My Only One (Jalex)

Alex's POV:

I placed Jack's gift on the passenger seat in a cardboard box. I drove quickly, conscious of the fact that I was a lot later than I usually am getting home. I arrived in record time, pulling into the driveway as silently as possible so I could properly surprise Jack. Grabbing the box carefully from the passenger seat, I got out of the car and walked up to the front door. I dialled Jack's number and waited for him to answer. I could see him from where I was standing, he already had his phone in his hands and he looked worried. I felt guilty for making him worry but I'm sure he'll forgive me when he sees what I got him. Jack answered his phone almost straight away. Before Jack got the chance to even say hello or shout at me for being late, I spoke.
"Come to the door, Jay. Open the door but you must have your eyes closed. I've got a surprise for you!"
I saw Jack's confused expression through the window but he did as I said nonetheless. I ended the call and slid my phone into my back pocket, placing both hands on the box. The door swung open to reveal Jack stood there with his eyes screwed tightly shut. He looked utterly adorable standing there with his eyes closed so hard that his face was all wrinkled up. It was cute. I realised that I was stood staring at Jack so I spoke.
"You can open your eyes now."

Jack's eyes popped open, his face full of curiosity. That look soon changed when he saw me standing there with a cardboard box in my hands. From the front, it did just look like a bog standard box but the view was different from my angle.
"A box?"
"Yeah, but it's what's inside that box that matters, Jay. Come and have a look."
Jack stepped forwards and peered into the box, gasping instantly.
"Oh my God, what is it?"
"It's a bunny."
"Well, yeah, I can see that it's a bunny, Lex. What kind of bunny is it? It looks tiny."
"It's a Netherland Otter Dwarf. That's why it's so tiny. He's only a baby too."
"Aww, I can't believe you bought us a bunny!"
"No, I bought you a bunny. It's yours, Jay. It's a good luck and a thank you present rolled into one."
Jack's face was a picture. His mouth was open in awe, his eyes wide. He was standing over the box, gently fussing the bundle of black and brown fur.
"Here, take the box, I'll go and get his cage and everything else from the car."
I handed the box to Jack. He walked off into the kitchen while I got the stuff from the car: an indoor cage along with food, bedding and some toys for him.

When I came back in the house, Jack was sat cross legged on the kitchen floor, his hand in the box, no doubt fussing the rabbit.
"What should we call him, Lex?"
"I don't know, he's your rabbit, you decide."
"Freddie. He looks like a Freddie."
I chuckled at Jack's childishness and went about setting us Freddie's cage, scattering wood shaving on the bottom before placing a mound of fluffy bedding in one corner and placing a few of the toys around the plastic indoor cage.
"I thought I'd get him an indoor cage, Jay. He can be a house bunny then and he can run around here and shit."
"That'll be great, Lex. Thank you so, so so much. I love you."
"It's okay, I'm glad you like him. I love you too."
"where did you get him anyway?"
"Zack breeds them, he'd managed to see every other one but Freddie, apparently people didn't want him because he was a lot smaller than the others. There's nothing wrong with him, he's just small."
"He's perfect. He's so cute too. He reminds me of you in a way..."
"How the fuck does a baby rabbit remind you of me?" I asked in shock and disbelief.
"He's cute, so are you and you kind of have bunny teeth."
"Thank you, I'll take that as a compliment then, shall I?"
"I didn't say I didn't like your cute little bunny teeth. They suit you."
"Thanks. Your nose suits you too."
"Hey, you leave my nose alone, there's nothing wrong with it."
"It's bent, Jack."
"Yeah, not my fault that I smacked it off some girl's head when I dove off the stage at an old friend's gig."
"Whatever. It's cute anyway. Come on, we should put him in his new home so he can get settled in. We can let him out for him to explore a little later on or something."

Jack lifted Freddie into his cage and shut it, making sure he couldn't get out. We set the cage in a corner in the kitchen that wasn't getting used for anything else. Freddie seemed happy with it anyway so that's all that matters. I offered Jack my hand and pulled him up from off the floor. We were now standing so our faces were just millimetres apart. We just stared into each other's eyes.
"You're so beautiful, Jay." I whispered.
"You are too, Lex. I can't thank you enough for everything you've done for me."
"You don't need to thank me. You just being here with me is more than enough."
I laced my fingers with Jack's, my thumbs rubbing circles into the backs of his hands. I closed the gap between us, attaching our lips in a soft, love-filled kiss. My eyes fluttered shut as he began to kiss back. I'll never get tired of his kisses. Just the way he tastes and the way he moves his lips against mine- it's one of my favourite things in the entire world. I pulled away first, my lungs needing relief from the lack of oxygen.
"I'm so glad you're mine, Jay. I don't know how I would've coped these last few months if it wasn't for you. I love you with my entire being, Jack. And I hope that this," I pulled on his promise ring with my fingers that were still laced with his, "proves it. Just, promise me one thing?"
"Anything, Lex."
"Never leave me?"
"I'd never even dream of it. Lex, you mean so much to me. You've become my best friend, my lover, my world. I love you so much, Alexander William Gaskarth, and I would never, not even in my wildest dreams, think of leaving you."
My heart swelled as the words left Jack's mouth, it brought tears to my eyes, in fact. I blinked them away and kissed Jack again, my tongue entering his mouth this time, exploring his mouth that I already knew so well. Our moment was interrupted by Jack's stomach rumbling rather loudly. I pulled away to see Jack's face red with embarrassment. I burst out laughing, my hand flying up to my face to try and hide my amusement.
"Stop laughing," Jack whined.
"I'm sorry, it was just so funny. We were having a really cute moment and then that happens, oh my God. I'm sorry."
Jack stood there pouting, his bottom lip jutted out. He looked adorable. I wanted to throw him against the wall and make out with him but I knew that both of us were hungry so our make out session wouldn't be as long as we'd like.
"How does pizza sound? I could order some or make it?"
"Pizza sounds great, but order it because making it will take forever. But you have to teach me your recipe, what you made before was fucking beautiful."
"Pepperoni, stuffed crust with extra cheese?"
"You know me too well, Lex."

I ordered the pizza and joined Jack on the kitchen floor in front of Freddie's cage. He was hopping around, exploring his new home.
"Do you think we'd be good parents?"
I was quite taken aback by Jack's question. He was completely serious too, I could tell.
"I hope so. Why do you ask though, Jay?"
I took his hand in mine, rubbing the back again with my thumb, a habit that I've always seemed to do with Jack.
"I don't know. I've always wanted kids, always. I just want to be a good parent."
"We will be. I've always wanted kids too. I'd like more than one though."
"What sex would you want though?"
"I don't care, I'll love it all the same."
"Me too. I mean, I think I'd prefer a boy because I wouldn't have to deal with periods, make up and girly shit but I wouldn't mind if I did have to do that."
"Would you adopt though?"
"What sort of a question is that? Unless men can bet pregnant now."
"No, I mean, you would adopt or have like a surrogate mom?"
"Oh...adoption definitely. Then I could say that I took in a child that needed love, care and attention. I could turn an innocent child's life around. I could make them feel how you make me feel."
"And when feeling is that exactly?"
"Love."
Jack rested his head on my shoulder. I really did love moments like these. There were no gimmicks, no distractions, no one but us.

I felt my shirt dampen slightly and then I heard quiet sniffling shortly afterwards. I spun around so I was now facing Jack. His eyes were slightly red and puffy and he had a few tears running down his cheeks.
"Why are you crying, baby? Did I say something wrong?"
"No, not at a-all. They're happy t-tears, Lex. For th-the first time in m-my life, I've felt truly loved. I don't f-feel so insignificant any more. I have a p-purpose now."
I pulled Jack into my lap, holding him close to me.
"You've always had a purpose, Jay. It's just not been clear to you till now. Your mom loved you, she still does, she tells me every time I see her. Jay, I love you so much. Forget all the bullshit that's gone on in the past, live in the current moment. You have me now, everything's going to be okay."
"Unless I fail my finals."
"But you won't. You're smart, Jack. You just don't believe in yourself."
Jack didn't reply. He just snuggled into me even more than he was before. I brushed away a stray bit of hair that was lying across his face.
"I can't get over how beautiful you are."
"I'm not beautiful, Lex, shut up."
"There's beauty in everything, Jay. It just takes the right person to see it."
The doorbell went, telling us that pizza was here. Jack slid from my lap onto the floor, allowing me to get up and answer the door. Jack focussed his attention on Freddie once more, sticking his finger through the bars of the cage to stroke him. I took one last look at Jack before walking through the door to get pizza.

We ate it sat in front of Freddie's cage.

-

It was late, I didn't know exactly what time it was but it was definitely in the early hours of the morning. I'd awoken roughly about an hour ago thinking that I'd been asleep for hours. I couldn't get back to sleep so I lay staring up at the ceiling, thinking of what Jack was saying earlier. I was thrilled that he wanted kids too. Obviously, the age of Jack wouldn't be appropriate for him to adopt yet but I'm certain that, when the time was right, we'd be great parents. Jack was such a caring person and I was sure that he'd make a great father. I couldn't wait till we had our own family one day. I'd come home from work, or Jack would, or we both would and we'd have someone to come back to. If our children were still young, we'd pick them up from day care and then have a great night as a family, playing games, making dinner together and then watching films on the sofa until we were all too tired to keep our eyes open. It was something that I'd always wanted and I was over the moon to know that Jack shared the same dream.

I was also a little concerned at some of the things that Jack had said. I know that his upbringing wasn't fantastic and he'd suffered a lot, but I didn't thing that it had affected him as much as he let on tonight; he did such a good job at hiding it. It never occurred to me that he never felt loved or like he was important until now. I was just happy that I was the one to make him feel loved again, to make him realise how important he actually was, to me at least. It concerned me that he thought so lowly about himself. He was wonderful, perfect even, yet he couldn't see it. He didn't think he was beautiful and that was what hurt me the most. He truly is beautiful, no doubt about it. From the moment I properly laid eyes on him I thought he was beautiful and my opinion hadn't changed since. He's the best thing that has ever happened to me.

Jack shifted in his sleep. He was now cuddling into my side, his head on my bare chest, his arm thrown protectively over my stomach. His eyelashes were casting small shadows on his cheekbones in the light of the moon. He looked so peaceful, so angelic. He had a small smile on his lips, making them turn upwards slightly at the edges. He was perfect to me and nothing on this planet would change how I thought about the sleeping boy. My hand went to his hair, my fingers running through the dark brown and blonde strands. I just wanted to make sure that he was happy. I wanted to provide for him, to make him feel safe and, more importantly, loved. I silently promised Jack this, it was the least I could do for him after everything he's done for me. I pressed my lips against his temple, lingering maybe slightly too long but I didn't really care.
"I love you, Jay," I whispered against his hair, "so fucking much."

Notes

Hi,

I definitely think that this is my best chapter to date, I'm really proud of it.
In case anyone was wondering, this is the rabbit that Alex got Jack. I have one myself, he's called Dappy and he's the cutest thing ever.

Thank you for reading and please don't feel shy, tell me what you think. I really do enjoy reading through and replying to your comments.
Thanks,
Em x