Chapter Ten

When Jackson entered the library he wasted no time following Youngjae’s directions to spot his boyfriend. Once getting to the staircase at first he thought Mark wasn’t there until he crouched under it and saw the dark haired boy. He was curled up in a corner and he was shaking a bit. Crawling as much as he could he forced his way up beside Mark, it was a tight fit and he was mostly pressing up against his boyfriend in a position that most likely was less cuddly and more painful.

“Mark baby why are you crying?” Jackson asked placing his hand on the hand that Mark had covering his visible knee. Jackson felt Mark try to jerk his hand back but he just held on a bit tighter, pulling it closer to him. When Jackson held Mark’s hand the boy whimpered a bit but did nothing else to stop Jackson who flipped it palm side up. Because there was light by Jackson so he could see the neatly wrapped bandage on the boy’s hand.

“What happened to your hand? Mark you need to tell me what’s wrong, I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what happened first.” Jackson said rubbing Mark’s pale wrist before pulling it up to place a kiss on it.

“I…I got kicked out and Youngjae practically said it was my fault. Everything is always my fault and I…I don’t know what to do anymore. I feel angry and scared all the time and I don’t know how to act, I’m losing myself Jackson.” Mark said before sobbing some more. Mark tried to cram himself further into a ball but Jackson was having none of that.

Reaching over he pulled Mark sideways and scouted over so that the taller boy could rest his head on Jackson’s lap. Jackson made soft shhing noises as he brushed Mark’s hair from his face.

“Mark I’m sure Youngjae didn’t mean that, he loves you so much. I mean who else would have worked so hard to secretly help me get here, and who else would have told me where you’d be hiding? Youngjae is your best friend so you can count on him, just like how you can count on BamBam and me.” Jackson said as he tried to make the boy feel better. It seemed that Mark’s life was much harder than Jackson had anticipated. He knew that he loved the boy but in reality they still were strangers in so many ways. They had a connection yes, but was it enough?

“He asked if I hit my dad, he thought that’s how I hurt my hand…” Mark said sniffling, his tears making a spot on Jackson’s pants.

“He what? Why on earth would he say that?” Jackson asked confused. From what he understood he knew Mark did not get along with his parents but to physically hit them?

“Because it wouldn’t be surprising for me to do it, I want to do it…” Mark confessed, balling his hands up in Jackson’s lap. “He kicked me out…he says I’m worthless, I hate that man so much Jackson.” Mark said softly.

“Wait if you got kicked out where are-” Jackson tried to say but Mark cut him off, “I’m staying at Jaebum and Jinyoung’s house. They said I could stay for a while.”

“Well that’s good right, now you don’t have to see your dad?” Jackson said, but Mark just sighed before snuggling closer to Jackson. Leaning his head back against the back of the wall Jackson let out a sigh of his own, how could he feel so far away from the one he loved even as he held them.