Long Live Us

Chapter 50
*Alex pov*

A week or so later and the exams were over, so school had as well. The year group were more than thankful to be on holiday, relishing in the early afternoon rises and the hot, sunny weather. For whatever reason, Alex had woken up earlier than would be desired, leaving him perched on his sofa with a mug of tea in his hand, his mother sat in her chair along from him. The pair were watching Come Dine With Me as their morning wake-up whilst they ate breakfast.
"Look mum, even that snooty bitch has a dog." Alex noted, nodding his head to the tv screen whilst said women introduced her beagle to the camera man.
"I'm not getting you a dog, dealing with you is enough for me." His mum replied with a chuckle, laughing when the boy pouted and huffed. "No, it wouldn't be fair. You already neglect us for Jack, how would the dog feel?!" She joked, them both laughing at the brutal honesty behind the joke.
"Whatever." Was all he could come back with, pulling a face before taking a sip of his tea. "How are you two? Haven't seen him here in a few days, what's up with that?" The women asked, her face showing genuine interest and concern as she leant forward slightly.
"Everything's perfect. Yeah, he's been asleep a lot. Like, a lot." Alex replied with a laugh; it was no understatement, he hadn't seen his boyfriend in a day or two solely down to the fact that the younger boy had been asleep pretty much the whole time.
"You're happy though, right?"
"Happier than ever, mum." The boy's response was immediate, a grin forming on his face knowing that the words were true. A few moments of silence passed between them, the tv capturing their attention for the short amount of time.
"You know, when we moved out here I was worried about you. In the end you settled in the best, I reckon." Isobel admitted with a small smile, looking at her son with round, pride filled eyes.
"I was worried too. And I guess, but we have Jack too thank for that."
"I think we do. Often I wonder if there's any way I could make you happier than he does, but I doubt there is." She admitted, smiling fondly.
"Well, you could get me a dog." Alex said, only half joking, laughing when his mum just rolled her eyes again. "But no Jack does make me happy, and I hope it stays that way."
"Me too. He's a good kid, definitely a keeper." Isobel said with a smile once again, before letting out an 'ooo' as the door bell rang. She stood up, wiped any crumbs off of the skirt she was wearing and walked to answer the door. Alex was left with a smile on his face, glad to hear more reassurance that Jack was accepted in not only his own life, but his family's too.
"Speak of the devil! Hello Jack! Come in come in!" Isobel's happy greeting caught Alex's attention, the boy curious as too why Jack was not only awake but out of his house before ten o'clock. The pair walked into the living room, already happily chatting away.
"Alex, Jack's here!" The women announced upon entering the living room once again.
"I heard, what the hell has gotten you up so early?" Alex asked as his boyfriend followed and came over to him.
"Good morning to you too!" Jack retorted, pulling a face before planting a quick kiss on Alex's lips. "But in answer to your question; you. We're going on a date, you have an hour to get ready." The told him happily, a gleeful smile on his face.
"Where we going?" Alex asked, excitement evident in the grin on his face as he stood up.
"It's a surprise, hurry up!"

Just under an hour later and Alex was bounding down the stairs in a pair of jeans and a plain black top, a smile on his face. The sounds of Jack and Isobel's laughs filled the halls, making his smile wider. He was glad, and so thankful, that the pair got on - so much so they could be left together for near enough an hour and be sharing jokes as they were. He entered the living room, hovering by the door before they realised his presence.
"What about you then?" His mum asked, whilst Jack took a sip of the drink that was now in front of him.
"Mm, no I've never had any pets. My mum used to have a cat though. And I'd love to have a dog." The boy admitted with a cheeky grin, swaying his head slightly.
"Brilliant, maybe one day you can buy Alex a dog, yeah?" Isobel said with a chuckle, leaving Jack to duck his head and hide a blush, an action that had Alex mirroring the movement, biting his lip so no noise would escape his mouth.
"Yeah, maybe." Jack mumbled, smiling and lifting his head back up. Deciding it was time, Alex walked fully into the room, exclaiming he was ready. His boyfriend stood up quickly, running his now empty glass back into the kitchen.
"Right, behave boys, and have a good day." The brunette women told them, smiling proudly and adoringly at the pair as they made their way to the front door, fingers now loosely tangled together.
"Yes mum!" Alex muttered, embarrassed slightly, whilst Jack just chuckled, letting his grin light up the room as it always did.
"I won't keep him out too late, don't worry." The taller boy told the women, who just huffed at them before shuffling the pair out of the door. Once outside Alex grabbed Jack's hand properly and pulled him down for another kiss before they set off.
"So, are you gonna tell me where we're going yet?" The elder pestered, bouncing along happily as Jack turned them left out of the driveway in the direction of the train station.
"Nope. You'll see when we get there." He replied, a sly grin on his face, silently telling Alex that he would love it.
"So, what were you and my mum talking about?" Jack laughed at the question, Alex noting the slight blush that rose to his cheeks as he did so.
"Oh, animals and pets and stuff." He replied, his cheeks scrunching slightly as he tried to keep a straight face.
"Oh right, what about them?" The shorter boy urged, wanting to know if Jack would mention the last bit of the conversation.
"Just the usual." He said with a shrug, smirking slightly before glancing at Alex. "And how maybe one day I'll buy you a dog."
The brunette grinned, happy that the conversation had been repeated directly to him and the fact that Jack was not only acknowledging their future together; but the fact that the future may well contain a dog. There wasn't much else he could ask for, really.
"So? What d'you... think?" Jack asked, careful with his words, interrupting Alex's gleeful thoughts. The brunette responded by grabbing Jack's arm like clingy girls do and smiling up at him.
"Sounds perfect." The younger boy smiled, albeit sheepishly, another blush creeping onto his face.
"Who does the proposing then?" Jack questioned, smirking slightly as he linked their fingers together once more.
"Depends who is the man of the relationship, which is decided by who-" bottoms. Alex stopped himself from saying the whole sentence out loud. Sex wasn't something they'd truly spoken about. It was obvious through various hinting that Alex was ready and more than willing, it was Jack that was the reluctant one. The taller boy seemed to cotton on to what Alex was saying, as he frowned slightly and mumbled to himself. The look on his face seemed like fearful determination to Alex, which he thought was a weird emotion to display when the topic of sex was touched upon.
"I think you'd be better at proposing." The brunette said, taking the conversation back to the original question. Jack took a few moments to respond, gazing over Alex's features before he spoke.
"Why's that?"
"You'd do it all so romantic and perfect! Like, a super cute ring in a velvet box and have everything set up and ready and each detail sorted out and a speech planned to say when you're on one knee and it would just be perfect." Alex gushed, imaging various proposing scenarios in his head. Jack let out a laugh, shaking his head and blushing slightly.
"If that's what you want, then that's what you'll get." The taller boy said with a shrug and a grin, making Alex's face light up.
"Although I think you'd look pretty darn good on one knee." Jack whispered into his ear as they reached the train station, the seductive tone evident in his voice and leaving the brunette to shake his head and suppress a laugh as they brought their tickets. Despite them being young, and not together for that long when all things considered, both boys seemed to know that there was nobody else out there for them. And Alex certainly hoped there wasn't; the only person he could see himself with in twenty years was Jack.

It was two o'clock now, and Alex was on top of the world. Jack knew him so well; this date was possible the best day ever. A professor that Alex would rave and blab on about all the time was doing a lecture in Maryland about his most recent Astronomy paper about stars and what not, and the lecture was held in the art museum where they had set up a special space display. The brunette boy felt like he was in heaven, everything he admired and cared about was in this room, his brain ticking away and taking in everything to store. Jack was happily following his boyfriend, politely showing as much interest as needed, paying more attention to Alex than what they were actually here to look at.
"Did you know Uranus is the only planet that rotates on its side?" The brunette mused, glancing up briefly at Jack to show he wasn't talking to himself. The taller boy let out a hum and nodded, nudging Alex's neck with his nose.
"And Venus spins backwards in relativity to the others." The elder continued, random things about space flowing from his lips as he led his boyfriend over to the next painting.
"Did you know each time you see a full moon you see the same side?" Jack let out a chuckle and tipped his head, not that Alex saw as his gaze was firmly fixed on the art in front of him.
"The longest possibly eclipse of the sun is 7.31 minutes." The brunette continued to murmur, well aware that Jack had no interest it what he was saying, but talking anyway.

"It's cute when you talk about space." The taller boy said when Alex had announced they could leave and the pair began walking too the door.
"Wait, you actually listened?" He questioned, fighting the blush rising to his cheeks.
"Mostly. When I wasn't concentrating on your arse which is also out of this world." Jack replied with a wink, subtly squeezing said bum, making Alex giggle, his cheeks definitely red now.
"Watch yourself Barakat!" The brunette responded playfully, shoving his boyfriend before they began their journey home.
By the evening the boys had watched a movie, before eagerly attaching themselves together. Alex had a feeling of wanting more, a burning in his stomach needing to feel more. But he didn't want to push Jack, the taller boy could well freak out. How long would he want to wait? How long could Alex wait? His desperation for every inch of Jacks body was burning through his body, his fingertips tingling as they ran over the thin body he loved so dearly.Their shirts were soon discarded, skin pressed together as the space between them decreased by the second. Alex's desperation was growing, leaving him fighting himself to keep it at Jack's pace and at what Jack was comfortable with.
"Er... L-Lex?" The younger boy stuttered when he drew away, both boys panting slightly. Alex frowned at the nervous energy flowing freely off of the boy, something that was rare.
"Yes?" The brunette asked cautiously, worry filling him.
"I-I... C-can we..." The dark haired boy starting shaking slightly, before he managed to calm himself down enough to take a few deep breaths while Alex smiled at him supportively, fearful about what the problem was.
"I'm ready." Jack said suddenly, his eyes locked with the brunettes.
"For what?" Alex pressed, his heart beating incredibly fast, hope flaring in his mind.
"To... Like... Y'know..." Jacks cheeks were bright red, a nervous laugh escaping his lips as his fringe fell across his features.
"Let's go all the way tonight."

Notes

last ten chapters oooh yeah!
updates will start being regular now because i want the last bits to go well lol (i say this but i guess it could all go to pop) so y'all better start reading regularly ;) jkjk
as always thanks for reading and i hope you're all doing good, and enjoy the beginning of the end of this story! xoxoxo