Death of a Bachelor

Alex Gaskarth has a reputation. It's not one he desires to keep hold of, but it's not a bad one, either. It's just a reputation. He's a little out of the realm of regular, so he's known for what he does- and what he doesn't do.

12:27 PM: Hey

Alex checks his phone as it buzzes in his pocket, curious as to who is messaging him. It's just some guy that he met on a dating app, though. They had met up before, and he was nothing special. Alex doesn't know why he's still receiving messages from the guy, but he realizes he's being kind of rude, so he humours him.

12:28 AM: Hi

The start of another boring conversation. It's alright, though, Alex is fine; He has a full list of other active chats to scroll through whenever he has a minute. It's fun getting to know people, especially when he gets to meet them and see how they compare to their online persona. Besides, it's not like it's completely unnecessary- Alex is one of the few gay guys at his school, and he had already been through as many of the others as desired. Living in Los Angeles made it easier for him to meet other gay teens, and he wasn't shy about it at all, as most boys were at his age.

12:29 AM: What's up?

Alex ignores the second message, slipping his phone into his pocket as he rushes to class. The halls are starting to empty out, as nobody wants to start the school year off on a bad foot. This usually includes Alex, but today he ventured a little further away from the school grounds with his friends for lunch. Being seniors meant they were old enough to drive places, and it would be a total waste if they didn't do it during school in front of everyone else. Doing his best fast-walk to his English class, Alex rushes through the art hallway, thinking he's almost made it when he suddenly trips over something on the ground. It's more of a slip, and Alex grumbles at the thin, brownish-grey paper beneath him, before he notices a hand outstretched to help him up.

"Hey, sorry, I know I shouldn't be doing this here, but I just needed to finish it up before bringing it inside. Are you alright?" The boy above Alex asks, and Alex takes a good look at him as he grasps the hand in front of him. He's tall, taller than Alex, with dark hair and dark eyes. His eyes are pretty, Alex decides.

"I'm fine," Alex waves him off, looking down to see if he destroyed the paper. It didn't look like he did any damage, so he stops worrying about that. However, he does notice beautiful the actual drawing he had slipped on is. It's a sketch of some celebrity, Alex can't put his finger on it-

"It's Johnny Depp," the boy next to him says, and Alex nods.

"You're really good at drawing," he compliments, before realizing the time. "I should go, sorry again!" He says, smiling at the other student before continuing on to English.

In English, one of Alex's best friends, Zack, won't stop pestering him about why he was late, since they all got back at the same time.

"I'm late all the time," Alex says quietly, when Zack gives him a look. They're sitting in the back, and the teacher is still getting things ready, so they have a bit of time to talk.

"Yeah, but you were grumpy as fuck earlier. You look happy now. What gives?" Zack fires back, and Alex caves.

"Alright, fine. I met this guy-" Alex starts, but Zack doesn't let him finish.

"You went to see someone before coming back to school?" Zack looks confused. "Do you need help getting your priorities straight or something?"

"No," Alex rolls his eyes, "He was here, in the hallway. I tripped over his paper. He was a really good artist."

"And?" Zack raises his eyebrows.

"And I think I could potentially make him interested in me," Alex says, without any hesitation. Zack gives him a sort of disappointed look.

"Have you ever seen him before?" Zack asks, and Alex shakes his head. It was a big school, so that was understandable.

"He's definitely new this year, though. I think I would have noticed him in one of the last three years. Besides, it's only October." Alex reasons, and Zack sighs.

"Alright, whatever. What makes you think he's interested in you?" He asks, not really wanting to hear the answer. Alex could get a little crazy over boys sometimes.

"I don't know, he was cute." Alex shrugs, "And nice."

"That doesn't mean he's interested in you," Zack laughs, "He might not even be into guys."

"So?" Alex stares at his friend, trying his best to look stern. He's not actually angry at all, though, so it's hard to keep up such a serious demeanour. "Tons of people are interested in me, and he could be one of them. Maybe he is gay, even just a little bit. I'm not assuming he is, but you shouldn't assume he isn't, either."

"I'll give you that last one," Zack smiles, "But man, 'tons of people are interested in me?' You're such a dick."

"It's true, though," Alex says confidently, and Zack just laughs again.

"I know it's true." Zack nods. "Trust me. I hear it every day, even from girls that know you're gay."

Alex shrugs. "It doesn't bother me. If gay guys are allowed to pine after straight people, then those girls should be allowed to be interested in me. As long as they don't do anything, it's cool."

A couple days pass, and Alex doesn't see the boy from earlier that week at all. He's in Chemistry with Zack before lunch, when the bell finally rings.

"I'm going to go find Rian," Zack says, "You coming?" Their other friend, Rian, only had class with them for first and last period, so they always had to find each other at lunch.

"Nah," Alex shakes his head, "I think I'm going to go look for that guy I was telling you about a few days ago."

Zack isn't really surprised, so he lets it go. "Good luck, man."

Alex wanders around the school a bit, before he finally finds his peer in one of the art rooms. He's not really surprised. He walks up behind the other boy, feeling kind of creepy, but not really caring.

"Is that Leonardo Dicaprio?" Alex asks, and the stranger turns around.

"Oh, hi," he greets, "Yeah, it is."

"Do you only draw hot guys?" Alex says, making him laugh.

"If you put it that way, I guess so," he says, "I'm Jack, by the way."

"Alex," Alex replies, glad to finally have a name to put with a face. "So, Jack, that must mean you do a lot of self portraits then?"

Jack laughs again, and Alex is pretty sure he's blushing, but he can't really tell since Jack is looking down. When he looks up and at Alex again, he's grinning. "You don't happen to be Alex Gaskarth, do you?"

"You've heard already?" Alex raises an eyebrow, and Jack nods.

"I have. I heard some girls in my history class talking about you." He explains, and Alex shrugs.

"If it's bad, it's not true," he chuckles, "But if what they said was good, then it is true."

Alex and Jack meet up a few more times at school that week, before eventually exchanging numbers. Alex figures out that Jack isn't really sure about his sexuality, but he likes Alex. Alex likes him too, and he's glad Jack is able to be so open with him. Perhaps, that's what being around somebody like Alex does to people.

By November, Alex no longer uses any dating apps, and Jack is the only boy he sees. It surprises everyone, really, including Rian and Zack. Neither of them thought that they would be seeing the death of the bachelor anytime soon, but Jack has seemed to tie Alex down enough to kill that part of him.

Notes

hi guys!! i'm back again!!! after a long month of almost no writing, i finally have plans for both the rest of this story and Horseshoes and Hand Grenades, so i think it's safe to say expect more recent updates. so, how's everyone's summer going? what did you think of this part?

thanks for reading, and thanks to ApathyForSympathy for commenting :^)