't think I'm the boss of you? Ralph isn't your chief and you know that. You were my friends before his. I feed you guys. You don't appreciate me at all. You don't deserve to-"
Roger lunged forward and gave Jack a hard hit to the gut."Yes we do! Simon cares more about the people on this island than you ever have in your life...Just go away!"
Jack stumbled for a moment, before forcing Roger too the forest floor. The two boys stopped speaking and instead exchanged blows. It was like watching two hungry lions fight for the last leg of meat.
Simon watched seemingly paralyzed in the moment. He couldn't intervine his body was froze while his head screamed.
Angry yells filled the jungle, the birds escaping from the trees to the sky. The yells slowly shifted into cries of pain. The red lion trashed under the weight of the black one, yelping in pain feeling claws on it's face. The piece of meat wasn't worth the fight, but they did it anyway.
Terror filled Simon's eyes as he forced himself towards the animals, pulling Roger off of Jack.
Jack instantly got to his feet and ran off as fast as he could, tears streaming down his cheeks. You could see the fear in his bloody face...
Are you okay?" Simon asked quietly, his tone gentle and kind as always, even though he was terrified. He wanted to hold Roger's hand again, keep him near so nobody can hurt him, but things were happening to hastily around here and he knew that one of these days he wont have Roger at all if he keeps swinging at people. Deep down, he feared Roger just as much as Jack, but another feeling masked that one. That feeling was love.
Roger put a hand over his face, taking a seat on the ground squeezing his eyes shut. He simply nodded his head hearing Simon. What was he going to do about Jack? They couldn't continue to fight like this forever, but what else could they do? Neither boy was going to get over anything. Sure, he didn't love Ralph or Piggy either, but Jack was really rubbing him the wrong way, hell he would have strangled him if Simon hadn't intervened.
"I'm sorry I dragged you into that,"Roger murmured wiping the blood from his swollen nose. Roger was stupid for hitting Jack in the first place, he just couldn't keep it in. The next time Jack decided to put his hands on him might be his last if they were alone...
"Wanna try and find some breakfast?"He asked getting to his feet with a heavy sigh. Roger grabbed Simons hand again for no particular reason and held it tightly. "You know your way around here a lot better than me so...Lead the way,"He laughed a little.
//promise I'll start some new ships I'm just super committed to this one for some reason, but I don't want to make it too long, I have more written, but I might end it here, what do you think? Y'all want some Jalph or more of this story? Word count~1136~
