Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

"Are you serious?"

"Definitely," Natasha laughed, finding the shocked expression on Alex's face amusing.

"Why didn't you guys tell me if you knew?" Alex asked, his eyebrows scrunching together.

"We tried," Marissa said. "There was no way to get you to believe us."

Alex looked up at Jack. The group of friends had pushed both of the beds in Marissa and Natasha's room to either wall, creating a space in the middle where they sat in a horseshoe, leaning against the beds and wall as they chatted. "Did you talk about it with them?"

Jack nodded. "A bit, yeah. Everyone just kind of knew, though. Don't pretend you didn't know about it, because I know you did. You just didn't see it."

"Okay," Alex sighed, "I guess I did. I'm sorry, but you're right, it made no sense to me."

"You don't need to be sorry," Jack said, "It's nobody's fault."

"Tomorrow's going to be pretty awkward, huh?" Rian chimed in from across from them.

"Am I supposed to talk to him still?" Alex asked, his question to nobody in particular. He felt Jack tense beside him.

"No."

"Jack," Alex said softly, "I can't ignore him forever."

"You definitely can." Jack grumbled. Alex rolled his eyes.

"I don't want to argue about this," he tried, but Jack wouldn't drop the subject.

"Zack, what would you do if you and Marissa were in this situation?" Jack looked to his left at the other couple, who definitely looked uncomfortable with being involved in their argument.

"I don't know, dude." Zack looked at Marissa for help. "I mean, people handle things differently, right?"

"Yeah," Marissa said, and Zack let out a breath. It was a good thing she had chosen to say something, because she was by far the best at settling arguments between Jack and Alex. "Nobody can really tell you guys what to do. Alex, just do what makes you feel comfortable." She spoke kindly, but when her eyes moved from Alex to Jack, her voice became a bit more stern. "And you, you can't tell him what to do. Alex knows to watch out for himself now. Hell, you already punched Max, maybe Alex still being nice to him wouldn't be a bad thing."

Alex grinned at her in response, while Jack frowned. "Why do you always have to be right? I just want to be mad."

"You're allowed to be mad," Alex said the corners of his mouth perking up as he added, "You're just not allowed to be annoying, so maybe you should slow down."

"I hate you," Jack sighed, leaning his head back onto the bed.

"You guys have such a weird relationship," Rian laughed, "I swear it seems like you actually hate each other sometimes."

"More than sometimes," Zack mumbled.

"Keeps things spicy," Jack said. Everybody snickered, while Alex rolled his eyes. "I'm just kidding," Jack laughed, wrapping his arm around Alex's back and pulling him in. "This definitely isn't common. It's just been lately, but I think we've hit the worst of it, right?"

Alex nodded. From there, the conversation moved on from Alex and Jack. They touched on Marissa and Zack, but the other couple were hesitant to talk about their own relationship. Summer plans soon arose, and the group began to feel less bad that they would have to leave Europe the very next day.

"We should do a road trip to New York," Natasha suggested, and everybody began to chatter about how fun that would be.

"I'll be lucky if my mum lets me," Alex sighed.

"But she let you come here," Jack said, confused.

"There's teachers here, though. I don't know. We'll see," Alex yawned.

Quieter, Jack asked Alex, "Are you tired? We can go back whenever."

"Whenever you're ready," Alex responded, turning his attention back to the conversation.

"I can't believe the trip's already over," Marissa frowned, "This was such a cool thing to experience."

"I know," Jack said, "But you guys are probably what made it so great. We need to hang out all together more during the rest of the summer, as well."

"Totally," Marissa agreed. There were a couple other nods from around the room, as everybody had suddenly become a little tired. Alex in particular had fallen asleep against Jack's side, and when he noticed, Jack felt bittersweet about ending the party.

"'Lex," he whispered, "Let's go back to our room."

Alex obvious heard him, as he replied with some sort of "Mm hmm."

It took a bit more coaxing to get Alex on his feet, but once he was up and holding hands with Jack, the pair bid goodbye to their friends, silently walking down the hallway and entering their own room. Clothes were shed, and since neither of them really wanted to get ready for bed, they left everything sprawled out to deal with in the morning. Alex flopped down onto the bed. Jack followed him, carefully maneuvering himself behind Alex with his chest pressed up against Alex's back, his arm held tightly around his boyfriend. He pulled the cool sheets over them, his nose poking into Alex's hair. "Our last night," Jack commented, his words bouncing off of the walls in the silent room.

"What are you thinking?" Alex murmured tiredly, though still fully paying attention to the boy behind him.

"Guess," Jack said, his breath on Alex's neck as his fingers traced over Alex's waistband.

"Okay," Alex laughed lightly, "Whatever you want, I just don't want to move, okay? I'm tired."

"Fair enough," Jack smiled into Alex's hair, pressing a kiss behind his ear. "You relax, then. We can go slow."

Slow Jack went. He spent the next little while littering Alex's body with kisses, making sure not to go too far and suck any more marks into his skin. The ones from the beginning of the trip were almost gone, with only a few spots left here and there on Alex's chest. Jack, on the other hand, still had a fairly visible mark on his neck. He didn't know why he let Alex get away with that one. Jack found the whole idea of hickeys to be rather fun, but he knew Alex wouldn't appreciate having to go home with a bunch more. Besides, they were also hard work, and Jack really wasn't feeling that at the moment. The atmosphere was calmer, probably one of the most serene moments he's had with Alex. It was definitely a good way to end their vacation. Perhaps it was one of Jack's favourite things, he realized later on, in the middle of their endeavour. The way Alex put his complete trust in him, and he in Alex. How it seemed like nobody was really trying, they knew what to do, they knew each other. Of course, being as young as they are they knew they were by no means experts, but simple sex was simple sex, and it was easy for Jack to zone out and feel some sort of connection with the boy beneath him in such a quiet, cozy environment. The amount of pure bliss Alex radiated reminded Jack that sex could be adventitious, but it could also just mean being together, and not putting much else thought into it. Alex, although possibly because of his tired state, certainly didn't mind jumping right into it and then staying in the same position throughout the entire time, and it made Jack feel like he didn't always have to impress. Alex made Jack feel a lot of things, things he never even considered before he met the English boy. Perhaps, that was Jack's favourite thing.

Alex woke up before his alarm the next morning, carefully wiggling his way out of Jack's arms, chuckling at the naked boy he left behind as he went to shower. He got ready quickly, having time to tidy up both his and Jack's stuff before Jack woke up.

"Good morning, love," Alex greeted, laying down next to Jack and kissing the tip of his boss lightly. Jack smiled, outstretching his arms to give Alex a hug, but falling short once his hand brushed Alex's damp hair.

"You showered without me?" Jack frowned.

Alex laughed. "Yes, I did. Come on, get up, it's your turn now." Jack groaned, but he did as he was told, making sure he picked out comfortable clothes for the plane ride back.

"So," Jack started, as they were finishing cleaning up their room, "You're sitting beside me on the plane, I don't give a fuck who you have to trade with. Both planes, actually."

Alex shook his head with a smile. "Of course."

"What, you don't think that's a reasonable request?" Jack asked.

"No, it is," Alex explained, "You're just seem a little unconfident in this situation. I'm fine, Jack, and I'll be fine. You don't need to worry."

As much as Alex believed his own words, a part of him still greatly appreciated the effort Jack put into keeping him safe and happy. He swore they were equals, but something about the way Jack often fell into the role of his protector felt so right. He knew Jack would be acting the same way even if they were in a different situation, because it's just how their relationship worked. Alex fought back playfully sometimes, because it was important for Jack to know he was independent and could be brave all on his own. Jack knew that, of course, which is why it all worked so well. It was mainly about comfort, for both of them.

After breakfast was finished and the group were loading all of their luggage into the bus, Alex saw Max for the first time since the incident. Instantly, he slipped his hand into Jack's. He didn't feel angry.

Notes

tbh this one isn't very saucy but i put an 'x' anyway in case people don't like hearing about sex

hi friends! i hope everybody is having a good holiday! i feel all i owe you all an explanation...

SO! it's winter break, right? and guess who's been sick since the first day? ME! i've been sick for a whole week, and i'm always shit at doing shit when i feel the least bit uncomfortable... seriously, i can't even write when i have to pee. it started with a cold, then my crippling asthma took over, and when i thought it was almost over, I HAVE A FEVER NOW! this whole week has sucked, and i feel bad because i didn't post the two weeks before this week because of finals, either. i've been trying to push this one out while i'm sick, though, and it's finally done. i hope it's okay, i wrote a lot of it when i was seriously tired. i promise the chapters will get better soon.

let me know what you think of this, let me know what you guys have been up to over the holidays, and thanks for reading. thanks also to Alltimegabi for commenting :^) see you guys soon hopefully!!! maybe this week??? i hope lol