The Truth Hurts [Open]

Jace smiled, "Because you looked a mess," he said shortly, still wiping away at the blood. He tutted again, "Such a mess of your face! Perhaps i should teach you some defensive moves," he said, thoughtfully, looking at his large, swollen lip. He shook his head and looked at Alex's knuckles which were red and raw, "At least you hit back," he said, sounding happier at this knowledge.

"I didn't hit anyone," Alex said shortly. That was true. His knuckles were only like that because he had taken his anger out on the wall. He had definitely come out worse. He sighed and leant his head back against the wall. "I don't know why you're doing this. I'm too tired to let you f*ck me tonight." he said plainly.

"Who said something about f*cking?" Nick appeared from behind the wall, approaching the injured Alex and some other boy who seemed to be cleaning him up. He shook his head, tutting. "What's happened to you, my poor little boy?" he said, ruffling his hair and scowling at the other boy. If Alex was hurt, he was going to take care of him, not this other guy, who had tattoos even to rival Nick's. So Alex had found himself another tattooed beauty - the boy had quite a fetish for ink. Well, Nick would win, obviously.

Alex pulled his knee back up to his chest as he saw Nick. "Nothing happened. I just got in to an argument. I'm fine," he said. He didn't want to make this any bigger than it was already. He was surprised Nick hadn't heard the shouting from the cafeteria. Alex tried to stand but he was too weak from all the crying. Slumping back against the wall, he sighed, "Just leave me alone," he said quietly to both the boys.

Jace looked up at Nick and smiled happily, "Excellent now both your toy boys are here." He looked back to Alex and cocked his head to the side, "I don't think that you being alone is a very good idea looking at this mess." He dabbed at Alex's lip still seeing as the blood was refusing to stop flowing.

Alex roughly pushed Jace's arm out of the way, "I'm fine!" he almost shouted. Wiping his lip again he stood up, balancing himself against the wall. For a cut on his lip he seemed to have lot a lot of blood - either that or he was just tired from crying so much. Propping himself against the wall Alex sighed and walked towards a sink were he ran the tap and splashed water of his face. It stung his cheek and lip, but otherwise it was okay. They're only with you for the sex, he kept repeating in his head, he wasn't going to fool himself into thinking they were there because they actually cared about him.

Jace rolled his eyes and stood up, throwing the wad of clothes into the bin. He looked at Nick and raised his eyebrow before looking at Alex. "Well that's gratitude for you," he muttered, folding his arms across his chest. He looked down at his hand, studying the pattern of the tattoo on it. "So are you going to tell us what happened or are you just going to repeat the same lie over and over?" he said, still looking decidedly unimpressed by the situation.

"Why do you care?" Alex asked drying his face with a towel. The blood had finally stopped and the water had woken him up a little. Alex frowned and looked between the two boys. He had only had an argument...with Destin. It was nothing big. Right? Destin would forgive him. Even if it took a while. Alex would make sure he did. They had been friends since they were in kindergarten. They couldn't break up now.

"Why do we care?" Nick repeated, half laughing. "We care because if you're unhappy, there's no sex, to put it simply." He went over to Alex and placed two fingers gently under his chin. "You know I care about you," he whispered, not wanting to give himself away to the other boy. "Otherwise I would have walked past you in the hospital and I wouldn't have taken you back to my house and I wouldn't have asked you to come and stay with me. So stop being so childish and start talking."

"And that's all you care about isn't it? the sex." Alex moved his head out of Nick's grasp. "Go and find another f*ck buddy. I'm done," he said quietly. "You only 'care about me' because you're too f*cking lazy to find anyone else!" Alex folded his arms over his chest. Why did Destin have to be right all the time? Sighing Alex pushed past both boys to the door. "I don't want to be worthless anymore."

Nick ran after him, easily catching up with him with his long strides. "Stop it," he said firmly, grabbing him around the waist from behind and lifting him off the ground and carrying him back to Jace and the water fountain. "You would care if I had been in a fight, wouldn't you? So stop feeling so sorry for yourself and spit it out. You're worth more than any other student here, anyone will tell you that. It just depends on how you judge it, and seeing as up til now you've judged it on sex, I don't see why you're complaining. Alex, you're like my little brother. Of course I care."

Alex bit his lip, now he was confused. Before the fight he has been so sure of himself, after he seemed to have had a reality check and now...now it was all mixed up. "Of course I would care," he mumbled, "It was just an argument." That was it, it was just an argument. It would blow over in a few days. Wouldn't it? Alex rubbed his eyes harshly with the back of his hand. "It doesn't matter."

He turned Alex towards him, still keeping a tight grip of him around his waist. "Just an argument? Just an argument in which you have been punched repeatedly? That's called a fight, in case you didn't know." He pressed Alex's cheek to his chest and rested his chin on top of the boy's head, hugging him tightly in a way that Jace hadn't. Right now Alex needed a brother, not a friend or a lover, so that's who Nick would be.

Alex nuzzled into Nick's chest, his eyes closed. "I didn't hit back though," he said weakly. Not that it mattered whether he had or not. "It'll be forgotten in a few days," he said quietly, hoping it would be, but the amount of students that heard it...well it could last for a while. He bit his lip, "You didn't hear anything did you?" he asked, it worried him that Nick could have heard everything Destin had said to him...and everything Alex has said in return.

"No, nothing," he lied. Actually, he'd been quite impressed with how cold and hurtful Alex's words had been. Especially the part about thinking about Alex while f*cking 'her'. In Nick's opinion, if you could cause that much pain just with words, you didn't need to punch or kick. "I'm sure it'll all be fine soon."

Alex buried his head in Nick's chest, "I hope so. I didn't mean what I said...well, I did a little, but not all of it. He's going to hate me forever isn't he?" Alex said completely forgetting that Nick hadn't heard the argument. He sighed and pulled away from Nick slightly, "Thank you...both of you," he said quietly, "I just need some time to clear my head."

Jace stayed where he was, smirking at Nick's words. It was true, if Alex was unhappy then there would be no sex for him or for Nick. But Nick seemed to care a little more than he did. He smiled and looked at the two boys, "You see? Even f*ck buddies care," he said, smiling in his strange, slightly mad way. He was glad that he didn't have to do the comforting, that he could just be the mother and clean Alex up, then go straight back to being him. He didn't like sob stories.