I Painted A Picture (Jalex)

From The Weight Of The World

"What?" I said in disbelief.

"I was really overwhelmed and I suddenly got this...urge. Like I had to do it." Jack leaned forward and put his face in his hands. "I regret it now."

Seeing Jack like this triggered my protective boyfriend instincts (which I didn't know I had, but okay), and I immediately asked, "What did you do it with?"

"It's on my bathroom counter. You'll know it when you see it."

Well then. I squeezed his shoulders reassuringly before getting up and going into his bathroom.

The first thing I noticed was that all the towels were lying on the floor instead of hanging on the hooks where they were supposed to be. I decided not to move them, just in case.

The second thing I noticed was the razor blade on the counter. That must've been what Jack meant. I quickly picked it up and went back into Jack's room.

Jack was sitting up straight on his bed, watching me. I walked over to the still-open window, making sure he could see me, and threw the razor blade out the window.

He looked at me, aghast. "You just..."

"I did. Now, first order of business: when was the last time you showered?"

He shifted around on his bed. "I dunno...your house?

Recalling the event, I smiled and sat down next to him. "Are you still wearing my clothes?"

"Oh...yeah, I am." He looked down at himself awkwardly, and I smirked.

"Come on," I said. "You need to shower."

"Shower? I can barely stand up," he admitted, and I remembered how he'd been limping earlier.

"Well, at least take a bath," I said.

He nodded. "Okay, sure."

I slid my arm around his shoulders and helped him to his bathroom, feeling slightly bad for making him move. He was probably in a lot of pain. But, you know, self-care is important. Even if it's less like self-care and more like my-boyfriend-is-doing-all-the-caring-care.

I'd left the bathroom door open, so Jack and I just walked right on in. I closed the door behind us and turned on the water in the bathtub. "Do you want me to leave?" I asked, having suddenly occurred to me that Jack might want privacy.

To my surprise, Jack shook his head. "No, please stay, I need someone to keep the house from flooding if I die."

WAIT WHAT

Seeing the look on my face, Jack laughed, the first real laugh I'd seen him do that day. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna die from taking a bath. But I still want you in here. I just don't want to be alone."

I smiled. "I get it."

"Now can you help me get my clothes off?" he asked. "Sorry, that sounded really wrong, but I'm starting to get all stiff from...you know...and I can't really lift my arms above my head."

"Sure thing."

Carefully, I got Jack's clothes off, and as a result, I got a very good look at the various injuries he had sustained.

His shoulders were still bruised from Monday morning, but the front of his collarbone sported new bruises, which were very obviously not made by fists. My gaze traveled downward to his legs, which had nearly identical bruises, except more severe, like he'd been hit hard enough to break the skin. It made me sick, and I hurriedly helped him into the bathtub so as to avoid looking at them.

I spent most of the next half hour kneeling beside the bathtub, just making weird small talk with Jack. I mean, it was quite fun, because you don't get to talk about stuff like that every day, but I couldn't help but feel like I was intruding on him.

Soon enough, Jack was done with his bath, and I helped him put on some fresh clothes before starting up the music again, per his request.

He seemed to be feeling better, so with that in mind, I asked him, "Have you eaten anything today?"

He shook his head. "I haven't even left my room."

"Wait, why not?" I asked.

"For one, my legs really hurt," he said. "And for another, I don't know whether my family is home or not."

"Are they usually home all day?" I asked.

"Well, no, my dad doesn't get home from work until around four, and then sometimes he has meetings later, and my mom...well, I don't know where she goes, but she's usually out until five or so, sometimes later, and my siblings have all moved out."

"It's around five-thirty now," I said. "Do you want me to climb out on that tree and check to see who's home?"

Jack's eyes widened. "Would you really do that?"

"Heck yeah."

"I mean, with your wrist and all..."

"Who cares?" I got up and climbed out the window onto the tree branch just far enough so I could see the driveway, then climbed back in and reported my observations to Jack. "The driveway's empty."

Jack seemed to relax a bit. "Oh, good. I can leave."

"Do you want to stay at my place again?" I impulsively said.

"Really?" he asked. "You'd let me do that?"

"Yes, definitely," I assured him. "You're always welcome at my house."

He grinned. "Thank you so much."

I helped him stand up, then carefully walked him down the stairs to his kitchen. I'd never actually seen his kitchen before, but it wasn't really that interesting. There were still boxes everywhere, and it looked pretty empty.

Before we got out the front door, Jack stopped me. "Wait," he said, "can I do something first?"

"What do you need to do?" I asked.

"I want to write a note to my family telling them where I am. My mom flipped her shit when I didn't tell her last time."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," I said as Jack limped over to the counter.

The counter had a conveniently-placed notepad and a few pens, which I assumed were for grocery lists and such. I leaned over Jack's shoulder as he wrote.

Hey guys. I'm gonna be at Alex's for a while. I'm not really sure how long, but I don't want to be around any of you right now, not after what happened. I'll be back when I know I'll be safe or when Alex kicks me out, whichever comes first. And before you try to contradict me, no, I'm not safe. Sincerely, Your Very Gay Son, Jack.

"'Your Very Gay Son'?" I asked.

"What?" he said. "I don't want them to forget how incredibly gay I am."

"Understandable."

*****AUTHOR'S NOTE*****

I'm sorry for the wait, but considering my current mental state, it looks like this is going to be a normal occurrence from now on.