(Mark's P.O.V.)


Jack's phone buzzes for what has to be the third time tonight. 

"Jack, who the hell is calling you at ten PM on a Friday?" I ask. He sighs and shakes his head. 

"I don't know." He says. I just stare with a blank expression. 

"You never checked?" I ask. He shakes his head no. "Check." I say simply. He shrugs and picks up his phone, immediately frowning and putting his phone back down. It starts buzzing again. "Who is it?" I ask. He closes his eyes. 

"It's Ma." Oh. That... That changes things. Why is she calling him? After what happened... Well I didn't know what would happen. I didn't expect her to call him though, especially not after only five days. For something like this, that's a relatively short time. 

"What are you going to do?" I ask softly. Jack shrugs, staring at his phone which has given up buzzing for now. 

"I don't know. What should I do?" He asks. I shake my head a bit. 

"If it were me, I would answer. See what she wanted to talk about, and then decide if it was worth it." I say. He nods and we just sit there in silence. That is, until his phone buzzes again. He picks it up and answers the call, standing up and exiting the room. I wait patiently, though I can't help but wonder what's going on. Can you blame me? Not really. Only after about a minute though does Jack come back, looking very conflicted. 

"What did she say?" I ask. I know I shouldn't pry, but I'm curious. He looks at me and bites his lip. 

"She said that she wanted to talk to me in person and to go over there tomorrow for lunch." He says. I smile a bit. 

"I think you should." I say. He tilts his head to the side, smiling. 

"Yeah?" He asks. I nod. 

"Yeah. It'll be good." I say. He nods. 

"Okay then. I'll go." He says. My smile grows. That's awesome. He has a chance to continue his relationship with his parents. Unlike me. "If you go with me." My smile falls. 

"Wait what?" I ask, now staring with an expression on my face that also says those exact words. Jack's smile softens. 

"Mark if I go alone, I'm sure something's gonna go wrong. But if you come with me, even if something does go wrong, you can drag me out of there and cheer me up, something I can never do for myself." He says. I chuckle, shaking my head. Eventually I sigh. 

"Alright. I'd be honored." I joke. He rolls his eyes. 

"Shut up." He says and we continue the conversation we had before the whole phone calling thing.

***

"Relax. It'll be fine." I say, pushing Jack gently towards the door. It's noon and we've been standing out here on the porch of Jack's house in complete silence for the past thirty seconds. Jack nods at my words and rings the doorbell. In an instant a woman opens up the door, smiling a soft smile that reminds me of Jack's. All I see in her eyes is regret. She then looks at me and the regret turns to confusion. 

"Who's this?" She asks. Jack looks at me and then back at his mom. 

"This is my friend Mark. I've been staying with him the past few days." He says. The woman nods and smiles at me. 

"I'm Hannah. It's nice to meet you Mark." She says. I nod. 

"Nice to meet you too." I say. She then looks back at Jack and tilts her head to the side a bit. 

"Oh, what am I doing? Come in." She says and opens the door wider. Jack walks in the house and I follow, smiling at Hannah. As soon as we get to the kitchen Jack turns and looks at his mom. 

"Where's Dad?" He asks. Hannah nods slowly. 

"Let's sit down." She says and Jack nods, sitting down at the table. I sit next to him, Hannah across from us. She sighs. "Your father isn't here." She says. Jack nods. 

"I got that. Where is he?" He asks, not sounding all that concerned. Hannah frowns a bit. 

"I kicked him out." Jack's eyes go wide and he starts stuttering. That shocked him. And me too. Hannah continues. "I found out he was having an affair with this other woman and that plus what he did and said to you was enough for me." She says. Jack looks unable to speak or even process much anymore. So I speak. 

"I'm sorry." I say, it seems to be the only appropriate things to say. She chuckles. 

"It's fine. His loss." She says. Jack nods, no longer in shock from the news. 

"Is that all you wanted to talk about?" He asks. I know what she wants to talk about, I can see the look in her eye. She shakes her head a bit before talking. 

"Sean I want you to come home." She says it quietly and Jack shows no emotion to what she said. So she continues. "I'm sorry about what I said, how I acted. It shocked me at first and I reacted badly. And even though I haven't been so supportive of the community in the past, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what I think is wrong or right. All that matters is that you're happy." She says it all with a smile. 

I turn to Jack and I can practically see the whirlwind of thoughts and emotions going on in his mind. He shows no emotion, no clue as to what he's thinking, for a good minute or so. Until finally he smiles a small bit, nodding. 

"I guess I can't stay with Mark forever." He jokes. Hannah chuckles, nodding. 

"Thank god. I was starting to get scared." She laughs. Jack chuckles. 

"No, I missed being here. As much as being with Mark is awesome and as much as dealing with all the rules here is not as awesome... Life just isn't the same. And the fact I learned that in five days is fricken amazing." He says. I laugh, nodding. 

"Very, very true." I say. Hannah nods. 

"Okay. Well then... Let's eat!" She says and gets up going to get food. I look at Jack and I smile. 

"I'm glad it all worked out for you." I say quietly. He looks at me and smiles as well. 

"Yeah... Me too." He says. And with that his mom comes back in, carrying plates of food. She sits back down and starts serving out the food. 

"So, Mark..." And so continues discussion, mostly embarrassing Jack (which I find hilarious) and learning more about me.