Fall Away

Jack felt like Liam Neeson in ‘Taken’ as he sat against the wall outside of a boarded up fast food diner from the 70’s that was closed due to food poisoning. He felt like some kind of hero waiting for the criminal to come with a ransom. Alex had slipped through the walls and was exploring the inside of the restaurant and Jack could hear him shouting about certain things: “This stove is so fucking retro man; this is antique!” and his favorite “Oh my god! Is that a rat?! I’m going to die.”

“Told you not to go in there,” Jack muttered, taking a sip of the coffee he had bought a few blocks down at the local coffee house. It burned his tongue and he swore quietly. His nerves were getting the best of him. Ever since the unknown number had sent him a text message commanding him to be outside the shut down diner at exactly noon the next day, Jack was on the edge, trying to figure out who it could be. And what the secret was. Maybe the jocks figured out he was bisexual? No, he definitely hooked up with the quarterback so they all knew and didn’t mind.

Jack craved a bottle of beer to ease the tension in his muscles. Alex wasn’t even around to help him feel better because the ghost had seemingly forgotten about the message and was too busy unearthing old artifacts inside the dump he was leaning against.

Another shout of “Jack, this place is great!” came from inside the building.

Jack grew aggravated because he wanted to see what was so fucking great about the place but he couldn’t get in since it was boarded up. “Alex, you’re being a fucking tit, stop exploring like you’re Sherlock Holmes or Dora or some shit,” He called towards the restaurant.

He kicked the gravel, watching a particularly large stone skip until it hit someone’s shoe. He realized it was probably the person who he had to meet. A pair of vans stood in front of him and Jack almost laughed because those shoes were made for skating or Warped Tour, not for playing big bad criminal.

“I knew it.”

Jack looked up to the source of the voice, finding Evan standing there with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face.

“Evan? You sent me the message?” Jack felt himself relax. Of course it was Evan; he didn’t have his number, that’s all.

“Yeah dumbass. But it doesn’t matter, none of that matters, because I guessed it right.” Evan sat down next to Jack, pulling out a pack of gum, and tugging on a stick. He unwrapped it, shoving the minty stick in his mouth before waving the pack at Jack as if offering him some. He shook his head and Evan shrugged, putting the pack in his back pocket.

“What did you guess right?” Jack asked, once Evan’s attention was trained back on him.

“You see dead people.” Evan said, with a completely serious face, his eyes wide and slightly wary of his proximity to Jack.

Jack couldn’t help it, he started laughing so hard he could feel his ribs aching and his hands were fluttering around as he tried to calm down, tried to get his body to stop aching. It wasn’t even a normal laugh, it was a full guffaw and he couldn’t stop choking on air. “You”- He gasped, “Think I- aw fuck”- He snorted, reminiscent of a pig, causing him to burst into even harder laughter. “You think I’m a ghost whisperer?” He finally choked out, feeling tears gathering in his eyelids and leaking over. He gulped down some air, noticing that his loud laughter made Alex come out of the building.

Alex saw Evan and giggled, “I told you it was Evan!”

“No you did not tell me it was Evan,” Jack objected, glaring at the soul.

“So then who are you talking to?” Evan asked, causing them both to turn towards him. “I mean, if you’re not a ghost whisperer, why do you see dead people? Why do you see Alex?”

“How does he know?” Alex frowned, eyeing Evan skeptically.

“I don’t see dead people. Are you retarded? Alex isn’t dead. How would I be able to see dead people?” Jack proclaimed, suddenly seeing his coffee, which was already cold. He took a few long sips, grimacing at the lukewarm liquid.

Evan scrunched his eyes in concentration, “Then you see comatose people?”

Jack considered the effects of telling Evan the truth. He already had some weird ideas about Jack, so it couldn’t get much weirder if he admitted to seeing Evan’s best friend who was supposed to be laying in a hospital bed enjoying a coma. Do coma patients enjoy their comas? Isn’t it like a nice rest from life? No thinking, no peeing, no waking up to hangovers, no-

“Jaaaaack?” Evan called out, waving a hand in front of his face.

He snapped back into reality, realizing the other was still waiting for a response from him. “It sounds weird Evan, just don’t freak out?” The boy nodded. “I only see Alex. And I hear him. And I can feel him and when he’s around me he has certain abilities.”

“Like what?” Evan asked, skeptical.

“Well, as a ghost he can walk through walls, but when around me, which is always, he has the ability to touch things and he regains some human abilities if he so wishes.”

“I believe that you see Alex, because you were talking to him. But you might be crazy or something, y’know. Prove to me that he’s really here and you’re not just seeing people.” Evan stated, his stiff stance and articulate wording reminding Jack of a lawyer.

Jack rolled his eyes. “Alex, pick something up.”

“I don’t wanna,” The soul protested, flicking his hair out of his eyes and giving Jack a cheeky grin. “Let’s have him believe you’re psychotic.”

“Then I’m being put in the psych ward you dirty fuck, now pick something up.” Jack growled, seeing Evan look around in front of where they were sitting, trying to find a shadow or something to indicate where the ghost Jack was talking to is.

Alex smirked then, running forward and grabbing Jack by the upper arm, tugging him up. Jack reluctantly stood up but started shrieking when Alex grabbed him by the waist with one arm and grabbed his legs with the other, picking him up and carrying him around princess style. “You idiot! I said pick something up, not someone!”

“Fine.” Alex whispered, dropping Jack to the ground. The boy lay on the cement in a daze, feeling a sharp pain in his ass.

“You’re paying for that you little fucker.” Jack growled.

“A-Alex?” Evan whispered.

They turned to him, finding the boy sitting on the ground with his arms wrapped around his knees and his eyes as wide as flying saucers.

“Tell him I said ‘You better have left me a bunch of flowers at the hospital.’” Alex stated sarcastically, helping Jack up from the ground. They both walked over to where Evan was sitting.

“He says you better have left him a ton of flowers at his bedside and he means it in a sarcastic way of course,” Jack said.

The other boy laughed. “Wait, can he pick me up?”

“I have to gain the power from you, Jack, and then I can move anyone or pick them up. Only they won’t feel me as a being, like they won’t feel my arms, they’ll only feel the force and it’ll be as if they’re being lifted by pressure with no form. It’s weird, but like I said, only Jack can feel me, touch me, etc. Tell him that.” Alex explained.

Jack repeated the statement to Evan whose mouth fell open in amazement. “Miraculous,” He whispered. “Where is Alex?”

Jack turned to Alex, grabbing his hand and linking their fingers together, fighting the urge to giggle at the way their palms fit together nicely. Alex did giggle, looking at Jack with adoration which the other was quick to return. They shared a soft smile, before Jack turned back to Evan.
He picked their hands up. “I’m holding his hand.”

Evan visibly paled, gulping loudly. “How do you know it’s Alex Gaskarth?”

“He told me?” Jack asked, as if it was an obvious answer, which it was. “I saw his pictures in your school hallway next to the mural stating his name?”

“Oh shit. Ca-can I s-speak to him?” Evan stuttered out. Jack looked at Alex who nodded, before nodding himself.

“I’m sorry Alex,” He mumbled. “Shit, I don’t know how to say this. I, uh, do I stand. No, no I should sit. Uh, look, I was so drunk and if I had known you were hurt you know I would’ve done everything in my power to get you better but I just drank too much and I was barely functioning. The next morning I didn’t even remember what happened and I woke up in a hospital waiting room. The nurse handed me a glass of water and told me you were in a coma. That’s it. No “I’m sorry’s” or “Don’t worry’s” and I realized we all fucked up big time. The court gave us community service because technically you were the one who fell; we didn’t push you. So there I was in community service for three months, paying off your coma with work and my parents also paid a five hundred dollar fine for my underage drinking and endangering of the surrounding people. But I don’t think community service is enough, man, it won’t bring you back. So I’m sorry and that’s not enough either but it’s all I have.”

“Tell him its okay.” Alex stated, feeling his chest sink at the image of his broken best friend.

“Alex said its okay. We, um, are working on bringing him back,” Jack muttered the last part, causing Alex to tug on his hand. He turned to find the ghost smiling cheekily at him before he leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to Jack’s lips, leaving the boy wanting more.

“How?” Evan asked, seemingly oblivious to their kiss and shared moment seconds before. “You know what! We should bring Alex to the hospital and make him like lay down in his body, so his soul, or whatever, can reconnect with the body.” He exclaimed, his eyes shining brightly with new ideas.

“Well, the real way to get him back would be for me to fall in love with him. Because I’m his soul mate apparently.” From beside Jack, Alex snorted, leaning forward and pressing kisses all over Jack’s face, ruffling his hair. Jack made a face pretending to hate it when really he was enjoying every moment that Alex was pressing soft kisses to his cheeks and forehead, purposefully missing his mouth, making Jack crave it. It was as if Evan was gone, and they were the only two people left in the world.

“Gonna make you fall in love with me,” Alex whispered in his ear, biting the ear lobe, and tugging on it. “Gonna make you fall so hard,” He blew air onto Jack’s neck, licking a stripe from his collarbone to his ear. “You’re gonna love me forever,” Alex finished, pressing a kiss onto Jack’s lips and pulling away quickly, Jack following his lips with closed eyes until he realized Alex was too far to kiss.

Evan’s eyebrows shot up. “What the fuck did I just witness?”

“Uh, Alex’s extreme sex drive?” Jack provided, feeling Alex lace their hands together again accompanied with a bunch of butterflies taking flight in his gut. Jack thought he was going to puke as he felt his stomach spin. Fucking ghost was driving him crazy. He was fine when he ignored the predicament they were in, but the minute he realized facts like Evan not being able to see Alex, he remembered that Alex was not a normal boy and they were not in a normal relationship. They were not in a relationship.

“Believable,” Evan laughed. “This is fucking crazy man, I mean there’s a ghost right there, I literally saw him messing up your hair.”

“He likes to do that.”

“I’m going to help you guys.” Evan proclaimed, standing up and motioning for Jack to get up as well. Alex stood up, pulling Jack up, the actions never ceasing to amaze Evan. “We’re going to go to the hospital.”

“Wait, what are you helping with?”

“I’m helping you fall in love with Alex. I’m going to show you everything there is to know about him.” Evan stated excitedly, clapping his hands together. “I fucking knew you two were made for each other. I’m just going to show you.”

“We don’t need help, right baby?” Alex stated cheekily, a smirk present on his face. “You just need to see my dick, Jack.”

“It’ll take more than just seeing it,” Jack snorted, giving Alex a quick wink, as they followed Evan down the street.