Sanctuary

"Wow, you should have friends over more often. I haven't seen this carpet in four years."

Isobel Gaskarth stood in the doorway to her son's room, watching him flail about to get things in their proper places for the arrival of his new friend. She vaguely wondered who this kid was, and why he was so important that Alex insisted on cleaning his room for the first time in years. Nevertheless, she was glad he was making friends with someone.

When Alex attended Towson High last year, she constantly heard him talking about all sorts of people. It was obvious he fit in well there, but the group of boys he most often associated with wasn't exactly the best group of kids. A few times he had had one or two of the boys over, and though Isobel never saw them do anything out of the ordinary, the way they presented themselves gave her a weary feeling.

She had a feeling that those boys were also the reason Alex had become mean and introverted. Ever since he had begun hanging out with those kids, he frequently snapped at both her and his father and he rarely left his room. He honestly acted like Seth before his passing. This was secretly one of the reasons she had him moved to St. Raphael. She couldn't afford losing another son to drugs.

"So is this boy in your grade level?" the woman asked, genuinely curious about this "Jack" kid.

"No," Alex grunted as he shoved a box full of video game supplies beneath his bed. "He's a senior."

"I see…," Isobel said quietly, staring at the floor and chewing her lip absentmindedly. "Is he a good kid?"

Alex looked up at his mother, a bit annoyed by her interrogations. Could he not have a friend over without him being inspected beforehand? "I don't know, mum. I just met him like… two weeks ago. I know he doesn't do drugs or anything like that. He plays guitar. He makes average grades, like me. He's just like me."

The older woman felt slight relief and was just about to ask another question when there was a loud buzzing from somewhere in the room. "Wha-" she began, but was cut off by Alex's sudden chatter. "Hello? Oh! Yeah, just take a left. Wait… a red house? You're not even in the right area. Hold on, I'll go outside."

The teen scooted around his mother, then dashed down the stairs and outside into the driveway. Isobel, with a small sigh of anxiety, returned to her bedroom to finish getting ready for their guest.

Alex had to admit, he was very nervous about Jack's arrival. The only time he'd spoken face to face with him was in brief encounters in the hallways, and now he was going to be spending an entire afternoon with the kid. Needless to say, he'd spent quite a bit of the morning cleaning and practicing his speaking.

"Alright, taking a left… I don't think I'm in the right place," Jack said quietly on the other end of the line, obviously concentrating on finding the Alex's house. "What does your house look like, again?"

"It's uh… big… and white."

"Very descriptive. Do you realize that that's about half the houses in this neighborhood, Alex? Oooo… this is a really pretty one. Is this like… one of those neighborhoods all the rich old people live in?"

Alex was glad Jack couldn't see him when he rolled his eyes.

A few minutes and several vague mentions of Jack's whereabouts later, a golden colored Jeep Liberty pulled onto his narrow, Oak shaded street. "Are you driving a light-brown-ish Jeep?"

"Nope."

Alex dismissed the Jeep as just another car until it was suddenly pulling into his driveway.

"I'm driving a /gold/ Jeep. Get your colors straight, Gaskarth," Jack shouted from his car. This time, Alex didn't hide the rolling of his eyes from him.

The older boy, with thin legs that were practically two thirds of his entire body, stepped out of the vehicle, then removed his black plastic shades and tossed them into the driver's seat. Alex took a moment to admire his choice of clothing, for this was the first time he'd seen anyone from school out of uniform.

Jack wore a green Sum 41 tee, which clung to his skin and made Alex realize that he was much skinnier than the uniform shirt made him appear. As for bottoms, the senior's cargo shorts exposed the harriest set of legs Alex had seen in his life.

"Nice place," Jack said with a half-smile, looking up at Alex's abode. He had to admit, he really did love this house. Nestled in the midst of dozens of oak trees, it was a beautiful two story house with a balcony on the second floor, white columns, a large mahogany front door, etc. It was a house you'd expect an engineer and the Operations Manager of a large corporation to own.

Alex peeked over his shoulder to ensure that his mother or father hadn't followed him outside. "Thanks. But, look, before we go inside I just want to say that my parents can be a bit… overbearing. They've been through a lot. I'll explain later, just be warned."

Jack nodded with that same dorky half-smile. "I understand. My parents are the same way."

But as they headed toward the entrance on the side of the house, Alex wondered if his parents really were the same.

Isobel and Peter Gaskarth had lost one of their sons; therefore, they did everything they could to keep their only remaining son. This meant that Alex was watched like a hawk constantly. He wasn't permitted to leave the house with people that his parents hadn't met more than once. He couldn't stay in his bedroom for more than a couple of hours without being questioned to death. He was overprotected, and grew more sick of it each day.

The teens now reached the door, and the moment Alex had the door opened, his mum called out, "Hello, sweetheart!" from where she stood in the kitchen with his father.

"Hi," Jack said with red cheeks, fumbling to shut the door. You could tell he was apprehensive. "I'm Jack."

"Oh, I've heard all about you," his mother said with a cheerful smile, holding a hand out to the boy, "I'm Isobel."

"Mom! I've only brought him up once!" Alex was humiliated. His mother had made it seem as if he was obsessed with the poor lad! Regardless, Jack didn't stop grinning as he moved to shake hands with his father, who had yet to say a word. He was still looking Jack up and down skeptically.

"Anyway, are you going to be eating dinner with us?" his mother asked, returning to her position in front of the stove where she stirred a large pot.

"Oh, only if it's alright with you guys! I'd hate to be a burden."

Jack didn't realize this, but his presence at their dinner table would be the opposite of a burden. In fact, his mother had cooked enough to feed four before Jack had even arrived. She was eager to have another boy in the house, filling the empty chair at the dinner table.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Alex and Jack had been upstairs in Alex's bedroom for a few hours, screaming and laughing at one another as they played video games when Jack suddenly asked, "So does your mom always talk in a British accent?"

The younger of the two paused the game for a moment so he could slowly turn his head to face the older. "What?"

"Your mom. She spoke with a British accent. I mean, I thought it was really cool, but why did she do that?"

Alex couldn't stop himself from laughing aloud. "Oh, Jack, I can't believe I forgot to tell you!"

Alex had snatched Jack's full attention now. "Tell me what?"

"Jack, I was born in London. I lived there until I was eleven." Had he really never told him something so important?

Jack's face lit up like a Christmas tree, and he tossed his remote control to the side so he could completely face his body towards Alex. He looked like a little boy, fascinated by some sort of science experiment.

"Why don't you have an accent, then?"

"Oh boy, here we go. I don't know, because it went away, I guess. Or I just choose to cover it up so things like this don't happen."

"Do it! Say something with it!"

Alex scowled at Jack, annoyed by his command. He hated his accent, especially when other people freaked out over it. He simply pronounced words differently, why the hell was it so fascinating?

"That's what I'm talking about! No, Jack, I'm not going to sit here and say words for you."

"C'mon. Pretty please," Jack begged, his lower lip jutting out like a kicked puppy.

"No, leave me alone," Alex said, accidentally letting the accent slip. "Shit!"

"There it is!" Jack cooed loudly. "Ahh! Alex, it's so cute!"

Alex cocked an eyebrow, putting on his best poker face. "Cute? You think I'm cute?" He was only pretending to call him out, but Jack's reaction was much different than he had expected. The lanky boy stiffened, and his facial expression dropped.

"No," he said, suddenly serious, "I'm not gay or anything like that."

Alex decided to pursue this further. "You aren't?"

"No! What the hell are you accusing me of?" Jack was obviously tense now, and way more defensive of his sexuality than any genuinely straight person would be. He had been switched on like a light bulb.

"I'm not accusing you of anything, Jack," Alex said with his hands up in self-defense, "I was just teasing you. Defensive, are we?"

"I'm not gay," Jack repeated in a hushed tone. "I'm not. I like girls."

The boys made eye contact as a long moment of not-so-awkward silence filled the air. It was apparent. Jack wasn't telling Alex that he liked girls. He was trying to assure himself that that's what he liked. In his deep brown eyes, Alex saw the denial, and the worry, and the fear. So had they been going through the same thing for the past week?

"Me too. Girls," Alex mumbled. He had to look away. Making eye contact with Jack was just too difficult, it made him sick to his stomach and he couldn't breathe and he just felt like mush. That just added onto the list of anxieties he had thanks to Jack. But he noticed that Jack looked away, too, his eyebrows pushed together as if he were genuinely afraid of something.

"I'm sorry," Alex whispered, though he wasn't sure what his apology was for. Jack only shook his head, staring down at the carpet in front of him.

"I'm just… confused."

"About what, Jack? Are you feeling well?"

"I don't know, it's stupid."

"Look, Jack, I know we've only been friends for a week or so, but you can tell me anything, alright? I mean, it's not like you already know a huge part of my past," Alex said in a snide manner.

"Why should I tell you, Alex? How do I know you won't go around telling everyone that I'm gay? I already have zero friends." Jack was on edge now, snapping at Alex for no good reason.

Alex took a small breath, looking for the right thing to say. The last thing he wanted was to get Jack wound up. "I won't tell anyone anything because I don't know anyone at the monument to ignorance we call St. Raphael's. I also won't tell anyone because I think that you and I are going through the same thing, alright? And you know what? You don't need friends because you have me."

Jack stared at him blankly for what seemed like the longest time. "So… just so we're on the same page here," Jack said softly, "you… you're straight."

Alex nodded.

"But you're getting mixed emotions."

Alex nodded again.

"Over a guy?"

Alex nodded a third time, and the room grew silent again until Jack finally spoke up once more.

"Alex, there's no one like you at school. I've been there for four years, so I've never known anything but money and spoiled brats and just plain bullshit. Even the guys I've known since freshman year go out and party almost every weekend. But they're the only thing I know. You're different."

"I could say the same thing about you," Alex said quietly, feeling more and more nauseous by the moment. But he felt relieved that someone had put his feelings into words for him.

"Maybe we're just having a really weird bromance."

Alex shook his head in agreement. That was a very logical theory. Maybe the two boys were just so excited about meeting each other, that they somehow gave each other butterflies.

"We'll give this time. And lots of it. I'm just as nervous and confused as you are, but maybe things will get… well, less weird," Jack said, offering Alex a smile full of hope.

With a shaky hand, the older boy reached out to stroke his cheek. Alex didn't move as the soft fingers brushed against his face. It felt exactly as it had in the dream, comforting beyond belief. He felt at home once again.

"It's going to be alright," he whispered, "you can trust me."

And Alex believed him.