It's All Fun and Games

Chapter 8: Actions Speak Louder

A/N: Thanks again for all the reads, votes, comments, follows, and literally everything else! I never thought this would get this big when I started it, haha. Just a heads up, but since I started this, the Creatures have moved into an office, so for sake of factuality, I'm moving them there. Anyway, as always, I hope you enjoy this chapter! C: ~Ace

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

Aleks hadn't been coming to work in the past few weeks. Any attempt James made at contacting him, regardless of whether it was on the computer, with his phone, or face to face, was for naught. He uploaded less videos than usual, and when he did post them, James could hear the difference in his voice. He laughed a lot less-- made fewer jokes, instead taking on a more aggressive style of commentating. If the fans noticed, nobody said anything. But the other Creatures? They all noticed right away. The topic of the 'Aleks issue' was only brought up once, after the first week without the Russian passed.

Though James was planning on explaining the situation to the others, he found it surprisingly hard to bring it up. They had all seen the video, along with the wake that followed it in the community, but no one wanted to say anything. Of course, that didn't last long, however.

"If Aleks were here--" Jordan started absentmindedly, cutting himself off mid-sentence once he noticed what he was saying. "James, look--"

"Don't you fucking dare." James bit out, shooting a glare across the room at the other, who gulped and nodded slowly. "I don't need your sympathy and absolutely do not want to talk about this right now." The room went quiet, everyone struggling to find the right words.

Dan was the first to speak up. "Listen James, don't take this out on us. We're your friends. We just want to help you, but you have to let us." He was right. James knew he was being a jerk. They hadn't been treating him any different since the video accident; in fact, they were nicer to him, if anything. "We don't care if you're gay. You're our friend, James. We'll support you no matter what."

Murmurs of agreement sounded from Jordan, Seamus, and Eddie. Though that came as no surprise, James couldn't help but feel overwhelmed with gratitude. The longer he spent around the others, the more and more he realized how lucky he was to be in the company of such caring people. James only nodded in response, not wanting to ruin the moment by arguing his sexuality. Hell, he wasn't sure if he even was gay or if Aleks was just the exception. At the time being, the latter seemed most likely.

Eddie reached over, patting James' back lightly. "Everything will be fine, alright buddy? We'll work something out, but you're gonna have to be the one to talk to Aleks."

"Yeah. Whatever happens, we've got your back." Seamus chimed in, giving James a tight smile. 

Jordan was the next to speak up. "What they said." He paused, a thoughtful look crossing his face before he continued, much more eager this time. "Here, I've got a plan. We'll convince Aleks to come here for 'business purposes', and then you can talk to him once he gets here. How's that sound?"

"Yeah, that sounds alright. Thanks." James forced out, letting out a deep sigh as he nodded, mentally preparing himself for what would be the toughest conversation of his life.

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

A few days passed before the 'plan' went into effect. 

If everything went the way it should, Eddie would be bringing Aleks to the office so 'Koots could speak to him', which of course wasn't true at all. Once Aleks agreed, which Eddie would convince him to even if he refused, they'd come to the office, where James would be waiting. From there, Eddie would leave, allowing James and Aleks to have their much needed conversation. 

Fingers drumming nervously on his leg, which was by no means still, James did all he could do: sit and wait. Nobody else was in the office, leaving him alone to his thoughts while he awaited Eddie and Aleks to show up. A list of all the things that could go wrong ran through his mind, serving only to increase his nerves tenfold. Aleks could walk out, tell him to never speak to him again, quit, hit him, tell him to fuck off-- the list went on and on. 

His fingers slid under the top of his shirt impulsively, picking up the familiar silver pendant and rubbing it between his fingers. Memories of stolen kisses, late nights, and no small amount of shy glances resurfaced, filling his mind with nothing but the Russian. His Russian. As the pads of his fingers ran over the engraving on the metal, he felt not only the cold silver, but the ghost of where Aleks' hand tangled with his. It felt like centuries since he'd even held hands with him, though at the same time, it felt like just yesterday that their lips awkwardly pressed together for the first time.

James missed him. There was no denying it. He longed for things to be how they were. Back when the two fell asleep in each other's arms only to wake up embarrassed and crack a joke or two before sharing a tender moment.

The sound of the door opening broke him from his thoughts. Perking up almost instantly, James stuffed the necklace back under his shirt, throwing his gaze to the door, where Aleks stood rigidly, lips quirked into a scowl as he noticed James.

"What the fuck, Eddie? You said Jordan wanted to talk to me!" He all but growled, throwing his roommate a glare hostile enough to make even the strongest men uncomfortable. "Fuck you. I'm not doing this shit. I don't have anything to say to him."

"Sorry, but you don't have a choice. You're gonna suck it up and talk to him." Aleks' mouth opened to retort, but Eddie shushed him and continued. "I'm going back home. You're going to stay here and work this thing out. You guys have all night to fix this shit. We'll all be here at the regular time tomorrow morning and you two better have reached some sort of agreement by then."

Aleks crossed his arms across his chest, scowl deepening. "You have to be shitting me. There's no way--"

Eddie huffed, returning Aleks' glare. "Well, like I said,  you don't have much of a choice. I'm taking the car, and unless you wanna try walking in freezing cold weather, you're stuck here." He turned, smiling weakly at James as he nodded. "Alright, I'm heading out now. See you guys tomorrow."

With that, Eddie closed the door behind him, leaving Aleks and James alone to handle what would surely be a very long night.