Long Live Us

Zack hadn't seen Jack or Rian in at least two days. He knew Rian was mourning over Cassadee, but he didn't know what Jack was doing. He knocked softly on Alex's old bedroom door and when he didn't get a reply he just walked on in. Jack was curled up on the bed and wrapped up in Alex's old hoodie. He looked like he he'd been crying and really needed some sleep. He was listening to Alex's iPod and didn't lookup when Zack walked in. Zack sat on the edge of the bed, but Jack didn't look at him. He was holding a piece of paper and staring at it with tear-filled eyes. Zack peered over his shoulder to see what it was. It was a picture of Jack sitting in Alex's lap and they were both smiling at each other. It was a fairly recent picture and Jack didn't take his eyes off of it. Zack patted Jack's leg softly.

"You miss him a lot, huh?"

Jack nodded and put the picture down to look at Zack. "Can I tell you something?"

"Sure."

"He loved me..."

Zack didn't say anything for a moment. He looked at Jack with his most sincere eyes and sighed.

"Jack, you're letting it get to you. You have to him let go."

Jack pulled out Alex's phone and showed him the unsent text.

"He loved me, Zack. He loved me and I let him die," Jack sobbed.

Zack got up from the bed slowly and left. He came back moments later with an envelope in hand. He handed it to Jack and started to walk out again.

"I don't know if he wanted me to give you this," Zack said quietly, looking back at Jack. "But he gave it to me the day things went to shit with the zombies and all. He said if anything ever happened to him that we should open it. I think he meant you."

Zack left and Jack was left alone with the envelope. He opened it carefully and found pieces of paper addressed to each of them. He pulled out the one addressed to him and unfolded it.

"Jack,

If you're reading this, then I'm probably gone. I don't want you to be upset. I know you're probably crying right now. Wipe away your tears, Jacky. I want you to keep on surviving. Get a nice girl and start a family or whatever cliche thing you want to do. I guess since I'm gone, it's best that I tell you something. I've been keeping a secret from you for a long time. I'm in love with you Jacky, I've been in love with you since we started high school. Whenever you showed up with a girlfriend, I got so jealous. You're probably disgusted by me now. I'm sorry for keeping it in for so long. You're probably glad I'm gone now, right? Well, I still love you. You're the only one I've ever truely loved. Don't forget me.

Bye Bye Barakitten,
xoxo Alex"

Jack buried his face into Alex's hoodie.

"I think I love you too."