Zalex One Shots

Although I Am Broken, My Heart Is Untamed

Credits to midnightsolo on ao3

This is stupid.

Alex often wondered how he ended up in situations like this. Walking along the edge of a building, probably drunk, with his definitely drunk best friend who was trying to give him life lessons about ‘letting go’ or some other bullshit.

“Zach, this is fucking crazy.” Alex said, spreading his arms out to keep his balance.

Zach walked along the concrete ledge languidly and shoved his hands in his jacket pockets. “What? C’mon, you see people in circuses do shit like this all the time." He sounded so casual, like the very real possibility of losing his balance and falling didn’t even phase him.

“Right, okay but, you do see the difference between a trained performer doing this and a scrawny, ex-crippled 18 year old, right?” A wry chuckle floated from Zach’s lips, and Alex couldn’t decide if that sound was a good or bad sign.

After a few moments of silence and trying not to plummet to his death, Alex went to say something brooding before being cut off by Zach’s drunken voice.

“You have to let go of the shit you can’t control, or it will kill you.” He started. “You have to make yourself forget-” He kept walking, placing one foot in front of the other seamlessly. After a beat of silence, he continued. “-am I helping you to forget?”

“Yes..?” He answered uncertainly, and, frankly, nervously.

“Good.” Zach droned. He jumped off the ledge and onto the concrete roof blithely. Alex watched him in a way Jess would probably describe as wistful, which he would pointedly disagree with — even if it may or may not have been true.

That’s when he stumbled to the side and lost his balance, like he knew he would eventually. Zach heard him yelp, and in one swift motion, Zach had caught him and pulled him back to the roof, letting out a string of exasperated curses as he did so. For a brief moment, Alex remained cradled in his arms, before Zach pulled away and held his shoulders.

And Zach fucking giggled.

Zach Dempsey, star football player and pinnacle of male heterosexuality was giggling in front of him like a little kid. And though Alex would never admit it out loud, he loved that sound. He could drink in his laughter and never get tired of it.

Alex felt his heart beating erratically. He wanted to blame it on the adrenaline of nearly falling off a building, which could easily explain part of it, but there was also the looming fear that it could be blamed on something much harder to deal with.

Alex’s skin tingled where Zach’s hands laid. Zach’s eyes fell to the floor as he continued giggling like a maniac, but Alex’s gaze stayed locked on the taller boy. He felt something stir in his chest at the sight of it, something that felt so familiar yet so foreign. Something washed over him as Zach held him — something akin to comfort. He felt safe in his arms. Alex’s breath caught in his throat as an idea suddenly came upon him.

He know how badly it would probably end, but it almost didn’t matter in that moment. He could almost hear Jess screaming at him to ‘just do it’ and so, without thinking and before Zach could question the odd way Alex was looking at him, he planted a quick, fleeting kiss against Zach’s lips.