Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

After school on Tuesday, Alex found himself walking alone through the park, on his way to the now very familiar forest. The pathways were quite populated, so he was not wary of strolling along by himself, but he was curious when Jack would meet up with him. The darker-haired boy had been waiting at Alex's locker after school, and let him know he would be going home for a quick second, before they would meet at their secret hideaway.

"How come?" Alex had asked, knowing Jack was not shy about anything he did, ever. Boy, was he right.

"I'm going to go brush my teeth so I can kiss you," Jack explained, "I'm pretty sure I can't right now, but I want to, so I'm going to go do that. I'm also going to pick up a drill and some screws so we can actually make that shelter thing more sturdy. I found something we can use for a roof, too. Also, maybe some snacks."

Alex nodded along as Jack spoke, raising new his voice once Jack finally finished.

"Don't you need help?"

"No, you go. Actually, why don't I give you some money and you can pick up whatever you want to eat?"

"You don't need to give me mon-"

"No, it was my idea. Please, take this." Jack shook his head, reaching into his pocket and handing Alex a twenty dollar bill.

"Okay..." Alex agreed, still looking somewhat unsure. Jack knew it was mostly because of his funny explanation earlier, so he decided to clarify on that before the two split up.

"I, uh, I told you to head off without me before I even gave you that because my family's, um, sort of weird?"

Alex laughed in response, giving Jack a hug and a peck on the cheek before saying,

"It's alright, I understand. Text me if anything comes up."

Setting down the bag of junk food inside the mini cabin, Alex decided to wait outside on a log, so he could see Jack coming. Pulling off a leaf from the tree behind him and ripping it apart into tiny pieces, Alex thought about how quickly he and Jack had begun to get to know each other. Of course, since he was knew, he was being pulled into different groups. The speedy dynamic of already formed cliques were unavoidable, so Alex understood why everything felt so new all of a sudden. What he did not understand, though, was how he and Jack were so comfortable together already. The feelings Alex had for Jack were supposed to take months to arise, or, at least that is what he thought.

Sounds of sweeping and rattling dragged Alex from his thoughts, and he looked up to see Jack walking towards him. The taller boy had a bag thrown over his shoulder, and he was holding a piece of plastic under one arm, while dragging a tarp behind him in the other hand.

"My gosh, you should have just asked for help," Alex shook his head, standing up and dusting off his pants. He skipped over to Jack, offering out his hands to take one of the many items Jack was carrying. Instead of handing one of them over, though, Jack leaned forward with his eyes closed and puckered his lips instead. Alex laughed and placed a kiss on his lips, saying afterwards, "You must have looked so silly walking down the street with all of this stuff."

"It wasn't that far," Jack shrugged, handing Alex the tarp. "Put this on the floor?"

Alex nodding, asking, "Is it for the floor?" When Jack confirmed his thought, Alex hummed, "Hmm, cute. The blue floor matches the blue roof."

While Alex got busy laying the tarp down perfectly, Jack set all of his things down, and checked out the bag of food Alex had bought.

"Of course, it's all junk food."

"It's delicious, though."

"Well, you're not wrong."

"So, what are we going to do first? The roof or the screwing?" Alex asked, meeting Jack outside once again.

"Mm," Jack mumbled, pulling Alex into him, "I'd much rather do the screwing first."

"Shut up!" Alex whined, backing up and turning away from Jack, so he would not see the blush dusting his cheeks, "Shut up."

"I'm just kidding, babe," Jack laughed, "For real, though, let's get it all together before we attach the roof, okay?"

Alex agreed, and the two boys began to work on securing their shelter. Altough it was rather small, and built pretty amaturely, they were proud of it. Jack would use the screw driver while Alex handed him screws, and then vice versa. They worked for around an hour or so, before they decided to take a break for a snack. They sat outside on the grass in the sun, eating the chips and cookies and candy Alex had bought, when Jack said,

"Y'know, we know a lot about each other, but it's weird stuff."

"What do you mean?" Alex asked, sliding down to lay on the ground, resting his head on Jack's thigh.

"Well," Jack explained, running Alex's hair between his fingers softly, "I feel like, if someone asked me what you would do in some irrational situation that included tons of thinking about morals or whatever, I could totally answer it. If someone asked me about your parents names, though, or your birthday, or your favourite colour, I would have no idea."

"That's interesting," Alex agreed, "Let's talk about stuff like that, then."

"You go first."

"Okay, um, my parents are Isobel and Peter. My birthday is December fourteenth, my favourite colour is blue. Uhh, I don't really have anything else to say."

"Okay, well, my parents are Joyce and Bassam. My birthday is June eighteenth, and my favourite colour is also blue. What's your favourite band? Song? Food? Season? Movie?"

Alex took a second to chuckle at all of the things Jack wanted to know, before he answered them all. Jack answered them, too, and they went back and forth for a while, until the decided to get back to work some more. They ended up finishing all of the walls as best as they could for that day, as well as securing the roof, as well. Jack met Alex inside once they were finished, and wasted no time in letting him know what they would be doing next, by pulling him onto his lap on the floor.

Jack was surprised by Alex's initiative, the way the shorter boy's lips meant his own, just as eagerly. He wrapped his arms around Alex's waist, pulling him closer, and securing his hands on both of the blond's hips. Alex's hands, meanwhile, were attached to Jack's cheeks, holding them lightly as they kissed.

"We should figure something out for a door," Alex suggested between kisses, and Jack laughed in response.

"Yeah, definitely."

Later that night, Alex accompanied Jack to Zack's house, to meet up with him and Rian. Alex had gone home after his usual escapade with Jack, letting his mother know where he would be going next, as well as eating dinner with her. Jack picked him up afterwards, and together they walked over to Zack's place. Rian answered the door, inviting the pair in. They found Zack in the living room, lounging on the floor with a video game paused in front of him. Rian let both Alex and Jack know they could play, too, next, after he beat Zack.

"Alright," Jack nodded, flopping down on the couch. Alex was just about to sit on the next cushion when Jack pulled him down onto his lap for the second time that day.

Looking over his shoulder at Jack with a pout, Alex mumbled a simple, "Hey."

"I like when you're close," Jack reasoned, nuzzling his nose into Alex's hair and leaving a kiss on his temple. Alex hummed in response, leaning over more and tucking his face into Jack's neck, as Jack watched his friends play. Several minutes later, Zack was grunting with defeat, fetching two more controllers to Alex and Jack with a frown.

"I'm going to beat them, though." Zack defended himself, and Rian chuckled in response.

"Sure you are, Zack," he said, getting ready to play the next round.

"Do you want me to move?" Alex asked Jack, and Jack shook his head, holding his own controller in front of Alex. Alex decided to angle himself sideways, so Jack could see better.

"Now, Jack, we know how into Alex you are, but there's no letting anyone win here, you heard?" Rian joked. "There's no letting Zack win, either."

"Hey!" Zack shouted at Rian, before his scowl turned into a small smile, once he noticed Jack kiss Alex on the cheek out of the corner of his eye. He had to admit, they were a pretty cute couple. He could definitely see their intimacy becoming annoying in the future, so Zack thanked the fact that Alex still seemed pretty shy. In all seriousness, though, Zack was happy for Jack, and hoped Alex would eventually open up as friends to he and Rian, too.

Notes

i accidentally skipped a week????? i'm so sorry!!!!! i'm about to upload another chapter, so hopefully that makes up for it :^)