::Alex::

After Valentine's Day I was surer than ever about my feelings for Brook and I couldn’t wait to be able to see her and talk to her and figure out exactly where we both stood with our relationship.

As the days until I'd be home dwindled down to less than a week, I knew there was one very important talk I did not want to have but knew that I had to.

"Hey Lina," I said when she answered my call.

"Hey. How are you, Alex?" she replied a little confused to hear my voice, I'm sure.

"I'm okay. I'm not going to beat around the bush here. We need to talk," I said.

"I figured that. You called me. People usually call other people when they need to talk," she said, a playful tone in her voice.

I wasn't amused.

"Lina, this is serious."

"Okay. Okay," she cleared her throat. "What's up?"

"What happened between us in Europe?"

"In Europe? Really? You don't know?" she sort of mocked me.

"I have my assumptions but I would like to know for one-hundred-percent certain."

"Well, what do you think happened?" she asked and it almost felt like she was doing it on purpose to make me sweat it out.

"You know exactly what I think happened. It's us and I was drunk as hell, upset and woke up in your bed naked. You were already up and in the shower but I'm willing to bet you woke up naked, too."

She was silent for a while. I'd thought for a second that she hung up.

"I didn't wake up naked," she explained. "I woke up six floors up in your hotel room, where I went to sleep after you passed out in mine."

"So, we didn't have sex?" I asked carefully.

"No, we didn't," she said.

“Why did I end up in your room then?”

“You lost your room key. You were so drunk; you could barely stand on your own. I was trying to get in touch with Matt since I knew he always has a second copy of all your room keys but he wasn’t answering so I dumped you in my room until I eventually was able to get your key from Matt.”

“Oh…” was all I could say.

“After I got the key, I stopped back in my room to make sure you were okay. You had stripped off all your clothes and passed out, so I just left you there grabbed some clothes and went to your room to sleep.”

"Wow. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have jumped to that conclusion. It's just-"

"Alex," she interrupted me. "You thought we slept together because there were a few things that I said that were very cryptic and could have been easily misunderstood."

"What did happen though? Why were you really saying things like you saw it coming and it was bound to happen?" I asked confused.

"You told me all about Brook," she said bluntly.

"I did?" I asked very surprised at myself. "You knew what I thought happened, didn't you? You let me go thinking it."

"I know," she sighed. "Not my proudest moment, okay? I'm sorry."

"What did I say?" I asked her, ignoring the apology.

"You said that you met this girl and you went on and on and on about how great she was and how much you liked her and how much you missed her. You told me about the freckles on her nose," Lina told me and she sounded a little sad.

"What did you mean by it was bound to happen and you saw this coming?"

"You were different since I came back for Christmas. Normally, with us, if we're getting back together, we would have slept together a long time ago. You got tense whenever I kissed you. I just had this feeling that there was someone else."

"I'm sorry," I said, though I wasn't sure for what.

"You don't need to apologize, Alex. I want you to be happy. If that happens with Brook, go for it. I’ve always wanted nothing but the best for you."

"I am happy with Brook but that's not to say that I wasn't happy with you, Lee. It's just-"

"We weren't meant to be," she cut me off. “Lord knows we tried to be and that's okay."

"I'm sorry if I said anything that night that ended up hurting your feelings and I'm sorry for ever hurting your feelings in general. This whole thing with Brook feels so different now, you know? It's kind of like this is what an adult relationship should feel like."

"She must be really great," Lina said and I thought maybe I could detect a smile.

"She's the best. Believe it or not, you guys would probably get along really well," I said with a chuckle.

"Well, I'd love to meet her someday."

"You probably will eventually," I said. "We have enough friends in common."

"Yes. We do," Lina agreed. "This won't get weird, right?"

"I won't let it get weird if you won't," I assured her.

"Okay. I promise I won't."

"Then I promise I won't either," I said and I wondered if this was really going to be possible.

"So, is this Brook girl officially your girlfriend yet?" Lina asked, kind of excitedly.

"No," I huffed, "but I'm hoping to change that as soon as I get home in a few days."


::Brook::

We just landed! You can leave now. We'll meet you outside in the passenger pick up area outside the Delta terminal. <3333333

I was practically giddy as I read that text message from Alex. He was finally home and he was going to be home for a while now. We had a mild argument over the phone the night before when I volunteered to pick him and Matt up from the airport. He felt bad because they weren't going to land until after one in the morning and he knew I had work the next morning early. I couldn't bear the thought of him being in Maryland and not being able to see him until after work the next day. I fibbed and told him I had off the next day - some Superintendents of Schools day. He wouldn't know any better and when I had to work the next day, I would deal with his whining then.

He thought that I was going to wait until he texted me that he landed to leave my apartment and head to the airport and pick him and Matt up off the curb. In reality, I left my apartment thirty minutes before they were scheduled to land. That got me to the airport just before they landed. I circled the arriving flights area until he texted me that he landed and that's when I pulled over to the curb at the passenger pick up. Almost immediately a security guard came over and told me that I wasn't allowed to stay there. Surprising myself a little, I turned on my charm and convinced the guy to let me stay there, while I ran inside to greet Alex and Matt. It looked like for a second he was going to tell me to get lost but thankfully he caved and told me I was lucky it was the middle of the night.

I paced back and forth for a couple of minutes, staring at the escalator in hopes of finally seeing Alex. Slowly but surely his frame appeared at the top of the escalator and I watched the widest smile spread across his face when he saw me.

Of course I couldn't help but smile myself.

"What are you doing inside?" he asked as he was walking closer to me. "Please don't tell me you parked the car in the garage or something just to meet us inside," he finished.

He was standing in front of me now and it was all I could do not to throw myself at him. His hair was a little longer than the last time I'd seen him and he definitely hadn't shaved in a few days, which left him looking a little scruffy - I didn't hate it.

"No, I didn't park it in the garage. It's right outside," I explained, shifting from one foot to the other.

"You better hope it didn't get towed away by now. Those security guards can be real assholes," Alex said.

"Don't worry," I shook my head. "I kind of flirted with the security guard."

Alex smiled again. "That's my girl," he said before closing the space between us and hugging me tight.

It was probably the best hug I've ever gotten.

"Welcome home," I whispered in his ear, squeezing him a little tighter and pressing a kiss to his cheek as he lifted me off the ground a bit and spun me in a circle.

"It's good to be home," he said, gently placing me back down on the ground before lightly pressing a kiss to my lips. "You remember Matt, right?" he asked, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and pulling me into my side.

"Of course," I smiled at Matt. "Welcome back."

"Thanks Brook," he nodded. "And thanks for picking us up and offering to drop me off at my place. We really could have just gotten a cab."

"It's no problem at all," I shrugged, wrapping my arm around Alex's waist. "I don't mind."

"Isn't she perfect?" Alex gushed.

"Yeah. She's pretty great," Matt said with a smile. He looked between Alex and myself before suddenly backing away slowly. "I'm going to uh- I'm going to- I'm just going to go be anywhere but right here for a few minutes," he said, walking in the opposite direction of Alex and me, clearly giving us a few minutes to be alone.

"Hi," Alex said, removing his arm from around my shoulders and spinning me around to face him as he placed his hands on each side of my waist.

"Hi," I copied him and a second later he moved his hands from my waist to the side of my face. Closing whatever space was left between the two of us, his pressed his lips down to mine.

I smiled as I kissed him back, wrapping my arms around his neck and pressing my body into his. There was no denying how right any of this felt.

I pulled back a few moments later, not too long after Alex had deepened the kiss. I was becoming aware of all the people around us and didn't like the idea of having an audience.

Alex smiled and rested his forehead against mine. "Now it's really good to be home."

My eyes fell closed as he kissed me again, this time wrapping his arms around my middle and squeezing me tight against him and lifting me off the ground a bit again.

I tightened my own grip around him when I realized that I was airborne again and he laughed softly at me.

"Don't worry, Brook. I won't let you go," he assured me.

I smiled, the seriousness to his voice almost made it seem like he wasn't just referring to holding me a few inches off the ground.

"You better not," I said, pressing another kiss to his lips right before he put me back on the ground.

He put me down and held me at arm’s length for a moment and it looked as though he was inspecting my appearance. I felt self-conscious for the moment because I had most definitely not dressed up for the occasion. Clearly, I was wearing sweat pants and an old beat up pair of boots but what he couldn't see was under my big winter coat, I was wearing a Jonas Brothers tour shirt and Alex's hoodie he left me so long ago.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I finally asked him, tilting my head to the side a bit in question.

He shook his head slowly. "For a minute there I thought you may have grown a bit since I last saw you," he shook his head again, "but I must have been wrong. If possible, you might look shorter."

"You're a jerk," I rolled my eyes, walking passed him and nudging his side with my shoulder. "You luggage is going to come out down here," I said, walking in the direction of the appropriate bag claim carousel.

Alex caught up to me a second later, catching me in his arms around my waist and pressing me into his side. "I was just kidding about the getting shorter thing," he said, pressing a kiss to the top of my head.

"Not a funny joke when I've heard it so many times before," I said, faking a scowl.

"What I really should have said was that you've definitely gotten more beautiful since I last saw you and I did not think that was possible."

I turned to look up at him, slowly a confident smile was spreading across his face and I couldn't help to break my scowl and laugh.

"Good one," I complimented. "Real good one."

"But it's true," he whined as Matt was coming up behind us.

"Are you whining already?" Matt asked. "Sorry, Brook."

I laughed again and Alex pouted.

"I wasn't whining," he defended himself. "Is she or is she not, like, super beautiful?" he asked Matt with a smirk.

I felt my cheek flame as Matt looked over to me for a second and then back at Alex.

"I feel like this is a trick question. Maybe I should walk away again for a few more minutes..."

"No, Matt, you don't have to do that. He's just being a pain," I said, nudging Alex with my elbow again. "Cut it out," I told Alex, narrowing my eyes at him.

"Oh fine…” he smirked again, leaning down and pressing his lips to my cheek in a big, wet kiss, leaving me to have to wipe my cheek with the sleeve of my coat when he was done.

"Thank God," Matt muttered when the bell rang out in an alert and a second later the luggage carousel began to spin and spit out suitcases of many different shapes and sizes.

"What do your bags look like again?" I asked Alex.

I'd seen them all before the night he left but I was so preoccupied with the fact of him leaving me that I wouldn't remember what they look like if they were hot pink.

He pulled his phone from his pocket and scrolled through it before shoving it in my face. When my eyes could focus, I realized it was a picture of three pieces of luggage.

"I never remember what they look like,” he explained.

I smiled a little at him, kissing his cheek lightly as I wrapped my arms around his waist and leaned into him.

"It's a good thing you're cute."

"I know," he said like it was obvious as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and we watched each suitcase go by, every so often Alex would check his phone and remind himself of what we were looking for.

About ten minutes later we were able to locate all of Matt and Alex's suitcases. As we dragged them out to my car, I began to worry if they were all going to fit.

"Don't worry," Alex said. "Matt's a pro. He'll make it all fit one way or another."

"Good luck," I said, watching as Matt lifted the first few suitcases, twisting them at different angles before he got them to fit in my trunk.

After all the rearranging, we only needed to put one suitcase in the backseat with Matt and a smaller one on the floor in the front seat by Alex's feet.

The drive to Matt's was quiet. I was sure for a little while that Alex had fallen asleep in the passenger seat but every once in a while he would perk up and tell me some story about something funny that had happened on the road, that he hadn't managed to already tell me.

"I can't thank you enough for picking us up, Brook," Matt said when I pulled up in front of his house.

"It's no problem at all," I assured him, taking off my seatbelt to get out of the car and help Matt get his bags from the trunk.

"I got it," Alex said, giving my hand a quick squeeze before he jumped out of the car and he helped Matt lug one of his gigantic suitcase to the front door before jumping back in the car.

"I have a silly question," I said, once I pulled away from the sidewalk and started the drive back to Alex's house.

"What's up?" he asked, leaning back in his seat and turning his head to the side to face me.

"What do you guys do with all your stuff? Like the instruments and microphones and stuff?"

"That's not a silly question," he assured me with a sleepy smile. "We have it shipped back to a warehouse where we store all our stuff. When we first started and kind of did everything on our own it was a total pain when we had to travel. We had to cart everything with us. Matt would have a panic attack as soon as we stepped into an airport."

"Well, thank goodness you don't have to do it on your own anymore."

"You can say that again," Alex said.

The rest of the drive was mostly quiet again. There was no denying how exhausted Alex was. I kind of felt bad for him.

"Well aren't you a sight for sore ears," Alex said when I pulled up in front his house and he looked at the window at the place he hadn't seen in a month.

"You're coming in, right?" he asked, turning back to me.

"Sure," I nodded, turning off the car and gathering my purse before getting out of the car and helping Alex with his suitcases.

"I can't decide if I want to dive head first into my bed or do a cannon ball," Alex said with a laugh once we made it into the house finally with all the luggage.

"I've always liked cannon balls," I nodded.

"Good, cause you can do one next to me," he said, grasping my hand tightly and dragging me in the direction of his bedroom. "Stay right here," he said, sitting me down on the foot of his bed while he disappeared from the room for a couple of minutes.

I took the time while he was gone to take off my coat and kick off my boots.

Alex came back, having lost his jeans and changed into basketball shorts.

"Much better," he said, pulling back his comforter and sheet and gesturing for me to climb in.
There was part of me that knew I shouldn't get comfortable. It was already after two in the morning and I had work in the morning but there was another part of me, a much bigger part of me that just wanted to be with Alex.

"I can't stay long," I whispered into the darkness of the room once Alex and I had gotten comfortable under his blankets.

"What? What do you mean you can't stay long? It's already so late," I asked, squeezing me tighter into his side.

"Don't be mad okay?" I asked leaning up on my elbows and looking up at him in the very little light in the room that was provided by the nightlight in the corner of the room.
Alex insisted he had the nightlight for the dogs' benefit.

"I'll try..." he said slowly, his face twisting up confused.

"I have work in the morning. I kind of fibbed about being off so you would let me pick you up," I confessed.

"What? Brook, why would you lie to me? That's crazy. I could have found another way home."

"I know that," I nodded, "but, look, if I didn't lie, I wouldn't be here right now and you'd be laying in here all by yourself."

He frowned. "I really appreciate that you wanted to see me so badly but you're going to be so tired tomorrow for work."

I shrugged. "I'll deal with it tomorrow. You're kind of worth the loss of sleep."

He smiled before pressing his lips to mine. "Fine, but you can't go just yet. I need to talk to you about something."

::Alex::

"Right now? Alex, you're exhausted. We can talk tomorrow," she tried.

"No," I insisted. "I can stay awake for this talk. Plus, I kind of practiced what I was going to say to you the entire flight home to Matt and I'm pretty sure he'll kill me if he found out I didn't say what I wanted."

I had driven Matt crazy the entire flight home trying to figure out what I was going to say exactly to Brook to let her know I wanted to be a legitimate couple. I'm pretty sure if Matt had a parachute, he would have jumped out of the plane.

"Well, okay then," she said. "What's up?"

I took a deep breath as she sat up and faced her body towards me. She was wearing my sweat shirt and a pair of old sweat pants. Her hair was pulled up in a bun on the top of her head. She wasn't wearing a stitch of makeup. She looked a little nervous about whatever I was going to say to her and even then, I was sure I'd never seen someone so beautiful.

"Alex..." she said softly when I hadn't said anything for too long.

I was suddenly so nervous. Almost everything I had said to Matt on the plane was flying out of my head.

“Look, Brook, I like you. I like you, a lot.”

She looked up at me and a small laugh slipped passed her lips.

"I'm sorry. That's so not how it was supposed to come out," I mumbled, feeling my cheeks get hot.

"That's the speech you practice for hours on the plane?"

"No," I said quickly. "I got nervous and I panicked.”

“I like you, too, Alex,” she said, smiling at me as she sat up and crossed her legs Indian style. “A lot.”

“Okay, good,” I said, sitting up too and returning the smile. “That’s good.”

Brook stared at me, fidgeting hands in her lap nervously as she waited for me to say anything else.

Why were the words so hard for me to find? Using words to express my emotions was kind of my thing. I made a career out of it for fuck’s sake.

I took a deep breath and decided to just go for it.

“I’ve gotten to know you pretty well over the last two months and while it might not have been the most typical way to get to know someone, I liked it. I think the distance made it so we had to really focus on each other, you know? Like we couldn’t just hang out and get distracted by a movie we were watching or other people that were around us.”

“So you think you know everything about me?” she asked, looking at her hands in her lap.

“Hell no,” I laughed. “I know that I’ve only skimmed the surface when it comes to you but I look forward to skimming further because what I do know already, I really like."

“Really?” she asked, looking up from her hands finally.

“Of course,” I nodded, reaching over to grab one of her hands. “I like the way you recite lines from episodes of Friends under your breath when you watch the show. I like how I’ve never heard you utter a single curse word since I’ve met you but I’m pretty sure you’ve muttered a few dirty words in Italian when you were watching Football. I like the freckles on your nose and the spark in your eyes when you smile. I like the sound of your giggle and the little noises you make in your sleep when you’re dreaming. I like your unabashed love for Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers. I like how concerned you were with Baz that first night we met when clearly there was nothing wrong with him. I like how you always ask me to text you when I get home after dropping you off so you know I got back safely. I like how you always exclaim I can see you! whenever our web-cam chats start. I like how my heart rate speeds up just a little faster whenever I’m around you and how you’re a really, really good kisser. I like –”

“Alex,” Brook interrupted me, holding up her hand that I wasn’t holding on to. “I’m sorry to cut in but I have something to say.”

I sort of felt like I had blacked out a bit when I started rattling off all the things I had liked about her. None of this were things I practiced with Matt but at least I was being honest.

“O-Okay,” I nodded slowly.

Brook was silent and still for a few moments and I feared that she was collecting her thoughts to find the best way to let me down easy.

The next thing I knew, she was leaning over and pressing her lips to mine, crawling into my lap and wrapping her arms around my neck. I kissed her back slowly, gripping her waist tightly to hold her close.

“Can I tell you what it is that I like about you?” she asked, finally breaking from the kiss and leaning back slightly.

I shook my head, muttering a no before cupping her face in my hands and bringing her lips back to mine.

She laughed slightly as she kissed me back again but broke away a few seconds later.

“That’s why,” she said, her face a mere few inches from mine. “You always make me laugh. You always make me happy and truthfully, it had been quite some time since I’ve felt this happy.”

I nodded slowly, unsure if I was supposed to talk or not. I opened my mouth to say something but snapped it shut when she kept going.

“Sami was probably a little more honest with you when she told you about that break up I went through. It was actually pretty bad, a lot worse than I think I led you to believe. I was a mess, completely heartbroken over the whole thing and even though it was well over a year ago, I don’t think I’ve been totally the same since. Dating and just the idea of guys in general were completely off the table. Jenn and my mom and some of the ladies I work with would all try to set me up and I vehemently turned them down. And then suddenly this small white and brown dog runs in front of my car and everything changed.”

I stared at her. I wasn’t even sure I was blinking. Brook and I had talked about a lot of things since we met but this was the deepest and most personal she had ever gotten.

“W-Why do you think it changed?”

“You swept me off my feet,” she shrugged. “I tried to fight it and I think I had a few good excuses to run away but I couldn’t. There was something about you that just keeps pulling me in.”

“Soo…” I said, squeezing her hand.

“Soo…” she mocked me, squeezing my hand back.

“I don’t want to be just friends anymore,” I finally said, pulling some inspiration from my original speech from the plane.

“That’s good because I don’t think we were ever just friends,” Brook said with a smirk.

“I know it’s going to be hard for someone like you, who never says a curse word, to hang around the likes of me, but I’m fucking crazy about you, Brook and I really think we have something super special.”

“I agree,” she laughed.

“Soo...” I tried again causing her to laugh more.

“Soo…” she mocked me again.

I took a deep breath.

“So let’s just do this. Let’s dive in head first. The real deal. Be a couple. Boyfriend. Girlfriend. Labels. The whole damn thing.”

Brook scrunched her face up like she was thinking about it as she narrowed her eyes at me.

“I guess. It’s not like I had anything else going on right now anyway,” she said with a shrug.

I could tell she was struggling terribly with not laughing by the way she was nibbling on her lip to stop her smile.

“Really, dude?” I rolled my eyes before lunging at her, grabbing her by the waist and pinning her on her back to the mattress as I held myself above her.

She let out a squeal before her arms found their way around my neck.

“Okay, okay,” she caved, leaning up slowly. “Yes, I want to do this too,” she said leaning up to kiss me. “Diving head first. Real deal. A couple. Boyfriend. Girlfriend. Labels. The. Whole. Thing,” she finished, stopping to kiss me between every few words.

"Yes!” I cheered, inciting another laugh from Brook when I obnoxiously pounded a fist in the air. “You’re not going to regret this," I promised, pressing kisses all over her face.

Brook laughed a little more, trying to wiggle out of the tight hold I took of her again but eventually stopped and relaxed.

"Oh," she looked up at me and shook her head. "You better hope not."

I smiled, pushing some hair out of her face before I kissed her again.

“We’re diving in, Brook,” I said, pushing some hair out of her face before I kissed her again. “Fearless.”

"How stupid are we?" she asked before her arms went around my neck again and she brought her lips up to mine.
***

Notes

Story Title: Taylor Swift - Sparks Fly
Chapter Title: All Time Low - Time-bomb
Brook's outfit.

Aww... <3
I'd really appreciate the feedback on this one.