Chapter 6

The lone figure crossing the parking lot, heading for his older brother's beat-up old car, attracted two stares through the window of the principal's office. The one closest to the window was taller, older, stronger; while the other was glancing over the first man's shoulder, frowning faintly.

"I've changed my mind."

The man turned from the window to survey the other, not smiling, no trace of humanity on his face.

"Is that so?" he asked, amusement dripping from his words.

"Yes."

"Don't tell me you've grown a conscience?"

The other man glanced at the door, wondering if maybe this encounter was a bad idea, if he should turn and leave before he made everything worse.

"He's too good for this," he forced himself to say.

"You know nothing about him."

"I know enough. More than enough. I mean it; leave Jack alone, I'm not letting you follow through with this."

The man turned back to the window, watching the teenager as he got into the car, an unhealthy spark of interest in his eyes.

"Luckily for me, you've already served your purpose, I don't need you anymore."

"B-but, you said-"

"I don't need you anymore," he repeated.

"Fine, I'll just have to stop you continuing some other way then."

"You have no control over what I do, none at all."

"I've stopped you before," the other said, now turning for the door.

"And look where it's gotten you."

"I don't give a damn what you do to me. You're not doing anything to Jack."

The man smirked at the glass in front of him.

"And just what do you think you can try that you haven't already tried before?"

"I can still tell him your little game plan, he could easily think of a way out of it. In fact, he doesn't even have to do that, if he just told that brother of his, he'd shoot you on the spot."

"You won't tell though, will you? Telling him means confessing your part so far, he'd never forgive you. Besides, just in case you do decide to be a martyr, you're too late. It's only a matter of time. I'll get to him before you even have a chance."

"We'll see," the younger man said, before stalking out of the office.

-

"Hey, fairy," Bobby said, turning as Jack slipped into the passenger seat. "You're out early."

Jack glanced at the clock on the dash and shrugged. The only reason he wasn't late was because Robin hadn't bothered to meet him after his last lesson. It meant he had left the school on time, if feeling a little dejected. He wondered why Robin hadn't shown up, only really paying attention to his brother again when the mood in the car shifted and Bobby turned a little more fully to him.

"Listen, about yesterday," he started. "I get you don't want to talk about it, but if it's something serious you're going to have to tell someone at some point. I just want you to know that if you ever do, I'll-"

He was interrupted by the back doors opening and Jerry and Angel getting in. Bobby hit the steering wheel, frustrated, knowing that at this rate he was never going to be able to press Jack for details.

Jerry ruffled Jack's hair from behind, ignoring the glare he received in return.

"How're things going, Jack?"

"Pretty good," he answered. "You?"

Bobby doubted anything was 'pretty good' with his younger brother, not after he had looked so defeated the other day, but he obviously couldn't say anything. Instead he put the car in gear and set off home.

"Nice," Jerry said with a grin. "I'm… er… staying at Camille's tonight."

Jack smiled, shaking his head.

"Again?" Bobby asked, amused. "Soon you're gonna end up living with that chick. You know that, right? Then she'll be walking down the aisle, already pregnant with little Jerry-junior, and then-"

"Shut up, Bobby," Jerry growled over all the laughter in the car. "You don't know a damned thing."

Once the hilarity died down and Jerry was done insisting that was never going to happen, Angel spoke up, looking at Jack through the rear-view mirror.

"Hey, I hear you've been hanging around with Turner."

Jack looked over; curious at Angel's serious tone, but it was Bobby who whipped around to face Angel, startled.

"For Christ's sake, Bobby, watch the fucking road," Jerry yelled from the backseat.

Recovering quickly, Bobby returned his gaze to the asphalt, but he was still visibly shaken.

"Yeah, when you can drive you can talk," he muttered to Jerry. "What were you saying, Ange?"

"Jack," he answered, sounding a little confused at Bobby's reaction. "He's been hanging around with this kid at school, a guy called Turner."

Jack seemed similarly bemused, especially as the colour seemed to have drained from Bobby's face.

"Turner?" Jack repeated, the name unfamiliar.

"Yeah, I'd heard that too," Jerry spoke up. "Robin Turner, he's in my class."

Jack blinked, a little surprised that he hadn't recognised his only friend's surname.

"That true, Jackie?" Bobby asked quietly, not looking at him.

Jack looked around all three of his brothers, not sure why this was being made into such a big deal. He knew Robin wasn't popular, but didn't realise he was hated.

Then he remembered his friend's words about talking to his brothers, about how Robin thought it would turn Jack against him.

Well, that wasn't about to happen.

"Yeah," he answered defiantly. "So what?"

"You mean besides the fact he's a pervert?" Angel said incredulously.

"He's not," Jack defended. "He-"

"And a drug dealer," his brother continued.

Jack shut up. He certainly hadn't heard that before, but with all the rumours circulating about Robin, he was convinced it was just a lie.

"I doubt that."

"I don't." Bobby muttered, too quietly for the two in the backseat to hear.

Jack glanced at him, astounded, wondering how Bobby would even know as he didn't even go to his high school. The only way he would know would be if he-

Oh.

No way.

"Robin wouldn't do that," Jack said, sounding a couple of years younger with that simple statement.

"You're gonna believe him over your own brothers?" Bobby snapped.

He was surprised by the fire in Bobby's voice and so quickly fell silent, staring at the landscape that flashed past his window.

Robin knew Bobby was Jack's brother. Going to Westmore with Angel and Jerry probably meant he knew about Angel's drug problems too. Why would he sell to a Mercer? Jack had thought they were friends.

"Is this the kid you skipped school with too?" Jerry asked, having remained quiet through the earlier exchange.

Jack didn't even bother answering.

"Yeah, just drinking my ass," Bobby snarled, taking his lack of an answer as an admission. "I knew you were high."

Jack gaped at him.

"What the…? No, I wasn't high. I wouldn't cut class to do drugs and he wouldn't sell to a sixteen year old."

"Yeah, because age matters so much to him," Angel snorted.

Jack felt Angel's hard stare on the back of his head and knew he had to convince the other boy he hadn't taken anything. Angel wouldn't be pleased if he thought Jack had broken one of their family rules.

"He didn't know that girl was fourteen," Jack argued, rightfully angry.

He felt his hands shaking by his sides and crossed his arms to hide it from his brothers. He hated confrontations, especially between his family members. It just made him feel so defenceless somehow, reminding him of all those foster parents who shouted at him, or argued with each other.

"Why are you being so loyal to him?" Bobby asked, aggravated. "He's a lowlife."

If Jack was honest with himself, he just didn't know. If Robin had deliberately sold to Bobby, being fully aware of everything, he doubted he could forgive him. However, he didn't know that was the case, and, more importantly, he wanted to believe there was some misunderstanding. He needed to talk to Robin, that was for sure. But, until then, Robin was still his only real friend at school and he was annoyed his brothers were being so judgemental towards him.

"He's not a lowlife," Jack contradicted. "Just because you bought from him, it doesn't mean you know everything about him!"

Silence resonated in the car as Angel glared at Bobby, Bobby glared at Jack, and Jack bit his lip, cringing, knowing he should have kept quiet.

"You what?" Angel asked dangerously, his gaze flicking between them.

Bobby ignored him and instead turned to Jack.

"You're not seeing this kid again," he said firmly.

Bobby obviously wanted to keep the conversation well away from his drug use.

"Whatever," Jack dismissed, having absolutely no intention of following through with that.

Bobby seemed to know too, judging from the sudden tension in his jaw.

Suddenly, it irritated Jack.

"You're such a damn hypocrite," Jack said under his breath, turning back to the window.

"What was that?"

"You're having a go at me for not being loyal to you guys… what do you think you've been doing lately?"

Bobby didn't answer immediately, stoically refusing to meet Angel's coldly furious gaze.

"I've been dealing with your shit, that's what I've been doing Jack. You get kicked out of your old school, do your best to get kicked out of your new school and now you seem to be going off the rails for no good reason! I talk to you and it's like talking to a fucking wall for all the response I get. I'm sorry if I need a break from it," he shouted. He took a deep breath before continuing in a more measured tone. "Besides, it was a stupid pact anyway, none of you fuckers stuck to it either."

An uncomfortable silence fell over the car, the air of an argument gone bad hanging over all of them. Both Bobby and Jack felt they had betrayed the other in almost unbearable ways but neither was ready to apologise.

No one spoke for the whole ride home.

A/N: Ooh, things really don't seem to be getting any better, do they? And Robin: good or evil? The plot thickens, me thinks… or at least heats up a bit.

I know that the relationships in this are developing quite slowly compared to other fanfics, but I want this to seem as realistic as possible and it is timed very specifically in my mind, so don't worry about it, it won't be long ;).

Thanks once again to my lovely reviewers, readers and fav-ers, this chapter is dedicated to you all.