Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It all started in the Death Maze, where the rest of the clones discovered that Joan had basically betrayed them. The expressions on each on their faces were a mix of shock combined with either anger or hurt. For Abe, however, it was a mixture of the three. He was shocked that Joan would do such a thing. He was angry that she would just willingly do that to someone he considered a friend. Above all, he was hurt that it was Joan of all people who did it. 

Meanwhile, JFK was dealing with just anger. He didn't wanna talk to Joan. At all. Not even over the summer. Never called her up. Never hung out with her. He absolutely wanted nothing to do with her after the incident. Instead, he and Abe decided to focus on each other over summer vacation instead of dwelling on it, partially to distract themselves from what happened.

And what do you know, it worked. Twenty years ago, that type of thing would've never happened. If you were to travel back in time and tell 2002 Abe and JFK that they were genuinely friends now, they wouldn't believe you an inch, as if you were almost an idiot for telling them. But it did happen, and it was real.

Their feelings for each other in the Death Maze had turned a complete 180 when they helped each other out; JFK had saved Abe from an inevitable death, which prompted him to smile back at him and for the two to call themselves a "duo of bros who'll remain friends for the rest of our lives!" It sounded so stupid, but it was real. They did make a great team, and they did make great friends. 

But that soon changed when they were both sitting near each other, hands cuffed and about to get their memories wiped by Candide. JFK sat with a somber expression on his face, as so did Abe. They were both smiling, appreciating their last moments of freedom they would have left as the data bar was reaching to it's full percentage. When JFK looked around the room, he came to notice that someone was missing. Joan.

"I don't see Joan anywhere," He spoke, being one of the only people who did in the room.

As soon as JFK said this, Abe was quick to acknowledge that Joan wasn't anywhere to be seen. "Huh...me neither. She must've won. Good for her." 

And just, god. JFK heard the proudness in Abe's voice. He was so fucking happy for Joan. They were both completely unaware that the latter had basically betrayed them all just to save his own skin; he was hurt and thought that maybe going as far to kill them wouldn't be such a bad thing due to the fallout's between them. 

"Y'know, if I can't be with her, she could do a lot worse than you." 

"...Thanks, JFK," Abe replied. "I wish I could just tell her how I feel...if I remember how I feel." 

That's right...once the bar would hit 100%, all of their memories would be erased. That moment that they had in the maze would be for naught, and JFK wanted anything but for that to happen. For them both to forget about this, and how that connection was real. JFK looked up at the screen, the bar not moving an inch. It would only be a matter of time before the procedure started, and things would go back to how it was in the beginning. All he wanted to do was hold Abe's hand, telling him that it'll all be okay, when in reality it wasn't. He wanted to hug him, as it would be the last time they would ever do so before they would go back to being rivals.

And the more he thought about it, his eyes shimmered, giving him a completely new perspective on Abe. He wasn't this lanky, tall knucklehead who tried acting as if he was better than everyone. He was all around just a guy who wanted to fit in; to be friends with JFK, because they were both presidential clones and he figured that they woud get along well with each other because of that. But the past is the past, and lord did JFK hate it. Serving only as a reminder of each mistake he's made, including hating Abe just because he was himself.

He finally recognized what he was starting to feel.

...He has it bad. 

His heart thumped in his chest. He can't let this happen. It was further amplified when Abe said that he wishes to tell Joan how he truly feels about them. His beating heart told him that Abe shouldn't do that. JFK and Joan already broke up anyway, he couldn't see himself winning when Abe would eventually date his ex. 

When Joan, Principal Scudworth, and Mr. B ran into the room, everyone's lively pupils were replaced with empty black squares, indicating that it was too late. Joan cried out, feeling the tears burn in his eyes as he came to be reminded that he fucked up. That was, until, Mr. B discovered that he had a CD of past memories. As each memory flashed on the screen, each clone came to eventually remember. The hard times, the sad times, the good times, it all came back to them as if nothing ever happened in the first place.

Then, Candide entered the room. She was injured; bloody, bruised, beaten, yet alive. "See, the thing about these kinds of memory slideshows is that they only show the good ones," And the other clones became thoroughly confused. Were there bad memories too? There was no way. Joan saved them all! She was basically a hero to all of them. 

Well, not for long. Soon after, the screen had displayed a bunch of Joan's heinous actions; basically throwing and pushing the clones into empty pits without their acknowledgement that she did it. The one that stood out the most to both Abe and JFK was Joan standing atop a tree, watching the four (Abe, JFK, Confucius, and Topher) fall to what they thought was their deaths. Joan awkwardly stood in front of the screen as the other students behind them stared her down with a glare. Abe's jaw had basically dropped in shock, and soon after, he would start to glare at Joan the same way. 

Well, it had been months since that whole thing went down, and JFK had to prepare himself for senior year. Unfortunately for him, he had stayed up almost all night, thinking about him and Abe. What would Abe be doing at school? How as he feeling? Did he make any new friends---what was he, his mom? He basically spent the entire summer hanging out with him and the others, trying to get their minds off of Joan. 

But now that senior year had creeped in, Joan was the only thing on his mind besides Abe. He was still mad at her, obviously. He vowed to himself that as soon as he got to school, he wouldn't talk to her. If she said hi, he wouldn't do the same. Abe on the other hand...he was excited to see him again. Of course he was. 

Trying to get an ounce of energy to start off his day, he immediately hopped in the shower, brushed his teeth, washed his face, sprayed and tidied up his perfect hair, and put on his signature red sweater, khakis, and his brown shoes with that same, lopsided smile he always sported. Grabbing a granola bar, he happily chewed as he made his way out the door. School was nothing to get excited about, but it was the start of senior year! And he got to see his friends again!

Luckily, Clone High High School wasn't that far from his house. All it took to get there was a simple walk, and most students didn't exactly have to take a car or the usual bus ride over. JFK owned a car, but seeing how he couldn't get any sleep, he couldn't exactly trust himself to drive at that moment...he opted to walk. Plus, it made for good excercise. 

As he walked along the sidewalks of the neighborhood, he saw plenty of students across from him going in the same direction, many talking to each of their friends. JFK looked around, and spotted Abe, from the other sidewalk, walking alone. By himself. He would normally walk with Joan and Gandhi, but Joan had tried to kill them both (in fact, there was no sign Joan was around at all), and Gandhi disappeared without a trace. He wondered where Confucius could be at this moment, because that was another person that Abe and JFK were with, but he could already be at school, and...

...Terrible. He felt terrible. When he looks at Abe, he's reminded of himself. He had to walk to school alone back in 2002. He was popular, but only for his looks and charisma. Did anyone ever care to actually be friends with him? The answer, to him, was no. There was Julius...and maybe even Jésus, but ever since they all became unfrozen, it was like the two had completely forgotten about him. 

This can be fixed.

JFK wasted no time and began to walk across the street to meet up with Abe, but he forgot the most important rule of street safety: look both ways and cross. As soon as he stepped foot in the middle of the street, the sound of a vehicle ensued, and a car had zoomed right up to him, stopping in the nick of time in an attempt to not hit the brunette. Every student, including Abe, looked in horror as the jock braced himself for impact. 

"Hey, dumbass! Get off the road, I could've hit ya!" The man from the car yelled. JFK quickly muttered a "Sorry," before looking at everyone who was staring. He looked at Abe. Abe saw. First day of senior year, and he already fucked up. His face went red, mortified for himself as he started to heat up. "I said get off the road!" The man yelled once again, prompting Jack to run off and step foot onto the sidewalk, where Abe was standing. "Stupid teens," he murmured as the car began to move again. 

"JFK?" Abe said after a bit, his voice laced with concern and confusion. 

Quickly, JFK leaned on a tree, attempting to cover up the fact that he literally almost got hit by a car. "Uh---hey, Abe! Excited for, uh, senior year?" 

"I guess? but you almost got hit!" 

"No need to worry about that. I saw you walkin' alone, since you don't have Joan and Gandhi by your side anymore." 

Abe sighed. Quickly, the conversation had switched from cars to Joan. "Yeah...god, I'm still mad at her."

Somehow, Abe was more affected by Joan's actions instead of JFK, who was only mad at them. Abe, however, was both sad and angry. He counted the amount of times Abe silently cried while they hung out and how he always vented to him about Joan. That was another thing they both learned over summer break; to be more vulnerable with each other. It made their bond stronger, and it made JFK regret not being friends with Abe sooner than that. Because of how well they just get along with each other. That was because Abe and Joan were best friends for longer than JFK was with him. Meanwhile, Joan was only his ex. Someone he dated for a few months before they broke up.

So, Joan's betrayal still angered him, but it would eventually fizzle unlike Abe's hatred. But no---they shouldn't focus on Joan. They did everything they could the whole summer to distract themselves from the Death Maze (with the occasional venting being the only thing that was even related to that topic), so why should they worry now? JFK cleared his throat. "I, er, guess I'm not myself today. I barely got any sleep last night." 

Abe chuckled. "Too excited for senior year?" 

JFK blushed, a bit embarassed at the fact that what kept him up at night was Abe himself. "Yeah," he said, smiling. A little lie couldn't hurt. "At least getting hit would've gave me some sort of adrenaline." He humored, though now that he thought about it, getting hit by that car didn't sound too bad after humiliating himself in front of literally everyone.

Chapter Text

JFK sat in the classroom, anxiously gnawing on his pencil. His eyes were completely on the board, yet his mind went elsewhere. Thinking about someone in particular...perhaps a tall guy with a goatee. All the arrows pointed to Abe. He had no difficulty doing his work in class, but now that him and Abe were best friends (totally could be something more) he just sat there, his dream-filled thoughts of the other clouding his brain. 

Abe is...a guy. He's like any other guy. He's literally like almost every guy on the planet, the only difference being is that he's a clone of the Abraham Lincoln. JFK was a clone of, well...JFK. John F. Kennedy. And yet...they looked like any other fucking male on the planet. Even worse (or better) was that they had alot in common. The zoning out would eventually get worse. Sometimes, he would fantasize Abe's soft hands holding his disgusting, sweaty ones. How he could easily melt into his gaze, and---and him planting a kiss on his face, and---

Stop. He was getting too ahead of himself. He realized that he had missed almost half of the lesson at that point, silently cursing himself in being way too down bad for someone he just became friends with. He needed to deal with this instantly, but just ignoring it wouldn't do the trick. If there was anything Jack knew, it was that ignoring would hurt you even further. He needed someone...he needed advice.

Frida was the one who he'd come to first, of course. She was perfect for a conflict like this---Chill. Wise. Creative. Lesbian. She and JFK had a great dynamic as well, despite them basically being the opposite of each other. So obviously, he went to her. He quickly walked over to her, almost desperate at this point. "Frida, I, er, need your help," He plead. The short clone shut her locker, facing him.

"Yeah?" She asked, noticing something about him. A sense of urgency... "Somethin's bothering you, isn't it?" 

"Actually---yeah. But can you give me advice? About...boys. Preferably, er, Abe." 

"Oh, uhh...Abe? Why do you need advice on him?" 

Frida also connected well with Abe, just like how she does with JFK. Though, not very much a surprise given that's literally because she gets along with almost everyone here. She's a popular girl for a reason...speaking of. JFK almost felt stupid for asking a girl who dates girls for advice on boys. Great going, Jack. You're so smart. 

Yet...regardless, he couldn't see himself talking with anyone else besides Frida for advice on this. If he were to talk with Cleo, she would probably call him a sad pathetic gay for being attracted to losers. If he were to talk to Confucius, he feared he would accidentally spill the secret (he loved the guy, but jeez). Joan was completely out of the question, too. Harriet was closest to who he was gonna talk about this with, but he relied on his gut to go and talk to Frida instead.

"Let me rephrase. Do you know...how to deal with, uh, crushes?" 

Immediately, Frida's eyes widened. "Wait---wait, wait, wait," She had to do a double take before looking back up at JFK. "You have a crush on Aberino? Abe Lincoln?" 

JFK nodded his head in embarrassment. "It's why I need your help...please, Frida? You're dating Cleo! You two had to make it work somehow! And I hope I'm not asking for too much, but---" He nervously smiled. "Please keep it a secret?" 

"Okay, okay. Listen...getting with Cleo wasn't really easy. But in the end, I recognized that she liked me for me, and didn't care that I didn't look like any girl from her time. She genuinely just...liked me, and we just...hooked up from there. It's just like how I love her for her." Frida spoke. "So I'd say just be yourself, and don't stress. And in order to actually get him interested, maybe suggest a hangout---or date, depends. More connection means a bigger bond." 

Himself...be himself. Around Abe. Fat chance. Ridiculously fat chance. He is himself, but he would repeatedly be shamed for it. How Cleo said that he was always an arrogant asshole during their relationship, how he overheard Joan saying that she liked the smarter JFK over the actual JFK. There's nothing to like about him. Both in the past and the present, there's nothing to like about him. Frida's advice wasn't completely useless, because he loved a good hangout once in a while, but he couldn't just go off of that. Yet, asking for more advice would make him seem more greedy, and he didn't like being like that.

He was the definition of "perfect on the outside---horrible on the inside."---he had a great charisma, perfectly shaped brunette hair that smelled like berries and cologne, a lopsided smile that looked cute (if you could even call it that) and most importantly--- a 10/10 bod. But he was the actual opposite on the inside. Ugly, horrible, disgusting. And to think that Abe made the decision of being friends with him. He treated him so horribly up until that point just for the things he hated about himself. Abe had this great personality---he was honest, he was smart, he had a beautiful smile like the sun, and is all around a great person, with a few flaws that didn't change anyones view on him. 

He wasn't lying when he said that Abe deserved Joan more.

Pathetic. He was so pathetic, he could honestly laugh.

JFK frustratingly sighed and walked away. "This conversation is over," He mumbled, being mad at no one else (not even Frida) but himself. He ended up missing the worry on her face. But now she knew. She knew his secret of being in love with Abe. Damnit. And it was only the first day! Why did he even have to tell her day one? The thought almost made tears spill out of his eyes. He was so damn sad. What made it more hard for himself was the fact that Abe knew everything about him. 

His favorite food, his favorite hair spray, his favorite genre of music and his favorite thing to wear (his sweater). But in the past, he knew what he was. Arrogant. An asshole. Egotistical. Short-tempered. Vain. He knew what his flaws were, and it dug deeper into his skin that he wouldn't be able to let them go anytime soon. He's still egotistical. He's still short-tempered. He's still impulsive. He hung out with Abe mostly all summer, so now he felt terrible that he had to hang out with someone who was like this. 

Arriving in the cafeteria, JFK saw a familiar group of people at a table, just sitting and talking with each other. Harriet, Confucius, Cleo, Frida, and...Abe. Man, it never occurred to him that Abe probably felt bad for being the only person at that table without a partner. That could totally be fixed, though. JFK mentally prepared himself, walking over to the table and about to properly make his introduction. Yet, when he tried to speak, no words came out. Almost as if he's lost his voice.

"...Uhh, hi, JFK!" Said Harriet, who looked at him with concern just like the others. Even Abe looked confused---JFK managed to embarass himself once again in front of his crush. On the first day of school. Some guy you are, Jack. He cleared his throat. 

"Hey, uh, guys," JFK wasted no time and sat down next to Abe. Bad choice. As soon as he sat, he immediately began to feel his face heating up when the other greeted him. He could've sat anywhere else at the table. 

"Did you hear about what happened to Van Gogh earlier? I think he tripped...or something." Abe spoke to the jock, completely unaware of how he was truly feeling at the moment. He took that moment to stop talkimg about Gogh and more on him. "Jeez. You're heating up real bad, Jack---do you have to go to the nurse? Do you have a fever?" 

Which only made JFK blush more harder than he already was. It was so jarring to see Abe care for him. When they became friends, it was really jarring, actually. The person who didn't like him intitally (and who could blame him) was now someone who took the time out of his day to care for Jack like he was his boyfriend...or husband. He didn't mind either. "I guess I'm, er, a bit out of it today." He said.

The others, though, weren't completely convinced that JFK had a "fever." In fact, Cleo was the first to point it out. "Yeah, alright. A fever, JFK. Don't you think there's any reason why you're acting like that in front of him?" She smirked. "And the fact that you sat beside him too..." JFK felt himself sinking into his seat. Only Frida knew his secret---he can't let anyone else know. But it was like everyone knew now. Harriet, Confucius, Cleo, and maybe even Abe. Oh god, please. It was only the first day, Abe cannot know.

So, he decided to play dumb. "I, uh, don't know what you're talking about." 

"Right?" Abe replied, causing Jack to sigh in relief that he didn't notice. "What're you saying, Cleo?" 

Then, Harriet whispered to Confucius, followed by him covering his smile. Cleo whispered to Frida, which...he saw no point in doing, given that Frida already knew. God damnit. They knew. They all knew! One screw-up, and he has eyes on him already. But Abe didn't catch on to what was happening, which was good, but the others knew. He felt his everything heat up at this point. He was so ashamed of himself. He got up from the table and grumbled in irritation, choking back tears. 

Meanwhile, the others had awkwardly stared at JFK's sudden leaving. Abe still had no clue what they were all saying, but the others suddenly had a look of worry and maybe even guilt on their face. Confucius whispered to Harriet. "Did we take it too far?" 

Before he could open the doors to the outside of the cafeteria, he felt a hand touch him on the shoulder. It was Abe, who had gotten up to console him. "Are you okay? That was probably overwhelming." And now he was worrying about JFK because he made himself look way too dramatic in front of a bunch of people. God, he wishes he could just dig a hole and bury himself there to rot away as the years would come. 

"I'm fine," Jack firmly said.

"No, but really, I wanna know if you're okay---"

"I said I'm fine!" JFK snapped at him, almost scaring him. It was his face that instantly made JFK replace his scowl with a look of fear. "I'm, er, sorry," He apologized. "I'm just not feeling great today." 

Abe sighed. "No need to apologize, alright? I'm just worried. Did something happen earlier?" 

Yes, something did happen, and no, I'm not telling you. 

JFK smiled (almost fakely) and adjusted himself. "Nothing happened. I'm just having an, er, case of Monday blues. That ever happen to ya?" 

"Oh, yeah. Those are the worst. Hey, wanna grab something to eat after school? Maybe go to the Grassy Knoll?" 

The Grassy Knoll was one of the few spots that everyone at the school liked to go to--- it's popularity upped a bit more when it changed a bunch, going from some 1980's themed outdated restaurant to a bigger setting, no longer having it's retro red and white pattern and instead a more brown and white (plus modern) look to it. Not the worst upgrade in the entire world, but some do miss the old look that the restaurant had. Not to mention that the same place had only sold acai bowls and really shitty lattes. Since then however, they added a lot of new things to the menu. Lots of sandwich and soup options, but it was better than same old same old.

"Umm...y-yeah! Yeah, of course!" JFK accepted, seeing the warm smile that emerged on Abe's face. Maybe today wasn't such a disaster, but there were still a few more school hours to go.

Gym class was a thing JFK actually liked about school, asides other things. Not like he was bad at his other classes---he has a great GPA, but it was the overall fact that you can do whatever in gym class and not sit in a chair for hours. Today, though, he wasn't really in the mood. He told the teacher that he felt sick, so he opted to sit out on the bleachers. Which felt odd, since it was the first day, but JFK wasn't really lying---he did find himself a bit disoriented, especially after today's events. The problem was, there's really nothing to do when you sit on the bleachers. You could talk to your friends, text on your phone, but that was pretty much it. JFK silently cursed himself for not charging his phone earlier, because it was now sitting at 35%. At least it wasn't 10%. 

With no one to talk to at the moment, he started to text you-know-who.

firechillbro: r you still up to it 

abe ❤️❤️❤️ (best friend): Yeah ofc! I might be a bit late though, I have to work on some stuff

firechillbro: Ahhh

firechillbro: just work on it later 

firechillbro: we'll only be gone for a few hours

JFK's smile turned into a flat line. God, it's not like he wanted to rush Abe or anything, but right now it was seeming like he was. His heart slightly thumped in his chest as he began to type once again. 

firechillbro: srry

firechillbro: for rushing 

firechillbro: u can still do it if u want, i dont mind waiting 

abe ❤️❤️❤️ (best friend): No its okay!

abe ❤️❤️❤️ (best friend): You're right, I can jut wait 

abe ❤️❤️❤️ (best friend): *just

Jesus now he felt so bad??? That's like the third time he managed to mess up today. He shut off his phone and ended up leaving the other clone on read. He slightly jumped from his seat when he heard a familiar voice whisper to him from the bleachers. 

"JFK." 

Suddenly, he was met with familiar eyes looking up at him from the darkness. "Texting Abe, I see?" He knew that voice all too well. Topher Bus. Clone of Christopher Columbus. The same guy who blackmailed Abe and is just in general a selfish prick who liked to troll others. Frankly, the jock wanted nothing to do with him. Not ever. He even broke his phone in the Death Maze after finding out what he did to Abe.

"It's none of your business, pipsqueak," Jack scowled at the shorter clone, who seemed unphased by the insult. 

But wait, what was he doing under the bleachers?

"Yeah...okay. I know about your little crush." 

JFK froze. "You what?" 

"I was about to exit the cafeteria. I got food for the rest of the Bleacher Creatures, but then I overheard your little conversation with the group. How there was something up with you. I quickly got out of there before anybody could notice." Great. Now Topher knew. His friend group finding out was bad enough, but the guy who literally blackmailed his best friend knows his secret. Well, it can no longer be called a "secret" anymore. 

"You better not tell anyone!" JFK immediately threatened him, probably even willing to sock him if he dared to ever humiliate him in front of the whole school. Right now, only his friends knew. But if anybody else were to hear...rumors, man. Rumors. 

"Nonono," Topher reassured. "I won't tell anyone. Your secret's safe with me. I just want to help." 

JFK squinted. He was confused. Help? Why did he want to help him? After he broke his phone in the Death Maze and called him all sorts of things? This was probably part of some plan to embarass him. Not like he's already done that a whole bunch already. He turned back, not eyeing Topher one bit. 

"Fuck off," He murmured. 

"Alright, be that way. Have fun continuing to trip on your own shoelaces." 

And when Topher disappeared into the shadows, leaving JFK sitting there, feeling...a bit bad? If the weasel was willing to help him despite everything, then his offer must've been really important. He sighed, rubbing his eyes before turning to the darkness under the bleachers once more.

"Fine. I'll, uh, let you help me. But after this, we're not speaking to each other again, got it?" 

Topher mischievously smiled. Fell right into his trap like a convinced hamster. 

"Come down here and we'll talk." 

JFK had to admit, he's never seen how the bleachers looked from under. It was decorated like the inside of a house---a single rocking chair, a couch, a rug, and a fireplace. Not only that, but it was like there was a whole secret society in here, hidden away from everyone else...whatever weird shit he was about to get into, it'd better be worth it for Abe's attention.

Topher lead him around as if it was a full house tour. "We're the Bleacher Creatures. We normally don't invite guests, unless you're a social outcast who just so happened to try and kill everyone." 

JFK snorted. "That, uh, sounds just like Joan." 

"Oh, believe me, we tried to get her to join us, but she kept trying to say "Oh, but my friends still like me!" Jackee humored. 

JFK looked down on the ground upon hearing Jackee's words. What Joan did was terrible, but when she puts it that way, it was like he almost didn't deserve to exactly be the next outcast of Clone High. He was angry at him, and Joan hasn't talked to him a single bit ever since school started this morning. 

Topher snapped his fingers to get the jock's attention. Which worked. "By all accounts, you don't exactly fill all of the guidelines required to join the Bleacher Creatures," Good. It's not like he wanted to join an underground outcast group anyway. "And we don't ever talk to people outside of the bleachers, but we overheard your struggles, and that's why we want to help you." 

"Wait...what were we focusing on again?" Ivan looked up from the couch. He was probably half-asleep during the whole thing. 

"Crush. John has a crush, Ivan." Lizzie spoke up, in which Ivan had instantly lost interest upon hearing the word crush. Probably because it was probably a woman he was worrying about. 

"Don't wake me up." 

JFK was eager to get out of here soon. A semi-popular boy stuck in a place with a bunch of lower ranked students didn't exactly mix well. "Just tell me what I have to do," He urged Topher, who turned to whisper with the rest of the group. Something Jack couldn't decipher but the words "Abe", "Makeover", and "Date."

"You want Abe to be yours, correct?" Topher questioned upon turning back around, the others looking at JFK the same way. 

"Er, uh, yeah." 

"How about a little makeover?" 

Makeover? No way! Makeovers were for girls. What, did he have to put on lipstick, a fake wig and disguise as a girl in order to get Abe to date him? Makeovers were for people who want to fake date someone else in order to get the girl. Or in this case, get the boy. But there was no way in hell JFK was gonna fake date Topher in order to get with Abe. 

"Okay, well...what kind of makeover? Because I'm not putting on lipstick like I'm gay." JFK crossed his arms. 

Topher raised an eyebrow. "...Well, in order to get Abe's full interest, you have to look like the type of person that he wants. What are his "yes's" and "no's"? 

"Maybe even ask what he likes during the date. Whatever comes to mind, like music." Van Gogh suggested. No surprise he was in this part of the school. 

And of course, JFK took this all in and ate it up despite looking like he wasn't. Now that he thought about it...the type of person Abe seemed to like so far was girls who wore...makeup. Dear god. How he wanted Cleo for himself because she looked like a goddess, and how Joan dressed for the 2003 prom that he eventually became interested in her. So, JFK's gonna have to do it. He's gonna have to wear makeup. It may be a risk to get humiliated, but if this was successfully gonna get Abe's attention, then the Bleacher Creature's advice would pay off. 

He could feel a smile creep up in the corners of his mouth. "I, uh...I get it. Thanks, Topher." Honestly, he hated the little rat, but maybe, just maybe, things could work thanks to him and the rest. Nothing could possibly go wrong! 

But if anyone knew about makeovers and looking the part, then there was one person he had to go to...

Chapter Text

"You want me to...what?" 

Upon hearing the surprise in her voice, JFK's mind began to scramble, not knowing whether or not he should back out of this. He came to Cleo's house. Specifically for a makeover. If there was anyone he knew that was an expert on doing makeovers, it was Cleo. After all, there was Joan...but JFK was a male. A very broader male at that. There was absolutely nothing wrong with males and makeup (obviously), it was the fact that JFK was the last person Cleo was expecting to request this.

He repeated himself. "I need a makeover. I'm going with Abe to the, uh, Grassy Knoll in a few hours and I need you to give me one." 

Cleo took a bit to adjust herself. "Okay, so, let me get this straight. You want me to give you a makeover to impress Abe during your date at the Grassy Knoll?" 

Date. The word almost made JFK shiver because it, in his eyes, really did seem like a date, when it was nothing more than a hangout. Him and Abe have been to the Grassy Knoll plenty of times, even with the others occasionally. So why did this feel so...different? 

"Uhh...yeah." That was the only thing he could say back, a nervous smile creeping up on his face.

"Okay...but why even a makeover? Just dress like you always do and go." 

"No, it's not like that, Cleo! It's..." God damnit. Cleo stared at him like he was a dumbass for even going here in the first place. They're both best friends (formerly partners), Cleo just didn't show it sometimes. She's that type of friend who's brutally honest, and that was mostly because of her "hot girl" personality. "I just really want him to truly like me, you know? And I wanna go, uh, all out! Toph---someone gave me advice on it." 

In which Cleo can see why. Abe's attraction would might as well be interpreted as "likes girls with makeup and who look pretty in general. Thinks they're attractive." She would know, coming from dating him in the past. And given that she also has a history with JFK, she knows he's a hopeless romantic. Willing to do anything to get with that person. 

"JFK..." 

"Yeah?" He perked up hearing his name. 

"I'll do it. But first, we have to get you out of...those." She pointed at his red sweater and khakis. "If you wanna look gorgeous for Abe, you're gonna have to dress like it. Luckily for you, I have more than enough dresses." 

And just like that, the makeover montage immensed. JFK tried an assortment of dresses that Cleo had in her walk-in closet---black, yellow, red. Wow, she had a lot more than he could count. He settled on a white, sparkly dress. Was partially his color, and looked pretty on him as well. This was accompanied by black fishnet tights and high heels---shoes that weren't completely hard to walk in, but he had to get used to them. Cleo wore them all the time, so it couldn't be that difficult. "Hold still!" Cleo firmly spoke as she focused on doing his eyeliner---red. Not too bright, but not too dark either. 

When she was completely finished with his new look, JFK was taken aback by how Cleo's work was like magic. He was staring at a completely different person in the mirror. This wasn't JFK, it couldn't be. He was dumbfounded by how beautiful he looked. "Cleo...I look amazing!" He could almost wrap her into a hug. Initially, he hated the idea of getting a makeover, but it was when she finally gave him one that made him reconsider everything. 

"Please. I know how good I am at this stuff." And once JFK hugged her, she felt herself giving into it. It felt so weird to hug someone that was once your ex. They could both feel that. But also...this was nice. No uncomfort or anything. Just...nice. But like everything else, the hug came to a stop, when JFK felt his phone vibrate. Once he picked it up, his eyes went wide. Crap. Abe had texted him that he was already on his way to the Grassy Knoll to see him, and he needed to make his way out fast. 

"Crap! Abe's, uh, already heading there now! Thanks for the makeover, Cleo!" JFK wasted absolutely no time and ran out of the room, missing Cleo's warning of stairs. Once he placed his heel on the first one, he slipped and found himself falling down each and every step. He groaned in pain when he finally hit the floor. May have broken a few limbs, but thats not gonna stop him, right?

The Grassy Knoll was only a few minutes away from Clone High High School, which is why you see so many eating there during lunch time. It was, however, a bit far from JFK and Abe's house. It's formerly been a site for shocking stuff---unsanitary food that gave you diarrhea, oily fish quiches, a woman that literally died in an insane way, not to mention the fights that happened often. 

As said earlier, it was transitioned into his more cozier setting that looked more like a coffee shop than anything. Abe was checking the time on his phone, getting more worried as time went on. Was JFK not coming? Was he already busy with something and forgot to tell him? God, he hoped that he didn't scare him off or anything...JFK snapping at him in the cafeteria already gave him the feeling that he probably didn't want anything to do with him. 

That was, until he heard a familiar voice, followed by the clacking of...heels? Abe looked up from his phone, seeing a person in a white dress and high heels walking over to him. No. That couldn't be him. He had to do a double take.

"Er, uh...hey, Abe!" JFK greeted the taller clone. 

"JFK!" Abe exclaimed, eyes still wide in disbelief. "You look..."

"Yeah, it's a, uh, new style I decided to go for," Jack looked up at the clone with pleading eyes. "You don't hate it, do you?"

"No! No, I don't!" Abe quickly blurted out, putting his phone away. "It's just---wow. You look...different. I didn't even notice it was you until I saw your face. And the hair." JFK didn't know what to make of Abe's comment, but he decided to take it as a compliment anyway. Given his nervousness and blushing, that means it was probably working! All he needed to do was pull this off for a few more hours until the da---hangout was over with! 

Upon arriving inside the Grassy Knoll, the pair took their seats, and JFK could feel blush traveling to both of his ears as the waiter gave them both menus. JFK could pull off a look, but that didn't make it any less difficult to interact with Abe without making things awkward. He endlessly stared at him with adoration, the lanky teen's eyes browsing the menu. He was so down bad, and didn't even realize it. It was only a matter of time before Abe looked up from his menu, giving the jock a reassuring smile and a little wave before looking back down.

Oh, my god. This was a mistake. This was a terrible mistake he was making, and he needed to go home fast and forget that this entire thing ever happened---talking to Topher, the makeover from Cleo, the "date", they just got here and he was having a code red inside of his brain and had to run to the bathroom or something---

"Jack?" 

JFK slightly jumped at the mention of his name. "Y-Yeah? Er, uh, yeah?"

Abe closed his menu. "Do you see anything you want? I already decided what I'm gonna get."

Right. Food. He liked food. Food is good.

"Uhh..." JFK felt himself sinking in his seat. So awkward. What a guy you are. "I'll, uh, just get the chicken panini, I guess."

"Y'sure? You never really ordered that before," The other brunette looked at him with slight concern. "And judging by your tone, I dunno if you---"

"That's my final choice!" JFK quickly said, closing his menu. 

"Hello, hello!" A waitress piped up as she walked over to the table, both boys having made their decisions by then. "Anything you'll have for today?"

Abe was the first to speak. "I'll have a burger, and JFK here," He gestured to the other clone, who already felt embarassed that Abe had to do the order for him like he was some child. "Will have the chicken panini." 

The waitress scribbled on her notepad, nodding before she collected both menus and headed back toward the kitchen. JFK sighed with relief afterwards as Abe tapped his fingers on the hard table. What to say, what to say...he couldn't even get himself to talk properly because of the amount of butterflies in his stomach. 

"Soooo..." Abe said. "What's with the new look? Not like I have anything against it, but...why?" 

"Er, why not?" 

"I'm just saying, because one minute you're dressed like---well, normal JFK, and now...this. I didn't know you'd be into that type of stuff." 

He can't just tell him why he actually decided to get Cleo to do this for him. If he were to actually say the reason, Abe would probably be disgusted and not want to talk to him for the rest of his life. That the tough and charismatic jock was actually a nervous and difficult wreck who couldn't even hold the unpopular loser's hand without even heating up once. 

JFK cleared his throat and rested his arm on the table in an attempt to act nonchalant. "Like I said, it's a choice." 

"...Well, either way, you look really handsome." Abe complimented casually. 

WHAT! I mean, okay, he does. Even he thought of that when he looked at himself in the mirror. Everyone thinks JFK is handsome, that wasn't surprising in itself. But to hear Abe say that...he thinks JFK looks handsome to him. At this point, he'd might as well feel the area burning up when JFK's face turned even redder at that point. 

"Oh no. Are you alright? Was it something I said?" Abe questioned, tone laced in worry. Yes, it was something you said. Thanks for asking. 

JFK nervously grinned. "Uh, no...That just, er, threw me off a bit." 

"Oh...well, it's true. You look great in that dress. And the eyeliner. Cleo probably felt really proud of herself after doing your look." 

"Yeah, uh, she's pretty creative. I know why Frida was so attracted to her now besides...you know," JFK humored, trying to find something to laugh about in the midst of it. 

Speaking of which...Cleo and Frida. They've been together for months now, almost an entire year at this point. Their anniversary is soon, and it just gets JFK wondering how Frida was able to pull so easily and date Cleo so fast while he was sitting here even struggling to make a move towards Abe. What made matters worse is that JFK constantly pulled back then, including Cleo and Joan themselves. He even managed to pull Harriet---for a short period of time. Abe, however, was a different case. 

After the waiter came to give them their food, Abe once again noticed how down JFK seemed to be. "Hey...I'm your best friend, so if anything's bothering you, you can always tell me what's up."

"Nothing's up. I'm uh," JFK's eyes darted around, trying to find something to say. "I'm just..." Come on, say something you idiot! Wait. He remembers what Van Gogh advised back when he was talking with the Bleacher Creatures. "What's your...favorite kind of music?" 

"Huh? Didn't we already talk about that over the summer?" Damnit. He's messing everything up! He's literally messing everything up and it's his fault! This was gonna end in a disaster. He hated this so much. He had so much confidence to meet up with him here, and things were going so wrong. As if this day couldn't get any worse. 

JFK found himself straightening up, feeling his body burn up due to the embarassment. "Right, right, um...I guess I'm, er, not feeling well today." 

"Oh no!" Abe exclaimed. "Do you have a fever? We can always take our food to go." 

To go? Oh, nononono. The date just started. He didn't want to drag Abe out of the restaurant just because of...well, himself. "Abe, you really don't have to---"

"I insist. I'm not just gonna selfishly sit here and eat while my best bro is sick." Abe stood up, calling out the waitress. "Can we have our food to go, please?" JFK tried to hide his face with his hand. This was so humiliating. He wanted to throw up.

Abe focused on the road ahead of him as JFK stared out the window. Houses, houses, houses...trees...he took one quick glance at his to-go bag, which had his chicken panini inside that he only took two bites out of. Oh, well. At least he had something to eat later. 

"Feeling alright, now?" Abe questioned after a few minutes of silence. "I know you probably hated to leave so early, but you were sick, so I figured..."

JFK could feel tears burning in the corners of his eyes as he continued looking out the window. This was so low of him, and that was saying a lot. He was a Kennedy, and "a Kennedy never backs down!" was something he always said. Now, he was sitting here like an angsty teenage girl about to cry over a date gone wrong. Yet, he tried to maintain a calm tone. "I'm okay." 

Abe sighed in relief. "Good. Guess you only got sick at the Grassy Knoll. Couldn't blame you." 

At this point, Jack didn't know whether they were going to his house or Abe's house, nor did he care. He was fine with either...or was he? Going to Abe's house meant more time with him, but he knew deep down that he would probably mess that up too. His house was his only safe place at the moment; where he could just go straight to his bedroom and cry and punch the walls, venting about how fucking garbage this day was before falling asleep. 

And this was just. The first. Day. of senior year.

He had this tendency to just go to the bleachers tommorow and beat the hell out of Topher for even recommending that he changes anything about himself, because in the end, Abe wouldn't care anyway. It didn't matter that JFK would put on makeup just to seduce him, because Abe couldn't seem to notice how much JFK actually wants him. But then again, who was the one who actually decided to go with it? Who was the one who decided to listen to Topher and go out of his way to do all of this for a boy who probably doesn't share the same feelings? 

Truthfully, he's always been like that. Those compliments? About JFK being handsome? About him looking pretty in the dress Cleo gave him? It was basically nothing to him, but it was something to JFK. Abe was just being nice. As always. He loved to compliment people, especially when it came to his best friends. JFK was no exception. He'll always be one of "Abe's best friends.", and nothing more. How stupid was he to think that Abe would actually date him? That he would actually have a tiny bit of romantic feelings for him? 

He was already dumb enough. He had that dopey smile, eyes skewered, and along with that had the title of "himbo" that almost everyone called him once. A future where him and Abe would be happy together, probably even married, was already on the backburner. He shouldn't be allowed to step foot near him anymore after this. He felt like he had to say sorry to Abe for everything that happened. He hated everything about himself, even in the past. This date just reminded him that there were no great things about him. That he's a loser of a clone of an iconic president who inspired a generation of people. 

There was no arguing against it; He ruined this date for him and Abe. 

When Abe arrived at his house to drop him off, JFK exited the car and made a beeline for the door, not even looking once at him and the wave he did. That was, until he tripped and fell two times. Stupid high heels. Adding insult to injury. Abe cringed at the sight, but Jack quickly got up and dusted himself off. He overheard Abe's "I'll see you at school tomorrow!" It was a school night. After everything that happened today, he might as well ask his parents if he could just stay home, because there was no way he was actually gonna show his face at school tommorow. 

Once he entered the house, his foster dads were already in the living room watching a rerun of an old 90s sitcom (not Will and Grace, but JFK didn't care regardless). Wally was the first to speak, though noticed that his foster son admittedly looked like a mess. His mascara was running down his face, his knee looked bruised, his eyes were slightly red, and his usually perfectly shaped hair now looked a bit ruffled. "Oh...Jack, sweetie, what happened on your date?" Date. There goes that word again. Date. 

"I'm going to my room. Don't bother me," The jock warned, stomping upstairs and slamming the door behind him. Wally and Carl, of course, made a mental note to check up on their son later, because obviously he wasn't feeling great. 

Finally. He was in his bedroom. He could taste the sweet relief of finally being able to let go of those feelings he was bottling up the entire time. He cried, and cried, and cried. Almost crying so loud like a child, but he didn't care. The mascara didn't help either---it was burning his eyes like they were just lit on fire. God, just minutes ago he wanted to be left alone, but now he was wishing that Abe was right here comforting him. Telling him it'll all be alright, and that he'll love him no matter what. Maybe even kiss him on the cheek. Or on the lips. Didn't matter. He would appreciate either.

But Abe wasn't here, and now that JFK thought about it, he was even acting like a jerk to him. Faking being sick so he could go home and sulk, not even talk to him when Abe said that he would see him at school tommorow. God, there was no saving himself. He wanted that kiss. But he knows damn well he hasn't earned it, and wasn't gonna earn it anytime soon. He practically tore off his dress, took off his heels that were slowly killing him, and took off his leggings, leaving only his underwear and a face full of sorrow. 

It only took a bit for him to finally crawl into his bed and fall asleep. 

Chapter Text

Naturally, JFK did come to school the next day. One, because, uh, he obviously had to, and second, even if he were to stay home, he'd quickly grow lonely with an empty hole he'd desperately want Abe to fill. So he sucked it up and went. As he always did in the past. School wasn't much different than yesterday---students walking around, doing whatever. Once again, JFK was alone. But as soon as he walked through those doors, he had his eyes set on one goal: Topher. 

How badly he wanted to punch him in the face---how bad JFK wanted to punch himself in the face. But it was mostly Topher's fault. God, he was so angry at him. He made a beeline for the gym, not caring about who was looking at him. But surprise surprise, the little prick wasn't under the bleachers---he was drinking from a water fountain, minding his own business, casually sipping as if he didn't just ruin another man's life. 

"Topher!" He practically shouted out, startling the shorter clone. 

Though, once Topher looked in his direction, he was met with the sight of a familiar jock. "...JFK. How was the "hangout"?" 

"I'll, uh, tell you how it was!" JFK grabbed him by the collar, lifting him from the ground. "I wore a damn dress and came home crying!" 

"Wait! Wait..." Topher plead, clearly not wanting the burly teen to sock him. "Did Abe hate the outfit, or something?" 

And...he didn't. Abe didn't hate the outfit at all. JFK was an inch closer to actually having him for himself and it was because he was the one that ruined the date. JFK lowered his fist. "...No."

"Then how come it went wrong?"

"I don't know. I, er, was so close, but I screwed it all up." The clone dropped the other onto the ground, instantly sucking up any sort of hatred he was feeling for him when he entered the school. 

"Hmm..." Topher pondered. "You know what? I apologize. And I was wrong about you having to get a makeover." 

"You think?"

"But! Have you ever tried the...opposite?" Topher suggested, warm smile on his face like he told the world's most useful advice. 

JFK raised an eyebrow. "What are you alluding to?" 

"Maybe you and Abe have trouble connecting right now because you two are so different from each other. I mean...look at you. Hair, clothes, obvious terrible taste in shoes..." 

JFK took great offense to that. "Do you wanna go?" He grabbed Topher's collar once again. Well pardon him, he looks pretty great! He looked great all the time!

"Wait!" Topher yelled out again. "Drop me. I'm just trying to help you." 

Absolutely not. After the little stunt he pulled yesterday, JFK wasn't sure if he could trust him this time. Plus, he literally insulted his shoes. So what if they looked terrible? The weasel literally wears flats. Shoes made by blind people. He had no place to talk. But also, he'd rather do anything else than beat around the bush again...and after what happened the other day, he wanted to take a different approach. Being honest to Abe? Ha! In your dreams. The dress sort of worked, but maybe he should try something else to really get him to like him back.

"This better work, or you're seeing the toilet bowl," JFK dropped Topher once more, allowing the other clone to explain. 

"Comforting." Topher cleared his throat. "Instead of having to put on makeup and wear a dress, simply dress like him. Casual. "Nerdy." Have the same interests as him, and get rid of your cologne. What you want to do in order to get Abe's full interest is to be the person he'd relate to more." 

JFK cringed. Having to dress nerdy and having nerdy interests was a thing that he particularly disliked---especially when he's popular, and became popular for reasons: having a handsome face shape, his accent, his body, his smell. To be the opposite of that was basically hell to him (okay, he wouldn't take it that far, but he'd basically rather die than be and look like a loser. That sounds better). 

"Hold on. If you think for one second that I'm gonna be like Abe in order to actually date him, then you're wr---" JFK's voice was cut off by the sound of Abe's footsteps, approaching the two. JFK quickly shifted his head to face the taller one. 

"Hey, JFK!" Abe greeted. "And...Topher. Anyway," He rubbed the back of his neck. "I think we got off on the wrong foot yesterday, and I wanted to know if you wanted to have a sleepover at my my house during the weekend, because you seemed really bummed yesterday." 

Oh, so he did notice. 

"...Sure." JFK quickly accepted, like the desperate loser he is. Besides him, Topher smirked. 

"Oh, great!" Abe said joyfully. "My parents are gonna be out Friday, so that's why I wanted to ask. Hmmm...maybe I should invite Confucius, too." He put a finger to his chin. "See you after school?" 

"Uh...can't. I, uh, have homework to do." 

"Ooh...right. Well...see you on the weekend, then." 

As Abe walked away to get to his period, JFK slumped and turned back to Topher. "Fine. I'll do it." 

Topher found himself smiling at this answer. "Then I'll tag along and help out. Mall. After school."

It wasn't that JFK hated the mall, but he's been here so many times...mostly with Cleo, that he never grew fond of it. Though, now that he was here with Topher, he knew every location. Every corner. That, and he had the enough money to buy more than a single outfit. Too bad he's spending it on things he normally wouldn't buy...

First thing Topher recommended was a flannel jacket. Okay. Nice. JFK liked flannel clothes, he literally has a pair of red flannel lounge pants at home that he sleeps in. The shirt and everything else however, was when thing started going downhill. A black Weezer shirt, light blue jeans, glasses, and red crocs. By the time he tried out his outfit in one of those dressing rooms, he looked absolutely ridic. Which was...unfortunately the intention.

"Don't be that way," Topher told him, almost trying to hold in a laugh. He took a picture with his cellphone, which caught Jack off guard...but Topher was a weird one anyway. He didn't know what he was expecting. "This is to get Abe to like you, remember?"

"Yeah, but, uh..." He looked like a completely different person, but compared to Cleo's impressive makeover she gave him, this one was negative. He felt like he was a walking crime scene. What's next? He needed to grow a goatee and quit it with his accent?

The two had walked out of the shop, and man, was it so awkward to see a popular guy and one of the school's outcasts at the local mall. At this point, people would probably assume they were dating...blegh. JFK gagged at the thought. Besides, his heart already belonged to someone else. What to talk about, what to talk about...

Topher was the first to. "Trust me. Once Abe sees you, he's gonna be sorry that he ever thought to look past you." 

JFK chuckled. "Yeah...uh..." God, it was like he lost the ability to start a conversation ever since he and Abe became best buds. "Topher..." Spit it out, you idiot! Bring up something! Anything! "What do you, uh, think about Joan?" 

Topher looked up at the taller one, interest piqued. "What do I think about Joan?" He repeated. "Well. I think their...a complicated person. Been trying to get them to join the Bleacher Creatures..."

"Oh, I know that," JFK replied. "But why? Didn't she try to---"

"Kill us?" Topher cut JFK's words off. "Yeah, I know. In a way...I know how Joan feels. Kind of. Also, we were due to have another member, anyway. Seeing how their basically the biggest outcast to ever outcast..."

Jack made a "mhm" sound, putting his hands in his pockets. "Do you, er, think I should apologize to her?" 

"Not that you're obligated to, but I think he'd appreciate it." 

And yeah, it was so weird to hate someone that was formerly your ex. That you dated in the past. Joan broke up with JFK because he allowed it, and knew that he wouldn't be able to let go of them. But now that they were broken up, he just saw her as a friend---well, used to see her as a friend, because now he just hated her guts. Over time, though, his thoughts would redirect to Joan every now and then, not knowing whether or not he should apologize. But nothing would change, really. Joan was still an outcast, actually a much bigger outcast than she was before.

JFK really hoped Topher still didn't hate him. 

The whole entire "dressing up to impress someone else" thing was something that he probably got a kick out of, because JFK had looked at his trashy outfits that he bought from the mall and felt nausea rising in his throat, like he was gonna vomit just from eyeing them. He regretted this so much and could've spent his money on something actually good, like jerseys. 

Truthfully, he didn't know what type Abe was actually into. He assumed that he was into pretty girls, but now Topher was saying some bullshit like "you just have to dress like him and share the same interests!!!" in which. Yeah. Lots of people connect better that way, but JFK wasn't like Abe. And unfortunately, that's what Topher also commented on---saying that him and Abe have trouble connecting now because they aren't the same. 

And it's not like JFK hated anything about himself. Asides from the fact that he's an asshole. And that he sweats a lot when around Abe. And that he basically hates what he is inside. That's not much, right? Meanwhile Abe was so perfect to him. Has all of the good traits. Hell, the only reason why JFK bullied him back then was because he was jealous of him, but that should've passed by now---the jealousy turned into admiration, and he felt so selfish too because he let Abe run his fingers through his hair, hold his hand, literally feel his disgusting sweaty skin that felt like lava just from turning red half of the time due to being near him.

He let Abe suffer enough---he shouldn't be doing all of that. He shouldn't let Abe go through the misfortune of touching him, let alone be friends with him because he hated himself so much. So why didn't Abe hate him? He treated him like crap, yet Abe did everything he could to be friends with him because in his eyes, they were so alike and shared a bunch of things in common. JFK wasn't like Abe. He'll never be like Abe. But now? Now he will!

He'll look like a fucking dork, sure, but if it was to make Abe actually happy, then he'll do anything. Anything for Abe. Even if it was for a single moment. His negative feelings on the clothes turned into hope. He could already taste it; him and Abe hanging out wearing stupid clothes and making out while watching some shitty movie in his bedroom. Abe will finally love him. Things were finally going to change. Friday couldn't come any sooner. 

Suddenly, he heard the sound of a knock on his door. JFK snapped out of his daydream, slightly irritated at the interruption. "Yes?" He flatly said. 

The door opened, and standing in the doorway was Wally, one of his foster dad's. "Jackie? Is everything alright?" 

JFK scoffed. "Yeah. Why?" 

"Oh, well...me and your other father was just thinking about how you were feeling yesterday. Did something happen on your date that we should know about?" 

Ugh...the "date." Don't even. That was the biggest mistake JFK's ever made in his life. "I was just in a lot of pain, 'kay? I scraped my knee, nothing much." 

Wally walked up further to his son, not convinced in the slighest. He knew Jack---he was his foster son for god's sake. He wouldn't cry over just getting a little bruise on his knee, because he was JFK. "You can tell me anything, baby. If that boy hurt you, then I'll just have to call his parents." 

"Wh---no! Dad, he didn't! It's just..." JFK eyed Wally's hand on his shoulder with a touch of reassurance. "...It was sort of my own fault."

"In what way?" 

JFK clenched his jaw, stiffening up. "I fumbled and I lied about being sick. I had him drop me off."

And for a bit, only silence was present in the room. JFK had two gay parents---both who were able to get together and raise a child together despite being different from each other. "Jack...did I ever tell you about the time me and your father met each other?" 

"I, uh, think you already have a dozen times---" 

"It was the summer of 1980---" 

"Okay, dad!" JFK blurted out, brushing Wally's hand off of his shoulder. "I've already heard it!" 

"I'll let you know when dinner's ready, okay?" 

And as soon Wally leaves the room, JFK finds himself staring at his clothes again. Maybe it was just him, but they were starting to not look so bad to him. Well, they were still ugly, but he started to change his mind on them being straight up vomit-inducing. Abe never looked bad in his outfit, he just looked average. Maybe he'll still look like normal JFK tommorow, just with a few changes to make Abe like him, and the mirror at the mall was just doing tricks on him. 

Chapter Text

And oh my god, did he feel stupid. 

He already felt so embarassed. Walking to school, walking in the hallways. He was so unbelievably mortified, and maybe even felt a few stares at him. Normally, he liked stares---that was all part of being popular. Though, this time it was different. Really different. These were stares of negativity. Stares of...judgement. 

He actually couldn't get how Abe went to school like this every day. He didn't exactly mind Abe's style of clothing but JFK could just...never do it. Until now, of course. But even then, he felt so awkward. But Topher suggested it. He was suspicious of what his true intentions really were, but he seemed...genuine. Did JFK look ridiculous? Yes. Would his past self be staring at him if he were to see him this way too? Yup. Was it worth it for Abe? Absolutely. Hell, he only had to wear his geeky clothing for an entire week, and that's it. 

What made his particular ecstatic was seeing Abe's reaction---he can already imagine him saying stuff like, "Oh, JFK, you look great!" Or, "You're looking super good today!" Soon, the embarrassment turned into happiness, and he felt like there was a barrier around him now---until he saw Cleo.

"Hello? Do you not feel any shame?" She questioned, and his thoughts were disrupted.

"Uh---oh, hey Cleo!" JFK greeted. "What's, uh, up?" 

"What the hell are you wearing?" 

"I, uh, listened to To---the person's advice again! They thought I just needed something better than a dress." 

"And they suggested this?" 

JFK leaned against a locker, trying his absolute hardest to not look stupid (he did). "Yeah! Do you, uh, like it?" 

Cleo crossed her arms. "What do you think I'm gonna say." 

And JFK frowned. Sure, Cleo was horribly honest---brutally honest, actually. It actually stung a bit, but only because it dawned on him that he actually does look stupid, and maybe this was all a bad idea and he needed to go back home right away---no! No. He's not doing that again. Not this time.

"Okay, so it does look stupid---" JFK said. "But I'm only doing this just to, uh, impress him. You know who. I'm not gonna chicken out this time, and it's...probably my best attempt at trying to get with him. You understand...right, Cleo?" 

Cleo quietly studied the jock before sighing. "How do you know if this is gonna work?" 

"What?" 

"I gave you that makeover because I felt generous---and I'm your friend. There's nothing wrong with a good makeover once in a while, but you can't just sit here and change yourself because you think that's what Abe would want." 

And as right Cleo was, JFK was known for being impulsive and naive to his surroundings. He's worked so hard just to get here---he blew his money for Abe. He got a makeover for Abe. Something has to come out of that somehow. JFK got off the locker and stared at Cleo with seriousness, something that...intimidated her a bit.

"Cleo, this is one of the only shots I got, and I'm just hopin' it works. If I don't get Abe with this, I don't know what will." 

The female clone squinted. Surely, she supported what JFK did (only sometimes at least), but it sort of pained her that JFK was doing useless attempt after useless attempt every time. "...Fine. He's not for me to worry about anyway." 

Cleo walked away, and JFK's next destination he thought, is first period. Abe wasn't in there, but he was in his second period. Maybe then he'll see him, and adore him, maybe run into his arms and say that he's everything he's ever wanted his whole life. Thing's will finally go right for a change.

____

As long as he only thought about Abe, he was completely blind to anyone else's judgement. Sure, people may have looked at him. Some may of made fun of him behind his back, and some even commented on what he was wearing. He didn't care. Not now. This was all for Abe, and no one else. Why would it be anyone else's business? Fortunately, he was able to keep that entire mindset the whole time, and as if things had gone by fast, the weekend was already here, and the long-awaited sleepover had finally arrived. 

He's had a bunch of sleepovers with Abe before---over summer break, especially. He can remember those nights where they always confessed their fears to each other, their insecurities. That's when they learned to become vulnerable with each other. In a night wrapped with pizza, games, and movies, on the inside, it was just two guys talking about what they needed to get off their chest for the longest time. So, JFK was very experienced with sleepovers----he can say that his first one was with Confucius, and that's a memory he'll never forget. This one, though, will be more special than that. 

Really, really special.

Meanwhile, Abe had practically been excited. His first sleepover was with Topher, a night that he'll always want to forget. Not that it was traumatizing in any way, but the entire thing just seemed boring---plus, Topher was too busy arguing online with JFK to even do anything remotely related to a sleepover at all. Then, the internet argument came to a close with Topher bleeding all over the floor. The time Abe had spent with JFK over summer break were sleepovers done right. He had texted the jock, telling him just how excited he was. But, he couldn't lie to himself and say that he wasn't worried for him a bit. Throughout the week, Abe saw a different look that he wasn't used to seeing on JFK. It didn't weird him out, but it certainly made him suspicious----like Jack was hiding something from him.

For all of the times they hung out, Abe always found it interesting that him and JFK were so different. Abe was a lanky guy who stood for what was right, even if it did make him look like a jackass. Then, there's JFK. Shorter, but can pack a punch and is practically the complete opposite of Abe. Whereas JFK bullied and berated Abe for everything he wasn't good at, Abe admired JFK for being everything he wanted to be. Now there was just...a sudden change in him. And yeah, it was good to find your own style every now and then, but Abe knew that JFK wouldn't willingly just...dress like he would for no reason. 

But he can't worry about that right now. Here he was, sitting at the couch, waiting for a knock at the door. Really, Abe made sure everything was in place and set up----snacks and food on the table, TV on, sleeping bags laid on the carpetted floor (yes, they were going to sleep in the living room). Plus, he already had his pajamas on---- a light blue shirt, and dark blue pants with teddy bears on them. They were definitely his favorite night pants----even though his light cherry red pajamas were a classic, they wouldn't compare to his current sleepwear. Mentally, Abe made sure to remember the schedule he had planned out for the two. First off, say hi to JFK and asks how he's doing. Then, play a few video games. Then, pizza. Finally, either a TV or movie until they both fall asleep. 

No matter how concerned he was for the guy, he was still pretty excited. That, and he was most anticipating the one part of every sleepover they had----talking to each other before bed, which was basically the golden part of sleepovers, because it gave them plenty of time to bond. Maybe then, he'll get something out of JFK----maybe some words as to why he's been acting so strangely. He was determined to alleviate Jack with some of that burden he carried on his shoulders. Just as he was able to ponder on for longer, he heard a knock. That must be JFK.

With a smile, Abe happily opened it. And in the doorway stood a broader guy with a dark grey shirt and red flannel pants. He wad holding a bag of his belongings, his toothbrush, and anything of his choice to bring. 

"Hey, Jack!" Abe stepped aside to allow the jock in. "Are you ready? 'Cause I am. I prepared and everything." 

"Uh, yeah..." JFK spoke, looking around. "I can see that. You're very...diligent?" Was that the right word? 

Abe still kept that smile, as always. "Thanks, man. Hey, come sit over here right quick---" Abe led JFK to his blue couch, where the other brunette basically hesitated to sit at for a moment before doing so. 

"Did I do somethin' wrong?" Jack questioned, a bit anxious, yet Abe patted him on the shoulder----which of course, caused a red to appear on his face. 

"Nah, you didn't. I just wanted to know if you're okay." Abe explained. Yet, JFK started looking down to the floor like he was guilty of something. "You've kind of been making me worry all week. First, you dress different, and you start to act really nervous around me. So...it had to be sooner or later when I would ask how you're doing." 

JFK felt a pang in his chest. He just got here, and he's already feeling guilty for even making Abe worry about him. His problems aren't for Abe to deal with. They were never for Abe to deal with. To even think that Abe would probably cradle him if he wanted to made him cringe. He was unsure of how to reply, so he once again came up with a lie. 

"I'm doing alright. Really. You need to stop worrying about me for once." Whoops. That came out way harsher than he intended. 

Abe looked at him with a bit of bitterness for a second, before sighing. "Are you sure?" 

And JFK swallowed. "...Yeah." 

Abe knew JFK wasn't being honest with him, but the last thing he wanted to cause was an argument, and then the sleepover would be done faster than when it began. He of course, didn't want that at all, so he decided to humor him on that reply. 

"Alright, then. Just wanted to make sure. So...with that out of the way, I hope you're ready for the night of your life!" He practically leaped from the couch. 

JFK only chuckled, and Abe walked over to the telephone, ordering pizza for the two. It seems that even though it was 2024, and you could just order anything with the click of a button on your cellphone, Abe still opted to order pizza through one of the old telephones he and the generation 1 clones used back in 2002---that, or flip-phones. Very different from the ones used today.

"You can, uh, order food on your cellphone, you know." JFK smirked.

"I know that! But I like doing things the old way." 

"Milennial..." 

Abe turned around and pretended to be offended, most likely to get a laugh out of JFK. "You can't just say that when you've lived through the same time period." 

"Hey, we were frozen for 20 years. I just started using that word!" JFK chuckled. 

After Abe finished ordering, he walked over and turned on the TV, eyeing his Nintendo Switch. "By the way, you can have something to hold you over until the pizza gets here." 

JFK nodded, and walked over to the table. Man, Abe really outdone himself----popcorn, chips, candy, theres no way he thought that this would be too much for two boys only. He grabbed a bag of chips, but didn't exactly open them, just walking over to the couch and sitting besides Abe. 

"So, anything you wanna play? We could play Mario Kart. Confucius loves that game." 

Yet, JFK only exhaled. "I think I, uh, just wanna watch a movie if that's okay with you." 

Oh. A movie? Sure! Really, Abe was expecting that him and JFK play a few games beforehand, but...whatever makes him happy. "Well, okay...luckily for you, I still have some leftover DVDs. Be back in a bit!"

As Abe rushed upstairs to his bedroom, JFK took the time to prepare himself. What is he gonna say to Abe? Was the question. He figures that tonight would be the perfect night to confess, Him and Abe, just being cozy...maybe Jack will finally tell Abe why he's been doing what he did all this week, and Abe will understand, holding his unlovable hand and telling him that he feels the same. And then...kiss him. They'll kiss, and the clouds that previously fogged JFK's head would go away instantly. Any sort of stress he felt these past few weeks would melt and he would be face-to-face with the boy he loves most. 

Or, Jack could confess to Abe and the latter would find him disgusting for it. "How dare you tell me that you're crushing on me? I'm not like you, JFK." Then, the sleepover would be over, and Jack had ruined what they already had. 

"I'm backkkk!" Abe cheerfully said in a sing-songy voice, holding his collection of DVDs.

JFK looked up, surprised to see that Abe's DVD collection seemed to have doubled. "Wow----uh, that's a lotta DVDs. Are you sure you need all this?" 

"Of course I do! It's my prized collection." Abe sat the box down on the floor, opening it and browsing the movies, trying to figure out what to watch. "Yeah, I know, not a lot of people use DVDs anymore because streaming exists now, but I like to keep my stuff. Once in a while, I like to pop something in the DVD player." 

"I get that----totally get that, actually." JFK saw the cartridge of American Pie (which he heard was Gandhi's favorite movie from Abe), and sighed. "I don't want to sound like those people, but I, er, sorta miss 2003. Back then, I didn't care about anything. But now I do? And I feel like a sissy, now. Especially because I, um..." 

Abe put his focus on JFK, leading his eyes away from the DVDs. "You what?" 

"...Nothin'. I'm gonna save that for later." Jack nervously chuckled. "Anyway, what movie are ya lookin' for?" 

Quickly, the conversation turned around. "That's sort of what I'm trying to do." And he gave it some thought for a moment before feeling as if a lightbulb just sparked above his head. "Wait! What about Air Bud? That's my favorite movie." 

"Really? Isn't that the movie about the dog playing basketball?" 

Abe lightened up and soon began to ramble. "It sure is! Not only that, but I like a ton of movies about animals playing sports. Air Bud, Air Bud 2, Air Bud 3," Wow, how many of these Air Bud movies have they made? "Air Bud 4, MVP---" 

"That's a lotta Air Bud movies." JFK pointed out as Abe looked through the DVD collection once more. 

"Yeah. Then they made Air Buddies while we were frozen, and I don't know if I really liked those. But, yeah, those are really special to me, man. Speaking of favorite movies...what're yours?" 

JFK sort of froze up at that question. Abe has been rambling so much about his Air Bud movie fixation that JFK hasn't really thought about his own favorite movie if he even has one at all. He could say Mannequin 2, but he wouldn't say it's his exact favorite, and he made a fake copy of it for a film project----Check Out The Cans on That Fake Broad. Memories. But, think, think...he had to think of something. The more Abe waited, the more he's probably gonna think that he doesn't have a favorite movie and make fun of him and---

"10 Things I Hate About You!" JFK blurted out. "I-I watched it with Joan when we were still together." 

Silence. Abe started laughing, and oh god, did JFK manage to embarass himself even more just from saying that. Is he gonna make fun of him still? That was a huge mistake. If he could just say another movie he can still clutch this----

"Is that bad?" Jack questioned, and Abe finally calmed himself down from laughing too hard. 

"No, no, it's not, but...I never really took you as the type of person to watch that movie, that's all." Immediately, JFK frowned, and Abe put his hands up to reassure him. "A-And I'm not making fun of you! I'm just...I think that's really sweet, JFK." 

Sweet. The word was like music to Jack's ears. The thought of being compared to the word sweet by Abe made his face turn a bright red. "You really think so? Because I actually do, uh, watch a bunch of rom-coms." 

"Yep! And if you want...we could watch it. I think I have the DVD somewhere in here." He practically had to pull out a bunch of DVDs to get to that one, but he was successfully able to find it, and he popped it into the DVD player. 

"Eh, I'm gonna be honest though, I only like the movie for Julia Stiles." JFK joked, and Abe found himself laughing again. "I also got told that it's apparently an adaptation of one of Shakespeare's books. Whoever that is."  

"Really? Interesting..." The brunette replied. "I think I watched the movie one time, but I never really went to go see it in theaters. Rom-com's aren't really my thing, I guess." 

"I think they're pretty good, depending on the movie. Like, er, maybe Grease. I watched it a few times. It kinda has the vibe I like that you don't see nowadays." 

"What about Not Another Teen Movie?" 

"That one was terrible!" JFK laughed. 

Abe giggled as well. "But on purpose!" 

A few hours later, the two found themselves sitting on the couch and leaning on each other, eating away at their pizza and now watching one of the Air Bud movies that Abe had told JFK about. JFK enjoyed the sports genre of movies as well, so he was sort of surprised that this one caught his attention. Meanwhile, Abe yawned after eating his last slice. As the movie came to an end, Abe took the movie out of the DVD slot and placed it back into it's cartridge. At this point, it had been 11 PM, and Abe was starting to get a bit sleepy, as well as JFK. While this night hasn't been all that eventful as the others, Jack appreciated being close to Abe either way, so this would make it one of the best nights ever to him. 

Yet, he still wanted to apologize. 

"Abe?" JFK mentioned, and Abe turned to face him.

"Yeah?"

"Sorry that this whole night was sort of, uh, boring to you. I guess I didn't feel like doin' much tonight." 

"JFK," Abe softly smiled. "I think this was great. Don't beat yourself up for it. Besides...at least I got to watch Air Bud with you. That's an achievement and what makes an awesome night to me. Just...showed that you care a lot." 

The two stared at each other for a bit until JFK realized what the hell he was doing----say something! "Uh...by the way...is it alright if we sleep in your bedroom tonight?"

"Oh? You don't wanna sleep in here together? There's more space, so..." 

"I think I'm fine with the bedroom. But it's up to, uh...you, of course...." JFK spoke, resisting the urge to slap himself across the face for even suggesting that. Sleeping with Abe in his bedroom? Gross! Weird! Stupid! 

"Don't worry, I'm fine with either. If you wanna sleep in there, we can do that." Abe said with a smile. Deep down though, in JFK's ayes, he was probably thinking about how needy the latter was. How truly pathetic he is for even wanting to do that. Once again, JFK felt his chest heave in as they grabbed their sleeping bags and walked up to his bedroom.

____

Of course, since it was Abe's bedroom, it was only fair that he laid in his own bed, while JFK laid on the floor in his sleeping bag. JFK would've liked it if he were to sleep with Abe in his bed, but it didn't exactly have the enough space for two people to fit in there, and it would be absolutely cramped. Tucked up under his blue comforters, Abe peered down at Jack from his bed. The shorter brunette was facing away, but wasn't really asleep----in fact, he was wide awake now. 

"Hey," Abe whispered. "You know what time it is, right?" 

"Huh?" Jack turned around and pondered about what Abe was talking about when it all came back to him. "Oh! Yeah, uh, that." 

"Mhm," Abe hummed. It was dark, but he could still see the red on JFK's face. Figuring that they both needed to see right about now, Abe turned on his nightlight, shaped like a top hat. "You wanna go first?"

And compared to when he was confident about telling his true feelings to Abe, JFK now found himself cowering from actually having to do so. "I---uhh---don't really know if I wanna do that right now." 

"Come onnnn," Abe teased. "Let's have a talk. We do that everytime we throw these. You know what? I'll go first. Just so you can be comfortable with telling me afterwards." He paused for a moment, heart beating a bit in his chest out of nervousness. "This is a pretty personal one, and I think I only feel comfortable telling you at the moment..." 

And then, JFK was all ears to listen to the guy. After a brief moment, Abe finally started to talk.

"You remember how Topher blackmailed me, right? And you saw the image? Did I ever tell you the context behind that?" 

"...No. I don't think you did." Somehow, a nervousness began to take place in JFK's chest. 

"Well...during you and Joan's break-up, I wanted to...date someone. Have sex with someone, I guess. And then Topher told me that our sex-ed teacher, Mrs. Grumbles, was open to teaching me alone about the subject. So he persuaded me, and I went in, and..." 

Oh, god. Something told JFK that he knew where this was going. 

Abe would've nervously laughed if he wasn't anything but happy at that moment. "...And then, she played music and tried to...you know...but I backed out of it before things could escalate. I don't know how to explain the feeling, but it really, really made me scared." And Abe would've cried if he wanted to, but he couldn't exactly do so at the moment. He didn't feel tears in his eyes anyway. "I couldn't talk to Topher anymore after that, but then I found out he blackmailed me by taking a picture." 

JFK could almost feel a mixture of rage and sympathy inside of his chest now rather than nervousness, and what came out of his mouth aounded way more threatening than it needed to be. "Where is she? Mrs. Grumbles?"

"She, uhh..." Abe nervously replied. "It sounds ridiculous and not believeable at all, but she basically died after I told her I didn't wanna go through with it." 

As much as it sounded nonsensical, it was good regardless that she passed. JFK would've liked to at least pummel her to the ground himself. Not only that, but he further felt the need to hurt Topher as well----apparently, breaking his phone wasn't enough. 

"I'm glad she did. I would've punched the shit out of her." 

Abe sniffed a bit, and Jack could easily tell he wasn't trying to cry, especially on a night like this. God, he felt so angry now. How could anybody do this to Abe? How could she do that? How could Topher do that? How could they willingly hurt a nice and sweet person just like that? He wanted to hug him. Tell him that it would be okay, and that she can't hurt him anymore. Though, now knowing what Abe went through fully, he didn't know if he should do so right away. 

JFK talked once again, "I'm...sorry. That you went through all of that. You were a vulnerable guy." 

Abe let out a wet chuckle. "It's...fine. It's okay. It creeps up on me sometimes." 

It was good to hear Abe getting out his inner pain, and venting to him seem to have made both of the teens feel better. As dark as the memory was, Abe was glad that he was able to tell someone, even if it was just one person. To think that he was comfortable to only tell JFK this, made the jock get that same old feeling again. Yet, he still didn't have the heart to tell Abe. Or, maybe he does? 

"Um...sorry. That was sort of shocking for you to hear about. You can tell me something now, if you want." 

Oh, true. JFK still needed to think of something to say. He was so caught up in wanting to comfort Abe, that he didn't know what to say, really. Then, awkwardness started to settle in. "Uhh...it's also pretty, uh, personal." 

"Mhm. Don't worry, take your time. I'm not gonna rush." 

Jack fidgeted a bit, messing with his nails a bit before breathing in and out. "There's this guy I like at school." 

Immediately, Abe perked up. Guy. Not a girl? An actual guy? Well, not that there was anything wrong with that. But JFK falling in love with a guy made it seem...pretty unexpected. 

"Yeah? Tell me more." 

"And...he's a, uh, really good guy. Very nice. I just became friends with him, and he's treated me like a diamond." Like anyone has a reason to treat JFK like a diamond. He was fools gold, not even close to real gold at all. "And I really...really like him. But I just don't know how to tell him, because I don't wanna ruin what we already have. I'm nothing compared to him, but he's all that I want, because he's actually liked me for...me. And he means a lot to me, but I know I'm never gonna mean alot to him, because he only sees me as one of his friend's." 

"...What's his name?"

"I can't really tell you." JFK replied, blushing. "But I love him, Abe. I love him with all of my heart." 

"Ooh...so, a crush?" Abe asked. 

"I think that was, er, pretty clear." 

Abe nodded. "Well...he must be a great person if that's how he makes you feel. And...I hope you can tell him how you feel one day." 

JFK felt a knot in his throat. He wanted to keep it subtle and keep the name anonymous, but it kinda pained him that still, he didn't have the willpower to tell Abe that the person he was talking about is him. Because he's pathetic. "Yeah. I hope so too." 

"Right. And I know he'll like you back, because...you're an awesome person, Jack. I'm really glad we became friends." 

Friends. The word echoed in his head like a mantra. "...Me too." 

"Sleepy?" Abe started making himself feel comfortable in his bed, whereas JFK thought he would be sleep deprived for the rest of the night, because after telling Abe how much he likes him, the negativity once again started to flood his brain. He doesn't like you. Why would he like you? What if you go up to him one day, confess to him, and he just does nothing but look at you all disgusted? You're so hopeless. 

"...Yeah. Uh....goodnight, Abe." Jack said with a low sigh, zipping up his sleeping bag. 

"Goodnight! Don't let the bedbugs bite!" 

"Yeah, alright." 

And soon, Abe fell asleep pretty quickly while JFK did nothing but stare at the ceiling. 

Chapter Text

Surprisingly, JFK found himself getting a tad bit of sleep despite his anxieties overnight. He woke up, rubbing his eyes with even darker eyebags. Immediately, the smell of what seemed to be pancakes invaded his nose, but first he needed to focus on fully waking up. Above him, Abe yawned as well, stretching as if he was acting for a medicine commercial. 

"Breakfast..." Abe murmured, and JFK put a hand over his mouth as he giggled. God, Abe looked really unkept when it came to waking in the morning. His hair would be messy, his eyebags were almost just as dark as JFK's, and above all, he had drool coming down to his chin.

Jack only focused on one of those things: his hair. Messy, brown. Really, even if he giggled at this, he also thought that his now ruffled hair made him look...wait. No. Don't even think about it. Snap out of it, idiot! You just woke up! You can't be thinking about these things right now! 

"Looks like someone had a good rest," JFK smirked, and Abe yawned once again. 

"Yeah. Sleeping hits different when its a slumber party." The brunette joked, and JFK looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "It's true!" 

Then, the jock would remember last night's events. How he talked to Abe about having a crush on a certain "friend", how he treated him like a diamond---which was a thing with no flaws whatsoever, and god, once again, JFK (in his own eyes) was anything but a diamond. He had flaws. Way too many flaws to the point where it ruined his relationships, his friendships. People made JFK aware that he was different from everyone else. And after he went to sleep, he had a dream about him and Abe, and it made him feel much worse. The words crossed his mind again----gross, weird----who even has dreams about boys like that? They weren't even dating. 

Not now, at least. 

"Anyways...you want me to drop you off after we finish eating breakfast?" Abe questioned, once again oblivious to JFK's inner turmoil. 

"What---?" God damnit. He got distracted again, stupid gay idiot. "I---oh! Er, yeah. Sure." 

"Um...by the way, if you ever want to, we could have another soon. I really like doing these with you." Abe's eyes softened in, just as JFK feared, a mixture of sadness and maybe even disappointment. Maybe sadness and disappointment over JFK leaving because he had no choice (he couldn't just live here all his life, even if he wanted to). Maybe sadness and disappointment over this sleepover being more boring than the other ones. JFK didn't know which. 

"Uhh...yeah, of course. I'd like that." Jack said, and Abe's eyes slightly lit up. 

"Great! Now, c'mon. Let's go, yeah?" 

The boys made their way down to the living room, where, just as hypothesized, Abe's foster mom was making breakfast while his foster dad was looking at the weather station on TV. His mom was the first to speak, "Oh, hey, boys! Seems like you both had a good night's sleep last night." 

JFK's face only hardened, while Abe cheerfully smiled. "Yep! Still sad that Jack has to still go home, though...right, JFK?" 

And JFK could only nod, feeling nothing whatsoever. "Yeah." 

With that out of the way, Jack didn't think he could really stay over here anymore after what happened. Immediately, the intense feeling of shame and humiliation washed over him. The blatant confession. Having to listen to Topher, and a feeling of regret tugging at him after truly finding out what the latter had done to Abe. Above all, dating him? How could he trust himself to do that? If he lets anyone love him for long, they'll leave him (for a good reason), or he'll leave them. Even if he was in love with Abe, he didn't know if it would fix things if they were to date, because he's simply unlovable.

Instantly, he went for the living room instead of the table. And as expected, Abe and his parents noticed.

"Wait!" Abe spoke. "JFK, where---where're you going? The table is this way!" He humored, nervously chuckling. 

"I know. I just...I have to go." 

"...To the bathroom?" Abe said, still trying to find humor in it all. 

"No, Abe, it's..." JFK felt a pang in his chest. "I'm going home."

Abe's eyes widened into a mixture of surprise and disappointment. "What? But, Jack...breakfast! You love breakfast. I love breakfast. We agreed to eat before you leave, and I wanted to drive you home, so..." 

"It's fine, you don't have to. My, uh, house isn't that far..." Yet, this statement only seemed to make Abe worry more, which wasn't really JFK's intention. 

"I...alright. If you say so." Abe replied, clearly trying his best to smile. "See you later?" 

"...I don't know. Maybe." JFK made his way out the door, where he still had his pajamas on and belongings in his hand. Unfortunately, pajamas and the sun didn't make a good combo, and it was bright as hell outside, so it didn't do him any favors. While walking (well, more like run-walking), he could already feel shame cooking in his brain. Shame for himself, obviously. Shameful for leaving Abe's house so early. Shameful for even having that dream. Shameful for telling Abe about that "crush", which probably made him look like a hopeless romantic. In which...he wasn't too far off.

Maybe he'll apologize to him later.

____

Truth be told, JFK didn't really do anything. The weekend had gone by fast, and it was already Monday. Yet, he wanted to do anything but go to school right now. Because school's tiring. Cleo's probably gonna get on his case for fumbling again. Abe is there. Many reasons, actually. After the sleepover's events, JFK didn't think to talk with Abe once, because he didn't want to embarass himself again.

Though, a barrage of knocking on his room door caused him to groan. "What." He harshly said out loud, enough for the person to hear. Then, the door opened, and Wally had walked over to Jack's bed. 

"Honey, you've barely gotten out of bed. Don't you know it's time for school?"

"Yeah, I do." 

"So why are you still in bed?" 

He couldn't just tell his father why he wanted to stay home today. What? Because he has a broken heart? Because he once again caused a problem for himself? Because Abe probably doesn't wanna see him again? He thought for a moment before sighing.

"Because, er...I'm sick." Jack nervously stated, faking a cough afterwards. "Guess that sleepover did a huge number on me, huh?" 

Immediately, Wally's suspicion transitioned to worry. "Oh, baby...well, if you're sick, you don't have to go today." 

JFK was well surprised at how easily his dad was able to fall for that. Maybe he should tell a lie like that more often, but then that means his school attendance would start to show flaws in it. But it was only one day. What's the worst that could happen? 

____

Everything, really. The entire time Abe was walking around campus, JFK wasn't anywhere to be found. And the more places he looked, the more guilt that started to settle into his chest. Did he say something for JFK to avoid him? Was JFK getting tired of him? Did he do something wrong? He had asked pretty much everyone where he's been, and all of their answers had been the same: No. 

"I mean, he's been doing these weird social experiments last time I checked, but I just don't know where he is this time," Is a thing that Frida said.

"Beats me. He's probably at track, or something." Confucius said.

"God, if only I knew," Topher said with a smirk, and Abe gave him a rather distasteful look. 

Finally, he had one last location to look----the thinking docks. A spot where students would usually sit at, to well...think. And talk about things, whether it be personal or not. Abe found himself sitting there plenty of times throughout his life, and he could remember that day where he had confronted Joan about her help on JFK's sabotaging on Abe's campaign. And then it would be followed by him accidentally falling into water.

Only now though, the water was gone, and the docks were ridiculously high now. As Confucius said, "Climate change", was the cause of it. So now it was just him, the docks, and no water at all. Unfortunately, when he arrived there, he didn't see JFK sitting there, but rather Joan----a person he felt he hasn't talked to in years. When he saw Joan, he thought of her betrayal, yet...he wasn't in the mood to be angry right now. 

He sat across from her on another dock, as she looked besides her, face filled with surprise. "Abe?" 

Abe spoke with almost no emotion in his voice. "Yeah, yeah, it's me." 

"Mhm. What, are you coming out here just to remind me of what I did?" Joan scoffed, looking out at the sky. "Because I'm pretty sure a lot of people already made me aware of how messed up I am." 

"...Actually, not really. I'm just here to think." 

"Same." 

And the two sat there for what seemed like minutes, and Abe even felt himself being reminded of his and Joan's bond. They've been friends since childhood, and Joan had always defended him from JFK, who found some sort of enjoyment in bullying him. Now, Abe didn't want to be associated with them anymore, because, well...they tried to kill him. And everyone else. But given Joan's wording, the brunette couldn't help but feel a tinge of concern and maybe even guilt. 

Yet, he brought up a completely different topic. That topic being JFK. Surely, Joan could at least know about his whereabouts. They're exes, after all. Worst case scenario, they don't know. 

"Hey, umm...Joan?" Abe spoke up.

Joan made a "Hm?" sound, but didn't face him. 

"Do you know where JFK is, maybe? I already asked people today, but they haven't seen him either. And, I thought he'd be out here, but apparently not..." 

"...Have you ever considered that maybe he's just not at school today? I dunno. He's probably sick." 

"Ooh, right...that could be true. Why didn't I think of that? I'm just worried about him, I guess. He's been acting strange recently, and I don't know if it was something that I did, but I'm really worried about him." Abe put his chin on his palm.

"Strange? Abe, he's always strange." 

"No, not in that way. I mean...he's been really...nervous around me, is what I'm saying. And just days ago, he left my house immediately after our sleepover was done! I don't know what's causing all of this, but...yeah. That's sort of what I'm dealing with, right now." 

Joan raised an eyebrow and faced him. "Nervous? Around you?" 

"That's basically what I said, yeah." 

Joan sadly chuckled. "That reminds me of prom season back in 2003." 

"Really?"

"Yeah. You remember that dress and makeup I wore just to win you over? Well...before all of that, JFK was acting pretty nervous around me when I was wearing all that shit. He wanted me to go to prom with him, but I rejected because I wanted to date, uhh...you."

"Righttt. That. Crazy to think that was more than 20 years ago." 

Joan continued. "So, I decided to "date" him in order to make you jealous. But then those feelings for him turned real, and we did it at prom, and then we were frozen. Then, we started to date for real, and...wait a minute." Her brain had started to connect the dots, looking at Abe with surprise. 

"What? What are you looking at me like that for?" 

"JFK likes you, doesn't he?" The redhead questioned.

"Likes me? Of course he does! We're best friends, Joan. And I like him back. As a friend." 

"No, I mean...whatever. It's impossible talking about it to you. But yeah, he's probably just sick today. Don't beat yourself up over it too much." Joan reassured. "If anything, it's not like he's gonna stop being your friend. You're a really cool person, Abe." 

"...Thanks, Joan." Wow. Abe didn't expect those words to come out of his mouth right now. "I've gotta get going. If anyone catches me out here sitting with you, I'm not gonna hear the end of it." 

But as Abe got up, Joan held out a hand, making him pause. "Abe, wait. Can we at least...be friends again? It's starting to get kind of lonely. Topher and his stupid gang keeps trying to get me to join the Bleacher Creatures." 

"I---uh---" Uncertainty started to show in Abe's voice. "I dunno...it's kinda risky, don't you think?"

Joan gave him a look of slight sadness, turning back. "Yeah. That was kinda stupid of me to ask. The last thing I want is for you to become an outcast, too." 

"I'm kind of...already one. Just not in the way you are."

"But at least you actually have friends, Abe! You have Frida, Confucius, Harriet, hell, even Cleo. I have no one. Nobody likes me anymore." 

Abe bristled at the thought. To say that he was an outcast was sort of disrespectful to Joan, because he wasn't the one who sabotaged everyone and tried to kill them. He wasn't the one who ended up with no friends. He wasn't the one who was looked at with disgust and hatred everytime he came to school. 

"I'm...damn, I'm sorry. Yeah, that was uncalled for."

"It's okay. It was sort of bound to happen, anyway. Me becoming the school pariah again." 

"Well...if you're really serious about this..." As hard as it was to let go of his disappointment for Joan's actions, he felt that the magenta-haired clone deserved at least some sort of mercy, because she really did want to make things right again, and doesn't just want to clear her image. 

"Then I guess...we can be friends again." Joan's face lit up, but Abe had to put a finger to her lips before speaking again. "But! We can't let anybody know. One slip-up, and we're both gonna be at the bottom." 

"Well...as long as we get to be at the bottom together." Joan teased, and Abe found himself blushing only slightly.

"Yeah...but still." 

And they both shook hands, followed by Abe leaving the docks. As long as the secret doesn't get out, nothing bad could happen.

____

JFK sat in the living room, eating nothing but cold cereal at what he swore was 3 PM while watching TV. Pretty much everyone is out of school by now, and here he is. He should be doing something, but he didn't have even a little ounce of energy to do much. He only stared at the TV. Stared, and stared, and stared. "Too much TV is bad for you!" He heard one of his dad's say to the other, but right now, he didn't care. However, his sulking and boredom was disrupted by a ringing from his phone.

Upon turning it on, JFK's heart had sinked into his chest when he saw Cleo's name. She was calling him. About something. God, he hoped it's not gonna be just her lecturing him. He hesitated for a bit. Then, reluctantly clicked the "Answer" button. 

"...Hello?" JFK said into the phone, preparing for what Cleo was about to say to him. 

"Hey, JFK. I know you're probably sick right now, but I just wanted to tell you about this party I'm holding next week, and I was wondering if you could maybe, I don't know, come by?" 

Party. He hasn't heard that name in a while. 

"Party? For what?" 

"For me and Frida's upcoming anniversary. Harriet and Confucius did the same thing, so we thought, "Why not give it a try?" It's nothing big, though. Just a few guests, except for you-know-who." 

Silence.

"Joan, Jack. It's Joan. I thought that was super obvious." 

"Oh---uhh----yeah! How could I forget?" 

"Mhm. But it's gonna be fun. Everyone would hate if you didn't show up. Maybe even your little boyfriend, Abe." 

Your little boyfriend, Abe. JFK knew Cleo was teasing him, and it wasn't her intention be rude, but it kind of stung. Because he knows damn well Abe isn't his boyfriend, and won't ever be his boyfriend anytime soon.

"Shut it," He spoke. 

Cleo giggled before continuing. "But speaking of Abe..." Oh no. This is what he feared. "You made any progress?" 

"I, uhh..." Well, he did, but at the same time, not really. "I---I did, in fact!" 

"Wait, really? Shocking. Tell me." 

"Well...we had a sleepover. And before we went to sleep, I told Abe everything..." 

"AND WHAT DID HE SAY?" She sounded way too invested at rhat point----a bit too invested. Surely Jack would get words of disappointment and maybe tiredness if he were to tell her that he hasn't really made that much progress after all. 

"He...okay, so...I, uh, told him. But not in the way you think." 

"...I'm listening." 

"I told him that it was some guy. But that guy is actually him, I just didn't say it." 

Cleo's words, as Jack fearfully predicted, were grim with disappointment. "You fumbled again, didn't you." 

"...Kinda?" 

"You can't just say "Kinda" to a yes or no question, Jack. Sometimes, it gets harder to defend you." 

"Look, I'm sorry, alright? I'll try harder next time." 

"You always say that. You go, "But I'll try harder!" but then you end up tripping over yourself again and again." Cleo sighed. "And I shouldn't care this much. I really shouldn't. But I'm your friend, and it feels so...I don't know. Embarassing. To see you do that." 

"...But the sleepover." 

"Right. I guess...you saying that to Abe, but not really telling him is sort of the right step forward. But I'm gonna tell you this, Jack." 

And JFK kept listening, probably even swallowing nervously.

"Nothing's actually gonna happen if you keep beating around the bush. The cycle's just gonna continue. You come, you cower, you leave. You gotta make a move at that party." 

The brunette's eyebrows furrowed, and he mumbled an "Alright, then," Before hanging up. He didn't hate Cleo for how it seemed that she was pressuring him----in reality, she wasn't, and she was absolutely right. Jack kept running away from Abe whenever it came to confrontations, or hang-outs. It's never gonna get better if he just keeps doing that. He's never gonna make actual progress that way. 

Cleo had basically persuaded him, and damn her, it worked, she had gotten her way, and now he was determined to go to that party and...kiss him. Anything with Abe that comes out of that night is a guaranteed win for both him and Cleo, because Cleo wouldn't be tired anymore. And Jack wouldn't come home hating himself again. Not like he already hated himself both in the present and past anyway.

Really, Jack figured that locking himself up in the house for the next few weeks would be his go-to plan, but now? He doesn't think so. 

Chapter Text

So JFK didn't go along with his plan, and he went to school the next day. He willingly accepted Cleo's invitation, and the following days, he would show up to school and not dress or act different for once. It was a neat sign of progress, and Jack didn't wallow like he always would, because next week would be his time. His moment. Finally, he'll be able to tell Abe what he's been feeling all this time. He doesn't know what the answer will be----whether it's good or bad, something positive needs to come out of it at least. 

Between boring classes, track and gym, Jack occupied his thoughts full of that party and Abe. What will happen at the party? Is Abe actually gonna be there (duh)? What if this was just all a setup by Cleo to get the two together? And what about Joan? What about Topher? Too many questions. So it would be a relief to him that all of those questions would be answered at said party. Though, the jock still had a week to himself before then, so he decided to take a visit to someone's house.

Confucius was a guy for sore eyes. Not as in he was terrible, but the way he dressed would come off as "too bright." As so did Frida and Harriet. JFK didn't expect himself to become friends with the guy so quickly, especially because they were in no way the same. Confucius was this energetic guy who wanted to become an influencer/internet celebrity (not to mention he's INCREDIBLY rich), while JFK was this seemingly stereotypical jock that gave off '60s flair, and his only ever knowledge of the internet was AOL and his semi-working computer at home. 

That was until his first sleepover of course. As said earlier, it's a night JFK would never forget----in the past, he's only had a few friends (though, could he really call them that?). But overtime, they forgot about him, and Ponce had passed sometime afterward. It wasn't too far off to say that in the present day, JFK didn't exactly have any friends to call his own. But Confucius basically changed all of that. He invited Jack over for a "Bro night," (In other words, a sleepover), and for the first time in years, JFK saw the appeal of hanging out with other boys, rather than seeing them in school and out of school (only at a minimum, though). 

Now he was looking at his phone, the light from it illuminating off of his face. He had just sent a text to the other clone. Thank god for cellphones to be honest----back in the day, he and the other first generation clones had to text on flip phones, and in general the whole experience was much more slower and deliberate than today's texting. He was thankful for the fact that he could text more faster on a thing that seemed like a "future device" for the first generation clones. It was honestly convenient too---he could be able to tell when his message was read. 

Confucius shot back a text. 

Confucius (my BSF!) 🩵: oh btdubs my parents arent home. they're almost never home anyway so

JFK 🏈: 👍

By the time he sent that singular emoji (another thing he was grateful for), he was already at the front of Confucius mansion. Even in a normal suburban neighborhood, you'd be met with the sight of a luxurious house in the middle of it all, and it's much more crazier that it belonged to a person like Confucius. Jack would honestly be jealous, but now wasn't the time. He knocked, and he instantly heard footsteps approaching from the inside. 

"Jafe!" (A nickname that Confucius used often) The brightly-haired clone exclaimed. "Come on in, man!" 

JFK stepped in, clamoring through the door and sitting on the other's couch (which was way too lengthy, even for two people). "So, uh, you wanted me to come over to..?" 

"Talk. Yeah. I know that what happened in the cafeteria like a week ago was kinda---yeah, sorry about that. But your whole crush on Abe seems really serious. And if you know me, I have the best ideas!" 

Really, JFK found it humorous. Of course Confucius was one to have the most ideas (even if they end up going wrong), because his clonefather was a philosopher. He wasn't exactly the smartest person in the entire world either (like JFK), but at times he could be really wise when needed, and gave great advice when you least expect it. "So, you know that party that Cleo's been talking about?"

Aaannnd here comes that topic. JFK shrugged. "She called me up sometime ago about it." 

"Great. Everybody knows that at a house party, it's the best time for you to get out your feelings! Maybe it would be less awkward to confess if you and Abe are surrounded by people. Like...me and Harriet's party for example." 

JFK's expression darkened. He remembers that the only few times he's been here, was when he officially broke up with Joan for good. So it was good memory for Harriet and Confucius, and definitely a good memory for Cleo and Frida, but not at all a good memory for him. Or Joan for that matter.

"Yeah, yeah, I remember. Can you just get to the point already?"

"I already told you, dude. Just take your chance when the moment is right. Before you know it, Abe's gonna see how much you like him. And you two? Honest to god? You have something really special. You're boys. And that's a bond stronger than whatever those fruits you smoked were called." 

"Raisins?" 

"Yeah! Exactly! A bond stronger than raisins..." Confucius grinned, standing off of the couch and striking a dramatic pose. "You will come back stronger. A man fueled with confidence and a boyfriend." 

Jack chuckled at his friend's dramatized stance. "That's, uh, great to hear, but...the thing is, I'm nervous." 

"I know, bro. Which is why...we're gonna act!" 

"...Act?" JFK shyly said, puzzled. So this is what he invited him over for, huh...

"It's all simple. I'm gonna pretend to be Abe, and you'll just be you---JFK." Confucius sat back down as Jack froze up slightly. Confucius? Acting out as Abe? Wouldn't that make it weird? Given that the person acting probably doesn't hold a tinge of romantic feelings for him...(not to mention the fact that he's still dating Harriet). 

But he guessed that was the point. "Wait, so...you be Abe, and I just be myself? And tell you what I wanna say?"

"Exactly!" Confucius grinned. "But remember---all of what you're saying is what you wanna say to Abe. Like, what you wanna tell him at that party. Just be straight with me. Straight up. Pretend you're talking to Abe." 

"I mean..." JFK slowly took the boy's hands, slowly closing his eyes. 

Pretend you're talking to Abe...the words repeated in JFK's head like a mantra. Be straight up with him, Jack. Don't say some stupid bullshit or cower like you always do and hate yourself afterward. You can't be like that. Not now. Not ever. Or at least until the party, but you'll succeed. Right? Wait. I'm grabbing Confucius---Abe's hand. Don't be a coward, you gorgeous idiot. Be honest. 

And so, he started. He opened his eyes back up, and right there was Abe, facing him, beautiful silver eyes and dorky smile. Brown hair, black goatee. Jack immediately felt heat seizing his face. Good god, I'm in danger.

"...I-Uh..." He stammered, trying to look for words. "I've been...hiding these feelings...for as long as I could count..."

"Go on," Said Confucius. 

"And...I...er...like you, Abe." GOD, THIS IS SO AWKWARD. "...That's it." 

Soon, Abe's face was no longer visible, and Confucius was only seen. "Wait, really? That's all?"

The brunette crossed his arms. "Well, what the hell do you want from me?" 

"Not really much, but like...given that you're JFK, I would've expected a bit more." Confucius got up, smiling. "But, no shame in it. Just say the same thing at the party when the time is right, but with a bit more...confidence. Abe's definitely gonna think you're not being honest about it by talking awkwardly like that." 

A combination of both annoyance and sadness flashed over JFK's face. "...How do you know if he'll even accept at all?" 

"Well, I mean..." Confucius rubbed the back of his neck. "He seems to really cherish your guys friendship. Whenever we're talking, there's only so much of you me and the others can take. No hate though, you're my real-life mutual." 

The word "friendship" came to mind right after. "That's...that's the thing, Confucius. I don't even know if he sees me that way." 

"Of course he does! He shows obvious signs---" 

"What signs?" Jack interrupted.

And the philosopher clone tried to find words, as well as evidence to support his reasoning. "Well...he...talks about you a bunch. That's one thing. And he...values you guys? Alot?" 

JFK scoffed. As predicted, there were absolutely no signs Abe would like him the same way he does. He could never be in love with a freak like him. To think that JFK ruled the possibility of Abe being in love with him was basically selfish. Even if Jack goes to that stupid party, there's no way Abe could return those feelings, because he's said it once: he likes him as a friend, and he thinks he's a great friend. His confidence instantly blown over, because the one thing he was still worried about was getting rejected big time, because Abe only sees him as "one of the guys." 

But after all, Jack couldn't exactly blame him.

Soon after, Confucius' eyes widened when he saw the jock making his way to the front door. "Waitwaitwait---you're leaving? Already? But you just got here! We can still do something!" 

A lowly sigh came out of the clone's mouth. "I only came here for one thing." 

And as quick as it all began, JFK left, the front door closing behind him as Confucius looked on with a face of worry.

____

JFK 🏈: I'm sorry Joan

JFK 🏈: I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to do that with Harriet

JFK 🏈: I really don't want this to be over, just please come back Joan it doesn't have to be this way.

God...

What a bunch of embarassing texts constantly trying to guilt Joan into coming back. It scared Jack even more that he remembers those events clear as day. The day he kissed Harriet behind Joan's back and was forgiven for it, even though he knew damn well he didn't deserve that at all. The day he suffered a heat-induced spiral and overhearing Joan saying he preferred the smart JFK over the actual one----later on, he would say that Joan deserved someone better, and allowed him to break up with him. The day he sent those texts, and the day he and Joan officially broke up, and that same day, he had no room to cry, yet he did. 

That was the end of JoanFK. The perceived "Clone High Power Couple", that felt they were on top of the world at the time. Now that it was over, Jack had no one. And it hurt even more that he strayed away from Joan because of his actions in the Death Maze. It crossed JFK's mind, How did we go from being a power couple to this? They both clearly loved each other, and Joan was the only one out of all of the girls he made out with special. He got nervous at the thought of them breaking up, and even a bunch of people agreed they were cute. 

And it all came crashing down because of fucking JFK.

His stomach did flip-flops (and no, not the app) reading the conversation----the many messages he sent, and the same ones that were left on read from Joan. It was honestly so laughable on how pathetic he was. He thought that, just from a few pity messages, he would be able to win back Joan's love. But JFK has rocks for brains. He causes problems for himself.

...

What if the same thing happens with Abe? What if they do date, but JFK messes it all up?

With a low groan, JFK buried his face in his hand. He made his way into his house, where he immediately noticed that it was about 9 PM when he had arrived. The living room appeared to not have anyone in there---TV off, area dark. Whatever. At least it gives him some alone time to process the rest of the evening. That's until he shut the door, and a figure came from the en suite kitchen. 

"Who is that?" The figure said, voice not worried enough, but still just wanting a confirmation on whether or not there was a robber entering. 

The voice nearly made JFK jump out of his skin, especially when combined to the dark living room (and the jingling of the house keys). He turned around, and his foster dad Wally was seen in a robe. "Jesus, dad! Don't ever scare me like that again!" 

"Sorry, hon...how did your hangout with your friend go?" 

Jack's frown turned into a flat line. "Terrible. Next question." 

"Okay...well, I know this probably isn't the right time to ask, but are you doing alright? Me and your other father's been worried." 

Jack's eyes widened only a bit. Moments of clarity like this weren't rare, but he didn't expect for them to have the talk now. "Uh...yes! I'm doing great. No, uh, need to worry." 

"Are you sure? You came home looking like you need to cry." 

Jack stood silently, with Wally waiting for an answer. He can't just tell him that he's been dwelling on the past, reading his and Joan's messages over and over again just to torture himself. That'd just create more talk and more problems. 

"Well..." Fuck. No use in avoiding it. His dad was already looking at him with a knowing expression. "I'm going to this party. Next week. And the boy I like...I'm planning on confessing to him. But I'm scared." 

Ah. The age-old "Nervous of confessing" teenage problem. JFK's already mentioned this to him before, but now it was time for them to have an actual talk. Maybe without mentioning how he and Carl got married and adopted JFK. 

"You're scared that he won't return your feelings?" 

JFK looked at him with a bit of embarrassment. "How did you know that?" 

"Because I've seen it. And I've experienced it myself. You see, back in the day, I wasn't really open to the world yet. Societal expectations were incredibly strict, so I kept myself repressed, even if it did do some harm." 

"Is this just another attempt to tell me how you guys got married?"

A smile crossed Wally's face as he let out a laugh. "I promise it's not that this time. And...being repressed half of my life made me feel, you know. Not very good about myself. People weren't okay or even fine with the idea of a gay relationship or gay marriage. It wasn't even legal until 2015!" 

"Wait, really?!" JFK exclaimed with genuine interest. 

"Mhm. But then I met your father, and...oh, wait. Nevermind about all of that. But point is...it's the new age, Jackie. You'll never know if Abe---if that's his name, will like you back. But there's a possibility he will, because you've been friends for so long. Like I said, it's the new age. No matter if you like one gender or two, me and your father will always support you." Yet, he couldn't help but joke once again. "Besides...maybe when you grow up and you two get married in the future, I'd expect a grandchild or two." 

"Wh---DAD! Don't say that! That's not even how that works!" 

Wally let out a chuckle at the sheepish and flustered look on his foster son's face. "I'm just playing with you, sweetheart. Do whatever you want. But you don't gotta rush things right off the bat. Take him out on a date, or make or buy him something from the heart." 

Taking Abe out on a date...well, that option was pretty useless, given that he knew how the last one went. The embarrassment. The dress. The crying. The numbness. God, he was so dumb that day. But making something from the heart didn't sound too bad...if he wanted to get out his love for Abe, he had to show it somehow. Maybe a gift. Maybe another one of those top hat nightlights Abe kept in his bedroom (since he was a child at that!!!). Or...a scrapbook. Even though he's terrible at doing that kind of thing. 

Maybe he'll show it to Abe, and Abe will go, "Oh, JFK, this is so cute and adorable, like you, who I totally like by the way and definitely do not see myself staying friends with, because you aren't disgusting in the slightest!" 

Oh, yeah. He can already taste the victory.

"Cool, uh, thanks!" JFK zipped up to his bedroom, shutting the door behind him and flipping on his light. If he had to stay up all night making something, tonight was that night. He sat at his desk, thinking about where to start. A scrapbook...he didn't have the enough material for that stuff, but he did have paper and pencils. And glue. Maybe this could work...

He remembered the Snowflake Day gift exchanging at Cleo's party back in 2003, where Abe gave the former a gift that he made of his own---a handmade book filled with free coupons. Of course Cleo didn't like it---she told him that she wanted something expensive. But, JFK would go all out with his. Give it flair, cut out a giraffe, and halfway, he would feel proud of himself----that he could even see Abe being proud.

He's never spent this much time working on something like this, because by the time he was almost fnished, it was 11:31 PM. And yes, he felt himself drifting off to sleep. Though, when he did, he would feel Abe, whether it be eyes or hands, and it would jolt him back awake and continue.

After a bunch of glue, scissors, paper cutouts and whatnot, he was finally finished---at a whopping 12:21 AM. He went over the coupon book---one free fist bump, one free cuddle...man, this was extremely out of character. What else did he expect, other than feeling himself sink into the ground at how weird this was?

...No. He can't think like that. He's worked so hard on it, and it would go to waste. It wasn't the best-looking coupon book (hell, it was JFK's first time making one, and he followed a tutorial online thanks to the internet), but it didn't look like the worst one, either. 

The texture was nice. The writing was decent. It was sweet and thoughtful. Everything Abe deserved. JFK cracked a small smile as he left the book on his desk and walked over to his bed. Putting on his pajamas and crawling into bed, he yawned as he looked ovwr at his desk once more.

"Please let this be worth it..." He mumbled under his breath. 

And in less than three minutes, JFK passed out cold while snuggling under his warm bed covers as his phone screen was left on those same messages. 

Chapter Text

Cleo had lied.

It's been a week later. It wasn't a "little get-together" at all---what JFK saw when his car arrived to the front of her house were a ton of guests gathered on the inside. It wasn't exactly too much for someone like him, but jesus, would it have hurt Cleo to tell the truth? But whatever. It's not like he hasn't ever been to a party before, so he didn't know what he expected. 

He sighed, and got out of his car, a bit anxious yet eager to know where the night would take him. Abe's definitely here, he thought, and that sort of relieved him. Wait, no it didn't. He isn't supposed to be relieved. Abe's definitely here. I already know I'm gonna mess shit up. Was he really about to come here just to get what he needed off of his chest to Abe? 

Well, he had no other choice. His feet were already guiding him to the door, and he rung the doorbell, preparing himself through breathing excercises. The person who came to the door was, unsurprisingly, Cleo, wearing a white off-shoulder shirt with jeans. JFK on the other hand, wore just a red band tee with jeans.

She didn't say a hello, rather something else. "Huh. I expected you to show your usual fashion sense at a party like this, but I guess it's whatever." 

Jack looked at her, slightly offended. "I kinda just threw it on." 

"I'm just messing with you, geez," Cleo said, opening the door more widely this time. "Me and the others are upstairs playing games. You can join us, or just stay down here and do whatever." 

JFK looked around him as he stepped inside. Drunk teens sitting or laying on couches (watching TV or just talking), some are hanging out in the kitchen, and he heard the sounds of laughter as well coming from a few people. He knew all of these people from school, no surprise there. But oddly enough, he didn't feel exactly comfortable sitting in said living room or hanging out in said kitchen. The Brontes would probably find some way to flirt with him, or his so-called friends would call him over and act like they're on good terms now.

He wasn't overstimulated. Just a bit...lonely. But it's not gonna last, he thinks, and any sight of his friends or Abe would wash away those feelings instantly. Cleo went upstairs as JFK went to the kitchen to grab himself something. We all know what it is----beer in a can. Figured that if he's gonna be at this party for more than a few minutes, he might as well take the edge off somehow during it. He only waved once and said a few "Hello's" to everyone who saw him in there. 

There was Toussaint, and Catherine, and as expected the Bronte Sisters and those cheerleaders. Then there were those sons of bitches Julius and Jesús. 

Going upstairs, he passed by a few doors---one of them being the bathroom. The curtains were closed in the bathtub, so for all he knows, there could be a couple making out or some guy sleeping in there. On the toilet, Van Gogh (which he didn't think Cleo would invite---in fact, there's a possibility the guy could've just snuck in or Cleo was just being nice) was sitting and scrolling on his phone. Of course, Jack paid no mind to it and arrived to Cleo's bedroom, where the five were (no sign of Topher or Joan. Thank god). 

Unlike downstairs, which had speakers blasting Olivia Rodrigo and Mila Brulee on repeat, it was fairly quiet up here. On the floor sat Cleo, Frida (wearing a white t-shirt with green stripes and baggy pants), Confucius (wearing a bright pink hoodie), Harriet (wearing a yellow sleeveless button-up shirt with a jean skirt and stockings), and...Abe. Wearing what he always would----a blue flannel hoodie and a Weezer tee with black pants. 

Confucius was the first to speak. "Jafe! Hell yeah, glad you could make it!" 

"You took forever in a day to get here. No hate, though." Frida humored. 

Finally, Abe spoke. "Hey, JFK! We were just about to play spin the bottle." 

And Jack felt his face heating up at the sight of Abe. "Y-Yeah...count me in..."

JFK sat down in a circle besides Confucius (already learned his lesson the first time he sat with Abe at lunch), eager to know the rules of the game. Spin the Bottle wasn't a new thing, it had been around since the 20th century----but JFK never played those types of games, while the others probably have. 

Luckily for him, Cleo started to explain. "Okay, so---the rules---for anyone who doesn't know, but you should anyway---you basically have to spin a bottle and whoever it lands on, you have to kiss that person, no matter what. Also, you have to kiss in the closet. Or, I guess that's how it works." She pointed over to her walk-in closet---probably waiting for someone to go in. 

Oh. Now it started to sound awfully familiar.

"So, who's gonna go first?" 

"Me---because I'm the only brave one around here." Frida teased, and Cleo playfully punched her on the shoulder. 

"Shut up!" The Egyptian clone said through a giggle.

So, Frida was the first to spin. The six all looked anxiously at the bottle, wondering who it was gonna land on (well, JFK now understood why the game appeared fun and anticipating), and it landed on a certain pink-haired female, who screamed before laughing. So this was the game...JFK thought about the possibilities. He'd be happy if his first spin was to land on Abe, but at the same time, the probability of it landing on someone else was a 50/50. Was this really okay with everyone? What if it lands on Cleo? What if it lands on Harriet, and they accidentally fall in love with each other again like last time? 

As Frida took Harriet's hand, followed by the two going over to the closet----Jack couldn't help but question his friend besides him. "Is this, uh, really alright with you?" He whispered.

"I mean, it is a game. Long as it's not genuine, ykwim?" Confucius replied. Confucius saying slang/abbreviations out loud again. Classic. 

After a few minutes, the two walked out of the closet, and there was Frida with a singular pink-colored kiss mark on her cheek. JFK would've expected Cleo to look a bit pissed, but she was the one who went along with the game, so she looked the opposite. Instead, she was laughing. 

"I couldn't bring myself to actually kiss her on the mouth, to be honest," Harriet nervously chuckled. "It's a friend kiss!" 

The two sat down as Cleo went, "Honestly? Just tell me the color of your lipstick. I need it bad." 

"Later..." Harriet rested her hand on the bottle "Guess it's my turn then, huh---" 

"I'll go next!" Abe exclaimed, a bit too excited before noticing he cut Harriet off. "Wait, sorry, I'm being impatient again. Huge habit." 

Well, at least it was something JFK could relate to. But when he looked at the rest, he noticed a knowing look on Cleo's face. No. She wouldn't. 

"Actually...go ahead, Abe. I bet you'll land on someone good."

"Huh? But what about---" Then, Harriet looked around her, and began to catch on with a slight smile. "Oohhh...I see." 

How embarassing. Cleo was gonna set him up again, as always. Man, she always put in so much effort to get him to be with Abe, but it almost never ends up working. Maybe it could land on someone else, so JFK wasn't sure that Cleo was being 100% predictable. With that being said, Abe was gonna spin instead of him. Jack prayed that it would land on him, but then again, he would be relieved if someone else were to kiss Abe instead. But then he'd get weirdly jealous? God...

The bottle spinned, and spinned. And yes, JFK gulped. And yes, Abe sat there joyous and oblivious, like there wasn't a chance he was gonna make the worst spin of his life and it would land on someone so weird and gross like Jack. Like magic, and as if god hadn't listened, the bottle settled on JFK. 

Oh no.

Oh no. 

Really, he should be excited. Excitedly anxious. Jack was just anxious. What if he accidentally kisses his nose? What if he starts chickening out the minute they get into that closet. Or, at worst, they would kiss, and him nor Abe wouldn't like it? What if Abe wouldn't like it, but JFK would? 

"JFK? JFK? JFK?" Confucius nudged the jock's shoulder, and he snapped out of his thoughts. 

"Yeah? Yeah---what's up?" 

"...Uh. The bottle landed on you, dude." 

"Right..." 

Still stunned and not given a choice to back out, JFK could only nod, and Abe gave him a wide smile. 

"Guess it's our turnnn!" He said in that same sing-songy voice.

"Alright, you two love birds---" Frida began to speak teasingly. "Seven whole minutes in that closet to yourselves." 

"SEVEN MINUTES?!" JFK blurted out, face now red. 

"You kinda deserve it, man." 

"Did you hear that, JFK? Seven minutes! That's enough time, right?" Abe questioned. Yes but I need it to be more than seven minutes because those'll be wasted with me not making a move once. 

JFK received a text, pulling his phone out of his pocket.

Cleo: you better actually do this or im gonna drop you emotionally and literally

He knew she was joking...probably. He sighed and put his phone back, grabbing Abe's hand as they both stood up. "Alright, then...let's do this." 

____

Fuck, this was so awkward. 

Here they were, inside Cleo's closet. Light's off, area so huge that JFK would honestly sleep in here if he wanted to. Of course, they went to the back of the closet, so the muffled sounds would be a bit harder to hear (yes, the closet is that large). The two sat down, unsure of what to do. 

"Y'know...I think kissing's more fun in the dark." 

Jack's face could only do nothing but heat up more as he realized, Wow, I'm actually about to kiss him. Even his skin tingled with a bit of excitement. But one problem was how he was gonna kiss him. Go for it? Be bold? Nice and slow? Talk first? Talk first. Definitely talk first.

"How do you, er, know all that?" 

"Because me and Cleo did it once. It was really romantic, and brought out the lightning in her eyes. Because there was actual lightning outside." 

Oh, yeah. Abe and Cleo. That was a thing that happened. When in 2003, JFK held a house party the first week of school, and that was Abe's first kiss with Cleo, even though Jack swore to him that she would be on his list of women to make love with. It did end up happening eventually, but it would all be for naught, because Cleo still ended up with Abe. 

"Yeah...uh...about that." 

"Hm?" Abe hummed, puzzled.

"You and Cleo...do you still think about how thing's went?" 

And unlike JFK, Abe didn't have sex with Cleo. It was gonna happen at prom, but never did, and JFK didn't know why up until he and Abe became friends and spilled it out to him (the "floating Joan heads thing was a real thing apparently). As he could remember, he and Cleo were making out in one of the other sectors of the meat locker until he realized he was in love with Joan. Joan on the other hand, had just "finished" with JFK. 

It made Jack laugh out loud the first time he heard the story, and thought, what would've happened if we weren't enemies at that time? What if I had the same crush on him in 2003? Societal expectations were huge back in the 2000's, and toxic masculinity existed and pretty much still does. So if JFK were to have a crush on Abe during that time, he'd find himself being judged for it more than today. 

"Well...only sometimes. To make it short, we were stupid. And Cleo found her soulmate already, so I don't dwell on it. She and Frida deserve each other. But I don't think she ever brought it up, even to me. Maybe it's something she wants to forget, who knows?" 

"...So, you're not hurt by that?" 

"Not anymore." 

Hm. Abe did a much better job at letting things go than Jack did, which said alot and was honestly humiliating for him at it's finest. Abe was always better at doing things than JFK would, and he already said that to him numerous times, yet it was true. The reason why JFK didn't like Abe in the first place was because he was jealous he was good at everything he wasn't. Which is what drove that hatred. While Abe could only acknowledge that him and Cleo dated few and far between, JFK would hurt himself seeing the messages he left Joan. The ones that were read, but were never replied to.

They only had seven minutes. JFK needed to speed this up somehow. He grabbed Abe's hand. 

"Be honest with me. Do you ever see us being a thing in the future?" 

"Hm? Well...yeah! Because we're friends!" 

"You know that's not what I meant," Jack replied, agitated.

"Huh? Then what is?" 

God, Abe, don't make me slap you across the face. You're lucky I love you. 

"Nevermind. We're keeping the others waiting. Let's get this shit over with." 

Abe shrugged. "You don't have to say "nevermind" on everything, Jack." 

"I don't do that." 

"Yes, you do." 

"Well, then, I don't mean it." 

"But I did wanna know how you're feeling recently. I was worried you weren't gonna show up because of what happened at the sleepover."

Ah. Right. The early departure.

"W-Well, I, um..." JFK stammered, trying to look for something to say. "I had to feed my cat, or whatever." 

"You have a cat?" 

"No! A dog!" 

"...You're not fooling anyone, man." 

Jack looked up at the guy, who now had a bit of a serious look on his face than anything else. Should he just say it? Right here? Right now? The more time he waited, the more he wasted that time, too. The others are probably out there waiting for them to come back out. Then, he didn't expect to feel whatever came next---Abe now had his hands on his waist.

"I think this is how Cleo did it back then?" Abe said, clearly naive to a very blushy JFK. "Well? You said you wanted to get this done and over with, so we might as well do it now." Even worse----he pulled the jock closer up to him. 

Oh shit. To say that Jack's heart was ready to explode was a bit of an understatement. He was standing here, face-to-face with his crush, who was just as eager to kiss him. Did...did Abe like him the same way? Because holy hell, he sure was acting like it. Or maybe he just wanted to know what it's like to kiss a boy. Still, JFK allowed Abe to pursuit, and he shivered. And he still felt gross and weird. How did he look right now? His hair was probably a hot mess. He probably has a pimple on his nose that he didn't check yet. 

Abe noticed how absolutely awkward JFK looked, and chuckled. "Are you nervous?" He was literally acting like he was an expert despite having only dated one girl...and Jack dated plenty, yet here he was...

"Wha? No--! Not at all! I, uh, never get nervous?" 

Abe laughed. "That's a damn lie and you know it." 

Oh yeah. Jack's so incredibly fucked. 

Their noses were less than an inch away from brushing against each other's, breath dancing and the heat radiating off of their faces. JFK didn't have the time to check around himself as Abe leaned in...closed his eyes...and...a bunch of bile flew out of JFK's mouth. Onto the ground. Near Abe's mouth. Abe quickly backed away as the jock started having a coughing fit. 

Abe yelled out a panicked "What the hell?!" As JFK continued spilling his guts out on the floor. He already knew thats a smell not coming out of the floor unless deep cleaned. He already knew Abe was standing there, not knowing what to do. It just...happened. Clearly, his stomach would churn with nervousness, but it ended up going to his throat. 

After a bit, JFK stared at Abe----with the look he feared most. Disgust. He was disgusted by JFK. The fact that he would throw up in such an intimate moment was so, so much more worse. He quickly bolted out, running out of the room where the others were still sitting. It didn't take a bit until they started smelling the stench of vomit. 

____

He sat by himself in the bathroom. Washing his face. That wasn't real. That wasn't a real situation that just happened. He was shaking, more than he would've wanted to. The taste of vomit still invaded his mouth. The words filled his brain like a parasite. Did you really think you would do something right there? As expected, you couldn't. You're hopeless.

Nobody else in that bathroom was present but him. Well, the curtains at the bath were still closed. Someone still could've been passed out in there. But that was the least of his worries---god he was so stupid. He was so close. And then he ruins it. He scratched his skin----repeatedly, hardly, wanting to deal any damage with himself for ruining the night. Tears filled his eyes. Both at the pain and the fact that he embarassed himself yet again. It was like the world enjoyed torturing him.

His skin screamed in pain, but he didn't stop, and it got to the point where it reddened, and blood beaded up from the scars. It felt so bad that it felt so good. He deserved it. He deserved everything bad coming to him. Abe probably left early. Hell, everyone was probably so disgusted with him that they all left (except for Cleo). 

A knock.

"Hey, Jack? Can you unlock the door?"

Speak of the devil. 

Jack silently unlocked the bathroom door, letting in the other clone. He walked in, surprisingly calm. "Are you doing okay?" 

"What do you want. Are you here to tell me how pathetic I, uh, am?" 

"Uhh...no..? I just wanted to tell you that the others left already. Cleo wants you out, she's pretty pissed that you threw up in her closet and sorta ruined her and Frida's anniversary party therefore." 

As expected. God. How worse can this night get?

"...So, I did ruin everything." 

"I wouldn't say everything, but---" 

"No, Lincoln. It was everything. I fucked up. I'm hopeless." 

"Don't say that! Okay---maybe the whole closet thing was a bit gross, but----"

"Shut up!" Jack shouted, which startled the taller one. "Don't even. Don't even try to pacify me on this, because you don't have the balls to admit it."

Silence. 

"I didn't ever see myself saying this." 

Abe's eyes darted to him, curious.

"...The reason why I'm still alive is because of you." 

"What..?" 

"Don't you get it?" He stared at the other, dead serious. "I always hated myself. My whole entire life, I hated myself. I hated how I always treated others, and how my relationships ended so quickly, because the problem was me. The only reason why I'm still here is because of one person. Because god, I can't ever get him off my fuckin' mind." 

But Abe didn't break the deafening silence that followed. 

"It blows my mind how I ever thought I was better than you." 

...Abe looked down at JFK's scars. 

"So, why don't you hate me? After everything...why?" 

Really, Abe could've done everything he wanted. He could've chosen to not speak to JFK for the rest of his life, even after the childhood bullying. He could've chosen to not talk to him again. But he chose to be friends with him---something JFK never saw himself do until the Death Maze. He was Abe Lincoln. Of course he has everything going for him. 

"It's so unfair...why couldn't I have been you? Why couldn't I be like you? Why?" 

JFK was JFK. He doesn't have jack shit going for him. He only fills in to be a person in someone else's life. To be a horny sex object that everyone uses. To be another person someone wants to change for their own benefit. 

"It's so...unfair..." And finally, right in front of Abe for the first time in forever, Jack cried. Cried so hard his head hurt. "Why do you like me so much?" 

It's like Abe could reach his deepest feelings, because he held out a hand and touched Jack's face---hand wet with tears. "I hated you back then because of how much you bullied me. But that kind of just went away overtime. Even in childhood, I wanted to be friends with you, but...you always seemed to push me away. But I understood." 

"Understood what." 

"That you were just dealing with your own things. I mean---sure, it didn't excuse the things you did, but you told me at one of your sleepovers that you had this...self-hatred kind of thing. If that's what you call it. You had that when you were younger too." 

JFK sniffed. It's like Abe read him like a book.

"Yeah." 

Even in his most vulnerable moments, he pushed Abe away. The day Ponce died, JFK was sitting alone at the docks, and the person who comforted him was the least expected---Abe. Who cuddled him and cradled him, but even minutes before that, Jack was just rejecting him and threatened to punch him. Abe was nice, and basically had no reason to hate himself. JFK was everything he wanted to kill in himself---and that still managed to be an understatement.

"I don't hate you, even for that gross vomiting thing. Not now, not ever. And I can keep telling you for as long as you want me to...I'm really glad we're friends, Jack. You mean the world to me." 

And immediately, JFK felt tears beading in the corners of his eyes. As fast as that happened, they began spilling down as well, and he collapsed into Abe, squeezing him into a despairing and distressed hug as he quietly cried. He failed yet again.

Jack had lied.

Chapter Text

hi everyone who chose to read this fic!!!! theres like 4 kudos but theres people who've been reading i see the hits 😗😗😗 butttt if any of you haven't seen this coming i might as well just say it now 

due to time management and lack of motivation, i can't continue english love affair. i've always struggled in finishing fanfics, especially due to the fact i have adhd and im also kind of a lazy bum + i've admittedly been through a lot while writing this fic 😭 i haven't updated this in forever and i'm occupied with a lot of things atm like school and writing other fics + just trying to get my life back on track 

and i didn't hate writing for this fic!!!! i really didn't!!! i enjoyed writing it and publishing it, even if it didn't get that many kudos. it all just comes down to management, like i said (and motivation). after i finished the previous chapter, i kinda found myself at a writers block once again because i just. didn't know what to write for the next one 

but right now i don't wanna make this fic my top priority and overtime i just began to lose motivation for writing more. for anyone whos read, thank you!!! i love feeding the jfabe fandom and im glad i did even if it was minimal :] 

i still love jfabe and i still write fics of them. but since the clone high fandom is dead atm it'll only be a matter of time before i write for other fandoms like tmpass/taorab (two shows that im currently fixated on). im not saying i'll ever stop liking clone high but fixations come and go y'know 😭

i'll leave this fic up for anyone who still wants to read it (not orphaning because i'd regret it badly), and maybe i'll return to it one day, but for now the current status of this work is abandoned/discontinued. thank you for reading and keeping this fic in ur memories 💌 !!!! JFABE FOREVER