(Mark's P.O.V.)


I'm not oblivious to the fact something is going on that I don't know about. And I know it revolves around Jack. But I don't know what it is, and I really don't want to bother Jack about it. At least, not now that I saw him after he was obviously crying yesterday. I didn't ask about it, but I could see it. The redness, the tear streaks. He doesn't do a good job at covering it up. I just hope that he didn't hurt himself, because of his eye. Speaking of, we're at the doctor now. And Jack is really anxious. 

"It'll be fine." I say, putting my hand on his shoulder. He nods, smiling a fake smile. Dr. Craig walks in at that moment and smiles at both of us. 

"Hello! How are you today?" He asks. Jack shrugs. 

"Okay." He says. Dr. Craig nods, still smiling. 

"Alright. Well, I have all the information the nurse gave me already. You said you don't have any pain anymore, correct?" He asks. Jack nods, smiling softly. 

"Yeah, I haven't had to take any pain meds the last couple days." He says. 

"Good!" Dr. Craig exclaims. I chuckle, taking Jack's hand in my own. He grasps my hand tightly, and I rub small circles on the back of his hand to calm him down. 

I know why he's scared. He doesn't know if he'll be able to see or not, since he's had to keep his eye shut the last few days. Yesterday he got the stitches taken out, today we're gonna see if he'll be able to actually see anything. And that's scary, I understand. Dr. Craig, after reading through a few more things, nods and looks at us. 

"Well everything looks good. Let's take a look at your eye." He says, standing up. Jack nods, taking the eyepatch off, but he keeps his eye closed. He takes a deep breath, and I kiss the top of his head softly. Then he opens his eye and immediately frowns. 

"I... I can't see anything." He whispers, looking at the doctor. Dr. Craig sighs, nodding.

"Yes. I suspected as much. I'm sorry but there isn't anything we can do. We tried our best, but it happened to hit the eye in just the right way..." He shrugs. Jack nods in understanding, and after a few more checks the doctor clears us to go. So we do.

***

Jack's eye doesn't look that bad honestly. The color is a little bit darker, and there are obvious scars. But other than that, it looks fine. Once we got to his house he put the eyepatch on his bedside table and immediately went to the bathroom to look at his eye. I followed behind him. 

"It looks pretty normal." I comment, but he just shrugs. 

"I don't know." He whispers. I can tell he's kind of beaten up about the whole not-being-able-to-see-out-of-that-eye thing. 

"I'm sorry about what happened." I whisper. He shrugs again, but doesn't say anything. I hug him from behind, resting my head on his shoulder and kissing his neck. "I love you so much." I say then. He chuckles, closing his eyes. 

"I love you too." He says back, and he smiles. Genuinely smiles. God I missed his smile. And then... There's a loud knock on the front door. Jack and I both look at each other and frown. We aren't expecting anyone, and Jack's mom isn't home. He starts walking downstairs and I quickly follow, wanting to make sure he doesn't get hurt. But once he opens the door, I don't think it'll be so much of a problem.

"Dad?!" He shouts. And sure enough, there stands Mr. McLoughlin. 

"Seán!" He exclaims, a smile on his face. Jack just scowls though. 

"It's Jack." He growls. Mr. McLoughlin puts his hands up in defense. 

"Okay, okay. Jack. How are you?" He asks. Jack just looks him up and down, not buying any of it. 

"What the hell are you doing here?" He asks. I just watch from behind. Mr. McLoughlin sighs, knowing he has no chance here. 

"I wanted you to give me a second chance. I was wrong. You can be who you want, love who you want. Please, I just want to be your dad." He says. But Jack just shakes his head and looks at him with disgust. 

"You lost the title of my father years ago." And with that he slams the door shut. Then he turns, walks over to me, and hugs me tightly, burying his face in my neck. I hug him back, concerned. 

"Jack... What do you mean?" He sighs. 

"I uh... My father and I were never on good terms..." He says, trying to be vague. I frown. 

"Did he ever do anything to you?" I ask then. No response. Immediately I'm overcome with hate for the bastard. "If I see him again, I'm gonna kill him." I state. Jack laughs. 

"Don't do that. I'd hate having to deal with a relationship if you're in jail." He says, not even opposed to the actual idea of his dad dying. I laugh back, shaking my head. 

"I won't. I might slap him though." 

"That I'm okay with."