Unscripted (Jack & Crutchie)

Chapter 9 - Refuge

Criticism spot :)

This chapter is a lot of Crutchie learning about what we already know about Jack (his time in the refuge), so you can skip this chapter if you'd like.

Crutchie's POV

I woke up in an incredible amount of pain. I was feeling real sore now and I felt like I was being beaten all over again. I didn't even try to move to watch the sunrise, it hurt way too much.

After a few minutes, I heard Jack get up. Usually he would say good morning to me, but he was probably upset about last night still. I don't blame him. I didn't want to look at him. I didn't want to see how upset he was, and I was still hung up on how I got reminded of my Dad. I mean, Jack was nothing like him. My Dad was an awful person, and Jack wasn't like that. But, that sentence just hit me.

"Charlie, you better drop it right fuckin' now." It just kept replaying in my head. 

A few more minutes went by, and I still hadn't tried to get up. I was just staring straight ahead on the ground.

"Crutchie, I gotta check your cuts." Jack said, walking over to me. I turned my head to look at him, but I felt scared once I saw him. I couldn't help but feel terrified. I must've been making some expression, because Jack continued, "what's wrong?" He knelt down to help me up, but I shot back.

"Don't touch me," I said, cowering away from him. I couldn't move far because of how much pain I was in, however I tried to get as far away as I could. 

"... What? Crutchie, it's me-"

"Don't!" I yelled back without even thinking. Jack drew back, and I could see how upset he was. I tried holding my tears back, but it was too late. 

Without saying a word, Jack went down the ladder. I sat there, feeling real mad at myself. I knew he wasn't anything like my Dad, but I still let it get to me. All I wanted right now was for Jack to hold me. That was all I wanted.

I laid back down and stayed there all day, falling in and out of sleep again. All I could think about was him. I was just waiting for him to get back so I could talk to him and tell him I was sorry. 

While I was lost in thought, I heard the ladder shake. I quickly tried to get up just because of how excited I was, but that wasn't real smart of me. I let out a small scream in pain, falling down a bit and catching myself with my hands.

"Crutchie?" Jack said, worriedly, and shooting up the ladder. He grabbed me to help me up, but then quickly froze. "I'm- Is this okay?" He said. My heart broke. I started crying, again, and pulled Jack into a hug, with me holding his shirt as I loved to do.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it," I started rambling, keeping him as close to me as I could. "I just- what you said last night, and saying my real name, it made me think of my Dad and I don't know what happened this morning. I know you're nothing like him, and you would never hurt me, but I just- I don't know-"

"Crutchie, Crutchie, breathe for a second," Jack said, combing through my hair. I noticed that I was breathing real heavy, and I took a second before fully collapsing into him. He waited for a few minutes before he continued, "I figured that. It's okay. Please, just breathe."

It took a few more minutes for me to fully calm down. I laid there with my eyes closed for a moment, and then I looked up at Jack. He was looking at me already, and I saw worry written across his face.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't of looked through your stuff, and I shouldn't have pushed you to talk about it-"

"No. Don't be sorry." He cut me off before I started rambling again, and took a deep breath. "I'm fine with you looking through my drawings, I don't care. But I was so upset about the ones you asked about because..." He took another moment to look out toward the skyline, before looking back at me. "Because they were real. And I've just... Never talked about it before."