J A C K
Jacky
It's all I could hear, I couldn't get his voice out of my head, it's like I'm in my childhood bedroom again, I can't breathe. I couldn't sit in that room any longer, as soon as that name left his mouth, I could feel the bile arise in my throat. I had to get out, so I did.
I ran.
I told Lily to try, but yet I couldn't even do that. I'm weak, so fucking weak.
I could see the way his eyes lit up when he witnessed my fear, I could see his evil smirk, his fake tears, I could see it all; I could see through his full pathetic act, but could they?
I don't think they could. The gasps, the murmurs, the looks of disgust. I could see it in the eyes of the jury, I could feel their heated gaze burning my pale skin. They believed him, all of them. Would my friends believe him too? Alex? Leo? The twins? Lily and the eldest four know the truth, but what's to stop them from thinking I'm lying? Can I really rely on anyone other than myself? Can I even rely on me?
I'm not sure about anything anymore.
I pushed the stall to the bathroom open, unsure of how I even got here to begin with. Once I was inside, I locked the door, throwing up last nights dinner, tears steamed down my cheeks as I continued to gag. I could hear the faint knocking on the white door stall, Alex's worried voice filling my ears.
"Jack, please open the door." He plead, the crack in his voice sending a jolt of pain to my heart, "no one else is here, I made them wait outside, it's just me."
I wiped my mouth with a square of toilet paper, throwing it into the ceramic bowl before flushing away the contents of my now empty stomach. Taking a long breath, I opened the door.
Alex stood before me, tear stains on his flushed cheeks, "can I hug you?" He whispered softly.
I nodded slowly, I wanted comfort, I needed comfort, but could I handle touch?
Alex gently opened his arms to me, his eyes never leaving mine as he nodded his head for me to advance towards him. I liked how Alex somehow understood my needs. He asked before touching, and even after getting the go ahead, he let me make the first move.
Slowly, I moved forward. Telling myself over and over in my mind it's Alex, it's only Alex. Gently, I wrapped my arms around him, unflinching as he hesitantly returned the gesture.
I couldn't stop the sob that left my throat as I melted into Alex' embrace. "Sh, I'm here, I've got you." He whispered, his ring cladded hand buried in my blonde locks as I cried into his chest, soaking the fabric of his polyester shirt.
I sobbed until my lungs burned, my throat becoming raw and scratchy from my heart wrenching wails. "It's not true," I whimpered, my voice hoarse, "everything he said, it's not true."
"I know Jack, I know." He said softly, "none of us believe him, we stand with you, always."
"Thank you." I choked, his words filling me with some form of hope.
"You don't need to thank me, okay? You never need to thank me. You're strong Jack, I'm so proud of you." Honesty lacing his every word, "can you do something for me?"
I nodded,
"Can you come back in with me? Take the stand and send that fucker to jail where he belongs. Tell your story, tell your truth. None of us will judge you, neither will our friends, we know you Jack, we love you and most of all, we believe in you."
"Your pep talks are getting better," I joked weakly.
"You always need to be a smartass, don't ya?" He laughed lightly.
I smiled slightly, pulling my face away from his chest, "you know it."
"We've got time before we need to go back, Julian called for a recess." He told me, gently pulling me towards the side of the bathroom before taking a seat on the floor, his left hand patting the white tiles as he gestured for me to do the same.
"Sorry about your shirt." I said, staring at the large tear stained centre of the black fabric.
Alex shrugged, "don't worry about it, but if Grey looses his shit I'm blaming you."
"Noted." I laughed, leaning my head against the cool tiles of the wall behind me.
"Do you wanna talk about it?" Alex asked, blue meeting blue as we locked eyes.
"I don't even know what to say," I exhaled loudly, "the injuries, the ones Julian spoke about... it was him." I admitted, dropping my gaze to my hands. Alex stayed silent, letting me compose myself before I continued, "he's been doing it since I was thirteen." My voice shook as the age left my trembling lips.
"Jack..."
I couldn't look at him, scared of what I'd see. Would Alex find me disgusting, would he find me used? Damaged? Weak? Could I handle that?
"I'm going to touch your face," Alex said, his cool finger tips brushing over my jaw before latching under my chin, tilting my head so I'd meet his gaze — I closed my eyes.
"Jack... why won't you look at me?" His voice was filled with so much pain.
"M'scared of what I'll see." I told him truthfully, "you find me disgusting now, don't you?" The tears feel from the corners of my closed eyes.
Alex's thumbs brushed away my fallen tears, "I could never find you disgusting."
My eyes snapped open at that, my blue eyes connecting with his, no sign of disgust evident, just sheer admiration. "You couldn't?" I asked quietly.
"Never," he smiled, "I'd never judge you, what happened wasn't your fault Jack, nor was it your choice. I wish you could see yourself how I see you."
"How do you see me?" I whispered, the air around us suddenly growing thicker.
Alex's eyes bore into mine, "I see you as a protector, a hero. You spent your full childhood protecting our sister, when there was no one there to protect you. I see how you care, I see how you love, despite how much you've been hurt, your hearts nothing but pure. I see you. Everything about you intrigues me, it has done since the moment I met you."
My mouth dropped open in shock at Alex's speech, I couldn't form a response. We just sat there, no words, just our unwavering eye contact, and a build up of heated tension.
Before I could even think of my actions, my head moved slowly toward Alex, his electric gaze dropped to my mouth, before flickering back to my eyes, I mirrored his actions. The hand that was holding my chin, now cupping my tear stained cheek. Just as our noses touched, a knock on the door broke our trance.
For fuck sake.
"Guys, we've got five minutes before we're due back," Carter's voice echoed through the bathroom from behind the closed door, "Zac and Lily are talking to Julian, Wanna go for a smoke?"
Surprisingly, Alex and I never moved from our position, neither one of us jumping back at the sound of Carter's voice. We stayed there for a moment, his hand caressing my cheek, our noses brushing slightly, as we kept eye contact.
I broke the silence, "smoke?"
Alex nodded, his eyes somewhat dazed,
"yeah, smoke."
We pulled back from each other, standing up from the bathroom floor. Alex made his way towards the exit, pulling the door open to meet a sympathetic Carter, "you good fratello?"
I gave a small smile, "yeah, all good."
Fratello... what the fuck did I just do and why the fuck am I disappointed that Carter interrupted?
Well, shit.
***
t h i r d — p e r s o n — p o v
—trigger warning—
detailed descriptions of child abuse and sexual assault (rape)
After the short recess, court was back in session. The brothers and Lily had all checked on Jack, along with their friends, each of them comforted the boy, assuring him they'd always be in his corner, no matter what.
Julian had a quick chat with Jack, making sure the teenager was okay after the events that had occurred previously in the court room, the boy in question reassured his lawyer that he could continue, explaining briefly how the nickname affected him.
Julian felt rage, he knew as a lawyer you had to defend your clients, but he couldn't understand how Edwards could represent two child abusers, and worse... a child rapist. He was going to do everything in his power to get justice for Jack and Lily.
"Mr. Edwards, please call your next witness." Judge Jenkins said.
"Yes your honour, I'd like to call Lily Lombardi to the stand."
Lily exhaled a shaky breath, she slowly stood from her seat, giving Jack's hand a gentle squeeze before making her way towards the podium. She kept her gaze on her shoes, not wanting to catch eyes of the monsters who ruined her childhood.
After swearing her oath, Mr. Edwards began.
"Lily, has there ever been a time in your life when you've been scared of your brother?" He asked, his question causing Lily to gulp.
She had been scared of Jack, many of times, but she now knew the truth, she never had a reason to fear Jack, even back then, all those years were simply her misjudgment. But... she was under oath... what could she say. Her blue eyes locked on Jack's, the boy gave her a sad smile, mouthing it's okay. He understood, he knew she'd been scared of him, he made sure she was scared... only to protect her.
"Yes, but—"
He cut her off, "did you know about his drug use?"
"Not until recently, but—"
"How did you come to be aware of his substance abuse?"
Lily could feel herself getting angry, he wouldn't let her speak, "you keep cutting me off!" She exclaimed.
"Answer the question, Ms Lombardi."
She glared at him, "he told me."
Mr. Edwards smiled, "so, let me get this straight. He told you, a twelve year old, about his issues with cocaine and whatever else?"
Lily frowned, "that's what I just said."
"Has your brother ever raised his voice to you?"
"Yes, I've raised mine to him too." She quickly responded.
"Has he ever raised a hand to you?"
"No!" Jack had never hit her, at most he'd gave her a smack on the back of the head when she hadn't been paying attention, but that's not abuse, she's witnessed all of her brothers do the same.
"Are you lying to me Lily? Need I remind you that you're under oath."
"I'm not lying!" She raised her voice slightly.
"Continuing from my first question, In what ways did your brother scare you?"
"Just his attitude... I guess."
"You guess?" He scoffed, "elaborate please."
"I didn't think he liked me very much, but then I found out it was all an act, he protected me." She told him proudly.
"Protected you?" Edwards raised an eyebrow, "why did you think he didn't like you, what did he do?"
"It wasn't about what he did, it's about what he didn't do." She told him simply, "but as I've said, I came to know that was all for my own protection."
"Why would a twelve year old need protection? And what could a fifteen, sixteen year old do?"
"He protected me from them," she pointed her finger towards the two monsters in orange, "from our abusers."
"Lily, darling," Edwards began, his voice turning somewhat babyish, as though he were mocking her. "He's brainwashed you, manipulated you, you can tell the truth."
"I am telling the truth!" She all but yelled.
"No further questions your honour." Edwards smiled, heading back towards his seat.
"Sanders, your witness." Judge Jenkins said.
"Lily, what's your first memory of Mr and Mrs. Adams abuse?" Julian asked softly.
"There's not a time that I remember in which they didn't hurt me." Lily began, "they would always hit me, beat me, torture me."
"Could you share with the jury in detail, how they'd abuse you."
Lily inhaled a breath, clenching her hands into firsts to stop the tremors, "she enjoyed to watch whilst he hit me, but it was never a simple hit, sometimes he'd beat me until I lost consciousness." She swallowed painfully as flashbacks appeared in her mind, causing her to squeeze her eyes closed. Slowly she opened her eyes, finding ten sets of identical ones staring at her with nothing but love. The sight alone urged her to continue, she had to do this for them, for Jack, for herself. "She held me down whilst he poured boiling water onto my torso, I've got the scars to show that, as well as the scars on my back from where he'd whip me. His favourite thing to do was carve words into my skin, the same words they called me daily."
"Thank you Lily, you're doing so well." Julian praised, earning a weak smile from the girl, "could you tell us what those words were?"
Lily looked down feeling the tears drip onto the backs of her hands. This was the part of the abuse that affected her the most, she'd have to live with these words for the rest of her life.
She nodded slowly, "murderer, mistake, worthless, burden, whore." She choked out, multiple gasps filling the room.
Each of the Lombardi brothers felt themselves pale at that. They knew she had carvings on her skin, but none of them knew how many or the exact words. They hadn't asked, they knew she'd tell them herself, if she felt comfortable enough to do so.
"What the fuck!" Carter yelled, "I'm going to fucking kill you!" He screamed at Henry, the latter sending him a subtle smirk in response.
"And I'll help him you dirty piece of shit!" Luke screamed from his seat behind the brothers.
"What he said!" Came Atlas' reply, "sit down!" Elliot scolded his younger brother and Luke, whilst Zac was trying to tame a fuming Carter, along with his other brothers who were on the verge of killing the man.
"Order in court!" Judge Jenkins shouted, slamming his wooden hammer on the dock. "If I don't have silence in the next five seconds, I'll have you all thrown out, understood!"
"Sorry your honour." Zac held a hand up, "we'll be quiet."
"Mr. Sanders, do you have any further questions?" The judge asked.
"No your honour, Lily you can go back to your seat." Julian told her, whilst helping her out of the wooden dock.
"Very well. Mr. Edwards, please call your next witness to the stand."
"Thank you your honour, I'd like to call Jack Adams," multiple scoffs could be heard from each of the boys and their friends at the lawyers intentional mix-up." Sorry, my mistake, I'd like to call Jack Lombardi to the stand."
"You can do this," Alex whispered, as Jack stood from his seat. "Remember what I said."
Could he do this — being Jack's only thought.
______________________________
End of chapter sixty six.
Thoughts?
Little Jack and Alex moment ✨
Do we ship it?
Will Jack get through this?
The comments about Jack and Alex being 'brothers', they ain't blood related and they've not been brought up as siblings — the other boys see Jack as their brother as does Jack them, Jack and Alex have never seen each other that way.
Also it's completely different to the early chapters shippers of Jack and Lily, they thought they were full bloodied siblings and see each other as brother and sister.
Do we want a Jalex book?
Thanks for reading! Don't forget to comment, vote and follow! 🤍