The Bet//roadtrip bxb

15//the second panic attack

Sonny went back to his own house later that night, contemplating everything. The night's events only proved further what he'd thought before. He definitely liked Rye. Hell, he loved Rye. Having Rye call him when he was upset made him question what he should do, though.

Obviously, they both cared for each other. If that weren't the case, Sonny wouldn't have been the one Rye called when he was upset, and Sonny wouldn't have dropped everything to make him feel better. Rye wouldn't have found as much comfort in Sonny's touch as he did, and Sonny wouldn't have been as willing to comfort Rye as he was. 

So, yeah, they both cared for each other, but was Sonny's crush going to ruin all of that? Did he care too much? Should he try to hide it from Rye? No, he already tried that, and it didn't work out too well for Sonny. He ended up feeling miserable. But, he also didn't really want to tell Rye, either. That was the kind of thing that ruined people's friendships, and that was the last thing he wanted to do. That left Sonny with only one option, really; wait for Rye to figure it out for himself. 

The next day Sonny went to school, prepared with his new plan in mind. He ran into Jack-literally bumped right into him-on the way into school.

"Hey, Jack?" Sonny asked, wanting to make sure everything got cleared up between Rye and the Irish boy. Both boys continued talking as they walked into the building.

"Yeah?" 

"Rye talked to you last night, right?" 

"Yeah, he did, why?" Jack asked, confused.

"He called me crying, thinking you hated him. What did you say?" Sonny asked, suddenly getting a little defensive and protective over Rye.

"Literally nothing. He hung up before I could. I tried to call him back straight after, but it said the line was busy. Why does he think I hate him?" Jack wondered if he accidentally said or did something that Rye might've taken the wrong way.

"Because he doesn't want to do the bet anymore."

"Why would I hate him for that?" Jack was just more confused at this point.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," Sonny said, walking away, and leaving Jack alone in the hall.

Jack sighed, and decided to just go to his first class, which was science.  

He went to the back of the room, as always, and slumped down in his seat. He started to zone out, just like every other day.

He started thinking about Rye. Rye was his best friend, and he thought he hated him. What if that ended up ruining their friendship? Since when did Rye think something as simple as the bet would make Jack hate him? Did Jack really seem like the kind of person that would let something so miniscule ruin his relationship with a person?

Did other people think that, too? Sonny sure seemed to. Brook wouldn't talk to Jack about what was bothering him, either. Yeah, everyone did think Jack was an over-judgemental asshole it seemed like. Andy probably did, too. And if he didn't, he sure would when he found out about the bet. Shit, Andy would hate him. Never talk to him again. He'd ruined everything with Andy before it had even started.

Jack knew he was letting his thoughts spiral again. He tried to stop it, honestly he did, but no matter how hard he tried to silence his mind, it wasn't working. All he heard was negative thoughts about himself.

No one likes you, Jack.

Even your friends think you're a dick.

And for good reason, too.

You really are an asshole.

You don't deserve the friends you have.

They aren't even really your friends.

They're just afraid of what you'll do to them, you ass.

You're just as bad as Harvey, aren't you?

The guilt of the bet, and the fear of Andy finding out and hating him was getting to be too much. He couldn't handle it anymore. He had to tell him before it got too far.

"Jack, what's the answer to number 3?" he faintly heard the teacher ask. He tried to answer, but he couldn't open his mouth.

Such a failure.

"Jack? Jack Duff, are you even paying attention?"

Can't even fucking control yourself!

"Hey are you okay, Jack?"

Crying because of a panic attack in the middle of class, how embarrassing.

"Jack? Jack can you hear me?"

Jack tried his hardest to get the words out that, yes, he could hear her, but the only thing that came out was, "Andy."

"What about him?"

Jack took deep breathes. It was fucking embarrassing to have a panic attack in front of everyone, let alone have everyone witness his need for comfort from the small blond boy.

Jack felt someone grab hold of his arm and help him to stand up. They guided him down the hallway, and to what he knew was the school counselor's office. Not too long after he was sat down on a couch, he felt someone else sit down, too.

He leaned into Andy's side, and sobbed into his shoulder. Andy whispered soothing words into Jack's ear as he ran his fingers through the dark brown hair.

Andy had no idea why he'd been called up to the counselor's office, as it had never happened before, but as soon as he walked in and saw a panicking Jack he ran to his side in an attempt to comfort him. He'd only known Jack for a short period of time, but he felt the need to protect him and make him feel better. Andy hadn't questioned why Jack was in the office, or how they'd known to call for Andy. All he cared about was comforting the taller Irish boy.

Once Jack had calmed down, the counselor asked Andy to leave the room. Jack objected, though, and grabbed Andy's hand, forcing him to stay, not that Andy was planning on leaving, anyways.

"Okay, I guess you can stay here, then," the lady said. She was nice enough, Andy thought, but he wanted to talk to Jack. Alone. To figure out what was bothering him. And more importantly, how to fix it.

"So, Jack, do you know what caused this?" she asked.

"Umm," Jack stammered. Yes, he knew. Of course he knew. But he wasn't about to say it. Not in front of Andy, and especially not in front of some creepy grown ass woman, who decided she wanted to spend her life listening to random kids' problems all day.

"Hey, it's okay if you don't, bud," Andy soothed, rubbing Jack's hand with his thumb.

"Yeah. I just, I don't really want to talk about it right now," Jack said.

"Okay, that's fine. You guys have second period together, yeah?" the woman asked.

"Yeah," the two boys answered in unison.

"Okay. Go to the bathroom. Get cleaned up. Calm down. Then go on to class together, okay?"

"Yes, thank you so much, ma'am," Jack smiled at her. As much as he didn't like talking to her, it was her job and she was fairly good at it, as far as Jack could tell.

Andy stood up, pulling Jack with him, and dragged him through the hallways, to the bathrooms, still hand in hand.

1228 words
~Soph