just friends ; jalex

16

he's sick as hell the next day, even worse than before. his mom forbids jack from visiting, just in case alex happens to be contagious... or something. alex doesn't really care about being contagious, he just wants to see jack, so naturally he spends the day whining about it.

(obviously, jack hadn't been allowed to sleep over.)

around four pm, jack facetimes him and alex struggles to set up his camera so he could see jack's face as best as possible. "jack," he beams, rubbing the side of his face. it's a little prickly, cause he's a teenage boy who hasn't shaved in two days. heh. he's like a little cactus. "how was your day?"

"boring without you," jack admits, and smiles back at him. god, he's got a nice fucking smile. it's rare that jack smiles genuinely, but when he does, it's most often directed at alex, and that's what he loves the most. it's such a nice and meaningful smile, one that just lights up his whole face. okay, this is getting a bit too far into 'really-fucking-homo' territory.

the thing is, alex was so tripped-out and sick last night he doesn't remember a thing. his memory's gone all fuzzy and he has to strain to remember even a little bit. his most defined memory consists of jack lying on top of him, but after that, he has no idea. did anything happen?

it's not like he can ask jack. "hey, did we kiss last night?" that's ridiculous. jack would laugh at him. besides, what even are the odds that they did? who would kiss a sick alex... who would kiss alex in the first place?

"i really am the life of the party," alex muses, and yawns. he's been dozing on and off all day, occasionally waking up to vomit. again, he's lucky to hold food down for more than ten minutes. he's been subsisting off of water, and even that is eager to come up. uh... not fun, not at all. "zack and rian say anything?"

jack pauses to remember. "ah... no, actually. off in their gay little world, you know," he responds finally, and grins. he's not even wrong, you know, there's not a moment where the two aren't wrapped up in each other. alex thinks about that relationship fondly... what he'd give to have one like that.

he has to pause before saying his next sentence: "how's... lisa?" her name is a lump in his throat that he struggles to get out.

at this, jack doesn't meet his eyes. "she's fine," he says quietly, happy demeanor instantly vanishing, pulling back inside him. there's clearly something he's hiding, but alex is too sick to press the matter further. his head hurts. "alex, i just gotta say..."

"yeah?" he's distracted, not looking at his phone screen, searching for the tylenol that he could've sworn was on his nightstand at one point.

he looks back eventually, noticing jack has gone quiet, as if he's debating whether or not to say whatever it is on his mind. and alex has to admit, he's intrigued. 

"jack?" he prompts, and rubs his temple. ow, fuck, headache.

there's a moment before jack even looks up again, but when he does, he mumbles something alex doesn't quite catch at first. "i'm glad you broke up with lisa."

he has to laugh in agreement. "fuck, dude, me too. i thought you were gonna say something deep 'n life changing though, the way you sounded." he shrugs, and lies back down, giving up on his search for the tylenol and resigning himself to a life with a headache. 

"i..." jack coughs. "i was going to say somethin' else."

of course, he doesn't extrapolate, and alex has to prompt him to even consider it. like what, jack? what else were you going to say?

"i just... i don't know, i'm glad you have free time again." jack's voice is rising slightly, indicating there's— again— something he's not saying. "and..."

"if it's something controversial," alex says, "say it, cause i'm sick and i probably won't remember it." hey, it's not a bad thing. like a little memory wipe— you fuck up, it doesn't matter, cause he won't remember it at all. a fresh start. maybe he should get sick more often.

no, bad idea. he's been in pain all day, half-sweating and half-freezing, and his stomach's tied itself in more knots than he can unravel. but that just may be because jack looks really fucking cute today, and it's killing alex that he can't have him over.

jack finally looks at him. "then i won't say it. cause i want you to remember it." after a moment, his eyebrows push together in thought. "wait... do you remember what happened yesterday?"

"no," alex shrugs, "just you on top of me—" which was really nice, by the way, he thinks— "and it's all fuzzy after that."

it almost seems like jack breathes a sigh of relief, then grins, as if remembering. wow, alex thinks, wish i could do that. remember last night. "you were practically wasted, lex. it was cute."

wait, back up a moment... cute?

did jack just say that? did that word just come out of his perfect mouth in reference to alex?

alex has to take a moment to spin the words around in his head, landing on that final one every time... cute. really? in what world is alex cute, and in what world does jack barakat call him that?

"uh," he giggles, "cute?"

"sure." jack pushes his hair out of his face, which is useless as it immediately falls back. god, what alex would give to be able to run his hands through jack's hair right now. "i mean, you are."

hiding his head in his hands, alex giggles again, although it's more out of a happy sort of shock than any sort of malicious intent. "are you drunk, jack?"

"could be," jack shrugs, "but i doubt it. get better soon, okay babe? i gotta go."

and with that, he hangs up, leaving alex with way more questions than he has answers to.