Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

When Alex saw Max on Monday, the other boy was not shy about bringing up what was on his mind.

"Alex," Max greeted him with a smile, as soon as he caught sight of him. "Why didn't you answer my text?"

"Uh," Alex started, taken aback by the question. He had not seen it as such a big deal, but it did seem rather important to Max at the moment. "I was in the middle of something. I was busy the whole day, actually." Alex explained, taking his seat.

"Oh," Max nodded, "For Valentine's Day?"

Alex hummed in reply, taking out his stuff as Max continued to look at him. Understanding that he probably wanted a response, he asked, "Why? What were you going to say?"

"Nothing," Max chuckled, "Don't worry about it, I was just bored, and I have no other friends. I mean, I was sort of friends with Sam, but ever since you and her had that fight, she doesn't really talk to me either. Not that I'd want to talk to her,"

"You don't have to ignore her because of me," Alex pointed out, "It was my argument, not yours. I don't mind,"

"It's okay," Max shrugged, "I don't need to be friends with anyone like her. And it's my fault for bothering you on Valentine's Day, so sorry about that, too. I wasn't really thinking."

"It's not that big of a deal," Alex voiced, "We can hang out today, if you want?"

"Sure," Max grinned, both boys focusing on the lesson once their teacher was finally situated at the front of the classroom.

After school, Alex walked up and down a few hallways, looking for Jack. They had seen each other at both math and lunch, yet Alex felt like he had to say goodbye. He eventually found Jack by Rian's locker, where they both were with Zack, as well. Jack saw Alex coming from down the hall, and told his friends he would be right back as he made his way to meet Alex in the middle.

"What's up, babe?" Jack smiled, reaching for one of Alex's hands as he stepped closer to his boyfriend. We went in for a kiss, but Alex dodged it. Sometimes Jack forgot Alex was not as keen on public displays of affection as he was. Usually Jack was okay with this, but what Alex said next made him want to pull the smaller boy into him and just take him home... in the friendliest, most okay-with-Max way possible. Really, Max was cool, Jack just really liked Alex. Why would he not want to kiss him and spend as much time with him as he possibly could? Okay, maybe that was a bit excessive.

"I'm going to the mall with Max," Alex answered, "But I want you to call me tonight, okay?"

"Anything for you," Jack nodded, noticing Max the rest of the way down the hall as he did so. As Alex let go of his hand, he decided he needed one more thing for good measure, and pulled Alex in by the waistband of his pants. Slotting their lips together, Jack kissed him in a way he usually did not at school, and Alex pulled away with a blush on his cheeks.

"You're embarrassing." He remarked, and Jack agreed fully.

"Definitely. I'll talk to you later, sweetheart." Jack said, before they both parted ways.

At the mall, the first thing Max wanted to do was get food. Alex was hesitant, because he still felt uncomfortable in any situation that would acknowledge his allergies, whether it was in a negative or positive light. He remembered letting Max know somewhere along the line about his unfortunate problem, but he was nowhere near as open with the subject as he was with Jack, or Marissa and Natasha.

"Let's go to the food court," Max said, "I'm starving. Do you want- Wait, shit. You can't eat anywhere here, right?"

"Nope," Alex responded, smiling slightly as Max hunched forward.

"Well, now I feel bad. I'm sorry. We don't have to if you don't want to." He suggested, but Alex shook his head.

"I can deal with it," Alex explained, "I've been doing this my whole life. Go ahead,"

With Alex's blessing, Max went to go order himself a meal, feeling slightly guilty and sympathetic as he ate it in front of his empty handed friend. As Alex looked ahead of himself, he found his eyes fixated on Max, while the other boy's eyes wandered elsewhere. No matter how hard he tried, he could not help but to think of Jack when he looked at him. Perhaps maybe all boys made Alex think of Jack, or maybe Max simply mirrored a small portion of what Jack meant to him. They were quite alike, now that he thought about it; outspoken, dark features, and friendly. When he looked at Jack, though, he saw so much more, and that's what really confused him. His romantic feelings for Jack aside, he was still the better choice. He seemed to one up Max in everything, and Alex could only be glad that thoughts were meant to stay in the head, otherwise he would feel a lot worse about his little comparison. It was something that came up whenever he was around Max, and he felt as if he needed to get to the bottom of it, so he could see Max as an individual. Alex realized Max was just looking for a friend, and it was not his fault he reminded Alex so much of his own boyfriend.

"You look so dazed," Max laughed, "What're you thinking about?"

"Nothing," Alex sighed, shifting in his seat. "You kind of remind me of Jack, sometimes. I don't really know why, though."

"I'm assuming that's a good thing to say, since he's your boyfriend," Max figured, and Alex nodded with a grin.

"Yeah," Alex replied.

"You know," Max spoke, "Your face just totally lit up since we've started talking about him. You make being in a relationship sound so great,"

"I've only ever been in one," Alex admitted, "But it is great, I guess."

When Alex got home later that night, he ate dinner with his mother and father, before heading upstairs to his room to do his homework. He worked his way through half of his math homework, before he got stuck on a question and decided it would be the perfect time to call Jack.

"Hey," Jack answered after the first right, and Alex smiled in response. He could tell Jack was happy to be talking to him, and that was what made their relationship so amazing.

"Hi, love," Alex greeted, "Have you started the homework yet?"

"Do you know who I am?" Jack laughed on the other end, and Alex rolled his eyes.

"Go get your stuff, please, and help me with number nine. Then, we can work while we talk." Alex instructed, pleased when Jack agreed.

"Fine, bossy," Jack joked, getting up to get his books out of his bag as Alex waited. "I'll help you, since you need me so much."

"Shut up," Alex huffed, glad they were talking on the phone and Jack could not see the massive grin on his face.

"Alright. What don't you understand?" Jack began, when he had everything laid out in front of him. Together, he and Alex made it through the entirety of their assignment together, until they were left with nothing else to do.

"So," Alex asked, "What are you up to now?"

"Still sitting here," Jack answered, "On my bed. Thinking about you." He added the last part for good measure, and Alex's response only prompted him more.

"Oh, yeah? What about me?" Alex asked, trying to keep his voice level, as so not to seem overly excited. His mother was outside his room putting laundry away in the closet, too, and she did not need to hear anything.

"Your butt," Jack answered easily, and Alex could only giggle at the amount of confidence that wrapped up Jack's words.

"Of course," Alex then sighed, feigning annoyance. "What else?"

"I'm thinking about how I want to kiss you," Jack voiced, adding on, "And fuck you."

"Jack!" Alex shouted in a whisper back into the phone, "What if someone hears you?"

"No one's going to hear me," Jack chuckled, "Lighten up, 'Lex. I'm just joking with you."

"I know," Alex replied, "But still."

"Tell me what you want," Jack suggested, and Alex listened outside for a second, before answering.

"No," he said in a hushed voice, "My mom's outside my room, still."

"You're no fun," Jack laughed, pouting even though Alex could not see it.

"And you're really embarrassing today," Alex countered, pleased when Jack agreed for a second time.

"I know I am," Jack smiled, "It's fun. You're cute, I love you."

"I love you, too," Alex responded, the words no longer feeling anywhere near foreign as they made their way out of his throat in an almost routine way.

"It's getting late," Jack said, "You should go to bed. Goodnight, baby."

Notes

hihihihi!!!! here you go!!! i also FINALLY finished writing a chapter of Ocean Avenue (mibba link oops but it's on here too) and i'm updating it right now!

i'm working on a bunch of other stuff rn, so sadly updates may stop being weekly eventually (like, end of July if i don't end up writing another, so i think we might be safe) :^)

please let me know what you thought, and thank you to ApathyForSympathy and Alltimegabi for commenting! thanks!