“Can you hear me okay?” Alex asked as he fiddled with the settings on his laptop. It was brand new, seeing as how he figured he’d need it for his first year at university, and he had yet to actually figure out how the webcam and microphone worked.

Jack laughed on the other side and nodded his head. “Loud and clear, doll,” he agreed once his laughter had died down. Instead of commenting further, he opted to just sit and watch his boyfriend, content smile pulling at his lips.

When Alex realized that, yes, everything was working just fine and, yes, he was wasting precious time he could be spending with his boyfriend, he sat up a little straighter and pulled Jack’s his hoodie’s sleeves over his hands. The elder had bought it when they’d visited the campus together a few months back, and he’d forgotten it there when he’d left after having helped Alex move into his dorm no more than two weeks ago.

Alex’s smile mirrored the one directed at him before it was broken with a soft chuckle. “You’re being weird, you freak,” he said. His eyebrow raised in a silent query when yet another sigh pushed from his partner’s chest.

“Says the one with the blue hair,” Jack muttered playfully, barely loud enough for Alex to catch. “I’m just... I’m so goddamn proud of you. You know that, right? You never fail to amaze me. I couldn’t be happier to know that someone so smart, and gorgeous, and talented, and funny is mine. I talk about you a lot, y’know,” he commented. His smile pulled itself into a full grin when Alex ducked to hide the blush that overran his cheeks.

“What do you say?” the younger humored as a sleeve-covered hand lifted to brush his cotton candy-colored blue hair from his face (while also still hiding himself away).

“I say that I have the most perfect boyfriend in the world. I say that he’s so smart that he graduated with honors at sixteen and was given a full scholarship to Harvard before he’d even turned seventeen. I say that he’s the most beautiful person I’ve ever laid eyes on. I say that I wouldn’t ever trade him for anything in the world,” Jack listed off casually. He held up both hands in front of the camera and lifted a finger for each reason he named. “I say that I can’t wait until the day he graduates, when we can truly start our life together. I say that I couldn’t imagine life without him. I say that I love him. I sa—”

“I love you, too,” Alex said, cutting off his boyfriend mid-sentence. “I can’t wait, either. Only... only six more years...”

A pout tugged at the younger’s bottom lip as he once again thought of how long he’d have to stay in school, hours away from Jack and his friends and family. He wasn’t going to cry about it, though, not on camera or in front of anyone else. He’d been in his new dorm for two weeks, and he’d been able to hold his tears in until he found it in himself to get to the showers.

Except, even on his shitty computer screen, Jack was able to see the quivering of his boyfriend’s bottom lip and the way his eyes glossed over.

“What’s wrong, baby?” he asked, pout of his own tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Smile for me. Lemme see that handsome smile.”

Alex took in a deep breath in order to calm his nerves, but as he went to let it go, a coughed hiccup had the tears he’d been trying to suppress pushing from his wide eyes. Then, it was full blown sobbing as he attempted to hide himself from his partner’s worried gaze.

“Cotton Candy… babe, hey, look at me,” he said after letting Alex cry himself out for a few moments. Jack really didn’t know how to be comforting when he was hundreds of miles away. “What’s wrong, huh? Tell me what’s wrong and I’ll try and make it better.”

Alex’s sweater sleeve-covered hands moved from blocking his entire face. It was only minimally so, just enough so that his eyes could peek from where his fingers were hidden away, but it made Jack feel a little better.

“I j-just r-r-really miss y-you,” he sobbed, and just like that, his tears were falling harder yet again. “I th-thought I was r-ready for this b-but I’m not-t. I w-wanna come h-home.” His eyes squeezed closed for a moment before his hands were once again covering them. “Classes h-haven’t even st-started y-yet and I’m s-s-stressed a-and I n-need a hug and a k-kiss.”

“Listen to me,” the elder man demanded, voice both gentle and strong as he watched his boyfriend shake pitifully, still rambling away about God knows what. “Are you listening? Come on, Cotton Candy, look at me. Let me know you’re paying attention.”

It took a few minutes before Alex was able and willing to show his face, but he still hid his quivering lips and running nose. Jack honestly didn’t need to see those.

“You’re stronger than this, Al. Y’know what? It’s okay for you to feel like you’re not ready. You’re not even seventeen yet, and you’re hours away from everything you know. If you really wanted to come back and put off school for a little while longer, no one would blame you. It’s your life, baby boy. No matter what you decide to do, I’m gonna be right here cheering you on. You’re still gonna be the smartest boy I know, and I’m still gonna be proud of you for everything that you’ve accomplished.”

Alex nodded his head as he listened to what he was being told. He didn’t think anyone would blame him for deciding to hold off on school, but with all of the momentum he’d been having with his education, he felt like he’d be letting someone down. It at least helped knowing that it wouldn’t be the man he loved.

“I h-have until next m-month to decide if I w-wanna stay,” he commented after he’d been able to compose himself a bit more. He wiped his face with his sleeves and sniffled a bit before letting his hands fall to his lap and giving a weak smile at his partner’s image.

“There’s my handsome boy,” Jack said, grinning right back. When yet another blush coated the younger’s cheeks, he couldn’t help but give a chuckle. “Alright, come on, tell me about your classes. They start tomorrow, right? You have to be just a little excited for those. Maybe you’ll make some new friends. It all wouldn’t seem so bad then, would it?”

“Maybe,” Alex commented miserably, shrugging his shoulders for added effect. “They just wouldn’t be you.”

Jack sighed. “We’ll see each other again soon, doll. Let’s not focus on the downsides now, alright? Tell me how everything’s been so far. Have you made any new friends? How’s your roommate?”

Alex had to bite his tongue around commenting on how his roommate ‘wasn’t Jack.’ He had to focus on the positives. Even if he wasn’t very comfortable with everything just yet, he knew that he had to at least make an effort. If he tried and still didn’t like it, he would feel like less of a failure.

“John’s nice,” he started with another shrug. “He’s gone a lot, so I’m usually here by myself. I’m thinking about looking for a part-time job or something so that I’m not cooped up in here all the time. He’s your age, and he tries to include me in things, but that’s kinda hard to do when I’m still only sixteen, y’know?”

Jack listened to everything he was being told intently. Truth be told, he didn’t care about John in the slightest, but as long as he was trying to be as accommodating as possible for his young boyfriend, he was happy.

---

The next day, Alex was almost too busy with navigating the large campus and listening to everything his new instructors had to say to even think about how lonely and miserable he was. The people were nice enough, but he knew that some of them were jealous about his special circumstances.

It wasn’t his fault; he couldn’t help being smart.

At the end of it all, Alex’s dorm had never seemed quite as inviting. He just wanted to change into some pajama pants, curl under his blankets, and give Jack a call. He was debating between a regular phone call, an attempt at using FaceTime, and seeing if maybe the elder had the time for a Skype call when he finally reached the correct door.

The key was slid into the lock and jiggled around until the door could be pushed open. He didn’t take notice of the person lying in his bed at first, and he definitely jumped at the sound of someone clearing their voice. Funny, he thought John had said that he’d be—

“Jack?”

Alex was almost certain that he was hallucinating until he took notice of the ridiculous rose bouquet in his boyfriend’s hand. Only Jack would insist on buying twenty, multi-colored roses. Not that Alex was going to complain.

He did stand frozen in front of the closed door for a few moments, just taking in Jack’s easy smile and the way he moved the roses off to the side in favor of opening his arms.

“John let me in,” he said without having to be asked. “He said something about finding a place to st—”

Before he could even finish what he needed to say, Alex was vaulting himself across the room and pouncing on his awaiting boyfriend.

“What are you doing here? How long have you been here? How long are you staying? I missed you so much. I love you,” Alex rushed out between sloppy kisses to his boyfriend’s cheeks; forehead; lips.

Jack laughed as he finally reached up and got a good grip on Alex’s cheeks. Everything slowed down as he pushed the younger back, just a few inches so that they could see each other clearly. With that, he was pulled back down and into a proper kiss, slow and deep and exactly what Alex had been needing.

“I’m here until I get kicked out,” Jack finally said, “so maybe just for a few days. I’ve been here for a few hours, but it doesn’t feel like it’s been that long because I was so excited to see you. I’m here because I missed you and I wanted to ask you how your first day was in person. I have some news for you, too. I was gonna save it until I could take you out for dinner tonight, but I think right now’s a good time to tell you.”

Alex felt his guts twist with both excitement and nerves. “What is it?” he asked as he sat up to straddle the elder’s hips. His arms slid from where they’d been wrapped tightly around Jack’s neck until his hands could rest against the man’s chest, fingers twiddling with the leather jacket he was wearing.

“Well, I’ve been thinking, and this is completely up to you, but if you think that you’d maybe wanna stay up here and continue school, I could ask my boss for a transfer. You have until, what, next month to decide, but whenever you’ve made your decision, let me know and I’ll—”

“Really? Yes, oh, my god, yes! How soon do you think you could get up here? Can you call and ask now? You can stay here until you find a place! I’m sure John wouldn’t mind. He’s usually gone most nights anyway. How far away would you live?” Alex rambled excitedly as he all but bounced on his partner’s stomach. Then, that all seemed to change, and a frown was pulling at his lips. “Are you sure you wanna do this? You’ll have to start over, too.”

Jack smiled reassuringly at that. He’d thought about it for the better part of two weeks. He’d already gone through the pros and cons before he’d made his decision. “As long as I’m with you,” he started, pulling the younger down to press a sweet kiss to his lips, “then I know that whatever happens will be worth it.”

He’d made a lot of mistakes in his life, but Jack was sure that Alex would never be one of them.

Notes

alex is 16, has hair the color of blue cotton candy, is sUPER fuckin smart, and is only 5' tall
jack is 20 but looks exactly like he does now
they met in high school when alex was a freshman and jack was a senior
they've known each other for two years but have only been together for a little more than one
just to clear any confusion up ok ur welcome second part coming in a bit