Chapter Text
“So what, a year, a fucking year of kidding myself, thinking you two saw me as an equal, as more than a toy to spice up your sex lives, when really that’s all I’ve ever been to you?” Dennis spits, seething, more furious than Jack has ever seen him.
“Den, come on, you know you’re mo-” Dennis snarls, cutting him off hard and fast, grabbing the front of his t-shirt. The kid almost pulls him off his feet from the force of it, face twisted in anger.
“You didn’t even fucking think to call me until Dana reminded you!” He thunders, Jack would slump to his knees if the hands fisted in his shirt weren’t supporting most of his weight. “How long, Jack, huh, how many hours?”
And what can Jack say to that? He’s right, Dennis hadn’t even been a thought in his head until Dana innocently asked if the kid was on his way.
He’d been so focused on getting to the hospital, of forcing his way into whatever OR they had Mikey in. He didn’t stop to think that Dennis would want- that Dennis deserved to know Robby’d been in an accident.
He has no words to defend himself.
His hands come up, gentle on the underside of Dennis’s biceps where he can feel the muscles bulge under his palms, straining from effort.
He really deserves to get his ass kicked for this.
Deserves Dennis’s fists raining down on him in righteous fury.
Shame pools in his stomach.
The fear of losing Michael, warring with his anger at the idiot for being so stupid, no, suicidally reckless, and now the knowledge that he’s going to be the thing that finally pushes Dennis, their sweet boy, away for good, it’s too much.
His eyes burn, and tears threaten to break free for the first time tonight. He hadn’t cried when they’d called him to tell him Robby had been in an accident, had been brought in after a crash with his bike, and they weren’t sure he was going to pull through it. He’d ridden the adrenaline as far as it could get him, keeping any tears at bay, but this, the reminder of his own foolish shortcomings, is what breaks him.
Dennis shoves him hard, lets him stumble back a few feet, get his footing, and prosthetic back under himself properly.
“I should’ve fucking known that when it came down to it, you’d always choose each other over me.”
“It wasn’t like that, come on, kid, it was a slip-up, I just wasn’t thinking, I’m sorry.” He pleads, closing the distance between them.
Dennis only sneers.
“Cause, that’s all I am to you, right? Sweet kid, your boy, little pup. Nothing but a naive plaything for you both to dote over, a pet for you to keep around because it amuses you. Distracts you from the failing marriage you’re stuck in.” Dennis spits each word, frantically pacing the linoleum of the hospital hallway.
He whirls on Jack, “What use am I if I can’t fix you, huh, if I can’t be the glue that holds this sinking ship together? Keep Robby from killing himself, keep you from going catatonic?”
It stings, each jab at the soft underbelly of their lives.
“You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to us.” Jack tries to argue, to reason. He’s not great with words, and it guts him to think that if he could just say the right thing, for fucking once, he could save this.
Dennis huffs, a dismissive, cruel sound. “Fuck, Jack, I can’t- I don’t know if I can do this anymore.”
“Wait-” Jack starts, ready to get down on his knees and beg him to stay.
“Just-” Dennis slumps, the fury draining from him all at once, leaving him sounding small and tired. “Text me to let me know he’s ok, once you hear.”
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, please, just don’t-” He chokes out, but Dennis is already walking away, faster than he knows Jack can keep up with.
Robby has a rude awakening coming.