Soundtrack
All I WantâKodaline
Welcome to the Black ParadeâMCR
Use SomebodyâKings of Leon
14
Mia
Mia woke to her phone blasting off on her side table. She groped around for it, eyes refusing to open.
How is it already seven?
She kept trying to turn off her alarm without opening her eyes, but she was failing miserably. When the noise refused to stop, Mia opened her eyes, only to see Logan's name and number scrolling across her screen, and she almost refused to answer it. Almost.
"Hello?"
The voice on the other end was hardly more than a whisper, washing a chill over her entire body. "I'm going to share my location with you. I need you to come. It's Jack." And then he hung up.
Mia's stomach turned over and over. Her phone chimed a moment later; she tapped on the map that appeared and saw that it led to some rundown part of the old business section of town. She didn't understand what was happening, and she was rightfully nervous, and she realized she simply couldn't go alone.
Andy was at her door less than fifteen minutes later. "You are going to owe me for years for this. It's almost one in the morning."
She nodded in agreement as they walked out to his car. "I know. I'm sorry. Something didn't sound right, and I didn't want to go alone."
Andy started his car as Mia buckled in. "Is there a reason you're going in the first place?"
"Logan sounded worried. Logan is never worried."
She directed him as her phone calculated directions to the pin Logan sent her. When they turned onto Spruce Lane, emergency vehicle lights lit up the street.
"Oh, my God. Jack." Mia didn't wait for Andy to put his car in park. The moment it stopped moving, she was out of it, bolting towards the chaos. The closer she got, the more her surroundings seeped into her senses: the ground was wet beneath her, there was a chemical smell in the air, there was an eerie stillness despite the sight in front of her.
"Hey, over here," Logan called.
She turned towards the sound and saw him crouched on the ground, waving at her. His mom met her halfway.
"What happened? Is he okay? Is Jack alright?"
Logan's mom put her hands on Mia's arms, giving them a gentle squeeze. "Take a breath. I need you to stay as calm as you can, okay?"
The air Mia forced in was sharp in her lungs, stinging every part of her, but she nodded.
"Jack's mom was in a fatal accident tonight. He's not doing well."
Her brows scrunched together. "F-fatal? As inâ"
Logan's mom nodded.
"Oh, my God. Oh, my God."
She reassuringly squeezed Mia's arms again. "Breathe, honey. Jack is not okay. You need to be okay for him."
"Okay. Alright." Mia swallowed and took a deep breath, completely filling her lungs with the acrid smell that hung in the air around them. She turned back, seeing Andy off in the distance, arms hugging himself as he leaned against his car. "My brother brought me here. Can you tell him that I'll be okay and that he can go?"
"Will do." She patted Mia on the shoulder before leaving her.
Jack was sitting on the ground, knees drawn into his chest, eyes closed, murmuring to himself; the sight alone was enough to shatter her. Logan looked at Mia with a sigh of relief; he stood, and he hugged her so tightly she feared the broken pieces inside of her would pierce through her skin.
"Thank you for coming. I can't get him to move, and when I try to move him myself, he panics. I need help getting him home." Logan released her, and Mia no longer saw the guy with eternally red rimmed eyes who had been throwing wild parties since he was a teenager; she saw someone who looked scared, and worried, and like he was the most helpless person to ever exist. Mia never thought she was going to have to be the source of strength in Jack's group of friends, but life seemed to have a way of challenging everything she thought she knew.
Mia gave Logan her best attempt at a smile. "It's okay. You've done so much to help. Maybe, maybe just give me a few minutes with him? I'll call if we need you."
Logan turned to walk back towards his mom, a modicum of relief washing over him, but Mia stopped him, realization turning her stomach.
"Wait, what about his dad? Does his dad know anything?"
"Mom sent some officers over. They'll get there before us." His head hung low as he walked back towards his mother.
Mia sat cross-legged in front of Jack. She reached out and placed her hands on his. "Jack?"
"I can help her. It has to be me. I can help her. She only trusts me. She needs me."
Mia swallowed a sob. "Jack, it's me, Mia. Look at me." She reached up, brushed some of his hair back, and held his face. There were remnants of sweat and tears on his cheeks. His head slightly shook back and forth as she held it. "Jack, it's okay. You can open your eyes."
In the smallest of degrees, he did, and all Mia could see were the terrified eyes of a child.
"Hey," she breathed a sigh of relief. "Let's go home, okay?" Her thumbs caressed his cheeks, wiping at the spots where his tears had dried. "I need you to come with me."
"Mia?" Jack looked at her as if she were the only being to have ever existed, as if he'd been without human contact for years and someone finally found him.
She nodded, and Jack let go of the grip he had on his knees. He grabbed her shoulders, and then her face, and then her hair. He got up on his knees, shifting closer to her. He felt her as if he were afraid she weren't real, a ghost from his past merely there to taunt him.
"Mia, my mom. We have to help her. She only wants me to help her, but I think it'll be okay if you help, too. You can't tell anyone, though. It's a secret. She made me promise."
Mia had to use everything in her to keep from crying; Jack sounded as though he were just a boy, a small child who would do anything whatsoever for his mother, and she knew that meant she had to play along with it; she knew it was the only way she was going to get him to move.
"I'd be happy to help you, Jack. I'll help you, but I need you to come with me first. I really need you to come with me."
He looked into her eyes, and his were so big and round, so loving and trusting. "You'll help me?"
"Of course. Always." Mia stood, holding out a hand to Jack. He grabbed it, and she helped pull him up. Once he was standing, she wrapped an arm around his waist, leading him away from the wreckage.
As they walked towards Logan and his mother, Mia pointed at them. "Logan is going to drive us, okay?"
Jack stopped moving. "And then we'll help my mom?"
Mia couldn't bring herself to verbally respond, so she just nodded at him, and he let her continue to pull him along. She led him to Logan's car as Logan trailed behind them. Mia got Jack situated in the backseat, and then rounded to Logan.
"I don't know what to do. It's like he's ten years old again."
Logan closed his eyes, rubbing at them with his palms. "I know. Maybe he just needs to sleep. When he wakes up, he'll snap out of it. We can take him to my house."
Mia shifted on her feet. "What about his dad?"
"Fuck. Right. To his parents' then? I can tell my mom to meet us there."
"Yeah, yes. I think that's best." Mia climbed into the backseat with Jack. She sat down behind the driver's seat, and Jack leaned over, resting his head in her lap.
"Thank you for helping me. I knew we could count on you. I knew you would help," he said.
Mia ran her fingers through his hair over and over, the thick curls loosening as she did so. It wasn't until Logan began driving away that Mia allowed herself to cry; silent tears streamed down her face, but she just kept running her hands through Jack's hair, quietly reminding him that everything was going to be okay.
***
When they got to Jack's parents' house, there were already two squad cars parked outside. Mia led Jack to the front door, Logan trailing behind them. Jack was still muttering incoherently beside her, but Mia kept a firm hold on him, desperate to be the strength he needed.
Mia had only been in Jack's house a handful of times; despite her offers to come with him whenever he went there, he always asked her to stay home. The moment they crossed the threshold, Jack's father looked up from the chair he'd been sitting in, making eye contact with Jack, and the spell was broken.
"Jack, my Jacky boy. Oh, Jacky." His father's voice was coarse and raw, and when he tried to stand, his knees immediately buckled and he collapsed to the floor.
Jack was no longer at Mia's side. He was crouched in front of his father, holding him, rocking him back and forth. "I'm sorry, dad. I'm so sorry. By the time I got there, she was...by the time I got thereâ"
Logan's mom was standing at the front door. She motioned to the other officers in the room, and they quietly filed out of the house.
"I think both of you should stay here. I'm going to hang out outside." Logan's mom turned to her son, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Come get me if you need me."
Logan nodded. "Thanks, mom."
His mother looked at Mia, kindness and sympathy abounding in her eyes. Then she turned, following her colleagues out of the house.
Upon hearing the door close, Jack turned to look at Logan and Mia; for a moment, it seemed as if he had no idea they were there with him. But, when his eyes finally met hers, she watched him tremble just once. He blinked, and he looked at Logan. "Can you help me bring dad into his room?"
Logan strode over quickly. He helped Jack raise his father to standing, and the two of them shuffled him down the hall and out of sight.
Mia allowed herself ten seconds of tears, just ten more seconds to let them overtake her completely. As soon as she heard the door down the hall close, she straightened herself up, wiped away her tears with the sleeve of her hoodie, and took a deep breath.
When Logan and Jack returned, Mia watched as Jack inhaled a shaky breath. He looked at his friend, and the two of them exchanged a glance that held more than words ever could.
"I'll take the couch. Just going to tell my mom she's good to go." Logan strode to the front door and briefly stepped out of it.
The air seemed to completely leave the room with Logan. After nearly a month of not seeing Jack, suddenly the sight of him before her was almost too grave to handle. She gasped for a breath, and Jack's body tensed in front of her for just a moment.
"You have no obligation to stay here. You've done far more for me than I could have asked. Logan will take you home if I ask him."
Mia shook her head. "You really have no idea how much I love you, do you?"
Jack's mouth twitched in what Mia interpreted as his best attempt at a show of relief. He extended his hand to her; when she grasped it, he turned on his heels, pulling her towards what she assumed was once his bedroom. Inside, he let go of her hand and sat on his bed. Mia closed the door and came to him.
Jack sat there, his face in his hands, breathing heavily. Mia stood before him, pulling him into her; his arms came around her back, and his face burrowed in her chest. Jack clutched at the fabric of her clothes as he buried his face in them. He was holding her as if she too were going to leave him; holding her as if nothing else in the world existed.
Mia resumed running her fingers through his hair as she had in the car; he pulled back from her, staring into her face with eyes she hardly recognized.
"I...I can't really remember what happened between seeing her in the car and ending up back here."
She smoothed her hands over his face. "I think you were in shock."
Jack swallowed, shaking his head. "Can we lay down?"
"Of course."
When Jack stood, Mia pulled the covers down. She gestured for him to get in first, and then she climbed in after him. Mia moved to put her arms around him, but Jack stopped her.
"Let me hold you. All I want is to hold you."
It was quiet for a little while, and had Jack not been consistently clutching at her, arms tightening and untightening around her, ensuring himself that she was still there beside him, Mia would have thought he'd fallen asleep.
"Mia?"
"Hm?"
"I did it because I thought it was best for you."
Her chest rose and fell with heavy breaths. "I know. It's okay, Jack."
"But now...now I don't know what I'm going to do. What am I going to do, Mia? What am I going to do? Whatâ"
He was hyperventilating, struggling to catch his breath, and Mia had never felt more helpless in her life.
"I'm going to help you. It's going to be okay. We'll get through it together, just like everything. We'll do it together."
"My dad. I need to check on him. I need to check on my dad. I can't let anything happen to him. I need to check on him. He's not okay. He's notâ"
Mia didn't try to hide the fact that she was crying again. Seeing the man who so rarely showed emotion, the man who made it seem like nothing ever fazed him cycle in and out of hysterics was destroying every last piece of her.
"Hey, hey, it's okay. I'll check on him, and I will let you know if he needs you. I'm going to get you some water, okay? Just stay here. Close your eyes, and stay here. Promise? I will be right back." Mia kissed his forehead and got out of bed. She padded through the hall and into the living room where Logan sat up on the couch, looking at his phone but seeing nothing. "Logan?"
He was startled when he saw her. "Everything okay?"
Mia shook her head. "He's panicking again. Do you have anything I can give him? He needs to sleep."
"We gave his dad something to knock him out, but I don't think he'd want to take anything of his mom's. I'll be back in a minute." Logan got up, grabbed his keys, and went out to his car. He came back with a small pink tablet. "It's a sleeping pill. He'll be out for at least six hours. Probably more. Shouldn't have any weird dreams on it either. Just be out."
"Okay, thank you." She turned to get a glass of water from the kitchen, but then she looked back at Logan. "For everything."
With a glass of water in one hand and the tablet in the other, Mia walked into Jack's room to find him curled up into a little ball. She cupped the side of his face and spoke gently.
"Sit up for me, Jack. This will help you sleep."
He regarded her with guarded eyes, refusing to take the pill from her.
"I would never give you something that would hurt you. You know that, Jack. You know that."
That triggered something in his mind, and he reached out and took the pill, along with the water, and then laid down again. Mia climbed back in with him, and he held her with the same intensity as before.
Soon enough, his grip on her relaxed. His arms were still tangled around her, but the desperation with which he had clutched at her prior was gone. Mia finally breathed a sigh of relief, and she thought she would begin crying again, but she didn't have anything left in her.
Mia reached over to his bedside table and grabbed her phone. She sent a long text to her parents and Andy, detailing everything, telling them how much she loved and cherished them, how life would be empty without them.
Mia knew she wouldn't sleep that night, so instead she shifted in bed so that she was the one holding Jack. She pulled him impossibly close to her, wanting to feel every bit of him against her, willing all of the love she felt for him to pass through her skin and into his, wishing that, finally, he would understand how much he was loved.
a/n: hi! We have TWO more chapters. Can you believe it? I certainly can't. I plan to post the remaining chapters by the end of next week; they just need a few more tweaks.
Thank you for the love you've been giving mia&jack. Wattpad would be nothing without readers like all of you â¤ï¸
Please take a moment to vote on this chapter by tapping the star or leaving a comment. You know I thrive on hearing from you!
Have a great weekend,
L