The Reckless And The Brave

Alex nuzzled his way further into the warmth next to him, sighing in content as for once in his life, he didn't have a nightmare, not once. Perhaps Jack was the answer Alex had been looking for? The person to help him through his deep seeded half hate and anxiety? Alex nuzzled in further, sighing at the crazy thoughts his mind was thinking. Why would Jack be interested in someone like him? It's not like Alex was good looking, or very good at socialising... He was awkward and not very talkative. Alex always ended making a situation worse anyway

So, for now, Alex pretended that he and Jack were friends until Jack woke up and this dream was over

Jack grumbled, feeling something heavy pressing against him and he let his eyes flicker open. Then it hit him, he has spent the night in Alex's bed with due to his nightmares. Jack sighed and turned over to see that Alex's eyes were closed and he was cuddled close to Jack's side. He smiled as Alex looked so peaceful as he slept, a soft expression on his face

Jack didn't want to wake him up so, he picked his phone up from the nightstand and opened his phone up to the facebook app. The first thing Jack noticed that the guys has most certainly had fun without him last night, as there were some drunken messages and even pictures sent to his inbox. Glancing at Alex, Jack made sure he wasn't awake, as he wasn't to sure what the lads had sent him, knowing them, it would be some kind of dick pick or of them fucking some random girls - like they always did. Jack opened the message and grimaced at the pictures, just as he thought, a tone of topless pics of birds and them, booze scattered around the place. Jack shook his head and chuckled lightly to himself. He was pretty sure his friends were man sluts

Alex stirred next to Jack, who was relieved as he really needed to pee and get some food, as Jack hadn't eaten since last night and his belly was very angry at him right now

"Morning sleepy head" smiled Jack to Alex, who let a lush cross his already flustered cheeks

"Morning" he yawns moving out of Jacks' arms as it would be weird to stay there considering they weren't even what you call friends

"I uh, need to pee" says Jack awkwardly realising that Alex was very much snuggled into his chest

It was an odd situation for Jack as, he never did the whole cuddling after sex thing... Or even cuddling in general. Jack, just was not an affectionate person in general. He was a free spirit and didn't like to be tied down by anything. He wanted to do things that he wanted without fear of having a guy to hold him back or make things complicated. That's not to say Jack was emotionless of course, he just never really experienced love in the form of a relationship. Sure, he loved his family, but that wasn't the same

"I'll go cook some food or something" said Alex waiting for Jack to leave so he could get out of his bed

Jack blushed a little, as previously noted, Alex wasn't exactly bad looking, he was just very hard to talk to

Jack did his business and washed his hand. He decided to brush his hair and clean his teeth as he felt as though he was a bit disgusting this morning. He inspected his face and sighed into the mirror. He looked awful after a rough nights sleep next to Alex. It wasn't that Alex was a fidget it was that, Jack felt like he had to stay awake encase Alex had another bad dream

Jack walked into the kitchen and noticed that Alex was standing by the oven just staring at it like something interesting was going to happen. Jack couldn't help but laugh because, In all honesty, Alex looked adorable and silly all at the same time

"Everything okay?" asks Jack making Alex jump teen feet into the air

"Shit. Yeah, I'm fine. Christ, you nearly killed me with a heart attack" gasped Alex making Jack chuckle a little to himself before he apologised

"Sorry, Sorry. Is there a reason you're staring at the oven?" quizzed Jack who took a seat on one of the chairs

"Oh yeah... I was thinking of doing some baking and was wondering if you'd like to join me? I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to... I mean, it might be weird and awkward and stuff and I know that we aren't-"

"I'd love to" said Jack interjecting Alex's speech before he got himself more worked up

Seemed like Alex didn't have any friends to communicate with, which is why he got all flustered like that

Alex smiled widely and began to grab the ingredients they needed. It was breakfast time but, Alex just had the urge to bake and took the opportunity to get to know his house mate, Jack

So, what uh... What do you like to bake? I mean.. Like, what would you like? I can bake anything" mumbled Alex shyly

"Oh, anything really? Long as it's edible" chuckled Jack who nudged Alex a little, making him blush and smile softly

Jack searched through the cupboard to see what ingredients they had to make some sort of simple cake as, Jack was certainly not a chef, nor a baker. His only experience of baking was when he used to lick the bowl clean when his Mother used to bake for the family dinner parties and Christmas

"Do you have flour or any caster sugar? Coco powder, eggs?" asked Jack who had given up trying to find everything

"Yep. They're here, in this cupboard" beamed Alex

"Excellent" he smiled helping Alex reach up and grab them from the higher shelf

Their hands touched and Alex flinched, before relaxing and a blush crept onto his pale like complexion. He wasn't used to this much human contact and interaction, so it was all new to him once again

"Sorry" mumbled Jack as he realised that he was also behind Alex, reaching right over him, his crotch near his ass

Alex nodded shyly and ducked under Jack and grabbed some water and downed it quickly

Jack noticed how uncomfortable Alex was and noted not to get too close to him from now on, not unless Alex allowed him to of course

The boys went work on the cake they both decided to cook as it was so close to Christmas anyway. Jack took care of the mix and Alex worked in the dough, as he had done this a million time over before. Alex cooked when he was thinking, or needed something to distract him from the destruction that was his mind. It was dangerous there and like last night, it took him to bad places he didn't want to go to

Jack noticed that Alex looked kinda sad so, he decided to do the only thing he thought that would cheer him up. Jack picked up a handful of flour and blew it in Alex's direction, laughing when it went all over his face, hair and clothes. Alex blinked lightly before gasping, a laugh falling from his lips that were not covered in flour

"You didn't just do that JACK!" squealed Alex who was now ready to fight back, this time with dirtier tactics

Alex grabbed some eggs and hid them behind his back as Jack laughed uncontrollably over the counter. Alex smirk before walking over to Jack and slapping the egg onto Jack's hair, letting it slide down his face

"Oh my god" gasped Jack as the egg literally fell off of his face and onto the floor

Alex saw the evil glint in Jacks' eyes and did the only thing he knew what to do and, he ran. He ran out of the kitchen and locked himself in the downstairs bathroom to make sure Jack couldn't egg him or pour anymore flour over his head

"Get out of there now you little shit!" demanded Jack with a light chuckle

"Hell no, I don't want egg on my head thank you!" squealed Alex who was snorting with how hard he was actually laughing at Jacks misfortune that he caused himself

Alex caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and whined as the flour was literally everywhere, but he didn't care because, he was laughing, really laughing from the pit of his belly laughing. For the first time in years, Alex Gaskarth was not sad, but laughing

"I'll wait for you Alex, so it's pointless staying in there. I will get you back once you get out of there!" threatens Jack who was still laughing at the situation

Who knew Alex had this side to him?

Alex chuckles to himself once again before opening the door slightly to see if Jack was really waiting for him or not, which he was. Alex got a face full of flour and cake mix right in the face and hair. alex gasped and squealed before just breaking into a massive roar of laughter

They both laughed, pointing at each other before there were tears streaming down their cheeks, both flushed from the amount of laughter they has caused each other

Alex walked into the kitchen and his eyes lit up a little. It looked like Christmas in here, which happened to be Alex's favourite time of year. He smiled softly to himself before Jack walked in and made Alex jump a little before he instantly relaxed next to Jack

"It's a mess in here huh? Suppose we better clean up" chuckled Jack

"It looks like Christmas in here" whispered Alex softly, the sadness hitting him

"I suppose it does. I love Christmas, it's so pretty when it's snowing outside" gushed Jack who turned to see Alex smile softly

"Yeah, me too. I haven't had one in a while though" frowned Alex who wrapped his arms around himself

"Really? Don't you're family come over and visit you for Christmas?"

Alex frowns and shakes his head gently before the tear falls down his cheeks

Jack instantly wraps himself around the weeping boy and swings him side from side. Jack wasn't sure why he was already attached to this boy but, all he knew was that he didn't like to see him upset. Not to mention, Jack didn't like to see people alone, especially around Christmas time. He had always been lucky enough to have a family and friends to turn to on such an occasion but, knowing Alex was alone sort of broke his heart into small pieces

"I'm really sorry to hear that Alex" whispered Jack to the crying boy

"It's easier this way" he sighed before pulling away from Jacks embrace and wiping away his tears

Jack didn't know what to say so, he just nodded and proceeded to carry on with cleaning the very messy kitchen. In the end, they didn't make a cake like they deiced to

"Go and clean yourself up and I'll clean in here. Go run a hot bath or something" smiled Jack towards the frail boy in front of him

Alex nodded his head and headed towards the bathroom, shutting the door behind him, his heart pounding in his chest quickly. Alex wasn't sure what was happening but, he couldn't stop his heart from beating at the quick pace that it was. He placed his hand over his chest and and breathed in slowly and then back out again, trying to calm his quickened heart beat

Alex walked towards the bath and ran the hot water, stripping down to his briefs before adding some muscle soak into it to help his aching bones. Alex was only young but, his body felt like an older mans. He literally had aches and pains everywhere, not to mention too many scars littered across his body. Alex examined the fresh cuts on his upper arm and sighed

It's not like he wanted to hurt himself anymore but, he just couldn't help it. Old habits are hard to break out of, especially when you've been abusing your own body for as long as Alex had been. It helps calms down his nerves, anxiety and over active imagination. It grounds him, allowing him to feel pain of being alive and not in some sort of dream like state that Alex had been in so many times throughout the years

Alex blinks back the tears and strips down to nothing before dipping into the scolding water, letting it kiss his delicate skin, knowing it will leave red angry marks once he get out later

As Alex is washing his body, he hears the front door shut loudly, letting him know that Jack had obviously gone out. Alex wonders where Jack suddenly went to but, he knew that wasn't any of hi business so he continues to relax and wash his hair to get rid of the flour and egg that Jack so kindly attacked Alex with

It doesn't take long before Alex is washed, clean and ready to change into his Pyjamas. It might be in the middle of the day but, Alex wasn't exactly going anywhere. So, he gets out of the bath, dries himself and walks into his bedroom and lays down on the bed, letting the heat leave his body before he changes into his Pyjamas. Alex hears the door open, with rustling downstairs

"Alex! Come down here for a second, I need a hand with something!" shouts Jack

Alex is confused but, goes downstairs none the less. When he enters the living room, Alex's heart missed a beat. There was a mini Christmas tree placed in the middle of the living room with some decorations scattered around the place, and a present neatly wrapped on the floor with a tag Saying: To Alex, from Jack

"W-What's all this? I-it's not even Christmas yet Jack" gushed Alex who was trying not to cry from happiness

"It's for you. You said you've never had a Christmas so, I thought maybe we could have one now, you know? You looked sad and I wanted to cheer you up" smiled Jack

"Y-You did this for me?" gasped Alex in shock

"Yeah. It's not much but-"

"It's perfect, Jack. Thank you" cried Alex who looked down at the wrapped present on the floor

"Open it" gestured Jack towards Alex

Alex opened it and smiled softly when he saw that Jack had bought him some aftershave and a voucher for hot topic

"I-Jack, you shouldn't have"

"I know but, I wanted to. So Alex, please don't cry anymore" whispered Jack

Notes

Not even sure if anyone is reading anymore but hey, here is an update! Took forever but, it's here!

Hope you enjoy :D