Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

j Jack's shoes scratched annoyingly against the carpet floors as he made his way to Max's room. During his short walk, he thought about how much of a waste of his time it was going to be. He should have been with Alex, not talking to Max, but he had to. Nobody was making him, but he had to.

The closer he got to Max's door, the angrier he got. He tried to rationalize, but none of it made sense. He would never tell somebody he loved them if they were in a relationship. Even though he knew it all along, Jack was still surprised. Deciding on two solid knocks on the door, Jack rocked back and forth on his feet, lips pursed and hands shoved in his pockets.

When Max opened the door, he looked calm, until his eyes met Jack's. Then, he looked panicked. "Oh. Jack, hey."

"Yeah, whatever." Jack scoffed, brushing past Max. He pulled out a chair, took a seat, and glared at Max. "We need to have a fucking talk."

From the doorway, Max shuffled to the centre of the room quietly. Was that the charm Alex always talked about? He narrowed his eyes as he sat on the edge of the bed across from Jack. "What is it?"

Jack laughed. It was bitter, and Max never imagined this happening when he had spoken to Alex only a little while earlier. "You can't go telling people shit like that. You made him cry, you asshole."

Max's face fell. "Oh, shit. I didn't mean for that, I wouldn't have let him go if I knew-"

"You shouldn't have told him in the first place, dude. That's fucked up. He's not yours to do anything with." Jack leaned forward, hands clasped as he stared into Max. Max avoided his look.

"He's not yours either," Max tried, "He's his own person."

"Nice try," Jack snorted. "He was fine with me coming here. He didn't like what you said."

"I'm sorry, alright? I didn't think it was a big deal." Max sighed, defeated. Jack wasn't done.

"Sorry for this, or sorry for flirting with my boyfriend for almost a year?" Jack questioned, and Max started to look sad.

"I didn't even know it was happening most of the time," Max confessed. "I really did just want to be friends at the beginning. You have to understand, though, right? Didn't you have that period with him, too? And then you realized you felt more for him?"

Jack held his breath. "You're really testing me, aren't you?"

"Just answer the question." Max said.

"No," Jack replied. "No, that didn't happen, because he was interested in me right away. I liked him, too, and you know what else? He was fucking single."

Max didn't reply, instead resting his face in his hands and breathing deeply. As Jack looked on, he realized he was being a bit harsh. Max was still his friend, or at least he was at one point. Jack hadn't really thought about that part that much.

"Why would you pretend to be my friend?" Jack asked, and Max looked up.

"I wasn't pretending," Max answered, "That's how this got so messy. I liked being friends with you guys."

"As much as I hate it," Jack kept his gaze down, "He likes you. I tried, but it was kind of hard. Alex does like you, though. You're one of his best friends, and I can't tell you to fuck off, because I can't take that away from him."

"What are you saying?" Max was a little confused.

"I'm saying," Jack sighed, "I don't want you to stop talking to him. I just want everything else to stop, and so does he."

"Yeah," Max nodded, "Yeah. I can do that. I care about him too much to just stop everything."

Jack visibly tensed at Max's words. "Yeah..."

"I know you don't like it," Max said with a small smile, "When I talk that way about him. I know you feel threatened when I talk about him that way. I just want him to be happy, though, and I swear I can do this."

Jack let out of a breath. "Cool. I'm sorry, I guess. You're right, it does feel pretty threatening."

"You're a good guy, Jack." Max watched as Jack stood up, and followed him to the door once more. "I can't deny that what you have with him is good."
"Thanks," Jack smiled, his first smile of the entire conversation. "I appreciate it. If you do anything else though, I swear I'll kill you next time."

Max laughed, before waving Jack off as he headed back down the all. It was pretty awkward, because he couldn't tell if Jack had been joking or not, but he had a funny feeling that he was one hundred percent serious.

When Jack swung the door to his and Alex's room open, Alex was waiting on the bed. He was laying on his stomach, sheets thrown over him messily as he looked up at Jack curiously.

"What did you say?" Alex asked, and Jack smiled softly. Sitting on the floor in front of Alex, Jack looked up at him.

"Don't worry about it. I thought you were asleep," Jack tried, but Alex really did want to know. He edged himself up to the edge of the bed, looking directly down at Jack.

'No," Alex pouted, "Tell me."

"Alright," Jack hummed, "I bitched him out, he gave me some excuses, I bitched him out some more, and he agreed to stop."

"Good." Alex's face fell, and Jack suddenly felt a bit of sadness for Alex. "It sucks for him, but it was really awkward when he told me."

"You don't have to worry about it anymore," Jack said, leaning up to peck Alex on the lips. Alex giggled.

"Come up here," Alex said, his lip between his teeth. Jack raised his eyebrows, but moved to sit down next to Alex nonetheless. He rested his hand on Alex's lower back, right above where the sheet lay, and Alex looked back at him. "Come," Alex repeated. Jack did as he was asked, standing up to throw off his T-shirt and sweatpants, chuckling when Alex gave him a dirty look. "Those too," he nodded at Jack's boxers, "Or you're not allowed in."

"I'm sorry," Jack bit back a grin, slipping them off and lying down opposite of Alex, his head by the pillows. "C'mere, 'Lex."

Alex shuffled up the bed, pulling the sheets over he and Jack as he snuggled into his boyfriend's chest. "I love you."

"I love you more," Jack grinned, locking their lips, not giving Alex the chance to argue. He held his face towards him with one hand on his cheek, and Alex melted into Jack's touch.

"I don't want to sleep," Alex mumbled between kisses, "Every time we go to sleep, we wake up the next day and a whole day is over."

"That's usually how the world tends to work," Jack laughed, but Alex frowned at him.

"You don't get it," Alex sighed, evidently trying to hide a frown as he rested his head against Jack's shoulder.

"Don't get what?" Jack asked calmly. "I'm sad we're leaving soon, too. It's great here."

"Yeah, of course," Alex agreed, "But it's also the last time we'll get to do this together for a long time. If ever, really."

"You mean sharing a room and stuff by ourselves?" Jack asked, and Alex nodded. "No way. It'll totally happen again soon. We've still got an entire year of high school ahead of us, too."

"I guess," Alex hummed. "I mean, I'm kind of excited to go back home so I can stop watching you guys eat all the time. I think that's the biggest downside of France."

"I'm sorry," Jack mumbled. Alex shook his head.

"Don't be sorry, you're doing what you're supposed to." He leaned forward a bit, leaving a small kiss on Jack's collarbone. "I like seeing you guys so happy. I just miss having more freedom with what I'm eating. Now has been a lot different from even two days ago."

"Well," Jack smiled, "When we get home, on one of our first nights back, we can go to your house and make whatever you want. Sound good?"

Alex grinned. "Yeah."

"So," Jack breathed, a couple moments later. It was silent besides for Alex's breathing, which he could also feel against his chest. "If you don't want to sleep, what do you want to do?"

Moving his hand from by his side to rest on Jack's chest, Alex yawned. He felt Jack pull him in closer, the older boy's arm swung over him. His hand pressed into Alex's lower back, it lay just above his ass. If Alex weren't so tired all of a sudden, he probably would have done something about it. Just as this thought occurred to him, Jack's hand inched lower, holding Alex against him at his behind, instead. "You're not shy, huh?"

Jack laughed. "Let me know if you ever don't want me to touch you, alright?"

"You know I will," Alex brushed this off. "I think I changed my mind. I'm really tired."

"Sleep," Jack whispered, "Tomorrow's a big day."

Notes

sorry this took so long :/ school work and other senior things have been really hard for me to keep up with lately. thanks for sticking around with my poop schedule, and thanks to SophieGaskarth for commenting. in other news, the world has been pretty crazy lately. i hope y'all are doing okay <3