When Friends Become Strangers (Closed)

[Melanie Frost]

Mel pulled on Jack's arm, having pulled him all the way from the Café and to Zoltan house (with several flying buses, it hadn't taken so long).

She found what she knew was his window, from many times of sneaking to stay the night at her best friend's when she was bored or lonely, and knocked on it. She tried to push it open but found that it was locked.

"Zoltan David Maslin!" she yelled, pounding on the window. "It's time for you to open the window and explain stuff to me. Now!"

[Jack Holloway]

Jack was here for the second time in two days, feeling a huge sense of Deja Vu as they stood outside Zoltan's window. It had been open yesterday.

He moved Mel to one side and tried to open it, watching it slide open. He stepped aside again, biting his lip, allowing Mel to go and get the answers she wanted.

Oh God, he could sense the impending drama now.

[Zoltan Maslin]

Zoltan was curled up in his bed, his quilt completely covering him. He'd been crying most of the day, wanting to completely erase everything that had happened those past few days. He let out a load groan when someone knocked on his window and yelled for him to open up. He instantly recognized her loud voice as Mel. At this point, he was about ready to put iron bars on his window to keep everyone out.

"Go away," he muttered as he heard the window open and Mel climbed in. "Go away, I don't want to talk," Zol said, holding the quilt tighter over his body.

[Melanie Frost]

Mel climbed out of the window, landing in Zoltan's room, she turned to Jack, who still stood outside. "Common! Don't just stand there, get in." she commanded, turning to Zoltan.

"I know you don't want to talk." she said, sighing as she sat down on his bed. "But you are bloody well going to. Jack refuses-" she looked at Jack over her shoulder, accusingly. "-to tell me what the hell is going on. You know I deserve to know Zol. You know I do. Please. Just tell me! What did Leo say?"

[Jack Holloway]

"I told you, it shouldn't come from me, I might twist it," Jack said in his defence as he was pulled through the window. He leant against the window sill and sighed, watching Mel give Zoltan the Spanish Inquisiton.

"We seem to keep storming your bedroom, Blondie, do hope you don't mind," he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

[Zoltan Maslin]

Zoltan refused to move. He really didn't want to talk about what had happened, but it looked like Mel was going to make him. And Jack was there, too. Lovely. I really should get those bars placed on the window. Bet mum or dad would do it for me.

"Fine. Leo snogged me. Then he called me a queer. Then Jack caught you two snogging later that day. And then we went to River Styx. And Leo caught me snogging some other guy and punched him. And I yelled at him. And then Natalie yelled at us and we're banner from River Styx. Happy?" Zol muttered, still not coming out from under the quilt.

[Melanie Frost]

"Well then, someone talk!" Melanie, demanded, staring from Zoltan's 'quilt' to Jack, impatient.

But then Zoltan started speaking. When he stopped, Melanie just stared, barely blinking as her mind progressed the boy's words.

"He did what?!" Finally her head snapped upwards, and so did her body as she jumped from the bed. "He snogged you-WHAT? And then he kissed me-WHAT? AND THEN HE CALLED YOU A WHAT?!"

Words couldn't describe how she was feeling, she couldn't even think straight, her fingers ached, forming fists. She really, really, really needed to break something.

[Jack Holloway]

He told her it was bad. "He does feel guilty," Jack said hastily, but he couldn't deny that he still felt angry that one of his friends could call another such an offensive name, and him saying that wasn't going to help Zoltan. It had to come from Leo himself, and Jack wasn't sure if Leo would apologise.

Of course he would, Jack thought quickly. Leo wasn't a bad friend. Mind you, good friends don't call others 'queers', do they?

[Zoltan Maslin]

"Don't kill him, Mel," Zoltan said, finally coming out from under the quilt. His eyes were red and he looked as if he hadn't sleep at all the past few days, which he really hadn't. His hair was very messy and needed to be combed badly.

"There's no need to go crazy because of me. It's not worth it. I'm not worth it," Zol said solemnly. In his mind, he believed it was true. He truly didn't think he was worth their time and troubles.

[Melanie Frost]

"Don't.. Don't kill him, Mel?" The red head repeated, she then repeated it again in her mind, just to be sure she had heard him correctly. "Seriously? Are you kidding me Zoltan? I'm going to punch his face in!" she swore, her chest heaving up and down as she tried her best to keep her voice calm and not shaky.

"He's not worth it!" Mel corrected him, angrily taking a step towards her friend, flinching at his appearance. But she couldn't stop, so she continued. She had to continue. "He's the one not worth anything Zoltan! He's worth nothing! Nothing! He's a selfish bastard and I'm going to hurt him." She let the "like he hurt you." hang in the air unsaid, not being able to force it out.

[Leo Wyatt]

Leo didn't really want to go to Zoltan's house. He really didn't, but he knew he had to. Because he had royally fucked up and the blond deserved an apology. Though the apology Leo planned on giving was probably not the one the blond boy was wanting. Leo couldn't get together with Zoltan. He didn't deserve the blond, so he had to politely tell him that he was incredibly and utterly sorry for what he had said, but that he did not had any feelings towards the blond.

Even if he maybe did. Which he didn't.

The window was already open when he arrived at it, and Leo was so lost in thought, he didn't look inside before hauling himself through it. It wasn't until he had his body halfway over the windowsill he noticed it was a gathering of all his friends inside. He pulled himself all the way in and cleared his throat to announce his presence.

"I didn't think you'd all be here," he muttered, not daring to make eye contact with anyone.

[Melanie Frost]

Mel twirled around, so fast that her hair smacked into her face, but she didn't mind it. She looked at the dark haired boy in front of her, her eyes glowing with anger and cheeks reddening. "Leo, how nice of you to join." she said, keeping her voice as calm as she could, as she walked towards the boy.

When she was close enough, she hesitated, almost turning around to look at Zoltan, but then she decided against it and as hard as she could, the red haired girl slammed her fist into Leo's face.

Pain. That was what her hand was feeling, but she shook it off, too angry to mind it. "I COULD FUCKING KILL YOU!" she kept her eyes on Leo, not being able to act calm any longer. "FIRST, YOU CALL ZOLTAN A QUEER. THEN YOU SNOG ME. WHEN YOU'VE JUST SNOGGED MY BEST FRIEND AND NOW, BLOODY FUCKING HELL YOU HURT MY HAND! YOU ARE FUCKING SON OF A BITCH LEO AND A LOUSY MOTHER FUCKING ASSHOLE!" Yep she had definitely lost it.

[Zoltan Maslin]

Zoltan shook his head. "No, Mel, don't say that," he said in a pained voice. It was him that didn't deserve Leo. He hated that everyone was blaming Leo for the whole thing when he felt it was his fault. He buried his face in his hands.

Zoltan nearly jumped out of his bed when he heard Leo. He looked up with a pained look. And then Mel went off on Leo, and Zol just sat there and watched, unsure of what to do. He buried his face in his hands again, not wanting to watch any of it.

[Leo Wyatt]

Leo eyed Melanie warily when she came closer, there was something off about the girl, but Leo couldn't quite put his finger on it. He realized though, when her fist connected with his jaw. "Fuck!" he screamed, hands going for his face immediately. He wanted to ask her why she did it, but then she started screaming at him, and he tried to ignore the flaring pain in his jaw so he could listen.

He felt his blood starting to boil at all her accusations. Before he realized what exactly he was doing, he started yelling as well. He grabbed his wand first though, and cast a silencing spell to cover up the room. He didn't want Zoltan's parents or his brother to walk in on them.

"I DIDN'T MEAN WHAT I SAID! I WAS JUST CONFUSED! AND YOU SNOGGED ME BACK! YOU WEREN'T PROTESTING WHEN I HAD MY HAND UP YOUR SHIRT! I KNOW I WAS WRONG CALLING ZOLTAN WHAT I DID, BUT I HAD EVERY RIGHT TO KISS ANYONE I WANT TO, BECAUSE ZOLTAN AND I WEREN'T DATING. I THOUGHT YOU WERE MY FRIEND!"

[Melanie Frost]

Mel took another step back, as if Leo had reached out and slapped her. For a moment she just stared at the boy, forgetting totally that the other two were still there as she progressed his words. And then the yelling started again.

"YOU DONT HAVE THE BLOODY RIGHT TO FUCKING USE ME! YOU KNEW WHAT YOU WERE DOING! YOU KNEW I WOULDNT PROTEST BECAUSE YOU HAD THE FUCKING FAVOR IN! BUT YOU KNOW WHAT. NOW I DONT OWE YOU ANYTHING SO FOR ALL ICARE YOU CAN GO DIE IN A HOLE!" Mel screamed, her throat hurt and her hand was still throbbing with pain, but she had more to stay so she refused to stop to catch her breath. "AND FOR THE RECORD, YOU, MY HAND, YOUR FACE AND I ARE NOT FUCKING FRIENDS ANYMORE, WYATT!"

[Leo Wyatt]

Leo eyes started watering from the pain in his jaw, but he bit through it. There would be time to think about the pain later, it was important he kept his head into the arguement. He wanted to hear everything the red head told him, not wanting to risk something extremely important.

As soon as she finished, he started his own yelling again, ignoring the pain in his throat that it caused.

"WELL THEN FROST, I HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH NEVER SEEING YOU AGAIN EITHER. I CAME HERE TO APOLOGIZE, BUT I CAN CLEARLY SEE THAT ZOLTAN MADE ME SEEM LIKE THE UTTER BAD GUY," he hissed angrily, shooting a vicious look at the blond boy.

"REAL BRAVE TO HAVE YOU STAND UP FOR HIM. I AM NOT EVEN GOING TO PUNCH YOU BACK BECAUSE, YES I DESERVED THAT. BUT I DESERVED IF IT HAD BEEN ZOLTAN, NOT YOU. BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO LEARN TO STAY OUT OF OTHER PEOPLE THEIR FUCKING BUSINESS!"

[Melanie Frost]

Again, Mel felt like Leo had reached out and slapped her. Pondering if she should throw another punch his way, the red head glared up at the boy, refusing to fall out of eye contact.

But the more she looked at him, the more angrier she got. "OH CRY ME A RIVER AND DROWN IN IT, PLEASE! YOU CAME HERE TO APLOGIZE? YOU WOULDNT KNOW AN APOLOGY IF IT CAME AND SAT ON YOUR FACE! YOU DESERVE A LOT MORE THAN A PUNCH IN THE FACE, BUT IM SURE LIFE WILL TAKE CARE OF THAT FOR ME!" she stopped only for a second to breathe in. "AND IF I HAVE TO STAY OUT OF OTHER PEOPLE'S BUSINESS HOW ABOUT YOU STAY OUT OUR LIVES, AND OUR MOUTHS TOO, WANKER!"

[Leo Wyatt]

Leo was fuming. Actually fuming with anger. He couldn't calm himself down now even if he tried. He felt utterly broken about the fact someone he thought to be his friend would say something like this to him. Even if he had been wrong. He didn't deserve all of this. He didn't deserve so much hatred.

"I CAME TO APOLOGIZE, YEAH. I KNOW PRETTY DAMN WELL WHAT AN APOLOGY IS, IT IS YOU WHO HAS NO IDEA. I HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH WALKING OUT OF YOUR LIVES, I HOPE I NEVER HAVE TO SEE YOU AGAIN. I HOPE YOU JUST ALL FUCKING DIE!" he yelled at her, his eyes burning now, his arms angrily waving through the air.

His voice lowered.

"I came to apologize about calling Zoltan what I did, like I said. But I don't came to apologize about kissing you. I had every right to kiss you, and you seemed just as happy about kissing me as well. Though I think I regret it now, because I feel myself wishing I never kissed a horrid bitch like you," he hissed angrily.

[Jack Holloway]

That was about as much as Jack could take. His partial siding with his best friend had seeped away, and now he was climbing up to fury.

"Oh right, Leo," he began with a bitter snort, "so that's why you smacked the ninja snog monster in the face, because we all have a right to kiss whoever we like. Awesome. Because we all know that it's a fucking double standard with you, don't we? One thing for you, another for everyone else. That's what makes you so special."

He smiled at Leo, though there was no good humour behind it, searching for the final wind up comment that he could use to get to him. He found it. "And for the record, you punch like a girl."

[Leo Wyatt]

Leo felt horribly betrayed when Jack broke the silence. The guy he had thought to be his best friend was now siding with Melanie fucking Frost. He clenched his hands in tight fists.

"I punched that guy in the face because I thought he was assaulting Zoltan," Leo lied, latching onto the lie Jack had told his sister before. It seemed to make sense, even in his mind. If he repeated it often enough to himself, he could maybe even make it into the truth.

"And don't talk about it as if you were there, because we maybe we saw you, but you were as smashed as a little girl lost in her parents liquor cabin. How about we test that theory about me punching like a girl on your face."

[Jack Holloway]

Using Jack's own lies? Oh, he would regret that one. "Am I that good at covering for you that it's actually become the truth?" Jack asked him, raising his eyebrows and looking around incredulously as if he was amazed. "Wow, my lying ability astounds me!" He forced his face straight and stared straight at Leo.

"Bring it on. If you break my nose, you almost match up to Ginge in your strength abilities. But don't cry again because I'm not sure my little girl heart can take the sentiment - knocked me out last time." He grinned sourly, and opened his arms out, fury boiling over in his stomach.

[Leo Wyatt]

After three years of being friends, Jack should have known it was a bad idea to provoke him. He should know that whenever someone provoked Leo, there was no stopping him. The dark haired boy growled and took a step forward, and before anyone could even move, he had his fist drawn back and his hand connected with Jack's nose, delivering the hardest blow he could get himself to give, feeling the bones snap under his fingers.

When he pulled back his hand it was covered in Jack's blood, and his knuckles felt bruised.

"Oh yeah, I definitely punch like a girl, don't I? I do like your nose better like this, adds that extra bit to your face. Who's crying now, fuckwit?"

[Jack Holloway]

Jack's head rocked back and he fell back against the windowsill, but he regained his balance, trying as hard as he could not to choke on his own blood or to reveal that it had actually hurt. He wiped his nose in a pathetic attempt to stem the flow, coughing and spitting the blood that had gone down the back of his throat onto Zoltan's carpet. He would have apologised, but Leo was more important at the moment, and fucking hell, he was going to kill him.

"Okay, right, seriously, what are your problems with my nose?" he snapped openly at all of them as he held the back of his hand to his nose. "Jesus. Zoltan, take a swing now. Once you've done it it might hurt almost as much as a leviboard and Leo can go back to playing with his dolls." He raised his eyebrows at Leo and smiled a bloody smile at him, keeping his eyes trained on him. "Wait a second," he said in a light voice, "you might have to ask for Leo's permission first seeing as he acts like he fucking owns you."

[Leo Wyatt]

Leo saw sparks behind his eyelids, it was just like the urge that had come over him in the River Styx, to kick the already quivering body on the floor again. Only this time, he wasn't able to stop himself. Without hesitation, he made his first connect with Jack's face again, this time hitting him right on his brow-bone, smearing the boy's own blood over his head.

"DON'T ACT LIKE YOU KNEW WHAT HAPPENED, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" Leo screeched, his entire body trembling with anger.

"YOU WERE THE ONY CONFESSING YOUR LOVE FOR MEL WHILE YOU CRAWLED OVER THE GROUND! YOU'RE JUST PISSED SHE DIDN'T BROUGHT IT UP AGAIN BECAUSE SHE DOESN'T LIKE YOU AND WOULD RATHER KISS ME!" he continued, the anger now seeping into every body part, even his eye-lid had started twitching.

[Jack Holloway]

And again. Jack barely managed to keep his balance this time, and he was beginning to feel lightheaded from a mix of bloodloss, pain and ridiculous levels of fury. And before he could stop himself he had Leo by the shoulders and was marching him across the room to where he threw him into a wall.

"Alright, punch me, you fucking dickhead," he said in a voice that was dangerously low as he pressed his arm against Leo's neck, "but don't you fucking dare start on at me about her. You're a fucking homophobic biggoted wanker and I can't BELIEVE I've put up with you for this fucking long! You snog Zoltan, call him a queer, you snog Mel, call her a slut, but Leo, Leo is faultless, because Leo is fucking PERFECT and cares about no-one but his own arse!"

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