Save Me || Jalex

Chapter 2: Jack Bassam Barakat

Jack slammed the door of the refrigerator with an annoyed huff. He had went shopping Monday evening. Had he really eaten all of the food in 4 days? He mentally cussed himself for being such a fat ass as he pondered over other options for dinner. He considered Chinese takeout, but then he remembered the new pizza place that had opened just down the road from his apartment building. Jack pondered for a moment before deciding that pizza was worth the trek through the snow.

After pulling on a large thick coat and a pair of old boots, Jack made his way down the stairs and out the front door. As soon as he stepped outside, a large gust of wind pelted his face with snow and he immediately regretted not wearing a hat. He wiped away a bit of icy coldness from his stubbly jaw and quickly trudged down the almost empty street toward the pizzeria, hoping he could get there before his whole face froze solid.

Jack's cold body was greeted with instant warmth as soon as he opened the door to the pizzeria. There were much less people than he had anticipated. An elderly couple sat at a table in the corner of the room and a man sat with a baby in the other corner but other than those two it was deserted. He made his way, still shivering and shaking, to the counter to order.

"Hello and welcome to Papa's Pizzeria!" the bubbly cashier greeted with a friendly smile, "May I take your order?"

"I'd like a medium pepperoni pizza with extra cheese and some bread sticks please," Jack replied, staring up at the menu behind the counter

"Okay," she typed some numbers on the cash register, "It should be done in about 15 minutes."

Jack went over to sit at the table beside the door while he waited. He scrolled through Twitter on his phone for about ten minutes before getting bored and looking out the window.

It was quite dark outside, even though it was only about 6 in the evening. It wasn't snowing as hard now, although Jack could still see bits of snow falling from the sky. The ground was covered in the powdery white flakes, giving the whole street a very Christmassy feel and making Jack wish he could go outside and build a snowman right in the middle of the sidewalk. There were a few people bundled up in coats and scarves walking down the street and leaving footprints in the perfectly laid layer of snow. Someone drove by with a freshly cut Christmas tree tied hastily to the top of their car causing Jack to smile. Christmas was by far his favorite holiday. Everyone was always so happy and festive, forgetting about their worries for a quick 2 week period.

Jack was pulled from his thoughts about Christmas by the cashier announcing his order. He walked up to the counter to accept his wonderfully smelling pizza. After paying the money for the meal, Jack rushed out of the warm pizzeria and back into the cold night. He walked as quickly as he could to get back to his apartment and back into warmth.

Jack was only two buildings away from his apartment when he saw something move in the alleyway beside him. Jack stopped walking and turned his head to look. Just as he was about to decide that it was nothing, he saw something move beside a dumpster. Jack knew he should just go home, that it's probably just a raccoon or a rat or something, but of course he couldn't just do that. His curiosity got the better of him and he cautiously peered around the side of the dumpster.

Jack didn't know what it was at first. It just looked like a lump covered partially by snow. Then it moved, only slightly, and Jack realized that it was a person laying facedown in the snow. Jack tried to get closer, but then he heard his shoe step in something. He looked down at his feet and noticed the trail of blood leading up to where the man lay. Fuck. He was hurt.

Jack knew he couldn't just leave the guy out here. He'd freeze to death. But where would he take him? His house? Was he really going to let some stranger in his house? He could be dangerous!

Jack looked down at the unconsious body that lay at his feet. There was no way he'd let this guy die. Jack sat the pizza box down on top of the dumpster and grabbed the man by the torso, wrapping his arm around the other's waist and pulling him up so Jack could carry him back to his apartment. With the strange, possibly dead guy in one arm and the pizza box in the other, Jack made his way back to his apartment.

Mr. Unconsious didn't look very heavy when he was laying on the ground, but lugging him up 3 flights of stairs without dropping him took all of Jack's energy. It was a long process of step, step, step, breathe, and he almost debated just sitting the guy on the steps and letting someone else deal with him, but he couldn't do that. When Jack finally got the man into his apartment and laid him back on the couch, he collapsed back into his chair with a Coke and three slices of the pizza which was almost cold now. As he sat chewing on a piece of the gooey pizza, Jack stared at the stranger on his couch.

He had almost shoulder length brown hair that looked like it hadn't been washed in months, and he had a good bit of brown scruff covering his jaw. He was wearing an old hoodie that looked 2 sizes too big for him and a pair of jeans with holes in the knees. Weightwise, he was quite small. He probably hadn't eaten in quite a while. He was quite tall though, Jack guessed about 6 feet maybe. He didn't look too old either, 30 years old at the most.

Jack wondered why he was hiding behind a dumpster. He was obviously homeless, Jack could tell just by the way he smelled, but why was he unconsious? Did somebody do this to him? If someone did do this to him, then why? Was he a theif? DId he kill somebody? Jack felt a growing feeling of unease in his stomach, but quickly repressed it. This guy looked so peaceful. There was no way he could kill anybody.

When he finished the food, Jack went and threw his plate in the sink, leaving it to wash later. He looked at the sleeping figure on his couch once more before going to the closet and grabbing a blanket to put over him.

After the man on his couch was cared for, Jack suddenly yawned and realized just how tired he was. It wasn't very late, but todays events tired him out so much that he felt like he was going to fall asleep where he stood. He gave one last look to the man on the couch before heading into his bedroom to get some well needed sleep.

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Woo update for the first time in like 4 months oops. Sorry, but I've had the worst writers block, and I finally just sat down for 3 hours and forced myself to crap this out :P Sorry it sucks, but I'm sick and my whole body just feels sore and gross and eugh plus it's like 3 AM and I'm about to fall asleep as I'm typing this. But yeah, Jack found Alex. I know I said that I would keep Alex homeless for a little while, but I really just want to get this story going c: