If It Hurts This Much Then It Must Be Love

The next time Jack woke, the plane had just barely landed. He reorganized his belongings and slipped his leather jacket back on. By the time he was inside of the airport, he was already freezing cold. He rushed to baggage to find his suitcase and find something a little warmer to wear. He locked himself inside of a bathroom stall and quickly removed his jackets and shirt, tugging a tight long sleeved t shirt on with a looser sweater over top. Still cold, he zipped up his hoodie and threw his leather jacket back on. He made his way through the clusters of people and out a main entrance. It was raining and even colder than inside of the airport, so Jack pulled his hood over his head as he waved down a cab.
"Pennyhill Park Hotel, please," Jack informed the driver as he closed the door of the cab.
"Hmm. Nice place. Are you meeting someone there?" the driver glanced at Jack through the rear view mirror.
"No, I'm actually just staying there until I can find my own place."
The rest of the ride was silent, but since he'd landed in London, it took almost an hour just to get to his hotel. He quickly payed the driver and thanked him for his service. Another minute in the rain and Jack was sure he would've died out there. It wasn't raining in Surrey, but it was still cold. Almost too cold for Jack's liking, but he'd have to get used to it along with the many other things that would be different now that he was here.

*

Jack was bundled in layers of clothing, still trying to adjust to the cold climate. His interview with the dean just moments earlier had gone great. The dean told him he was admitted, and could start fall quarter, but he would have to write an entrance essay in less than one month. Fall quarter started a few months later for them than it would have anywhere in the states, but they also still had one month of school until their holiday even started. Jack was staring at the ground, examining each line and crevice in the stone beneath his shoes. He was suddenly knocked to the ground, catching himself on his wrists.

"Ow, fuck," Jack mumbled to himself, looking at the boy gathering his books off of the ground.
"I'm so sorry mate," the boy apologized.

Jack grabbed a single book, standing up to get a good look at the boy. He was tall, but not as tall as Jack - Alex's height maybe. He was in skinny jeans and a checkered purple and black flannel, a black beanie burying his messy brown hair. Jack gazed into his gorgeous blue eyes.,
"I-It's alright man," Jack smirked.
"Are your wrists okay?" the shorter boy asked, motioning his head towards Jack's hands.
"Yeah, they're fine. Just kind of hurt," Jack laughed, rubbing at the joint.
"Well I'm really sorry. I wasn't paying attention. And you, you obviously aren't from here."
"Is it that obvious?" Jack questioned playfully.
"The accent is the deal breaker" the boy laughed. Jack liked the sound - it gave him butterflies
"Are you going to school here? I haven't seen you before."
"Starting fall quarter," Jack stuffed his hands in his pockets. "What's your name anyway?" Jack laughed.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I should've introduced myself. I'm Josh. Josh Franceschi. And you are?"
"Jack Barakat. From Baltimore, Maryland," Jack smiled shyly, redirecting his eyes from Josh's face to the ground.
"Well Jack, I still feel bad about knocking you down, so could we maybe get coffee to make up for it?" Josh offered a friendly smile.
"Sure, uh, when?"
"Well I don't have to be here on Fridays, so tomorrow? One o'clock? I can pick you up, since you probably don't know all too well how to get around here. I can show you around a bit too if you want."
"That's be cool," Jack blushed, "I'm at the Pennyhill Hotel. I'll be ready when you get there."
"Alright, see you then," Josh smiled wide, giving Jack butterflies all over again.
"Okay," Jack grinned, more genuine than usual as he regathered himself from the slight setback. He wouldn't really call it a setback though. It just put him a bit later than he'd expected to be. That was fine by him though, because Josh was hot. He wouldn't mind getting to know the boy better, and from the way things were going, Josh didn't mind either.

*

"I'm in England now. If you ever change your mind, and think you can talk to me again.. Just.. Alex just call please.. that's all I'm asking. Give me some sort of closure to this.." Jack was speaking to Alex's voice mail-box again, and a few moments later he hung up, leaving the message at that and nothing more. Jack decided it was the last time he would call Alex. If Alex wanted to talk to him, he would.
Jack was trying to look nice for the coffee "date" with Josh. He was trying to decide what to wear, but eventually picked grey skinny jeans, a solid black v-neck with a striped grey and black pullover on top. He didn't look any better than usual like he had hoped, but he didn't really know how to make himself look better. He never had to try, nor felt the need to. Jack locked his door, making sure he had his hotel key and cell phone with him.
Josh arrived a few minutes before what they had planned, but Jack was grateful. He still hadn't gotten used to the cold.
"We're gonna go to my sister's coffee shop if you don't mind. I can introduce you two and she asked me to bring her books by. She left them at home by mistake."
Jack shook his head, "Yeah, that's fine."
"Alright, cool," Josh grinned.
Jack found his accent extremely attractive. There was something about it that made him just want to smile every time the shorter boy talked. It was intoxicating. And when Josh laughed it made Jack's stomach do somersaults. Not only that, but the little time he'd spent with Josh was the only time Alex wasn't on his mind and it was when he was happiest here so far. Josh's car pulled to a stop just on the side of the road parallel to a small cafe. He had no idea what it was called since he couldn't read French, but it was a neat looking place. It was sandwiched between lines of other small stores on the floor level of old apartment buildings. There were a few black tables and chairs set up outside. The lighting inside the cafe was dull, creating a warm and welcoming atmosphere. A few students sat at tables and on couches with large textbooks and laptops cluttering their surroundings. On the wall opposite the ordering counter a large bookshelf stood, filled with bagged coffee and random trinkets scattering bare spaces. He liked the place, it was.. comforting.

"Jack, this is my sister. Her name's Elissa."
"H-Hi Elissa, I'm Jack. This place is really cool."
"It is, right? Elissa, Jack just moved here from Maryland. I bumped into him at the uni yesterday."
"Ahh, fun. You'll just love it here!" Jack laughed, sensed sarcasm in the girl's voice. Josh and Elissa looked similar, almost enough to be twins. If he was straight, he would be all over her.
"Do you want anything to drink?" Josh offered.
"Um, I'll just have a coffee. No sugar or cream, thanks."
"No problem," Josh smiled, Jack's stomach flipping. "Elissa, can you get me the usual and a Caffè Americano?"
"How much do I owe?" Jack asked, pulling a tattered leather wallet from his back pocket.
"Nothing, it's on the house." Elissa smiled, handing the boys their drinks in solid white mugs.
They boys sat at an empty table, sipping at their hot drinks.
"So what kinda stuff are you into?" Josh asked after a few minutes.
"Um, well I was in a band back home, so I'm really into music. I was focused on school a lot so I didn't have time for much of anything else," Jack stirred his coffee with a fingertip, just barely grazing the surface.

"I'm in a band right now! We haven't done much, but it's fun."
"What do you do in the band? Play and instrument, sing?"
"Yeah I sing. But I'm not singing anything for you right now. Everyone always asks that when I tell them I sing," Josh laughs shyly.
"I wasn't going to ask," Jack smirked, "I played guitar. I wasn't any good though. Nothing they can't get along without."
"Ah, I'm sure you were great. Y'know, you should come play with us sometime! It would be cool."
"Maybe, I dunno."
"Aww c'mon Jack, it'll be fine. You can meet a few other people from around here so you aren't as alone. Really, it'll be fun. The guys will definitely like you."
Jack chuckled, "Alright, if you insist."
"Ah, I do," Josh sipped his drink, staring at Jack all the while.
"Oh! You can meet them tonight if you'd like?" Josh set his cup down excitedly.
"We were gonna go to a bar or something, just hang out, crash at my place afterwards."
All of the sudden invites were kind of overwhelming Jack, but it felt nice to already have a friend here. "Yeah, I'll come," Jack beamed.
"Wait, but how can we get into a bar?"
"Only have to be 18 to drink here," Josh's lips forming a smirk.

*

Jack and Josh had spent the rest of the day together. Josh had showed him some really interesting places. It was nearing 10 o'clock and they were meeting Josh's friends at 11.

"Do you need to change or anything? You can borrow anything of mine if you need, or we can stop by your hotel real quick."
"Do you have any t-shirts I could wear? I kind of got dinner on mine," Jack scratched at a spot on his shirt.

Josh laughed a little too hard at that.
"Yeah, they're in my closet." Josh pointed, still giggling.
"Hey, not funny." Jack played, pulling off his shirt and thumbing through Josh's closet.
Josh watched him, Jack's tall, thin, figure searching for a shirt to put on. Josh got up from his spot on his bed, quietly making his way toward Jack. He grabbed the boy's bare waist from behind and turned Jack so they were facing each other, placing a rough kiss on the taller boys lips.