Chapter 3

Kai had never felt this alone before. He was sitting on the couch, facing the T.V. The room was so cold. Jack, his true love, was gone. His clothes, toiletries, his suitcase, everything.

Kai was so excited when he proposed to Jack and he'd said yes. That day was the happiest day of his life. All of the planning that had been done, in order to make sure that the moment where Kai got down on his knees in front of Jack was magical. The nervousness that continued to mount atop itself in his heart at the thought, no possibility, of Jack saying no. He probably would've pretended that nothing had happened, before spiraling into a deep rabbit hole of jealousy and wonder.

Kai shivered. Looking around, the feeling of true loneliness was beginning to settle and he hated it. He wanted Jack to be in his arms again. Cuddling with him, while also being mad at him for not immediately seeking out Jack when he got home. Kai had made a decision.

He would wait. Jack would come back. He had to. The wedding was still on and he didn't want Jack to be alone forever. Because, to him, Kai was the only one for Jack, and Jack was the only one for Kai. It couldn't be any other way because the universe had intended for it to be. It was supposed to be.

Jack and Kai being together were the only thing that mattered. It was the end game, the end-all-be-all of relationships. Jack would be with him forever, no ifs, ands, or buts, about it. So, he would wait. And when Jack came back, there would be consequences. He would make sure that Jack never wanted to leave him again.

Going upstairs, he decided to take a shower and make dinner,Jack's favorite as it has been an eventful day, while he waited on his love to return. Kai hummed, quietly walking up the stairs and listening to the natural reverb as the notes hit the walls and bounced back to his ears. He ignores the pit in his gut that begins to form as he makes it up the stairs and Jack still hasn't burst through the front door, begging for Kai to take him back. Slowly walking into their bedroom, Kai goes to the dresser they shared and pretends not to see the empty spaces where Jack's clothes should've been.

Taking out a pair of underwear that Jack had picked out for him on one of their many dates. Kai smiled at the sweet memory, before scowling as he remembered ditching Jack for a while to bang one of his hook-ups behind the mall. Now in a considerably worse mood, Kai huffed air out of his nose before turning sharply towards the bathroom. Opening the door, Kai walked straight for the large open shower, before taking off his clothes.

Looking at the shower shelf beside him, noticing that Jack's body wash was gone, reached for his shampoo instead. Dunking his head under the water, Kai began to think of the first time that they had showered together. Laughing quietly to himself, his cheeks turned the brightest shade of red remembering the way Jack had looked when Kai had gotten fully naked underneath the water. That day was also the first time Jack had seen him naked.

Sighing, Kai opens the bottle and squirts the shampoo into his hand, before rubbing it between both hands and smoothing it into his hair. As Kai begins to scrub, he imagines that Jack was the one running his fingers through his hair, massaging his scalp, being gentle with him so as not to create an abrasion on his scalp. Unknowingly, a tear slips from Kai's left eye.

Dunking back under the water, Kai rinses the shampoo out of his hair before grabbing a rag and the bar of soap that sat next to the bottle of shampoo. Wetting the rag and then lathering the soap with it, he sets the bar back down before scrubbing his body.

As Kai continues to do this, the image of the whore who broke him and Jack apart came into his head and he began to scrub at his skin harder as it felt like her spirit was somehow still touching him. He didn't want any remnant of her on him or anything in their home when Jack came back.

Rinsing off his body, Kai stepped out and slowly dried himself off with a towel before heading over to the sink where he had placed his clothes before getting in. He looks into the mirror for, what seemed like, a long minute. Noticing the bags under his eyes and the slightly deranged look in his eye, he grabbed a toothbrush and toothpaste. He had to have fresh breath for when Jack returned to their house and they would start making out on their couch. Spitting into the sink, he grabs the mouthwash bottle and opens it, pouring some into the cap and taking it into his mouth. Swishing the mouthwash, the alcohol inside of it burned his mouth and brought tears to his eyes.

Spitting the liquid out, he turned on the faucet and then cupped his hands. Pulling water into his mouth, he swishes again to get the remainder of the mouthwash out of his mouth. He uses the towel that he had just dried off with to dry his mouth. Getting dressed, he heads down the stairs in order to start preparing dinner for Jack and himself. Kai's foot lands at the bottom of the stairs and he turns his head to the door, heart sinking at the fact that Jack still has not come home yet. Shaking his head, Kai heads towards the kitchen. Kai stops at the entrance, remembering how he had let Jack pick out everything. From the style and theme to the color of the knives.

Moving over to the fridge, Kai found leftover spaghetti. Deciding to reheat the spaghetti and make garlic bread, Kai snatches the pot of noodles out of the refrigerator and sets it onto the stove eye, before turning it on. Sliding back over to the fridge, Kai yanks open the freezer door, and grabs the box of garlic flavored Texas toast. Reading the instructions, Kai preheats the oven and throws a few pieces onto a nearby baking sheet.

Surely, at this point, Jack would come home, Kai reassured himself. He had already struggled to get everything ready and looking perfect. Jack would surely appreciate the amount of effort Kai had placed in putting together his apology. Kai nodded his head, they would get back together and nothing would stop Kai from marrying Jack. They would grow old and any and every milestone would be taken together. Kai would die with Jack, and he'd see him in their afterlife. Kai was an atheist, but he would believe in anything right now if it meant seeing Jack again.

Popping the toast into the oven when it was ready, Kai began setting the dinner table into a style that could only be seen in a high-class restaurant where the waiters sneered at you if you used the wrong utensils. Kai moved over to his chair at the table to sit down and wait for the bread to finish. Expecting Jack to walk through the front door, calling his name loudly, before discovering him in the kitchen.

Taking out the bread at the sound of the beep, Kai began plating everything before sitting back down in his seat to await his beloved. Who wasn't walking through the door. Odd, usually Jack was home by now. Suppressing the panic that was starting to rise in his chest, Kai decided to play romantic music for himself and Jack to set the mood. Jack still wasn't back.

Maybe he was just caught up in traffic, Kai tried convincing himself. But with every passing minute that he hadn't walked through their front door, the panic Kai was trying so desperately to suppress was rising. Rearing its ugly head like the pathetic leech it was. Wanting to feed off of his worry about their relationship. Kai waited for as long as he could before he snapped.

Grabbing the plates off the table, Kai hurls the, across the room in a fit of rage, nothing but the sheer amount of rage and insecurities fueling him now. The meager thought that Jack ha actually left him, the thought he had been shoving to the back of his mind, came charging forward with newfound urgency and truth. Jack had actually left.

Yanking the pot of spaghetti off of the stove, he viciously throws it into the sink before deciding to overturn the table as a whole. As the table hit the floor, a loud bang echoed throughout the house, knocking Kai out of his fit. Breathing deeply for a few minutes, Kai makes a decision that he never thought he'd have to make during his relationship with Jack. The relationship that was still very much intact, he believed.

It had been a long time since he'd last had to call the number, and that time was a life or death matter. But, he supposed that this was a life or death matter as well. Because without Jack, there was no Kai.