Rock Bottom

Stories

'So what do you do for work?' Alec texted Magnus before Abby reminded him he was supposed to be in the car, though she'd called it a bus just to tease him.

Quickly putting his phone in his pocket, Alec darted forward and got in. Once the car was moving again he pulled his phone out to check for a reply.

'I'm a paramedic,' read Magnus's reply.

'That's cool,' Alec texted back, suddenly feeling a little out of his depth. Magnus had such a grown up job.

'Thanks. I wanted to do something helpful, but I didn't want to be stuck in the same building all day.'

'That's fair,' Alec texted back.

'How did your driving test go?' Magnus texted.

'Failed,' Alec typed, wishing he had a different answer to share.

'Oh well,' Magnus replied. 'If at first you don't succeed and all that. There is always next time.'

'Still feels like I let everyone down,' Alec texted back.

'Never think that,' Magnus's reply read. 'Everyone else is not your problem. You did your best, and they can't expect anything more.'

'Thanks,' Alec replied, adding a smiling emoji to his message. He hadn't realized how much he needed to hear that until he'd read those words on his screen.

'No need to thank me,' Magnus continued. 'So when did you want to hang out again?'

'I'm free now,' Alec typed. 'Or like tomorrow after work.'

'Miss me do you?' Magnus texted with a winking emoji.

'Yeah,' Alec replied with a blushing face again.

And just like that Alec no longer cared that he'd failed his test. His heart was racing at the idea of seeing Magnus again so soon. He'd get his license eventually, but he didn't have to feel so horrible about failing the first time.

'Now works for me,' Magnus's next message read. 'Should I pick you up at home?'

'Sounds good,' Alec texted back. 'Just wait long enough for me to get home. I'm carpooling home from work with Abby.'

"So, I take it he's texting you again?" Abby's voice broke through Alec's bubble.

"Umm yeah," Alec mumbled.

"Told ya he wanted more than a kiss," Abby chuckled. Alec just grinned. At the moment he didn't care if he looked like an idiot.

Despite failing his test, the next few weeks of Alec's life were some of the best he'd had in a long time. This was likely due to the fact that apart from work Alec had basically been spending every moment of his time with Magnus. Sometimes they played video games at his place, and other times they went for walks in the park. A few times they'd made out in Magnus's car, and once or twice they'd been to Magnus's place, and Alec had met his roommate Raphael.

The one thing weighing on Alec's mind was the uncertainty of what they were to each other. It kinda felt like he had a boyfriend, but they'd never actually talked about it. Alec had almost brought up the topic a few times, but chickened out at the last second. He'd rather have this unnamed thing they were than nothing.

Then one day...

"You can't tell that story," Magnus was saying to his roommate Raphael, only the second time Alec had been here.

"It's a good story," Raphael argued. It was a nice apartment. Nothing super fancy, but very comfortable. From the decor Alec had the distinct impression Raphael wasn't allowed any interior design roommate privileges. The place had a very Magnus feel to it. There was a gold velvet sofa with elegant wooden curlicues on the arms against one wall and deep red accent pillows on the floor beside it. Alec could make out niknaks on the bookshelves and the curtains were the same deep red as the pillows.