Symphony of Sound.

It’s Friday night and still pretty cold and snowy when Jack and Zack go sneaking out over one of the small side walls of the school boundary. They’ve got backpacks full of changes of clothes for over the weekend, and Zack has come to the conclusion that it will actually be an act of God if, when they arrive, their formal outfits aren’t creased beyond recognition.

It’s a long, and to be blunt about it, boring train ride from Maine to Maryland.

Zack’s apparently put himself in charge of everything, so whenever he falls asleep on the table between their seats, Jack takes it upon himself to shake him awake altogether too violently. Whenever this happens (far too many times for Zack to count) the older boy immediately begins to curse at the younger boy until he falls asleep again.

Jack almost leaves Zack behind when they’re supposed to change trains somewhere in Connecticut before deciding that would be a colossally terrible idea and drags the smaller boy’s half asleep form along with him.

It’s the early hours of Saturday morning when they finally reach Baltimore, and they’re standing at the train station, hand in hand with Jack slumping against Zack’s side.

“Wake up, would you? I don’t know what car we’re looking for.”

Jack makes a disgruntled noise from the back of his throat and opens his eyes sluggishly to scan the parking lot.

“There,” He mumbles, nodding slightly in the direction of an old, red Honda about ten feet away. Zack drags the darker haired boy along beside him and knocks on the driver’s side window.

The girl inside jumps, turns to face them and rolls the window down.

“Oh, hey.” She says with a small smile. “I guess you’re Zack? I’m May.”

Zack nods, and then gestures in the direction of Jack.

“He’s kind of asleep, I think.”

Jack makes another noise quietly and pushes against Zack’s side.

“Oh, stop it. You are kind of asleep.”

Jack makes a non committal noise again and May laughs, climbing out of the car and opening one of the back doors.

Zack pushes Jack inside, squashing himself in beside him and grumbling softly as Jack settles himself to sleep on his shoulder.

“If you drool on me, I swear to God I will kill you.”

May laughs again, glances in her rear view mirror at the two of them and smiles.

“Long night?”

“Yeah, kind of.”

“I figured.”

“He nearly left me at Connecticut, the bitch.” Zack says, pursing his lips and frowning at the younger boy.

“I know he is.” May says with a small smile. “You guys deserve a prize for putting up with him for, what, ten months a year?”

Zack laughs then, which jerks Jack awake and makes him glare at the blonde boy.

“You two talking about me?” He mumbles, half asleep and grouchy.

“No, not at all.” May says, casting Zack a knowing smile.

They eventually arrive at what Zack presumes to be the Barakat household, judging by the small army of cars and people outside.

“Jack, loser, wake up.” May says with a small laugh as she leans back in her seat to shake her younger brother awake.

Jack makes a gentle ‘nrgh’ noise and bats at his sister’s hands, up until Zack opens the door and drags him out of the car onto his ass.

“Zee!” He grumbles, standing quickly and rubbing at his ass. It is blissfully snow free down in Baltimore, and Zack is indescribably glad about that fact.

“What? You were asleep on me again.”

“I knew I should’ve left you in Connecticut.”

Zack elbows him gently and Jack links his arm with the smaller boy’s, his hand sliding down to twist their fingers together in what the blonde boy assumes is supposed to be asking for comfort.

They end up being dragged inside somewhat forcefully by May and her vice like grip, and Jack’s mother, Lotta, stands cooing over them for a good ten minutes.

“You must be Zack!” She says with a smile. Zack nods timidly, brushing his hair from his eyes with his free hand.

She looks at them both for a long time, scanning them clearly and letting her eyes resting on their linked hands.

She elbows May and the nineteen year old rolls her eyes at her mother.

May is only a few years older than Jack and Zack, yet she is infinitely more controlled and mature. Possibly because she’s a girl, but Jack isn’t really sure. She’s a college student somewhere in Massachusetts, Jack’s mentioned the school before but Zack has since forgotten. She looks like Jack –or rather, Jack looks like her.

“So, how long have you two been seeing each other?” Mrs. Barakat asks with a wide smile. Zack and Jack exchange a glance, raising their eyebrows warily.

“Well, we’ve known each other since freshman year…” Zack starts, looking at Jack for support.

“No, I mean how long have you been dating!” Mrs. Barakat clarifies quickly, her smile returning almost instantaneously.

Jack and Zack turn and stare at each other for a long minute, before biting at their lips and starting to laugh.

“Mom, we’re not dating.” Jack splutters, smiling, and nudging at Zack’s arm.

“I just thought… Since you were… Holding hands and all, I just…” She stops herself then, covering her mouth with her hand and laughing to herself.

“This is more of a comfort thing, I guess.” Zack explains, shrugging and raising their interlocked hands awkwardly.

“Oh, right. That’s cool.” She says with a smile. “Your room is set up with two beds, if you want to go catch some real sleep before the service. Joe should be here soon.”

Both boys nod in thanks and head for the stairs. It’s not long before they’re curled up in bed –Jack in his own and Zack on a mattress on the floor with a few quilts.

“Thanks for this, Zee.” He says with a smile, dropping his hand down the side of his bed towards Zack. The blonde smiles softly to himself and extends his hand up to lace his fingers with the younger boy’s.

“You’re welcome. Figured you’d need someone to be around for you.”

It’s barely a few hours later when Jack’s seventeen year old brother descends upon them, sitting himself on his younger brother, which only annoys the smaller boy.

“Joe,” He whines, lengthening the ‘oh’ noise.

“Sorry little bro, but Mom told me to wake you up. And I chose to wake you up like this.”

“Hate you,” Jack grumbles, pushing his older brother away from him. The seventeen year old laughs, knowing that his brother is too tired to try and do anything.

“Come on, you lazy idiots, wake up and get dressed. Before Mom kills both of you.”

They change quickly, forcing themselves into their slightly creased shirts and suits, glancing at each other and then in the mirror. Zack pulls two ties from his bag and holds them out to Jack. The dark haired boy glances down at them, then at the pale colour of his suit and then plucks the soft, lilac coloured accessory from Zack’s hand.

His hands shake a little and he fumbles with the pale purple fabric as he tries to fasten it around his neck.

Zack fixes up his own red tie and quickly moves in front of Jack, taking his tie in his own fumbling fingers and fastening it for him.

“Thanks,” Jack says, voice shaky and somewhat unsure. Zack just gives him a soft smile, runs his slim fingers through his unstraightened, natural waves and sliding his other hand down to meet the younger boy’s.

Jack sniffs, wipes his nose on the back of his free wrist and Zack gives his hand a quick, gentle squeeze.

“You can do this, Jay.” Zack says, moving and pulling the taller boy after him. “Remember, I know what it’s like, and I’m not going to go anywhere for a while now.”

Jack gives him a soft, barely there smile and Zack returns it quickly in what he hopes is a gesture that boosts the younger boy’s already low and limited confidence.

The service is… rough, to be blunt about it. Jack doesn’t even make it to the church without breaking down, so Zack has to sit with one arm around him and his other hand clasped tightly to the other boy’s, occasionally giving it a gentle, reassuring squeeze.

Jack is infinitely thankful just to have Zack around in this instant, and Zack is quite content with himself that he can provide comfort for once, rather than being the source of the problem.

They end up just sitting in Jack’s room when they return to the Barakat household –May busies herself with making tea and Joe switches on the TV and pretends to be interested in whatever channel his father had left it on.

Jack sniffles to himself, hiccups from the back of his throat softly and Zack shifts from the floor to sit beside his crying friend.

“I know… I know this hardly a comfort, but I know exactly how you feel, Jay. I’m in your position every year, too.”

Jack nods, rests his head on Zack’s shoulder.

“This is going to… This will sound so pathetic, but it… It hurts that she never really got to see me play, you know? I know that your mom never even saw you pick up a violin, and that must be… That must be harder than this, so much harder, but I wish she got to see it, you know?”

Zack nods, moves his arm to wrap around the taller boy’s shoulders and gives him a reassuring smile.

“Come on. We have to pack. I think we leave at seven in the morning tomorrow.”

Jack makes a disgruntled noise, but stands to start collecting his things together anyway.

Zack watches him, amused, as he stumbles over every little object that happens to get in his way, before glaring at said offending object and continuing on his way.

Zack rolls his eyes, laughs quietly to himself.

Typical Jack.