Chains and Petals; Jalex

Carnation

This was a time to mark on your calendars. Jack Barakat was undeniably happy. Everything was peaceful. He was going to bed on time, waking up earlier, actually eating breakfast, and finally taking care of himself. None of it felt real.

He'd stay up rereading Alex's texts to him after the boy fell asleep, just to feel the warmth in his heart. Everything just really seemed to be okay.

He rode his bike to work earlier than usual, and he was even more productive. The days he had lunch plans with Alex were the days he got the most done. He'd finish early and nearly run down the road to the cafe to meet him. They'd only been talking for a few days, but Jack just knew that this was right.

And now it was Monday, at about 11:59 am, and Jack was pulling on his leather jacket, feeling extra jumpy, knowing he was going to see his Flower Boy. He was nearly out the door when he heard Zack call for him.

"Dude, I know you gotta go but can you help me out first? It wont take that long, I'm just having trouble with the printer." With Rian out today, Jack was the only one to help him. He grumbled with annoyance, already going to be late to see Alex.

It took nearly ten minutes of fiddling with it for them to realize that it wasn't printing because there was no paper in the thing. "Goddammit Zack, just put paper in it. I have to go."

Zack gave a quick apology, and Jack was out the door, half running down the street. He was praying Alex would still be there. The thought of not seeing Alex today made him move faster. He turned the corner, and let out a breath of relief when he saw the pink boy; But that wasn't all. Seated across from him was another figure.

Jack slowed to a stop in his tracks, watching Alex talk to the purple-haired stranger. His heart sank when he saw the other boy holding Alex's hands. His Alex. Nothing felt right. He felt like he was going to throw up.

Jack turned around, and began his walk back to the store. His jaw felt fuzzy, and he was beginning to feel light headed. This was another new feeling. He believed it was called heartbreak. Sadly, Jack wasn't aware of his ignorance. His only instinct was to react, and when Jack didn't think about his actions, his reactions were rarely good.

The tattoo clad man stomped past the tattoo parlor, into the parking lot, and onto his bike. He felt nothing but pure rage, clamping his hands on the handles and starting the motorcycle. He revved it loudly, as if to prove a point, and drove nearly ten mph over the speed limit, towards his destination.

Keep in mind, as Jack did all of this, his head was not thinking as he should've been. He never had a thing for jealousy his whole life, until now. Until it came to the person he finally felt love for; And although it is obvious to you and me that Jack was overreacting, his mind was too flooded with emotion to even consider this anything else other than Alex finding someone better than him. It hurt him even worse when he thought about how impossible it would be to find anyone better, or even equal to Alex. Plus, Jack assumed that if this was a friend, Alex would've already told him about him. So in Jack's corrupted, selfish mind, this couldn't be anything but proof he was not worth as much as he had felt before.

The wheels of his bike brought him to 13 Tulip Hollow. He continued spitting, cursing, until it was in his range of sight, and he smirked.

Jack then proceeded to do what most would believe was evil.

He drove his motorcycle onto the boy's yard, through his flower beds. He then leaned over, ripping them out of the ground with curses to god.

And then he was off, speeding down the road, heart pounding and head spinning. He thought this would be the right thing, to get back at Alex for bringing another boy to the cafe, and holding his hand instead of Jack's. How could the world possibly be this fucked up? Tricking him into finally falling for someone, then ripping it away from him so suddenly?

It was too good to be true, of course it was. He had no idea why he didn't see this coming, why he even tried to do any of this in the first place. His head was spinning, and as he climbed off of his bike to return to work, his phone buzzed in his pocket.

Flower Boy

You okay? You never showed up to lunch :( I'm worried, please get back to me before you leave work

Jack's heart twisted in his chest. He wanted to throw his phone away. He wanted to throw himself away. He shut off his phone and tucked it into his pocket, without a response to Alex. He didn't understand.

Zack was extremely worried for the rest of the day, the next few hours filled with tension caused by Jack's anger.

So finally, at the end of the day, as Zack prepared to leave the shop, he stopped in front of Jack and tilted his head. He placed a delicate hand on the man's shoulder, and gave a small smile. "Hope you feel better, dude." And he turned and left, leaving Jack in the shop alone as the sun set. All of the lights were off, and for a moment he sat and watched the road.

Until his phone started buzzing sporadically in his pocket, causing him to jump. He took it out of his pocket, sighing as he read the screen.

Flower Boy

He reluctantly hit answer, bringing it up to his ear. He could hear fast breaths, his heart dropping.

"J-Jack, can you p-please help, s-someone ripped my flowers, I-I don't know what to do, p-please,"

The sound of Alex's voice trembling like this made the man's heart drop.

What the fuck was he thinking?

"I'll be there in one minute."

***

Hey pals. Sorry it took me a bit to update, I had a creative kick and I'm trying to keep it going. Writing helps me feel better when Im feeling gross, and right now has been one of those times. I'll do my best to be consistent.

But I'm seeing All Time Low in August! I'm really happy I get to see them so I have something to look forward to.

Thanks for reading, vote if you'd like

~aus