TITLE: The Easy Things
CHAPTER/TITLE: Chapter One/ Leaving
RATING: T (language and mature content)
SUMMARY: Pre-Movie.
A/N: Sorry it's been a LONG time since I posted the prologue! I wanted to get farther into writing and finishing this before posting it but I got sidetracked.
Yes, this story is mainly Bobby. But there is a lot of Jack flashbacks, etc for you Jack-oholics out there. Remember, this is the sequel to The Little Things. Jack isn't dead, but he is still in a coma in the hospital. I kind of envisioned this story happening WHILE The Little Things was happening. So while Bobby goes off, Jack is having his little dreamwalk. Make sense? ...I hope so.
DISCLAIMER: ...
Chapter One: Leaving
"Wake up, wake up, this ain't just a thing that you/ Give up, give up, don't you say I'd be/Better off…without you." – The Little Things, by Colby Caillat
"Jack," Bobby shook his head and sank down into a chair, "when Ma first brought you to us, you had had some fucked up shit happen to you and you wouldn't talk to no one. It was freakin' weird, man – and annoying as fuck. I tried so damn hard to get you to say somethin'. I tried raggin' on you to see if you'd get pissed and yell at me or something. You didn't. 'Course, there was that time where you kicked me in the shin." Bobby grinned, but frowned when he found no similar response to the memory on his brother's face. "You were locked away in your head someplace – reliving what happened to you. You remember what the first thing you said to me was?"
It killed Bobby a bit inside when Jack didn't reply. He had to remember. That day had been etched in their brains for all eternity; the spark that ignited their unexplainable bond and Bobby's fierce need to protect Jack.
"You were about to get the shit beat outta' you and you screamed. You screamed out for me – my name. You were scared and you called out for me. You slipped into one of your episodes or whatever – freakin' out and not breathin' and shit – remembering something fuckin' awful. We got through all that together. You told me everything after that – piece by piece – but we made it. We made it, Jack. You made it. You beat all that shit. Jack, you called out for me again. I heard you screamin', man. I couldn't get to you and I'm sorry as hell. You got to believe me. This not talkin' shit can't – you can't do this to me after everything –" Bobby cut himself off with a cough and continued. "We did it before. We beat that shit before. We can do it again. Come on, man. Don't do this. Would Ma want you back like this? She worked so hard to help you and now you're throwin' it all away. You're acting like that little boy, Jack. Not like a man. You are a grown man, you are a Mercer, and you are a hell of a lot stronger than this shit. You're insulting her, you know? You're spitting in her face when you do this! Is that what you want, huh? Is it?"
Bobby leapt from the chair then. It took everything he had to not throw the piece of furniture across the room.
"You're so selfish, Jack! So fuckin' selfish. Didn't think 'bout us! Just ran out in that damn street. So stupid. You don't even think! Don't ever use your head! Never thought what you bein' – like this – would do to your family. To me."
Bobby slid back in the chair once more, grasping his brother's hand.
"Just say somethin', Jack. Say anything. Tell me to stay 'n I'll stay. Come on, fairy. You remember how hard you used to throw a fuckin' fit whenever I left. You 'n your fuckin' abandonment shit, or whatever Ma called it. No matter how many damn times I left and came back, every time I walked out that door, you thought I was gone for good. Jackie, you're – you're the one that's gone nowand – and they say you ain't ever comin' back. And I don't know what to do. Jerry 'n Angel, they don't need me no more. Jer's got his girls and Camille. Angel's got Sofi. Don't you fucking tell no one, but that crazy bitch is startin' to grow on me. She helped Angel a lot – you know – with all this. Who do I got? Huh?"
"Jack, you guys – you're my brothers. You're all I got. I'm supposed to protect you. If I can't even do that, then what the fuck good am I? Huh? I swore to myself, to Ma, that I'd protect you. I swore! Now, look at you. Laid up in here like this. 'Cause 'a me. I never shoulda' come back, Jackie. Never shoulda' came. And now I gotta do what's right, you know? I can't stay. I can't stay and watch you die. And I can't stay 'n get anyone else hurt or killed."
"So, I'm leavin', Jack. And this time, I ain't comin' back. I'm sorry, Cracker Jack. I'm sorry."
Bobby pushed himself from the chair with less force this time. Wincing, Bobby finally let go of Jack's hand. With one final glance, Bobby closed his eyes and walked away from his brother.