This is a very very very very short Oneshot! It may not even make any sense, but I wrote it awhile ago and was like, "I haven't posted in forever, lets do this." Hate if you want, but Fanfiction is just a way for people to practice writing, and this is me practicing.
It was subtle, the way he twitched in response to causal gestures, sucking in air and stiffening his muscles as others addressed him. He never stood too close, moving as others did, eyes darting in search for exits, a smile masking his nerves. They assumed he'd adjust, that his behavior was situation induced and after the conflict died down he'd be fine.
But he never stayed.
He only visited when the loneliness became overbearing and he needed to be heard. He'd find one of them and talk for hours, words rolling off of his tongue almost unconsciously, every thought being said aloud. He'd talk of conversations snatched by the wind, who tumbled and tossed stolen words with leaves. They smiled and attempted to listen, to understand, but when they came close he babbled an excuse and departed, an icy breeze snatching him away.
Eventually they realized that the loneliness he experienced was beyond their comprehension, and it would take more than a few holiday seasons to bring him close. He had spent so long in solitude that it was both a curse and a comfort. He enjoyed the sense of freedom; being able to see and hear everything and go about as he pleased, the wind his only companion. He despised the sense of entrapment; unable to be seen or heard and interact as he pleased, the mournful wind his companion. They caught him crying only once, finding him in a snowbank with hail stones raining around them, the bitter sting worsening their thickened guilt.
When the mind is abandoned in loneliness more profound than the ringing static of silence at night then something breaks. They find themselves detached, sanity crumbling away with every whispered breath unheard by any but themselves.
How Jack managed to stay sane enough to care they would never know, but they would stand by him for the rest of eternity in hollow repention, mourning over the wrong they unknowingly committed to one so underserving.