Just for a Moment

After Alex had ran off into the bathrooms, he had locked himself into one of the stalls and started to cry to himself, blood still dripping from his nose. He slid down the wall with his head in his hands as small sobs passed through his lips. Why did he just run away? Why couldn't have just stayed there and have a conversation with Jack? Why did he have to be such a failure that he ran away from the person who had saved him from a very painful trip to the hospital where he would once again be questioned about his life at home and school, he would then have to lie and tell them that everything was perfect and he is just the silly little clumsy boy who tripped over his laces and down the stairs. After all that is all Alex is, a little boy who only knows how to lie and how to make his own life a living hell.

It's really not like he helps himself when he goes to school, he wears clothes nobody else would dare to go near, he listens to music which would probably scare the living shit out of most of the people in his school, and those things alone are enough to make you a social outcast. But most of all, the one thing that makes Alex the loneliest person in the school is the fact that he is gay. His school is very, very homophobic, nobody liked gays, and not even the teachers did. If you were found to be gay, you could count on dropping a grade in every subject because of really stupid homophobic teachers.

Because of these reasons and others along with the fact that he was the most socially awkward person, the third cubical in the bathrooms was Alex's favourite place to come to cry. He liked it because he felt that it was very secluded there and that he could be himself and that there was nobody there to judge him. He would sit in that one cubical for hours and nobody knew that he was there, in fact he was sure that not one person in the school is aware that these bathrooms even exist. He thought that until he heard the door opening and saw the light flooding into the damp room.

"Alex?" He heard someone call out and obviously it would be Jack. Alex froze and panicked, everything stopped including his sobs. It took a few seconds for him to realise that Jack, hopefully wouldn't hurt him and just wanted an explanation of why he ran off. Alex closed his eyes and took a breath before getting up from the floor and opening the door of the stall. He stepped out and awkwardly played with his bag straps. "Yeah?" His voice was barely above a whisper and he felt that if he looked up to Jack he would probably start to cry again.

"Are you okay?" Jack spoke softly, Alex noted to himself. The softness of Jacks voice made him feel a little more confident, but confident enough to actually speak. In answer to Jacks question Alex shook his head and kept his eyes to the floor, it almost seemed as if he was ashamed of himself, but he supposed that deep down inside, he really was.

He heard Jack move closer and finally looked up instantly seeing the worry in Jacks heart, and it made his heart flutter at the thought that somebody actually cared for him. He stayed where he was as Jack got closer, his heart started to beat a little more quickly but he didn't let it bother him. Jacks hand clasped around his own and laced their fingers together, and without a word Jack led him over to sit on one of the sinks. He watched the taller boy go into one of the stalls to get tissue and wet it. Alex bit down on his lip as Jack stepped in between his legs and let his hand hover over his face.

"It might hurt" Alex closed his eyes as Jack spoke and nodded, wincing only slightly when he felt the cool tissue come in contact with his saw skin. As Jack cleared his face up, Alex kept his teeth clamped down on his lower lip and didn't say a word, still in fear that he would say something to embarrass himself or to scare Jack away.

It was a few more minutes until Alex was cleared up, he felt Jacks hand in his own again as he jumped down from the sink. He looked up to Jack as his feet were firmly on the floor and gave him a shy smile which barely reached his eyes. "Thanks, again" He murmured softly, scraping his shoe along the floor. It was a few seconds before Jack replied "It's the least I can do" Their hands were still firmly clasped together.

"C'mon" The younger said "I'm going to take you home, or back to mine so we can watch movies and make you feel better. There's no point in staying here now" Alex nodded slightly and let Jack lead him out of the bathroom and out of the school. He was glad that Jack hadn't mentioned him running away but he knew that it was going to come up later, why else would Jack offer to take him home and make him feel better?