A/N: Thanks for all the support, it's been really encouraging.

Chapter 2

'Skipping school' with Robin was time well spent in Jack's opinion.

Although they had started off playing a game of casual basketball, they had soon left the court and were walking around the city with some alcohol Robin had 'found' in his bag. After half the bottle was gone, Jack was starting to feel the effects as his stride got a little more irregular. Robin, however, was fine.

"Lightweight," he muttered as Jack tripped.

He would have fallen if Robin hadn't grasped his arm, supporting him.

"Christ," Jack said, frowning, not meaning to get drunk. "What time is it?"

"Er… quarter to four," Robin said, glancing at his watch.

Jack looked at him sharply.

"What?!"

Robin looked back at his watch to check he was right, before nodding.

"Yep, quarter to four."

Panic rose in Jack's chest.

"Oh shit. Bobby's going to fucking kill me, he's meant to be picking me up at four."

Although Jack didn't exactly know where they were in relation to the school, they had been walking around for hours; they were bound to be ages away. Robin seemed to realise how serious the situation was as he glanced up and down the alley they were in, trying to think of the best route back to school.

"We can make it in a sprint," Robin said, apparently knowing where they were.

Jack grimaced, doubtful.

"Seeing as walking isn't exactly working for me right now," Jack pointed out, "I'm not sure if that's going to happen."

Robin shrugged, giving him another reckless grin.

"You're with me," he said. "Miracles happen with me around."

"You think so, do you?" Jack asked, incredulous, referring to their current situation.

Robin rolled his eyes, grasped Jack's wrist and then pulled him down the street at a run. Head-spinning, Jack did his best to keep up with Robin's pace.

"Think about it this way; every minute you waste here is a minute you could be getting to school to act as if you've been there the whole time."

Not even bothering to try and comprehend that, Jack focussed more on keeping his balance. After a few minutes of staggering behind the older boy, Jack was able to find his stride again and sprinted alongside Robin. People gave them odd looks as they ran up the main roads, grinning like maniacs, but Jack couldn't care less at that moment.

They made it to the gates in complete disarray as the bell rang. Jack hastily made his way around to the main entrance, standing by the drive as if he had just emerged from school.

"I'd better go," Robin said. "I don't want to be interrogated by your brothers."

Jack knew that was true; if Robin waited with him, Bobby would be down his throat in seconds, wanting to know who he was and what Jack was doing hanging out with him.

"Alright, I'll see you around," Jack said.

"Yeah, I'm sure we'll find each other," he said, smiling. "Just… erm… try and walk in straight lines, alright? And don't breathe near anyone for a while."

Jack blinked at him.

"Thanks," he said sarcastically.

Robin messed Jack's hair up before swaggering off, just as Bobby pulled up in front of him none too carefully. He immediately tried to act more sober, although he was finding it difficult to remember exactly what that was like.

"Get in, Jack."

Although Jack had been moving towards the car anyway, at Bobby's aggressive tone, he stopped and crossed his arms. He swayed slightly, still under the influence, but Bobby didn't seem to notice, leaning over to meet Jack's unimpressed gaze through the passenger window.

"I'm not fucking around, Jack. Get in the car or I'm going to throw your ass in the backseat."

Jack raised an eyebrow.

"Is that a threat?" he asked coldly.

Bobby rolled his eyes and opened his door, beginning to step out. Realising he didn't want the potentially humiliating scene that was about to follow, Jack relented and got into the passenger seat. As soon as he had closed the door behind him, Bobby peeled away from the curb, going well above any conceivable speed limit.

Knowing Bobby wasn't the best driver when pissed off; Jack grasped the edges of his seat and gave him a nervous glance.

"Bobby… you left Jerry and Angel behind."

Bobby stared out of the windshield, his jaw clenched.

"They can walk home, they're big boys now."

Deciding Bobby was best left alone, he stared out of the window. It was only when the surroundings became unfamiliar that Jack chanced talking again.

"Where are we going?"

There was no response. Bobby just seemed to act like Jack hadn't even spoken.

"Bobby?"

His knuckles whitened on the steering wheel, but he still didn't speak. Seeing his brother again, even in his alcohol-induced haze, Jack could remember that Bobby hadn't warned him about Mr Yates. Some of his worry dissolved into anger and he set his jaw in defiance.

"Have a good day at school?" Bobby snarled after a few more minutes of silence.

Jack knew better than to answer that question.

"C'mon Jackie," Bobby said, shifting gears with a bit more force than was necessary. "You were so chatty a minute ago. I want to hear about your day at school, like any brother would, right? It's a big day, any-"

"I ditched," he interrupted.

It seemed that was the trigger Bobby needed as he slammed his hand down on the steering wheel.

"I know you fucking ditched, you fairy! I got a call from your principal this morning saying you'd left school with some guy," he shouted. "'Some guy', Jack? You threw your new start away for what? Some make out session in an alley?"

Jack threw a glare at the side of his face.

"He's just a friend."

"Yeah, just a friend with benefits, I bet."

"What does it even matter to you, Bobby?" Jack cried, more than a little defensive about the direction of conversation after that morning. "You jealous or something?"

Bobby didn't want to admit how close Jack was to the truth.

"I'm just trying to understand," he said slowly, reining his anger in, "I mean, what the fuck were you thinking? You said to me this morning that you weren't going to mess this up."

Jack relaxed slightly now that he wasn't being yelled at, but couldn't say anything in reply. He couldn't tell Bobby about Mr Yates, because (despite Robin's warning) it could be nothing, and his brother would storm in, all guns blazing, and make things ten times worse… if he even believed him. Besides, telling Bobby meant admitting Mr Yates had scared him.

Even just thinking about the way that man had been looking at him made him feel ill and cheap and dirty, and-

"Stop the car," Jack said.

"Whatever, Jack," Bobby said, keeping his gaze fixed on the curve of the road. "I guess it was too much to think that maybe-"

"I mean it, Bobby. Stop the fucking car."

Bobby looked over at him, noticing how pale the teenager looked.

"Alright, alright, one second."

It seemed they had driven to the outskirts of the city, where there were woods dusted in snow, looking like pictures out of Christmas cards. Bobby stopped the car on the edge of the woods and Jack got out, shaking. He couldn't tell if it was the alcohol or his memories that had made him feel physically sick.

His breath came out in wisps in the frosty air and Jack walked away from the car, deeper into the woods, trying to calm down. The cold was refreshing and Jack unzipped his jacket, needing to feel something real and physical, before leaning against a tree, gazing up into the canopy of leaves above him. It wasn't long before Bobby had joined him, giving him a wary look.

"You okay?"

Jack nodded to him.

"Do you get car-sickness now or something?"

Jack scuffed his shoes in the snow and shook his head. Silence ensued and Bobby studied his shaken brother carefully.

"What's wrong then?"

Jack paused for a moment, worrying his lower lip between his teeth as he tried to figure out exactly what was bothering him about the whole ordeal.

"Bobby, I-" he started, before shaking his head.

His brother walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, shaking him slightly. Sensing something was really wrong here, Bobby's anger was left forgotten in the car.

"What is it, Jackie?"

Jack studied his face carefully, but at finding no hint of malice or ulterior motive, he took a deep breath.

"D-Do I just look like a whore or something?" he asked, trying and failing to sound casual.

If Bobby was expecting anything from his brother, that wasn't it. Standing in front of him with his pretty face, swollen, red lips and impossibly expressive eyes, he couldn't think of anything more stupid.

"Some kids at school giving you trouble?" Bobby asked, swearing to hunt down whoever it was.

"Just… answer the question, Bobby, please?" he said faintly.

Bobby gripped his shoulders and turned his brother to face him, looking him straight in the eye.

"You don't look anything like a whore, Jack," Bobby said. "All that shit… you did the best you could, okay? You can't freak anytime someone calls you a name, 'cause that's gonna happen a lot at school, it goes with the territory."

Jack wanted to tell his brother he wasn't that weak; that it had been more than that, but simply nodded, giving Bobby a small smile.

"Yeah, I'm just being stupid."

"Alright," Bobby said confidently, drawing his younger brother in for a hug

He paused for a second, swearing he could smell something sharp around Jack. He pulled back slightly, glancing down at his brother who was still resting his head against Bobby's shoulder.

"Jack… Have you been drinking?"

Jack glanced up at him with a slight, sheepish smile.

"A little?"

Bobby gaped at him for a moment, unsure whether to be awed or really, really angry. Jack's body pressed against him and his arms around his waist made him opt for the former.

"Well, you don't do things by halves, do you?"

Jack's smile turned into a grin: Robin's presence may make him forget about things, but Bobby's made him feel okay.

"Where's the fun in that?"

Bobby laughed softly, the sound rumbling in his chest.

"Are you going to go back tomorrow? The man who rang up seemed pretty concerned, sounded like a good guy."

Bobby frowned as Jack abruptly pulled away, looking at him as if he had just said something unforgivable.

"Hey," Bobby said, confused, and not wanting Jack to close up on him. "I know I've never met the guy, but he seemed alright. Looks like you've made a couple of new friends today."

Jack blinked at him, his expression unchanging. Didn't Bobby tell him he thought his 'friend' Robin and he were fooling around? Did he think Mr Yates and him were the same? He backed away slightly, looking at Bobby in a new light. Jack had been angry no one was considerate enough to tell him, but now he was left feeling strangely empty as Bobby didn't seem too bothered by the whole thing. Everything was just so confused at that moment; he could only gaze at Bobby helplessly, unable to believe what he had just heard.

Still, he'd been weak enough today and couldn't seem affected by something Bobby clearly thought was okay. He paused for a moment, running Bobby's words through his head.

"You've never met him?"

Bobby looked at him carefully.

"No, he joined after I left."

A small spark of hope lit in Jack's chest. Did that mean he didn't know?

"So what did he say to you?"

Bobby shrugged, jamming his hands in his pockets.

"I don't remember exactly," he said, perhaps a little frustrated by now. "Just that you weren't in school, he asked if I knew where you were and everything. Told me he'd seen you leave with some boy in a higher grade and said you seemed like a nice kid so he wasn't going to suspend you for this."

Jack breathed a sigh of relief. Bobby's assumptions were over the 'nice kid' comment, rather than the odd undertone he had picked up on from the man. As he clearly didn't know Mr Yates, Bobby was completely innocent in this affair. He immediately felt bad about giving him such an attitude earlier.

"I'm sorry I left," Jack said quietly.

Any annoyance Bobby was feeling vanished and he gave his brother a half-smile, beginning to walk with him back to the car. He deliberately chose not to notice that Jack was perhaps a little unsteady on his feet. Bobby couldn't say he hadn't done similar shit when he was in school, but having Jack following in his footsteps was making him even more protective of his younger brother. Bobby certainly wasn't squeaky clean and he definitely had clocked up a few regrets in his time; he wanted Jack to have it better than him.

He had sworn that when Jack had moved in.

"It's alright, just don't do it again."

Jack smiled, knowing Bobby probably saw that as good advice. He started the car again and drove away from the woods, heading home.

"Jerry and Angel are gonna kill us," Jack said, referring to the fact that they had left them to walk home in the snow.

"Yeah, well. They'll get over it," Bobby dismissed; now realising he had perhaps been a little melodramatic when picking Jack up. "How was your day, anyway?"

Jack grinned.

"Erm… Good, I guess. Better than school. How about you?"

Bobby hummed for a minute, mulling it over.

"Pretty dull without you guys around. I'm meant to be finding a job and all that, but I'm happy just mooching off Ma for a moment, waiting for my hockey career to lift off."

Jack nodded to himself, not commenting on Bobby's chosen path.

"Are you going to tell her?"

Bobby wasn't too sure if he was talking about his plans for his future or Jack's skipping school.

"Nah," he said casually, leaning back in his seat. "You've learnt your lesson."

"I meant about you just lazing around the house all day."

Figures.

Bobby rolled his eyes, knowing that if he wasn't driving he would have hit Jack upside his head.

"I'm not lazing. I'm fixing things, like that back door, that's sorted now," he said a little proudly. "You're welcome," he added at Jack's silence.

"Don't give me that. You only fixed it so that Evelyn doesn't bust you for sneaking in at four in the morning again."

Bobby watched the road, knowing Jack was the 'responsible' one (at the moment anyway). He helped Ma with the cooking, he cleaned up after himself, and he was a good student. Well, when he showed up, anyway.

"Okay, you have a point," he admitted, forgetting how clever Jack was. "You'll thank me when you're older."

"Yeah, right."

Bobby grinned and drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. Although Jack did go out quite a lot, even for a sixteen year old, he was careful to return at curfew, not wanting to worry anyone. Bobby, on the other hand, well… wasn't so considerate. There were a couple of minutes of silence as they neared their house.

"How come you're still calling Ma 'Evelyn'?"

Jack gave him a long look.

"My Mom… she wasn't a nice person, you know. I don't mean to seem distant," Jack said, sadly. "I just like Evelyn a lot more than my Mom, so I couldn't call them the same thing. Does that make sense?"

Bobby paused, parking the car in the driveway.

"Sure it does… but we're your real family, Jackie. That woman did not deserve to ever be even considered your Mom, get it?"

Jack nodded mutely and got out of the car. He walked up to the house with Bobby a few paces behind him. He noticed Evelyn's car wasn't in the driveway and assumed she wasn't home. He felt an odd mix of emotion at that realisation; after his tough day he wasn't sure if he needed a familiar presence, or if seeing her would make him feel terrible after putting the new start she had manufactured for him in danger.

"I'm going out tonight," Bobby said, unlocking the front door and pushing it open.

"Yeah?" Jack said, admittedly not that interested.

"Just a few friends."

Jack interpreted that to mean some guys Bobby had probably met in a bar and rolled his eyes.

"Have a good time."

Jack walked in the house and headed straight for his room, probably wanting some time on his own to play guitar or whatever. Bobby watched him go, wondering for the millionth time if he was okay. Hearing voices in the living room, he decided he had bigger things to think about and strode in, taking his jacket off and throwing it over the armchair. Angel and Jerry were watching some hockey match on the TV, shouting loudly at the screen. At his entrance, they both fell silent, probably at the look on his face.

"Hey man, what was with you leaving us at school?" Angel asked, glancing up at him.

"Never mind that, what the hell is wrong with you two?" Bobby asked, ignoring the question.

He shut the door behind him, conscious of Jack upstairs.

"You have any idea how fucking cold it is?" Jerry asked bitterly.

Bobby rolled his eyes, taking a seat opposite them.

"I don't care. If no one bothers to keep their promises today, then I'm sure as hell not."

Angel and Jerry exchanged looks.

"What are you talking about?"

"Jack," Bobby said. "Did you know he ditched today?"

Angel let out a great guffaw of laughter whereas Jerry just looked shocked.

"He ditched?" Angel repeated. "On his first day? That has to be a Mercer record."

"It's not funny, Angel," Jerry said softly. "Man, I looked for him at lunch, but I just figured he was with some people in his class."

"Well he wasn't. Fucking hell, see what happens when I'm not around? Christ knows what's gonna happen when I move out some day," Bobby exclaimed, shaking his head. "He didn't even last an hour, apparently. I reckon some kids got to him, or something, but he just left with some guy to spend the day drinking."

Angel let out a low whistle. Jerry just frowned.

"What guy?"

Bobby shrugged.

"An older guy, does it matter?"

It was Jerry's turned to shrug.

"Guess not. I don't get it; I got him to the office in the morning fine. Was it just in first period or something?"

Bobby looked at him curiously. That raised an interesting point. He had been called almost immediately after he had arrived home once more; meaning Jack must have left right at the beginning of first period. Did he really get into trouble that quickly? Surely that wasn't even possible?

"I suppose," he said, thinking. "It must have been."

Jerry shook his head in disbelief.

"Didn't you bother to ask him?" he asked.

Bobby paused, pursing his lips.

"I was perhaps a little angry."

Both Jerry and Angel groaned, filling in the blanks in that statement. It was clear he had just had a go at the kid rather than try to get to the root of the problem. Seeing that was riling the guy further, Jerry tried saying something.

"Not even Jack is that much of a trouble-maker. Who's this guy he left with? Maybe he… I dunno… forced him to leave."

"Jack said he was a friend."

Angel snorted.

"Yeah, because he's bound to tell you otherwise."

At Bobby's murderous glare, Jerry quickly intervened.

"You have to admit, you do tend to overreact to things like this, Bobby, especially when it comes to Jack."

Not liking what that said about how he felt about Jack, who was his brother, his glare didn't lessen.

"Whatever, I'm going out. Any shit like this happens again, I'm going to get violent."