How to Fall in Love in Three Easy Steps

Chapter 18

Jack and Alex sat in the backyard, both of them tossing back shots, trying to make sense of what they had seen so far.

"What the fuck is happening?" Alex mumbled while throwing his shot glass onto the lawn.

"I don't know," Jack whispered, rubbing his thumbs against his glass, trying to forget the events of the party. Ever since both had found Darryl half naked in the arms of another man, they had retreated to the backyard, where they sat on the brown lawn with a bottle of jack, already halfway finished. It was enough to make them shell shocked, especially since Darryl made crude remarks about women all of the time, making him the most seemingly straight guy either of them had ever known. Looking back at it, Jack wished he had knocked, even if it had just given Darryl a ten second head start to jump out of the skinny man's arms. He couldn't even imagine the panic that Darryl was in now, maybe even crying into the other man's arms, probably breaking up with him to keep this whole incident under wraps.

"Jesus Christ, Alex," Jack muttered while tipping the bottle to his lips, feeling the warm liquid burn his throat.

"What?"

"What if we had been Darryl and that guy?"

"What do you mean?"

"What if someone had caught us just like them?" Jack asked, his voice catching a bit in his throat, tears welling up in his eyes, "What if someone told?"

Alex was silent for a second before wrapping his arms around Jack, rubbing his back gently.

"We would deal with it, just like we will with Darryl. Ok?"

Jack nodded, burying his head into Alex's shoulders, trying to get the tears to stop. He almost never cried and he was reluctant to do it in front of Alex. At that moment, he felt weak and hopeless, afraid of the whole world judging him for liking another man. It was truly unfair, knowing that it would be completely normal if Jack had been a girl. That was the problem with today's society, making the world a hateful place for people who just fell in love with someone different.

"It's not fair," Jack mumbled.

Alex squeezed Jack momentarily before pulling away slightly to kiss Jack on the forehead.

"Can anyone see us?" Jack whispered.

"I don't think so.

Due to the fact that the two of them were both fairly intoxicated, they allowed their lips to fall together once again. Alex fell back, lying down on the crunchy grass, allowing Jack to climb atop. Jack found his knee in between Alex's legs, almost brushing against his crotch. As the kiss amped up, Alex moaned loudly, feeling Jack's fingers loop around his belt. He gently bucked his hips upward as Jack kissed his neck roughly, sucking on the sweet spots. They could barely contain themselves, rolling around on the lawn of one of Jack's tormentors' homes. Fingers tangled into Jack's hair as he kissed Alex's collarbone, wrapping his arms around his waist.

"Jack," Alex groaned, his eyes fluttering shut as Jack nipped on every inch of his exposed skin.

Jack ran his tongue along the dip of Alex's collarbone, earning a small squeak to escape Alex's lips. As Alex blushed, Jack laughed into Alex's neck, planting one small kiss before gazing into Alex's eyes.

"We're on the lawn," Alex said stupidly, attempting to catch his breath.

Their lips connected for a second more, before the door to the backyard slammed shut. They sprang apart, eyes focused on the two figures headed towards them. Both of them partially covered with dark, but if the two people had seen them rolling around, it would've been easy to tell they were making out. At first, it seemed as if they figures were headed toward them, but it was quickly made apparent that the two were in an argument, one of them trying to escape the other's grasp.