Chapter 10
Someone to Talk to
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Notes: Holy crap, I updated! o.O I know, weird, right? I do plan on finishing this eventually, although it may take a while depending on how much time I have to write and how much inspiration I have on the plot. In the meantime though, look: I made Doug less hateable! Well, at least, I hope I did...
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Pacey was really worried about Jack. He had barely seen the guy for four days, and now he was sitting at one of the tables in the back of the restaurant, long after most of the lunch rush patrons had cleared out, picking morosely at his food. Every once in a while he would heave a heavy sigh, like the weight of the world was resting on his shoulders. Pacey had tried to talk to him, but Jack never gave more than one-word answers, or a non-verbal sound if he could get away with it. Finally, deciding to let him mope for the time being, Pacey had retreated to tending the bar in order to think about what he should do with the situation.
The bell on the door jingled, and Pacey looked up to see his brother enter, looking a bit more tired than usual. He looked disinterestedly around the room, then froze when his eyes landed on Jack.
Seeming to sense his scrutiny, Jack lifted his head, and for a second their gazes locked.
Having turned, Doug's back was to Pacey, so he couldn't see his brother's expression. But he watched Jack's face as it went from depression to a quick flash of horror, then hardened into a stony mask. Jack looked colder than Pacey had ever seen him. Without a word Jack stood, still staring at Doug, and slipped on his jacket. He took a few steps forward, towards Doug, then looked over Doug's shoulder and called out to Pacey.
"Hey Pace, put lunch on my tab."
And then he turned and quickly slipped out the door, leaving his meal practically un-eaten. Pacey's eyes widened at the confrontation, though he seemed to be the only one who noticed how strange it was. There weren't really many people around anyway, and he guessed that if you didn't know them, it might seem like just a coincidence that Jack had left as Doug came in. But if you did know them...
Doug trudged over to the bar, his head down, and collapsed onto a stool with a groan, burying his head in his arms on the bar. As he did so, the last couple in the room - the very tail end of the lunch crowd - got up and left, waving over to Pacey as they did. Pacey waved back, then looked down at his depressed brother.
"Jeeze Dougie," he said in a joking voice, trying to lighten the mood, "what did you do to Jack?"
"I had sex with him and then told him he wasn't worth coming out for."
Doug was muttering, and his voice was muffled even further by his arms, but Pacey was sure he had heard him right. He was startled, not by what Doug had said, but by the fact that he had said it out loud. Maybe he hadn't meant to. Maybe it had just slipped out. Pacey considered what he had said.
"Why the hell would you do something like that?" he said, a bit pissed at his brother, now that he thought about it. "You know Jack doesn't deal well with rejection. And he hasn't had a lover, let alone a steady boyfriend, in over a year! You insensitive prick."
Doug looked up, glancing around the room worriedly after Pacey had spoken so loudly, and apparently surprised to find it empty. Then he looked back at Pacey. "You're not surprised?" he asked suspiciously.
Pacey rolled his eyes. "Hello? This is me you're talking to here, remember? Haven't I been saying this since high school?"
Doug frowned. "Well, yeah, but... I never thought you actually meant it."
Pacey looked up to the ceiling. Heaven help them all. "Dougie," he said, "and I say this with all due respect: Duh. Geeze, even if I hadn't known, it's not like the last couple of weeks wouldn't have tipped me off. I mean, first you two can't stand to look at each other, then you're all cute and shy and sneaking looks at each other like a couple of middle-schoolers, now suddenly you're back at each other's throats? Either you two have been sleeping together, or you've managed to have a lifetime's worth of relationship stages in about a month. Give me some credit for not being oblivious."
Doug suddenly looked really scared. "You don't think anyone else noticed, do you?" he asked anxiously.
Pacey was a bit taken aback by just how scared Doug seemed. "I don't think anyone else knows you two well enough, frankly. I mean, I see you two all the time, but you're pretty much a loner, and Jack isn't really close to a lot of people in Capeside. So I don't think anyone else knows you guys well enough to know when you're acting different."
Doug breathed a sigh of relief, which then turned into a sigh very similar to the ones Jack had been indulging in over lunch. He put his head back on his arms, but didn't turn his face into them this time. "What am I going to do?" he asked. "You saw him. He hates me."
Pacey shrugged. "What do any of us do? You talk to him, and try to make it better. I mean, if you're not ready to come out, then you're not ready to come out. But the two of you are still friends, right? I mean, you were getting along well enough before when you weren't having sex. It's not like you two don't get along with each other as people. He's just angry right now. Let him get over it, and apologize."
Doug frowned up at him. "That sounds totally unlike you. That's not what you would do at all. Knowing you, you'd make some ridiculous grand gesture that would be stupid but adorable, and then flash those wounded puppy eyes like you always do."
Pacey smiled, deciding to take that as a compliment. "Ah, but let's remember how well that's worked for me in the past," he said. "As evidenced by the fact that I am completely girlfriend-less at the moment."
"I thought that soccer mom...?"
Pacey shook his head. "Dumped me. Guess the 'seeing someone on the sly' thing wasn't working out for her. And grand gestures are a little hard to do and still be stealthy about it. See?" He grinned. "We have something in common."
"It's not like I'm sneaking around," Doug protested.
"You don't want people to know that the two of you are sleeping together, right?" said Pacey. "Same thing, basically."
"Were sleeping together," Doug corrected with another sigh.
Pacey slapped him comfortingly on the back. "Cheer up Bro," he said. "It'll get better."
Doug hid his face in his arms again and didn't respond.
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