just friends ; jalex

15

rian and zack aren't too surprised when they find out.

"i'm more surprised it lasted that long," rian admits, and zack nods. "two months without meeting her parents, even... i would say you lucked out, but it's lisa. nothing good about that."

alex laughs faintly, and bobs his head in half-hearted agreement. he's still bummed as fuck... and for what reason, he doesn't quite know... but it hurts a bit. she used to smile at him during homeroom— this morning, she saw him, turned away, and ran to the bathroom.

not to cry, he hopes... he couldn't live with himself if he made her cry.

"hey," jack says, and nudges him. "you good?" jack's been following him around all day, checking up on him, and alex might cry just from that. who else is thoughtful enough to do that, to waste their time in making sure he's okay?

staring down at his food, which looks completely unappetizing to his knotted stomach, alex nods. "yeah. i'm alright."

he feels jack's hand pat his thigh, and settle there for a second before he pulls away. this launches alex's brain into overdrive as usual, over analyzing every millisecond of the touch...

nausea overwhelms him momentarily, and alex packs his food away, clearing the table to rest his head there. the world is rushing around him, his head is spinning, and he feels like he's going to vomit.

now jack's hand is on his back, moving comfortingly in circles. his voice crashes like waves in alex's ears... "alex? are you okay? alex?"

"earth to alex?" rian tries, and alex finally lifts his head.

jack immediately pushes into his vision, a concerned face swimming in alex's peripherals. "dude, are you alright? i thought you were gonna pass out for a moment. you look pale as hell."

putting a hand to his mouth just in case, alex answers carefully: "just... just nausea. i'm alright, uh, i'm good now."

"do you wanna go home?" jack asks. he's so concerned, at this point alex doesn't know whether it's annoying or endearing. "really, if you feel like you're gonna throw up..."

alex waves him off, but regrets doing so. his stomach is roiling pretty badly.

"i'll walk you to the nurse," jack offers, and at that point, alex has to accept.

he gets up, and nearly falls over, dizziness shooting through his body and up to his head. in an instant, jack is there, holding on to his elbow, careful not to overstep his boundaries as he stabilizes the boy... god, alex thinks half-deliriously, how did he get so lucky?

"come on..." murmurs jack, walking him slowly. "nice and easy. you'll be okay."

right, alex thinks dizzily... when?

-

he ends up with a fever nearing critical temperatures, and the nurse sends him home immediately. for the next few hours, alex lies in bed, shades drawn tight, drifting in and out of sleep. at one point he vomits... at one point his mom tries to feed him, but he throws that up too.

around 7, jack stops by his house. he has alex's backpack with him, and he leaves it leaning against the wall. "you doing alright?" he asks, like he's said so many times today.

alex grins weakly. "pretty intense fever... answer that for yourself."

getting the point, jack grimaces and laughs slightly, moving to sit on the bed. alex shifts to give him room, and the younger boy lets himself down, creasing the blanket.

"how are you dealing with the... you know, the situation? her?" he continues, and alex appreciates his unwillingness to say lisa's name, as unimportant as it may seem.