Holding On & Letting Go [✓] (Boyxboy)

Chapter Seventeen

I walked away.

Pushing on Jack's chest, I broke the kiss and turned on my feet, drunkenly stumbling up the sidewalk as I attempted to put as much distance between Jack and I as possible.

"Troye!" Jack called after me, his hurried footsteps approaching me from behind.

"Shit." I said in a panic and began to move faster. Unfortunately, my coordination was impaired and I tripped over a crack in the sidewalk.

I braced myself for the fall when two arms wrapped around me, steadying me on my feet.

My head spun and I groaned in pain as a migraine began to surface. "Let me go." I moaned, barely able to comprehend what was happening.

"I don't want to." Jack muttered in my ear but I wasn't having any of it. Wasted or not, I wasn't stupid.

Kicking out, I struggled in his grasp. "Let me go!"

Jack backed off but remained close in case I tripped again. "You're drunk Troye," he said. "Let me help you."

"Oh, like you've been doing so well lately?" I spat. "Fuck off, Jack."

Jack bristled against my aggressive tone. It was rare that I swore and when I did, it meant I was beyond furious and Jack knew it all too well.

I began to make my way up the street again when Jack caught me around the waist. I thrashed against him. "Let me go!"

"No!" Jack threw back. "You can't even walk. There's no way I'm leaving you in this state."

I scoffed. "As if you care. Tell me, would you even be here right now if I was sober?"

He doesn't reply and I scoff in his direction, moving to leave again. "I didn't think so."

"Claire told me you were going out tonight. She's worried about you."

"Always on someone else's agenda, isn't it?" I laughed darkly. "Grow a pair of balls, Jack. The least you can do is tell me the truth."

He spoke through his teeth. "I was worried about you."

"There it is," I laughed, stumbling slightly as I circled him. "You can't even admit the real reason you're here."

"I just wanted to-"

"You punch my date,"

"I only meant-"

"Get us kicked out of a club you weren't even invited to,"

"Would you just-"

"And then you have the audacity to kiss me, thinking I'll just come running back to you."

"Christ! Would you just listen to me!"

I flinched under Jack's harsh tone. He's glaring, eyes sharp and jaw clenched as he breathed heavily. He relaxed slightly when I shut my mouth.

"I don't know why I'm here." he says with a sigh. "I could lie and say I was worried about you but I saw you with Brendon and then with that other man and I just..." He trails off.

"You broke things off with me, Jack." I said angrily. "Am I supposed to never kiss anyone else just because you want me to?"

"That's not what I-" He sighed again. "I was being selfish."

"And the kiss? You think you have any right to ask that of me after what you said? I suppose I'm only meant to kiss you or no one else, right?" I spat.