Five Out of Five - Why Don't We

Jack sat in his room trying to keep himself busy. He knew Kira was about to break the news to Zach and that made him anxious. Out of all the guys, he was positive Zach would be the most upset. Zach was the only one who had no idea Kira had been sleeping with anyone else. Corbyn at least knew she'd been with other people. Daniel knew she'd been with some of the other guys in the house. But Zach thought he was the only one.

He would not take it well.

As soon as Zach came home from the gym, Jack went upstairs to wait in his room. He figured Kira would talk to Zach once he got out of the shower. Jack wanted to be close by in case Zach got too angry. Right now, he could still hear the shower going, so there was some time before the conversation would actually happen.

There was a knock at his bedroom door.

"Jack?" Corbyn called through it. Jack sat up taller and looked at the door with wide eyes as Corbyn opened it and poked his head inside. "Hey. Can we talk?"

"Sure," Jack said with a nod. He watched Corbyn walk into the room and sit on the end of his bed. He could only imagine what Corbyn had to say. Just a few hours ago, Kira had ended things with him and admitted that she was ending it in order to be with Jack. That likely wouldn't make Corbyn very happy.

"So," Corbyn said with a sigh. He forced a smile. "You and Kira, huh?"

Jack just nodded. He wasn't sure what to say or how to react. Was Corbyn mad at him? Was he planning on taking his anger out on him rather than Kira? Jack was already bracing himself and he waited anxiously for Corbyn to keep talking.

"You've liked her for a long time haven't you?" Corbyn asked. He didn't look very angry and that relaxed Jack a little. In fact, Corbyn mostly just looked sad. After a few hours to process everything, he must be working his way toward accepting it all.

"Basically since I met her," Jack said quietly. Corbyn half smiled.

"I kinda figured," Corbyn said. He looked down at his hands. "I remember when Daniel first invited her to that show we had in London. She was really quiet and reserved when she first got there and you just sat and talked with her anytime we had a spare moment. She really opened up after that and it seems like you've had a strong connection with her ever since."

Corbyn was quiet again and he nodded to himself for a moment. He didn't look back up at Jack for a while.

"I really thought I had something with her," he whispered. "I thought she just needed more time. I was hoping that eventually she'd be ready to have something more with me."

Jack looked at his friend with guilt weighing on his heart. He felt bad that Corbyn had to lose something just so he could get what he wanted. For the millionth time, he wished he'd just told Kira yes when she asked him if he wanted her to not sleep with anyone else. If he'd just had the courage to commit back then, none of this would have ever happened.

"Corbyn, I'm sorry," Jack finally said. Corbyn looked up at him with sad eyes. "I'm sorry things turned out this way. I'm sorry that we both wanted the same thing...and I'm the one who gets it."

"Thanks, Jack. I'm really happy that you've found someone and that she'll be happy too. But I'm not exactly gonna be rooting for you right away. I already know it's...it's gonna be really painful to see you two together." Corbyn stared at him for a moment and Jack stiffened again. Was he gonna get angry now? But then Corbyn smiled. "Just give me a few weeks I guess. Or help me find a rebound girl."

Jack laughed and Corbyn's smile widened.

"I can definitely help you with that," Jack said and he laughed again.