Jack held John's hand. The doctors had told him that John was waking up, but they didn't know when he would wake up. John was surrounded by flowers, chocolate boxes and teddy bears. He had always known John was popular by the teachers and the students, but he didn't realize just how popular he was. He had received a gift from almost every teacher and every class that he taught. Rose and Martha had given him a bouquet with red roses, they avoided ten of them because neither of them wanted to propose. Chris had given him the new astronomy book. All the nice gifts made Jack's simple red apple look dull and boring but it was important to them. The red apple represented their relationship.
Jack had almost fallen asleep by John's side but he immediately became clear in the head, when John's eyes were opened. He was looking directly at Jack. After a while his eyes quickly and a bit confused, started looking around the room. He looked scared.
"Mr. Harkness, why are you here? Where am I?" he asked and sounded almost scared. Jack was alarmed when John used his last name. He only did it in school and before they were in a relationship. Before Jack could answer though, John closed his eyes again and drifted back to sleep. He didn't wake up again that day.
Jack refused to leave John's side now he finally was waking up. He wanted to hold John's hand next time the confused man woke up. The Doctors had warned him about his memory. He had been hit pretty hard in the head, but they didn't know how much damage John's head had actually taken in the impact.
John was sitting straight up in the bed when Jack woke up in the morning. His back hurting from the odd angle he had slept. He smiled at John but John just looked pale and afraid.
"Jack, how did I get here?" Jack was relived, John remembered him. He had used Jack's name which was a good sign, maybe he just was to confused the first time.
"Someone attacked you, do you remember who it was?" John shook his head to Jack's big disappointment. If they had known who it was, then the bastard would get what he deserved. The culprit clearly wanted John dead but no one knew why.
"Are you hurt? Can I get you anything?" He shook his head again.
"No," John paused before he continued. "Stay with me, I don't want to be alone."
Jack smiled at the Doctor, of course he would stay with him, and he really didn't need to ask him too. He stayed with the other man through the entire day. He was beside him when he did some test and held his hand if he got too scared. Jack dragged his finger through the other man's hair when it all was over. He was careful with his head. It became evening to soon and he needed to leave the Doctor for the night. He promised to visit first thing after school the next morning. John smiled at him, he liked it when Jack took his studies seriously.
Jack visited John every day until he finally could take the other man home. He had been awake for almost three weeks tomorrow. John had been reserved and suspicious about Jack the first times he visited but John soon remembered who Jack was. He had problems remembering things he already had done just a few minutes ago, but it was getting better. They could actually finish a game of chess without being reminded what he was doing. Jack was still losing against John. Even if John's short term memory was bad he could still kick Jack's ass in every chess game they played.
The first thing John did when they stepped inside the apartment was walk straight to his TARDIS and hug the blue box as if it was alive. Jack let him be because this was a normal behavior from the Doctor, and he thought it was kind of cute when John talked to his big blue box. He had taken care of the plants when John was in the hospital.
"Just rest, I'll make dinner," Jack told him but John was quick to shake his head.
"I don't want to end up in a hospital again, let me do it." They fought for a while until they both agreed to call for a pizza. Jack was talking on the phone with the pizzeria. The other man sat in front of him continuously reminding him about bananas on the pizza.
"Bananas, don't forget the bananas. And bananas. I want bananas. Can we have some bananas on the pizza?" The nagging was slowly driving him insane, but it was still cute in a way.
"Doctor, just shut your mouth. You're acting like a child, and you knows what happens if you're acting like a child," he reminded the other man making him pale. John stopped the nagging and sat quietly on the chair until Jack returned with the pizzas.
Jack had purchased two pizzas, one large with extra everything to himself and one banana pizza with extra bananas and a banana on the side for the Doctor. It wasn't until he sat down at the sofa to eat that he noticed that John was still sitting on the same chair, eyes down at the ground. He looked like a child who had done something wrong. The sight almost broke his heart.
"I'm not mad at you, you can take your pizza and sit by me. You can teach me how to play chess better, I'm always losing to you."
John looked happier, it was always a relief when Jack wasn't angry at him. He took his pizza and sat down beside Jack. This was the first time in a long while he could actually sit down without feeling pain on his well punished backside.
Jack was hopeless at the game but John tried to stay positive. One day maybe Jack would give him a challenge, but for now he just had to settle with what he had. It was a lot more fun and interesting then playing by himself.
"Let's just play some of your PlayStation games," John suggested, knowing it would make Jack happier to defeat him in a game of FIFA or some other game. Jack nodded and hesitated for a while. He knew John hated games like Battlefield 4 and Grand Theft Auto V and he himself wasn't in the mood for Little Big Planet or FIFA. He finally came back with a Japanese Role-playing game for two players. He didn't usually like the genre but he enjoyed playing it with John.
It was a relief that John was awake. He knew the older man wanted to see him graduate and Jack wanted John to be there for him. He would make John proud with his good grades.