Jack walked inside and shut the door. He leaned back onto the door, sighing happily with a huge smile on his face.

"I'm assuming you had fun." Jack heard a voice from across the room. His smile dropped as he saw Felix standing in his bedroom doorway, a cigarette between his fingers. "Where did you go?" Felix asked, his tone dark and ominous.

"T-To the fair..." Jack shrunk back.

"Uh-huh." Felix took a drag of his cigarette and let out a puff of smoke that swirled in the air before disappearing.

"I told you not to smoke in the house." Jack mumbled insecurely, trying to stand up for himself. Felix shook his head and walked over to Jack, making him shrink backwards.

"Okay." Felix shrugged. He put the cigarette out on Jack's arm, making Jack yelp and jump back. Jack looked at his arm to see a deep red burn mark. "Who were you with?" Felix continued their conversation.

"Molly." Jack blurted out. Felix pulled out his phone and tapped on Molly's number. The phone rang for a few seconds, and then she finally picked up.

"Hey, were you at the fair with Jack today?" Felix asked casually as Jack silently cursed himself. A few seconds passed and Jack saw a sinister smirk grow on Felix's face. "Okay. Thank you so much." Felix ended the call and stuffed his phone in his pocket. "So," Felix looked at Jack. "Who were you with?" He asked threateningly.

"Why do you care?" Jack glared at Felix. Felix raised his hand and slapped Jack clean across the face. Felix gripped Jack's hair and made him look up at him. "I'm sorry for being disrespectful, I really didn't mean it!" Jack apologized desperately.

"You listen to me!" Felix knocked the back of Jack's head on the door. "Got that?!" He seethed. Jack nodded vigorously, looking up at Felix with wide, terrified eyes. "You are never allowed to see Mark again." Felix leaned into Jack's face.

"What about school?" Jack asked quietly.

"Don't try and be a smart ass!" Felix removed his hand from Jack's hair and grasped his throat tightly. Jack's breathing shallowed as he tried to yank Felix's hand off his throat, but his grip only tightened. "Do you promise to never see Mark again?!" Felix shouted. Jack tried to answer, but he only let out desperate squeaks. "Answer me!" Felix ordered as he punched Jack in the face. Jack could do nothing but let out choked sobs as he felt the last of his consciousness begin to slip away. Tears waterfalled down his face, and Felix finally gave up and let go.

Jack collapsed to the ground, sobbing quietly. His throat hurt immensely and he could feel his eye begin to swell. He pulled his knees up to his chest as Felix stormed off to his room and slammed the door. Jack rocked back and forth slowly as he tried to calm his heavy, desperate breaths. His head throbbed and his entire body was sore. Eventually, he had cried himself to sleep, alone on the floor.

-----

Jack felt his phone buzzing in his back pocket. He stirred, trying to force his eyes open. He blinked a few times, adjusting to the dim sunlight coming through the window. He began to sit up, his back popping profusely. He rubbed his numb, sticky cheek as he stared as the wall covered in drool. Jack rubbed his eyes, but he felt a burning pain when he rubbed his right eye. Jack slowly stood up, every bone popping painfully as he made his way to the bathroom.

He looked up at the mirror, and his jaw dropped. His entire right eye was swollen and purple. His eyelid was drooping slightly and his eyeball was completely bloodshot. He ran his fingertips gently along the bruises that had formed on his neck where Felix had been squeezing too hard. Jack began to cry softly as he looked at his appearance in the mirror, running his hands through his hair.

He walked out of the bathroom, flopped on the couch and rested his head on his hand, still sniffling softly.

"What are you doing?" Felix scolded.

"I wanna stay home from school today." Jack muttered. "I don't feel well." Felix walked around the couch and looked at Jack.

"You're going to school." He smirked, then leaned into Jack's face. "I want everyone to know that I'm the boss of you." Felix said through his teeth. Jack cringed at the horrible smell of Felix's morning breath mixed with cigarettes. "Go take a shower and make me breakfast." Felix ordered, then walked off to his bedroom and slammed the door. Jack reluctantly got up and dragged his feet as he walked to the bathroom, shutting the door and turning on the water.

-----

Mark sat at his desk, bouncing his leg anxiously as he waited for Jack. Mark could barely sleep last night because he was so happy, and he got up early to make sure he got to class early. But Jack wasn't there.

Mark brushed it off. He could wait for Jack. But the time ticked on-class would be starting soon, and Jack still hadn't shown up. Finally, right before the bell rang, Jack trudged into the classroom. Mark sat up excitedly, but his smile dropped when he saw Jack's face.

Jack avoided Mark's gaze as he walked up the stairs to his seat. His eye was dark purple and he had a bruise along his neck. Jack sat down, looking down at his desk.

"Hey." Mark stared at Jack.

"Hi." Jack mumbled back.

"What happened?" Mark blurted out.

"Don't worry about it." Jack mumbled and shook his head.

"Can we talk about it later?" Mark asked. Jack tensed up and bit his lip.

"I don't know." He sighed.

"Please?" Mark asked after a moment of silence.

"I'm sorry, but..." Jack took a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut. "No." He admitted.

"Why?" Mark asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Jack finally looked at Mark. It felt like Mark had been stabbed in the stomach when he fully saw what Felix had done to Jack.

"We can meet in secret, I'll make sure he never-" Mark began, but was interrupted by Jack.

"We can't." Jack's wide, baby blue eyes began to fill with tears. "I don't want him to hurt you. Please, for your safety, I can't talk to you any more." Tears began to drip down Jack's cheeks.

Mark's heart wrenched, and he began to tear up. "B-But..."

"I really like you, and I don't want you to be hurt by Felix." Jack looked down at his clammy hands. "Even if it means I have to hurt you a little bit."

"You don't deserve it either!" Mark tried to keep his voice down.

"I deserve it more than you do." Jack muttered.

"Fine, since we can't meet later," Mark took a deep breath. "I want you to move in with me."

"I can't even talk you without being terrified that Felix is gonna kick your ass! What makes you think that I can move in with you?" Jack looked up at Mark with shock.

"You have to get away from him." Mark grabbed Jack's hand.

"No, I can't..." Jack began to cry even more. "This can't be happening again... I don't want you to be like Shawn..." Jack sobbed quietly. "Felix promised he wouldn't let it happen again..."

"I'm not like Shawn, I promise..." Mark held Jack's cold, sweaty hand in both of his.

"You're moving too fast, just like him!" Jack ripped his hand away from Mark's. "Felix is gonna protect me. He promised he'd protect me." Jack tried to keep quiet so that others wouldn't hear the horrible conversation going on in the middle of class.

"If he's protecting you, then why is he hurting you?!" Mark balled up his fists.

"So that no one else has to." Jack began to wipe away his tears. "Sometimes it has to be that way. That's why I have to hurt you so that Felix won't hurt you."

"It doesn't have to be that way." Mark cupped Jack's cheek. "Whoever put that mentality in your head is wrong. Things aren't like that." Mark gently grabbed Jack's hand with his other hand. "You don't deserve to be hurt."

"You don't either." Jack shook his head.

"Then why are you hurting me?" Mark asked. Jack's stomach dropped, and he felt absolutely horrible.

"I'm sorry..." Jack whispered.

"I'd take being hurt over seeing you get hurt any day. That's protecting you." Mark made Jack look up at him. "I don't want to see you be hurt any more." Jack took a long, deep breath.

"Okay." Jack gave in. Mark gave him a side hug, not wanting to fully hug him in front of the entire class. They looked back to the lesson. Luckily, the class had been watching a video and the teacher was sitting at his desk, staring at his computer, and they had been quiet enough that nobody really payed attention. "I'm honestly shocked that no one is staring at us right now." Jack whispered.

"I am, too." Mark shook his head.

-----

"Hey, you're actually home." Felix scoffed as he walked in. He smelled like weed, but it had obviously worn off by the time he finally decided to come home.

"Yeah, I usually am." Jack rolled his eyes when Felix wasn't looking.

"Actually, you've been nonstop hanging out with Mark recently." Felix spat.

"I've hung out with him, like, once in the past week." Jack leaned back into the couch.

"Why are you giving me attitude?" Felix snapped. Jack stayed silent. "You're such a bitch." Felix growled.

"You're bossy." Jack mumbled under his breath.

"What was that?" Felix was suddenly in Jack's face. Jack crossed his arms and didn't say a word. "What did you just say?!" Felix raised his fist.

"You're bossy!" Jack stood up and shouted back at Felix. Felix raised his eyebrows, shocked at the sudden attempt at dominance.

"You're just in a pissy mood." Felix chuckled and stepped back. "I'll just let this slide." Felix said kindly. "Now sit down, and keep your mouth shut." Felix ordered.

"No. You're not the boss of me." Jack stayed standing. Felix shoved Jack backwards onto the couch and pinned his hands on either side of his head.

"Don't you see? I'm the boss of you because you're too stupid to make decisions for yourself!" Felix shouted at Jack and slapped him.

"The only stupid decision I made was trusting you!" Jack shouted back. An even harsher slap struck his cheek.

"You're such an ungrateful little shit!" Felix spat. "I hurt you so that everyone knows that I'm the boss and they're not allowed to hurt you! I'm in charge so that you don't make stupid decisions and get yourself hurt!" Felix barked.

"That doesn't make sense." Jack glared at Felix, and Felix punched him in the stomach. Jack flinched, but once his hand was free, he slapped Felix across the face.

Felix grabbed Jack by his collar and yanked him off of the couch. He held Jack's hands behind his back with a painfully tight grip and shoved Jack up against the wall. He looked around, and found a tennis shoe. Keeping Jack pinned to the wall with one hand, he yanked the lace out of the shoe, then tied Jack's hands tightly behind his back. He wrapped the lace over and over around Jack's wrists, and tied the knot several times. He turned around and forced Jack to the floor. Jack looked up at Felix in fear, immediately regretting his decisions.

"You're gonna pay for what you just did."

~AN~

I'm supposed to be off book for a play by Monday and I've barely worked on the script... Uh oh

Anyway, thank you guys so much for reading, and if you liked it, PUNCH that vote button in the face, LIKE A BOSS! And I will see all you bosses... IN THE NEXT CHAPTER!!!