Hearts & Spades

Alex had let his eyes flutter closed, his world consumed by the darkness behind his lids. However, he could still hear the gentle thumping in the other's chest over the sound of the gentle music. He could still feel the way they swiftly moved across the floor - or rather, how Jack managed to gracefully guide them, Alex would never be able to move like this without his assistance. But, most of all, he could sense the raven haired boy's warm, calming breath as he rested his head on his chest, and the reassuring comfort of the elder's hands on his lower back, making him feel as if no force on earth could pull him away.

All too quickly the room fell into near silence, except for the murmuring of strangers' conversations. Alex was thrown back into reality fast enough to make him dizzy, his small sweaty palms clutched onto Jack's neck for dear life, like he didn't want it to be over. A chuckle from deep inside his dance partner's chest caused his gaze to move upwards.

"We can go again later if you want, you did seem pretty blissed out."

His eyes grew the size of dinner plates as his face seemingly caught ablaze. Alex couldn't even spit out an explanation, instead he let his arms fall to his side and averted his eyes into the crowd where he saw Rian offering a thumbs up. A small smile replaced the brunette's frown before he felt someone take a firm grip to his forearm and direct him away from the floor.

Then the dance went back to being nothing more than a dreadful high school event, loud pop music surrounding the group of teens as Jack fell back into chatting away with people he'd never met as if Alex wasn't standing there. Maybe he was being selfish, no he was definitely being selfish, the other may have been his date, but that didn't mean he got to have all his attention - but that didn't mean Alex couldn't want all of his attention.

"You two were pretty adorable out there." Cassedee commented, wrapping her arm around his dainty shoulders and giving him a tight squeeze. "It's like you two were made for each other or something..."

Alex's face must have gone pale as a sheet because the girl soon burst into giggles.

"I'm just joking, let up Alex."

The boy in question forced an awkward grin and nodded his head, his eyes following the shuffling people until he spotted Jack in the distance. He was towering over most of the people who surrounded him, his large signature smile lighting up the room. Alex couldn't help but wish that Cassedee was at least a tiny bit serious about her comment. Though, the sixteen year old knew more than anyone that he'd never meet the standards someone like Jack deserved. He knew he'd never be Bethany.



"God, I've got to piss." Jack grunted, bouncing back and forth on his heels and handing the red plastic cup in his hand to an awaiting Rian.

"I told you to take it easy on the beverages, dude." he taunted, his smirk disappearing once his friend's dark eyes shifted into a death glare.

"I'm gonna go take a leak, but I gotta tell Alex first."

"What do you need his permission to use the bathroom now?" the stocky teen cackled resulting in him getting the look once more.

"I just... don't want him to freak out if he can't find me." Jack defended, his careless facade fading as he remembered the night he discovered Alex's anxiety. He remembered the look on his face - his blotchy red cheeks, the tears falling onto his shoulder...

"Hey Jack, there you are!" Alex cheered once he made his way over, his smile immediately putting the other at ease and allowed him to mimic it.

"Hey, Lex, I just wanted to tell you that I was gonna take a quick trip to the restroom."

The smaller of the two glanced at the slender girl standing next to him before his features fell into a pout. "Oh... have fun." Alex was rather unsure of what to say, he was kind of hoping Jack was coming over to hang out with him for a change. However, the lanky boy seemed oblivious to his reaction and simply pressed a rough kiss to his temple before turning on his heels and disappearing in the crowd.

"Alex... I'm going to go dance with Rian, you think you'll be okay alone for a bit?" Cassedee suddenly asked, her voice soft and hesitant. She was only trying to be nice, but Alex felt as if he was being treated like a child, yet he frowned and nodded just like one.

And that's how Alex Gaskarth ended up standing in a dark corner by himself, watching people his age laugh and have fun with their friends as he shifted his weight from one leg to another. Luckily, or maybe not so luckily, his loneliness seemed to be noticed.

"You're... Alex, right?" questioned a stranger with a camera around his neck, a stranger he didn't even notice approached.

He was rather shocked he was recognized, it wasn't like Jack talked about him outside the time they spent together. "Oh, uh, yeah, that's me." he murmured under his breath - he was quickly beginning to resemble a kicked puppy.

"I saw you and Jack dancing out there, whenever you find him you should come tell me. I could snap a picture of you guys for 'cutest couple'." the other boy said with a smile, lifting his camera and peeking at Alex through it.

Now, the shy sheltered boy would usually think this guy was nothing but a total weirdo, but at the moment he was far too busy blushing over the fact that people thought he and Jack might actually be a couple.

"That sounds like a great idea, you can put it right next to Bethany's memorial page." a third person commented, their voice dripping with near hatred.

The stranger with the camera opened his mouth to retaliate, but the newly arrived boy cut him off.

"Mind if I borrow this one real quick?" he slapped a large hand roughly on Alex's shoulder, causing his eyes to widen in terror. He looked towards the camera boy as if it was a plea for help but it was useless because he simply shrugged and wandered off, to find more people to photograph more than likely.

Alex swallowed the lump in his throat and looked over the features of the boy, or maybe man, who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. His hair was a light brunette, a short and almost curly mess on top of his head. However, what caught his attention the most was just how large he was - which only managed to make him even more anxious. Though, he couldn't fight the feeling that he'd seen this guy somewhere before.

"Hi, Alex, I'm Zack, a friend of Jack's..." he began, a smile on his face though it puts off an unsettling sinister aura. "I've heard quite a bit about you, can we talk outside for a bit? This music is giving me a headache."

A friend of Jack... he must not be as intimidating as he seemed. Alex knew better than to judge a book by the cover so he offered a friendly nod. That, however, only caused this Zack character's smirk to grow.

Zack began to lead the two through the crowd through the side exit, he had no trouble pushing past people, but he made sure to look back every so often to make sure Alex was still stumbling behind him and not planning on running off.

"Hey, uh... actually, I think I should wait for Jack. He just went to the bathroom, he'll be back soon and he'll be wondering where I went." he stammered, stopping in his tracks a few steps from the door they were headed towards.

The brute's jaw clenched before he upchucked some kind of excuse along side with a sugar sweet smile. "It's okay, we'll be back before he's even finished."

Much to his surprise, and pleasure, Alex nodded again without any more protest and continued behind him. The younger had a million different questions on why some friend of Jack's wanted to talk to him so bad, or why he was so determined to get him outside, but none of that raised any suspicion - he appeared nice enough plus a friend of Jack's is a friend of his.

However, the moment the heavy side door closed behind him, he was greeted by nothing but trees and a narrow grass pathway that must have led to the front of the school. Alex only had a moment to let out a breath, watch the fog spiral in the cold air, before he felt two large hands grip his suit.

Zack seized a hold of the petite boy and rammed his body against the brick building, gaining a pained whimper in return. Alex was absolutely petrified, his small hands grasped the other's arms as he kicked his feet that no longer reached the ground.

"Vinny, the door." Zack spat as a boy with a buzz haircut quickly obeyed and leaned his weight against the already heavy exit they had just come from. There was no escape... even on the right another boy with dirty blonde hair stood with his arms firmly crossed. Who were these people? Friends of Jack? What could they possibly want with him?

"Let me go..." Alex squeaked, blinking quickly as to prevent any tears from escaping his eyes.

But his desperate plea alone was enough to make the three other's chuckle in satisfaction.
"Sorry, Lex, no can do." he snickered, lifting the feeble boy and slamming him right back so he was pinned against the wall once more. "We need to have a little chat."

Alex had let his eyes flutter closed, the nightmare around him consumed by the darkness of his lids. However, he could still hear the laughter of the three strangers. He could still feel his back being pushed against the cold, rough bricks and the strong unforgiving grip Zack had on his clothes. But, most of all, Alex could sense his hot breath inches from his face and his heart nearly leaping out of his chest.

To his disappointment, it seemed like Zack wasn't going to get much more of a response rather than pitiful sniffling and squirming. "Alright, let me start by telling you why you're here in this situation. Because, it's your own fault after all."

Alex peeked open one eye, even though he could feel a warm tear trail down his cheek. "W-what?"

"Did he fucking ask you to speak?" Spat the boy in the corner who had stayed rather quiet up until that moment, making Alex flinch away.

"Evan, back off and let me handle this, would you?" Zack yelled back as their victim watched their bickering helplessly. "Now if you haven't put two and two together yet, I'm Zack, that over there is Vinny and this asshole is Evan. If you're still lost, we're all a part of your beloved Jack's football team."

Now Alex knew where he recognized them from, though Zack was large enough to be a football player the other two were rather scrawny, but that still didn't answer why they were doing this. Did Jack put them up to this? Certainly not... "B-but he qu-quit football."

"Bingo! Give him a round of applause boys, he's finally catching on." he cheered crudely, his handle on the younger's clothing tightening. "And do you have any idea what happened because dear Jack quit football?"

Alex shook his head helplessly, staring at the ground and watching his tears fall into the grass and roll down the blades.

"Of course he doesn't" Zack huffed, rolling his shoulders swiftly before continuing. "Well, allow me to enlighten you. Dulany lost the championships."

The look he got in return to that explanation was one of utter misery and confusion.

"I know what you're thinking, all of this over a football game? But that's not the case, it wasn't just a football game. Look at these boys..."

Alex's eyes didn't move from their spot bellow him and disobeying him earned him a fist to the jaw. Though his yelp was all but ignored.

"Look!" This time Zack's demand didn't go unnoticed. "Good boy. Now, thanks to Jack abandoning his responsibilities we lost the championships. Which means, loosing scholarships. Which means we would all have a free ticket to college by now if it wasn't for that traitor."

"H-how does this have an-anything to do with me?" he dared to ask, his gaze meeting the one holding him hostage, though he could feel the throbbing in his face where the punch had collided.

"Because, you're the reason he quit, princess. You're single handedly responsible for ripping a future away from three people, how does that make you feel?" Zack asked, his face getting uncomfortably close.

"W-what?" he choked again, as if the fear had limited his vocabulary to but a few words. Jack had told him that he left the team because of their awful attitudes, which he could see now.

"Did he not tell you? He's completely smitten with you, the minute he found out we were trying to keep him away from you he split. And at first, I couldn't imagine why on earth he would throw this away. He loves football, he loves the team, yet he got rid of it in a blink of an eye. And for what? A boy he just met?"

Alex was thankful that the physical abuse had ceased yet it was as if Zack's words stung more than his fists ever could.

"Then it all started to make sense. You took advantage of him."

"What!? I'd never, Ja-" all it took was the large seventeen year old raising his fist to get Alex to bite his tongue once more.

"Now, now, let me finish. Jack was so torn up over Bethany, I know we use to be close before you came along. He was weak and vulnerable and then you come along, claiming to have her heart or some shit and convince him he needs you like he needed her. Bethany never interfered with the things Jack loved though. But you're not her, you're just a disgusting little sick boy who latched on to the first thing that would pay attention to you."

Alex opened his mouth to defend himself yet remained silent. There wasn't a lie to be found in what Zack had said in his little spite speech. He was just a disgusting little sick boy and the only reason Jack stuck around with him was because he associated him with the one thing he did love - Bethany.



Each step Jack took seemed to be even more cringe worthy than the last, his little plan was going to go down in flames wasn't it? He was never one to get nervous, the butterflies in his stomach were a feeling unknown to him before now. There was only one way to find out if he was going to make a fool of himself and that was to go through with it, and in order to do that he was going to have to find Alex.
As he made his way back into the dance the booming music was almost like a slap in the face, it served nicely in getting him back into the game. Once he approached his small group of friends he noticed something significant was missing.

"Where's Alex?"

Matt tugged on his lip ring in thought before pointing to a door on the far side of the room. "Pretty sure I saw him go out there with Zack a little while ago." he answered nonchalantly, receiving an unexpected mood change from the elder. "What? You think he's cheating on you or something?" he questioned with a laugh, getting no response, but instead Jack turned around and started dashing towards the exit he had mentioned. "Jack!?"

He could hear his name being called behind him despite the noisy environment, but that didn't change the fact that he ignored it. The last time he bumped into Zack he was anything but friendly, he had no clue what he was planning on saying to Alex but he was positive that it wasn't going to be good.

Jack pushed against the metal door yet his simple force didn't even cause it to budge. That only made him even more terrified about what might be happening on the other side. Alex, he had to get to Alex and he was out there. He tried again, this time pressing a bit harder and the door opened but only a crack. Someone must have been leaning their weight against it. Jack checked on either side of him, right now no one seemed to be paying any attention to him, but without a doubt they would be soon. Jack took a few steps back, letting in a deep breath before releasing it, then rammed his body against the door. He successfully managed to get it opened, but not without nearly losing his balance.

His former teammate was sat astonished on the damp grass, staring up at him with his mouth agape.

"...Vinny?" he thought out loud as the boy scrambled to his feet only to grab a hold of Evan and rush off.

"Jack!" he was much too busy watching the others make their escape to notice Alex pinned helplessly against the wall, his face tear stained and red - just like the time he was having a panic attack in his bedroom. And who was holding him there? Who was harming poor innocent Alex? Of course it was Zack. Jack had this gut feeling the whole time.

The raven haired boy's hands curled into fists as his brows bunched together. "Let him go."

His uncharacteristic bark was all Alex heard before his body fell to the ground. He soon collected himself and stumbled to his feet only to run and stand behind his date, shivering from both fear and the cold air surrounding them.

"Oh come on, we were just having some fun with him." Zack claimed innocently, peeking around Alex's hiding place and waving to him.

"Don't touch him again." Jack was going to be the bigger person, he was going to walk away even if he truly wanted to teach the jock a lesson he'd never forget. He let out a sigh and curled his arm around the smaller boy's waist, leading him towards the parking lot.

But then, in the moonlight he saw his cheek wasn't just red from crying, but discolored as if a bruise would soon form.

"Alex, did he hit you?" he asked, his voice nearly barren from any emotion.

"Y-eah, but it wasn't too hard..." he answered, raising a hand to touch the injured spot on his face. His answer must not have been convincing enough because the minute it escaped his lips Jack took a step back and turned around, marching towards where they had just come. "Jack!?"

Zack was too busy searching in the other direction for where his friends had vanished to notice the other boy marching up. When Jack cleared his throat, he turned around casually, having no time to react to the fist flying in his direction. The unexpected blow from the lanky teen's fist made him fall to the ground and Jack wasted no time pinning him there. He held the bigger boy's arms above his head and leaned down in his face.

"You ever come near Alex again and I won't hesitate to break your fucking legs." Jack hissed through clenched teeth. "We'll see how well you play football then."

"God, what's happened to you? You're not even the same person anymore." Zack offered, though his eyes were wide with fear from being held against his will, much like he had done to Alex only a few moments prior.

Though, instead of answering, Jack lifted his arm to hit him again, but before he could a small hand wrapped around his wrist.

"Jack. Stop, please." Alex whispered in that timid little voice of his and soon enough ever muscle in Jack's body relaxed.

He nodded in silent agreement, pulling himself to his feet and taking the other's hand. He left with one more cruel look in Zack's direction. Jack could feel the light grasp on his own hand begin to quiver, Alex was afraid, but this time he wasn't sure who wasn't sure who was scaring him.



It was obvious neither of the boys were in the mood to go back to the dance after that incident, that was obvious from the way they fell into an awkward silence on their way to the parking lot.

"Why do you have Rian's car keys anyway?" Alex asked suddenly as Jack unlocked the vehicle before them.

"Because, I have a surprise for you." he replied, his smile slowly coming back as he opened the passenger door for his date and watched as he sat down, flinching slightly as if he was in pain.

"A surprise? Another one?" Alex said curiously, eyes following Jack as he made his way to the other side of the car.

"Yep." Jack grinned, glad that the tense atmosphere had managed to die down rather quickly. He reached into his jacket pocket to receive the items he had gotten from the car earlier on his 'bathroom trip'. Dangling from his hand were two necklaces, one with a heart pendant and the other, the ace of spades. "I saw you staring at them in the mall the other day." he explained with a shrug.

"And... and you went back and got them?" Alex muttered in near disbelief, the elder was just filled with surprises lately. The simple gesture was almost enough to make him forget about the pain in his back and throbbing in his cheek.

"Well, yeah. I did my research, in playing cards the heart represents kindness and compassion, and the spade represents protectiveness and loyalty."

The dimple faced sixteen year old rolled his eyes before reaching for the jewelry only to have it quickly pulled away from him. "Hey!"

"One of these are yours, but only under one condition."

"And what's that?" he asked, skinny arms crossing over his chest as he raised one thick brow.

"You have to agree to be my boyfriend."

Alex fell silent after that, his mouth hanging open while everything Zack told him raced through his mind. Jack may be wearing his heart warming smile right now, but that didn't mean what the brute had said wasn't true. Was he really nothing more than a band aid for Jack's broken heart? He was just something that could fill the void Bethany left, that's all.

"Jack... I..."