“Hey, Alex?”

“Yes sir?” Alex stepped to the side as the class filed out of the room.

School was finally over for another week, and they all had the party to look forward to that night. He walked over to the teacher’s desk, waiting for whatever it was Mr Barakat had to ask him.

“Er, Rian, Zack could you wait outside for a moment please?” Mr Barakat looked over at the boys stood by the door, waiting for Alex.

They obediently shuffled out, and Mr Barakat stood up and closed the door behind them. He leant against the wood, and the click of the door shutting echoed around the room. He grinned at Alex, who knew exactly what was on both their minds. They took a few hurried steps towards each other and embraced, clutching at the back of each other’s shirts.

“I’ve missed this.” Alex mumbled against Jay's chest, gently squeezing the man’s middle.

He squeezed Alex back and muttered against the top of Alex's head “Me too.”

They pulled apart slightly and looked at each other, before gently locking their lips together. This time, it was more relaxed, more comfortable. They moved their lips together, slowly, their bodies pressed together: Alex's arms around Jay's waist, Jay's arms loosely linked around Alex's shoulders. This was a movie kiss, the kind you see in the black and white French films, the one’s you get in the rain, the one’s you get at prom. And even though it was a stolen kiss in a drama classroom, it was just as perfect. All too soon, Jay pulled away and dashed off behind his desk to the cabinet

“Hey, I was enjoying that!” Alex said, not too loud so Zack and Rian would hear.

“I’m sorry, but I have something that will make up for it. Promise.”

Alex stood by while Jay grabbed a package from the top shelf and walked back over, handing it to Alex. It didn’t look very interesting; just a small parcel wrapped in brown paper.

“What is it?” Alex said with a grin

“Open it and see, silly!”

Alex tore off the paper and accidentally let the contents fall to the floor. He quickly grabbed it and held it up. It was a brand new hoodie. It was plain black, with a black zip. It wasn’t anything extraordinary, but to Alex it was immediately the most precious thing he owned. He threw himself at Jay, keeping a tight grip on the hoodie.

“Aww Jay thank you! I love it!” he smiled from Jay's chest.

He wrapped his arms around the smaller boy. “I thought you would. After your other one got ruined I thought you might want a new one. And, this one is fleece-lined, so it should keep you warmer.”

“Thank you so much Jay, I...” Alex stopped. He nearly said ‘I love you’. It felt like the right time, but he wasn’t sure if Jay felt quite the same. He wasn’t sure if he quite felt like that...

“You what?” Jay asked from above.

“Nothing, I just... I should probably get going...” He let go of Jay and smiled up at the beautiful man before him. Gosh, those eyes, those lips, that slightly oversized nose that surprisingly suited him.

“See you then, Alex.” Jay chirped, smiling his lop-sided smile.

“Bye Jay, have a good weekend.” Alex turned towards the door, shoving his new hoodie into his bag, seeing as he was already wearing one.

“Hang on, Alex...”

Alex turned around, and his chin was gently caught between Jay's thumb and finger as his head was tilted up and a soft kiss landed on his lips. He pressed back against Jay's lips, and instantly missed the contact the moment he moved away. Jay paused for a moment, mouth open ready to speak. Alex watching him, waiting for the words to fall from his lips.

“Can... Can I have your mobile number?” he blushed as he asked the question, almost as if he expected Alex to say no.

“’Course you can. Here...” Alex grabbed a pen off Jay's desk and wrote his number down Jay's arm. He put the pen back and the smiled at each other.

“I’ll text you tomorrow, yeah?”

“Sure... Have a good weekend Jay!”

“You too, Alex. I...” He paused again, mouth hanging open. Alex felt like he knew what Jay was going to say. Jay smiled “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too.” Alex replied, and quickly left.

Those weren’t the words Alex had expected Jay to say, but they meant just as much to him. Zack and Rian were leaning against the lockers outside the classroom, Cass hanging off Rian's arm.

“Hey Cass!”

“Oh, hi Alex!”

“So,” Rian stood up and the four of them made their way down the corridor, “what was that about?”

“Oh, he just... ah, wanted to talk to me about my work. Check that I’m okay working on my own.”

“Yeah, yeah... Just an excuse Alex. He so has the hots for you, I swear it!” Rian laughed, making Alex blush.

“As if, Ri. Get real.”

---

“Heya Matt! You ready to go?”

Alex, Zack, Rian and Cass made their way into The Dungeon comic store, to find Matt is his usual position of leaning on the counter half asleep. As soon as they walked in, though, he immediately perked up.

“Hey! Yeah, I’ll just grab my stuff and lock up.” Matt dashed into the back room, where the moving of boxes and the jangling of keys could be heard.

Alex turned to Rian and Cass. “Okay, so you know why we’re doing this, right?”

“Yeah, yeah, bad break up, mega-asshole, we know.” Rian said, having been reminded repeatedly whenever the get-together came up in conversation.

“Exactly, so could you two,” Alex looked at Rian and Cass, “not be so all over each other?”

Rian just laughed dismissively. “What the hell do you mean Alex?”

Alex just sighed. “Cass, take your hand out of Rian's back pocket.”

Cass looked shocked for a moment before blushing deeply and folding her arms. Zack laughed softly while Rian huffed and tried not to blush himself. Matt reappeared from the backroom, locking the door behind him. He turned as smiled at the others.

“Er.. Hi, you must be Rian and Cass, right?” he walked forwards, slightly awkwardly, and held out a hand, first to Rian, then Cass.

“Hiya Matt.”

“Hi, nice to meet you!”

“Nice to meet you too!” Matt let go of Cass' hand and looked around at the others.

“Right,” Rian turned towards the shop door, “shall we get going?”

They all muttered in agreement and headed outside into the chill winter air. Matt turned the sign to ‘Closed’ and locked up, and the group headed down the street to where Rian had parked the Trans Am. He took out his keys and held the door open. The others just stood and looked at each other.

“What? Just get in.”

“But... who’s gonna sit where?”

“Well I’m driving, you lot can fight it out!”

After some deliberation, they drove to Zack's house with Cass riding shotgun, and Matt in the back between Zack and Alex. Thankfully he was a skinny guy, so it wasn’t too much of a squeeze. Either way, they were happy to get out as soon as Rian pulled into Zack's driveway. Ever the gentleman, Rian (unnecessarily) helped Cass from the car, while Alex scrambled over the front seat to get out a.s.a.p, and Zack helped Matt shuffle out of the middle seat.

“So, what’s the deal then?” Rian asked, leaning casually against the car.

“With what?”

“The party. Does your mom know, or...?”

“Oh,” Zack got the gist of the question, “my mom’s cousin is getting married, so they’ve all gone away to New York for the weekend. She doesn’t know anything about this, so don’t break anything, yeah?”

Zack unlocked the front door, and they filed in, Rian closing the door behind them. They shrugged off their coats and went into the living room. Zack disappeared into the kitchen, and could be heard going through cupboards and opening the fridge. He reappeared a few minutes later, carrying various cans.

“Right, we’ve got Diet Coke, Monster, and beer. That’s about it, sorry.”

Rian and Matt instantly went for the beers, Cass for a Diet Coke, and Alex for the energy drink. Zack tried to stop Alex from taking the can, but was too slow.

“Alex, are you sure that’s a good idea?” Zack asked.

Alex just laughed as he opened the drink. “Who cares!” He stuck his tongue out at Zack and took a few good gulps.

“Wanna watch a film or something?” Zack didn’t really know what else to do, but everyone agreed on ‘Sleepy Hollow’.

They were halfway through ‘Dawn Of The Dead’ when Cass got a call from her mom asking her to get home. Rian (who had thankfully only had half a beer before Alex knocked it over on the coffee table) decided to leave too to drive her home. Zack got up and showed them out, before taking a seat on the sofa once again.
Alex, who had been sprawled on the floor in front of the TV, turned around to look at Zack, only to find him sat on the sofa, with Matt half sitting, half curled up under Zack's arm next to him. Alex smiled and returned to watching the film.
About 5 minutes later, during one of the quietest, tensest moments of the movie, the silence was broken by Alex's stomach rumbling. Even before he turned around, he could feel Matt and Zack's eyes on him. He looked around in shock, caught Zack and Matt's gazes and they all fell about laughing.

“Oh my god, I am so sorry!” Alex managed to laughed out an apology, but Zack just waved a hand at him.

“Don’t worry, that was funny as hell though!” He gently moved a giggling Matt out of the way and stood up, “I’ll order some pizza, yeah?”

He walked into the kitchen to find a takeaway menu, and Alex called after him “Make it plain, Princess!”

All he got in reply was a muffled “Shut up, Pansy!” which just made Alex giggle even more.

Matt turned to him and simply said “Princess?”

“Oh yeah, basically Zack fell asleep in class and the teacher woke him up and called him Sleeping Beauty. He acts like he hates being called Princess, but I think he secretly likes it really.”

“I might use that one!” Matt said with a wink.

The giggles slowly subsided and Alex saw an opportunity. “So, Matt... er, how have you been?”

Matt went quiet for a moment and started down into his lap, tugging and fiddling with the sleeves of his hoodie. Alex recognised this from when Zack had been being awkward, and it was never a good thing.

“Erm... I’ve been okay, I guess.”

Alex stood up and walked over to the sofa, sitting down next to Matt and putting an arm around his shoulders. Almost straight away, Matt broke down into silent tears, his thin frame shaking and jolting with every sob. Alex reached over and put his other arm around Matt, and watched as the boy curled up into his arms, crying and shaking. Alex did the only thing he could think to do; he rubbed Matt's back soothingly and hushed him, telling him it was okay.

They stayed this way until Zack returned a few minutes later, carrying three cans of beer. As soon as he saw the state Matt was in, he nearly dropped the cans onto the table, before sitting down on Matt's other side. Matt immediately threw himself into Zack's arms, and Zack reacted instantly, holding Matt close and tight. Matt eventually calmed down a bit and sat up, wiping his eyes and biting on his lip ring.

“Ugh... I’m sorry, I’m sorry... I just... I really loved him, you know?” Matt's voice was still very tearful.

Zack reached over and put and arm around Matt's shoulders, pulling him into a half hug. Alex had no idea what they’d talked about after he’d left on Tuesday, but they’d clearly become pretty close. “It’s okay Matt, I know how you feel...”

This made Alex feel a little bit guilty. Zack knew exactly how Matt felt: hurting himself because he loved someone who didn’t love him back. For Zack, Alex was the cause, and the guilt hurt his chest and jumped in his stomach.
He decided to carry on watching Matt and not meet Zack's eyes. Alex rested a hand on Matt's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. The boy looked at him, and Alex smiled weakly.

“Hey, we invited you here to help you forget about that son of a bitch, okay? Now let’s get drunk and watch stupid films, yeah?”

Matt sat up and smiled, wiping his nose on his sleeve and nodded gently. They all grabbed a can from the table and Alex raised his into the air. “Here’s to not giving a fuck!”

Matt laughed and raised his can in the air and knocked it against Alex's. “I swear you’re only eighteen Alex?” he sniffled.

Alex looked at him with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. “Not just yet... Anyway, I swear you’re only nineteen, Matt!”

Not too much later, the pizza arrived, and the three boys ate and drank and laughed, even after the film had finished and the DVD player had gone back to regular TV. They spoke about their favourite comics and bands, and argued over their favourite superheroes and actors. Almost too soon it seemed, it was dark outside. They boys had put on another film (Some Batman remake) and settled down a bit from their drunken discussions.
Alex checked the clock and saw it was half past midnight. He wondered where the time had gone, but figured that time really does fly when you’re having fun. He looked around at Zack and Matt, only to see Zack sat watching the film, with Matt curled up asleep next to him, his head resting in Zack's lap.

“Aw, Zee look!” Alex whisper shouted.

Zack looked down and smiled at Matt sleeping. He lifted a hand and gently stroked Matt's hair, tucking a piece behind his ear.

“Aw, Zee you like him, don’t you!” Alex giggled, making Zack turn red.

“No I don’t...”

“Yes you do! You fancy Matt!”

Zack blushed even deeper this time. “Okay... Maybe a little bit.”

“Aw-www Zee that’s so cute!” Alex giggled as Zack carried on stroking Matt's hair.

They both froze completely when Matt shifted in his sleep, rubbing his head against Zack's thigh. They both laughed, and looked up at each other. Alex could see an instant change in Zack. The little smile caused by sleeping Matt slipped away. He blinked a few times, opened his mouth to speak, closed it again, opened and sighed.

“What is it, Princess?” Alex asked.

Zack just looked back down at Matt. It worried Alex slightly that he hadn’t protested about the ‘Princess’ comment. Zack looked back up at him. “Can... can I talk to you Alex?”

“ ‘Course you can, Zee! I’m here for you buddy.” Alex stood up and drunkenly dragged his feet over to Zack and leaned on the arm of the sofa.

“Not here,” Zack whispered, “In case Matt wakes up.”

Together, they lifted Matt's head so Zack could stand, and gently put a blanket from the airing cupboard over him. They watched him shift and wrap his hands in the blanket, smiling in his sleep, before creeping upstairs as quietly as they could (which was hard when they were both drunk and a little clumsy).
They got into Zack's room and Alex practically fell on the bed, though he wasn’t laughing. There was something up with Zack, and Alex hoped that this time, with the aid of alcohol, it would be easier to find out what. Zack sat down on the bed next to Alex, looking miserable. Alex shuffled closer and put an arm around his shoulders, leaning on him slightly.

“What is it Zee?” he said quietly.

Zack sighed and spoke. “I do like him.”

Alex squealed a little bit. “Aw Zee, how is that a bad thing?” he giggled.

“Because...”

“That’s not a reason, Princess. Tell me now, Zee.”

“Because... I still love you.” Zack spoke quietly and clearly, his face perfectly readable with fear and hope. Fear that Alex would hate him, and hope that Alex would love him.

“Aw Zee, we’ve been over this... I love you too, but like a brother... And I can’t be with you anyway.”

“Wh-why not?”

Shit. Alex had to think up an excuse. Even in his state of drunkenness there was no way he was going to tell anyone about him and Jay.

“Because...”

Zack shuffled closer still, putting his own arm around Alex. “That’s not a reason, Pansy.”

A moment later, Zack's lips were on Alex's. Once again, Alex didn’t know what to do. He knew what had happened last time, and he knew that it didn’t work between them. But still, for some reason, he moved his lips against Zack's. And Zack moved his.
Something changed in that moment. Alex didn’t know why he kissed Zack back, but he didn’t care. Something overpowered Alex's brain screaming “WHAT ABOUT JAY” and drove him forwards. Alex knelt up on the bed, pressing deeper into the kiss while Zack's hand joined the other wrapped round Alex's waist and pulled him closer. Alex clambered over Alex's legs and sat astride his lap, the kiss deepening and becoming more desperate. Alex pressed himself as close as he could to Zack, locking his fingers into Zack's lengthening hair, and was suddenly flipped over onto his back on the bed.
For a moment, whatever it was in this brain that was driving him forwards was drowned out by the thought’s of Jay, but were once again drowned out when Zack moved away from Alex's lips and onto his neck, making him squirm and tilt his head back. Between the pressure of Zack on top of him between his legs, the soft grazing of Zack's teeth on his neck, and his alcohol-addled mind, Alex no longer cared who he was with, he just cared about the jolts of electricity that pulsed through his body, making him beg for more.

Notes

Ohhhhhhhh snap!