Alex looked over the line up list for the last time that night since he was running the poetry slam.
Tonight also happened to be his and Oli's first test as being a fake couple in public.

Neither of them had spoken of Oli's drunken moments of truth in the car since they'd happened just two weeks ago. Jack had tried talking to Alex about it but he found it easiest to just brush it off as best he could and move along. He was sure that he didn't want anything more with Oli than friendship and there was no way in hell that he would choose the latter over his boyfriend. But Jack still questioned him which Alex honestly understood. Oli was the guy he was with for years so it made sense that Jack was wondering, Alex just wished he didn't have to.

"Hey babe!" Alex heard a British accent shout out from behind him.

"Hey Oli." Alex smiled weakly as he turned around. "I've gotta finish some stuff but you can hang
out over by the teachers over there." He said gesturing towards the table that his co-workers were gathered around.

"Great...uhm...can we talk later though?"

"Now is not the time Oli. Just go."

"I take it you're still upset about the police thing?"

"Please just go. I've gotta check the track list for the background music people requested. I'll talk to you later, alright."

Oli simply nodded before walking off, clearly sulking. But Alex didn't have it him to care, not right now anyway.

-

"Hey everyone, How are you tonight?" Alex asked from the platform in the coffee shop, looking over the packed out room. Surprisingly a lot of his students had taken a liking to the poetry slam and started participating. Most nights at least three of his students were performing and tonight was no exception. Five of his students were reading poetry and one was freestyling. To say the least he was excited for tonight. "We've got an exciting night starting out with Miss Liv P. Come on up."
Alex stepped off of the platform and walked over to the table of teachers in the corner of the room.

"Hey Alex." One of the other English teachers greeted him as he sat down.

"Hey, how's it going Will?"

"Great, I'm just wishing I could get my students as involved as you do."

"What can I say, I speak their language. And I wasn't in high school that long ago." Alex laughed.

"Oh, have you met Oli?" He asked, finally looking at the British man who sat next to him.

"Yeah, your boyfriend, eh?"

"Yep."

"How long have you two been together?"

"Not long." Oli cut in smiling at Alex. "We dated through high school but I moved back home after we graduated. I've only been back home a little over a month."

"Were you two long distance at all?" Will asked, looking genuinely interested.

"No, we broke up when Oli left. I'm just happy he's here now." Alex lied, smiling at the older man wishing it were Jack sitting beside him.

"That's sweet. I wish my cousin would have some luck with guys. He just moved here from France and he doesn't know anyone."

"We could show him around." Oli offered, earning a glare from Alex. "I mean, if you can't I could. You've taken me to some pretty great places around here, I know my way well enough." He directed to Alex, trying to smooth over his obvious wrong move.

"Really? Let me give you his number, I know he'll be happy to just have someone other than me and my wife to talk to."

Alex simply frowned at Oli but said nothing more, he simply got up to introduce the next person reading.

-

Alex and Oli were now sat in the younger's car in front of Oli's apartment building. Oli having just made Allx turn the radio off so they could 'talk about this' despite there barely even being a 'this'.

"Oli...please don't." Alex sighed trying his best not to get annoyed with the older man. The last thing he needed right now was Oli trying to talk him into giving him a chance

"Alex that's not what I'm doing...I'm telling you that even though I love you I don't have to be with you. I mean it does hurt to see you with him but you're happy and seeing you happy doesn't hurt. It makes me happy too...besides I should have moved on by now. And when I left I knew that I would have rather stayed with you...so it's no ones fault but mine that we're not together now...it wouldn't be love if I were begging you to pick me over Jack. I know you care about him and love him more than you ever loved me, I can't just pull you away from that."

"Thank you, Oli...you know I missed you too for a long while. I wish I could tell you that I miss you all the time, but I don't...just...I'm glad we had a good run and you're setting me free."

"Yeah me too...I'd be lying if I said this didn't hurt at all though. But I can say that if by some chance you wanted me back I wouldn't hesitate to take you with open arms."

Alex just smiled, not sure how to respond to Oli's bitter-sweet words. "Thank you again..." He mouthed and leaned forward to give Oli an innocent peck on the cheek. "You know even if we're not together I'll always be your lamb." He said once he'd pulled away.

"Yeah, I'll always be your bear too." Oli smiled, clearly fighting back a rush of tears. "Anyways I should get going. Thanks for the lift, mate."

"No problem." Alex said looking after the older man as he got out of the car and walked off. The teacher sighed heavily, waiting a few moments before pulling off.

He'd be lying if he said that seeing Oli like that didn't hurt because it hurt him a lot. Oli was his first real love afterall and no matter what he knew he'd always be emotionally connected to the older man. It didn't matter how different they'd became or the distance put between them, he'd always care about Oli whether he liked it or not.

Eventually Alex pulled off and headed back to his apartment where Jack was waiting for him.

-

"Jay, I'm home." Alex called into the apartment.

"In here." Jack called back from the bedroom.

So of course Alex made his way towards the bedroom, smiling at his boyfriend who lay wrapped up in the blankets on the bed.

"What's up snuggle bug?"

"I feel sick." Jack muttered back, and yeah now that Alex was listening he did sound a little nasal.

"Aw, poor baby. Do you think it's a cold?"

The younger boy nodded and sat up, the white duvet over his head making only his face visible. "My face hurts." He whined pouting at his boyfriend.

"Well at least you look cute." Alex teased as he sat on the bed next to Jack. "Are you hungry?"

"A little bit."

"I'll go make you some soup, yeah?"

"Yes please."

"Anything for you, angel." The elder smiled and kissed Jack on his clammy forehead. "Be back in a few minutes."
-
Within the next hour Jack was dozing off in Alex's arms on the living room couch and while he was enjoying this Alex would have really liked to get cleaned up before going to bed tonight. So he gently shook Jack earning a disgruntled groan from the younger boy.

"Jay get up, lets go to bed."

"No, I wanna bath."

"A bath?"

"Mhm-hm."

"Alright, I'll run one for you. Just get up."

"Don't wanna get up." Jack mewled and hugged himself closer to his boyfriend.

"Come on, don't be a baby."
The younger boy grumbled something inaudible in response but slowly got off of Alex's lap and stood up.
-
"Jay, your baths ready." Alex called into the bedroom where the younger boy was probably asleep on the bed.

A few moments later and Jack was walking into the bathroom, sniffling and coughing which was enough to make Alex want to just hold him all night. He really didn't like seeing Jack as miserable as he was right now.

"You put bubbles in it." The latter smiled, fighting back a cough.

"Yeah, get in. I'll go shower in the other bathroom, yeah?"

"No, stay with me."

"Baby, you're all sick. I don't wanna-"

"I'm not gonna get you sick..." Jack pouted.

"I wasn't done. I was saying I could make you worse...but I'll stay of you want me to."

"Please." Jack said with a light smile.

So with that the pair were in the tub, Jack curled into Alex's naked body under the warm water.

"You sure you're okay, baby boy?" The elder of the two asked lifting a hand up running his wet fingers through Jack's hair.

"Yeah, just a little tired...just talk to me."
"Okay, well tonight was really great at the poetry slam. Zack read a poem. I actually got a couple teachers up there tonight too."

"Mhm, what about you and Oli?"

"I think everyone bought it. He just isn't going to keep as much of a low profile as I wanted." Alex shrugged. "I guess it's okay though."

"Did he talk to you about...you know what yet?"

"Yeah. But that's nothing to worry about. I'm all yours and you know it, so lets just enjoy being together, yeah?" Alex stated, finishing with a kiss on Jack's forehead.

"Yeah, I guess...but can I ask you one question?"

"Go ahead."

"You don't love him back do you?"

"No." Alex said without hesitation although he was taken aback by the question. "I still care about him a lot, but how I felt about him when we were together is far behind me...now you on the other hand I love very much. And not only do I love you I care about you more than I thought was possible. So you don't have to worry about a single thing."

Jack only smiled and nuzzled his head into Alex's neck. "I love you too." He murmured a few moments later. "And I'm not worried about Oli...I just wanna make sure you're happy. I'd rather it be with me but I know you have to think about yourself...just make sure you do that for me."

"You're so much more mature than I was at seventeen, gosh." Alex chuckled. "I'm sure that you're right for me. I promise I don't have to think about it cause I already know it."

-
Alex tucked Jack into what was their shared bed for the time being before planting yet another kiss on the teen's forehead. He'd carried the younger boy into his - technically their - bedroom, Jack having fallen asleep in the bath. Usually he would have just woken the younger boy up but since he'd looked so miserable he'd opted not to. Aside from that Jack looked adorable while he slept and was clearly in need of the rest.

The teacher crawled into the opposite side of the bed and pulled Jack into his chest. They were both still damp but Alex really didn't mind. As long as he had Jack nothing else really mattered...at least that's what he tried to tell himself. But of course Alex knew reality wouldn't hold off on him forever, it was just a matter of when it decided to strike.

Notes

FLUFF! Okay, I'm sorry that the end of this chapter was rushed, I just wanted to finish this before I left the house today (heehee, I got to hang out w/a boy...did I mention its the one I like) but anyways I felt that there was a lack of real Jalex moments so I tried to fix that here. Fun fact they were supposed to have bath time on New Years but then I just kind of wrote and that chapter happened.
Okay, I'm done, leave comments please!