It's All Fun and Games

Chapter 3: A Patchwork Relationship

Aleks was silent and motionless at first, his hesitance obvious in the way that he simply looked at James, as if he expected anything but that. His heart pounded loudly in his chest like a drum beat going out of control before he got the courage to move. Slowly, he snaked his hands up to grasp James' shoulders, deepening the kiss nervously. As strange, and as wrong, as it was, Aleks was enjoying this. Never before had he been so cautious in a romantic scenario, after all, Aleks was quite the womanizer. But with James, everything was different. His stomach churned and his hands shook, afraid of somehow ruining the moment. 

James' eyes shone with a mixture of surprise and delight. When he kissed Aleks, he didn't know what was going to happen. Honestly, he had expected to be shoved back and insulted as Aleks stormed off, though that didn't seem to be the case. It was the complete opposite, ironically. Rather than reject James, he was now squeezing his shoulders tightly, biting on James' lower lip teasingly. For a moment, James felt the familiar flutter of laughter bubble up in his throat, though he was quick to suppress it. He had never been as glad to live alone as he was now. If this was happening at Aleks' place, chances were high that Eddie would catch them. Here, however, the risk of interruption was slim to none, unless one of the others decided to randomly show up, which was very unlikely to happen.

Letting out a grunt, he pushed the Russian against the wall. Embarrassingly, ever since their first kiss the other night, James had been unbearably sexually frustrated. Though he had never been with another man, he wanted nothing more than to see Aleks squirming beneath him, his cheeks dusted with a rosy pink as sweat glistened on his brow, his lip caught between his teeth while his eyes were clouded with lust, focusing purely on James. . .

It was over just as suddenly as it had started. Aleks pulled back, eyes narrowed as he stared intently at James. "God dammit, James, this is so fucked. This is all so crazy." He said breathlessly, a slight frown tugging at the corners of his mouth before he continued. "I can't go on acting like what happened was nothing, okay? I just can't lie and pretend I don't feel anything for you, because I do." A pause. Aleks sighed darkly. "There, I fucking said it. I feel something for you, James. I have no goddamn clue what, but I feel something."

The Russian looked away, awkward and tentative at vocalizing what he thought. It wasn't that he was nervous so much as he was angry. Angry that he felt something for his friend. Angry that he didn't understand any of this. Angry that he didn't know what he wanted to do. Angry that out of all people, it had to be James that he started to like. Aleks wasn't homophobic or anything-- His general policy was a strict 'I don't care because it doesn't involve me', but now that it did, he was at a loss in terms of dealing with this. A part of him was screaming for him to run out and never speak of this again, while another part was telling him not to fight his feelings. Conflicted on which side to pick, Aleks chose an odd mix of the two. 

Letting out a sigh of his own, James began to rub circles on Aleks' hips with his thumbs anxiously. "I know, Aleksandr. I know." He began, resting his forehead against the other's as he spoke. "I'm horrible at this shit, but I feel something for you too. We don't have to lie and act like bitches about this. Nobody has to know. As long as we're careful, nobody will find out."

"What does this make us then, James? What is this?" Aleks gestured between them, his voice soft and gentle; almost as though he was afraid raising his voice would break the atmosphere. "We're obviously more than friends now." He gave a nervous chuckle, reaching up to run a hand through his dark mop of hair. 

"Well, it could make us in a relationship, if you like." He replied uneasily, swallowing harshly before adding, "We won't tell anyone. Not Eddie, not Dan, not Jordan-- no one. It'll just be us, until you're ready, alright?"

Aleks took a moment, his brow furrowing in concentration before he responded. "Yeah, I'd like that."

"Good. I'm glad." James whispered, grabbing Aleks' chin and tilting it up before pressing their lips together in a tender kiss.

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The next few days passed in a blur. Around the rest of the Creatures, James and Aleks acted as if they had gotten over their 'fight' and were back to being friends, while in private, they spent time in eachother's arms. Whether it was watching old movies, playing games off recording, watching TV, or any variation of the three, the two were together. Aleks would claim that he needed to stay late at the Creature House to work on a series he had planned with James, so Eddie was none the wiser. It wasn't completely a lie, as they were working on a series together-- it just wasn't off the whiteboard yet, so to speak. None of the others seemed to notice their new found closeness, and if they did, they certainly didn't comment on it.

"Hey, James?" Aleks asked, interrupting the high speed chase scene that was going on in some movie he and James had decided to watch. Truth be told, neither of them were particularly interested in it. It was the last movie they owned that they had yet to watch together, so it made sense for them to curl up together on the couch, snacking on microwave popcorn as they watched. Though it was cliche, Aleks found it oddly comforting. Of course, James was still the crude, loud person he usually was, but he found that at times, James could also be gentle and sweet, which was quite a shock.

"Yeah?" The other responded, smoothing down Aleks' hair to get a better look his face, since it was pressed against his chest. "You need something?" His hand hovered over the pause button, in case whatever Aleks needed was serious enough to warrant silence.

Aleks didn't reply. Instead, he leaned up, kissing James' cheek before shaking his head. "Never mind. It's whatever, dude." He gave a tight grin before snuggling back into James' warmth, looping his arm around his neck.  "Let's just watch the movie, alright?"

Scoffing, James raised a brow. "You sure?" Upon Aleks nodding his head, James fought the urge to groan exasperatedly. Whatever it was, Aleks must've chickened out before he could say it. For the rest of the movie, he found he couldn't stop wondering what it was that Aleks had to say. Was it something good, or something potentially not so good? The latter of which made James' stomach flip-- What if it was something about them?

Before he fell asleep that night, a constant stream of worries ran through James' head like a broken record. Looping over, and over, and over, and over until James thought he just might develop an ulcer considering how stressed he was.

Because one of two things could happen: One, Aleks wanted to do something together. Or two, Aleks was unhappy being with him.

And James certainly hoped it was the first option.