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At 11:34 pm, as the rain was torrentially down-pouring and thunder was crashing, all the boys rushed out of the house and back into Jack's red car. For the first time in what felt like years, they weren't scared anymore.
Jack let himself into the driver's seat. Alex, for the first time since Jack had owned that stupid car, put himself in the backseat while setting a still-passed-out Jasey Rae down into the seat next to him. Zack insisted on Rian sitting in the passenger seat, despite his pleading to be with Jasey. Before speeding away, Jack checked Rian's head. Remarkably, only the slight cut on his forehead was bleeding and nothing else, so Alex reached into Jasey's blue backpack and handed Jack a bandage for the boy's cut. Jack put it onto Rian himself.
Zack showed Alex his stab wound and Alex showed Zack his. Both boys agreed that they'd be okay, but were in an abundance of pain nonetheless. If it hadn't had been for the way they had gotten the cuts, they would've taken Zack to get his looked at, but Alex would've refused, either way, insisting that he was okay.
After all, it was Jasey they had to worry about.
Jack went fifty miles per hour in his twenty-five-mile per hour speed limit town until he reached his front lawn. He took the keys out of the ignition, unbuckled, and everyone shot out and into the house as he locked the car doors.
Thankfully, his mom had taken his younger sister trick or treating and was nowhere to be found because otherwise, there would have been too many time-consuming questions. It did look like a pretty weird situation though.
Jasey Rae was laid out onto one of the air mattresses that was blown up by the gang just yesterday in case their plan failed and they wanted to spend the night at Jack's instead of the mansion. Lucky them.
"This is too weird for me," Zack confessed, stress eating a handful of candy he reluctantly picked up on his way downstairs after getting Rian an ice pack.
"I don't understand why we can't take her to a real doctor," Rian added as he held said ice pack to the top of his head.
"We just trespassed" Jack explained. "We'd be in deep shit." He said it so matter of factly that Rian's blood boiled.
All the while, Alex was sitting on the floor next to Jasey's mattress, holding her hand and looking at her face as if it would be for the last time. His stray tears dropped down onto her nose. Jack would've risen hell to mock Alex if the situation was different. However, the unfolding outbreak between Rian and himself was more attention-consuming.
"So you'd rather her die than get yourself in trouble." Rian stood up, throwing his ice pack onto the floor. He was absolutely furious. "This is your fault, Jack." Rian stepped closer and stabbed a finger into Jack's chest, causing Jack to lose his footing for a second, before towering over Rian again. Rian didn't back down in the slightest at Jack's height. He had always been bigger, but not a better fighter. "She's my best friend. I don't know why I introduced you guys in the first place. She just saved your- all of our lives- and you'd rather let her die? Then what Jack? Get in a tiny bit of trouble." Rian stretched forward and put his face as close as he possibly could to Jack's despite the height difference. They found themselves so close that their noses were almost kissing. Jack could see every pour on Rian's face, every eyelash on his eyes. Rian could smell the vomit still stuck on Jack's shirt. "You're a pussy, Jack Barakat." Spit launched off the word pussy and slapped Jack in the face.
"Hey! Nobody's dying." Zack stepped in between the two boys, pushing them apart with both his arms.
"Zack, how can say that? Look at her." Rain shoved Zack's arm away from him. He then pushed the boy away altogether. "Jack, I fucking hate you. I can't believe you right now, man. She didn't even want to do this in the first place and you-"
Jasey coughed.
"Rian." She laughed. "Sh-Sh-shut up, man."
Rian pushed Jack away and fell onto his knees grabbing at Jasey's other hand.
Instantly, Alex stood up and went to walk away, feeling embarrassed at his own emotions. He felt as though Rian regretted introducing them as well. But deep down, Alex didn't want to leave her side either.
"Y-y-you know we kissed?" Jasey laughed, looking up at her best friend. Alex stopped walking away and looked back down at the girl. She beamed up at him, despite the pain, despite somebody else's blood staining her face and hair, despite her stomach growling in absolute hunger, despite her mouth being drier than ever, despite still being afraid the man would come to get her. Despite everything. She smiled. Alex smiled back.
This is yet another reason why Jasey Rae and Rian were the best of friends. She's one of the only people who would literally put herself 30 seconds away from death trying to save other people's lives and then joke about it.
"No way." Rian mocked. He laughed as tears ran down his own face.
"Jasey, Jack thought you guys were having sex like an hour in." Zack stood over her with glossy eyes and his own aching heart. She looked back up at him as he leaned over and looked down. Though it hurt to look at her like this- look at all of his friends like this, Zack couldn't help but joke. "If I spit right now, it would go in your mouth."
"The only person who gets to spit in her mouth now is Alex." Rian corrected.
Alex went red as everyone's attention was turned back to him.
"What's the matter, Alex?" Rian asked, still crying. "She's alive." He croaked in a freaky voice, mimicking that of the one used to describe Frankenstein.
"H-h-he only likes me when I'm p-p-passed out."
"Hahaha, probably. He held you the entire way home and just now until you came to." Rian informed her. "Alex Gaskarth has a thing for dead girls, I guess."
Zack looked away from Jasey and up to a crying Alex. He could smell the tension. He turned his head to Jack who was blankly staring at a beige wall holding Rian's ice pack.
"Alex, I hope you know that we don't blame you for any of this," Zack spoke up. "Actually, Jack we don't blame you either. I think Rian was just going crazy."
"Sorry guys." Rian didn't even look up from Jasey, but his apology was genuine. Alex could tell.
"No, it's nothing. Nothing's as bad as Jae's Pac-Man rage." Jack was, after all, the best at accepting apologies. And forgiving.
