Semi Charmed Life - 4. Chapter 4

It felt like graduation came on in the blink of an eye. Jack could barely believe it. He had graduated high school. He was going to college in the fall, even if he had to get a part time job to help supplement his running scholarship. He had a beautiful, hot girlfriend who had promised sex after the blowout graduation party she was having. No wonder he couldn’t stop smiling.

He spent a lot of the time leading up to graduation helping Deidra set up her house up for the party. She had invited the entire senior class and was preparing accordingly. Caterers had been hired, furniture moved, breakables hidden. Lights lined the trees around the pool. Deidra even had enough foresight to send gift baskets to her neighbors with info on the party, hoping to pre-emptively let them know there was probably going to be a lot of noise and cars.

“Where do you want it?” Jack asked. Deidra glanced up from where she was setting up additional tables for snacks.

“Over near the fireplace,” she said. “Thanks for putting it up for me.”

“How did you come up with this idea?” he asked, moving the large projection screen into place.

“Alyssa, actually.”

“Really?” Jack asked, moving to look at her. Deidra nodded.

“Yeah. She asked me if she was still invited to the party, and I said ‘Of course, it’s for all the graduates.’ Then we started talking. I think she wants to bury the hatchet. And she told me of a party where they did something similar. So I asked Dad, and he had someone come over to set up the projector.”

Jack considered it. Burying the hatchet. It wasn’t like they would still see most of these people after tonight, and it would be nice to leave on good terms.

He wondered if Damon would be there. Maybe he would be willing to “bury the hatchet” as well.

Jack decided to keep an eye out for him.

The party already in full swing by ten that evening and showed no signs of slowing. Music was pounding, and Deidra’s slideshow of photos from all the senior classes were running on a constant loop on the projection screen. Jack saw food and drinks everywhere he looked. There was a rumor about alcohol being added to some of the drinks, and Jack was inclined to believe it. Because while his drinks tasted fine, he could tell he was getting a little drunk after having a few. He didn’t mind though.

Jack spent most of his time dancing and making out with Deidra, and joking around with his friends. He saw Alyssa in the crowd a time or two, but she made no attempt to approach him, and he took his cue from her and left her alone as well.

Midnight found Jack, definitely drunk, carefully maneuvering his way up the stairs in search of an open bathroom. Most of the ones downstairs were locked, one was splattered with vomit, and another one Jack was sure was occupied by a couple having sex, judging from the sounds coming from it.

He found an empty bathroom upstairs, did his business, and left, ready to navigate the tricky business of getting back down the stairs to rejoin the party, when a sound stopped him.

There, underneath the pounding of the bass, was another strain of music, high-pitched, haunting, and ethereal. He listened to the notes, then looked back down at the laughing, drinking, dancing crowd below. He could see Deidra dancing in a group of friends, obviously not missing him.

He lingered, listening again, and caught a few more notes, a faint strain under the music and noise of the crowd. He followed it, through the hallway and into one of the upstairs bedrooms.

It was Damon. The room was dark, and he was standing there at one of the windows that looked down onto the crowded pool, playing his violin.

It was the first time he had been alone with Damon in months.

Jack took a minute just to look at him. He had grown, and his hair was still long and wildly styled, but it was out of his eyes more. His many piercings glinted in the light coming in through the window, and his expression as he played was wistful and melancholy.

Jack thought he must have moved or made a sound, because Damon glanced over saw him standing there. Jack felt his face grow warm, but Damon just smiled and lowered the violin.

“Hey,” he said, packing his violin in the case.

Jack was a little surprised to hear a casual greeting after months of them refusing to acknowledge each other.

“Hey,” Jack said in return, stepping into the room. He nodded toward the violin. “I didn’t know you still played.”

“From time to time,” Damon responded. “But I haven’t had a lot of time, since…you know.”

Jack wondered why he had brought it to a party of all things, but then quickly dismissed the thought. This was the first time he had been alone with Damon since the disastrous fight outside of Jack’s home. With the end of high school and the knowledge that everyone was likely to scatter after tonight, it felt like a good time to try to repair their friendship. Bury the hatchet.

“Look,” Jack said. “I wanted…well, I’m sorry for how everything went down. It was shitty of me to let Alyssa get between the two of us.”

“I heard the two of you broke up,” Damon said.

“Yeah, it wasn’t working out.”

“Who are you going out with now?”

“Deidra Sarafian,” Jack said, but he didn’t want to talk about her right now. He was hungry for information on Damon. “What about you? I see you with a guy a lot. Is he the one you had a crush on?”

Damon looked surprised, but then smiled. “Yes. Will. He and his family took me in…after.”

Jack felt his stomach clench. No matter what, it seemed like all roads led back to that afternoon, the hurt, the betrayal, the angry words.

Desperate to change the subject, Jack cast about for something to say.

“So, d’you guys, you know?” Jack made a gesture with his hands.

Damon grinned. “What, fuck?”

Jack wanted to kick himself. It was the first conversation he had with his former best friend in months, and Jack was asking about his sex life.

“Yeah,” Jack managed, figuring it would sound weird to say anything else.

Damon laughed. “All the time,” he said. “Will’s parents are cool. We had to sit through a conversation about consent and safety and shit, but they also said we’re adults and could make adult decisions.” Damon went silent for a moment, and glanced away, staring at the bookshelf on the opposite side of the room. “I thought maybe it was because of that why you turned me away. The dating thing.”

“No, absolutely not,” Jack said. “Those were Alyssa’s feelings, not mine.”

“What were your feelings then?” Damon asked. “Because you told me you didn’t care. Except you did when your girlfriend did.”

“That’s—” Jack started to say unfair, but that would probably lead to another argument, which he didn’t want, and he was a little drunk, so he probably wouldn’t win anyway. “That’s complicated,” he said instead. “But it didn’t bother me that you were gay. It was kinda cool.” He hesitated before saying what he wanted to say. But the alcohol was quickly lowering his inhibitions, and he always trusted Damon. “And…maybe…it made me a little…curious.”

Damon glanced at him. “Curious?”

Jack shrugged. “You know, what it’s like.”

Damon grinned and there was a dark edge to it this time, something sinister….and sexy.

“Do you want me to help with that?”

It took Jack a few seconds to process the question, and then his face grew hot, and he knew he must be blushing.

“No,” he said, laughing a little and holding a hand up. “No, no, I’m just—”

“Curious,” Damon interrupted. He moved forward, but it was only to cross the room and shut the door. He was right next to Jack, and he could smell the other boy, his cologne and a faint whisper of something else, something sweet.

Jack knew he needed to leave, get out of the room, go back to Deidra and the safe familiarity of his life, but Damon was blocking the door. And now, looking into Damon’s face, Jack realized how much he had missed him. How he wanted their old friendship back, even though that wasn’t what Damon was offering.

This was like the other party, the almost kiss, except this wasn’t an almost, this was a wide-open invitation.

God, it was so hard to think right now. He wished he hadn’t drunk so much.

“Why don’t we—” Jack started, but Damon moved towards him, an inviting smile on his lips.

“Why don’t we, then?”

Jack took another step back, and Damon stepped forward, not allowing him to re-establish personal space.

“C’mon,” Damon purred, reaching out to toy with Jack’s belt buckle, using it to pull him closer. “I know you’ve thought about it. I’ve seen the way you watch me, especially when you think I’m not looking. Wondering what it would be like, feel like.” Damon leaned forward to whisper in his ear, causing a full body shiver.

“It feels good, so good. I can show you. I can make you feel so good. I’ve had lotsof practice.”

The hand gripping his belt slid down to cup Jack through his jeans. Jack moaned a little. The urge to move his hips, to press himself against Damon’s hand, was nearly irresistible.

“Damon,” he managed. He didn’t know what he wanted, for Damon to stop or continue.

“Yes?” Damon said with faux innocence. His hand pressed against him slightly.

“I—I don’t—”

“Let’s make a deal,” Damon said. “Kiss me.”

“What?” Jack said, looking at him.

“Kiss me,” Damon said. “One kiss. If you still want to leave after, I’ll let you. If not, then….” He let the answer trail off and gave another gentle press of his hand.

Jack didn’t say anything. His head was full of white noise static making it hard to think, to act. But Damon wasn’t waiting for an answer, he was already moving in, cupping Jack’s face in his hands, like Alyssa sometimes did, and pressing his lips against Jack’s. It was gentler than Jack expected, and he could feel the press of metal against his bottom lip, the faint, slightly greasy taste of lipstick. Damon’s mouth was gently coaxing Jack’s mouth open to allow his tongue inside, and Jack let him.

He had never been kissed like this. Alyssa would barely kiss him unless she wanted something. Deidra kissed like she did everything else, full throttle and aggressive. Damon kissed him slowly, like he was special, something to cherish and treasure.

It broke something inside of him, and suddenly he was kissing Damon back. It was like breathing air after being suffocated, tasting food after being hungry for too long. He couldn’t get enough of Damon, kissing him hard, and touching every part of him he could reach.

Damon was pulling him back, away from the wall and towards the bed. Jack followed mindlessly, too focused on kissing Damon, feeling that hot mouth against his.

He didn’t break off until Damon gave him a gentle shove onto the bed. Jack fell onto his back, then Damon was on top of him, kissing him again. Damon ran his hot hands down over Jack’s ribs, then gripped the hem of his shirt to bring it up over Jack’s head. Jack helped remove it and pulled Damon back down.

Damon lifted himself up, staring down at Jack with dark, fathomless eyes.

“What do you want?” Damon asked. He leaned down to kiss Jack’s neck, slid his tongue along the dip of his collarbone. He slid down, kissing his way down Jack’s chest, then sliding back up.

“What do you want?” Damon whispered again, his breath hot against Jack’s ear. Damon straddled Jack’s lap, and rocked his hips forward against Jack’s, a long delicious pull of pressure and friction that brought a groan of longing from Jack’s throat.

“Want me to suck you off?” Damon asked. “Would you like that?” He leaned down to kiss Jack again, a little harder, more aggressive. Jack liked it.

“I can suck you off, then you suck me off. How does that sound?” Damon rocked his hips again. “You like that?”

“Yes,” Jack gasped out. “Yes, yes, please.”

Damon smiled and moved off Jack’s lap. Jack initially missed the pressure against his cock, and the weight of Damon on top of him, but then Damon was unbuckling Jack’s belt, and unbuttoning his jeans. Jack sat up to help pull them down and Damon yanked them the rest of the way off. Jack’s arousal was evident, his erection straining against the cotton of his briefs.

"Nice,” Damon said, stroking his palm over the bulge in Jack’s briefs, and pressing a small kiss against the base of his shaft through the cotton. He dropped his head to suck a hickey onto Jack’s inner thigh while his hand worked Jack’s erection. “I can’t wait to have it in my mouth.”

Jesus, Jack thought. Damon was so fucking hot.

Damon hooked his fingers into the waistband of Jack’s briefs and pulled them down, exposing Jack’s cock, fully erect and leaking pre-cum.

Jack instantly felt self-conscious, and moved to cover himself, but Damon was nudging his knees apart to kneel between them and pulled Jack’s hands away.

Then Damon bent forward, took him into his mouth, and all other thoughts vanished. Nothing else existed except that hot, wet mouth around his cock. Then Damon began to suck.

Jack moaned as his hips pistoned up, into the sinfully hot suction. Damon chuckled and the vibration around his cock made him groan and involuntarily lift his hips again. Everything felt like it was crashing down around him, the whole world around him disappearing, until there was nothing but the throbbing ache in between his legs and the nearly unbearable heat wrapped around it. Pleasure was crashing over him, through him, filling him up until he was sure his body couldn’t hold anymore.

He bit his lip to keep from crying out, trying to hold back the overwhelming rush of pleasure to draw it out as long as possible. He looked down, saw Damon’s mouth stretched around his cock, taking him all the way in, staring up at him with his heavily lined eyes and moaning in pleasure.

The sight of Damon and the vibrations around his cock were all it took, and then he was cresting, his head back, his body drawn taut as a piano wire. He shuddered through it, feeling his thighs tighten under Damon’s hands, and the gentle suction of Damon swallowing around him.

Spent, he slumped down, resting his elbows on his knees and cradling his head in his hands. Damon grasped the back of his head and pulled him into a salty, bitter kiss.

Jack realized what it meant a second later and pulled away in disgust.

Damon chuckled and let him, stepping back and unbuckling his belt.

“Time to return the favor.”

“D—” Jack started.

“You promised,” Damon reminded him, unfastening his fly to release his cock.

He’s pierced there too, Jack thought, feeling dazed and pliant.

Damon grinned at Jack’s expression and stroked his cock a few times, flushed a deep red and already erect.

Damon gripped Jack’s hands, pulling him up from the bed and drawing him into another kiss, gentle this time and no longer tasting of cum.

“C’mon,” Damon whispered. “Do it.” He pushed down on Jack’s shoulders, and he found himself on his knees. Damon stepped forward and wound a hand through Jack’s hair, gripping tightly. Damon’s cock bumped against his lips. After the slightest hesitation, Jack opened his mouth and took him in.

Jack instantly knew he wasn’t a fan of blowjobs. Damon’s cock wasn’t abnormally large, but it was thick, and he kept wanting to gag when it slid to the back of his mouth. His mouth was stretched uncomfortably wide, and an ache began to throb in his right jaw.

He kept on though. He didn’t like the hold Damon kept on his hair that much, as it was one of the things that brought Damon’s cock too far in his throat, but it felt good to be touched.

Jack continued to work. He knew he was nowhere near Damon’s level of expertise. He wondered how often Damon had done this with Will, to become so skilled. He felt a stab of regret. This was something they could have learned about, discovered together, if Jack hadn’t been so stupid. He could make it up to him though. Starting tonight. He could make everything right, make it better. For both of them, but especially for Damon.

It felt like a long time before Damon began to pull a little harder on Jack’s hair, making strained, grunting sounds. Jack knew what was coming and tried to pull back, but Damon’s grip on his hair tightened, and he slid his cock into the back of Jack’s mouth. Jack gagged on it, but Damon wouldn’t pull back, until there was a warm gush of salty fluid in his mouth.

Jack gagged again, but thankfully Damon had released the grip on him, and Jack was able to pull off of his cock. Jack bent forward, coughing and some of Damon’s release dripped over his hands and onto the floor, but most of it got swallowed. Jack wiped at his face with his hands and spat. He felt sick.

When he looked up, Damon was already tucking himself back in his pants. Jack uncertainly got back to his feet. The air felt cold against his exposed skin, and he suddenly realized he was completely naked and Damon was still fully dressed. It hadn’t mattered much when they had been all over each other, but he felt embarrassed and vulnerable now.

Jack started to look for his pants, when Damon grabbed Jack’s hands and pulled him toward him.

“I have something to give you,” Damon said.

Jack hoped it was a hug.

Damon stepped back, and before Jack could react, punched him in the face.

Jack fell a step back with the force of it, bringing his hand up to cradle his cheek. “What the fuck?” He stared up at Damon, too surprised to be mad.

Damon smiled and shrugged. “You had it coming.” He turned to the door and called out. “I’m done in here!”

The door opened, revealing two people. One was Damon’s boyfriend, Will. Jack recognized him from hanging around at school. The other was Alyssa.

“Alyssa!” Jack bellowed, grabbing for his jeans.

Alyssa barreled into the room, alight with gleeful, mirthless, manic laughter.

“I knew it!” she shrieked, pointing at Jack. “I knew there was something sick and wrong about you!”

Jack tugged his jeans up and fumbled for the button at the waist. “Get out!” he roared.

“Oh please,” Alyssa snapped. “I’ve already seen all of it.”

“You were watching?” Even as he asked, he knew that wasn’t right. He had seen Damon shut the door. “I didn’t take you for a pervert.”

Alyssa grew pink in the face.

“How dare you? Calling me a pervert when you are up here with your faggot friend, sucking his dick like the homo you are. Yeah, I saw it, Jack. Deidra saw it. We all saw it.”

“What are you--?”

“God, you’re stupid,” Alyssa said. She stalked over to the bookshelf on the other side of the room and pulled something off the shelf. She tossed it to him with an expression of such smug satisfaction he wanted to hit her.

Instead he looked at the object in his hand. Small, round with a tiny impersonal eye staring back at him. A camera.

“You—You—”

“Caught you on camera. Streamed it to Deidra’s computer so it was all over the huge projection screen in her living room. We all saw it. And I sent it to your parents too. They need to know they have a faggot for a son.”

“That’s sick!” Jack exploded. “Sick and illegal!”

“Sue me,” Alyssa spat back at him.

And Jack was going to let bygones be bygones. Fuck her.

He looked back at the camera. It had been planted in this room, beforehand.

He remembered, earlier in the day, setting up the projection screen.

“How did you come up with this idea?”

“Alyssa, actually.”

This had been planned. Premeditated.

Cold dread pooled in his stomach, and he felt himself breakout in chills. Slowly, he turned to look at Damon. He was leaning against the doorjamb, watching the confrontation, arms crossed. His boyfriend was still lingering in the hall, apparently very interested in the rug underneath his feet.

“Damon?” he asked, no longer yelling, barely able to make a whisper of sound.

“It was her idea,” Damon told him, nodding at Alyssa. “All I had to do was lure you in here and seduce you. It was easier than I thought it would be, honestly.”

“Wh—why?” Jack said. His voice was unsteady.

“I just wanted to…thank you,” Damon said. “Ya know, for showing me what a bigoted, hypocritical, piece of shit “friend” I had. My life has improved greatly since I cut you out, and there’s no way I would ever come crawling back to you.”

Jack gaped at him. The icy edge of his words cut him like a blade, lacerating his insides.

“I—I---” Jack couldn’t look at the other people in the room. “I thought we were past that. I thought this—” He gestured uselessly to the spot they had shared their intimate moment, “—meant something.”

“It did mean something,” Damon replied, and the tone he used now, forced casual cheerfulness, was somehow even worse. “It means I busted a nut, and you were finally able to put your pathetic, lying, whining mouth to good use.”

Anger was beginning to filter in now, and Jack welcomed it, let it warm the cold void Damon’s words had left in him.

“You’re a fucking asshole,” he spat back, locating his shirt at last and pulling it on, which is why he didn’t see Damon approach until the other boy was practically on top of him. Damon slammed him against the wall, held him there.

“I’m the fucking asshole Jack? Really? Am I? Am I?” Damon demanded, nearly shouting and pressing Jack’s shoulders against the wall, hard enough to leave bruises. “Who turned their back when their friend needed help? I was fucking homeless, and you turned me away. Ostracized me at school because your girlfriend didn’t like the fact I’m gay. So how am I the asshole?”

Damon released him and took a step back, breathing heavily. “You brought this on yourself,” he said, quiet now. No anger, no forced cheerfulness, no ice razor on top of his words. He just sounded tired. Tired and bitter. “Enjoy your party,” he said, and walked back to where Will was waiting, still refusing to make eye contact with anything but the carpet. He looked embarrassed and sad, but took Damon’s hand when he approached and let their fingers intertwine.

Jack watched them go. Like he had watched Damon leave, months ago, walking away from him.

Alyssa was still laughing. He could tell she hadn’t expected her trick to work and was delighted at its success.

“Faggot. Cheater. Homo,” she taunted him as he turned to leave the room. His feet felt like lead, his body heavy with the weight of what had just happened.

Alyssa attempted to follow him, and he turned, shoved her hard enough that she fell down. He heard the thump of her body as he turned to keep going but didn’t look back. He hoped she broke her miserable, fucking neck.

The sound of his footsteps on the stairs sounded very loud, and he realized it was due to the lack of noise downstairs. The music was turned off, and there was a soft, unfriendly murmur coming from the crowd below.

As the projection screen came into sight, he felt his stomach tighten with additional anxiety. He could clearly see the bedroom, now empty, that he and Damon had been in displayed over the screen.

His eyes scanned the room, hoping for a friendly, or even neutral face. Nothing. The eyes staring back at him were angry, disgusted, or shiny with malicious glee, like Alyssa’s.

The murmuring grew in volume as he got to the bottom of the stairs, and he saw Deidra watching him, waiting for him, arms crossed, her face hard and cold.

He approached her.

“Dee—listen—”

She slapped him, right across the place Damon had punched earlier, making it sting anew.

“You’re fucking disgusting. Stay away from me.”

“It didn’t mean anything!” Jack protested, the lie tasting foul in his mouth, but all he could think of was damage control. “It’s just—”

“Get out,” Deidra said, her voice shaking. “Get the fuck out. No one fucking cheats on me, Jack. No one.”

“It was just Damon,” Jack protested. “It’s not—”

“Get out!” she shouted and lifted her hand again. He reached up to catch her wrist before she could move into striking distance. He was done with people hitting him.

But then another hand closed around his wrist, squeezing so tight he was forced to let Deidra go. It was Hudson.

"How about you keep your hands off the lady, huh?” he said. “She said she wants you to leave. Get out.”

Jack looked at his face, hard and angry like the rest of them. Feeling more desperate by the second, he scanned the room, for some sign of sympathy, or kindness, or hell, even apathy.

“I’ve got something for you to suck right here, faggot!” someone shouted from across the room, grabbing his crotch with his hand. Unfriendly laughter rippled through the room. A few people, members of the track team, were pushing through the crowd.

“Probably would enjoy it,” called Brian, one of Jack’s fellow sprinters.

“Yeah, fag, how often were you checking us out in the shower?” another teammate called.

Jack backed up, until he found the door behind him, then yanked it open. The party was still going strong out here, with dancing and music and drunk laughter, people who had missed the show inside.

He made his way through the dark towards his car. He heard a scatter of rapid footsteps behind him, insults being thrown. When he chanced a look back, he saw the some of the guys from the track team coming after him, one of them wielding a two by four.

Even drunk, Jack was able to outrun them, get in his car, and drive away, but not until the two by four took out part of his back windshield.

Heart racing, he kept checking behind him to make sure he wasn’t being followed. He felt incredibly clear-headed as he made his way back to the house. Apparently, being outed as a closeted gay cheater in front of the entire school would sober a person up really fucking quick.

He bit his lip, worrying about something Alyssa had told him.

And I sent it to your parents, too.

She wouldn’t, Jack thought. But on the heels of that thought was the maniacal gleam of her eyes. His ex-girlfriend, the sweet girl who didn’t cuss and snuggled up to him watching movies, she wouldn’t. But the woman he saw tonight at the party? She would do something like that.

Jack decided she was lying. He was tired, his face hurt from Damon’s punch, and the taunts of his classmate and teammates, people he thought were friends, echoed inside of his head. He wanted some painkillers, an ice pack, and his bed. His sleeping pills too, if he could convince his mom to give him some. Curl up, go to sleep, and forget this entire day ever happened.

He saw some lights still on in the house as he pulled in and felt his heart sink slightly. His parents would usually be in bed by this time.

Doesn’t mean anything, he told himself, cutting the car off. Maybe they just wanted to stay up to make sure I get home safely. He clung to this thought, even though his parents had agreed not to worry about him until the next morning.

He opened up the door to the kitchen, hoping to slip in quietly.

His heart sank when he saw his dad sitting at the table, presumably waiting for him. One look at his face, a mask of fury, told Jack he knew.

It was so quiet, he could hear the grandfather clock ticking in the hallway and the soft sobs of his mother from the living room.

Jack felt stiff with fear, but managed one trembling breath and stepped across the threshold.

His father stood up and crossed the room. He looked strange and alien. Jack was used to a slack expression of apathy from his father, morphing into a dangerous anger if Jack or his siblings misbehaved.

The face staring back at him was nothing but sharp angles, colored in with shadows.

“You were warned,” his dad said, his voice trembling with repressed rage, like Deidra’s had been. “That I would not tolerate any faggots in this family. I saw what you and that Hanlin kid were getting up to. How long?”

Jack shook his head. “No, Dad—”

“How long?” he barked.

“Just tonight,” Jack blurted out. “Just tonight. It was a mistake, I was drinking, and—”

“I want you out,” his father interrupted.

“What?”

“Out. Out of this house. Out of our lives. You were warned.”

Jack gaped for a minute.

“Dad—” he croaked.

“Don’t call me that!” he barked. Jack could hear the faint sobs from the other room intensify. “You’re no son of mine. You’re dead to us.”

The words hurt, even though Jack knew to expect them.

“And you are not kicking any of my children out, I won’t allow it.”

Jack hesitated. He was being kicked out. He had expected no less, but it still felt like a punch in the gut. “Dad, please. I—I fucked up, but I can get better, I can get help, I--“

“You can get out of my sight,” his father said, in tight, clipped tones.

“I’m your son!” Jack turned his attention to the sobbing echoing out from the other room, raised his voice. “You promised you would help me!” he shouted. “You swore you wouldn’t let him do this!”

Jack heard a choked, gasping rasp from his mother that might have been his name.

His dad moved forward, closing his hands into the collar of Jack’s shirt. His hard face was flushed with anger and drink.

“You shut your worthless mouth.” His dad released him with a snarl and pushed Jack back, out of the house. “I would rather have a dead son than a faggot,” he breathed. Hs fist were clenching and unclenching, like they would like to close around Jack's neck. “Out of respect to your mother, I’m letting you go this one time. But I promise you this, boy, if I ever see your face again, I’ll be putting a bullet in it.”

And with that, the door slammed shut in his face.

Breathing heavily, Jack retreated to his car. He turned the car on and drove down the street a short way, before pulling over for a minute, trying to marshal his thoughts. Things had happened too fast, and he found himself shaking, his breath catching in his chest. He noted with a twinge of irony he was outside of Damon’s old house.

Damon had gotten kicked out. Now Jack was facing the same thing. Damon had found someone to stay with. But Jack had no idea who would be willing to take him in. Not Alyssa or Deidra. None of his former friends or classmates. His mom was quite unlikely or unable to go against his dad’s wishes.

Pull it together, he told himself sternly. If Damon could handle this, so can you. He drove around town for a while, not with a real destination in mind, just trying to clear his head. He felt dazed mostly, and under that, a numb, horrible, emptiness. He knew if the empty feeling got stronger, rose up and overpowered him, he would be lost to it. So he drove.

It slowly filtered in that he would need to figure things out. Where to go. What to do. How to move on.

Money, he thought, turning his car in the direction of the bank. He had a small savings account, about four hundred dollars. It wasn’t a lot, but it was something.

By the time he got to the ATM at his bank, his account had been cleared out. Jack cursed. He had never taken his parents off the account once he had turned eighteen. Hadn’t thought he needed to.

He had thirty-five dollars in his wallet, and his car.

He stopped at a gas station, filled his car up with gas and spent his last amount of cash on Aleve and a bottled water, suddenly feeling very attentive about how much things cost.

Jack drove out of town and down the interstate until he was too tired to continue. He pulled in at the first rest stop he could find. He had a restroom nearby, and he could refill his water bottle in the morning. Then…drive some more. Find a place where no one knew him. And…figure things out from there.

Jack locked the doors and crawled into the back seat. He cut one of his fingers trying to clean the broken glass from his seat, but hardly cared. He stretched out on the back seat, exhaustion creeping up on him.

Maybe in the morning, if his parents hadn’t cut him from their cell plan yet, he could try giving his mom a call. See if she could send him a little money. Or hell, even go by the house once he knew his father was at work. Something.

Even though he knew he needed to conserve his battery, he still took out his cell and opened his gallery, running through all the pictures of him and Damon that he had taken over the years. They had stopped around the same time Alyssa entered his life, but there were still lots of them, from school, from parties, from hanging out at the mall or Starbucks. They looked so happy. It was hard to reconcile that with the person who had seduced him, humiliated and abandoned him. The hint of reconciliation that Jack thought they might have been moving towards before Damon’s betrayal made it even worse. The tears came then, and Jack let them. There was no one here to see him, hear him, no one telling him to man the fuck up.

It was weird, he reflected. He had never been in a worse situation. Low on money, no friends, no girlfriend, no home, no job, sleeping in a car. Yet, he never felt such a sense of freedom in his entire life. He had always been content to let others decide things, preferring to follow rather than lead, choosing the path of least resistance. Doing what made his parents happy, then things that Alyssa wanted, or Deidra. Hell, he even did whatever Damon had wanted for a while. But now…he was in charge. Like there was a dark road stretching out before him, but no matter what, is was up to him to see where it would take him. It felt daunting, but exciting at the same time. His choices were limited and not the best…but there were his, and his alone. It was a comforting thought, and kept the empty feeling at bay.

Jack closed his eyes. Tomorrow was another day.

Despite his best efforts, his thoughts lingered on Damon as he fell asleep and that night, his best friend visited his dreams.

~END~