Jack froze. Ralph? But then, that slap…
Fury blazed through him. He clenched his fists and stormed into the bathroom to see Ralph, on the ground, bruises littering his arms and a bright red handprint on his cheek, partially obscured by his corn silk hair.
And there was the motherfucker that hurt him. Tall and beefy, Jack recognized him immediately. Piggy. The porky kid that had gotten teased had grown to massive proportions. No one knew how he had done it, but there were rumors. Steroids, some Peruvian super muscle cure, no one knew for sure. All that was confirmed was that when he left in middle school, he had been the same pudgy little kid he had always been, but when he came back in high school, he had bulging muscles and a thirst for revenge.
Jack stood in front of Ralph defensively, fists raised. Piggy glared with his beady little eyes. "Move."
"No," Jack snarled.
"Jack, no," Ralph said weakly from his position on the ground, "I deserve this."
"Yeah," said Piggy, "he deserves this. The bitch said so. Now butt the fuck out. I don't want you checking me out."
Jack almost gagged, "I can hardly stand to look at you, let alone check you out. I would love to beat the ever-living shit out of you, but I will give you a chance to walk away nicely. Go away."
Piggy snorted, "I ain't gonna let you go. I'll beat your gay ass into the ground."
Jack grew very still, then threw himself at Piggy. This wasn't the best idea as the other boy was much larger and could, if inclined, smash Jack's skull into pieces. But Piggy was not expecting Jack's sudden attack, so he stumbled backwards, his head collided with the sink, and he was still.
"P-piggy?" Jack whispered, frightened.
Piggy stirred. "My name's not Piggy," he slurred, "It's Howard." With that, Howard lost consciousness and fell back against the floor.
Jack stood there, breathing deeply, trying to calm the adrenaline coursing through his veins. He heard a shuffling behind him.
Oh, shit. Ralph.
Jack rushed over to his side and gently brushed the hair out of his face. Ralph flinched.
"Can you walk?" Jack asked him.
"I-I dunno," Ralph said quietly.
"Better not risk it," Jack muttered, and scooped Ralph up off the floor.
"Jack! Hey Jack! Put me down!" Ralph shrieked.
"No."
"Yes! Put me down right now!" Ralph protested weakly, ineffectually slapping Jack's shoulder.
Jack stopped short, and looked Ralph in the eyes, suppressing the tiny flutter inside his stomach at the sight of the gorgeous blue-green color.
"Ralph David Finnegan. I am not going to put you down. I am going to carry you to the nurse's office. You are going to get looked at, and I am going to sit by you and pray to some sort of deity that you get better fast. I will not be going anywhere for a very, very long time," Jack bowed his head, "I-I love you," he whispered.
"No."
Jack stared at him, crushed.
"I'm sorry, that sounded mean. But it's only been a month, and I need some more time. If you tell me you love me now, I'll run away because I know that I can't love you back yet. Don't love me. Not now."
Jack swallowed his tears and looked at Ralph with a cocky smile, "Okay, I'll try not to love you. But there are not promises."
He leaned down and kissed Ralph gently, ignoring the straining in his arms. Jack pulled back after a few moments and gazed at Ralph, whose eyes were closed, mouth was slightly open, and whose hair shimmered in the incandescent light of the hallway.
Ralph opened his eyes, "You said you wouldn't make promises. That sounded like one hell of a promise to me."
Author's Note: Two chapters in three days? Le gasp! I'm actually going to use this exact plot for an original story I'm going to enter into a writing nerd competition. Yay! I'll inform you how our beloved band geeks do (though they will be going under other names). As always bacon and cookies for reviewers! I love you!