Believe Me, I'm Lying

Three days after the visit with the social worker, there’s still been no phone call from her. Alex thought for sure she’d be quick to call and set up another day to talk to Jack and Devyn but so far there’s been nothing and that’s beginning to worry him. He wants to get this case over as quickly as possible but instead it’s being drawn out and he’s stuck worrying about it. It’s fucking draining.

“Devyn doesn’t have a middle name, right?”

Alex looks up from his English text book where he’s been memorizing stupid terms for his final that’s coming up soon and his eyes land on Rian. His friend (who yesterday apologized for being a douche bag asshole) is filling out the form that needs to be handed in to the preschool that Devyn will hopefully be attending in the fall.

“Yes he does. Rian are you stupid?”

Rian hesitates for a second before slowly shaking his head. “No…He does? What is it?”

“It’s Rian. His names Devyn Rian Gaskarth. Please tell me you’re kidding.”

“Are you serious?! It is not!”

“Ri, it’s on his birth certificate, plus, I told you when I named him!”

“I don’t believe you. Hey, Zack!”

Both Alex and Rian look over into the living room where Zack had been watching a movie with Devyn. Devyn is lying on his back with his thumb in his mouth and his sippy cup clutched close to his chest as he watches the SpongeBob movie. Zack, however, is lying on his stomach, hands supporting his head as he stares up at the TV screen. He doesn’t even flinch when Rian calls his name again, apparently so interested in the movie that he’s blocked out everything else.

“He’s like a child, I swear to God,” Rian mumbles when, for the fifth time, he calls Zack’s name and gets no response. “Whatever. I don’t believe you.”

“I’m going to find his birth certificate and prove it to you,” Alex says, getting up from the table and heading for Devyn’s bedroom. “I think it’s in his baby book…”

Rian rolls his eyes and looks back at the form he’s supposed to be filling out. He writes ‘Rian’ in the ‘middle name’ section because if Alex is going to insist that that’s Devyn’s middle name then fine. Rian won’t fight him on it. But seriously, he would have remembered a little fact such as Alex telling him he’s naming his kid after him.

Once he’s finished filling out Alex’s address and phone number and emergency contacts (Rian and Zack, of course. Oh…Jack too), Rian looks back over at his boyfriend who’s still glued to the TV. He has half a mind to get up and turn the TV off, just to see how quickly he would react, when he hears a key unlocking the front door. Jack is walking through it, then, clearly upset. Even Rian can notice that. He’s standing there with worried eyes as he struggles to remove his tie.

“What’s wrong with you?” Rian asks, trying his best to sound civil. He doesn’t like Jack. He’s not sure if he ever really will. “You look like someone-”

“Believe it or not, Rian, I don’t actually want to talk to you about this,” Jack spits out, glaring in Rian’s direction as he finally gets the tie loosened and can pull it over his head. He un-tucks his shirt next and kicks his shoes off towards the corner and Rian is actually kind of concerned now.

“Well…Did something happen?” He presses, leaning his elbows on the table. “Is there a reason why you’re pretty much stripping in the middle of the room?”

“Where’s Alex?” Jack asks, ignoring Rian as he starts unbuttoning the top few buttons of his shirt, “I need to talk to him.”

“Um. He’s in Devyn’s room-”

“Thanks.”

Rian watches him go, watches him stop briefly when Devyn notices him and runs to him, hugging his leg and babbling about what he did today. Jack is quick to tell him to go back to Zack, that he’ll be right back to play with him and okay, even Rian has to admit that Jack is good with Devyn. But he still hates him.

-

Jack walks into Devyn’s bedroom just as Alex finds Devyn’s birth certificate, holding it up with an excited look.

“I found it!” He says to Jack once he notices the older boy standing in the doorway, “I have to show Rian.”

He tries to push past Jack to leave the room but Jack grabs him and keeps a hold on him. “Can we talk first?”

The way Jack says it makes Alex freeze up, makes every single bad scenario he can come up with run through his head. He looks up at Jack, the certificate still clutched in his hands as he asks, “Is it bad?”

“Well. It’s not good.”

“Are you leaving me?”

“What?” Jack sighs and shakes his head, his fingers gripping tighter onto Alex’s shoulders. “No. No I’m not leaving you. I love you, okay? I’m in this for good. You’re not getting rid of me.”

“Well…then what is it?” Alex steps forward, letting his hands rest on Jack’s hips. “Come on Jack. Tell me.”

“I was called into a meeting with the chairperson of the art department. The one who gave me the job because he’s good friends with my father. He um. Basically, I’ve been let go. I have to move all my stuff out of my office by tomorrow afternoon. I don’t…I don’t have a job anymore, Lex.”

“Let go? Jack, did he give you a reason? Did he say why? They can’t just-”

“I wasn’t exactly the best employee, Alex. I always came in late; I was shit at taking things seriously. I only got the job because my dad asked him to give me one. I…It’s not all that surprising, to be honest. I should have expected it.”

“But…” Alex bites his lip, his fingers digging into Jack’s hips. This can’t be happening to them. This is going to be a huge setback for them and – fuck. They’re going to have to tell the social worker and she’s going to tell the judge that Jack is jobless and they’re going to be so screwed.

“I’m going to find another job, Alex. I swear, I’ll start looking tomorrow. I’ll apply to other schools. I’ll fix this. Everything will be fine.”

That phrase has been repeated by Jack so many times within the last few weeks that Alex was almost starting to believe it. But now, with this sort of setback, he’s not so sure if he can.