OnlyUs

Sugarcane Cafe

A week after their therapy appointment together and things have been looking up significantly.
Maybe it was the fact that they both needed a completely safe space to vent out things they'd been holding back with a neutral party, or maybe it was the fact that they've finally been so open with each other about everything that happened. Either way, their needs have been attended to without anyone feeling guilty, like they weren't doing enough. Without anyone holding back as much as before, if at all. 
Things are starting to feel safe again and feel genuinely good. 

"Jack!" Alex calls from his cozy spot in bed, under about three blankets.
Jack walks in from the kitchen, where he'd been cleaning up.
"Yeah?" He asks, leaning against the doorway.
"So I'm on the Urban Outfitters website and there's this really cool, kinda big mirror and I think it would look so good in here up against that wall," The brunette points to the wall to the right of him, right next to the closet.
Jack looks the space up and down, then sits down on the bed next to Alex to look at this mirror.
"It's big." He says with his eyebrow raised.
"Duh I already said that." Alex gets a little playfully sassy at him, "My point is that I like it and I think it would look really cool there. It's on the wall by the closet and the dresser, so I mean it's perfect. Get dressed, look yourself over. It's really pretty too." 
Jack looks at it again, taking the laptop from Alex to scroll through the different colored frame options for it. Their furniture is lightwood, so he clicks the tannish with a hint of gold framed option, "Okay, I agree it looks cool but can we get it with that frame?" He asks, hoping Alex will meet him halfway. If he's honest, all he can think about is the way the mirror will face the bed as well and they'll be able to see themselves when they do anything intimate. The thought is kind of hot, quite frankly. 

Alex tilts his head as he looks at the wall, then the furniture, then back at the laptop. He goes through all of the frame colors, then nods, "Okay, yeah. This one works." He smiles.
Jack digs his wallet out and hands him his credit card, since Alex's income is slim to none at the moment. He's getting unemployment, but it's not enough to cover much. He did qualify for financial assistance because of what happened, but he turned it down. He's tired of being a victim and he's ready to get back on his feet. Two days after their therapy appointment, he called the cafe and they want to interview him. He had to let them know that his leg still gets really sore, and they'd put the pieces together when they heard his name. After all, there aren't many Gaskarth's around, and he's the only one on the East Coast to ever go through what he did. They seemed understanding enough.
The older man takes the card from his adorable younger boyfriend and kisses his cheek, "Thank you love." He smiles.

Jack leans in and presses a soft kiss to his lips, "You're welcome. Get whatever you want, but the credit card limit is $1500. The mirror is what?" He looks at the screen, "$349. Okay, not bad for the size. Anyway, stick to the lightish theme? I mean obviously get things you like, but it would be nice for the bigger furniture to be cohesive." He shrugs.
Alex smiles, "Yes, Captain Color Match. I was going to do that anyway. I might get a few accent pieces though, which will probably be different colors. You good with that?"
"I'm good with that." Jack responds, a smile on his face, "Have fun shopping." He gets up and goes back into the kitchen to keep up with cleaning. Alex cleaned the house last week, it's his turn to do the heavy scrubbing this week. That and the fact that Alex is going to try to go back to work, his leg still hurting and all that, he figures he'll do most of the heavy cleaning anyway. He can't imagine standing behind a line all day is going to feel very good when his boyfriend is done for the day. 

Alex spends another hour or so of his time shopping on the Urban Outfitters site, picking up a large celestial printed wall tapestry that he intends to put behind their bed, and a pretty botanical moon phase tapestry to go in the kitchen behind his shelf where he keeps all of the houseplants he's accumulated each time Jack goes out. He makes Jack always go to the plant section so he can see what's going on. He usually winds up with another new plant each and every time, and Jack doesn't say no because A, they're nice and Alex likes to take care of them, and B, Alex spent two months in a dark basement. Some lightness, some freshness is good for him. 

Jack's style of course, is a more black and white, grey, pop culture reference type of style, so in their living room, a lot of Jack's art from the old house is up so to add to it, Alex picked out this really nice black and grey geo printed rug to go underneath the coffee table as well as this cool black and white Kurt Cobain printed frame. When he came across an Amy Winehouse one, he nearly lost it, because Jack loves her. Of course he snatched it up.
Content with his purchases, he pays and smiles to himself, happy that he got things that he'll like, as in the two tapestries, things that Jack will like, as in the rug and two printed frames, and one thing that they agreed on together and both like, the large mirror. 
He comes out of the room with a big smile on his face, leaning against the little archway that connects the small dining room to the kitchen, just watching his boyfriend who hasn't noticed his presence yet work.
He's cute, the way that he pokes his tongue out just a little as he scrubs at a stain on the stove, but Alex can't suppress his quiet laugh at the way Jack mutters "Come on, get off you asshole" to the stain. 
"It won't talk back." Alex smirks as Jack jumps a bit over hearing him.

The raven haired man tosses his sponge at Alex, "You get it then." He smiles, watching as Alex shrugs his shoulders, goes over to the stove and instead of scrubbing at it forward and back, he applies a bit of pressure and cleans it in a circular motion from the inside out. He hands the sponge back to Jack with a cheeky little grin on his face, "Done." He says innocently as Jack tosses the sponge into the sink and wraps his arms around Alex's waist, pressing kisses wherever he can reach, his head, his nose, his cheeks, his lips, his jaw when Alex turns his head away, laughing his heart out. 
Alex spins to face him and plants a hard kiss to his lips, pulling back after a moment of letting it linger.
The brunette smiles up at his boy, "I love you, silly." 
"I love you too, Lex." Jack kisses his nose, "Did you get all of your shopping done?"
Alex nods, handing the credit card back to him, but Jack refuses, "I have my debit card, you keep it. You might get inspired to buy more pretty things." 
He tucks the card back into his pocket, "I got a few things you'll really like, and I made it match while still being stuff that we both like and I got you two surprises and you're going to love them!" He says excitedly, almost bouncing a little because finally, finally  something is going the way that he wants it to and there's no fear whatsoever that it'll crash and burn.