JFT #33/It Needs Work
JFT #33
It Needs Work
"I'm surprised Jack hasn't called here," I said to Brian.
"I'm not."
I frowned. "Why?"
Brian rolled his eyes. "Where else would Arthur go?"
I glanced at the boy curled up asleep on our couch. He was knocked out,
poor kid. Bet he never realized romance could be such hard work.
"Then why doesn't he come and get him?"
"Are you in that much of a hurry to get rid of him?" Brian glared at me,
and I couldn't wait to put him straight.
"No." Pause. "I'm just...confused." Brian must have believed me because
the glare faded away into something softer, almost sympathetic.
"It's never easy when one of your heroes acts like an asshole."
"You think Jack really fucked up," I whispered.
He didn't say a word. He just kept looking at me with those crystal-clear
blue eyes.
"But Jack was the one who taught us to work through our problems, not run
at the slightest sign of trouble. Otherwise, what's the fucking point?"
Brian didn't answer. He simply let me keep chewing on it.
"Jeez, Arthur thinks if Jack looks at him crooked, it's all over.
That's...I mean, what happened to Communicate, Compromise, and the rest of
the fucking C's?"
Brian almost smiled. But it was a bittersweet smile at best. "I don't
think there *are* any other C's, Curt, but I get the idea."
"Did he just...make that shit up?"
"Some people," Brian said thoughtfully, "are real good at giving advice.
But that doesn't mean they're any good at taking it."
I wanted to stamp my feet and have a good old-fashioned temper tantrum.
"You're telling me Jack's got no common sense?"
"No, but..." Brian drifted off again. I was getting more and more
frustrated with doing nothing, and he was thinking too hard about
something.
"It's just...maybe there's a reason Jack's never had a really long-term
relationship."
"He *loves* Arthur," I said fiercely.
"I think he *does*," Brian agreed. "But that doesn't mean he knows how to
work this out."
Then he added, "From what Arthur told me, I'm not even sure Jack knows
what he did."
"Jack saved me," I murmured, more to myself than Brian.
Brian sighed and nestled under my chin. We were still standing in the
living room, not that far away from where Arthur peacefully slept,
oblivious to the conflict that raged around him. We were both too wired to
sleep, and making love was out of the question.
"I know," Brian replied. "He saved me, too."
"Part of me thinks we should stay out of this, but..."
Brian inched closer, and I wrapped my arms around him. It was stupid to
feel threatened by something that happened to somebody else, but I think
we both needed to hold onto each other right now. If Jack could fall from
grace, where did that leave us?
"We need to talk to Jack," Brian whispered.
"But what are we going to do?"
I could feel Brian's lips on my skin, and I could tell he was smiling.
"We can show him how well he taught us."
*****