Forced Eternity (Jalex)

Ultimatum

Alex's POV

He knew, and was pissed. I had been summoned by Matt, my boss, to his office. His office was dark, with thick sound-proof walls that enclosed us. The ground was made of an unbreakable, slate-grey, concrete. There were no windows, only an over-hanging lamp that flickered every so often, illuminated the room. Matt's gaze was hard, holding only one emotion in his dark eyes; anger. His jaw clenched and his mouth opened to speak.

"Mind telling me why you have a mortal in your possession?" He asked me, his voice low and restrained.

"He's my love." I admitted, my body tense. He took a deep breath and folded his hand in front of him, placing them on the dark wood desk between us.

"Love?" He asked me with disbelief. I nodded slowly. "Please, do go on."

"I'd do anything for him. If you want him to perish, then I shall perish as well." I went on. "He means so much to me, and he makes me genuinely happy."

"That's still no excuse. You know the rules. Zeus himself knows about this. That town your little mortal is from is decreasing in production. The school is closed, law firms are foreclosed on, not to mention, the apple orchid is overflowing with rotten apples." Matt told me flatly. I swallowed, but my mouth was dry.

"What does all that have to do with Jack?" I dared to ask.

"Can't you see? Jack means a lot to that town. He volunteers at the apple orchid, he's part of the school council, the law firms are managed by his mother. I understand he means a lot to you, but what you must realize is; Jack needs to go home."

"Why can't he stay here?"

"Because the longer he stays, the poorer and more run-down that town becomes." Matt sighed. "Zeus gave Hades a week to fix this. I'm giving you that week to take him home."

"Will I still be able to see him, at least?"

"No. You will be here, and your right to visit the surface is revoked. You're also being put on suspension." Matt replied, his voice void of all emotion, the anger having left him. My breathing was irregular. Not being able to see Jack ever again? No...the thought of that made my chest tighten and my mouth go even dryer. I shook my head.

"I'd rather kill him." I muttered bitterly. I had promised Jack that I'd never kill or hurt him, and I was willing to break that promise to keep him.

"You're not permitted to kill him. I've given you your orders. Leave." Before Matt dispelled me from his office, he said one more thing to me. "A week, Alex. If it's not done, I'll kill you and do it myself."

___

My home materialized around me. I could hear Jack playing his guitar again, making me smile a weak and sad smile. I found him leaning again the bed, strumming slowly. He grinned when he saw me in the doorway.

"Alex, hey, c'mere." He patted the carpet next to him. I went over and sat beside him. "I wrote you a song." And with that, he played and sang for me, a song describing how crazy I made him, and how he liked my gentle touch. When he'd finished, he kissed me. "Like it?"

For the first time in centuries, I began to cry. Jack set aside his guitar and wrapped his arms around me. But that just made me cry even harder. Soon those arms would be gone. Jack would be gone. I couldn't tell him why I was crying. Since I knew the moment I brought him back to his family, he'd forget about me. He'd never love me. Ever.

"Alex, why-what's wrong?" He whispered. I took several deep breaths, trying to calm down. I shook my head. Lie. I had to lie.

"It was such a beautiful song." I choked out through sobs. Lie.

"Aw, Lexy, you don't have to cry. It wasn't even that good." He soothed. I nodded slowly.

"Wait, what did you just call me?"

"Lexy...you kinda gave me a nickname, I figured you should have one too." That just brought on a new wave of tears, which ended in me having to leave the room cause it just hurt too much to be near him. A week...and I was supposed to just let him go?

I sorta kept away from Jack. If I was near him, I had a problem with keeping my hands to myself. But, Jack was insistent on trying to cheer me up. He didn't ask me what was wrong, but he just knew it was something bigger than the song he'd written.

"Hey, Lexy?" Jack asked me as he put something into the microwave, his back to me. I was sitting on the counter, idly swinging my legs back and forth.

"Yeah?" I asked back softly. He came over to me and kissed me.

"If you were a booger, I'd pick you first." He started to giggle at his own joke. I rolled my eyes at him and ran my fingers through his hair.

"I didn't know you were on your school's student council." I told him, making his eyes widen a little, but he just shrugged.

"I didn't actually campaign. Everyone just figured it'd be funny to vote the 'gay, emo, loner' to be class treasurer. I suck at math." He explained to me. "But, how'd you find out about that?"

"You have a file." I lied teasingly. "I also know you'd volunteered at the apple orchid."

"That was something I did for stupid volunteer hours. Ya know? So I could graduate."

"You know, I'm not the only one who loves you."

"No, you probably are."

"I'm not."

"Alex, what the hell are you getting at?"

"Nothing."

"You're lying. You have been since you came back. Where did you even go?"

"I had a meeting with my boss."

"What was the meeting about?"

"Don't worry about it.'

"Obviously, I'm going to worry about it. I tell you everything, c'mon, if this relationship is going to work, we have to work together."

"R-Relationship?"

"Yes, you want me to call you boyfriend, too?"

"I dunno." I giggled, making Jack laugh as well.

"Seriously though, what's up?" He asked me, his brown eyes pleading. I sighed, honestly, I didn't want to ever have to explain it to him. I shook my head. "Lexy, tell me."

"It hurts too much to tell you." I choked out, feeling tears starting to well up in my eyes and my stomach drop.

"It must be really fucking bad then, whatever it is." He kissed me lightly, wiping away the few spilled tears. I nodded. "Tell me whenever you want, but I want to know." I nodded again, since I didn't trust my voice to speak. Sooner or later, I had to explain everything that happened with Matt, since it'd be hard to just take him back to his old life and leave him there.

___

On day four of my given week, I had finally felt ready to tell Jack the truth. I wasn't sure how to go about it. Thinking about it, I didn't want to tell him in a place where anything bad could happen, which left very few options. I was lying down on the couch in the living room, a book in my hands. My mind was off in Never-land, leaving the pages unturned. Jack was on his back, playing random notes on his guitar. I took a shaky breath and went with it.

"Jack?" It was a bit odd, calling him by his first name, I seldom did, since I preferred calling him by various terms of endearment. He sat up, setting his guitar aside. I closed my book, gathering the strength and courage. "You have to leave." I told him bluntly. Shock and confusion was etched into every fiber of his being.

He was probably happy that he could go back to his family. I knew I was a difficult person to live with. That's why his response surprised me.

"Why?" He asked me, his voice sad and after several moments, tears were forming in his beautiful eyes. "Why, Lexy?"