Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

"I'm hungry," Jack announced, slamming his fists on the table determinedly. "I want a donut."

"I'll come help you," Marissa offered, "That way my mom can keep doing whatever she's doing in the back.

"Cool," Jack smiled, standing up to make his way out of the booth. Turning back around to Alex, he asked, "Are you coming? You can help me pick,"

"Okay," Alex hummed, following Jack over to the counter. Together they leant over to peek inside the window, and Jack was pretty sure he would be okay with any baked good Alex chose, because they all looked delicious.

"Whoa, Alex," Marissa laughed, as she came up behind the couple. She looked slightly embarrassed, and Alex wondered why for a moment, until he realized his shirt had ridden up a small amount when he had been bending over. Oops. "Is that why you're wearing the scarf, too?"

"Leave me alone," Alex whined, pulling his scarf up over his face as well, turning away from Marissa as she went behind the counter.

"Okay," Marissa shrugged, "But you're telling me about that later." Jack chuckled in response, but Alex just groaned, choosing something for Jack quickly so he could escape the situation. Arriving back to their table, the three noticed the subject had changed, and they listened in to what Natasha was saying as they took their seats.

"I've only seen her once- Oh, hey, Marissa, I was just telling them about the new girl you all hired." Natasha cut herself off, turning to Marissa to explain, instead.

"Oh," Marissa remembered, "Right! We wanted to try out having a waitress as well as a counter people can walk up to, and my parents hired a girl our age a couple days ago. She's pretty cool."

"She doesn't go to our school?" Jack asked, and Marissa shook her head.

"Nope. I don't know where she goes. Her name's Cassadee, though, if that means anything. I think she'll be coming in soon." Marissa shrugged. She was right, as only a few moments later, a tall brunette walked through the door. She looked a bit lost, so Marissa took the initiative to lead her to the back, where her mother could help their new waitress. Mrs. Grimaldi set her up with her apron and note pad, made sure she knew where everything was and how to do everything, and then she told Cassadee she could take it easy until someone came in and sat down.

"We're not very formal here," Angela smiled, "As long as you do your job well, you're free to make yourself at home."

"Thanks," Cassadee responded, but her hesitant voice and slumped shoulders showed she still felt quite out of place.

"Why don't you come sit with us?" Marissa suggested, "Until someone comes in? It's not that busy right now."

"Great idea," Marissa's mother nodded, turning back to her work. Marissa led Cassadee back out, and introduced her to the table.

"Guys, this is Cassadee, our new waitress." She said, gesturing to the tall girl beside her. Cassadee waved in response, and sat down next to Marissa. Cassadee fit into the group right away, only having to get up to serve people every once in awhile. She told them about herself, where she went to school and who her friends were. Some of the group knew a couple of Cassadee's friends, and soon, they felt quite acquainted with her. Rian was especially welcoming to Cassadee, as they were able to hold their own separate conversations across the table from opposite sides of the bench, with Zack and Marissa between them. Jack and Alex could only look at each other, before Jack was shaking his head.

"Don't say it," he whispered to his boyfriend, "Not yet. No more meddling."

Alex grumbled in reply, leaning his head on Jack's shoulder. "Fine."

"Are you two dating?" Cassadee piped up, and the table went quiet as Jack nodded slowly. The rest of the group watched Cassadee curiously, trying to gage her reaction. It rarely ever happened, but the friends got rather protective of each other if someone gave Jack and Alex a hard time. "I can tell," Cassadee continued, "You're really cute together."

"Thanks," Jack grinned, and he looked to his side to see Alex's expression mirroring his.

"So are Natasha and Adam," Marissa added, and Natasha raised an eyebrow.

"And Marissa and Zack," she said, grinning slyly as both people mentioned looked up with shocked expressions.

"No we're not," they said in unison, before looking at each other with unsure expressions.

"Alright," Jack hummed, "Sure, you two."

"Anyway," Marissa interrupted, "My mom has to close up soon, so we have to head out." As they packed up their stuff, they said goodbye to Cassadee, before leaving the shop. On their way out, Marissa's asked Alex, "Do you want to come over?"

"Sure," Alex smiled, then walking over to Jack where he was standing with Zack and Rian.

"Hey, babe," Jack greeted him, looping his arms around the shorter boy's waist as he asked, "We're going to Zack's, do you want to come?"

"Marissa just invited me over," Alex said in reply, "Sorry. I'll see you tomorrow, though,"

"Alright," Jack nodded, leaning down to kiss his lips, before saying goodbye and heading off with his friends. When Alex turned back toward Marissa, Natasha and Adam were gone, too, and it was just her waiting for him. As they began the short walk to her house, Marissa asked,

"Are you going to tell me about the hickies now?" She laughed as Alex looked away, groaning in response.

"Do I have to?" Alex said, now looking down at the ground, not wanting to make eye contact with his nosey friend.

"Yes," Marissa nodded, "I'd tell you if you asked."

"Fine," Alex sighed, "Alright. I think it's pretty obvious, though."

"Yeah," Marissa agreed, "But, on your back, too? What the fuck were you doing?"

"He did them after," Alex explained, cringing when he realized he only dug himself into a deeper hole.

"After what?" Marissa rose an eyebrow at Alex as they continued walking.

"Uh," Alex said dumbfoundedly, and it only took Marissa a moment before she realized what he was referring to.

"Wait," she said, "What? Oh my gosh, did you- You did! Why didn't you tell me?" The way Alex was avoiding looking her in the eye at all costs gave it away, and Marissa was practically skipping along next to her friend at this point. "Since when?"

"Just yesterday," Alex mumbled, "I didn't have a chance to tell you."

"What was it like?" Marissa asked, and at this, Alex could not help but to laugh.

"I don't know how to answer that," he chuckled. "It was weird, I guess? I don't know. Jack was really nice about it."

"That's good," Marissa hummed, "This must be quite odd for you. You only moved here, like, four months ago, and you already have a boyfriend, and now you've had sex."

"Stop," Alex whined, "You're embarrassing, and it's not like I planned for all of this to happen."

"I know," Marissa shrugged, "But, still. It's all happened so fast."

"Definitely," Alex agreed, following Marissa into her yard when they reached her house. Unlocking the door, she brought him upstairs. Alex took a moment to decide whether he should ask about her and Zack, before he decided he obviously should, because Marissa definitely has no shame in asking him anything. "So," Alex said, trying to keep a forming grin off of his face, "Speaking of sex, what's going on with you and Zack?"

Spinning around quickly, Marissa glared at Alex. "Shut your mouth!"

"What?" Alex asked, pretending like he had not asked anything wrong.

"You're dumb," Marissa said, before answering seriously, "We haven't even kissed yet, Alex. We've barely even been on dates."

"Do you think it'll go further, though?" Alex asked curiously, and Marissa shrugged, sliding down the wall to take a seat on the door. Alex joined her as she said,

"Maybe. It's scary, I've never done anything like this before." Alex looked at Marissa intently as she said this, answering her with a grin.

"Trust me, it's not that hard." Alex laughed as Marissa rolled her eyes, elbowing him lightly before she responded.

"I know, if you do it right it's fine and it doesn't hurt and stuff. It just feels like a lot of pressure, too. Girls look down on each other for this kind of stuff when they find out about it, even though it's normal and we should all be supporting each other. You probably didn't even think about that when you did it, did you?"

"You're right," Alex nodded, "I didn't consider what other people would think in general, but I did consider what they would think if they knew it was with a boy. I mean, everyone I know probably assumes so, but what if other random people found out? It's a different situation, but I get why you're scared. I think it even worries Jack sometimes, too."

"I didn't think of that," Marissa hummed, "That must've been scary."

"Not so much," Alex shrugged, "Everyone I know well right now is very supportive, and it's great."

"That's good to hear," Marissa smiled sincerely.

Notes

hey friends! let me know what you think of this chapter!

thanks to SophieGaskarth, Alltimegabi, and ApathyForSympathy for commenting. thanks for reading :^)