57 Hilton Street

Alex point-blank ignored Jack and Andrew - and the strange stabbing feeling - for nearly five whole months. In that space of time, Alex had split up with May, Carolyn had started to hate him even more, Jack was still with Andrew, and Rian and Zack, now May and his own sister, Lottie, weren’t talking to him.

But in between being ignored, hated and being barred from the Barakat household, Alex had come up with a plan. A plan that would either work brilliantly or flunk like there was no tomorrow, but it was a plan nonetheless.

He remembered seven or eight months ago, at Oliver’s funeral, the start of the disaster. Alex wanted nothing more than to go back to that time and not turn Jack down like he did. He still felt bad about it.

It was lunch break on the fifteenth of December when Alex finally plucked up the courage to talk to Jack. He had turned eighteen the day before, and the boys were now in their first senior year, Andrew in his second, May still a sophomore and Lottie just a freshman.

He meandered in to the lunch hall, his hand buried deep in the pockets of his jeans. He saw the huge group sitting around one huge table; Jack, Andrew, May, Lottie, Rian, Zack and a few kids Alex doesn’t recognize - he presumed they were Andrew’s friends.

Alex decided that he couldn’t talk to Jack here - no, he was nowhere near that brave. He waited until Music class, the next lesson after lunch break. He was in there with Jack, Rian, Zack and a weird girl called Cass or something.

When he arrived in the classroom, Miss Williams was playing some random Christmas carol on the piano, Jack was immersed in whatever he was playing, Rian and Cass seemed to be deep in conversation and Zack was nowhere to be found.

“Afternoon, Alex.” Miss Williams said cheerily over her piano’s tinkling notes.

“Hey Miss.” He mumbled back, immediately making a beeline for Jack. He carried on playing and ignored the older boy.

“Jack.” Alex said quietly, making the younger jump and nearly fall off the table.

“What… What do you want?” Jack asked, looking up at him in disbelief.

“I want to talk to you.”

“But why? It’s been so long since we last actually spoke normally.”

“Exactly.”

“You still don’t make any sense.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

*

They sat and talked for most of double period music with Rian watching out of the corner of his eye. Everyone got away with doing nothing; it was so close to the holidays now that not even Miss Williams could be bothered with work.

Alex ended up leaving with Jack, and they met their little sisters together. The look on May’s face when she saw the two of them together was priceless.

Andrew appeared a few minutes later, but not before Alex had sputtered out what he wanted to say.

“Jack, would it have ever worked, you and me?”

“What?”

“Me and you. Would it have worked?”

“I… God, Alex, I don’t know. It’s not really something I’ve let myself think about.”

Andrew appeared and his arm was almost instantly around Jack’s waist, their lips together without a word. And it was then that Alex realized why Jack hadn’t given it any thought. He didn’t need to. He had Andrew. Alex felt as if he was intruding; Lottie and May were talking about something that he wouldn’t care about, and Jack and Andrew were still lip locked. Alex felt as if he wasn’t needed any more.

And by the time they got to Jack’s house, Alex felt even worse. Jack and Andrew had walked home holding hands and discussing how to celebrate their upcoming seven month anniversary. May hadn’t said a word to anyone, and neither had Lottie, which was highly unusual.

May disappeared up the path to their front door and was inside in two seconds. She’d spent enough of her time with her ex boyfriend for one lifetime, thank you very much.

Jack pecked Andrew on the lips over the closed gate and then he too vanished inside.

Andrew then turned on his heel and walked back in the direction of his home. Alex and Lottie didn’t speak for all of the way back to their house.

*

A few hours later, Alex and Jack are talking on the phone.

“About what you said earlier…” Jack started.

“Forget about it, it’s obvious you’re happy with Andrew.”

“Alex, I’ll still be your friend. You don’t have to like Andrew, you know.”

“I know, but I feel like I’m intruding.”

“Well, you’re not.”

“Jack, just do me a favor and think about it. That’s all I ask. I’ll see you at school.”

“Alex!”

Jack was met with the response of a dial tone. He frowned to himself and threw his cell phone down on his bed and crossed his legs.

May appeared at his doorway, her hair tied back in a loose ponytail and her eyes sad.

“Were you talking to Alex?” She asked quietly. Jack nodded slowly.

Her face fell and she stared at the floor, playing with the pockets of her hoodie.

“Come here, you.” Jack said quietly, opening his arms for a hug. She smiled weakly and walked over to her brother, sitting down next to him and hugging him tight. She buried her face in his neck and Jack could instantly tell that something was wrong.

“May?” He asked gently, patting her back. She looked up at him, a look of nervousness and worry visible in her eyes.

“If he’s trying to get you to leave Andrew, then don’t do it. Especially not for him.” She replied, hugging her brother’s waist.

“What?”

“Jack.” She stated slowly, sitting up properly “Alex is probably trying to get you to leave Andrew for him; I know what that boy’s like.”

Jack swallowed nervously.

“Just don’t do it, okay? It’s obvious you’re happy with Andrew, and it’s impossible for Alex to think about anyone other than himself when he’s dating them.”

“May? Are you okay?”

She sniffed and nodded a little.

“Just watch out, okay? I don’t want you getting hurt.”

Jack looked across at his sister and gently pulled her into a hug.

“Okay, ssh, I won’t listen to him, don’t worry. Not after what he did to you.”