Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

"I hate seeing you like this," Marissa said, later on that night. "You should really just talk to him."

"No," Alex pouted, slipping further down the couch, where he lay on his back, his head now almost touching the floor. "Never."

"You're being dramatic, and you know it." Marissa laughed softly, poking Alex with her foot.

"I know," Alex sighed, "I don't know what else to do."

"I really don't think he'd cheat on you," Marissa thought out loud, and Alex rolled his eyes.

"That's, like, the sixth time you've said that," he mumbled, sitting up and staring at Marissa from the opposite end of the couch.

"Because it's true. It's there anything that seemed off about him before all of this?" Marissa asked, and Alex shook his head.

"Nope," Alex said, "Everything was fine."

"Alex," Marissa spoke cautiously a few moments later, breaking the comfortable silence the pair had between themselves. "Can I ask you something a bit more personal?"

"Sure?" Alex answered, an eyebrow raised as he looked at Marissa expectantly.

"I know you don't like talking about this, and obviously that makes sense, since it's none of my business. I'm not trying to accuse either of you of anything, but I just thought I'd ask, was there something he wanted you to do that you didn't want to do?" Marissa questioned quietly, and the way Alex's eyes bugged out of his head when she finished talking made her laugh a little bit.

"Gosh, no," Alex shook his head quickly.

"Okay," Marissa smiled, "I'm just making sure. I know Jack is a really forward person, but it was a bit far fetched. So you're on the same page with that sort of stuff, then?"

"I think so," Alex nodded, before laughing along with his friend. "You're making me so nervous, M'riss."

"You're such a baby," Marissa scoffed half heartedly, "You know you can talk to me about this stuff."

"Fine," Alex sighed dramatically, "We haven't actually had sex yet, if you're wondering."

"What does 'actually' mean?" Marissa laughed, and Alex was fast to respond.

"Can we go back upstairs?" He asked, grateful when Marissa agreed understandingly.

"Explain," Marissa said, sitting on Alex's bed as he closed his door. "I'm interested now."

"Alright," Alex groaned, laying down on his back next to her. "We've done everything, except what I mentioned earlier."

"Everything?" Marissa gawked, and Alex barely nodded. "I wouldn't have guessed,"

"How come?" Alex asked, and Marissa shrugged.

"You're so shy about stuff like that," Marissa tried to hold in a laugh, "It's hard to image you-"

"Don't finish that sentence, and don't imagine anything. Please," Alex chuckled, and Marissa nodded.

"Yeah, I won't. Is Jack your first?" She noticed the way Alex became more reserved again as he nodded slowly. "And you're comfortable with everything?"

"Yeah," Alex spoke, "He makes it really easy, he's so gentle and understanding, and it's weird, because sometimes when we do stuff like that he seems like a completely different person, but in a good way. I can tell he's not just trying to fuck around."

"That's good," Marissa hummed, and it was silent once more, until Alex blurted something out.

"I think he wants to have sex soon."

Raising an eyebrow, Marissa asked, "'Actual' sex?"

"Yeah," Alex laughed as she quoted him with her fingers, mocking him.

"And I'm guessing he wants you to bottom?" Marissa asked, and Alex laughed nervously.

"It sounds so weird when you say it out loud," Alex cringed, "But yeah, I guess so. That's what makes sense for the first time, at least."

"Do you think he'd do something with someone else because you two haven't had sex yet?" Marissa said, thinking out loud.

"I don't think so," Alex shook his head, "Because neither of us have really brought it up, and if we did, I don't think I'd say no."

"Well, that's good, I guess," Marissa smiled, "I know a lot more about you now than I probably should, but that's good."

Meanwhile, not too far away, Jack was at his old elementary school park. The playground was barely occupied, and Jack decided it was a good place to go and think about things whenever he did not want to go into the forest. The sun was just beginning to set, and he was realizing it was probably time to go home, just when he bumped into somebody around the corner of the school.

"Jack," Natasha grinned, "What're you doing here?"

Shrugging, Jack noticed he did not really have an answer to give her. "Nothing,"

"What's wrong?" Natasha's face fell suddenly. All of a sudden, he regretted his answer, and even more so when a boy walked up behind Natasha. He was probably her boyfriend. "Jack, this is Adam." Jack had been right about that.

"Hey," Jack nodded at the kid behind her, who waved back to him. He was interesting looking, the type of person where you could not guess their nationality for the life of you, because they look to be so many different things. "Nothing's wrong, 'Tash."

"You're lying," Natasha stated, and Jack chuckled at how she could say such bold words so calmly.

"Am I?"

"Definitely. Adam, could you give us a minute?"

"What do you want to talk about?" Jack sighed, as Natasha walked with him back around the brick building.

"Nothing. It's your turn to talk," Natasha instructed, and Jack groaned.

"Fine. It's Alex. We were supposed to meet up after school, but he never showed up, or answered my text. His mom even told him I was looking for him, but he hasn't gotten back to me. He's never like this, and I don't know what's up with him." Jack explained, kicking a small rock along as he and Natasha strolled aimlessly.

"Have you done anything to upset him?" Natasha asked, and Jack shook his head.

"Not at all." He mumbled, his hands finding their way into his pockets. It was starting to get cold. "I saw him with another guy, though. It was sort of weird, because it was right after Sam told me Alex wasn't that interested in me anymore. I mean, it had only been a couple days since I last hung out with him, but it was kind of like a slap in the face seeing him with somebody else. That sounds kind of selfish, but I'm the only guy Alex really sees often."

"I get what you mean," Natasha nodded, "But Alex is the sweetest thing ever, and we both know that. He wouldn't do anything to hurt you, so I would just ask him what's going on if I were in your shoes."

"I guess so," Jack hummed, "I think I should get going. You should, too, it's getting dark. Thanks, Natasha."

"No problem," Natasha waved goodbye to Jack, as she headed back to where Adam was waiting for her.

Even later on that night, Natasha and Marissa were busy texting each other, slowly piecing everything together.

Marissa Grimaldi, 8:44 PM: Talked to Alex today, told me Sam said all this stuff about Jack being over him. He's super sad. It's very odd

Natasha Haddad, 8:45 PM: Weird. I saw Jack earlier, and he said the same thing.

Marissa Grimaldi, 8:45 PM: Are you serious??????

Natasha Haddad, 8:49 PM: Yes. He seemed down, so I asked him what was wrong, and he said something along the lines of Sam told him Alex was into somebody else.

Marissa Grimaldi, 8:51 PM: You need to reply faster!!! Something's definitely up. He seemed like he still cared about Alex right?

Natasha Haddad, 8:52 PM: Yup

Marissa Grimaldi, 8:52 PM: Alex too. You don't think...?

Natasha Haddad, 8:53 PM: Oh, I definitely do.

Marissa Grimaldi, 8:54 PM: What are we supposed to do about this?

Natasha Haddad, 8:57 PM: Don't say anything to Alex, there's already a huge lack of communication here. We need to get them together, and explain everything. Tomorrow night? I've already asked Jack, and he's good.

Marissa Grimaldi, 9:00 PM: Alex is good too. My place?

Natasha Haddad, 9:01 PM: Sounds good. Should we talk to Sam?

Marissa Grimaldi, 9:01 PM: After we talk to them.

Natasha Haddad, 9:02 PM: Okay.

Putting down their phones for the night, both Marissa and Natasha silently hoped that things would work out. Alex and Jack were working out amazingly together, and they were both so confused as to why one of their best friend would try to mess with them. It made absolutely no sense, and they were anxious to talk to the couple, before they could finally question Sam.

Notes

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