Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

Leaving school without Alex felt different for Jack. He had spent the entire winter break with his boyfriend, and the days of school before that, too, hanging out with Alex. He was going to the mall with some of the guys on his soccer team, and Sam and some other girls. They were going to talk about the team they were planning to get together, as well as get to know each other. Jack was resistant at first, until Sam reminded him that he did not owe every second of his day to his boyfriend. It was true, but it made him a bit sad, because he liked spending time with Alex. It was just one day, though, and once Alex had texted them and they had made plans for the next, he felt much more free with his current afternoon.

"So," Chloe asked, "Where are we going?"

"The mall?" One of Jack's friends responded. "There's nowhere else to go, especially when it's so cold."

"I was just going to suggest that," Sam remarked, "So, sure."

The rest of the group agreed simultaneously, and made their way toward the mall, walking as fast as they could to escape the freezing weather. Eventually, ending up in the food court, Jack found himself finishing up his own order, as well as bits and pieces of everyone else's. He certainly forgot how hungry school made him.

"Okay," Chloe said, having to say a couple names to get everyone's attention, before continuing. "The first thing we need to talk about is who our teacher sponsor is going to be. We can't have a team without a supervisor." The entire table went silent, and Chloe crossed her arms over the table, slumping down onto them. "Okay, maybe we can talk about something different. Uniforms?" Everyone seemed to like this topic, as the group went straight into discussing their uniforms.

"We're going to need new ones," Sam reminded everyone, "We don't have boys and girls ones that match." As the rest of their friends began to discuss designs, Sam turned to Jack, who was sitting in front of her. "Jack?"

"Yeah?" Jack responded, his eyes snapping forward toward Sam's, from where they had been lost somewhere else.

"Are you okay? You don't really seem like you want to be here." Sam questioned, her eyes sympathetic as she leaned forward on the table to be closer to her friend.

"I'm fine," Jack sighed, "Just tired, I guess. Uniforms don't really matter to me, so it's okay."

"Hmm," Sam hummed in agreement. "Me too. Can I talk to you about something?"

"Yeah, what's up?" Jack nodded, curious as to what Sam would have to say. The only connection they had lately was Alex, and it made him nervous that Sam would want to talk about said boy.

"It's about Alex," Sam explained, and Jack let out a breath. He was right. "What?"

"Nothing," Jack shook his head, "Go ahead."

"I don't really know how to say this," Sam mumbled, "I think he's becoming more comfortable with himself. Himself, and other people."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Jack grimaced. The harshness of his words shocked him, but they felt right. He was not in the mood for this at all.

"Sorry," Sam frowned. "I'm trying to explain. It's just that I think you two are on different pages now. Things are changing, I guess."

"Are you trying to tell me he's cheating on me?" Jack raised an eyebrow, and Sam bit her lip.

"Not necessarily, but it seems like a possibility." Sam explained, and Jack rolled his eyes.

"What makes you say this? We were fine, like, two days ago." Jack said, shaking not his head. Instead of responding with words, Sam simply nodded over to their right, at the entrance of the mall. Alex was walking in right at that moment, unbuttoning his jacket as he smiled at something the boy next to him said. "Who the hell is that?"

"He's new," Sam shrugged, "Alex met him in third period today. His name's Max, and he seemed pretty interested in your boyfriend. All I'm trying to say is maybe you guys both have different priorities now."

"I don't know about him," Jack mumbled, "But I certainly don't. Should I go talk to him, Sam?"

"Nah," Sam shook her head. "I think it's fine. Besides, you're seeing him tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah," Jack agreed. "I guess so."

On the other side of the mall, Alex was discussing his boyfriend with a friend, too, but in a much more positive light than Jack had been doing so.

"So you met at school?" Max asked, and Alex nodded.

"Yeah," he could not help but to blush at the memory, "I was interested in him, and Sam introduced us."

"You don't seem like the forward type," Max chuckled, and Alex rushed to explain himself.

"No, no, it wasn't like that. I was really reluctant. It was kind of weird. I hadn't ever really done anything like that before, so I had no idea how to talk to him in the beginning. It was kind of sad, but I was lucky he was good at that part." Alex said, with a small smile on his face.

"You haven't even talked about him specifically, but you're still talking so highly of him," Max remarked. "You seem to really like him.

"I do," Alex nodded, "A lot."

"So, it's serious, then?" Max asked, and he was not expecting for Alex to stop in his tracks, turn, and frown at him.

"Of course it's serious," Alex said quietly. "I mean, I don't really know why that bothered me so much, since there's no way you'd know anything about my relationship at all, but yes, it's serious. It's very important."

"I'm sorry," Max laughed lightly, "He seems great, though."

"He is," Alex grinned, "He's a certain type of person you wish you could have in your life, except you don't actually know anyone like that. Lucky for me, I do."

"Explain that more," Max responded, "I like the way you worded that."

"I don't know," Alex shrugged, trying hard not to blush again. He could definitely feel his face going red, though, and he wondered why he even tried to stop it. As long as Jack was being mentioned, it is how he would react. "He's so well rounded, and caring, and genuine. Sometimes, he seems too good to be true, but everything about him tells me it is true."

"That sounds nice," Max replied, and Alex chuckled to himself.

"I must sound pretty dumb. I don't know why I'm telling you about all of this. Were you dating anyone back in California?" Alex questioned, turning the conversation around to Max.

"Yeah," Max nodded, "I had a girlfriend, but we broke up before I left. Not because I was moving, but because I wasn't sure if that was really what I wanted at the time."

"Oh," Alex hummed, deciding not to comment. He already felt a tad weird talking to someone he barely knew about his own relationship, and he did not want to dive into another conversation about someone else's, either.

"So, where're we going?" Max asked, deciding it was time to stop wandering around the mall simultaneously. "I'm kind of hungry."

"Let's go to the food court, then," Alex said, leading the way.

It did not take Alex long at all to notice Jack in the crowd of the food court. Spotting his boyfriend from across the floor, he began to walk a bit faster in that direction. "Hey," he said to Max, "I see Jack. Let's go say hi." Silently agreeing, Max followed Alex through the tables toward a group of kids from their school. It felt a bit odd for him to be meeting so many people all of a sudden, but he was lucky he was not by himself still.

Alex caught Jack's attention not long after, and Jack grinned up at him, the biggest smile any of Jack's friends had seen on him all day. "Hey, baby," he said, as the blond finally reached the table. Jack was not sure what brought out such a strong display of affection, but he had a feeling it had to do with the unknown boy standing next to Alex. Either that, or something inside of him had to prove to Sam that he and Alex were actually still going strong. He was not proving anything to Alex, though, because deep down, he knew they both trusted each other enough to know the truth.

"Hi, Jack," Alex smiled in return, and Jack decided, fuck it, and he got up to give his boyfriend a quick kiss on the lips.

"I've missed you," he mumbled, and Alex nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?"

"Yes, love," Alex giggled, "Nothing's changed."

"Alright," Jack said, greeting Alex's friend as Alex introduced them, before saying a final goodbye to the younger boy, and joining back into his friend's conversations.

Notes

hellooo friends!!! things are sort of fixed now in the story... or are they??? (no) let me know what you think :^)

for anyone interested, i've started my Death of a Bachelor (my mibba links strike again... sry, you can find it on my page on here, too) series! there's already one part, and i'll be adding another tomorrow. go check it out! i've decided to finish that, and then start writing Ocean Avenue again (hopefully i'll upload that to wattpad eventually, because it's not on there yet).

thanks to Alltimegabi and ApathyForSympathy for commenting on the last chapter, and thank you all for reading!


ps ~ again, i might not update in the next 2 weeks! sorry!!!