Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

Walking from history to math on a Monday morning, Alex took his time, paying attention to whatever caught his eye. He looked down at the way the hallway floors had a tiny sparkle to them, he tipped his head up to see the dents on the ceiling from where students bashed the tiles in, and he pointed his eyes straight ahead to meet those of his drained fellow students. The more he paid attention, the more everything seemed to dreary. With the low light coming in through the windows, and the squeaks of people's shoes on the floor, the atmosphere really matched how Alex felt at that moment. In no way did he want to go to his next glass, but he was glad he at least had five more minutes until he was once again forced into something he could not care less about.

"Hey, Lex!"

Ah, yes. Something he did care about. Alex could not miss the voice of Jack anywhere, a smile taking over his features as he closed his eyes, leaning against the wall outside of their classroom. Jack called out to him as he, too, approached the class, causing Alex's said dreamy state. Opening his eyes as he felt Jack leaning against the wall, facing him, Alex chimed,

"Hi,"

"How's your morning going?" Jack asked, reflecting the smile on Alex's lips. Alex knew he did not look like that, though, he knew his emotions were always amplified once they made their way over to Jack's features. It amazed him how this worked. Jack could always find something to be happy about, so it comforted Alex to some extent that Jack would want to be around him so much.

"Well," Alex pretended to really think about Jack's question, "We're at school, so, it's obvious."

"Let me guess," Jack winked, tangling his fingers with Alex's, "You're having a great day, right?"

Wrapping his arms around Jack's neck, Alex pressed his cheek against his boyfriend's shoulder, surrounding himself in Jack for as long as he could.

"Not quite," he whispered, sounding a lot less sure than he did a few moments prior.

"What's wrong, babe?" Jack asked, pulling Jack from Alex's grasp to instead look the blond in the eyes, their hands swinging back and forth the smallest bit between them.

"Nothing," Alex sighed, "This just feels so stupid all of a sudden. I mean, it was like this back home, too, but still. It all meshes together at this point. The days, the weeks. It's terrible."

"Hmm," Jack considered, "I don't know about that. I think you deserve to have a good day."

"I wish it was that simple."

"I do, too, babe."

During math, Jack paid extra attention to Alex. He watched the way his boyfriend's eyes seemed to be looking at the board, but not at what was written on it. He watched the way Alex fiddled idly, and the way he seemed to be sighing to himself too regularity to be normal. When it was finally time for independent work, Jack scooted his chair right up to Alex's desk, poking the boy's arm to gain his attention.

"You haven't been paying attention for this entire lesson, have you?"

"Nope."

"That's alright," Jack smiled, shaking his head. "Let me explain it to you, yeah?"

"Okay," Alex nodded, realIzing that it may be important for him to actually pay attention the second time around. Jack explained everything at the right pace, and they were able to get their work done all within the given amount of time.

"Great," Jack spoke, as the two boys left the classroom for lunch, "I'm glad we got that out of the way. I hate having homework on game days."

"You have a game today?" Alex asked, looking at Jack questionably.

"Yeah," Jack chuckled, "I do. I told you about it on the weekend, remember?"

"Oh," Alex hummed, "You probably did."

Nodding his head, Jack took Alex's hand, pulling him into the foyer and out into the courtyard as a detour.

"Where are we going?"

"To talk for a second."

"To talk? What what? What did I do?" Alex asked, his heart rate visibly increasing. It scared Jack how much it looked like he would stop breathing any second, his heart ready to race right out of his chest.

"Nothing, nothing." Jack cleared the air, pulling Alex into him as they sat together on a bench. "I just want to know why you're so spacey today. Talk to me."

"I don't know," Alex signed, "I guess it's a mix of things. I just feel like crap. This happens in the middle of semesters, where it just feels like I'm stuck in the middle of one of the shittiest things ever. Also, I miss home, and my dad."

"I can imagine how tough that would be," Jack answered, "But your dad will be here soon. Just two weeks, right?" After Alex nodded his head in confirmation, Jack continued. "Perfect. Just focus on looking forward to things, okay? There's always going to be something good on the road ahead, whether you see it or not. Let's start with being excited for the ones we see for now, hmm?"

"Why are you so good to me?" Alex hummed, chuckling a bit as he leaned even more into Jack, looking up at the older boy.

"I like you." Jack responded simply. His eyelashes fluttering closed as he grinned, cheeks tinted pink, Alex leaned up to press a kiss to Jack's cheek. He felt Jack's hand pressing into his stomach, though, when he moved his lips just a bit closer to Jack's own.

"Not now, baby."

"Stupid."

"It's part of who you are," Jack shook his head in disagreement, not liking the pout on Alex's face, "And you're not stupid."

Alex merely shrugged in response, letting Jack know that he was hungry and kind of cold, and that he really wanted to go inside.

After school Alex walked with Jack out to the field as usual. Putting down his things for just a second, Jack pulled Alex in for a hug at the base of the bleachers. Upon doing so, he noticed just how cold Alex really was. He shrugged off his jacket, putting it around his boyfriend's shoulders, before pressing a kiss to the shorter boy's blushing cheek.

"Thank you," Alex said, becoming the slightest bit confused when Jack was letting out a few laughs. "What?"

"Nothing," Jack smiled, "It's just kind of cute how you still get surprised when I do nice things for you."

Alex hummed in response, accepting another kiss to his cheek before Jack told him Zack and Rian would be on the bleachers, too, and to go find them. Climbing up the metal steps slowly, careful to not lose his balance, Alex soon found the pair. He began to head in their direction, waving back to the two boys once they caught each other's attention.

"Hi Alex," Rian greeted, as Alex sat to his right.

"Hey," Zack added, leaning over from Rian's other side and giving Alex a little nod.

"Hi guys," Alex breathed in response, still a bit cold from the sudden change of temperature from the school to the outdoors. The group mostly stayed silent after their small exchange, each boy's eyes tracing the field intricately. It was not looking so good for their school, though, as the other team became ahead of their own after just fifteen minutes.

"Jack looks so pissed."

"Wouldn't you be?"

"Well, yeah, but if he doesn't cool down, it's just gonna get worse."

"I guess you're right."

"I think staring up here won't help to solve the problem, either," Rian joked, "Right, Alex?"

"Um," Alex tried, ending up shrugging in place of speaking. He smiled at how Rian poked fun at the couple, chuckling along as the other two laughed, because Rian was right. Jack certainly was looking up at him quite often, his tense stature visibly softening every time Alex's eyes caught his own.

Alex made his way down the bleachers a short while after the game ended, waiting until they cleared before he finally got up. He was still a bit cold, and he just wanted to get home. Jack's team had lost the game, but not by as much as they had losing in the beginning. He had never seen Jack after the latter had lost a game before, and he was a bit frightened by the possibilities. What if Jack was one of those really angry people? Alex was proven wrong, though, when his boyfriend then approached him in the same, content mood he always carried himself in. He did not know why he ever doubted Jack, or the kindness within him, because Jack just always ended up seeming perfect to Alex, as usual. It appeared he could leave his temper behind on the field, and that certainly was a useful quality.

"Hi," Jack greeted Alex from behind, wrapping his arms around the blond.

"Oh," Alex spoke, leaning back into Jack once he felt comfortable. "Hello."

"My mom should be here soon, do you want a ride home?"

"Sure."

Notes

heyyyyyyyyy guyssssssssss!! enjoy, and don't forget to comment <3

thank you to ApathyForSympathy and xxpandaxbearsxx for commenting on the last chapter, and thank you all for reading <3