Alex Gaskarth was the name stuck in Jacks head when he woke up the next morning, he didn’t really think that he would ever hear that name again, but here he was, the boyfriend of a suspected murder. That scared Jack, it really did. He could deny his feelings for Alex all he wanted, but at the end of the say he was still in love with Alex and the thought of him being any harm whatsoever completely terrified Jack, he was sure that he would never be able to cope if anything happened to Alex, even if he couldn’t help it. Jack shook away that thought from his head and carried on with his morning routine of getting up, washed and dressed before heading down to the hotel’s restaurant to get breakfast. Once he finished eating he headed out into the rain and hailed a taxi and recited the address that he was given by James to the driver.

Jacks hands were shaking in anticipation as he sat in the back of the cab and watched as the city passed by out of the window. For the first time in eight year, Jack was about to see Alex and his mind was flickering between fear, anticipation, happiness and even a touch of sadness. Their break up was quite messy and left Jack broken hearted and Alex on a completely different continent to him.

Jack and Alex were curled in Alex’s bed as they watched some reality TV show that Jack wasn’t really paying attention to, instead he was playing with Alex’s hair and pressing a kiss to his head every so often. It was the day before their one year anniversary and they just wanted to spend all day together and share a sweet kiss at twelve, sure it was cheesy but that was them all over, they had an adorable relationship and both of them were perfectly happy with their situation.

It was later on in the evening when the two boys were sharing lazy kisses and cuddling when Jack decided he wanted to ask Alex about moving in with him. He was a little bit nervous about it but he was sure that it would be okay. He pressed a gentle kiss to Alex’s neck before pulling back and sitting up slightly and rested his hand on Alex’s hip. “Lex, can I ask you something?” He mumbled and rubbed small circles into Alex’s hip with his thumb as he spoke.

“I’m sure that counts as a question, but go ahead.” The older boy joked as he looked up to his boyfriend with the wide, bright eyes that Jack absolutely adored.

Jack chuckled softly and nodded and ran his fingers through Alex’s hair as he looked down to his boyfriend, he thought carefully about his words before he started to speak. “So, I’m going to college soon and I’m going to New York.” He whispered and kept running his fingers through Alex’s hair, biting his lip gently when he saw Alex’s face drop and his eyes lower in sadness. “But the thing is, I’m not quite ready to leave you yet.” He whispered and pressed a kiss to Alex’s forehead.

“So?” Alex whispered.

“So” Jack whispered and pressed a few kisses over Alex’s face, purposely avoiding his lips much to the older boy’s frustration. “I want you to come with me” He whispered, “We could get an apartment in the city and we could both get little jobs and we could both go to school and live together and we could have a live together and I think that it would be absolutely amazing.” He looked down to Alex. “What do you say Lexy?” He whispered “A life to ourselves in New York? I think that it would perfectly amazing” He mumbled.

Alex’s face remained the same, there was no twitch of happiness or anticipation at the thought of getting a new life with his boyfriend in a new city. There was no indication that Alex even wanted to get a place with Jack and live together for a few years, in fact he almost looked as if he hated the idea of it.

Jack bit his lip gently and let his eyes wander over his boyfriend for a few minutes before he began to speak. “Lex? You don’t seem very happy” He mumbled and pulled back from Alex slightly. Alex’s only response was silence and Jack soon understood the message he was trying to convey. “Oh” He whispered and bit his lip “I understand.” He stood up and crawled off Alex’s bed and slipped his shoes on and pulled his jacket over his shoulders. “I-uh, I need to go home. I have some things to do.” He whispered, tears forming in his eyes as he left Alex’s room with his head hung low.

Alex just stayed in the same position, sitting in the middle of his bed as one thought ran through his head, ‘I’m a terrible boyfriend.’

Jack was shaken from the memory when the taxi driver was telling him that he had arrived at the address, Jack looked out of the window and frowned a little bit when he saw the state of the house they were parked in front of. This couldn’t be it, could it? He frowned before leaning forward so he could speak to the cabbie, “Are you sure that this is the right address.”

The cabbie looked down to the piece of paper Jack gave him before nodding “Yeah, this is definitely the right address.”

Jack sighed and nodded before he paid the driver and got out of the cab, watching as the guy drove off. He took a deep breath and walked down the garden path, he was almost horrified at the state of it because he knew that Alex would hate for people to think he lived like this. As he got to the front door, he stared at it for a few moments almost unsure of what to do before he shook his head and knocked on the door. Strictly business. That’s all this was, nothing more.

~~

Two weeks. It had been two weeks since Alex had last seen James, but the funny thing about it was that he wasn’t even concerned about it. The only bit of fear that he might have was of James returning and hurting him again but after two weeks he was seriously doubting that he was actually going to show up anytime soon.

Currently Alex was sitting on the couch with his feet up, the house was still immaculate, and Alex had convinced himself that it was because he didn’t want to live in a pig sty, but deep down he knew that it was because he was actually afraid that James may come home and get angry when he saw that something wasn’t in the right place or if there was a little bit of dust on the mantelpiece. He was watching TV and eating a bowl of popcorn when he heard a knock on the door, a jolt of fear shot through him but he soon managed to calm himself when he realised that if it was James he would just walk in and wouldn’t bother knocking the door.

With a huff Alex heaved himself off the couch and wandered over to the front door, he didn’t really know who it could be so he was slightly apprehensive. He reached up and undid the bolts before opening the door, and as soon as he did so he was sure that he felt his heart stop for a few seconds. How was this even happening? How was he here? How did he find him? Alex mouth hung agape for a few seconds before closing as he heard the sweet, familiar voice spoke to him.

“Mr Alexander Gaskarth? I’m Jack Barakat, may I come in for a while, I have a few questions to ask you regarding your boyfriend James Rhys.”

In that moment, Alex was sure that Jack had no idea who he was.

Notes

Can I just ask if you like this story, could you please leave a comment? They're really motivational and I love reading them c:

I really hope you like this chapter!