Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

When Alex woke up, it was to his mother's usual incessant knocking on his door, his warm body tucked into Jack's arms while the older boy breathed softly against his neck. Yawning dramatically, Alex tried to move softly and quietly as he slipped out of bed and his boyfriend's hold, sluggishly walking over to the door and opening it. He figured doing so would let his mother know they had nothing to hide, and he gave Jack points for suggesting they redress fully prior to sleeping the night before. He did not feel guilty, per-say, he just felt there were things his mother needed to know, and things she did not. As long as they were safe, his relationship with Jack would go under the 'did not' category.

"Alex," Isobel greeted, looking a bit surprised, "Were you up already?"

"Sort of," Alex responded, deciding that was the best answer he could provide. He had been in that early morning state, where you are conscious enough to feel and hear what is going around you, but yet you are actually somewhat asleep. It had been great, and Alex hated to have been woken up, but he realized it was probably for the best. They had to leave for the airport in less than an hour.

"Alright, then," Alex's mother spoke, nodding her head, "Get ready."

Alex nodded back in reply, shutting the door once more and heading over to his bed. He climbed on beside Jack, sitting cross legged beside the boy and poking him in the side. "Wake up,"

"Hmm."

"Jaaack, up."

"'Lex,"

"Yes?"

"No."

Alex huffed at that, shoving at Jack until he was laying on his back, his eyes fluttering open. "We have to go soon."

"Oh, right." Jack hummed, grabbing Alex by the shoulders and pulling the slighter boy down onto his chest.

"No, Jack," Alex giggled, even though he was struggling to get away, "Now, please."

"Fine," Jack laughed, letting go of Alex and sitting up next to him. "Let's get ready, then."

On the car ride to the airport, Alex was all kinds of giddy. It was supposed to be just over an hour of a drive, which was quite unfortunate for both Isobel and Jack, because Alex could not seem to just sit still. He sang along loudly to the songs on the radio, danced as well as he could while wearing his seatbelt, and poked and prodded at Jack while he asked his mother various questions about his father's flight.

"Boy, am I lucky you're here, Jack," Alex's mother laughed, "Or he'd be sitting up here, annoying me even more."

"Hey," Alex pouted, stopping his bouncing in his seat to fall against Jack's side, "I'm just excited, okay?"

"Of course," Alex's mother shook her head with a smile, trying to focus more on driving and less on her son.

"I'm happy for you," Jack remarked, speaking quietly as he took Alex's hand in his, interlocking their fingers.

"Thanks," Alex hummed, nuzzling more into Jack's shoulder. "When's your dad coming back?" Feeling Jack visibly slouch as he asked his question, Alex looked up at the older boy, only to notice his expression fall sour. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Jack sighed, "Don't worry about it."

"You're telling me later," Alex grumbled, not liking whenever Jack got all quiet on him. It scared him, to an extent. Alex still occasionally thought about how lucky he had gotten, how the first boy he had taken interest in had noticed him right back. That is why it felt too good to be true sometimes, though, and Alex was always aware of this.

"Alright," Jack said quietly, nodding. Alex had obviously gotten the message, and it did not seem to be a good one. He settled down for the rest of the car ride, drumming the fingers of his unoccupied hand against Jack's thigh softly.

The inside of the airport seemed so much busier to Alex when he was waiting for someone else, rather than when he was simply passing through a few months prior. People were everywhere, standing in places they should and should not be standing. Alex made a point to stick close to both his mother and Jack, but his efforts went more into tugging the distracted boy along as he followed his mother through the crowds.

When they reached the correct place to wait, they searched for some seats close to the doors. Alex's mother and Jack sat down, while Alex began to bounce on his heels once more.

"Settle down, Alex." Isobel mumbled, not wanting to make an even bigger scene than her son was making.

"C'mere," Jack suggested, asking for Alex's hand and then pulling him down onto the seat next to him. It only lasted for a mere few seconds, though, since Alex finally saw the person he had been waiting to see for two whole months.

"Dad!" Alex called, bolting from the waiting area and over to the little ramp the passengers exited from. He met his father at the bottom, Peter setting down his luggage just in time to accept the hug his son threw at him. When Alex finally let go, Isobel and Jack had appeared behind them. Alex's mother moved forward to embrace her husband as well, while Jack hung back a small bit. As his parents greeted each other, Alex turned to face Jack, smiling and motioning for him to come closer. Jack did as he was asked, walking over to the family slowly, surprised when he felt Alex's hand grasp his own.

"And who might this be?" Alex's father asked, turning his attention to the two boys. Alex chuckled slightly when he felt Jack's grip tighten around his.

"This is Jack, dad," Alex answered, "My boyfriend."

"Already, huh?" Peter laughed, following the others out to where they parked the car. "Boy, I've missed a lot, then."

"Not really," Alex hummed, "Just Jack. I've made a couple other friends, too, though. You'll meet them soon, I bet."

Jack was still hanging around the Gaskarth home later in the day, when Alex's father was finally settled in. After a bit more getting to know each other, Alex and Jack finally retreated up to Alex's room, where Jack leaped onto Alex's bed with a huff.

"Tired?" Alex asked with a laugh, taking a seat next to his boyfriend.

"Just a lil'," Jack responded with a yawn, rolling onto his back and holding his arms out for Alex. As the blond settled into Jack's hold, he remembered their earlier conversation.

"Jack," Alex mumbled, voice a lot lower than it was before, "Can we talk now?" He spoke in a distinct way, with a certain tone he knew Jack did not like. He sounded cautious, as well as unsure of himself. Jack was not a fan of this at all, as he liked seeing Alex be confident. In no way did he want to be the reason for Alex's nervousness.

"About what?" Jack tried, dodging the subject, although he knew it was bothering Alex.

"Your dad."

"I, uh- Alright, whatever. What do you want to know?"

"Why are you so afraid of him coming back?" Alex whispered, his head leant down as he spoke.

"I'm not."

"Ja-"

"Alex," Jack sighed, "Don't worry about it, alright?"

"How can I not worry about it? Is he bad, or something? Do you need to tell someone?"

"Hey, hey, hey. Calm down. Everything's fine, I'm just nervous, is all."

"How come?" Alex questioned, "You don't think he'll like me, do you? Is that it?"

"No," Jack shook his head, "That's not it. I'm positive that he's going to love you. Everyone you meet loves you."

"Then why?" Alex asked tentatively, not wanting to push the other boy too far.

"I'm just not sure if he's going to like us, together."

"Is he homophobic?"

"I'm not exactly sure how to answer that. Is there a word for soft homophobia?" Jack smiled, to which Alex giggled in response.

"Soft homophobia?" He said, "That's kind of funny."

"You get what I mean, though, right?" Jack asked, glad when Alex nodded his head.

"Yeah, it's the worst type. They act like it doesn't bother them, but you can totally tell it does."

"Exactly. And when they do something to help the cause, they think of themselves as a saint. It's terrible, because it's not down right insulting, it's just sort of patronizing."

Alex nodded his head once again, this time leaning up to press a kiss to Jack's cheek, as well. "Don't worry about it, baby. It's never to late to teach someone what's right. Besides, he's going to have to get used to it, as long as we're together."

"I guess so," Jack hummed. "Thanks."

"No problem," Alex replied, rolling out of Jack's grasp to instead lay facing the taller boy, scooting up on the bed to his eye level, "So, what was that about everyone I meet loving me?" When Jack just simply rose an eyebrow, Alex continued. "Did you love me when we first met?"

"Shut up," Jack whined, closing his eyes so he would not have to see the large grin playing on Alex's lips.

"No," Alex chuckled, "Did you? Do you?"

After a few more moments of teasing and prodding on Alex's part, Jack opened his eyes to deliver a much more serious response than Alex expected.

"Of course I do."

Alex had no idea how to respond to that, so it was a good thing Jack took his expression of confusion as a sign to explain.

"I think people almost take the word love too seriously. I mean, if is definitely something important, but that doesn't mean it can only be given out so very rarely. You know what I mean?"

"I think so," Alex responded quietly, waiting for Jack to speak to what he had said earlier on.

"Well, then. I love you, Alex. Obviously, that's going to develop a lot more in the future. At least, I hope it will. But for now, I love my mom, my dad, my brother, my sister, the rest of my family, Zack, Rian, and I love you. The word doesn't have to be a ball and chain. It's good to say, and it's good to hear, so I don't know why we keep it so locked up."

"You're so cute," Alex hummed, stressing every word he spoke. "So, so cute. You're perfect."

"Shhhhh."

"I also love you, too, then, if you're going to put it that way. If you were wondering,"

Jack leaned forward with a chuckle, pressing a quick kiss to Alex's lips. He wrapped his arms back around the slighter boy once again, pulling him into his chest as Alex continued to speak with a yawn.

"I like this freedom with words. I like loving you."

"Mhm," Jack agreed, his eyes fluttering shut. Just before he and Alex fell into a well deserved nap, he murmured one final, "Lo' you, 'Lex."

Notes

sorry it took me so long to upload this, the site wasn't letting me log in :-( i hope you enjoyed it, don't forget to leave a comment letting me know what you think!!

thanks for reading , and thank you to Alltimegabi, Alex_thelion99, and xxpandaxbearsxx for commenting on the last chapter! <3