57 Hilton Street

Jack appears in the doorway a few moments later, but not before he and Jack engage in a screaming match.

Alex looks somewhat scared; all he can see is Andrew’s back, and he’s screaming and yelling down the hall at Jack.

“Well fine! Whatever!” Andrew shouts as Jack passes him in the hall to leave the house.

“Just shut up.” Jack demands.

“Don’t tell me what to do!” Andrew hisses. As soon as Jack is out of the doorway, Andrew slams the door shut violently.

Alex looks at Jack, and then quickly looks at May for comfort. She meets his gaze and he blinks before shaking his head and walking away. May frowns at her brother and follows the older male down the driveway.

Jack watches them go, unable to do anything. He turns and pushes open Andrew’s door and returns inside. He hears Andrew on the phone (probably to Mike) sobbing.

Mike comes barging through the door within ten minutes. He takes one look at Jack and a disgusted snarl rumbles from the back of his throat.

“Get out.”

Jack looks at him in shock as both he and Andrew force him out of the door. Andrew’s still crying.

*

Jack is standing on the driveway.

He looks behind him; Andrew is standing in his doorway, his arms around Mike's waist.

Jack looks in front of him and sees Alex standing there with his arms folded across his chest and his eyes full of tears. May is sitting on the bonnet of her car, parked on the road behind him.

And it's now that Jack realizes no matter who he chooses, someone's going to get hurt.

And it's the hardest decision he's ever had to consider.

There's Andrew; always there for him, picks up the pieces when he's upset and most importantly, loved him when he was sure no one else did.

But then there's Alex; best friend since the age of seven, the first person he fell for and the first person he loved with every inch of his being.

And before Jack registers what he's doing, he turns and walks towards Andrew.

Behind him, Alex's face falls and the tears he was holding back start to fall. He's almost hysterical when May notices. She feels bad for him, and she gets up, pulling him gently into a hug and petting his hair flat. She realizes maybe he does love her brother an awful lot, and maybe the incident with Danielle was a mistake.

Andrew looks up and sees Jack heading towards him. He shakes his head against Mike's chest.

"No... He loves Alex, what's he thinking?" He asks pitifully. He doesn't expect Mike to answer.

Jack looks at Andrew, and smiles weakly.

"I'm sorry." He says quietly, placing a gentle kiss to the elder's cheek.

"I know." Andrew replies simply "Now go get Alex back."

Jack smiles weakly and gives the elder a quick hug before turning around. Andrew and Mike disappear into Andrew's house, the door shutting quietly behind them.

Jack feels instantly guilty when he sees Alex. He can hear the elder crying from where he's standing at Andrew's doorway. He's sobbing into May's shoulder and even Jack has to admit she looks saddened.

May catches sight of her brother walking towards them and glares, her grip on Alex tightening. May doesn't care that Alex's tears are soaking through her thin cardigan; he's broken down.

"Alex." Jack announces "I'm sorry."

Alex turns, suddenly enraged. His brown eyes are swollen and red from crying, his lower lip a wavering blur and his cheeks fuchsia.

"What are you apologizing for? Me being an idiotic whore and giving you the opportunity to come back to Andrew? Are you apologizing because you're leaving me for him?" Alex screams.

Jack's heart breaks with every word he says.

"I'm not ending it with you to date Andrew." Jack says simply.

"Really? Because it sure looks like that." Alex sobs "In fact, just dump me already; I don't deserve you."

And Alex is all set for Jack to say those two horrible, destructive words, but they never come.

Jack's in front of Alex before the elder realizes, and Jack gently pushes Alex's chin up so their eyes meet.

"I'm not leaving you. And I don't plan on doing so in the near future." Jack gently pushes his lips to Alex's, and he doesn't care that he smells of car air freshener and cheap hotel soap.

And Alex pushes the fact that Jack reeks of sex with somebody else to the back of his mind and kisses him back.