I don't own four brothers.
When all is said and done they fall into place like there was never any doubt about it. It's strange how easy it all seems, almost like it was meant to be, a thought Jack scoffs at. Nothing is meant to be, he dosen't believe in fate, or destiny or some other shit stupid little kids believe. You make your own happiness just as you control your own destiny, this much he knows. He tries to ignore the thought that he was once one of those kids himself, and that he wants to believe in it so bad that he can almost taste it.
His past makes itself known again when he finds himself unable to sleep. He's tired, and he's scared and everything is too fucking perfect for it to be real. He knows it's all a question of time before it goes to hell, and he dreads it like he used to dread the following day. He can't take it, can't take letting him down, he knows it'll break him and so he leaves.
Bobby's at work, and Jack knows he's a coward for choosing that time but he does it anyway. His soul screams in agony as he drives away from the only place that ever felt like home to him. It hurts in a way nothing has hurt before, but he keeps driving, unable to ignore the urge to flee any longer.
The note he left on the table is crushed into a big hand when it's found.
He almost can't believe he actually left but he did, and the further away he goes the more it hurts, almost like a part of him is back in Detroit, trying to urge him to come back so that he can be whole again. He likes the thought of his soul being in two pieces, shattered – just like he's felt most of his life.
It takes a couple of days before he finds what he's looking for. It isn't the place that matter, it's himself. He sits silently staring at the still water for hours on end, searching, finding, letting go. Just like always he's on his mind.
When the sun goes down he gets up and walks back to the car. The drive back feels like forever and when he's finally there he hesitates outside the house before summoning up the courage and enters. It stinks of beer, and sure enough he finds him on the couch surrounded by half a dozen cans. He stops in front of him, waiting for him to raise his head. When he does his eyes widen, and then turn to slits as he takes a sip from the beer in his hand.
"Thought you were gone"
"I had to know" What exactly... what drove him away, what urged him back. "I have to know, that I can come back".
Bobby blinks up at him as he flings the beer aside. "What do you mean?" Nothing with Jack is ever as it seems, the words say one thing and mean another.
He tries again to explain something that he didn't even understand himself. "I needed to know that I would find my way back here, to you".
Bobby leans forward, resting his arms on his legs. "That why you had to leave?"
"I need to know that I can always come home"
And Bobby understands, he really does, as agonizing as the last few days has been he understands the urge to run. "This will always be your home Jack. I'll always be your home".
Jack nods, relief surging through him.
"You sure now?" Bobby asks, trying to sound more casual than he actually feels, like his future isn't hanging on the next words out of Jack's mouth.
"I'm sure" Jack nods as he gazes at him.
"Why?" He can't help but ask, something in him wants, no needs to know. Needs to know why.
Jack smiles, eyes shining like he knows the secret to life, and when he speaks his tone is soft. "Because I remember every word you ever said".
A little Jack/Bobby :)