Getting on that bus was a no brainer. In fact, Jack Merridew had turned off his brain over an hour ago. He was running solely on heart as he jammed a few articles of clothing into a duffle bag and left his stupidly big house unnoticed. He wondered how long it would be before his dad or Paige noticed he was gone, though it didn't matter. After the ten minute taxi ride to the outer city bus stop, there was only two hours and seven minutes left in the public transportation journey from Dalton to East Point.
Ralph wasn't good at secrecy; at least he hadn't always been. Since he'd been home, he'd gotten enough practice to pull off the skill he never wanted to have. It was easier than it should've been for him to sneak out. His dad was home, so he'd have to avoid the side of the house that Jeffery's office window looked out to. The front door was creeky and loud, so that was out. Ultimately, it was Ralph squeezing himself through the little window above the kitchen sink. But only after he pushed the screen out. As he sealed it back on as best he could, he tried to ignore the horrible possibility of his father discovering him missing and panicking, with no way to contact him. But he'd been complaining of being behind and overworked at the office, so Ralph crossed his fingers that the man would be too swamped to notice his absence.
Ralph sat in the bus shelter, propped up against the cold glass as he continuously waved the bus drivers on. After he sat in wait for seventeen long minutes, Jack stepped off the next bus that pulled up. Ralph jumped to his feet and practically ran at the blond boy. But he suddenly stopped in his tracks as the bus drove off and left Jack and Ralph alone outside the bus shelter. Ralph wasn't sure how close to Jack he should get. Something was holding him back; even under the circumstances that had brought Jack back to East Point in the first place.
The two boys stood with only about a foot of space between them and stared in silence for a moment. Ralph could tell that something was holding Jack back too. A moment later, Jack bridged the gap between them and wrapped his arms around Ralph. The latter surrendered to it, letting his head fall onto Jack's shoulder. As Ralph returned the embrace, they stood like that for several minutes before either of them spoke.
"You're gonna be okay" Jack whispered as he rubbed Ralph's back comfortingly.
"How do you know that?" Ralph replied as tears began to reform in his eyes, and in his voice.
"Because I'll make sure of it" Jack insisted as he squeezed the brunette boy a little tighter.
Ralph didn't reply, he just held Jack in his arms and let himself be held in return. The next bus pulled up and caused the boys to break apart as it's occupants began to unload around them.
"Now what?" Ralph wondered curiously.
"I don't know. I didn't plan that far ahead" Jack admitted as reality hit them both at once.
"I didn't either" Ralph confessed, surprised by his own lack of preparedness.
"What did you tell your parents to get out?" Jack wondered.
"Nothing. I snuck out the window" Ralph admitted shamefully, but Jack's eyes went wide with both shock and pride.
"No shit! I didn't know you had it in ya" he joked as he held his hand up for a high five.
Ralph stared unamused at the blond boy until Jack's face fell as he awkwardly dropped his hand back by his side. "But seriously, what now?"
"I'm not good at these things" Ralph informed him. "Or pretty much anything I'm not supposed to be doing."
"Alright, alright. Step aside, amateur, I got this" Jack said as he pushed past Ralph and started walking.
"Jack?" Ralph raised an eyebrow.
"What?" the blond turned around impatiently.
"My house is that way" Ralph pointed his thumb in the other direction as he tried not to laugh at Jack's confident stupidity.
"I knew that" Jack nodded with embarrassment. "I was just warming up my legs."
Ralph laughed a little as Jack came back over to him, slapping him across the arm as he trekked off in the right direction this time. Ralph followed hesitantly behind him, more worried about what Jack was planning than his poor directional skills.
"He doesn't always tell us everything! This could be another one of those things we don't understand!"
Jack pushed open the door to the Langley house quietly, but was bombarded by the all too familiar sound of yelling. Except this time, it was Ralph's father, not his. Ralph stood behind Jack, stunned by the sound of his father's raised voice.
"Ralph wouldn't run off without telling us!" his mother shouted in response. "What if something happened to him? Do you honestly want to take that chance? Because I don't!"
Both boys entered the house unnoticed. They stood in the doorway as Ralph closed it behind him. At the sound, both his parents turned to look at them.
"Ralph!" his mother called out, running over to the boys and pulling her son into her arms. "Don't you ever do that again!"
"I'm sorry" Ralph whispered hoarsely.
"What's going on here?" Jeffery asked as his eyes wandered back and forth from Ralph to Jack.
"Captain Benson's dead" Ralph spoke sadly after it was quiet for a moment too long.
His parents shot each other a confused glance. They had all known for a long time that the pilot was presumed dead.
"Okay" Jeffery said gently. "But we already knew that, didn't we?"
"They found 'im. On the island" Jack clarified. "We thought he swam out but he hadn't. One of the boys killed 'im. On accident."
Jeffery's eyes found Jack's as the blond boy spoke. He sighed and watched as his wife squeezed her arms tightly around Ralph.
"What's gonna happen to Larry?" Ralph cried, tears falling down his cheeks as he pulled his head away from his mom to look at her.
"I don't know, sweetie" Laurie replied regretfully, wiping the tear trickling down Ralph's face.
"Both of you come inside" Jeffery said as he grabbed his wife's arm to pull her towards him as to give the boys space.
Ralph wandered back over to his mom who wrapped her arm around his shoulder and guided him over to the kitchen. She started to pour two glasses of water for the boys as Ralph hung off her arm.
"Did Ralph call you?" Jeffery asked Jack quietly as they lagged a few feet behind.
"I called him. I didn't want him to find out some other way" Jack explained.
"You're a good friend, Jack" Ralph's father insisted, but as the image of Ralph running in front of him through the burning forest on the island passed through Jack's mind, he wordlessly disagreed.
Jack joined Ralph and Laurie and accepted the glass of water the woman passed to him. Both boys drank up as Jeffery and Laurie communicated telepathically, empathy in their eyes.
"Jack, does anyone know you're here?" Laurie asked as the blond set his glass down. Jack, mouth full of water, just shook his head in response.
"I'll call your sister and let her know. I can drive you home in the morning" Jeffery insisted as he grabbed the landline phone off the receiver and disappeared down the hallway.
"Can Jack sleep in my room?" Ralph asked his mom without looking to Jack for confirmation.
"If Jack wants to, sure" Laurie agreed.
Ralph turned to Jack, desperation and heartache in his brown eyes. Jack nodded.
After a night of video games, a big bowl of blueberries and a two hour movie, Ralph and Jack settled on Ralph's bedroom floor for the night.
Ralph laid there, his arms over his chest as he stared aimlessly up at the roof. Jack laid two feet away from him, also lost in sleepless thought.
"Do you really think Larry's gonna be nailed for what happened to Captain Benson?" Ralph asked unprompted.
"I dunno" Jack honestly thought. "Larry did admit to what happened. Maybe they'll go easy on 'im."
"Like they did on Roger?" Ralph pointed out.
"That's different" Jack declared.
"Different how?"
"Different because Roger and Larry are different. There's also the rather relevant factor of Captain Benson's death being an accident. Piggy's wasn't. We all know that, regardless of whose side you're on" Jack admitted somewhat shamefully.
"Did you tell Flag State that Roger did it on purpose?" Ralph wondered.
"Not exactly" Jack shrugged. "I told them I didn't see 'im do it, but he could've."
"But you did see it" Ralph insinuated.
Jack stared up at the glow in the dark stars on Ralph's roof and began to count them in his head.
"I'm scared" Ralph admitted after a minute or two.
"Of what?" Jack asked curiously, turning his head to see Ralph lying still beside him.
"That this isn't really over... That maybe it never will be."