Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

Somehow, Alex managed to wake up before his alarm the next morning. Jack was fast asleep when he slowly and quietly climbed out of the bed they were sharing at 6:50 am, which meant Alex had ten minutes before Jack would be waking up. Not bothering to get changed yet, he shuffled into the bathroom, before going over to his suitcase. Throwing random things around, Alex was positive he brought Jack's present with him, but he couldn't find it in the already growing mess. He made a point of packing it, but now he was getting a bit scared. Just before his nerves really set in, he found it tucked into a pouch on the side, and then remembered he put it there so he could easily find it later on. Oh well.

Deciding Jack didn't need any annoying beeping waking him up on his birthday, Alex quickly turned off the alarm on his phone, before going back over to the bed. He joined Jack once more, sitting back on his heels next to his boyfriend. As Jack was lying on his stomach, Alex squeezed his shoulder lightly, fingers trailing down his back.

"Do I have to?" Alex heard a muffled grumble from the other side of the bed, and he laughed lightly in response. Of course Jack didn't want to get up.

"I'd like you to," Alex voiced, "And I think you would, too." Jack rolled over once hearing his, his eyes opening slightly. He seemed pleased with seeing Alex sitting there, so much as a smile then took over his face.

"Goodmorning," Jack said, still sleepily.

Alex returned the greeting, leaned down and kissed Jack softly on the cheek, and then asked, "Do you want your present now?"

"Already got it," Jack answered, intertwining his fingers with Alex's and trying to pull him down next to him.

"Very funny," Alex muttered, blush rising on his cheeks as he tugged back on Jack's hand. "Sit up." Jack looked up at Alex, pretending to be annoyed by the command, but sat up dramatically anyway.

"You didn't need to get me anything," Jack sighed, "We both need to save up money to pay our parents back for this."

"Doesn't matter," Alex shrugged, pulling out the gift from behind him and handing it to Jack. It was wrapped in simple blue paper, and held the shape of a small box. As Jack took a first look at it, Alex fumbled with the edge of his own shirt nervously, fingers tugging at the material as he waited for Jack to open it.

"Are you nervous?" Jack asked, noticing it right away.

"A little bit." Alex admitted. "I just hope you like it."

Jack shook his head in response, baffled that Alex would even think he would reject the gift, whatever it was. Once he had it unwrapped, though, he kind of figured out why Alex was so nervous. It was obviously a ring box, and he knew Alex was definitely not asking him to marry him, but rings were still special. As Jack flipped open the box, revealing a small, silver band with thin stripes wrapping around it horizontally, Alex began to babble.

"I know it's kind of weird to get somebody a ring, especially if it's not a promise ring- Which it's not- But I just really thought you would like this one, and I had this idea-" he breathed, finally being quieted down by Jack's laughing.

"Alex, it's fine. I like it, thank you. You don't have anything to worry about." Jack stated, leaning forward and giving his boyfriend a peck on the lips. Alex grinned in response, leaning forward and wrapping his arms around Jack.

"Wait!" Alex said suddenly, letting go of Jack and focusing his attention back on the ring in his hand. "Look at the inside of it."

Jack did as he was asked, and he beamed when he saw what Alex meant. "An 'A.' Like the necklace I gave you."

Alex nodded. He reached into his shirt, and pulled the chain around his neck over it. "I liked what you said, about not needing to remember our own names, or whatever."

"I'm glad," Jack smiled. "Which finger do you want me to put it on?"

"Whichever it fits, I guess." Alex said, watching, as Jack slid the ring onto his middle finger. "We should really get ready."

After realizing they only had ten minutes before they were supposed to meet downstairs for breakfast, the two boys got dressed as fast as they could. The weather was relatively mild, but it seemed a lot colder to Jack than it did to Alex. They both settled on jeans, and made it to where the rest of their group was only a minute or two late. Alex had to rummage through his bags once more to find something to eat. He'd had to bring food for the first day or so, because he knew he wouldn't have time to go shopping yet.

"Mornin,'" Jack greeted the group, as Alex waved to everyone. They got many similar responses, and a few more 'happy birthday's' for Jack, in addition to the ones he had heard the night before. The morning went by fast, and before they knew it, the seven friends found themselves in the middle of bustling London. Everyone was in awe, while Alex was in awe watching his friends. Especially Jack, he rather enjoyed seeing his boyfriend so excited about the world, and the parts of it he hadn't ever seen before. They visited all of the popular tourist locations, took thousands of pictures, and did a bit of shopping in between. Dinner was at a small restaurant on their way back to the hotel, and it was nice to settle down for a bit. Somehow, ten hours had flown by, and everyone began to realize how tired they were.

"Do you guys want to hang out in somebody's room again?" Marissa asked later on, back in the elevator at the hotel. She got a few nods in response, but once Alex noticed Jack agree as well, he spoke up softly.

"Actually, can we go back to our room? Just for tonight?" He tried to keep quiet, but he was pretty sure Marissa had heard him. Zack, Rian, and Natasha were talking pretty loudly, but Jack and Alex were right next to Marissa, and she was bound to hear Alex's request in the small elevator. Alex didn't think she'd be offended, though, he knew she'd understand.

Jack looked a bit confused at first, his first instinct to ask Alex if something was wrong, before he caught the look Alex was giving him. It was subtle, Alex gave a small tug on his hand from where their fingers were intertwined between them, and a slight bite of his lip. Jack understood what Alex meant suddenly, glad it hadn't taken any further explaining. Nodding at Alex, Jack said, "Uh, Alex and I are going back to our room tonight."

"Alright," Marissa shrugged, as the elevator finally opened. Everyone bid the pair goodnight, and Alex pretended he didn't see the smirk Marissa gave him as they headed further down the hall.

"What do you-" Jack began, about to ask Alex how he wanted to spend the rest of their night. He was cut off by Alex's lips pressing against his, and he found himself being pulled by the collar of his shirt to the edge of the bed.

"Sit down," Alex breathed, and Jack did as he was told. Alex followed right after him, situating himself in Jack's lap. Jack used the brief moment that their lips were unattached to give Alex a curious look, which was then answered against his lips quickly by Alex. "What? Do you not," Alex paused, not really knowing how to get his point across. "...Want to?"

Jack slowed down their kiss, mumbling, "'Course I do."

"Then why do you look so confused?" Alex wondered, his fingers exploring the edge of Jack's shirt, tugging on it lightly to let his boyfriend know he wanted it gone.

"You usually wait for me to start," Jack shrugged, pulling off his shirt. "It's just different."

"Well," Alex hummed, sitting back. "That's something I was going to ask you about, since it's your birthday."

"What about my birthday?" Jack asked, amused yet intrigued.

"I was wondering," Alex said, his eyes looking down at Jack's stomach, his hands also rested there. Even though he was extremely comfortable with Jack, he still found himself to be a little shy whenever he actually had to say things. "If there's anything you want to do? Like, new stuff. Or stuff we've done before. It's up to you, really. I'd even switch positions with you, if you'd like."

"Aren't you sweet," Jack laughed, and Alex's eyes flicked up to meet his. "What would you like, 'Lex?"

Alex pouted. "I asked you to choose." He wasn't much in the mood to make a game out of it, he just wanted to give Jack some freedom in the situation.

"And I did," Jack raised an eyebrow, "I want to do whatever you want to do. That's what's going to make me happy, baby. Do you want to top?"

Notes

well hello there! sorry to stop it there! just fyi, i'm treating this update like i'm early for the coming week, since this week is almost over. i'm excited, it's super late and i just wrote this chapter and the next one!! i may upload the next one in a week, or i may upload it, like, tomorrow, depending on what you guys want. let me know! i think chapter 61 is honestly one of my favourites from the entire story. just know that i don't need to skip a week this time though if i don't end up posting the next one immediately, since i actually have another done! hopefully i can keep it up.

so, what do you guys think? will alex do it? do you think he should? i've been rather fixed on the way they interact intimately, you could say, and i want to know what you guys think about it. can you actually see alex 'topping?' what do you think happens in the next chapter, considering the fact that i said its one of my favourites? also, sorry that i made them go to europe but didn't even focus on their actual adventures, lol. the next chapter and one a couple later will focus on that!

alrighty, thanks for reading, and thanks to SophieGaskarth for commenting :^) cya soon!