the Prince and the Punk

The buzzing of Jack's phone causes him to disentangle from Alex. He quickly pulls up a text from Rian. Jack glances over the words a few times before he finally manages to realize what it says. Jack sits up before crawling out of bed, much to Alex's dismay.

"Come back Jacky," Alex mumbles into the pillow as he attempts to regain the warmth that had left his grasp.

"Rian's coming over," Jack says simply.

Alex turns his head and makes a pouty face at Jack. "Am I not more important that Rian?"
Jack rolls his eyes. "Rian was my first friend when I moved here, and I'd prefer to keep him a friend."

Alex grumbles something, but rolls over and goes back to sleep as Jack gets dressed and cleans up the place. Neither of them were much for housekeeper, and with both of their stuff accumulating around the place it was definitely dirtier than before. Jack picks up the mess from the coffee table and couch, haphazardly tossing it into the bedroom to atleast give the room a vaguely clean look. He inspects his handy work and deems it fit seeing as it was only Rian. The place could literally be a dump, and Rian would probably be cool with it.

Jack plops himself down on the couch and is joined by Alex, who had reluctantly got up and dressed himself (in Jack's clothes). Jack laughs at Alex's messy hair and stubble, he looked rather dissheveled despite wearing clean clothes.

"Glad to see you decided to join me," Jack jokes, punching Alex's shoulder lightly.

"Mhmm," Alex hums, leaning his head back and closing his eyes.

The door opens and Rian invites himself in. Jack notices the magazine in his hand instantaneously. He looks at it than up to Rian who nods and sits in the recliner.

"What's in it this week?" Jack asks lazily. He'd been dealing with tabloids a while now and they didn't even phase him. He completely understood why Alex acted the way he does now.
Rian holds up the cover and points at the giant block letters Jack had become so accustom to. Jack strains his eyes and reads the text: "WHAT'S ALEX HIDING BEHIND THOSE SUNGLASSES?" Rian opens to the article, which features a picture of the two of them strolling through Walmart, Alex frowning at something.

"That certainly isn't the face of a happy man," Rian reads, clearing his throat before hand. "Our sources find Alex seems to be bitter in the relationship, and his overwearing of sunglasses leads us to believe he may be hiding something. A black eye, perhaps? Could this new beau spell bad news for Gaskarth who is already noted for his relationship trouble in the past."

Alex blinks sleepily, his hazy mind processing it slowly. Usually he had an easy time waking up, but right now he was so tired it was hard to distinguish the words. He did, however, notice how furious Jack looked.

"Where do they get off making up stories like that?" Jack fumes, his face tinged red.

"Don't let it get to you," Alex says cooly, leaning his head on Jack's shoulder.

Jack frowns. "Don't let it get to me? This could pose a police investigation for domestic abuse, this could literally destroy me. I could spend years in prison. Do you not get that?"
"Then I'll have my people send something in," Alex says, yawning. "We can have it cleared up like that."

Jack furrows his brows. "Then wake up and fix it," he snaps, causing Alex to draw back.

"I'm just going to go," Rian says quickly as he sees Alex snap awake. Rian drops the magazine on the coffee table and bolts out the door, preferring to not be their for whatever was going to ensue.

Alex rolls his eyes. "I said I can have someone on it. Anybody in their right mind knows better than to listen to the tabloids anyway. I doubt the police will actually investigate you."
"You don't know that."

"Yes I do Jack," Alex says firmly, his eyes firery as he stares into Jack's hard eyes. "I've been in rocky relationships before, and just because the tabloid said I was, didn't mean that anyone actually helped." Though his voice was firm, a falter could be heard.

Jack stares back into Alex's eyes, his brows furrowed and his mouth frowning. They remained in eye contact a long while before Jack looks away, sighing lightly. Alex knew better than him when it came to these things. The interaction left one questions open to Jack, though. Where was the hurt in Alex's voice coming from. Had someone hurt him in that way before?

Notes

It's been a while.
But this was quicker than the last one, haha.

Chapter Title Cedit:
"Stood a Chance" by Taking Back Sunday

xoxo
Dewey