Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

"Babe," Jack used his foot to nudge Alex, who was lying opposite him on the couch, "We should invite everyone over tonight."

"Hmm?" Alex looked at him, raising an eyebrow. He looked exhausted. "Here?"

"Yeah, why not? You said your parents would be out late, right? It's not even like you'd have to keep it a secret, I'm sure they'd let you." Jack suggested, and Alex yawned. Jack smiled at him, sitting up and joining him on the other sofa. As he pulled Alex into him, kissing his hair, he asked, "Please?"

"Fine," Alex mumbled, "I'll ask later, I want to sleep now."

Jack laughed, but he let Alex sleep, pulling out his phone and texting his friends. They had not gotten together in a big group in a while, so he was fairly excited. He was glad they would probably be able to gather at Alex's, because he had several reasons why his house would not be a good idea. Alex would press him for those later. By the end of the blond's nap, Jack had already texted everyone, and the night was all set. When Alex opened his eyes again, he smiled, cuddling into Jack.

"I love you," Alex said. Jack had not realized that his boyfriend was awake yet, so he jumped a little when Alex spoke into the silent house. Alex laughed in response.

"You scared me." Jack breathed, "Shit, love you, too."

"Why can't we go to your house tonight?" Alex asked, and Jack sighed. Exactly what he had expected.

"Because, uh, you know my parents don't like parties in our house," Jack tried.

"It's not a party," Alex said, "It's about ten people."

"Still," Jack explained, "Joe's getting alcohol for us, and I don't think he or my parents would like to see that at our house."

"Okay," Alex nodded, "But neither would mine. Assuming your parents were out tonight so we could have alcohol there, that wouldn't be a problem, right?"

"I," Jack stopped, trying not to looked too panicked as Alex looked at him expectantly. "...I don't know." Alex did not respond, and he waited for Jack to say something else. "Fine. I'm just scared because, you know how I get when I'm drunk, and what if we're doing something and my parents come home?"

"Has that happened before?" Alex asked, but he did not think so, because he was there when Jack came out to his parents.

"Almost," Jack whispered. "It wasn't even a party, I had just gotten home from one." Alex stayed silent, waiting for him to continue. "I think it was about six months before you came here, I was at a friend's place and I brought a guy home. My mom walked into my room, but we were just sitting on my bed. Nothing actually went wrong, but it scared me so much that I actually wasn't ever going to do it again."

"Until me," Alex added, and Jack nodded.

"Until you." Jack signed when he spoke, and Alex felt a little bit perturbed. He did not show it though, because it was not what Jack needed at the time.

"But they know you're dating me now, so is it really that big of a deal? Even if we don't do anything? Even if you don't drink?" Alex pressed on.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm uncomfortable doing anything with you when they're around. I know you come over all the time and it's fine, but I'm just worried that with all the people over and whatnot, I'll get distracted. The alcohol isn't that big of a factor, but it is one, and I just want to be able to completely enjoy myself without worrying about it." Jack explained this well, but Alex was still unsure.

"Is this really necessary, though? Like, could you not suck it up for just one night?" Alex asked, and partly regretted it when Jack's face contorted to something that had never been directed at him before. Anger.

"Your fucking parents are the ones who are out tonight, so I don't see why you keep asking. Why the hell does it matter?" Jack said this as he lifted himself up off the couch, heading to the door and putting on his shoes. "I'm done with this, I'll see you later." Alex barely had time to register anything before Jack was out the door. Once that had been ingrained into his mind, the next thing he noticed was his eyes filling up with tears. He blinked, trying to keep them at bay, but one fell out anyway. He felt stupid, embarrassed even, which was odd since nobody was around. Alex was mad at Jack, mad at what an idiot his boyfriend was, but also mad at himself for obviously pushing it too far. So he sat up, overly aware of how alone he was, and he decided to cry. It was not like he was trying to do something while simultaneously crying, crying was the only activity he was invested in. It lasted for about ten minutes, until he fell back, and stared annoyingly at the ceiling. He had no idea if the get together was still on for that night. This was going to be a long day.

Alex spent the rest of his afternoon eating random things from his kitchen, and generally moping around. He had changed back into the T-shirt he had worn to bed and his boxers, and he realized this may have not been a good idea when he heard a knock on the door. He peeked out the window, and upon seeing his boyfriend standing outside his house, he was even more reluctant to open the door- That was, until he realized he was being a complete and utter baby. He opened his house to Jack as calmly as he could, taken off guard when Jack started with a statement.

"You were crying."

It was not a question, but Alex knew Jack was looking for an answer. He also knew lying would be even more pathetic. Alex nodded his head. Jack's face fell, before he stepped inside Alex's house and wrapped the blond up in a tight hug, his nose buried in his hair.

"I didn't mean for you to cry," Jack murmured, "I just left because I didn't want to argue anymore. I'm not good at being patient. I think you've figured that out."

Alex sniffled, and Jack held him tighter. "I know. I'm sorry, I was being rude." Alex had an easy time saying this, because it was what he truly felt. However, it did not sit right with Jack.

"No, you weren't. I should know how to talk something through with you without just leaving. Besides, it's a stupid arguement. Trust me, I'm aware that what I was saying made absolutely no sense. I'm sorry, too."

"Still," Alex sighed, "I didn't like that." Jack pulled away from him slightly, enough to look Alex directly in the eyes. He could not keep a smile from growing on his lips.

"Well," Jack started, "I can't say that's entirely a bad thing, I'm glad you didn't like it."

Alex laughed. "I think that was our worst fight ever."

"Does that even count as a fight?" Jack chuckled, and Alex shrugged. "On a serious note, though," he continued, "Don't ever let me be an ass like that to you. Get up and follow me, and come kick me or something."

"You're making it sound like you're an uncontrollable monster," Alex smiled softly, his voice quiet.

"I try not to be," Jack said, and Alex leaned into him for another hug. "Everyone's still allowed to come over, right?" Alex nodded.

By seven o'clock, the entire gang was sitting in Alex's kitchen. The group was comprised of he and Jack, Marissa, Natasha, Zack, Adam, Rian, and even Cassadee was invited to tag along. They talked as a whole for a while, as it was easy when there were always so many things to gossip about. As time passed on, though, they split up. Alex noticed Marissa and Zack move to the living room, where he was pretty sure they were very invested in kissing each other. It made Alex smile, they both had their fair share of drinks, and it was nice to see them both have the confidence to do something about how much they liked each other. Alex was totally going to bug Marissa about it later. Meanwhile, Rian, Cassadee, Adam, and Natasha were all focused on a chat about something neither Alex or Jack were following. Alex laughed to himself when he realized Natasha and Adam were probably the best people for Rian to have Cassadee spending the most time talking with. They were definitely the most sober, anyway, besides Alex himself. He still did not know how he felt about drinking yet. Marissa, Zack, Cassadee, and Rian all seemed comfortable with it, while Natasha and Adam seemed comfortable without it. Alex was glad his boyfriend had never pressured him into it, though, because Jack seemed to love drinking the most. It never made Alex uncomfortable. Drunk or high Jack was just an enhanced regular Jack, he was still funny and respectful and everything else that he was when he was sober. Alex was aware of how lucky that was, and he smiled to himself as he got up and decided to make a quick trip upstairs.

"Where're you goin'?" Jack's voice pulled Alex from his thoughts, and he smiled at the older boy.

"My phone should be done charging, I was going to go get it. I left it up there earlier and was too lazy to bring it back down." Alex voiced. Jack stood up and walked over to him, not answering him at all, and instead pressing his lips to the shorter boy's neck for a couple seconds. His tongue poked out for a second before he lifted his lips to place them a couple spaces lower, and Alex knew where he was going with this.

"Mm. Can I come?"

Notes

hiii!!!! i updated Death of a Bachelor yesterday, so you should go read that! also, i finally planned out the next 10 chapters for this! it's gonna get crazy ;-)

let me know what you think, and thank you to Costati, ApathyForSympathy, and Alltimegabi for commenting last time!