Twenty-Seven

Monday had been normal. Isaac picked Jess up, they went to school, and they kissed goodbye when he dropped him off again. Everything had been good. Jess had been okay.

So, Tuesday when Isasc woke up to a text from Jess saying he was staying home he was confused.

Zack:

Are you okay?

Jess:

I'm fine.

My mom's sick so I'm going to stay home to take care of her.

Zack:

Okay.

Isaac got out of bed worried. He got ready for school and left, still worried. Jess said he was fine and he had no reason to worry but he still did.

I guess I'm his boyfriend, so it is my job to worry.

He parked in the student parking lot and it felt weird getting out without snagging a quick kiss beforehand. He walked into the school by himself for the first time since he and Jess got together. It was weird.

Lord, I can't go one day without him. I'm way too attached.

"Hey, Zack." Tally smiled, walking over to him. "Where's Jess?" He looked around like he expected Jess to appear.

"He's staying home today."

"Oh, damn." Tally said, disappointed.

"Yeah." Isaac nodded, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"Miss him already?" Tally was smirking.

"Miss who?" Mason and Andrew walked over and Mason looked confused. He then looked around like Tally had before. "Is Jess not here today?"

Isaac shook his head. "He had to stay home."

"Oh." Mason nodded. "That who we're missing already?"

"Yeah." Isaac admitted and looked down at his feet, embarrassed.

"Sounds about right." Mason chuckled. "You must not be out of the honeymoon phase. It's okay, you'll manage."

"I'm not sure he will." Andrew shook his head. "He looks like a lost puppy without him."

"Shut up." Zack threw him a quick glare and he laughed.

"You'll be okay." Mason patted his shoulder and directed them over to the side of the hallway. They stood around and talked about random things. Isaac still felt weird not having Jess next to him.

He went through the day feeling semi-okay. After classes started it wasn't all that bad. At lunch it was different though. He sat down at his table, immediately feeling the emptiness of the seat next to him. He pulled out his phone and started typing.

Zack:

Don't forget to eat something.

Jess read it quickly and replied.

Jess:

Watching over me all the way from school?

Zack:

Of course.

Jess:

Can you call?

Isaac looked around at the noisy cafeteria. He most definitely could not call in here. So, he stood up and prepared to leave. Everyone at the table looked at him confused.

"Where are you going?" Andrew asked.

"Outside. I'm gonna call Jess."

Mason smiled while Tally and Andrew smirked. The two rolled their eyes. As he left he distinctly heard Tally talking to Andrew. "That boy is whipped."

He ignored it though. Of course he was whipped. What else did they expect. It's Jess.

Once he was efficiently away from the cafeteria and the noise died down he called Jess. The boy picked up on the third ring.

"Hey." His voice was.. off.

"Hey."

"Did I interrupt your lunch?" Yeah, there was definitely something wrong. His voice was wavering.

"No. Are you okay?" The line suddenly went quiet. Isaac knew he hadn't hung up yet but he wasn't saying anything. There was a sniff suddenly. "Jess?"

"No." And then he could hear a sob escape him. Zack's heart dropped.

His feet started moving before his brain could catch up. "Jess? What's wrong?"

"No it's not- I'm fine it's just- well, my mom-." He paused to take in a deep breath. "Shit."

"Are you home right now?" Isaac was already leaving the building.

"Yes, but Isaac you don't have to- I'm okay."

"No, you're clearly not. I can tell you're not just by listening to you. I'm coming over."

"You shouldn't skip school for me." Jess's voice was quieter.

"I was having a shit day without you anyway." Isaac reached his car then. "I'm getting in my car now. Do you want me to stay on the line?"

Jess sighed. "If you're gonna be driving I'll hang up. I guess there's no talking you out of it now."

"There is not. I'll be there soon."

"Okay." Jess hung up and Isaac sat his phone in the cupholder before starting the car. He pulled out of his parking space and started the short drive to Jess's.

He parked in the driveway behind an SUV that was probably Jess's mom. He turned off his car, grabbed his phone, and all but ran up to the door. He wasn't sure what to do for a moment before just deciding to knock.

It was silent. There wasn't noise behind the door and after about a minute he thought that maybe someone didn't hear him. He was about to pull out his phone and call his boyfriend when the door finally opened.

There stood Jess.

His hair was messed up and there was slight bags under his eyes. He looked exhausted, and like he just got done crying (which he did). His eyes were bloodshot and red. He was wearing Isaac's hoodie and a black pair of shorts.

"Baby." Isaac softly pulled him into a hug and Jess melted into the embrace. He traced his hand up and down Jess's back while the boy grabbed fistfuls of his shirt.

"I'm sorry." Jess apologized and he sounded like he was about to cry again. Slowly, Isaac waddled them inside the door and shut it behind him, still holding Jess. "I'm so sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?" Zack kept his voice soft.

"Because you- you came all this way and I- and I'm crying. I don't even have a reason to cry and you're here, skipping school. And it's all my fault, I'm so sorry."

"Hey, hey, hey." Isaac pulled back and Jess slowly, hesitantly, pulled back as well. Tears were streaming down his face but he wasn't crying terribly. "Don't apologize. I chose to skip school and I'm choosing to be here right now. You're sad so I'm here."

"But there's no reason for me to be sad." Jess said it like he was ashamed. "You're here for no good reason."

"My boyfriend being sad is good enough reason. It doesn't matter why you're sad, if you're sad that's that."

Jess sucked in a slow breath, trying to calm himself down. He was still looking down at the ground like he was embarrassed. Isaac cupped his face in his hands and guided him up to look at him.

"The only thing I'm worried about right now, is making you feel better again. And even if I can't make you completely happy again, I'll settle for just comforting you while you're going through this. Is that okay?"

Jess nodded slowly and leaned forwards again. He wrapped his arms tightly around Isaac's torso and took a deep breath. Isaac wrapped his arms around him as well and rested his head on Jess's hair.

"There's no getting you to leave, is there?" Jess mumbled into Zack's T-shirt.

"Nope. Not unless you just absolutely can't stand me being here."

Jess sighed. He sounded like he wasn't crying anymore though so that was a good thing. "No, I want you here. I just feel bad."

"Well don't. It's the same thing as when you skipped school last Monday."

"No its not, you had a reason to be sad then."

Isaac rubbed his hands up Jess's back. "I already told you that didn't matter."

"Fine." Jess slowly pulled away. He kept his hands on Isaac's sides and Isaac kept his arms around Jess, they just weren't fully embracing now. Jess was looking up at him with that sad expression that broke Isaac's heart. "I'm warning you now though, if you stay you'll have to listen to my mom bawl."

Isaac gave him a confused look. He didn't hear anything. The house was actually dead silent.

"You can hear it upstairs. She's locked herself away in her room and is bawling her eyes out."

"Why?" Isaac raised his brows, suddenly concerned.

Jess shrugged. "Cliff, Daisy's dad, told her she's too irresponsible to be a full time parent. She asked if Daisy could come stay with us on week days again and he said no. She's crying because she feels like a bad parent now."

"But... she's a full time parent to you?"

Jess shrugged. There was real pain in his eyes. When he spoke, he sounded as tired as he looked. "She kinda has an issue with focusing on more than one thing at a time. Right now, she's focused on not seeing Daisy again so she's kind of forgot I exist."

"She can just forget you exist?" Isaac looked at him concerned. That wasn't normal.

Jess sighed, looking up at him with a pleading face. "Please don't say it like that. She doesn't mean any harm. She's not a bad person."

"She can be a good person at heart and not be... the best mom."

Jess sighed and nodded. "I know. She tries though. Really hard. She's just- she's not the greatest at taking care of herself and that makes it hard to take care of her kids. I've survived this long though, right? All her other kids have at least one steady parent figure so they're okay. I've just got her."

Isaac pulled him back into a hug. He melted into the embrace immediately. They were interrupted by a door opening.

A woman came out of her room and appeared in front of the stairs. She let out a gasp when she saw Jess and Isaac. A wide smile spread across her face, which didn't match her messy braided hair and the mascara trails down her cheeks.

"Jess why didn't you tell me we had guests?!"

She ran down the stairs and over towards the boys. Jess stepped out of Isaac's embrace to turn around and face his mother. She came over and grinned at them both.

The fact that it was the middle of a school day didn't seem to deter her. Isaac thought for a moment that maybe she didn't know. Jess did say she could really only focus on one thing at a time. The thought was concerning.

"It's so nice to meet you, I'm Kleandra."

Isaac shook her hand and gave her a kind smile. "It's nice to meet you as well, I'm Isaac."

At the name her smile widened and she looked over at Jess with raised brows. She then turned back to look at him. "I'm delighted to get to finally meet you."

"As I am you." Isaac nodded. "I was just about to take Jess out, is that alright?"

Jess's eyes widened in surprise but Kleandra didn't flinch. She nodded. "Of course! You two go out and have fun!"

"Okay, thank you." Isaac wrapped his arm around Jess and pulled him closer. The boy melted into him.

Jess looked at Isaac from underneath his arm, "I have to grab my phone."

Isaac nodded and let Jess lead him through the house. It was much bigger than his own. They went upstairs and Isaac just gawked at everything.

They went up into Jess's room and Zack had to hold back a cringe. His was tiny in comparison to Jess's. Jess must've caught on to his expression because he narrowed his eyes at him.

"Stop looking around like I live in a mansion."

"It feels that way to me!" Isaac defended. "Your house is so much bigger than mine."

Jess turned back to his bed, picking up his phone from where it sat on top of his comforter. "I like yours better."

Isaac walked up behind him and wrapped his arms around the boy's waist. He rested his chin atop Jess's shoulders. Jess leaned his weight back into Zack's chest.

"Are you okay going to mine?" Isaac spoke softly. "I said that because I figured you'd want to get out of the house, you did say you could hear your mom cry from up here."

Jess took a deep breath. His eyes were closed like he was fully focusing on Isaac hugging him from behind. "That's okay. I'd rather be there than here."

Isaac hummed. "Okay. I don't ever want to do anything that makes you uncomfortable so if you ever don't want to do something, tell me. I won't be mad."

Jess leaned his head against the side of Isaac's. "Okay, I will."

"Okay." Isaac hummed. "Are you ready to go?"

Jess shifted and Isaac let him go. Instead of stepping away though, Jess turned around and hugged Isaac again. Zack wrapped him up in his arms and hugged him back.

"Can we just stay like this for a minute?"

Isaac hummed. "Of course Baby."

They did stay standing in Jess's room, hugging for a minute. Jess finally seemed to be okay enough to let go and took a step back. He gave Isaac a small smile and nodded. "Okay, we can go now."

Isaac grabbed his hand and lead the way back out of the house. They passed by the kitchen and Zack could hear it then. Kleandra was crying while standing at the kitchen counter. It was a heartshattering cry. Jess tensed up next to him.

"Oh, my baby." Kleandra's voice was quiet but filled with pain. Isaac quickened his trip outside.

They made it and once in his car, Jess hunkered down in the passenger seat and took a few deep breaths.

"I hate that. Hearing her cry. I can't stand it. Especially since there's absolutely nothing I can do for her. Any time I try to comfort her she just keeps on crying and it's like she doesn't even register that I'm there."

Isaac reached over after starting the car. He grabbed Jess's hand and brought it up to his lips to kiss it. "I'm sorry."

Jess shook his head slowly. "It's not your fault. Let's go back to your house? I wanna watch Kung Fu Panda and cuddle until I feel better."

Isaac chuckled lightly. "Okay, sounds like a plan."

Zack drove them back to his house. They went inside and did exactly like they had planned in the car. Isaac laid down on the couch first and Jess sprawled out on top of him. They clicked on the TV and Isaac pressed play on Jess's favorite movie.

Jess ended up covering them both up and Isaac rubbed his back. He stayed about half awake the whole time, eyes never leaving the TV. Isaac just watched him with worry.

When the movie ended Jess propped his head up on Isaac's chest to stare back at him. He mumbled quietly. "You're staring."

"I'm worried." Zack didn't see any reason not to admit it.

Jess hummed in reply. Instead of saying reassuring words or try and convince Zack he's fine, he scooted up and rested his head in the crook of Isaac's neck. The boy took in a deep breath, breathing in Isaac's scent.

Surprisingly, that was reassurance enough. Zack wrapped his arms around Jess and squeezed him. The boy was showing him through actions rather than telling him, and if Isaac was right on his guess than the message was one he wanted to hear. Jess was trying to tell him that he would be okay, and that Isaac was helping him get there.

Zack rubbed the dark haired boy's back and whispered sweet nothings in his ear until he fell asleep. He couldn't sleep himself because it was still the middle of the day but he was more than happy to act as a pillow to his boyfriend. While Jess slept he watched TV, turning the volume down a lot and turning subtitles on so he could tell what was happening without disturbing the sleeping boy.

Dave came home around nine thirty, looking tired. He peeked his head over the couch with raised eyebrows. They raised higher when he saw his sleepy son under Jess. He whispered, "Zack?"

"Oh, hey." Isaac blinked, trying to get rid of the tiredness.

"Hey." He glanced down at Jess. "Is he staying?"

"I guess. He's been out for hours."

Dave nodded. "Well, you should head to your room. It can't be all that comfortable on the couch."

Isaac looked down at Jess. He didn't want to wake him up but he knew his dad was right. Dave gave him a sympathetic smile, reaching down to squeeze the shoulder Jess wasn't laying on.

"Goodnight." He let go and began to walk away.

"Goodnight. I love you."

"I love you too." Dave smiled before disappearing down the hallway.

Isaac sighed while looking down at Jess. He didn't want to disturb the resting boy's peace but moving to his room would be easier on his back. Slowly, he shook the boy atop of him.

"Hey, Jess, Baby." The boy groaned and slowly started to blink his eyes open. "C'mon, it'd getting late."

The boy slowly sat up, his legs sliding to the sides of Isaac's so he was straddling him. He looked around the living room tiredly and then brought a hand up to rub at his eyes. Zack smiled at how cute he was.

"How long was I out?" Jess asked after a moment.

"Awhile." Isaac reached his hands out to grab Jess's hips. "Do you have to go home tonight?"

Jess shook his head. "Can I stay?"

"Of course." Isaac nodded. "Let's head to my room. My bed is far more comfortable."

Jess hummed and slowly stood up. Isaac followed after him, turning off the TV on his way up. He grabbed his phone off the coffee table before putting his hand on the small of Jess's back and leading him to his bedroom.

They got to Isaac's room and Jess went over to the closet, prompting Isaac to follow him. He pulled out some sweats to change into and Zack changed into shorts and a different T-shirt that he hadn't worn outside or to school.

"Are you really sleeping in a hoodie and sweats?" Isaac said, taking in Jess's look. The boy just nodded. Zack smiled snd shook his head. "I would overheat immediately."

"Well, I get cold easily." Jess mumbled while climbing into bed. "Speaking of, come keep me warm."

He held up his arms and made grabby hands at Isaac. It was the cutest thing in the world. Zack smiled wide and walked over, kissing his boyfriend on the head before laying down and pulling him into his arms. Jess fell asleep on top of Isaac once again.

Zack didn't take too long afterwards to fall asleep too. Their legs were tangled and Jess's head was comfortably laying on his chest. He did wake up around midnight because he was getting hot. He felt guilty when he woke Jess up trying to get the boy to roll off him. His shirt wound up coming off before they cuddled up and went back to sleep.

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Writing this makes me feel so single.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed!

Love you ♡

- Z