Chapter 21:
Jack ran his hands through his hair. He'd come to visit JJ only to be told that the boy hadn't left his room since the day before when his friend had witnessed a flashback. He knew that Connor was not likely to forget about what he'd seen and JJ apparently did too. He didn't think the other boy would push JJ to know what happened, but the simple fact that he knew somethingwas wrong was likely what had JJ upset. He tried to decided what to say to his son, but he still wasn't sure. He been trying to decided what to say since Carly called him at work and told him what happened.
JJ was alone in his room at the moment as Parker had gone to give another tennis lesson, though Carly said she had nearly had to drag him away from JJ. Jack knew Parker was very protective of JJ, but he was afraid his oldest child was still blaming himself. He sent up a silent prayer that he would say the right thing before he knocked on his son's bedroom door. He heard a quite "Come in." and slowly pushed the door open. He felt his heart break all over again when he saw his son. JJ was again curled up in a ball and staring at the wall, as he tended to do a lot lately.
"How are you doing?" he asked as he sat on the edge of his little boy's bed. "Fi- ... I've been better." JJ nearly whispered, obviously not wanting to admit his feelings. Jack waited for his son to make eye contact with him before responding and when the boy finally did, he found himself wondering yet again how many times his heart could break in such a short time. The child's eyes held endless amounts of pain, way to much pain for a thirteen year old to ever know. He had to take another moment to collect his thoughts before he could manage to reply.
"I'm so sorry, JJ." he told the little boy. JJ was quite as he tried to figure out how to respond, "It's not your fault." he finally said. "I should have known better then to let you go to that party. It's my job to protect you." the father answered. JJ shook his head, "I was with Parker and Liberty ... you couldn't have known I wouldn't be safe." he softly told his father. Jack wasn't giving in though, "We should have been more careful. With everything you guys have been though ... it was stupid to not take every precaution." he insisted. The young teen sighed, "It wasn't your fault. You sound like Parker." he said.
That got through to Jack more then anything else could and he quickly changed the subject. "Parker's still blaming himself?" he asked. Though still upset, JJ managed to give his father a look that clearly said 'Of course he is.' he shook his head before replying, "He's Parker, dad. You know how he is with us. I can't convince him it's not his fault.". His father took a deep breath and looked at the ceiling, "I'll talk with him again when he gets back. Your mother told me you had a bad day yesterday." he said, changing the subject. JJ buried his head in his knees before replying, "Connor saw." was all he said.
Jack slowly put a hand on his son's shoulder, the boy's entire body stiffened at first, but he quickly relaxed. "Connor is a great friend to you boys. You know he isn't going to tell anyone. He may be worried, but he won't tell." he assured the child. JJ sighed "You know Connor. He may not pay attention to stuff first, but he can get really curious, he's gonna want to know." he said into his knees. Once Jack was sure he understood what his son had said, he replied, "Would it really be that bad if he knew?". JJ's head shot up and he looked straight at his father, "I can't tell him, dad!" he exclaimed.
His father sighed, wishing things could be easy for his children for once. "He wouldn't make you give him details, he never had before. He's always waited on you, no matter how curious he was." he told the boy. JJ shook his head, "I don't want him to know this. I don't want anyone to know this." he insisted. "I know you never want people to know when you're upset, but he's still going to be your friend. This won't change that. All it would mean is that he would understand why some things might make you uncomfortable. And having a friend know might make things easier when it's time to be in school again." Jack reasoned. JJ sighed.
Parker rode his bike back into the yard hoping he had managed to give a slightly better tennis lesson to this boy then he did to the girl the last week. He sighed when he saw Connor come walking up to him. "Hey! Can you guys hang out today?" the other boy asked. Parker tried not to look to uncomfortable with the situation as he replied "I don't know JJ ... JJ hasn't been feeling all that great today.". Connor's face fell, he was afraid that his friends were upset with him, "Oh, well, can I come in for a minute then?" he asked. "Yeah, I guess." said Parker as he walked into the house.
Parker put away his things and turned to his friend. "Can you just, hang out here for bit? I need to check on JJ." he asked. "Sure." Connor replied, sitting on the couch. Parker ran up to his and JJ's room and went in. "Hey, JJ. Are you doing ok?" he asked before he even noticed his father. "I'm better." his brother asked. Parker smiled, "Oh, hey dad!" he said before turning right back to JJ, "Connor's here." he said carefully. Jack gave JJ a meaningful look and JJ sighed. "Can you ask him to come up?" he asked Parker.
Parker looked surprised, "Are you sure?" he questioned his brother. JJ nodded. Jack stood up and walked over to Parker. "I need to talk to you too, so we'll talk in the kitchen while they talk in here." he told his oldest son. Parker gave Jack a fleeting 'Are you insane?' look before his father pushed him towards the door. As they got back downstairs Parker walked over to Connor as Jack headed for the kitchen. "JJ wants to talk to you." he said. Connor looked confused, "I thought he was sick?" he said. Parker didn't quite know what to say, "No, not sick. I think - I think he's gonna tell you." he finally said.
Author's Note:I'm sooooooooooo sorry. I hope you guys don't give up on me! I'm a senior this year and I've had a lot of other stuff going on, there's just not as much time for writing as I would like. I hope you guys like this chapter though.
jhol7689:JJ will tell him in the next chapter, I promise. And I already have that part written, so it will be soon. That's a really good idea about Parker too, I think I may have to do that.
Bliss: Thank you! As I said, it'll happen in the next chapter. I just felt that there needed to be a little more before that happened.