hanahaki // borderlands

chapter nineteen

"I have to go." Rhys sounded numb. Worse than numb, actually. He sounded dead. "I-I'm sorry, I'll try to call you later."

"Rhys, please, don't go," Jack begged. God, please, let him just get it out. What if Rhys was in love with him? It could save his fucking life! "I really want to hear what you have to--"

"I'm sorry, Jack. We can talk later."

"No--" Jack yelled over his shoulder to Troy and Tyreen, both of which were grabbing for his phone and yanking at his arms. "Both of you, stop! I mean it-- Rhys, don't go!"

"I-- I have to, I'm sorry."

"Rhysie--!!"

The line went dead. Jack's heart dropped.

"Rhys?" he asked quietly. "Rhysie, baby, please tell me you didn't hang up. C'mon. This isn't funny."

Reluctantly, with eyes shut tight, Jack pulled the phone away from his ear slowly. When he finally had the courage to open his eyes and check the screen, the proof was in the pudding.

CALL ENDED.

Right across the top of the screen.

"No," Jack murmured. "God motherfucking damn it all to fucking hell, no--!!"

Jack chucked his phone off the balcony with an angry scream into the fountain in his front yard, letting the shriek tear out of him until he shook. Once it was all out, he grabbed at his hair, pulling it ferociously by the fistfuls, and he grit his teeth hard enough to break them.

"Oh, boohoo," Tyreen said carelessly. "You didn't get to talk to your little boy toy or whatever, big fucking whoop. You were in the middle of telling us something, anyway. About your disease."

Jack stopped pulling his hair and slowly looked to the twins. He scowled at them, wanting to chuck them off the balcony like his stupid fucking phone. "Right. My fucking disease. Well, you wanna know about my goddamn disease, Tyreen? You wanna know?" He stepped towards them, looking between them wildly. "The two of you nosy, worthless little shits wanna know about my goddamn disease?" He pointed behind him, in the general direction of where his phone went. "That was my person. Right there on that fucking phone. And while you two cocksucking fucking pillocks were trying to get my phone and play fucking keep-away or some other childish trash, I think he was about to tell me that he was in love with me."

Troy stepped between Jack and Tyreen, pushing him back by his shoulders. "Take a step back, Jack. Don't get in her face. We didn't know."

"No! Neither of you had any fucking idea! And now he's gone and I don't know when he'll be able to talk to me again, let alone if he'll want to try and tell me again."

Tyreen looked around Troy, gesturing towards the fountain with her chin. "I don't think he'll be able to call you at all with your phone taking a dip in the fountain there, bud. And don't act like you didn't just drop a fucking bomb on us! You told us you were dying!"

"Yes! I am!" Jack clenched his fists tightly at his sides as he shouted, "I am dying! And this is only wasting more fucking time!" 

Tyreen and Troy stared at him for a moment before Tyreen rolled her eyes and grabbed Troy's arm. "Whatever. C'mon, Troy. Let's give the old man his fucking time or whatever, since it's too precious to waste on being honest with his family."

Troy looked back at Jack sadly, in an apologetic way, but he let Tyreen pull him along. Jack watched their backs as they left through the door they almost busted off the hinges, and he heard them go out the front door. He turned around to watch them as they went, but they didn't spare him a second glance as they climbed into their car and drove off quickly, like they couldn't get away fast enough.