"I love everything you do, when you call me fucking dumb for the stupid shit I do."

The week finished out faster than I could have imagined. Ever since Jack arrived, things have been far different.

It feels as if he changed my life.

I don't get beat up anymore! One, because I fucking punched Aaron and knocked some sense into him. Now people are scared of me for that reason.

Two, Jack is willing to stick up for me. It's great that he does that, but i'm able to stand up for myself now. When confronted by Felix again alone without Jack, I gave him a few choice words. I learned from Jack, and now i'm not scared anymore.

So, now I don't go home with bumps, cuts, bruises, or aches. I can go home happily without worrying if a cut got infected or if I broke something.

No more.

I finally asked Jack to hang out at my house. But not any ordinary hang out time, I invited him to a sleep over. Something I haven't had in a long time.

And surprisingly, he said yes!

I feel a friendship growing between us, and I feel so proud of myself that I finally managed to become friends with someone. These last few years have been hard, but I feel it turning around.

I finished getting everything in order. The house is clean, mom and Tom are sober (they have been for a while but it's always good to check in from time to time), and I feel great about myself.

Tom said he wasn't going to be home, he went off with his study group to study for quarterly finals. This means if Jack wants, we can play video games until the darkest hours of the night without being bothered.

"Who's your friend Mark? I don't believe i've met him yet." Mom says from the living room watching one of those weird house wife reality shows.

"Jack is new. He came in just last week, he's really nice. I think you'll enjoy him." My mom smiles to me. She knows everything that has happened over the years. She's wanted to help but she wasn't quite sure what to do. There wasn't really anything she could do but support me.

The door bell rings. I assume it's Jack.

I open the door and he was standing there smirking with his overnight bag, a bike right next to him.

"H-hi Jack!" I say smiling nervously. My mom walks up behind me and smiles warmly to greet Jack.

"You must be Jack. It's so nice to meet you!"

"Hello mrs. Fischbach! It's nice to meet you."

"Wanna come in Jack?" I gesture towards the inside, but Jack lights up with excitement.

"Mark, I found this super cool place we can bike tah. Wanna go? I mean, if it's okay with yah mom. I think you'll like it, it's super nice!" He looks questioningly to my mom, who smiled and nodded.

"You two have fun, just stay safe and out of trouble." She said.

I grabbed my shoes and laced them up and grabbed my bike and off we were, biking as fast as we could down the streets. Smiling and laughing like we were back in middle school and could leave the house by ourselves.

Just this alone was exhilarating and exciting, my adrenaline pumping, and I couldn't stop smiling, nor could Jack.

The wind rushes past us, our hair flowing, our eyes drying from the impact of the wind. The sound of the crunch of our wheels speeding along the road. It was so much to take in.

Finally we ride along side a forrest like area on the right.

"TURN RIGHT MARK! JUST TRUST ME OKAY!" I feel uneasy, he wants me to just throw myself into the forrest?

I don't know why but I trust him.

He's the only person I trust after all.

Jack makes a sharp right and I follow behind him. We travel down and down. Another right, and then a left.

Were riding right next to a small shallow river that glistens and sparkles from whatever sunlight comes through the thick greenery of the forrest. It was beautiful.

We come to a stop and drop our bikes, we take in the beauty of the picture before us. I was surely speechless.

"Jack, it's beautiful."

"I found this place when I thought taking a short cut was a good idea. The only good that came out of that was this place." He says gesturing to the river.

We sit upon the small little hill over looking the little river. We talked and talked like we haven't talked in ages.

There was something peaceful about everything, especially Jack. Whenever he's around I feel at ease, the panic wears away, and I can think somewhat clearly.

"Jack. I can't thank you enough."

"For what?"

"Being my friend. You're the first person in years to actually tolerate me, to talk to me without it being hateful. I haven't gone outside for fun in ages too, and look where I am now!" Jack chuckles a little.

"Yah don't need tah tank me Mark. It's everyone's choice whether tah be an absolute dick, or tah be a kind hearted person. I had a bad feeling about this school when I first came here, but then I met yah, and I didn't feel so scared anymore. It should me me tanking yah for welcoming me with a positive attitude."

"Jack. Why are you so nice to me, I don't deserve this." Jack slides closer and closer to me.

"Because Mark, you're an amazing person!"

"No i'm not. I'm so boring in comparison to you. You're so much nicer, for heaven's sake I punched a guy in the nose for-" I was cut off by Jack's lips crashing into mine. I was caught so off guard and I didn't know what to do.

When he pulled away and looked me in the eyes, all he said was:

"Shut up and kiss me." There was a slight pause. But then I dove back in for more.

We were kissing each other hard. Our tongues intertwining, our eyes closed. I savored the flavor of Jack.

Coffee.

That's what he tasted like. He was like caffeine to me, he energized me, my heart races when i'm with him, and he keeps me awake at night.

When we finally pull away to catch our breath from our make out session. Our foreheads pressed together, we look into each others eyes and smile and giggle.

We stayed silent for a while. Jack's head resting on my shoulder as I look at the flowing river. The crashing of the current was the only sound that filled my earbuds.

It was peaceful.

After a while we decided to head back to my house, it was starting to get late and the sunlight was starting to fade away.

We enter through the door and my mom greets us with pizza, which we gladly devoured. We thanked my mom for dinner and went upstairs into my room.

The rest of the night was endless hours of video games. Jack didn't seem to mind, so neither did I.

He was happy. I was happy.

We played into the midnight hours. My mom checked in occasionally, but at midnight said she was headed to bed. That's when we started to finally wind down and start heading to bed.

We sat there, me in my bed, and Jack in Tom's. We stared at the ceiling in silence. I have so many questions about today, but I don't know where to even start.

"I had fun today. The first time in a while anyway."

"Yeah me too. It's not often where I get to do fucking dumb shit like that. Riding wild through the streets. Far better than Ireland."

"Jack, what was it like in Ireland for you?"

"Tah be quite honest with yah. It was complete shit. I hated it there. It wasn't the place itself, it wasn't the forever crappy weather. It was the people. When my dad was given the opportunity tah move here, I felt as if my wish had been granted. And i'm happy I found yah." I smile.

"About today."

"Yes?"

"What do you think of me as? And please be honest." I feel my heart sink already, scared and anxious for his answer. But I have to respect whatever answer comes my way.

"I like yah Mark. But i'm not sure in what way."

"Oh."

"Please don't be hurt man. I'm still trying hard tah figure shit out. I don't care if yah like me, I still want to be your friend. So no matter what answer I give you in the future, promise me yah will still be my friend."

"I promise."

Sure it wasn't the answer I was expecting. But it was far better than any other answer that I could have gotten. And this answer didn't hurt me, it made me feel accepted.

But I still loved him.