Stomachaches

Who the fuck did he think he was? My blood boiled just at the mere thought of him, and with my shit luck, of course all of my friends were in love with him. What was so good about him anyway? So what he was skinny, and tall, and owned his own bar? I knew Jack didn't care about those things. Well, at least now he didn't.

The love of my life was drunkenly swaying on the dance floor with a man who wasn't me. It's not like Brendon is a bad guy, or that I had any real reason to not like him other than the fact that he's treating my love better than I ever had. See, I never was much of a dancer, and that's what Jack liked to do. He liked to get wasted, and all he ever wanted was to take me out onto the fucking dance floor and dance with me. And I refused to. I quickly found out that this was one of my largest regrets, as I remember the multiple times where Jack had stumbled up to me, pressing a sloppy, whiskey flavored kiss to my lips and begging me to dance with him. Of course I had brushed him off every time, always forcing Zack or Rian to go dance with him, just so some creepy stranger didn't.

Brendon's hands gripped Jack's waist, almost covering the bruises he had left on Jack's tanned hips as he pulled Jack into him. Jack didn't protest. He never did when he was like this. Except, he spun around, swinging his arms around his new boyfriend's neck. He leans in for a kiss, Brendon smirking into it as his hands trail further and further down his back until they're rested solidly on Jack's ass.

I bit my lip, ignoring the familiar flame of anger rising in my stomach. I turned back towards the bar, in fear of going out onto the dance floor and punching Brendon in the face. I took a deep breath, picking up my bottle of beer and taking a slow sip.

"Are you okay, Alex?" Rian asks softly, his voice barely audible over the loud pounding of music.

I shook my head, sighing. "Is it that obvious that I'm not?"

Rian smiles weakly, nodding. "You've been watching them all night, y'know."

"I just want him to be safe." I say, not telling Rian a full lie. Not only did I want Jack to be safe, but I wanted him to be mine again. I wanted for him to want me. I wanted to be his obsession again. "He hasn't exactly taken good care of himself lately."

"Brendon will be good for him." Rian assures, taking a sip of his beer. "He needs a new plaything."

"Plaything?" I raise my eyebrows. "What do you mean by that?"

I had always known that Jack struggled with commitment issues. He'd never told me whether or not he was scared of it, or if he just didn't like being tied down. Even when we were dating, he'd often need to take a few hours out of our time together for himself. Which I understood completely. But I felt as this was different than how it was then. Now, I felt as though not only did Jack want love, he wanted blood and guts. He was a natural born heart breaker. Once you'd fallen in love with him, you could consider yourself utterly screwed. I know first hand, since I remember being terrified once I had first told Jack that I loved him. Luckily for me, he had said it back. But, things these days were different. Jack was a black widow. Once you'd fallen in love with him, and he'd taken control of all of your affection, he'd rip out your fucking heart and leave you to bleed on the floor. Metaphorically, of course.

Jack always told me that he was heartless, and it wasn't till he'd broken up with me when I started believing it. The boy who once fell asleep on my chest, and cried during Disney movies, was now ignoring me. Pretending that my very existence in his life was irrelevant. Like we never even happened. The night after I had cheated on him, and he had broken up with me, he had came home drunk. And spilled his heart out to me, something he hated doing. He explained that he wasn't supposed to get his heart broken, that I wasn't supposed to be like the rest of them. Considering the fact that Jack had never really dated that many people, I'd never figured out who 'the rest of them' were.

"Jack isn't going to stay with that kid." Rian sighs, taking a sip of his beer. Not only did I agree with him, because not only did Jack get quite bored of people easily, but because Rian was always right. "No matter how good he is for him."

I force a smile, glancing down to my hands, which were rested on the bar in front of me. "You think so?"

"He never stays with anyone for longer than a month or so." He says, rolling his eyes. "I've tried to figure him out so many times, but I just can't. He doesn't have a valid nor fair reason to tear these people apart."

I nod in agreement. "Knowing first hand, I can guarantee that he knows how to destroy an entire world in a couple of words. He's smart."

Rian chuckles, running his hand through his hair. "Thank you for talking to him today. I know he's not exactly cooperative while he's like that but-"

"It's really no problem. You know I'd do anything for him, no matter how much he'd hate me for it." I smile, turning back around to find Brendon helping Jack guide himself back over to the guys and I.

"Hi!" Brendon beams, his smile brighter than my future. "Jack doesn't like this song, so he decided to come and say hi to you guys."

Jack smiles from his spot next to Brendon, drunkenly swaying back and forth in the dim light of the bar. "Hi guys." Jack slurs, supporting his weight onto Brendon, who doesn't have the slightest issue in holding him up.

"Hey, Jack." The guys chorus, receiving a huge grin from the whiskey princess.

"Guys, Brendon is going to buy me a fucking cat!" Jack exclaims, throwing his skinny arms up into the air.

"Wow, that's great!" Rian smiles, his voice sounding like he was talking to a small child instead of a grown man.

"I dunno if it's obvious or not, but my darling's had a bit too much to drink." Brendon says sarcastically, grinning when Jack giggles and buries his face into Brendon's neck, the blonde section of his hair falling and splaying over the black fabric of Brendon's tank top.

The fact that they had already established little cute things to call each other irked me. It was like an itch I couldn't scratch, or person that I couldn't stab, for that matter. That person being Brendon. Not that I thought that he was a shit person, or anything. He was just holding onto something that was mine. And he needed to back the fuck up.

"Yeah, maybe we outta head out." Zack smiles, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck, a nervous habit of his.

"I'm actually pretty hungry." Rian shrugs, patting his stomach. Of course he was fucking hungry. Although he'd never make any food for himself, he'd eat absolutely anything anyone else made. So at least he was compliant.

Jack grinned at me, causing butterflies to swell in my stomach, and I knew that I shouldn't be getting excited. He was drunk. He didn't know what he was doing, let alone who the fuck he was smiling at or what it meant. Jack didn't care.

"How about we head home and order pizza?" Rian suggests with a shrug. Zack and Jack nod eagerly, and Rian glances to me. "What about you, Alex?"

"That's fine," I reply carelessly.

"Then it's settled. Will you be joining us Brendon?" Rian asks, rolling his eyes at Jack's immediately pouting expression, staring up at his boyfriend with those big bloodshot, brown doe eyes.

"I'd love to, but I've got to lock up tonight," Brendon frowns, looking unbelievably handsome even while doing something as simple as that. No wonder Jack was so attracted to him. Well, if he even was truly attracted. No one ever knew what was going on in Jack's frazzled mind. "Next time, for sure."

Rian nods, once again rolling his eyes at Jack's saddened expression. I knew he cared for Jack with all of his heart, but when Jack was drunk he was definitely a handful.

"I'll see you later, sweetheart." Brendon says, pressing a kiss to Jack's forehead before gently pulling the other boy's hands off of him, guiding him to Rian. He takes Jack's hand in his, while Jack pouts at his boyfriend.

"I wasn't done dancing!" He exclaims, motioning toward the dance floor with his free hand. If I had a nickel for every time I've heard him say that, I'd be a fucking millionaire.

"You can dance at home, Jack." Rian says, sounding like an overworked stay at home mother. "You can come back to the bar tomorrow too, right Brendon?"

"Of course you can," Brendon smiles, leaning in and pressing what was supposed to be a short kiss to Jack's lips, but Jack's freehand came up and held Brendon's head in place. Finally, Rian pulled Jack's hand away, Brendon pulling back, grinning with flushed cheeks. "I'll see you soon, okay?"

Jack nods, smiling widely as Rian, Zack and I get off of our bar stools, beginning to exit the bar as Jack clung to Rian like a small child. Occasionally I felt bad for Rian, always having to play the mother role toward Jack. But, for the most part I was jealous. Jack trusted Rian with every fiber of his being, and even though Jack would never admit it, Rian was like a brother to him.

We exited the bar, the sound of Jack's shoes shuffling against the concrete the only sound to be heard besides the light thump of the music inside of the bar. We reached Rian's car, and I pulled the right back door open, sitting down inside and closing the door. I was pulling my seat belt on, when the door across from me opened, and in slid Jack followed by Zack.

Zack sighed as he helped Jack with his seat belt and I silently wondered why Jack had to sit in the middle. Well, scratch that. I actually remember Zack telling me a story where Jack was drunk and he opened the car door and tried to roll out like a ninja. So that explains why he was in the middle, I guess.

Rian gets in and starts the car. The ignition turns on, and Weezer's song 'Buddy Holly' begins playing through the speakers of the car.

"This is my fucking jam!" Jack exclaims, eyes widening as he turns to Zack. "This is my fucking jam!" He repeated, as if Zack hadn't heard him the first time.

Zack just nods, plastering a smile onto his face. "Yeah, I know, Jack."

We begin to drive, Jack headbanging and humming every note beside me. He had insisted that we roll down all of the windows, and turn the music up. At first, we'd refused, but once he started crying we were quick to comply.

"OOO-WEE-OOO I LOOK JUST LIKE BUDDY HOLLY!" Jack sings at the top of his lungs, practically bouncing up and down in his seat. Once the song ends, he turns to Zack, taking some of his short brown hair into his hands.

"Jack, what're you doing?" Zack asks, his cheeks blushing red. The drunk boy ignores him, examining Zack closer before moving up to his face, caressing his cheeks, poking his lips and putting his fingers in Zack's ear.

"Zack, you are just so fucking gorgeous, man." Jack mumbles, nuzzling his face into Zack's hair, causing me to chuckle. "Like...your hair smells like strawberries."

Zack's eyes widen, and luckily for him, we didn't live too far from the bar and we were home. Zack was definitely out of the car first. Jack turns to me after taking his seat belt off, his eyes wide.

"Will you carry me inside?" He asks meekly, grinning when I nod my head and take him into my arms after taking my own seat belt off. Jack had always been skinny and lightweight, but never this light. He was definitely too easy to pick up, and I began to worry. He kisses my cheek in thanks before nuzzling into my neck, the warmth of his breath sending shivers down my spine.

I closed the back door, simply standing there for a moment, just enjoying Jack's warmth and affection for the time being. I craved him so often, and I knew that another moment such as this wouldn't come for a very long time, and I made the best of it. I carried the frail boy into the house, closing the door behind me as I pulled off my shoes with my feet, and Rian once again took Jack's shoes off. I walked into the living room, setting Jack down on the couch, before sitting next to him, his head right beside my thigh. He mewls before scooting upwards and resting his head on my lap, mumbling something inaudible.

"What was that?" I ask quietly, ignoring the happiness filling my stomach.

"Play with my hair." He repeats, opening his eyes for a moment only to close them again. I reached up, running my hand through his soft masses of hair, feeling him relax further into my lap. We remained that way until the pizza had arrived, and of course, Jack didn't want to get off of my lap.

"Jack, come on."

"That's not my name," Jack smirks with his eyes still closed as he buries his face further into his hands.

I sigh, ignoring the shaking of my hands. "Please get up, my beautiful Whiskey Princess. It's time to eat." I say excitedly, smiling as Jack sits up, beaming at me.

"That's better." He replies, skipping to the kitchen.

Rian winks at me and I roll my eyes, sick of his shit. He opens the pizza box, and I cringe at the sight of pepperoni, knowing I was about to scarf all of it down. Jack stumbles back into the room, a plastic solo cup in his grasp. Was he really drinking more? Rian gives him a warning look and Jack sighs.

"It's a glass of fuckin' Sprite. I already know I'm wasted."] Jack giggles, coming back into the living room and taking place on my lap. I take a deep breath, biting my lip as he rests the side of his head against mine, wrapping his arm around my shoulders.

We begin eating, all except Jack of course. He says he's afraid to throw it back up, but I felt like he was lying. I didn't call him out on it though. We had decided to stop eating and put the pizza away after Jack threw a piece at the TV. Now, his head was rested in my lap as he was sobbing.

"I-I just wanna snuggle!" Jack cries, tears streaming down his cheeks. I would feel like shit, if it weren't for what he was saying, because let's face it, it was pretty funny.

"Jack, you're snuggling with Alex." Rian chuckles, staring at his best friend in amusement.

"I wanna snuggle with Jesus!" The drunken boy argues, burying his head into my stomach further as the rest of us laugh at him.

"Jack, what can we do to make you stop crying?" Zack asks nicely, Jack's feet splayed across his lap. Jack turns over, looking up at me with those watery eyes.

"I wanna watch a movie." Jack says, still staring into my eyes. I don't know what it was about him, but he was my absolute everything. My entire world, all I care about.

"What movie?" Zack asks, wondering over to the movie shelf, scanning it down with his eyes. Ten minutes of Jack being silent, the guys and I had engaged in silent conversation before Jack finally spoke.

"I like Happy Feet." He states, crawling further up my body until his head was right onto my chest, pushing me down into a laying position.

"Well, let's put in Happy Feet!" Zack grins, Rian looking for the movie.

And that's how Jack and I fell asleep last night. Jack's tears falling onto my shirt, my arms locked around his waist, holding him against my body as he silently cried into my shirt, listening to Happy Feet in the background. He had fallen asleep in the middle of it, the guys smiling at me as they headed to their bedrooms. Not wanting to wake up the sleeping princess, I just laid there and tried to drift off to sleep, and eventually I did.