Drowning in a River of Denial (Jalex)

I Wanna Be Close to You

Hey! This chapter isn't very long, nor is it particularly important. I'd just like to apologise in advance for how awful that one bit is (you'll know it when you read it lmao).

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Alex

Waking up next to Jack never failed to make my heart pound just a little bit harder in my chest. He was asleep, and probably very hungover. Keeping this in mind, I carefully withdrew my arm from beneath his sleeping body, feeling my limb regain feeling as I slipped out of the bed. The wooden flooring beneath my sock clad feet was cold as I stood up, stretching my tired body.

I slipped out the room thankfully unnoticed, shutting the door behind me gently. I descended the stairs, ruffling my hair in attempts to take what was probably a gigantic mess. I found Mum with my uncle deeply conversing in the kitchen whilst the two of them sipped ceramic mugs filled with black coffee. I wrinkled my nose at the thought of drinking such strong coffee.

"Morning," she smiled once noticing my arrival.

"Morning Mum, morning Mark," I responded, forcing a smile. I reckoned uncle Mark was nearly as hungover as the boy sleeping in my bed. He nodded in acknowledgement and I gave Mum a look, needing desperately to inform her of the formerly intoxicated boy upstairs.

"Have a nice sleep?" She questioned obliviously, taking another drink of the coffee as well as a bite of her jam toast.

"Yeah, but-"

"Are you feeling okay?" She asked, frowning and advancing toward me after setting down her drink. I gently pushed her hand away from my forehead, sighing.

"Can we talk for a second?" I asked her in a hushed tone, hoping she would remember the situation from the night before.

"Yeah?" She definitely was not catching on. Maybe I was a little bit too nice to ask Mark to leave the room. I raised my eyebrows, jerking my head slightly in the direction of the door. "Well, Alex?" She was growing impatient. It was hopeless trying to get her attention.

"Um, yeah, Jack wasn't in good shape last night, I guess and-"

"I smell toast?" And as if it was on cue, the aforementioned hungover teenager sleepily shuffled into the room, eyes squinting at the light coming from the window.

"And that's why he's here," I concluded, awkwardly shifting my gaze from the boy to my mother and confused uncle.

"Hi, Jack," she greeted. It was as if all it took were those two words for Jack to snap out of his almost sleepwalking state and into the reality I'm sure he would have rather not been in.

"Oh, hi Mum," he replied back, before dragging his stare to my uncle, who in Jack's eyes, probably was not there a moment before.

"Mark, this is Alex's bestfriend, Jack," she said, shaking her head in amusement.

"Right. Hello, Jack, I'm Alex's uncle Mark," he said politely, yet somehow in a completely intimidating way, with his forehead creased beneath his receding hairline.

"Nice to meet you," Jack said. I was pretty sure I was the only one who could tell he was nervous at that point.

"You too."

"Right, okay, maybe Jack should go upstairs and I can make him some toast or something," I interjected as the inevitable awkwardness began.

"Alright, honey," Jack joked, winking and turning on his heel, returning back to my room. I let out a breath, feeling my cheeks turn red.