It's All Fun and Games

Chapter 4: The Few and Far Between

A/N: Woah, thank you guys so much for 600 reads! I'm really shocked, honestly. I didn't expect anyone to be interested in this, but damn, I'm glad you guys are. :) Also, I just wanted to say this, but in case you can't tell, this story isn't going to be fluff or angst. I'm planning on portraying the relationship in its entirety-- Ups, downs, and everything in between. But yeah, as always, thank you so much for all the reads, reviews, compliments, votes, follows, and all that jazz!  ~Ace

--------------

James woke up slowly, blinking his eyes rapidly to adjust to the light that was streaming in through the windows. A wave of confusion passed through him as he felt warm breath on his neck, though that quickly passed once he took notice of the wavy brown hair that could belong only to Aleks. Apparently they had fallen asleep together on the couch after the movie, both of them too lazy to get up. A cold front had hit not that long ago, prompting the two of them to cling together under a thin blanket to conserve heat, since neither of them were fond of the idea of going all the way to James' room. 

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, James glanced down at the still sleeping Aleks, a smile tugging at his lips on impulse. Before now, he never gave much attention to the way Aleks' mouth curved upward as he dreamt and the way his breaths were steady and relaxed, a kind of serenity that the Russian rarely showed. Hell, since this whole thing between them started, James had begun to notice subtle little things about Aleks that he never would've even cared about before. Like the way his eyes scrunched up when he smiled, or the way that his cheeks flustered when James would compliment him, or even the way that he'd pull his lower lip between his teeth when he would think, causing the blood to swell up and stain them a darker red. 

"What're you looking at, fucker?" Aleks asked, stifling a yawn as he awkwardly propped himself up on his elbow, squeezed between James and the back of the couch. He rubbed his eyes and cracked his neck as he continued, letting out a groan. "Damn dude, I think I fucked up my neck sleeping like that. Feels like I just got hit by a truck or something."

"Not much, it looks like." Grinning, James pushed lightly against Aleks with his shoulder. Boyfriends or not, there was no way he was going to become some sappy little girl or anything like that. Aleks liked him for who he was, not for who he wanted James to be, so there was no need to change. "You'll be fine. Just get up and stretch it and it'll go away eventually. Worst case scenario, you end up paralyzed from the waist down." He laughed, knowing Aleks was just being dramatic. Fortunately, James was the lucky one here. He slept on his back, using the arm rest and a few pillows to support his head, whereas Aleks was on his side, bending his neck to rest it on his boyfriend's chest. 

"Fuck off, asshole." The Russian grinned back, giving a shove of his own. "If I become a cripple, you're stuck taking care of me or else I'll sue you." Mocking Aleks' earlier groan, James let one out in response, opening his mouth to speak, though Aleks quickly placed a finger over his lips, effectively hushing him. "Now get up-- I'm hungry."

Turning his head and knocking the finger away, James raised a brow. "Oh? You're hungry? That's too bad, Aleksandr. I'm not moving." A loud, hearty laugh erupted from James. Him being consistently kind would be as likely as Seamus not uploading a single video in a whole week. Which was pretty unlikely.

Aleks narrowed his eyes, staring at James intently as if to tell if he was bluffing. Once he had decided that James wasn't, Aleks sighed, throwing a leg over James in an attempt to climb over him. A rough hand grabbing his hip, however, prevented further movement. Bemused, the Russian looked down at James, a brow of his own raised this time. His slightly perplexed look was an opposite of the other's, whose facially expression softened into one Aleks might even describe as gentle. 

Tenderly, Aleks leaned down, dark hair falling in his face as he pressed a light kiss against the tip of James' nose. Another kiss followed, this time against his lips. "You just can't get enough, huh?" James whispered, chuckling under his breath. It was as if anytime they were near each other, one of them had to do something vaguely romantic. He blamed it on the newness of the relationship-- it was sure to die down once they had been together for a while. There was no deepening of this kiss, however, as Aleks simply rested his forehead against James' in a movement reminiscent of last night. His breath was warm against the other's face, the slight scent of popcorn still clinging to it. It wasn't strong enough to disgust James, in fact, it was only detectable due to their proximity, but he didn't mind since it was Aleks.

The moment passed, and Aleks climbed off, rising to his feet before stretching out his limbs and heading to the kitchen. James followed soon after, helping Aleks cook a quick breakfast for them.

--------------

It was when they were cleaning up that James began to feel the same worry from last night. He had completely forgotten about it earlier, but something Aleks casually mentioned as they were eating reminded him of his fear. Last night, Aleks came close to saying something likely personal before he dropped the subject. Truthfully, James was half hoping that Aleks would bring it up and offer an explanation, though no such thing occurred. If Aleks hoped ignoring it completely would cause James to forget, he had another thing coming. He got a lot of shit from the others for forgetting things, but when it came to those he cared about, James rarely forgot anything. Especially not something that was likely important.

"Hey, Aleks?" James called out hesitantly, placing the last of the dishes in the sink before drying his hands and rolling down the sleeves of his hoodie. "C'mere." He added, hearing a distant "yeah?" from across the house. 

It took a few minutes, but sure enough, the Russian came. "Sorry, I checked my phone and had 30 texts from Eddie. He was freaking out over where I was so I just told him I spent the night here to record with you, is that alright?" James nodded meekly in response, too absorbed in his worries to give a proper response. "Everything cool? You seem out of it. . ." He trailed off, leaning against the wall beside his boyfriend.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine." Building up the courage, James drew in a deep breath before popping the question that was bothering him so badly. "What were you going to say last night? When we were watching that shitty action movie with the cops." There was no use beating around the bush here. Being passive just wasn't in his nature anyway, so jumping right to it would save them both time.

"Oh, uh, yeah, that. I was just going to ask if--" They both jumped, heads snapping to the entrance as the front door unlocked and Jordan came in, carrying along a box clearly labeled 'X-Mas Decorations'. All three of their eyes widened almost simultaneously, surprise clear.

"Am I interrupting anything?" Jordan asked with no small degree of caution, glancing between James, who was leaning back on the kitchen counter, and Aleks, who was leaning against the wall, a hand frozen in a gesture. Becoming aware of it, Aleks dropped his hand, pushing off the wall as he shook his head.

"Nah, you're good." Aleks replied, throwing their boss a half-smile. "What's that?" He jerked his chin at the box Jordan was carrying, asking despite the obvious label.

"This right here is a box of grade A Christmas lights, boys. Since you're both up, how about you help me decorate?" Without waiting for a response, Jordan placed the box on a table. "There's few more boxes in my car to carry in, but if you two grab some it won't take long." He turned on his heel, making his way back out into the cold to retrieve the decorations.

Following after Jordan, Aleks stopped at the door, briefly turning back to James and mouthing the words 'We'll talk later' before going to help.