((Smut is in this chapter, and is pretty much just a finish off from the last chapter where Jack and Alex chill out together before having to deal with the hectic aftermath of tommorrow))


Jack needed to breathe. Kellin had taken up residence on the couch, whilst Mike had found his way back home. Vic, however shaky he appeared to be, hadn't left his lover's side (If that's what they were), and was instead sat like an obedient puppy by the charcoal headed boy's feet. Alex and Jack lay silent on his bed. "They did what they felt they had to," The younger finally approached the topic, with a quietly seething Alex beside him, "It wasn't the best approach, but it was an admirable defence, and I would've done the same for them if I could've," The honey eyed boy wraps his arms around the other's waist and holds him closer, nuzzling his bare shoulder to feel their heartbeats against the other's skin. It became apparent; the Baltimore boy wasn't angry or even perturbed, he was silently grateful even, though he knew he shouldn't condone what they had done. It was more than anyone had ever done.

The caramel eyed boy beside him let his soft fingertips brush against the other's jawline, fingertips caressing the smooth, half concealed line that extended around his face. Like an artist with a brush, he swept over the contour of all the faces that he could experience there, that he had seen and will see. The cheeks under his touch flushed a flattering crimson before the two met their gazes. Everything felt heavy now, it wasn't playful flirting or battling; because of one event their entire livelihood had warped, shattered, and none of them had the strength to pretend they are someone else. Kellin, who was possibly the most headstrong and lightheaded person anyone had ever met, was a container compressed full of anger and weariness. The two who had spent the better half of a year with their backs facing the other were now clutching each other's hands as if their love had never separated at all. Not now, and not ever. And Alex and Jack, who had once been awkwardly tentative, were wrapped up together like old lovers, and for the longest time, it had felt like a newborn romance that would never fully bloom.

Alex knew, before Jack made the first move, what would come of the two of them the moment they stepped through the room together; Jack was distraught, lonely, he had no family left to love that would be alive by the next morning, and now had to rummage into a makeshift court of happiness between friends for a father figure. Mike, he felt, would be the best support that he would get for a long time, despite being practically the same age, the head on his shoulders was the eldest and most guided; whereas Vic was a silent dictator, who wold speak only in a situation of upmost importance. He'd never once questioned why he never spoke, but the way he spoke in Kellin's distress told him all he needed to know about the elder Fuentes.

Now the two were alone in the room, wrapped in blankets and clinging on in sheer terror of losing possibly the last hope for a family anyone involved had. Jack allowed, for once, to stop caring about society, to stop fearing that monster and his mother. He pulled his friend closer and battled their lips in a soft embrace, with his thin, weary arms holding the other like life itself came from this boy. "You're beautiful," He heard the soft, husky voice of the boy he loved whisper. The first person he had ran too when things got too much, the one person he trusted, the first affection he had ever felt and the first love he had ever loved. If it wasn't love, then he didn't care, there was no one else he needed right now, and that was enough for him.

He needed the comfort, knowing his father was out there somewhere, enraged by his friends actions, he needed the comfort that Alex could give him as the kissed. He knew downstairs, somewhere, Kellin and Vic were probably having similar inflicting emotions, but there and then it wasn't them he was thinking about. In the morning, they'd deal with the legal things, talking to the school, spread the word, get the police involved. He would work hard to get that man put behind bars. But here, now, this is what he needed, to forget.

The kissing became more desperate, tasting of salt and sweat and blood, with their lips battling and their hands grabbing, pulling, closer and closer, as if their physical beings were the only barrier to prevent them being conjoined as one. It slowed, just briefly, enough for Jack to clamber on top of the skinny hips he had felt bruising his sides. Slender, rough hands explored under the waistband of low-slung shorts, and lips were suddenly tender, cautious, unsure.

There was silence for a second as they both regained their breath for a moment. "Are you ok?" The elder asks, drawing circles on the bone that juts out just above Jack's boxers. "We don't have to do anything..." It's cliché and fuck, does Jack know it, but he simply answers with a kiss, pushing his hips forward enough for them both to make a quiet whimper of lust.

No longer able to concentrate on kissing, He simply buries his face in Alex's neck, whilst the other ruts up against him, the two of them grinding in gentle and intimidated strokes. Though consumed by pleasure, Alex found great interest in tracing the trajectory of Jack's spine as they moved, taking in his pale body and thinking how he would love to make art with his mouth in the shape of bruises against his skin. The two of them are consumed by the hormonal embrace, which is what primarily should instigate this interaction, but also the sheer lack of loneliness that was produced hit both of them like a tidal wave. This here, this was something more than friendship or fucking. Not that Jack has known either until now. This was so much more than a partnership; this was a unity that couldn't be explained.

It was fun, and pleasure, but that wasn't why they were doing it. They needed to feel close, trusted, loved, cared for. Especially, more than ever now, Jack.

Speaking of whom, had never had a proper orgasm in his life, so when his heart elevated beyond anything he'd ever known and his body trembled, he hadn't enough reaction time to even warn his lover before spilling into his boxers. Immediately, although drowsy, he panicked and began to apologise. To which Alex simply smiled lazily and told him to chuck them on the floor. Jack moved back and when he did, was eventually greeted by the personal image of Alex's hand down his shorts, moving into a quick rhythm so not to disturb Jack from his current state. The other swallowed and watched as he released into his own shorts, shamelessly tossing them on the floor and holding his arms out for the younger to clamber into them.

"You're beautiful," He whispers, for the most part trying to ignore what they knew would be going on on his couch tonight. The younger was trying to shake the image of Alex with his back arched and lips parted, a flush the ran from his chest to his cheeks brushing off his body like crimson dust; sweat lining his features in the low light, and the whispered, desperate callings of his own name, almost unrecognisable in the slurring of his lustful words.

"Do you live here alone?" He asked suddenly, reminding them both that Jack had never eve n heard of Alex's parents. "It's just...you never mention...and I never see..." He trails off, cheeks red again. Alex brings him close and presses a kiss atop his dusty ebony hair; both of them were almost shrouded by darkness, bar the table top lamp providing a flickering, warm glow across them both.

"My parents technically live here," He sighed softly, "They're just never home anymore," He sits up, grabs a lighter and a bag from his top drawer. "And this, I think we both need tonight," He begins the process that Jack has seen Kellin's nimble fingers work through hundreds of times. "They have a house back in England, and spend a lot of their time there, as long as I keep getting good grades, they basically stay out of my life, I think I prefer it like that to be honest, a life where I can sort my own decisions out you know? Learn from my own mistakes," He lights the "Cigarette," and inhales with a sweet, blissed out sigh, leaning against the other, moving press a kiss to his lips. They switched king much more, enjoying what silence and comfort they had until the next morning. the kisses and other drugs between them all night, but refrain from talking much more.

Notes