Thanks Justice237 and Dark Heart 945 for your reviews. Thank you also to everyone for the follows and favorite so far! I hope you all have a lovely day/night wherever you all are! Warning: Story contains, boyxboy, scenes of violence, character death, mentions of past abuse, swearing and... well, you kinda get the point.
The morning slowly crept it's way over the hill as the sun light began to crawl through a pair of closed curtains into a dark room. The room entailed was decorated with a soft blue paint which was beginning to peel away slightly from old age. Posters were placed all over the place of numerous boy bands which had become the favorite of the owner's of the old room owner.
They had been stuck up over the last couple of years to give it back half of it's life. As a message to those who lived in the house. That no matter how far away he was. A certain silver haired blond would always be part of the home.
But, a certain boy who was laid fast asleep in bed just yawned, his mind transfixed in his dreams about that certain blond.
Numerous posters of bands such as The script and random bands were posted over the bed.
Slowly the blankets began to shift slowly as sun light hit the bed and a soft groan made it's way out. "Damn it." The gentle voice moaned. Slowly from the covers a mop of brown hair began to become more visible. It had once been a wild burst of spiked hair but as the months and weeks had paced recently, it became a more controlled and darker mess. It fell slightly over the boy's cold eyes before he blew up gently and the curled fringe flopped to the side. He grinned slightly and stared at the posters before yawning.
"Let's see if-" He paused for a moment as he stared down at screen of his phone which had lit up with an alert from receiving a text message.
One text message received at 8:00 am. From-
Ryan paused with and went wide eyed as suddenly he caught sight of his screen flashing with the picture of Jack's bright and smiling face next to his, as the smaller boy was blushing brightly as he had pushed a kiss into Ryan's cheek.
It had been the night they had gone out on their first date. Ryan hadn't the heart to delete Sirena's number from his phone... the sim must have survived?
"Princess?" He wondered quietly and traced his finger over the screen.
He smiled brightly as he got out the bed and looked at his reflection before opening the screen and studying the message.
Jack: Uh hey... Ryan was it? Sorry. I'm still trying to get my head focused... everything is still quite misty. However, I was wondering if we could walk through the park again today like you said yesterday when you found me and Thomas?
Ryan's smile just bewitched him completely. It had pretty much been the first time that the boy had been the one to reach out to him! It must have been a good sign right? Ryan was becoming more and more comfortable around him. Maybe deep down... hopefully. Deep down, maybe Jack was trying to reach out to him.
But now the boy hadn't seen him in the last long weeks. Sure they talked on the phone, and even played online over the Xbox. Kyle couldn't help but grin when Alex had proved to still be just as amazing as ever on everything.
But something did worry Kyle. Something that Kyle had found inside the boy's journal one evening when he had been missing Alex, and decided to read one of the boy's stories to feel a bit closer to him.
Right now though, he had to get ready!
Ryan: Sure! Stick to the plan! Is Bruce going to walk you over?
Bruce was one of Jack's new friends. The two had met up in the hospital thanks to a small chat that Christina and Ryan had together. Ryan had asked her were there any other kids around the hospital who had been in a similar condition to Jack, with amnesia or maybe even having recently woken up from a coma? It had been a massive long shot, but it had turned out to be a great one.
Bruce Jackson.
Fifteen year old. Recently diagnosed with amnesia about three months ago. Coma patient, woke up about two weeks before Jack did. It was like another of Ryan's prayer had been answered. Jack and Bruce seemed to have hit it off right away. The mutual understanding between them over the confusion of the world around them had only aided them and bonded them closer.
Bruce was kind enough though. A shy ink haired boy, timid and more on the scrawny side. He had warm brown eyes and pale skin. He would only ever dress rather tamed, more on the side of trying not to show off too much of himself or trying to hide as much of himself as possible.
Jack: Yeah. T.J too. I will be around your house in ten. Be ready to go?
Ryan: Sure =). Let me know when you're outside!
Jack: Will do x
He almost burst into laughter as he ran a hand through the dark red locks. It was taking such long and hard progress, but it was becoming easier. They were starting to become friends again. After the long and hard process of actually getting within the same block area of him and maintaining a calm mask!
Which was why Ryan knew exactly where he would be taking the boy today!
He just hoped that he didn't look too shaggy like with his unkempt hair. He would probably end up getting it cut soon.
He still smiled softly as he looked over to the wardrobe and came across a old and faded emerald winter cap. He let a small laugh escape out from between his lips and couldn't help smile even more brightly. So glad I wore that hat as a kid. He laughed as he thought back to when he was younger and in school.
School days... when everything had been so much easier! Sure there was all those crazy and wild games, but there had also been real life to deal with. He was trying to achieve in school and be the best he could at manipulating all those damn puppets! That had been one game that he had played by himself and still played now.
No matter how much everything changed... he had always still been able to study and achieve in school.
Why was it now that when he had been coming towards the end of the summer term that he had been beginning to mess up on the preparation tests, which would give them an idea what it would be like next year before they went to college.
Jack... Jack was the answer to that.
Having your boyfriend attacked and beaten, then put in a coma for two years. Yeah. That took a lot of thought into someone's mind.
It would be so strange... though, not getting to see the others much any more, he would be on his way to a halfway house soon... but then again, who did he actually even have left to see? The only people around the home that he even still bothered to talk to were Elektra and Thomas... the latter of who Ryan was beginning to grow very, very cautious over.
He didn't like the way that Thomas was staring at his Princess.
But that didn't change the fact about him though. That he was quiet and always sticking to himself, becoming solitary with every growing week. The only time that he even actually saw the others any more was when he would run into the house to grab his change of clothes from having to go to school. Or when he had to put the fear of god into Carmen when the cow tried to steal Jack's old clothes.
He sighed again softly as he looked back at him self. His flat brown hair still curled at the sides around his ears and he would often just brush them back.
He paused and his eyes widened slightly as he grinned brightly.
No more Carmen. No more of these idiots. No more of these people!
A whole new set of toys to play with!
He soon cranked up the radio as he jumped about and smiled happily. In the new light his smooth body was hypnotic. As he spun and sang along with the singers on the radio. "Check yes Juliet Are you with me?" He reached into his wardrobe and pulled out an orange shirt before pulling over his head and letting it cling to his sides as it framed him. He looked back into the wardrobe. The clothes were all thrown about in a pile. "THOMAS HAVE YOU BEEN GOING THROUGH MY CLOTHES AGAIN!" he shouted before realizing that the boy wasn't actually there. To be fair, he had only just woken up. So shaking his head he went back to listening the music.
"Rain is falling down on the sidewalk"
"I won't go until you come outside"
"Check yes Juliet"
"Kill the limbo"
"I'll keep tossing rocks at your window" The volume on the radio increased and he was pretty sure the others could hear it by now. But he didn't care, he loved the song. Check it Juliet, it seemed to always be playing over and over in his head.
"There's no turning back for us tonight" He hopped around on the spot as he did a mix between dancing and trying to pull some boxers and shorts on. When he fell and landed on his butt he just laughed.
"RYAN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP THERE?" Mike just called up. "You're going to be late to the hospital! I thought you both were going out together today!"
"Don't worry Mom!" He smirked, knowing how Mike hated being called that. He quickly pulled some socks on as he looked outside his window. It was one of those rare days when, the sun was shinning. Oh no. It wasn't. It was one of those usual days where the snow came down heavily in a blizzard. He would have to dress warm for where they were going.
He pulled his jeans up and smirked as he pulled himself into a nearby chair. Losing himself in the blissful idea that he would never have to see these idiots ever again after next year! He would never have to deal with that with these broken toys ever again!
Which was why he would have to definitely win the game this time.
Ryan grinned deeply to himself as he sat back in his chair and gently ran his hands over the cold and smooth cover of Jack's journal. His masterpiece. The only thing that Ryan had right now to connect back to his boyfriend. Back to the boy who didn't look at him as though he was a complete and utter stranger, standing in a long and winding field of mist. He didn't know what worried him more. The fact that Sirena was now would be here by himself soon. Well, not by himself, Ryan would make sure that they got to share a room together.
But with Jack out of the hospital very soon. That meant the boy was by himself a lot of the time now. For as much as the boy had taken up a friendship with Bruce and with Thomas. Jack still spent a lot of his time by himself. He would always excuse himself as politely as possible and then go to clear his head. He was trying to move by himself a lot more now, and Ryan couldn't have been prouder of the blond.
Barely five or so days awake and Jack was already pushing himself as hard as he could. Pushing himself to walk more and to try and build up the strength of his body.
Maybe he was pushing himself too hard... but Ryan thought that he was beginning to understand why. Everyone was so amazed completely by the physical success that Jack was showing, that they barely took time to look at the other area of damage.
That's right.
Ryan really did worry sometimes, just how much everything really had effected Jack's mental state.
Had they all missed something with the boy?
But right now the boy was just too damn excited! This would have been the first time he had actually seen the boy since Christmas day
How should he dress?
Well... with the spot of the park that they were going too, he had a pretty good idea just how he should dress.
He discarded his shirt just as quickly as he had pulled it on. Swapping it swiftly for a sleeveless black shirt and letting the tight fitting shape slide down over him before pulling on a long white scarf around his neck and letting it trail out behind him in the air as it seemed almost suspended in the breeze. "Perfect." He whispered and opened the window to let the cold air brush over him. He was used to not feeling the cold at all, but still... he guessed that it was better to be safe than sorry. "RYAN! YOUR FRIENDS ARE HERE!" Mike bellowed.
"What?"
He checked down to his phone and noticed that there was now an amount of numerous missed calls. While outside his window he saw the figures of three boys all stood close to each other as they shivered because of the cold wind which was beginning to rapidly pick up. "Yeah,yeah, don't worry." He rolled his eyes and sprinted out the room and down the stairs, taking two at a time as he went.
He wasn't entirely sure what to expect at first when he walked out the front door with the emerald jacket slung over his shoulder. He certainly wasn't expecting to see Thomas smiling at the boy with Bruce as they were hugged close to him, keeping him warm as he trembled slightly.
But with the sound of the closing door, all three began to turn around and look at him.
Thomas stood silent and dominant as the small groups guardian. His face was stony cold now that Ryan had walked out. It gave away absolutely no emotion away like it did when he looked towards Bruce and Jack.
Thomas was dressed in a blue woolly jacket with a black collar shirt underneath. His black hair was slightly visible under his blue hood but still seemed to keep the strong image of himself and everything about him. The way he stood and gravitated towards Jack and Bruce just all the bit more. The way his eyes bore through Ryan as though trying to see if he was some kind of threat or not... Accident or not, ever since that day that Ryan had nearly slipped up on his entire story to Jack, Thomas had been taking a more, careful approach to the brunette.
Thomas' face was still pale, though apart from the dark circles around his eyes and the pink tinge to his eye lids, there was absolutely nothing new to his usual impassive and cold exterior... at least none that Ryan could see other than it was now pointed at him more. He wore his as usual symbolic skinny jeans and expensive designer trainers- which Ryan realized after studying them a bit closer, had the same signature and brand name on as Jack's favorite pair did!
Upon seeing Ryan's slight frown, Thomas shot him a smug look and received a slight and playful hit from Bruce.
Bruce was dressed in a whole new outfit. His old shirt being replaced by a smart fitted collarless and sleeveless t-shirt under a black cotton coat. A loose chain belt moved through the boy's black jeans and he ran a nervous hand through his thick and bouncing black locks of hair.
His eyes shifting rapidly from spot to spot of focus as he edged closer to Thomas who was more than happy to embrace the boy in soft arms, to provide Bruce with some comfort. After all, this was Bruce's first trip out of the hospital too. "M-Morning R-Ryan!" He yelped softly as his nervous twitch became slightly worse for a moment.
"Humph." Thomas muttered under his breath and leaned down, who eased rapidly after the comforting gesture Thomas gave him.
But that left one person.
Ryan watched the figure of Jack beginning to slowly turn. His hair had been cut quite a lot from the curtain of silver locks and long fringe which had used to cover the boy's eyes.
Now there were spots the boy himself had finished cutting along the sides after seeing how mismatched the bold patched had looked. Sure it had grown back quite rapidly, but when Jack had finally seen the mirror and reflection of himself, Christina had told Ryan that the blond boy had gone wild nearly, crying and desperate, hiding from any mirror that he had seen.
He had ended up grabbing a knife and slashing the curtain of his hair apart.
Bruce and Christina had found the sobbing boy hiding in his room after that and the woman had hushed him gently to silence, Bruce had held him and rocked him comfortably till Ryan had managed to get there. At which point he had only sat down in the room, saying he had been passing by and had heard the crying to he had checked in to see if Jack was okay.
The blond boy had barely even recognized him to be there.
Two years ago, Ryan would have been the only person there. The only person that Jack would have allowed himself to be held by.
But that wasn't the biggest shock. Jack had cut his hair reasonably short on the sides now and left the top a bit more wild, which once again were all defiant spikes but now with a fringe of fallen spikes on the front to match.
His face was a lot skinnier, the boy looked exhausted and as though he had been beaten down a flight of stairs... had he not been eating or something? Had the dreams and nightmares been getting to him too much? Why hadn't anyone told Ryan that the boy had lost this much progress and made him believe that everything was okay...
But still... those beautiful blue eyes. Those turquoise, ice cold eyes which could have been the season around them, captured.
They looked so ancient now.
Once so full of life and joy... they looked all but nearly destroyed.
"Stare a bit harder dude." Thomas growled beneath his breath and watched Jack turn his gaze down slightly as the boy pulled out a length of thin rope between his fingers and began tying knots with it, but as quickly as he had tied a length of them across the rope, he quickly undid them and started all over again! "One, two, three, four, two, one, three, four." Jack whispered quietly, over and over again like a chant to himself.
For a moment Thomas glanced at Bruce who nodded in response before the normally impassive boy lent forward slightly so that he was on level with Jack. "Hey, how about we go ahead and they catch up?" He whispered ever so softly, and a smile that Ryan had only ever seen on the very rarest of occasions.
A real smile.
"Two, three, four, one, five." Jack chanted to himself over and over as though this was some kind of response... and it worked. Thomas seemed to understand instantly and nodded before pulling an arm around the boy and guiding him away as quickly and as possible smoothly as he could.
"It's something we tried and found out that it worked. I do it sometimes as well... it helps."
Ryan stumbled slightly till he realized that Bruce had spoken. His eyes had been so fixed on the image of Jack in the long sleeved jumper with the rich cream colour. The way the boy walked with small stumbles of a very slight limp in his midnight black jeans. His hands still working away furiously on the rope as he was talking to Thomas about something which he could not hear now that they were so far away... but Thomas just seemed to nod for a moment before responding to what ever Sirena had said.
Bruce stood close to Kyle, watching both of them with the softest and most loving of smiles. His nerves seemingly now under control, had become this caring look which he almost encased both Thomas and Jack with. "What do you mean? What exactly was that?"
"You. S-staring at him." Bruce said quietly, counting the paces in his head before beginning to walk after them with Ryan next to him. "Jack has become a lot more..." He paused as he seemed to be searching for a word that was most accurate and soft in it's phrasing. "Aware of himself." He finally decided after tasting the word. His gave became quickly sadder as he watched Thomas wrap an comforting arm around the boy. "People looking at him for too long... It's like shoving that mirror back in front of him again."
"That doesn't explain what I just saw." Ryan stated as he turned a slight frown on the black haired boy. His glare piercing so far into those eyes that Bruce flinched slightly and Ryan had to remind himself, that this wasn't an ordinary puppet he was playing with.
"He has a difficulty breaking apart what is going on his head and what actually is happening. So we were reading a book the other day and decided to try something from it." Bruce shrugged. "No foul, no harm."
"Okay. Now please exactly explain what was with the rope. And what book exactly did you get this from?" Ryan kept his voice in that cold deadpan style.
"Well... we were reading Mockingjay. You know. The last book in the hunger games trilogy?"
"Yes." Ryan grated out, openly showing his disapproval.
"The rope more or less is to keep his mind focused on something else and his hands busy... you know. So that he can't... do anything to hurt himself." Bruce said the last bit quietly as though there were people who might have been listening in.
"Hurt himself?" Ryan echoed back. His eyes narrowing while they all but practically glowed with anger. "Hurt himself... exactly how?" He gritted his teeth tightly.
Then he caught sight of it.
Just for a few seconds as Jack rubbed the inside of his arm, the jumper which was about three sizes too big for him, just sloped on his shoulder and the long sleeves rod up a bit along his bony arms.
Flashing a small bit of pearly white bandage beneath.
Pearly white, tainted with a long line of crimson.
Ryan glowered over at Bruce and then Thomas for a minute. Taking a long time to steel himself before he trusted himself to speak again.
"And... what they are doing now?" He pointed between Thomas who still was comforting the smaller boy.
"After being initially calmed down so that he isn't completely frantic, Jack asks a question about something that is going through his head and Thomas says yes or no, just like in the book, and then gives a brief explanation. But the questions do vary. Whether that be a question about something that has happened-"
"The doctors told us all we weren't allowed to tell him anything about his past!" Ryan hissed quietly.
"We know that." Bruce nodded to himself. "And surprisingly, Jack hasn't asked one question about his past to us. He knows we're not allowed to answer him anyway, and yes he's desperate to know. But, he never wants to put is in that awkward situation where we want to tell him and he's desperate to know." Bruce sighed gently.
"How do you know he's so desperate to find out." Ryan asked.
Thomas and Bruce had been the only ones other than Christina to actually spend time with him, since the day he had woken up. They had been the only ones... she approved of to be around him by the hospital without fear for anything happening to the boy..
After all. The last time they had seen Ryan, he had tried to put King's head through a wall and a floor then nearly fucked up by almost telling the boy his complete past!
Bruce raised an eyebrow and looked further into Ryan's face to try and bring him out of his thoughts. "Well apart from the very fact that, he's had his entire life up to about..." He paused counting the days in his head. "Up to about the last four or five days, which he's had to spend mostly in a hospital bed. Wouldn't you be desperate to know? I mean... to not no longer know who you are? To have it all taken away from you." Bruce's voice became quieter. His eyes locked dead ahead of them and Ryan sighed.
"I'm sorry... I miss spoke."
"It's okay... I've made peace with my side." Bruce said gently. His eyes seemingly sad.
Liar. Ryan thought.
"But most of all... It's the look in his eyes." The ink haired boy said softly.
"What?"
"His eyes. He puts up a good mask." Bruce nodded. "But... That look in his eyes. The way sometimes, even when he's tying the rope to try and distract himself, or the way he reacts when a question get's answered for him. He looks so... so lost. Then he looked at me and Thomas as though we were someone who could actually pull him out of everything. Like we were the ones who could help him." Bruce just let another sigh lose and ran a hand across his eyes as his body began to twitch slightly.
"And you're okay with them being so, cuddly close?" Ryan pointed between both the boys ahead of him and turned his head back to Bruce who had a smile once again, playing across his lips.
"I'm not a jealous t-type R-Ryan." He whispered before turning a smile back to both boys in front of them. "Thomas would never admit it... but I think deep down, he struggles too. Like me t-twitching around people." He blinked slightly and a rogue tremble broke through him. "Or like Jack with his memory and questioning... he struggles opening up in front of people, or getting close to people." He pulled his arms around his torso slowly as he shivered from the cold. "But lately, he's been so caring and protective with Jack. I'm not sure at first whether it was just because Jack was close to me when we were in hospital, and because me and Thomas have been friends the last couple of weeks... but. After a while I began to notice Thomas was getting closer and closer to him. He became as protective of Jack as he was of me, when I had first woke up!" He smiled as he let that image fill his head. "They're good for each other. Thomas is the right emotional stone to be steady for Jack. And Jack is the perfect person for Thomas to now explore being a lot more open around."
He glanced over at Ryan who was keeping his face impassive. "I know it hurts." He said quietly.
"I'm not hurting."
"B-but we're here for you as well." Bruce smiled.
The boy blushed and Ryan just rolled his eyes.
"I'm here for Jack." He growled in warning. "I'm here only for Jack till the day that he's back in my arms again." He looked the boy up and down as he sped up. "So don't waste your breath." He snarled.
He caught up with the other two who fell into silence as Ryan nodded down a path of roses and flowers which were kept under a blanket of snow. "We're here." He stated, seeing a clearing open up through the park just ahead of them.
A large hill and valley of flickering candles, full of people ice skating on the lake, dancing through the snow, or just walking hand in hand.
"Masquerade hill." Ryan smirked behind his mask, glancing over at Thomas who gave him a scolding stern look. "A great place for music, fun and to hang out... I should know. I have the best memories of this place." He muttered the last part, turning his head away as he began the slow walk down the hill.