My Exact Opposite | Jachary AU

37

Zach felt the black hole return whenever he was alone and he'd find himself getting sucked in; every single emotion that he'd felt over the past few weeks slowly morphing into numbness.

He hadn't been able to sleep either. His dreams became more erratic, more nightmarish. Recently, his father started appearing in them, repeatedly hitting him while Zach screamed for help, and just when he felt like he was about to die, he'd wake up in cold sweat, eyes frantically darting around the room to make sure his father was really gone for good.

Almost a week had passed since Jack visited, and his absence was eating away at the boy. Had he said something that offended Jack? Or had Jack finally decided that he didn't want to hang around him anymore?

Zach sighed. Why was having emotions so complicated?

The sound of his door opening was enough to startle him out of his thoughts.

"Jack?"

"Hey," the older gave him a weary smile.

"Don't pretend like everything's okay."

Jack let out a small laugh. "You're good at reading people."

"Are we going to talk about what happened?"

"Yes," Jack sighed. "I'm sorry."

"For the last time, stop apologizing. None of this is your fault, alright?"

"I can't not. You almost died because of me being stupid! It's not like I can just live with that, okay?" Jack's voice was getting louder and Zach flinched, arms raised slightly so that his face was covered, but not before Jack saw his solid, black irises.

Fear.

Jack sat in stunned silence as Zach lowered his hands, eyes turning maroon. The younger coughed, heat rising to his cheeks.

"It's nothing," he said once he saw the look on Jack's face.

"No, there's clearly something going on. Please, Zach. I just want to help."

"You'll be scared off again," he mumbled.

"What do you mean?"

Zach's eyes changed colors so quickly that Jack barely caught them: black, hazel, purple, and at least five different others until they seemed to settle on all of them. "I just-you didn't visit me for a week! I thought you decided to not be friends with me anymore..." he said miserably. Jack suddenly lost the ability to form words. What was he supposed to tell the boy? That he was scared of repeating his mistake? It sounded too much like an excuse, and he didn't want Zach to have to deal with so much just a week after waking up from his coma.

"I'm sorry." The look Zach gave him was enough to make him feel even more guilty. "Tell me what's wrong," he added after a moment.

"I can't sleep," Zach whispered. "I'm scared. I should be free of him, but why am I more scared than before? Why do I keep thinking of him? Why does he still show up in my dreams and-" Zach felt a storm of emotions rage within him, but he didn't bother taking the time to identify each and every single one of them. "I just-I can't-why can't I let go of it? Why am I like this?" Jack reached out and he flinched again, screwing his eyes shut.

"Sorry," Jack said, drawing back. "You were crying, so I thought I'd just-you know." Jack gestured towards Zach's face. The younger felt his cheeks heat up again and fought the sudden urge to hide under his blanket.

"Oh, um-sorry, it'd just-I've been more jumpy because of the nightmares and everything..."

"It's okay. Do you mind?" Jack gestured towards his face again.

"I can do it by myself." The words came out harsher than he intended and Zach grimaced. "It wasn't supposed to come out like that...I'm sorry," the boy apologized for what seemed like the tenth time in the past minute while hurriedly rubbing at his eyes.

"Zach, it's fine, okay?" Jack gave him a weary smile. "And to be honest, the reason why I didn't visit you was because I was scared of repeating my mistake. I don't want you to end up here again because of me. I don't want us to get close if it's only going to end up with you getting hurt."

For some reason, Zach felt like hugging the older boy but stayed still. "I know you're concerned, but I'm not made of glass. My therapy sessions start in a couple of days, okay? Trust me, I'll be fine."

"Okay. I trust you." Jack suddenly blushed and looked down at his lap. "And for what it's worth, I think we're better together anyways."

"I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that, you're making me cringe!" Zach scrunched his nose and Jack caught himself thinking about how cute he was.

"Fine, I guess I'll tone it down a bit. You did wake up from a coma after all." He checked his watch and cursed. "I'm late for dinner."

"And the world's going to end if you're a few minutes late?"

"No, but it's my mom's birthday."

"Then why....why would you even-you're unbelievable. Now go to your dinner! If I could walk, I'd be pushing you out the door right now, but you're gonna have to walk out yourself." Zach's eyes turned yellow and Jack felt his heart melt a bit.

"See you tomorrow," he said, pressing a soft kiss to the back of his hand.

Just as he was about to walk out of the room, he felt a pillow hit the back of his head. Confused, he turned around to see Zach flashing him a lopsided grin.

"What was that for?" he asked, tossing the pillow back to him.

"I think we're better together too."

Jack coughed as he blushed, making the younger boy's smile grow even wider. "Okay, I'm gonna go or I'm going to be really late so bye!" The words came out in a panicked rush before he sprinted down the hall, trying to calm the butterflies in his stomach.

Once he was sure that Jack had left, Zach sighed. There were so many things that he was feeling and having emotions was starting to get confusing. Maybe therapy was best for him.

And maybe he'd figure out why he kept blushing when he was around Jack.

sorry it's a bit short this time, next update will be longer, i promise! it's going to get a bit heavy too, so prepare yourselves :)

also does anyone even want a prequel? i keep asking but it feels like i'm yelling into space here T_T