LOTF: Before and After

Phase 3: Chapter 50

"I don't remember learning this lesson when I was in eighth grade math" Jeffery joked in an attempt to scold the boys without making it too awkward.

He watched with amusement as Jack and Ralph whipped their heads around to catch a glimpse of the latter's father as he walked from the front of the hallway, past the living room, and into the kitchen. Jack scrambled off Ralph, plunking back down in the chair beside the boy. Ralph cleared his throat uncomfortably while Jack suppressed the urge to laugh.

"We were just taking a short break" Ralph tensely defended, his face red as blood.

"You sure they don't teach you how to french kiss in that algebra book of yours?" Jeffery chuckled a little, his goal to tease his son so far a success.

"I wouldn't have hated graded eight math so much if they did" Jack confidently joked. Ralph raise his eyebrows at him in an off-handed, offended manner.

"I don't doubt it" Jeffrey assured him. "Try to stay on task or I'll have to fire ya, Jack."

"You got it" Jack winked, pointing playfully at Ralph's father before prying the textbook open. "Back to it, comrade" Jack demanded of Ralph, slapping the open page of the textbook as he eyed the boy strictly.

Jeffery shook his head with a smile, more so to himself than the boys. He filled his mug full of the tea he boiled in the kettle and headed back down the hall to his office. After everything he'd been through with Ralph so far this new year, he was simply relieved his son was full of life again, even if that meant he'd be too busy messing around with Jack to get an A in algebra.

Jack tutored Ralph in most of his school subjects until the latter was finally and confidently caught up. It was one of the benefits of Jack being a year ahead of Ralph. Of course, Jack saw his older age as another form of dominance he had over Ralph, proof that he was bigger, stronger, and more in control. Jack had never been a math whiz, but he always tried to do well enough. His desire to succeed at all stemmed either from his need to impress his father or simply to not be killed by his father. Either way, Jack passed eighth grade math with a B+. Half of Jack's eighth grade year had, of course, been spent on the island. It wasn't his strongest academic year, nor was it that of any of the other twenty-one cadets. Still, Jack managed to catch up and bust his ass enough to get grades good enough to prevent him from being meeting his maker. Now, it was Ralph's ass his academic success was saving from grace.

It only took about a month and a half of tutoring for Ralph to finally get caught up, his average sitting close to what it had been pre-breakup. Both boys were kind of sad when the tutoring sessions came to a natural end. It had been a good excuse to spend extra time together in spite of the significant distance between their two homes.

It had now been officially over a year since the boys were rescued from the island last January. Ralph's diet had only begun to bounce back a little by the time Jack called it quits, which only further damaged the younger boy's appetite. Now, the breakup was finally past them, and the island a whole year behind them. Ralph made the decision around his fourteenth birthday in mid-February to return to physical training to rebuild some of the strength he had yet to recover after the traumatic events of the last year. The increase in physical activity also increased his appetite and his diet slowly began to normalize. He still preferred fruit and meat to anything artificial or high in sugar, but it was improving. That was all he or his parents could hope for.

Jack was over at the Langley household most weekends, and some weeknights too. The state of his and Ralph's relationship returned to what it had been after they'd been found out by Ralph's parents. Everybody who was anybody who knew about the boys were simply relieved that all was well between them again.

Ralph too frequented the Merridew house on occasion, but not nearly as often as Jack came to his. Laurie had gotten the chance to give Paige a call shortly after the boys reunited to talk to her about the situation with Jack's mother. While she had very few details to report, Paige assured Ralph's mother that Evan had promised to keep her own mother away from them; that she'd never step foot on the Merridew property again. Evan spared Paige of any details regarding how he planned to uphold that promise, but as time passed, it seemed that her father's word would remain true.

Jack too managed to maintain relatively good grades as the second semester of his ninth grade year progressed. He became less immersed in social activities outside of school hours now that he was back with Ralph, spending any free time he could with the brunette boy. Some of Jack's friends from school began to suspect that he was keeping a secret; most had their money on a girlfriend from another school. Jack would simply dismiss them playfully, a gentle refusal to provide any details. And so, the mystery remained alive among the freshman class.

As winter turned into spring, Ralph was relieved that things were finally going well again. The island remained on his mind, as he realized it probably always would. His paranoia around the possibility of Jack splitting again was still occasionally an area of concern. But with each passing day, his worry subsided a little. Of course, they were still them. Their differences made it next to impossible to avoid conflict and the occasional heated argument. They fought about little things; things like how late to stay up, carving out time for homework, making plans, what to watch on TV or play on 3DO or Super Nintendo. Still, most of their fights would end with one of them shoving the other; a physical confrontation that eventually turned into the opposite. The boys would shift from angered and frustrated to hot and bothered rather abruptly. Shoving turned to stroking as punching turned to kissing. It would've been a strange thing to watch; how quickly they could go back and forth between love and hate.

The months continued to pass until the school year conclusively came to an end. Jack and Ralph spent less time together in June than they would've liked to. School and final exams stood between them, demanding each of their undivided attention. Then that sweet, sweet day finally arrived; the day that Jack had his very last exam of his ninth grade year. Ralph finished a mere five days before him, bored to tears as he impatiently awaited the day they could finally be free of obligations that required them to constantly be in different cities.

"This is going to be the best fucking summer yet" Jack declared from his spot on the Langley's couch, a moment before pinching the straw of his lemonade between his lips for a refreshing sip.

"We've got nothing planned" Ralph pointed out. He sat next to Jack in nothing but shorts, the absence of air conditioning in the house causing beads of sweat to drip down his scalp, and from every crevice of his body.

"Fuck plans" Jack scoffed. The cold droplets of condensation dripping down the side of his sweaty glass of lemonade the only thing keeping him from passing out from heat exhaustion. "We don't need plans. No memory worth having has ever happened by following some dumb plan."

"Well what if we want to go somewhere? We have to consider expenses, crowds, a time frame, things like that. You can't just show up places without knowing what you're going to do" Ralph argued.

"Why the hell not?" Jack challenged. "Doing so hasn't failed me yet."

Ralph could think of several times Jack made an error in judgment that he or somebody else paid the price for; at least half of which occurred on the island. And not to mention his spontaneous decision to run away. That all had worked out so well, Ralph thought sarcastically. But some things about the island were still too taboo to talk about, especially with each other. So Ralph settled for keeping his mouth shut, in line with his better judgment. He was too hot to let this disagreement turn into a physical fight, even if it would end with them liplocked, rolling around together on the carpet.

"Well as long as you're with me, I don't care what we do" Ralph finally replied. He leaned to drop his head down onto Jack's shoulder, the sweat on the blond boy's skin mixing with that of Ralph's hair.

"At least that's one thing we can agree on" Jack answered, moving his hand to Ralph's thigh. They closed the slight gap between their bodies; Ralph grasping Jack's arm to trace circles on it with his thumb. Neither seemed to care that their closeness would only make them hotter in the ninety degree heat, better to be sweating together than cooler apart.