Long Live Us

*Jack POV*

It was mid afternoon, and Jack and Alex had just finished unwrapping all of their presents. They were now just sitting and talking, enjoying each other’s company. Inside, Jack was trying to build up the balls to do something really cheesy that he had planned a few days ago: kiss Alex as a final present. It was hard, because he wasn’t 100% sure how the brunette would react, and he didn’t want to ruin Christmas for either of them. On the other hand, it was hard because that’s all Jack actually wanted to do – he desperately wanted to feel his soft lips move against his own, and to share that moment that they hadn’t yet. He had a vague plan in his head, but didn’t have it in him to see it through. Maybe he never would, which was something he wondered to himself often. Maybe this was just a phase, and it was all part of a learning curve he was starting. Sighing quietly so Alex wouldn’t hear him and think something was wrong, he suggested that they start the rest of their plans for the day. The brown haired boy stood up and stretched, saying that it had been a good Christmas. Jack wanted to agree, but his mind was consumed in the moment. Silently deciding it was now or never, he went for it.“
I have one more present for you.” He said, trying to sound confident and not betray any feeling, so he wouldn’t clock on to what was happening.
“Noo, we agreed on four each!” Alex replied with a whine in his voice, guilt and confusion under laying his voice. Jack smiled slightly, taking a step forward towards the boy. He brought his fingers up to Alex’s hand and gently ran one finger over his hand, looking directly into his eyes, trying to pick up confidence.
“No, it didn’t cost anything.” He reassured the shorter boy, but it only came out as a mumble, as his knees turned to jelly and he explored Alex’s eyes. Taking a deep breath, he admitted to himself that this is what he wanted. Deep down he had known all along, but admitting it was something else. This made it more real, more permanent. He pictured the two of them in a few years, walking down the beach hand in hand, or going on posh dates, or going on holiday together. As scary as these thoughts were, they were exactly as he imagined his future to be. There wasn’t anything in his life that Jack could picture happening, where Alex wasn’t standing beside him. And right here, right now, was going to be the start of what he hoped to be the rest of their lives.
‘Do it Jack for fuck’s sake, come on do it.’ He told himself sternly, trying not to frown as he concentrated on getting this right.
“Don’t freak out like I did, okay?” he whispered, leaning in before Alex could reply. Pushing his lips onto Alex’s, every weight on the taller boy’s shoulders seemed to disappear, and he was lost well and truly in the kiss. It only took a moment for Alex to come to his senses of what was going on, and he gently kissed Jack back, their lips moulding perfectly together. Jack’s whole body was tingling, and he felt like this was his first kiss. Nobody made him feel the way Alex did, and he loved this new feeling already. Not wanting it to get too heated, Jack pulled away when he felt it was perfect timing too, and Alex whined a little bit at the loss of contact, which made the taller boy chuckle.
“Yeah I’m definitely gay.” He said quietly, making Alex laugh as well.
“Good.” The brunette replied with a wink and a small grin, happiness making his eyes glow. Smiling, Jack rested their foreheads together, wishing they could spend forever locked in this moment.
“I’m doing it again, I’ve waited too long.” Alex warned, his eyes now filling with lust, as he moved the short distance to lock their lips together once more. Jack smiled into the kiss, thinking about how he had denied Alex that kiss all those weeks ago.
‘How things change!’ he thought, as he ended the kiss once more, pulling his lips away slowly.
“That’s the best present I’ve ever gotten, ever.” Alex murmured, looking up at Jack, silently thanking him. As Jack opened his mouth to reply, the phone began to ring, the shrill noise echoing around the house. Both boys groaned loudly, knowing it was now ‘Talking to the parents’ time, and Jack stomped out of the room to answer it, wishing he could ignore it to just spend every waking second with the boy that had seemingly stolen his heart.

“Yes Mum, I am.” Jack replied, sighing angrily at how long this conversation was dragging on. Glancing at the clock, he noticed it was now five pm, so it was getting on for midnight in Lebanon, and Jack had no idea why the hell his mum was still on the phone. He hummed whilst his mum went on about what she was doing, and how her work project was going. Her words were slurred slightly, and he assumed his mum had been drinking, but all he really cared about was getting back to the brown haired boy currently sitting on his sofa. Things had been going perfectly since the kiss, and Jack was glad he had finally done it. Admittedly, he didn’t think he would’ve been able to put it off much longer, but still.
‘Okay I need to sleep. Look after yourself; I hope you aren’t just eating junk food! And I hope you’re showering, and washing dishes and clothes!’
“Yes Mum, don’t worry.” Jack replied, rolling his eyes and wandering around the kitchen once more.
‘Okay good. Say Hey to Alex and to Jenna tomorrow. Cya soon baby, love you!’
“Love you too mum!” Jack ended happily, pressing the red button as quickly as he could, before darting and putting the phone back on the holder, smiling when it beeped – truly symbolising the conversation was over.
“Hallelujah.” He whispered to himself, running a hand through his dark hair as he re-entered the living room. The tv was on, and The Nightmare Before Christmas beginning to start. When he walked in, Alex looked up and smiled, his eyes lighting up.
“Finally! Come ‘ere!” he said, opening his arms out for Jack. The taller boy smiled, wanting his touch, before swiftly moving over to flop down next to Alex, before shifting so he was spread out over his lap. Alex’s hands wrapped around Jack’s shoulder, so he moved his own arm to his side, and linked their hands together on his chest.
“What was your mum talking about for so long, then?” The older boy asked, a cheeky glint in his eye, seeing as he only spent half an hour on the phone to both of his parents.
“I dunno didn’t listen to most of it. She kept telling me to shower and not eat junk food and crap like that.” He replied, rolling his eyes again, before keeping his gaze on Alex’s face. He admired his features for a moment, everything looking different from this new angle.
“Well you do need to shower. You stink.” Alex replied with a teasing tone, as he winked down at Jack.
“Save water, shower together.” The taller boy retorted, his sexual sense of humour coming through. Alex just laughed and shook his head, returning his attention back to the tv. Jack kept his attention of the other boy’s face, gazing at the shadows cast over his cheek by his long eyelashes. His caramel hair was flicking out slightly around his ears, where it wouldn’t stay down for the whole day. His eyes were glowing, reflecting the lights in the room. Stubble dotted his chin and outlined his delicate pink lips.
“Stop staring at me you dick.” Alex then said, looking back down at Jack.
“I can’t help it.” He murmured in reply, proud of himself at how he had managed to increase the intimacy. He couldn’t quite bring himself to openly admit how beautiful he thought Alex was, and didn’t want to ruin the beautiful simplicity of the moment, so just smiled shyly up at him, feeling his cheeks heat up slightly. He knew they reddened further, when he noticed Alex glance down quickly at his lips, before looking back up at his eyes, biting his lip.
“Can I?” he murmured after a moment, and Jack nodded with a smile. The smile was returned, as Alex leaned forward and pressed their lips together. Jack lifted his head up to push their lips impossibly closer together, getting lost in the sweet innocence of the kiss. All too soon, Alex pulled away, smiling once more at Jack, before going back to the original position and watching the tv again. Sighing and shaking his head slightly, Jack rolled over and switched his attention to the movie, contently being held in Alex’s arms.

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The following morning, Boxing Day, Jack was getting ready to go round to Jenna’s – like he did every year. It was a tradition for Jack to go round on Boxing Day, something that had been happening since the pair were eleven. He was due to be there at one o’clock, and Alex had agreed to give him a lift on his way to Tay’s. The older boy was been ready for ages, seeing as it was now quarter too one, whilst Jack was still doing his hair.
“Jack for crying out loud hurry up!” Alex called from downstairs, irritation evident in his voice.“Yes mother, coming!” Jack retorted, covering his hair in hairspray before giving himself one last look in the mirror. He’d pulled out his black suit, putting it over his dark grey shirt and topping it off with a black skinny tie, leaving the top button undone so he didn’t look too formal. He pulled on his black vans, grabbed his phone and keys, and the bag with presents in it, before bounding down the stairs.
“I’m ready Princess.” He called, waiting at the bottom of the stairs for Alex to reappear. The shorter boy had on his navy suit, white shirt and red tie, carrying his own bag of presents.
“Finally! How long does it- wow...” he stopped dead when he saw Jack, his eyes widening slightly as they looked up and down the tall boy’s figure. Jack blushed and looked down, feeling self conscious under Alex’s gaze
“Er, yeah, right, let’s go.” The brunette said, coughing awkwardly before following Jack out of the door, before leading him into the car. Twenty minutes or so later they arrived at Jenna’s, Alex pulling up at the end of the driveway so Jack could get out.
“Cya later bud.” He brunette said, shooting Jack a grin, which he returned. The taller boy leaned over and pushed his lips into Alex’s cheek, before hopping out of the car – bag in hand – and walking to the front door. He heard the car engine start up again as the brunette left, and Jack got his keys out and pushed the door open.
“MERRY CHRISTMAS GUYS!” He shouted, announcing his entrance in the exact same way he did every year. Immediately Jenna shot out of the living room and launched herself at Jack, flinging her arms around his neck. He clung on to her waist and spun her around, a usual greeting when they were both happy. When she dropped off and landed on the floor with a soft thud, her parents emerged from the kitchen. Jenna was wearing a black sparkly dress, that ended just above her knees and had long sleeves, with her hair tied up in a bun. Her mother was dressed in a long, flowing navy dress with silver detail, her dad in the usual smart trousers and Christmas jumper.
“Hello Jack!” They greeted him, as he received a hug from Jenna’s mum and a handshake from her Dad. He returned each gesture, before following the family into the dining room, where the table was laid to perfection – as it was every year. On each mat there was a cracker, and the napkins had snowmen on them, with snowflake covered candles in the middle, along with the various food related items that were needed. They sat down, and exchanged presents.
“Right.” Jack said, before checking each label before handing it to the right person, before they gave him his present. Jack went first, hating not knowing as well as then feeling that every ounce of attention was on him. He gently ripped open the paper, and inside was a small black box. Frowning, with no idea what could be inside, he opened it and gasped. The watch he wanted.
“Oh my god this is way too much! Thank you so much oh my god!” he said, his mouth open, as he carefully took the watch out of the box and placed it on his skinny wrist – it fitted just right, Jenna obviously planned this very well.
“You like it then?” Jenna’s mum ask softly, the twinkle in her eye suggesting she knew the answer already.
“I love it!” he replied, admiring the black watch. The parents went next, receiving cliché gifts of perfume and a man bath set. Jack was nervous about what he got for Jenna, and he just hoped that she liked it, as this was the first year he had taken a risk with her present. She had wanted a new camera desperately for a few years now, but she wasn’t all in too the massive, professional camera’s – or she wasn’t to Jack’s knowledge, but he had gotten her one anyway. The guy in the shop had given him a ten minute lecture about how great it is, and then his female colleague started trying to flirt with him to buy it, so he just went for it – half for liking the camera, and half because he wanted to get the hell out of the shop. He sucked in a breath while Jenna peeled open the paper, praying it was all right.
“JACK OH MY GOD I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!” was all she said, before jumping on him for the second time that day. He let out the breath as a sigh of relief.
“You like it then?” he questioned as she sat back down.
“Like it? I love it!” she exclaimed, opening the box and taking the camera out, turning it around in her hands, running her fingers over each edge, admiring it.
“You spoil her more than we do!” Her mum commented from the other side of the table, her eyes also admiring the gift.
“Anything for my favourite girl.” He replied, leaning in and quickly kissing Jenna’s temple, just as the oven beeper went off, signalling dinner was ready.

“Okay I’ve worked it out, press that button okay?” Jenna ordered her mum, handing her the camera, before scuttling off and standing next to Jack. He wound his arm around her waist as she leaned into him, and they both smiled as they were momentarily blinded by the flash, before splitting again for Jenna too check the picture was of worthy quality. After she was satisfied and a couple more pictures were taken, the pair made their way up to Jenna’s bedroom. They sat down on the bed, stretching their full stomachs, even though it was a few hours after they had finished their meal. Jenna carefully set her new camera down on her desk, before sitting crossed legged on the bed.
“So, how’s loverboy?” she asked, raising her eyebrows at Jack.
“He’s good. I did it, finally.” He replied, smiling shyly. She squealed and clapped loudly, before covering her mouth in shock, her eyes remaining wide and bright. After a moment or two she calmed down enough for form words once more, while Jack just laughed at her.
“And? How was it? Did he kiss back? Did he say anything? How did he react?” She started firing questions at him, her eyes glowing with excitement as she flapped her arms around more and she thought of more questions she wanted to ask. He shook his head once more, running his hand through his hair, thinking about the moment as he formed an answer in his head.
“Well, I think it’s safe to say I’m gay.” He started, earning another excite squeal from the girl. “it was like, perfect, he did kiss back, he said it was the best present he’s ever had, and yeah it was just...yeah...” he ended, knowing his cheeks were bright red, and he was unable to wipe the grin off of his face. Now that he had told someone, it felt more real, not like it was just a massive day dream and he would wake up not even knowing Alex. It was nice, he was happy. Jack liked having the boy in his life.
“You’re gonna make the cutest couple ever.” Jenna said, grinning at Jack, who rolled his eyes.
“You say every gay couple are the cutest couple ever.” He retorted, referring to the many times that had passed two guys holding hand in the street and she had made that exact comment.
“Whatever.” She huffed, crossing her arms and pouting at Jack, who just rolled his eyes again. “You’ll be the hottest, cutest, bestest gay couple ever.”

Notes

oops this is kinda short, my bad xoxox