Drink Your Medicine (Jalex)

<20>

Things were looking up. It had been three weeks since Jack had officially moved in, and all was going pretty well. He'd started going to school after two days of being stuck at home. Zack, Rian, and Maria had all become close friends with us. So maybe things weren't quite as bad as they used to be. 

Mum had finally given up on necromancy. She was becoming nicer and more like the mother I used to know, although she still was pretty persistent in getting me to take the medicine. Then again, so was Jack. 

After about four dates, Jack and I decided that we were official, so we started holding hands and hugging in the hallways of schools and in more public places. Mum and Dad had taken quick notice of our relationship, and as a precaution, moved Jack's air mattress out of my bedroom and downstairs in the living room. He had limited privacy, but the whole floor was his. Most nights I would sneak downstairs and we would sit together and talk and cuddle for hours on end. Once, the Sun came up and I almost got caught. Luckily, I made it back to my room just in time. 

After two weeks of Jack being with us, I was presented with a guitar, which we both share at this point. It turns out that Zack and Rian also play the bass and drums, respectively, and so we kept fantasizing about starting a band. Of course, until Jack got his own guitar, we were sort of stuck without a rhythm guitarist. 

We'd since decided to work on Maria's theme song, and had it almost all of the way done. Although someone the lyrics we'd picked made me question whether or not it really was about Maria. She thoroughly enjoyed it nonetheless. 

Because Jack had tried to jump off the roof to take his own life, he had to go though therapy. Mum and Dad worked hard to find him a good therapist, and today was his first meeting. He was a bundle of nerves, so bad that his hands were trembling. I sat next to him in the waiting room and held his hand, squeezing it every so often. He rested his head on my shoulder until someone called his name. It was a man who was smiling. He looked young, and his eyes were kind. He motioned for Jack to come to him. I let his hand go. "It's alright, Jack. " 

He nodded, looking back at me sadly. 

Jack's POV:

I really don't want to go through with this. I'm okay now, really. 

"Hello, Jack. My name is Mr. Poe. I'll be working with you today. " I sat quietly. "Who was that waiting with you? "

"My boyfriend," I answered softly. 

"What's his name? "

"Alex." 

"What's he like? "

"He's the type of person that you want to protect really badly. So fragile, yet so sweet. He's honestly helping me more than I'm helping him. "

"You want to help him? "

"He's always sad. He had no friends. I wanted to change that, but it ended up going a bit farther than that. That, plus I couldn't really let the past go. " 

"And what happened in the past?"

I sat still. 

"I understand that you don't want to talk about it. Don't worry about it. I understand that that's a difficult to talk about for you. "

I still remained still. 

The rest of the session was very one-sided. Most of the questions that Mr. Poe had were either too hard to answer, or I didn't want to answer them. I understand why Alex didn't like them. Mr. Poe seemed pretty persistent though, so I'd have to go every week until I startes talking. 

Alex's POV:

Jack came out of the room looking glum. He sat back down next to me while Mum scheduled his next appointment. "Was it bad? " I asked. 

He shrugged. "Just a lot of questions. It wasn't terrible."

I smiled at him and hugged him. "I'm proud of you. You did so much better than me. "

"Therapy doesn't work for everyone. "

"You're my therapy. " 

Jack looked at me. His face softened. "Maybe I'm ready to give this thing second chances after all. " 

Fin!! 

That's the end of the story

Word count including this and author's notes: 20,614

Forever and always, 

Madeline