Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

"Hey, 'Lex," was the first thing Alex heard later on in the evening. Curling into the warm body next to him, Alex sighed contently as Jack's hand caressed his cheek softly. "It's time to wake up. I think I should leave soon."

"No," Alex whispered, mewing as Jack placed a soft kiss on his forehead.

"Yes. And you have to go hang out with your dad, remember?" Jack reminded the blond, smiling as a look of recognition finally took over his features. That look soon changed, though, when Alex remembered some other things. Specifically, what he and Jack had said earlier on that afternoon.

"Oh, y-yeah," Alex nodded, sitting up and turning his head toward the window. Hopefully, Jack wouldn't bring it up.

"You're not regretting something, are you?" Of course, Jack brought it up. Alex didn't know what to say, until he felt Jack's lips against his cheek for a brief moment. The action made him smile, and thus he turned back around to face Jack. Sitting cross legged, with their knees touching, Alex spoke first.

"I don't think I could regret saying anything to you."

"I think you could," Jack shrugged, "It's normal. But thanks, I guess."

Nodding, Alex added, "It's just a little weird to talk about."

"I hear you," Jack hummed, before grinning, "But it was nice, wasn't it?" Alex nodded with a smile, and Jack leaned forward to press their lips together. His cupped Alex's cheek with his hand, and he grinned into their kiss as he felt Alex lean into his palm.

Pulling back, Alex mumbled, "My mom's probably going to come in here to wake us up, soon. I think it's around dinner time."

"I should get going, then," Jack said, shuffling off of Alex's bed and onto his feet.

"No!" Alex gasped, giggling as Jack turned around with a confused expression. "I mean, you don't have to. Not if you don't want to."

"Are you sure?" Jack asked, as Alex climbed off of his bed, as well.

"Of course. Come on, let's go tell my mom you're staying for dinner."

Voices coming from downstairs shocked Alex at first, until he remembered he and his mother were not alone at home anymore. It was nice to hear his father again, but not while he was discussing his son's relationship with his boyfriend. Alex stopped at the top of the stairs, holding Jack back. They listened to hush whispers for a few moments, unsure of what was going on. When the two boys finally deciphered what was being talked about, they shared a worried look. Listening in some more, their feelings changed from nervous to embarrassed.

"Jack's a nice kid, Peter." The boys could hear Alex's mother saying.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Peter argued, "He's a teenage boy, for Christ's sake." At this, Jack cringed, and Alex giggled.

"They know the rules. No locked doors, and I'm allowed to come in whenever I want." Isobel explained.

"That's not going to stop anything."

"Exactly, and not letting them sleep in the same room every once in awhile isn't, either."

"Fine, you've made your point. You've at least discussed with Alex being safe, though?"

"Of course, I have. He's a smart boy, he even came to talk to me about it. I don't think we have anything to worry about."

Deciding this was a good break in his parent's conversation to interrupt, Alex made his way down with stairs and into the kitchen, cheeks tinted pink. With Jack in tow, he coughed to get their attention.

"Mom, can Jack stay over for dinner?" Alex asked politely, and Jack smiled at his boyfriend's parents from where he stood at Alex's side.

"Yes, he can," Alex's mother answered, before his father spoke.

"So, what have you boys been up to?"

"We took a nap," Alex answered, glad he did not have to lie. He was not very good at fooling anyone, especially his parents, even over silly little things like taking a nap.

"Hmm," Peter hummed, turning his attention away from the pair of teens once more. Taking Jack's hand, Alex hurried back up the stairs, hoping to get just a little more kissing in before his mom called him for dinner.

Jack sat with Alex and his friends at lunch the next day. He kept an arm around Alex's waist, which kept Alex leaning into him, just the way he liked it. He liked being able to bury his nose in the blond's soft hair, and he loved being able to kiss his boyfriend's forehead whenever he wanted. Also, he loved the way Alex's friends reacted whenever he did such things, but he would not let the younger boy know that. Jack did not think Alex would appreciate knowing Jack loved to show him off at any given moment, to any given person. Alex was so much more than Jack's partner, and Jack knew that, which is why he wanted Alex to be his forever.

"So," Marissa asked, "How's having your dad around been?"

"Great," Alex smiled, "Everything feels so much more permanent now."

"Makes sense," she nodded, "I can't imagine being without one of my parents for that long. Not even my brother,"

"Oh, come on," Sam laughed, "You'd die to get rid of Leo."

"You totally would. Besides, it'd be better him than your parents. Angela is the only one who knows how to run the bakery, and Michael is the best baker there." Natasha agreed.

"I still find it odd how you call each other's parents by their first names," Alex commented, and Sam shrugged.

"Things happen over time. Jack, hasn't your dad been away for a while, too?"

"Yeah," Jack nodded, looking up from where he was tracing patterns on Alex's thigh. "He has."

"Are you excited for him to come back?" Marissa grinned, her face falling when Jack simply grumbled in response.

"He doesn't think his dad will like me," Alex explained, leaning his head against Jack's shoulder.

"You know that's not it," Jack shook his head, tired of talking about it already.

Halfway through lunch, after the conversation had changed, Marissa stood up, letting everyone know she had to get to class early to finish up an assignment. This reminded both Alex and Sam, whom of which were in a very similar situation, to pack up and leave for English as well. Alex gave Jack a kiss on the cheek, smiling at the proclamation of love his boyfriend gave him, before leaving him alone with Natasha.

They say in silence for quite some time, neither one wanting to be rude and leave first, until Natasha spoke.

"Jack."

"Hmm?" Jack focused his attention on the girl, curious as to what she had to say.

"About your dad-"

"Oh, no. Not you, too. It's fine, I'm fine, don't worry about it."

"Obviously not," Natasha mumbled, before speaking louder, "Just listen to me, alright?"

Jack huffed in response, crossing his arms on top of the table and hiding his face in his elbow. "Okay."

"So, I'm guessing this is about you being gay-" Natasha started again, rolling her eyes as she was interrupted for the second time.

"I'm not gay."

"Bisexual, whatever. My point is, you like guys. Correct?"

Jack nodded in reply, and Natasha breathed a sigh of relief. She barely ever talked to Jack, and she knew he was a nice person, but he did seem awfully frustrating. Deciding Jack was finally cooperating enough, she launched into somewhat of a speech.

"You've probably heard this a thousand times, but if your parents really love you, they'll be able to look past it. Maybe they won't be able to accept it, but it's impossible to change people. I know it absolutely sucks to think of your parents not even tolerating it, though, but that's what Alex is for, right? You win some, you lose some. You're going to have to make it known to your parents that Alex is very important to you, but it doesn't mean you totally have to cut them off. When my moms-"

"Moms?" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow. "Hmm. I didn't know."

"Yeah," Natasha hummed, "I literally don't know where I'd be without them. Anyway, they told me they had to deal with the same thing when they were younger. It was hard for them, but their parents came around, and I still get to see my grandparents. Being around them has taught me nothing else matters when you find someone you love that much, and I think that'd really help you, too."

"Wow," Jack commented. "Just curious, but what do you call them individually? Are they both mom?"

"Planning for your future already?" Natasha laughed, "I call them mom when I'm talking to them one on one, and when I'm talking about the other, I say Shannon or Kelly."

"Ah," Jack nodded. "Cool."

The bell rang at that moment, and both teens stood up to get to class. Before separating ways, though, Jack pulled Natasha into quick hug.

"Thanks, Tash."

Notes

hi!! i really hope you liked this :^)

the next chapter gets a lil (more than a lil) spicy, so if you want to read that soon, leave a comment with your thoughts and maybe i'll upload it in a couple days rather than next week???? double uploads are hard for me to keep up with, but your comments really motivate me <3

thanks for reading and thank you to xxpandaxbearsxx and Alex_thelion99 for commenting on the last chapter!