PLEASE READ:

Okay for this part of this, this doesn't take place after the last part. This was just a random piece I had written which would eventually go into the story, but I haven't been able to continue with the story so...

Enjoy it. I guess

-Jaz

~~~~

Jack sighed and turned around to look Riley in the eye, "What is it?"

He watched as Riley looked away from his face and instead looked down at his own hands as he fidgeted.

"Just say it Riley," Jack told him turning back around to stare out the window. Outside the rain was lighter than it had been before but not by much, he should be able to leave sooner though.

"You-you told me you jumped from a building," he started slowly.

Jack gave a nod, "I did."

"So um, if it isn't too much for me to ask, I can't help but keep wondering why you did..."

Jack's eyes widened at his words and slowly he turned to face Riley.

"What? Shit sorry," Riley apologized quickly. "I knew I shouldn't have said anything. You don't have to answer," he stood up quickly to leave the room. "I'll-"

He was cut off when Jack grabbed his arm to stop him from going anywhere. Riley looked him in the eye and Jack found himself staring into his eyes and he was surprised by the amount of concern in them. Jack opened and closed his mouth his hands beginning to shake as emotions he had forgotten he even had made their way to the surface. He felt the burn of tears in his eyes as a small smile showed on his face. He let go of Riley's arm and stared at the limb rather than in his face as he could feel tears coming. "I'm sorry," he apologized wiping at his eyes. "It's just- no one had asked me that before."

Tears came more furiously and Jack wasn't even sure why. He wiped at them continuously as he felt as he was lead to sit on the couch. Riley had his arms around him as he wept- as he felt vulnerable, and he felt pathetic.

"No one?" Riley repeated after a while. "After all this time?"

"No one," Jack agreed through his tears. He took a few deep breaths and wiped his eyes on his sleeves, but if didn't help. So he answered through his sobs and gasps for breath, "They were all more concerned with why I was alive. Rather than why I did it. Or maybe they were just too scared to ask... I'm sorry, I haven't felt like this in such a long time I'm not even sure why I'm crying."

Riley hugged him tighter, "And that's just fine."

~~~~

"I had no friends," Jack told Riley when he had finally calmed down. Someway or another he found himself laying down with Riley's leg as a pillow and Riley's hand rested comfortingly on his shoulder. Jack didn't mind it now, but he was sure as soon as he reflected on it he'd want to hurl at his own actions and for wallowing in the past. "Everyone in school was just another form of a bully. My mother and my sister argued too much with each other to notice I was there for the most part. And when they would get along they didn't like others butting in. And then my mother's boyfriend..." Jack trailed off as the face he wished to forget more than anything appeared clear as day in his mind.

"You don't have to," Riley reminded him.

"He was one of many," Jack continued. "They were horrible for one another, but every time something went wrong with another she'd go back to him. It's been so long I'm not even sure how old I was when I met him," Jack lied. "But I unfortunately remember he always seemed to like me more than my mother."

He felt Riley's hand tense on his shoulder, and Jack fought the urge to roll over and look him in the eye. When Riley did nothing more and feeling the need to say something Jack kept speaking, "It's alright now," he lied. "It's been such a long time it doesn't matter anymore." Lie. "I've made peace with it." Lie. "Either way it doesn't matter." Lie.

"That was my reasoning for wanting to die then. As for now I am simply tired of life," Jack continued switching to the truth. "I'm tired of everything life brings. I'm tired of humans, I'm tired of mutants. I'm tired of the same old thing decade after decade. And I'm tired of losing those who for some reason or another matter to me."

Jack felt as Riley's hand pulled his shoulder slightly and Jack allowed himself to be turned so he was looking up into Riley's face. Riley's eyes held something- an emotion which Jack feared showed in his own eyes. An emotion which never had done him any good in the end.

"You won't lose me," Riley told him softly.

"That's because I don't care about you."

"Then why are you here?"

Jack looked away as he felt himself blush, "That's irrelevant. And you should know that you're not the first to say something along those lines."

He glanced back at Riley in time to see him give a small smile and Jack hated the way it made him feel, "Perhaps that's true," Riley responded. "But I'll be the last."

Jack closed his eyes and shook his head, "You're not the first to think that either."

Jack's eyes opened suddenly as he felt Riley's hand move from shoulder to the side of his face. "But I'll be the one to see it through."

Jack's mind was a mess of emotions, he was upset about what he was remembering; he hated himself for letting this conversation go this way, but at the same time he was glad it did.

Perhaps it was because he was such a mess that he kissed him.

It was probably the worst kiss of his life, years without practice had taken its toll, but either way he felt Riley smile.

It was Riley who ended it a stupid smile still on his face, "While I am enjoying this," he started touching Jack's face once more. "You need to calm down some more, take a nap or something. You can go have my bed for a while if you want. I did laundry this morning so the sheets on it are fresh."

Jack's mouth opened and closed in surprise, "I'm fine-"

"Wasn't it you who told me that's the oldest lie you've heard?"

Jack felt his face flush, but he didn't respond.

"Take a nap, Jack," Riley insisted. "Then we'll talk."

Jack watched him for a moment, and after realizing Riley's mind wouldn't be changed, he stood and walked out the room towards the bedroom.

He fell asleep immediately.

~~~~

Riley had kissed him.

The mere thought of it had him both overjoyed and scared. For such a long time he had wanted something between them, but at the same time he worried how Jack would react when he was less emotional. Would he just walk out and tell Riley once more that he was going to kill him to die himself? Would he leave hating himself? Was the whole thing just a lapse in his judgment? Would he stay?

Riley took a deep breath and tried to rid his mind of questions as he pulled out a take out menu and skimmed its items decided which Jack would prefer.

Not that it mattered though, because when he went to go wake Jack up to eat with him, Jack was already gone.