Listen to the Thunder

It hasn’t been long since Alex’s little confrontation with Kyle. I actually made Alex go up to Kyle and apologise, which Kyle seemed confused about but accepted, and I think things are slowly getting better. By that, I mean that if we pass Kyle in a hallway or on campus, Alex will nod and wave and likewise, and if we’re in a lecture group together, Alex won’t completely ignore Kyle.

Well, it’s an improvement anyway.

Right now Alex and I are heading to lunch with Matt and Danny, but as we got to our usual spot outside, Kyle was already waiting there, looking nervous.

“Hey,” I smiled.

“Hey,” Kyle said softly, smiling once Alex smiled at him.

Matt doesn’t like Kyle because of all the shit he put me through and Danny follows whatever Matt thinks really, so neither of them greeted Kyle. I’ll work on that.

“I-I, um, I’m not staying here long, but I just wanted to say that I’m going a house party tonight and I wondered if you guys wanted to come too,” Kyle said, flicking his fringe out of his eyes.

“Why would we want to come to a house party with you?” Matt asked, folding his arms over his chest.

“Matt!” I hissed, punching my dorm mate in the arm.

Kyle smiled weakly. “I don’t know, you probably wouldn’t. But I know that the guy whose house the party is in is supplying all the alcohol. Literally, all of it,”

Matt’s eyebrows raised, but he stayed silent. Danny looked completely won over. Alex looked a bit dubious. I’m quite happy to go, to be honest.

“I think we could make an appearance,” I shrugged, smiling widely.

Kyle’s nervous smile spread into a full-on grin, and he squealed. Now that’s more like the Kyle I know.

“Great! Um, I’ll text you later with the details. See you in class!” Kyle said happily.

He hugged me quickly before running back into the building, making me chuckle. Bless him.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this, Jack,” Alex sighed as he sat down next to me.

“Ah stop being so pessimistic. It’s just a house party, Lex, what could go wrong?” I said, rolling my eyes.

“Plenty of things,” Alex muttered.

I sighed and laced our fingers together, pressing a kiss to his knuckles before looking at him.

“I won’t drink as much as Danny, I promise,” I said softly.

“Hey, what’s that supposed to me?” Danny pouted.

“Dude, have you ever been anything but off-your-face-wasted at any party?” Matt mused, glancing at his best friend.

Danny opened and closed his mouth a few times, before deciding to stay silent, making us laugh.

“Tonight will be fun, I swear,” I grinned at my boyfriend.

“We’ll see about that,” Alex said simply.

*

Sure enough Kyle texted me the timings and the address of the party, and we headed there fashionably an hour late. There were already students passed out on the front yard and the music was pounding, which only made me grin. This was going to be so much fun!

“Come on, let’s get a drink,” Matt grinned.

I knew he’d warm up to the idea. The four of us made our way through the sea of bodies and into the equally crammed kitchen, Matt grabbing us four beers before we found our own corner to stand in.

“To having a good time!” Danny cheered.

“Hell yeah!” I whooped.

The four of us took a long drink in toast, ending with Danny belching. Charming. I smiled down at Alex, who still looked a bit apprehensive, and wrapped my arms around his waist.

“Chill out, Lex,” I murmured, pressing a kiss to his neck.

“I’m trying, but I’ve still got that bad feeling. Promise me you’ll be careful?” Alex sighed.

Really, Alex? Really?

“Yeah, I promise,” I nodded.

I sealed this deal with a kiss to the corner of his jaw, before I stood upright again.

“Eyes open, I just saw that Halvo kid walk by,” Matt murmured.

Great, so Nick’s here too. Why did I not guess? Fuck him, I’m not going to let him ruin this party for me. Alex and I will find Kyle and we’ll dance and it’ll be fun. Hm. Maybe I should drink a little more first.

*

It took me a good hour to find Kyle, and when I did I was on my own, Alex and Danny in a drinking contest overseen by Matt in the kitchen. I bounded over to the skinny blonde boy happily.

“Kyle!” I grinned.

“H-Hey Jack,” Kyle said softly.

Okay, what?

“What’s wrong, Kyle?” I frowned.

I know my ex-boyfriend friend, and he’s trying hard to hide his hurt. What happened?

“N-Nothing. Nick…Nick’s just with another guy right now, that’s all,” Kyle whimpered, wrapping his arms around himself.

“You’re fucking kidding me, right?” I growled.

Kyle shook his head miserably, before nodding to my left. I turned my head to look, and sure enough Kyle was right. Nick had a petite brunette boy pinned to the wall, messily kissing him and groping wildly. Why the fuck would he do this to Kyle? How the fuck can Kyle stand this?!

“No-one treats you like that and gets away with it,” I said angrily.

Kyle’s eyes widened and he shook his head quickly, guessing what I had in mind.

“Jack, no,” Kyle whispered sadly.

I ignored him and grabbed Nick by the shoulder, spinning him around to face me.

“Can I fucking help you?” Nick asked, scowling, the boy just walking away.

“Yeah, you can stop fucking cheating on Kyle,” I spat.

Nick glanced over me before his lips curled into a smirk.

“It’s not like Kyle was all that innocent when he cheated on you with me, was he?” Nick drawled.

“That’s not the point. Why are you fucking cheating on Kyle?!” I yelled.

“What does it fucking matter to you, Barakat?” Nick spat.

“He’s my friend and no-one treats my friends like this,” I said angrily.

“Fuck off,” the red-head scowled.

He started to walk away, which only made me angrier. How dare he be so nonchalant?! With a growl I grabbed Nick’s shoulder with my hand and spun him back around to face me.

“Now you listen here, Santino, I…”

I didn’t even see Nick’s fist swing towards me, but I did feel it slam into my face. I did feel something in my nose crack and I did feel my head bounce off the floor as I feel backwards. HOLY SHIT!

“JACK!” Kyle shrieked, dropping to his knees beside me.

Through the blinding pain shooting through my head and my blurry eyesight, I saw Nick storm away. Fuck, what the fuck is his problem?! I opened my mouth to breathe, ignoring the crowd around us, only to feel a warm coppery substance seeping past my lips. Ah fuck, I must be bleeding. Badly.

“J-Jack, talk to me! Fuck, there’s so much blood. Fuck,” Kyle panicked.

“Kyle,” I rasped, “I’m fine.”

I tried to sit upright to prove my point, but my head started spinning so badly that Kyle had to support me with his arms.

“Oh Jack, you’re not fine at all,” Kyle choked, “you shouldn’t have confronted Nick,”

“I was trying to protect you,” I mumbled.

“I know. You’ve got no fucking idea how much I appreciate that. I’m so fucking sick of Nick treating me like dirt, I…”

“JACK!”

Alex appeared next to me, cutting Kyle off.

“Holy fuck, what happened?!” Alex gasped.

“Jack confronted Nick about Nick making out with another guy, and Nick punched him,” Kyle said softly.

“Shit Jack, I told you something bad would happen tonight,” Alex groaned, running his hand through his hair.

“A little medical help would be nice,” I grumbled.

“Fuck, yeah, okay. Kyle, help me stand him up,” Alex said.

Kyle nodded and looped his arm around my waist, Alex doing the same. I groaned as they slowly stood me up, my head throbbing like hell. Fuck, this hurts. Definitely wasn’t one of my best ideas.

“I-I think your nose is broken, Jacky,” Kyle whimpered, his eyes filling with tears.

“It’ll be okay, Kyle,” I replied with a soft smile.

“Yeah, his nose was a funny shape anyway,” Alex smirked.

“Fuck you,” I muttered.

Kyle giggled, making me relax a little more. But then Kyle froze, complete and utter fear filling his eyes. What the fuck?!

“Nick wants to speak to you outside. Now,”

I turned my head to see Halvo standing behind me, glaring at Kyle.

“You don’t have to go,” I said quickly.

Kyle whimpered but shook his head, squeezing my hand gently before he followed Halvo out the back door of the house. Alex sighed and slowly guided me towards the kitchen at the end of the room, pinching the bridge of my nose as he stuffed it full of kitchen towel. Holy fuck, this hurts Alex!

“Hopefully that will staunch the bloodflow. Your shirt is ruined, by the way. There’s too much blood on it to be able to wash it all out,” Alex murmured.

I don’t particularly care about my nose or my shirt right now.

“Lex, Lex, I’m scared for Kyle,” I mumbled, clutching at his arm.

“Why?” Alex frowned.

“Because when that Halvo kid told Kyle that Nick wanted to talk to him outside, Kyle looked petrified. Like, proper petrified. I think…I think Nick’s going to punish him for comforting me over him,” I whimpered.

Alex cursed under his breath and glanced towards the door which Kyle left through, but in front of the door were Justin and Halvo, blocking anyone going through. Shit.

“I-I don’t know what to do, Jacky. I don’t think I can get out to him,” Alex said softly.

Tears filled my eyes at the thought of Kyle being helpless, being beaten up without anyone protecting him. I tried to protect him, I swear I did.

“I can’t stand the thought of him getting hurt, Alex,” I sniffed.

Alex chewed his bottom lip and took my hands in his, squeezing gently.

“We’ll just have to look for him tomorrow, okay? If we can’t stop Nick now, we’ll have to look after Kyle tomorrow,” Alex reassured.

“Y-You’ll really do that?” I asked, looking at him with wide eyes.

“For you, yeah,” Alex nodded.

I smiled and pressed a slow kiss to Alex’s lips, inhaling deeply as Alex started kissing me back. I was just starting to get into it when his nose nudged mine and pain shot through my head.

“Oww,” I whined, pulling back and breaking the kiss.

Alex chuckled. “Come on, let’s get you to hospital. I can’t fix a broken nose with band-aids,”

I sighed but nodded, lacing my fingers with Alex’s. I don’t want to leave Kyle at the party, but I don’t know if I have a choice. Clearly there’s no chance in hell of me overpowering Nick (Zack definitely could, maybe Rian too) so I’ll just have to take Alex’s advice and look for him tomorrow. For now, I’ll text him to let him know I’m not just abandoning him.

I’m going to hospital, I hope you’re okay. Text me when you get this so I know you haven’t been hurt! x

I fucking hope that he texts me back.