Let's Run Away (Jalex)

Chapter 1

Jack looks in the mirror and sighs at his appearence. His hair refuses to cooperate, all his t-shirts are dirty and old, and his face is starting to break out. He knows he shouldn't be so concerned about his appearence, he's just playing basketball with Alex, as they do every Sunday afternoon. They have been best friends for over four years, so why is Jack now concerned about what Alex thinks of him?

"We're just friends," Jack reminds himself. "And it's just basketball."

Jack grabs his sneakers and heads towards his bedroom door, but turns around to take one last look in the mirror. He rips off his shirt and throws on the gray tee that Alex bought him for his birthday this year. "He'll appreciate this."

Alex stands on the court by himself, shooting hoops. He checks his watch every thirty seconds. Jack is never late, and Alex begins to worry. He shrugs and shoots the ball, but misses by a long shot.

"Haven't been practicing much since last Sunday?" Alex hears from behind him.

Alex feels his face blush at the sound of Jack's voice. "Some of us care about our schoolwork."

"That's a lie!" Jack jokes back. "You were skipping school with Lisa all this week!"

The mention of Lisa makes Alex uncomfortable. "Ha, yeah."

Jack notices the change in tone. "Is everything okay? Sorry if something happened, I didn't know..."

"No, no. It's fine, nothing happened. I'm just..." Alex uneasily walks over to the area of grass where the ball had landed and sits down. "I'm not sure things are going to continue."

Alex sat far from Jack, so he would not hear his voice shake. But Jack knows when his friend needs help. He walks over to Alex and sits next to him, just a little bit too close. Alex swallows so loudly that Jack can hear it. The grass is still wet from the morning dew, and Alex realizes that they are sitting under the tree where it happened. "Remember, Jack?" Alex says with a giggle. Jack smiles at the memory.

"It was just a dare," Jack is now blushing bright red, but he doesn't try to hide it. He looks right at Alex, just as he did that night in the tree.

It happened the month before, on a warm August night, around one a.m. Jack had gotten into a fight with his parents, so he called Alex, crying. "Alex, can you sneak out?" Jack says in between chokes.

Alex becomes very worried. "Yeah, anything for you, buddy."

"Meet at the courts?"

"I'll be there in five."

Sure enough, Alex is there within five minutes. He is breathing heavily, which shows he sprinted there. He doesn't say a word when he arrives, he just pulls Jack into a hug. Not the usual bro-hugs they do after a gig, but a genuine hug. Neither of them let go. Jack just cries on Alex's shoulder for a few minutes, and when his cries die down, Alex lets him go. Jack is still crying and looking down so Alex will not see his puffy eyes. Alex cups his chin and lifts his head up. He kisses him on the nose, which Jack usually hates. He laughs a little, but the tears still stream down his cheeks. Alex grabs him by the wrist and drags him over to the tree.

"Remember when we were stupid freshman, and thought we were tough for climbing this thing?" Alex says, pointing up the tree.

The memory makes Jack laugh. "We were such tools."

Alex looks at the height of the tree, smiling. "I bet I could still beat you."

Jack always loves a challenge. "Go!"

They both start climbing, but instead of racing for the top, they settle down on a high branch that overlooks the basketball courts. Their basketball courts. The park has been their special spot since freshman year.

They sit up high for a while, and Jack explains how fed up he is with everything. High school, his parents, everything makes him want to die.

"The only reason I'm still here is because..." Jack pauses. "Because of you." Alex is shocked that Jack says this. Sure, they always say "I love you man" and joke around with each other, but this was something Jack has never admitted. "I love you, Alex. You're my best friend."

Alex and Jack lock eyes for a few seconds. Of course he loves him back. They're best friends. They're buddies. But was this a different kind of love? Alex has a girlfriend, who he loves very much, and he has never looked at Jack in this way. But now he was seeing Jack in a whole different light. "I love you too, bro."

Jack looks away, almost embarrassed. The "bro" at the end proves that what he feels for Alex was not mutual. "Let's play truth or dare, like we used to!" Jack suggests.

Alex loves this idea. Sophomore year, they used to have so much fun with this game. They would make each other eat spoonfulls of cinnamon or confess an embarrassing secret in front of all their friends. "I'll start," Alex says. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Okay... you have the hots for Holly, don't ya?"

Jack laughs. "Ah, no! She's a known whore! I would never!"

"Okay, okay. Fair enough!"

Jack tries to act disgusted by the thought. "You're nasty. Truth or dare?"

Alex thinks for a second. "Feeling adventurous. Dare."

Jack ponders, then laughs. "I dare you to do that stupid party trick you figured out when you were drunk."

"Oh, God no!" Alex yells out. "I'm not licking my toe! I was shitfaced when I did that!"

"Well you gotta! You picked dare."

Disgusted, Alex takes his shoe off and throws it on the ground below the tree. He picks up his foot to his face, and quickly licks his big toe. Jack is killing himself laughing, even after Alex puts his foot back down.

"That one never gets old!" Jack yells, still laughing. "And I know you want to get me back for that one, so I pick dare."

Alex thinks about what happened before. When he couldn't get the words out. He considers the possibility that Jack wants to play one-on-one truth or dare to get their relationship on a more intimate level. I'll just try it, Alex thinks. Maybe... it could be something.

"I dare you to kiss me. It can't be any worse than my foot." Alex covers it up with a joke, but they both know it isn't just a joke.

Jack looks at Alex, and realizes he's not kidding. Oh God, he's serious, Jack thinks. He wants me to kiss him. He wants to kiss me.

Jack leans in, cupping the back of Alex's neck in his hand. He pulls his head closer, and presses his lips against Alex's. It starts off as a peck, but Alex notices that Jack's hand is still firmly placed on the back on his neck. He wants more.

Alex kisses him again, this time slightly open mouth, and using minimal tongue. But so is Jack. This is happening, Alex thinks. It's really happening. Finally.

Jack's hand slowly releases Alex's neck and they both pull away, staring at each other, in shock of what just happened. But nothing about it felt wrong, even though they both knew it should.

"My foot's getting cold. I gotta get my shoe. Let's go." Alex begins to climb down from the tree, and Jack follows.

This was a full month ago, and there has been no talk of it between the two boys since. The mention of it now both pleases Jack and catches him off guard.

"We never really discussed it, did we?" Alex says.

"There's not much to discuss."

"Jack, we both know-"

"You don't know anything." Jack practically yells at Alex. He gets up and starts walking away, but Alex follows.

"I'm your best friend, I can tell-"

"Alex, you don't know anything!"

The outburst shocks Alex. Jack is always the easy-going one, and Alex is the one having constant panic attacks. Jack sees that he has hurt Alex, but he turns around and keeps walking. Alex runs after him and grabs him by the wrist, pulling him close to his body. Before Jack can object, Alex's lips are agaisnt his once again.