Yeesh, busy past few days… I got to knock down a wall, though, so that was fun. But I swear the wind was screwing with me as I took drywall out to the road- blow one way, then the exact opposite and back again. Thanks, wind. Love you too… *insert angry face here*

Frost High

Chapter Eleven- Why would I ever want Somebody Else?

So of course the next day Jack had to go and accept Meribeth's question about Homecoming. He told her he'd go with her to the game, but he made no mention of the dance- with purpose. She didn't seem to care- she said she'd heard rumors that he had been saying he was gonna go with her. Jack had muttered to himself, "Not because I really wanted to…" Sure, Meribeth was sweet, but she was just a little bit clingy for Jack's tastes… Maybe it was because he was so clingy, especially when it came to Pitch, Thianna, and Jamie. He'd never let go of them. Not in a heartbeat. If two clingy people hooked up it'd be pretty scary… Lots of following and texts about where the other is… One of those in a relationship was quite enough, thanks.

Muttering to himself about how much he hated pencil shavings, Jack tried to pick the pieces off his sweater- courtesy of the crappy-ass sharpener on the wall exploding. He had a shirt on underneath, but he had really been hoping to wear his sweater without feeling wood shavings stabbing through the fabric and pricking at his skin. Scowling and shoving the sharpener roughly back into the wall, Jack went back to the desk in front of Pitch's and spat, "Stupid piece of crap…"

Looking up from his book, Mister Black said calmly, "Jack, you could have asked to borrow a pen from me. Those things are trouble…" He motioned to the sharpener which then proceeded to fall off the wall with a loud clang. Jack threw his pencil at it and sat down. Pitch simply smirked and handed Jack a pen.

The white haired boy scribbled with determination onto a blank sheet of paper and ignored the pencil shavings scratching at his elbows.

"Aren't you going to get bored?" Pitch asked suddenly, startling Jack with his silky voice. He never would get used to hearing that breaking silence- it always startled him into a brief second or two of frozen-to-the-spot fear. His whole body would shut down in that moment of him trying to just breathe again, before he'd shift uneasily and regain himself.

Frowning, Jack replied, "No, Sandy never gets bored with drawing, so I shouldn't either."

Setting his book down, Black reprimanded softly, "That isn't what I meant, Jack…" Jack stopped his scribbling and looked at the hazel eyes expectantly. Continuing, finally, Pitch said, "I meant with me…" he raised his brows to meet the boy's confused and worried stare as he continued, "Jack, you sit here and insist that you're in love with me, but you're just a boy still… Won't you find someone else…? You'll see someone who catches your fancy and move right on past me- it's a natural thing at your age. You're still learning what love is…"

Jack didn't know how to respond to that. He had just stopped all rational thoughts flowing through Jack's head. He felt powerless in that instant. As much as he didn't want to think on it, he began worrying that he would be right. The fear festered in his stomach as he began to fear that he would lose interest in the next few weeks. Would he end up that way with Jamie? Or Thianna? Or everything else? Would he get bored with Sandy in a week's time? Would he get tired of spending time with Kris and laughing and being happy and love and joy and fun and-

"Jack?" His inner turmoil was once again halted by the sweet voice. Pitch was looking at him, an expression of worry across his face, but seeing that suddenly brought words back into Jack's brain. Seeing how Pitch cared about him; Jack somehow knew that his fears were without any backing.

Smiling sweetly at him, Jack batted his eyelashes playfully and asked with a voice like a tinkling bell, "Why would I ever want somebody else? You've got such a pretty English accent…" Pitch's cheeks darkened as he quickly buried himself in his book. Smirking to himself, Jack asked, "Where are you from anyway? You sound like a fancy butler or something…"

Sighing with a slight chuckle at that last comment, or rather insult, Mister Black said, "I was born in London. Lived there for eleven years… Then my father got a better job here in America and we moved… If you think my accent is strong you should listen to my mother and father… Compared to theirs, mine is muddled as slush…"

Jack smiled as he imagined slush surrounding Pitch while he talked, but a question formed in his head. "But Sandy's mom doesn't have an accent at all, how come…?"

"My sister is five years my junior Jack," Mister Black said calmly, "whatever trace of her birth accent she had has most likely faded with living here so long…"

"Well I'm glad you didn't lose your accent," Jack said with a smile, "you sound way more distinguished with your British accent." Pitch gave Jack an 'oh you' look and kept reading.

After a little while of swinging his legs over the edge of the desk, Jack finally asked, "Can I sit next to you at the homecoming game?"

Pitch blinked down at his book before looking up at Jack and saying, "Jack, I don't think that's entirely proper."

"We don't have to sit together," Jack quickly defended, putting up his hands, "We could just… sit… near each other… Maybe close enough for me to hold your hand if I really reached…" He was rubbing his feet over each other, blushing and fiddling his hands on the desktop behind him, nibbling on his lower lip before looking back up at Pitch hopefully.

A playful smirk crossed the gray tinted skin. "Don't you have a date with Meribeth?"

"Shut up!" Jack squeaked, throwing his pen back at Pitch, missing just in case on purpose. "It's not my fault! I had to say yes to her so the others would stop asking!" he whined, pulling his hood up over his face to hide his blush of embarrassment.

A dark chuckle rumbled over Jack's hood, hiding his ears from the direct tease of the velvety noise, and Pitch said softly, "Perhaps we could sit somewhat near each other…" Jack's eyes lit up at that and he did nothing to hide his fist-pump. He also did nothing to hide the 'yes' escaping his lips. To that, Pitch just let out another deep chuckle.

After the bell rang, Jack walked with Pitch through the halls, not feeling like heading home quite yet. There was distance between them, much to Jack's dismay, but they were close enough.

"So if you were eleven when you moved here, how old were you when Sandy was born?" Jack asked, smiling up at the taller male.

"Twenty three," he replied, then he smirked down at Jack, not a hint of a double-chin on his thin neck, "honestly Jack, you should have done that math with the knowledge that I'm thirty-eight and Sandy is fifteen… Me being eleven doesn't much help you figure anything out…"

Pouting, Jack asked, "And how attractive were you back then?" Pitch only gave him another look and Jack turned his head away with a grin of innocence and a blush. As they walked a little ways, Jack asked, "How old was your sister when she met Sandy's dad?"

Pitch's smile faded at that, but he still answered. "Fifteen… They began dating almost immediately after I introduced them," he said coldly. Jack looked up at him with worry swimming in his baby blues- Pitch sounded completely distant now, so very unlike the laughter Jack had lifted from him only moments ago. Obviously this was still a touchy subject…

"So that would've made you twenty," Jack said, looking down the hall and trying to think of a way to lighten up the grim topic. Not really being able to find a sure-fire way, Jack just kept his mouth shut and walked with him; stealing occasional glances up at him from the side.

They reached the back exit and this was where they'd have to part ways. But Pitch asked Jack a simple question just before they did. But this question quickly became less and less simple. In fact, it twisted into Jack's head and ate away at the back of his head the moment he asked it.

"Why would you want someone like me when he didn't?"

A meeting of hazel and blue, of questioning and pity. Jack's lips hardened into a firm line at the look in Pitch's face. He cared about him. He was sure of that. Even if Jack still thought Jamie was hot, and Thianna was the most attractive girl he'd ever met, Jack was absolutely sure that he had something more with this man. This assurance brought a response to his lips within seconds. And it was the same answer he had given him earlier.

"Why would I ever want somebody else?"