Take a Breath, Say Goodbye
Chapter Two
Jack settled himself on the couch opposite Gavin and Zack and tried his best for a sincere smile, but Alex slid down next to him after speaking to Lisa in the kitchen and Jack’s face dropped. He felt every muscle in his body tense up, as if someone has injected him with a paralytic. He felt the smile fall from his face and caught Zack look at him questioningly. Just as Jack was about to plaster a fake smile back on his face, the doorbell rang shrewdly, echoing around the house and Alex sighed and leapt up again, using Jack’s leg for leverage. Jack was glad the sound of the doorbell was still ricocheting through the house because he’s pretty sure he squeaked at Alex’s touch. Jack felt a trail of warmth on his leg and contemplated for a moment whether he’s genuinely pissed himself before he realises that his whole body has dropped several degrees to accommodate the heat radiating from the spot Alex touched. He pushes his head back against the sofa and sinks downwards, wishing more than anything that he could melt through the sofa and not have to be there at all, because this ridiculous crush is becoming embarrassing.
Alex walked back in a few seconds later and Jack snapped to attention. Trailing behind him was a shy looking guy, with short-ish hair, gelled up out of his face.
“This is Rian, Zack, Jack, Gavin. He’s my best friend, I thought I’d invite him too, that’s okay isn’t it?”
“Of course!” Gavin’s booming voice did nothing but irritate Jack into sinking into the sofa again. He turned his attention to Alex’s friend and stood up.
“Hey man, I’m Jack, nice to meet you bro”
“Same to you man, I’m Rian” Jack was dazzled for a second by the smile the man gave him. His teeth were (in the least cliché way possible) white as freshly lain snow. Jack doubled back a little and Rian laughed.
“The teeth huh? Everyone does that. Don’t ask why they’re so white. I don’t have a fucking clue” Jack laughed and decided to go ahead and like Rian. Not many people can make him laugh. Jack suddenly doubles over at a pain in his left side and swings around to hit whoever’s behind him, stopping himself when he realises that it’s Zack, and he’ll get his ass pounded.
“I’m Zack, good to meet you man”
“Rian, dude, what do you bench-press? You’re built like a brick shithouse!”
“Like, 170? Working out is something I do in my spare time”
“No shit, you look like you could ass rape The Rock” Rian laughed. To Jack’s absolute delight Rian then settles himself on the couch cushion next to him, forcing Alex to stay stood up and Jack wants to grab Rian and kiss his face because no more tension and awkwardness… at least not until dinner.
As if on cue, Lisa calls “Dinner’s ready!”, from the kitchen and Jack has to heave himself up, dreading being the last person to the table and being stuck next to Alex. And lo and behold, as if the Gods of really-shitting-bad-luck, the only spot left at the table is between Alex and Gavin. Sighing, Jack slid into his chair and began twiddling his thumbs under the table. His head began swimming with all manner of things that could go wrong at this dinner. He could dribble his food all over himself (which he often does) and disgust Alex to the point of hatred. He could drop all of his cutlery on the floor and come face to face with Alex’s crotch (or Gavin’s, which is an entirely new level of scary). Without realising, Jack has blanked out the world to worry to himself about these scenarios, and gets the fright of his life when Alex shouts “YO!” at the top of his voice into his left ear.
“Jesus fucking Christ, what?!” It takes all of five seconds to realise how rude he sounds and he begins apologising profusely. Immediately stopping when he realises Alex is laughing at him.
“Yo, dude, we were talking about music, you like good music right?”
“Uh- yeah I guess. Blink, Jacks Mannequin that kind of stuff”
“So yeah, good stuff, see Lisa, I’m not the only one!” Alex sticks his tongue out at Lisa who rolls her (annoyingly pretty) green eyes and he beams so earnestly at Jack for liking the same music as him that Jack wants to choke slam Gavin for introducing him to this genuinely perfect human being.
“Please tell me at least one of you has an educated music taste?” Lisa puts on a pleading voice, obviously joking, but it still makes Jack frown. Zack and Rian both jump in and rescue him at the same time with a,
“-Blink are fantastic though”
“-Blink-182 are amazing though” and Alex, Jack, Rian and Zack all beam at each other in turn as if they’re sharing a huge secret.
“That was fucking weird” Jack laughs, holding his stomach at how genuinely disgusted Lisa looks. He throws an arm out and catches Alex’s arm, who retaliates by mock punching him in the face and sticking his tongue out at him.
Jack feels like he’s just shat his entire stomach out of his ass because GOD the things he wants Alex to do with that tongue and he tries to say something funny to smooth the open-mouthed silence but his throat feels like used sandpaper and he really just wants everyone in the room to disappear so he can see what Alex’s lips would feel like on his and he lets his eyes linger on Alex’s chapped lips and he takes in the unnatural colour of them, a pastel shade of pink with a smidge of red in the middle, as if he’s bleeding. Jack then notices that Alex has pulled his tongue back in his mouth and is looking at Jack as if there’s something desperately wrong with him and Jack realises any amount of time from five minutes to three days have passed since he started studying Alex as if he was a caged animal in a zoo.
“I- uh, sorry, sometimes I just slip out like that, did you say anything else?” he tries (in vain…) to smile genuinely at Alex but from the worry lines etching themselves across Alex’s forehead, Jack figures he’s managed a terrifying grimace at best. Sighing, he excuses himself from the table to “go to the bathroom” and races to afore mentioned room before slamming the door (a little louder than he meant too, but who the hell cares, maybe they’ll think he just really needed a shit) and running a hand through his hair, sliding down the door and dropping to the floor at the last moment with a bruising bang that he knows he’ll have to explain when he goes back downstairs.
“Hey... Jack?” Or sooner than that, it would seem. Fuck the Gods of luck and all other things that affect life.
“Alex? Is that you?”
“Uh yeah, are you okay? You kinda spaced out at the table, you aren’t getting sick are you?” Bam. The perfect excuse. Straight out of Alex’s mouth like a train to easy town.
“Yeah… actually, I feel pretty fucked, stomach’s a bit wobbly, it’s nothing man, sorry for running out on Lisa’s dinner” There’s a bang on the other side of the door as if Alex is sat in exactly the same position as Jack and the latter begins to sweat (visibly, he reckons) at the thought that 2 inches of wood are separating them (no pun intended).
“Don’t sweat it man” Jack laughs at this, because fuck his life, he’s sweating like a paedo in a ball pit and he hears Alex return the laugh on the other side of the door.
“Hey man? Can I ask you something” Jack tenses at the question, he’s never been good at advice, or listening, and both of those things usually follow the question Alex has just asked.
“’Course man, we’re Blink buddies” He hears the thud of Alex banging his head against the door and is frightened he’s said the wrong thing. There’s a couple of seconds quivering with tension, the feeling almost visible in the air in the bathroom before Alex replies.
“What would you do if you’d been in a relationship since you were 14, but the whole thing was a sham?”
Alex walked back in a few seconds later and Jack snapped to attention. Trailing behind him was a shy looking guy, with short-ish hair, gelled up out of his face.
“This is Rian, Zack, Jack, Gavin. He’s my best friend, I thought I’d invite him too, that’s okay isn’t it?”
“Of course!” Gavin’s booming voice did nothing but irritate Jack into sinking into the sofa again. He turned his attention to Alex’s friend and stood up.
“Hey man, I’m Jack, nice to meet you bro”
“Same to you man, I’m Rian” Jack was dazzled for a second by the smile the man gave him. His teeth were (in the least cliché way possible) white as freshly lain snow. Jack doubled back a little and Rian laughed.
“The teeth huh? Everyone does that. Don’t ask why they’re so white. I don’t have a fucking clue” Jack laughed and decided to go ahead and like Rian. Not many people can make him laugh. Jack suddenly doubles over at a pain in his left side and swings around to hit whoever’s behind him, stopping himself when he realises that it’s Zack, and he’ll get his ass pounded.
“I’m Zack, good to meet you man”
“Rian, dude, what do you bench-press? You’re built like a brick shithouse!”
“Like, 170? Working out is something I do in my spare time”
“No shit, you look like you could ass rape The Rock” Rian laughed. To Jack’s absolute delight Rian then settles himself on the couch cushion next to him, forcing Alex to stay stood up and Jack wants to grab Rian and kiss his face because no more tension and awkwardness… at least not until dinner.
As if on cue, Lisa calls “Dinner’s ready!”, from the kitchen and Jack has to heave himself up, dreading being the last person to the table and being stuck next to Alex. And lo and behold, as if the Gods of really-shitting-bad-luck, the only spot left at the table is between Alex and Gavin. Sighing, Jack slid into his chair and began twiddling his thumbs under the table. His head began swimming with all manner of things that could go wrong at this dinner. He could dribble his food all over himself (which he often does) and disgust Alex to the point of hatred. He could drop all of his cutlery on the floor and come face to face with Alex’s crotch (or Gavin’s, which is an entirely new level of scary). Without realising, Jack has blanked out the world to worry to himself about these scenarios, and gets the fright of his life when Alex shouts “YO!” at the top of his voice into his left ear.
“Jesus fucking Christ, what?!” It takes all of five seconds to realise how rude he sounds and he begins apologising profusely. Immediately stopping when he realises Alex is laughing at him.
“Yo, dude, we were talking about music, you like good music right?”
“Uh- yeah I guess. Blink, Jacks Mannequin that kind of stuff”
“So yeah, good stuff, see Lisa, I’m not the only one!” Alex sticks his tongue out at Lisa who rolls her (annoyingly pretty) green eyes and he beams so earnestly at Jack for liking the same music as him that Jack wants to choke slam Gavin for introducing him to this genuinely perfect human being.
“Please tell me at least one of you has an educated music taste?” Lisa puts on a pleading voice, obviously joking, but it still makes Jack frown. Zack and Rian both jump in and rescue him at the same time with a,
“-Blink are fantastic though”
“-Blink-182 are amazing though” and Alex, Jack, Rian and Zack all beam at each other in turn as if they’re sharing a huge secret.
“That was fucking weird” Jack laughs, holding his stomach at how genuinely disgusted Lisa looks. He throws an arm out and catches Alex’s arm, who retaliates by mock punching him in the face and sticking his tongue out at him.
Jack feels like he’s just shat his entire stomach out of his ass because GOD the things he wants Alex to do with that tongue and he tries to say something funny to smooth the open-mouthed silence but his throat feels like used sandpaper and he really just wants everyone in the room to disappear so he can see what Alex’s lips would feel like on his and he lets his eyes linger on Alex’s chapped lips and he takes in the unnatural colour of them, a pastel shade of pink with a smidge of red in the middle, as if he’s bleeding. Jack then notices that Alex has pulled his tongue back in his mouth and is looking at Jack as if there’s something desperately wrong with him and Jack realises any amount of time from five minutes to three days have passed since he started studying Alex as if he was a caged animal in a zoo.
“I- uh, sorry, sometimes I just slip out like that, did you say anything else?” he tries (in vain…) to smile genuinely at Alex but from the worry lines etching themselves across Alex’s forehead, Jack figures he’s managed a terrifying grimace at best. Sighing, he excuses himself from the table to “go to the bathroom” and races to afore mentioned room before slamming the door (a little louder than he meant too, but who the hell cares, maybe they’ll think he just really needed a shit) and running a hand through his hair, sliding down the door and dropping to the floor at the last moment with a bruising bang that he knows he’ll have to explain when he goes back downstairs.
“Hey... Jack?” Or sooner than that, it would seem. Fuck the Gods of luck and all other things that affect life.
“Alex? Is that you?”
“Uh yeah, are you okay? You kinda spaced out at the table, you aren’t getting sick are you?” Bam. The perfect excuse. Straight out of Alex’s mouth like a train to easy town.
“Yeah… actually, I feel pretty fucked, stomach’s a bit wobbly, it’s nothing man, sorry for running out on Lisa’s dinner” There’s a bang on the other side of the door as if Alex is sat in exactly the same position as Jack and the latter begins to sweat (visibly, he reckons) at the thought that 2 inches of wood are separating them (no pun intended).
“Don’t sweat it man” Jack laughs at this, because fuck his life, he’s sweating like a paedo in a ball pit and he hears Alex return the laugh on the other side of the door.
“Hey man? Can I ask you something” Jack tenses at the question, he’s never been good at advice, or listening, and both of those things usually follow the question Alex has just asked.
“’Course man, we’re Blink buddies” He hears the thud of Alex banging his head against the door and is frightened he’s said the wrong thing. There’s a couple of seconds quivering with tension, the feeling almost visible in the air in the bathroom before Alex replies.
“What would you do if you’d been in a relationship since you were 14, but the whole thing was a sham?”
3/30/13