the Prince and the Punk

Jack groans at the sunlight streaming into his room. He hadn't remembered opening the curtains, yet they were. Jack climbs out of bed and stretches, the smell of something cooking hits his nose and he wanders curiously to the kitchen. He had remembered bringing Alex home the night before, but no one that drunk should be this alert the morning after. Jack peaks into the kitchen and sure enough, Alex is happily cooking something, humming all the while.

"Good morning Jack," he greets, seeming to sense Jack's presence.

"Good morning," Jack responds, utterly baffled by the lack of a hangover on Alex's part. It seemed inhuman to him. Jack casually moves to his table, taking a seat.

"I hope you don't mind me cooking. I ran across the street and got some bacon. I thought you might like it," Alex is practically glowing as he babbles on.

"No, it's fine," Jack says, his voice still tired.

The front door opens and Jack hears Rian shout. "Jack, you won't believe what I just found!" Rian comes bounding into the kitchen, suddenly freezing when he spots Alex. "Oh, you have company. Sorry." Rian goes to back out.

"Wait," Jack says. "What did you find?" Jack stands up and grabs Rian before he can get away.

"Uh, this," Rian holds up a tabloid.

"Alex's New Bo?" Jack mumbles the headline under his breath. Under it is a picture of him and Alex, doing their half slow dance from the night before. They worked fast, living where all of this stuff was printed really wasn't much of an advantage Jack grabs the magazine and walks over to the table, turning to the pages on which they had the article. Alex hasn't seemed to notice Jack's unrest, but instead he had busied himself with introducing himself to Rian.

"'Singer Alex Gaskarth was recently spotted with none other than Jack Barakat, the bartender who refused to serve him last week. Jack and Alex have been spotted having midnight rendezvous at the park and even dancing together beneath the moonlight. Could Jack be Alex's new boy toy? Our evidences says yes, but you can be the judge.'" The next page is filled with a few pictures of Jack and Alex together.

Jack lets his head hit the table. He really didn't enjoy being part of the tabloids. he was getting famous for all the wrong reasons.

"What's wrong?" Alex asks, crossing the kitchen to look at whatever Jack had been looking at. Concern is written across his face as he moves Jack's head to read the tabloid. If he is upset, he doesn't show it. The only hint of emotion on his face is his furrowed eyebrows.

"'m sorry," Alex whispers quietly to Jack. "I'll leave if you want me to." Alex's happy features drop and he looks toward his feet.

"We're in this together," Jack responds quietly.

"I think I'm just gonna leave," Rian announces, quickly scrambling out the door and leaving Alex and Jack alone.

"I'm so so sorry," Alex repeats. "I didn't want this to happen. I just really like you, okay?"

"It's fine Lexy," Jack responds. "Like I said, we're in this together now."

Alex hugs Jack quickly and places a kiss on the tip of his nose. "Thanks," he says quietly before moving to finish cooking the bacon, which, judging by the smell, wasn't fairing too well in the hot pan.

Notes

Sorry it's been a while. I have been kind of busy (mostly lazy though).

Title Credit:
"I Don't Care" by Fall Out Boy

xoxo
Dewey

P.S.
Have you guys seen the Rat-a-tat (aka Part 9 of 11 in the Youngblood Chronicles) music video yet?