Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

"Jack?"

"Mm?" Jack mumbled, barely opening his eyes to look down at Alex. Their plane was passing through night, and Rian was asleep on the other side of Alex. Alex had let Jack take his place in the window seat for the duration that everybody would be asleep, so Jack would be comfortable when Alex leaned against him to get some rest. That never happened though, as Alex was wide awake, evidently waking Jack up as well.

"Were you asleep?" Alex looked up at Jack, and Jack smiled. He tried not to let any hints of a grimace show in it, but it probably did just the least bit.

"Yeah," Jack said, "Don't worry about it."

"I can't sleep," Alex sighed, nuzzling into Jack as he was pulled in closer.

"Don't, then," Jack murmured. "Watch a movie or something."

"Or we can talk," Alex suggested.

"I think there's been way too much talking lately," Jack chuckled, "I'm kind of excited for when we get to go home and be alone. Everything's been so dramatic."

"One last thing," Alex asked, "Please? And then you can sleep."

"You don't have to be quiet, but sure," Jack said, "Go ahead."

"How are you feeling?" Alex asked, the change in subject confusing Jack for a second. "About all that's happened, I mean. We've talked about what's going on, and about how I feel, but not about how you feel."

"I'm fine," Jack smiled, "There's nothing for me to be worried about."

"But you were worried before. You were so worried and I didn't even notice." Alex seemed a little distressed by the fact. Jack kissed his forehead.

"I was, yeah. I've realized I can't really control anything, though. I trust you to make good decisions, and that's all that matters." Jack said softly, leaning his head back and closed his eyes.

"What's going to happen now?" Alex asked, watching Jack's face. "Are you going to stay friends with him? Am I?"

Jack thought about it for a second. "I think," he paused. "I think, I'll probably follow in your footsteps. If you trust him again then so will I. I guess he was a pretty good friend before all of this. I don't want anything to do with him if you don't, though."

"How would that make you feel?" Alex asked, "If we became friends again?"

Not answering the question, Jack stated, "You don't want to lose him."

Alex was silent for a minute. "Jack..."

"No, it's fine. I get it." Jack opened his eyes, locking them with Alex's. "He's important to you, I know. I'm not offended."

"I guess, somewhere deep down, I thought it would be awkward if you were better friends with him. Maybe it would have prevented all of this if he was closer with you, too." Alex thought out loud.

"What's done is done," Jack said, "if you want my advice, I'd say to keep your distance for now. Don't stop talking to him, though. As much as I hate him, I love you too much to ask you to do that. I know you'll want to eventually."

"How are you so understanding?" Alex laughed softly, "I swear, if this were a movie, there would have already been a thousand more miscommunications."

"Because it's better than a movie," Jack decided, "It's a movie just for us. Too good to share."

When their flight landed, the group tiredly went through customs, everybody ready to go their separate ways. As they approached their parents, Alex could already see his mother crying, and he'd be lying if he said a few tears didn't well up at the sight of her as well. As much as Alex was ready for a break from certain people, he had a hard time leaving Jack. Their families walked out to the parking lot together, letting them say goodbye in between their two cars for a moment before it was time to go.

"This feels so stupid," Alex laughed, trying his best to not cry for the second time that hour.

"No, it makes sense," Jack said, his arms around Alex's waist, and his nose against Alex's forehead. "We've been together for quite a while. Of course it's going to feel like a mini breakup."

"Especially since I've needed you for emotional support these last few days," Alex smiled, leaning up to kiss Jack on the cheek. "Thank you for making this week so special."

"We're a team," Jack said, "And don't worry, we still live pretty close to each other. There's always room in my bed for you."

"Shut up," Alex bit his lip, laughing again as he leaned into Jack, arms holding him in.

"Seriously, though," Jack smiled, enjoying the way Alex was looking down shyly. It was fun to mess around with him sometimes. "I think there's a lot more I'm going to be missing from that vacation than just the touring."

"Stop it!" Alex chuckled, "We're not talking about this when our parents are this close."

"I love when you pretend to still get shy about this stuff," Jack laughed, "It's kind of hard to believe now."

"Whatever," Alex rolled his eyes.

"Thank you, too, baby," Jack hugged Alex tightly, "Seriously, this has been one of the best school years ever."

"We're being way too dramatic," Alex pointed out.

"Right?" Jack laughed. He smiled at Alex for a second, before lightly cupping his jaw and pressing a kiss to his cheek. "I want to kiss you right now but I don't think I can."

"It's fine. We're probably going to see each other tomorrow." Alex said, and Jack nodded in agreement.

"Definitely. See you, 'Lex."

In the car ride on the way home, after Alex was finished with expressing his enjoyment about the vacation and then explaining his entire allergy situation to his parents, they decided to ask him some questions he wasn't quite expecting.

"Did you get to choose who you shared a room with?" Alex's mother asked, and he told her yes. "And I assume you were with Jack?"

"Yep, mum," Alex said, "Why?"

"The teachers allowed that?" She asked carefully, and Alex swallowed.

"Yeah. I don't think they knew we were together, and once they found out, they didn't bother to ask." Alex explained.

"And I'm sure you made good choices, then?" Isobel asked, and Alex cringed.

"Yeah, mum. I did. Can we not talk about this?" He asked.

"Alright, I'm just checking!" She laughed lightly, and and let out a breath. He knew she had nothing to worry about, but it sure was awkward having to talk to her about Jack, especially with his dad in the driver's seat.

"You and Jack are in quite a serious relationship, aren't you?" Peter asked, and Alex nodded. Realizing his dad couldn't see him, he spoke up.

"Um, yeah, I guess," was the best answer he could come up with.

"That's good, Alex," his dad continued, "Just make sure to stay focused on school as well, okay? Jack is wonderful, but he's not the only important thing right now."

"I know, dad," Alex said. He couldn't help but smile. Whenever his dad complimented Jack, he felt a sense of pride. It was mostly general, but a little of it stemmed from the fact that at one point he had been worried of what his dad would have thought of him dating another boy. His dad's acceptance meant worlds to him, and he only wished the same for Jack eventually.

Meanwhile, in Jack's car, things were going a little differently. After they had discussed the trip, Jack's father moved onto a similar topic as Alex's mother had, just with different undertones.

"Are you sure you aren't spending too much time with Alex, son?" He asked. "He's a fine kid, but you seem way too serious for your age." Jack knew it was coming from a good place, but he has to bite back his done.

"Alex and I are fine, dad," Jack sighed, "You don't have to worry."

"I just don't want him to get in the way of anything else." Bassam explained.

"Like what, me being with a girl?" Jack found it to hard to resist. The silence from the front seat was exactly what he wanted, until his mother spoke.

"You know he didn't mean it like that, Jack," Joyce said, "We both love you and Alex. He's just trying to make sure you don't miss out on anything else because of Alex."

Jack was way too tired to fight. "Whatever," he sighed again, pulling out his phone to text Alex. He told his boyfriend what had just happened, and Alex replied, telling him about his own similar conversation. Jack was happy for Alex, but he couldn't help but be jealous. He knew his dad wasn't even close to being full of hate, but he did have some work left to be done. When Jack got home, he fell right asleep, as did Alex. Both boys were excited to see each other the next day, regardless of the fact that they had just spent an entire week together. They were hoping they could get some plans with their other friends made soon as well, so their summer at home could really begin.

Notes

holy shit... i am so sorry. i literally skipped posting for 5 weeks. so much has happened, i had homework, then tests, then exams, then scholarships, then graduation transitions, but i'm finally free! i swear to god, that was the most stressful month of my entire life. but it's over! my classes are super easy and i have tons of free time to write, so hopefully we can get this show on the road. some other good news, i'm getting a dog, i watched skam and it's literally amazing, and today is my birthday!!! what a good day to come back, right???

anyway, sorry this is a bit boring for my comeback, but i'll get things moving soon. as usual, it's unedited rn, but i'll fix any mistakes later. speaking of mistakes, i've also located a bunch in the beginning of this story, and i'm now going to go spend some time fixing those.

thanks for reading guys, and thanks to Alltimegabi for commenting! hope you guys didn't forget about this story. i'll see you much sooner this time, promise