Hearts on Fire | Jalex

9. Alex's POV

Justin left yesterday. Rian and Gabe followed this morning. I'm the last to go, my flight leaves in an hour. I was a still a little pissed. I called Jack to try to smooth things over and apologize about Justin a couple days ago, and his boyfriend answered, telling me basically to fuck off. What the fuck was that? One day he's cute and flirty, the next he has a boyfriend? What even is that?
"Alex, are you sure this move will benefit you?" My dad asked. I barely refrained from rolling my eyes.
"Yes I'm sure. You sent me to an all boys school. That's not helping me, I need to go back to public schools, spend some time with girls, y'know?" That was my ace. I hoped I hadn't let it out too early.
"Why didn't you say something sooner? We could've pulled you out anytime!" My mom said. God, could my parents get any more gullible?
"Because I just now noticed that Rian, my old roommate, he has a girlfriend, and she's pretty attractive, but I can't meet any girls when I'm stuck on campus. They can come on, on weekends, but we couldn't leave." Damn. Before I could never lie to my parents. Our little criminal ring had certainly taught me a lot.
"That makes sense. Call us as soon as you land." Are you kidding me? This seems almost too easy. "You can stay in our old house in Los Angeles. We made sure it was fully stocked, and we've decided that you're mature enough to access our account." They handed me a credit card with my name on the bottom. Holy fucking shit.
"But we're also expecting you to get a job." Fuck. I knew there was a catch. It could never be that good.
Maybe there would be partiers in need of alcohol in LA, too, and we could set up an altered version of our usual gang. Plus, we wouldn't have to worry about Justin's brother, seeing as we'll be across the entire country. Ha-ha! This was definitely the best idea I've ever had.
I walked away from my parents with as polite of a goodbye as I could manage, mentally cheering. I called Justin first, seeing as he was the only one who had definitely landed.
"Miss me already, Gaskarth?" He asked. I could hear the cocky smirk in his voice.
"Yeah. Sure. Whatever floats your boat, Hills. Just got the best news ever. My parents are letting me access their main bank account." There was a long pause.
"That's fucking awesome, Alex!" He shouted. I could tell he was excited because he used my first name. "This house my parents are letting me use is fucking loaded with all kinds of wine and vodka they even have like straight up rum. Who are they, Jack Sparrow?" He joked.
"There should be a Captain in there somewhere," I replied.
"We are having a Pirates of the Caribbean marathon when you get here and drinking rum every time Jack does, got it?" I laughed loudly. That was one of our mutual obsessions, which no one else got, also one of the many reasons we were best friends.
"Deal. Don't drink it all without me," I warned.
"Then get your ass over here!" He said, and I laughed.
"My flight doesn't leave for another hour," I said, faking a pout even though he couldn't see.
"Dude there are constantly flights to LA, get on an earlier one!" I hesitated only for a split second.
"Will this get me arrested?" I could hear his eyes roll.
"Not if you do it right." I sighed.
"Okay. I'll see what I can do." He cheered.
"Don't go to prison!" He said, laughing. I ended the call, taking a deep breath. Time to channel his persuasiveness in any way I could.
Ten minutes later I was seated on an airplane. Somehow, the lady didn't even care that I was changing flights at the last minute. I smirked to myself, and shot Justin a text, saying that I was on my way.

Justin: Good. I just dug out the whole collection and gathered up all the rum. I'll meet you at the airport when you land.

Alex: Awesome, already getting excited(:

I literally slept the entire flight. I will never understand how people can't sleep on planes, they're the most comfortable thing. Nobody was kicking me. Nobody was snoring. Nobody was being obnoxious. It was just incredibly peaceful. The stewardess was even nice enough to wake me up fifteen minutes before we landed so I could get my stuff together. I love flying.
Justin, true to his word, was leaning against the baggage claim, smirking. "I got your bags. Ready for our marathon?" I grinned.
"Oh definitely." He slid his arm around my waist and pulled me up against him.
"Good. Because I have so many plans for this," he whispered in my ear. I wrapped my arms around my neck and he kissed me slowly. We weren't technically together, more like friends with benefits, but some aspects felt like we were a true couple. Times like this gave me the feeling we could be a couple. But I know that wouldn't be right. Believe it or not, I didn't see him that way.
"Let's go. We have an appointment with a special captain and several bottles of rum," I whispered. He grinned at me.
"Yes we do. C'mon, I parked as close as legally allowed." I smiled back, and grabbed my bags, following him out. I couldn't help but smile as his fingers hooked around mine.
People barely even glanced at us. Outright homosexuality wasn't as big of a deal in LA as it was in Baltimore. That was one thing I was glad about. I could kiss him whenever I wanted, and as long as we weren't getting naked, no one even cared.
Hell, even if we did start shedding clothing, people would probably just do a double take then keep walking. No one gives a fuck here, and it's fantastic. Fuck Jack. I wasn't going to let him or his pissy boyfriend ruin a good thing. This was for the best.