#starter;elliot

Funny how even though Elliot seemingly was the one Jack had chosen above Balo, Jack couldn’t quite face seeing him anyway. It was just another reminder of the impossible choice he had had to make. So when he walked outside to smoke and was faced with the other boy, he didn’t even acknowledge his presence initially, until he lit his cigarette, so distracted and stressed that he placed his thumb a little too close to the flame and blurted out a quick fuck, before he silenced himself - but the damage had already been done, his accent betraying him, and he exhaled slowly, glancing down at the ground. “Sorry,” he mumbled, eventually, the word being the only thing he wanted to say at this point. Sorry for what exactly? He wasn’t even sure he knew anymore.

To be honest, Jack hadn’t expected Elliot to agree to teach him at all. Why would he? Sure, they had some sort of...... strange tentative pseudo-friendship thing happening at this point, but it didn’t change that he’d been relatively awful to the other boy. Jack himself wasn’t the quickest to forgive others, and he didn’t expect it in response, even if he sometimes acted as if he did. Still, he was at the music room anyway, early and bored, enough so that he was looking around for entertainment as he waited, ending up picking up some random student’s guitar and playing around on it - he expected Elliot to take his time arriving, he was early, he felt safe in the knowledge that nobody was going to see him and interrupt him when he couldn’t help but think of.... certain people from his past. A level of vulnerability he wasn’t prepared to share. Hence why his expression was wide eyed when Elliot entered and he stopped almost immediately, shoving the guitar down without much care for how carefully he did so. “You’re early.”

Jack had never really been one to just let things go. Sometimes, it was a good trait - when he kept going at a problem in class long after everyone else had given up - but mostly he used it as a negative, a way to keep hurting people even after he’d knocked them down, prevent them from ever getting up again. So, seeing Elliot in the cafeteria the next morning, Jack happily walked over, sitting down opposite the other boy. “Hey, El, how are you?” The fake concern in his voice was evident, and he half smiled. “Seriously, how are things with Ches and everything?”

As if the trip had been going well anyway. To be honest, the state Jack was in right now was something he had almost expected, in the back of his mind, even as he acted like his usual self, perhaps excessively so - it was a cover more than anything else, him trying to pretend everything was fine even though he well knew where Claire had gone. And now her text had taken away even his ability to pretend everything was fine, had hit him so hard that he was unable to hide the fact that he was overwhelmed and upset and a whole load of other emotions that he couldn’t even put into words at this point. To the point where all he could do was wedge himself in the corner of his and Elliot’s hotel room, his arms around his legs like a child, audibly gasping as he cried like breathing was the last thing he wanted to focus on, the text messages going through his mind - he probably had a load of missed calls from Claire now, she was probably worried but the last thing he wanted to do was talk to her, to anyone who would remind him of it, as if he could forget no matter how much he tried. He barely even heard the door open, he was so wrapped up in his own thoughts, staring down at the ground still as he rocked back and forth, before slowly looking up only to register that Elliot was in the room. Would he have heard Jack? Was it a blessing at least that he couldn’t see him? He bit down on his lip, trying to quieten down a little, frozen in place and hoping he would just leave him alone.

“You know spending my nineteenth,” Jack drawled, “the one day of the year dedicated to me, with you, was not on the cards?”  Although if he really wanted, he could have chosen to not meet Elliot. He just enjoyed whining about it anyway, even if he had shown up after all, leaning in the doorway as he watched the other boy, curious. He hadn’t expected a birthday wish, hadn’t really wanted one if he was being honest - it had come as a surprise, but his curiosity about it was here to stay regardless. “Go on, tell me how great I am,” he suggested with a wide grin. “Ain’t that why we’re here?”

“Mind if I sit here?” Jack sat himself down before the answer had even come out of Elliot’s mouth. The cafeteria was actually not all that busy; there was plenty of empty spaces he could have gone for, but he’d chosen this one - primarily because of the boy he had now sat opposite. If Elliot could have seen the expression on his face, he’d probably have seen nothing amiss - it was just a half smile, innocent even, nothing to suggest any ulterior motives. “Is your lunch any good?” He asked curiously, leaning over to look. “Because I got the pasta and I’m starting to seriously think someone replaced all the spaghetti noodles with rubber.”

The buddy list for the trip was, according to Jack, a total godsend. He had barely any interest in Disney - he’d never seen a Disney movie, his only experience with Disney in general was the time he binged the entirety of Hannah Montana while sick, and he’d slept through most of it at any rate. But messing with Elliot - now there was something which he felt was enough to keep him entertained for the entirety of the Disneyland trip. So far he had been walking through the park with Elliot, spotted a group of people talking, and immediately ditched Elliot in the middle of the crowd with a quick “be right back.” Of course, he returned after a few minutes - just long enough, he thought, for Elliot to feel a little scared by himself without the ability to see where Jack had gone. “Sorry, mate,” he said cheerfully, laughing softly as he tapped Elliot’s arm roughly to let him know he was back. “Caught a load of people from Leeds. Northerners, we all talk to each other.” Not a whole lie, but Jack’s reasoning for going away had perhaps been a little more sinister than a quick chat. “Got anything specific you wanna go on? Would’ve thought Disney would be the best place for you. How many Disney princesses have dead mums again?”