Come On & Save Me

Chapter Twenty Six

*Alex's POV*

I couldn't do this. I stared at the clock as I got my work done, playing Jack's favorite Jack's Mannequin songs on repeat. 
My dad came to check on me, looking sad that it was obvious that I had cried.
"Son, are you alright?" He asked.
I shook my head, "No...But I'm going to get it done Dad. Sorry." I sniffled a little and kept working.
"It's okay Alex, I know this is hard for you. I know your mum and I didn't really help with that either. We should've talked to you more about everything a long time ago...Maybe if we did, you wouldn't be so anxious about being away from the person who did talk to you. I'm sorry that we didn't." He said quietly.
I nodded, "It's okay Dad. I'm not mad anymore...I just needed to understand." I sucked in a deep breath as I inputted more documents into the system, putting away each file folder as I finished inputting it, "Maybe I could come work a couple days out of the week to try to get used to being away?" 
My dad smiled and nodded, "I think that's a great idea. Talk to Jack about it." 
It was almost sad how he realized that I needed Jack's approval.
"Okay." I said quietly. 

*Jack's POV*

Rian and I were in Alex's room playing video games now, and it was actually really fun. I felt sort of bad that I was doing better than I thought I would be, and even more bad that Alex wasn't doing good at all. I truly thought it would be the exact opposite, but the more I thought about it, I realized how used to being alone I was in the first place before I met Alex, and now that I had him and knew he'd come back, especially after hearing how bad he was without me around, I wasn't scared of the few hours that I wouldn't have with him. 

"Damn it" I laughed as Rian beat me for the third time in a row on Mario Kart.
"Don't hate me because I'm better than you." He laughed right back at me. 
We didn't hear back from Alex, so we both assumed he was okay. 
We hoped he was at least.

Then hour four came up. We'd both made it.
I heard the door open, then shut once it hit about 4:20, which sounded about right for when he'd get home.
I paused the game, got up and went down the hall, Rian following close behind.
I looked at Alex, who was just standing at the door, looking absolutely defeated, tears streaming down his cheeks.
"Alex..." I said quietly and walked over to him. I wrapped my arms around him, hugging him tight.
He hid his face in my chest and just clung on.
I glanced back at Rian who nodded, like he expected this. Hell, he probably did. He's known Alex a lot longer than me.
I walked us back to the couch and sat down, pulling him down on top of me. I rubbed his back and held onto him, "Why are you crying? You made it. Look, we both made it. We did it." I kissed the top of his head.
Rian sat down on the other end of the couch, "Al come on...You did it." He said quietly.
Alex just sniffled in response.
"I know it was hard, but look, we really did it." I kissed the top of his head again.
He lifted his head and looked at me, "But I did bad at it." He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.
I shook my head, "No you didn't. You did good. I got anxious too. You did good. Did you get all your work done?" I asked.
He nodded.
"Okay, then you did good." I laid down with him basically on top of me, him assuming his position. Arm draped over my stomach, head on my chest.
Rian smiled a little, "You guys good? I need to get home and see my mom before I go pick up Becks." Becks was his girlfriend, Rebecca was her real name, but no one called her that.

I nodded, "We're good. Thank for hanging out Ri." I smiled at him.
He nodded, "Anytime. Alex, stay calm okay? You're back with him now."
Alex nodded.
Rian got up and left.


*Alex's POV*

I spent the entire car ride home crying. I felt like such an idiot. I truly didn't even know why I was crying. I was going back to him, for christs sake. 
When I walked in, even then I didn't know what to do so I just stood there in my own house like a crying idiot. I just wanted him.
I was glad when he came to me, because I wasn't moving for some unknown stupid reason.
Being in his arms felt safe again though. Maybe I overestimated myself when I convinced myself to work today, but the payoff for me coming home was really nice. It felt amazing to see him again, even though it had only been four hours, and to anyone else, we'd seem psychotic for acting like I'd been off to war for three years, but they didn't get it. They never would. No one would. Ever. 
So I clung onto him, and I let him take me to the couch, let him lay down so I could be on top of him, where I rightfully belonged. Hell, even Rian probably thought we were psychotic, considering I'd never been like this around anyone. Ever. Compared to Jack, I didn't give one single flying fuck about anyone I'd ever dated. They didn't matter.
I'd have to talk to Rian and see what he thought about all of this. Not that it would change anything, I just wanted to know.
I watched Rian leave, then sighed against Jack's chest.
"I missed you." I mumbled.
"I missed you too Lex." He kissed the top of my head and rubbed my arm that was over his stomach with his hand.
"I asked my dad if I could work twice a week, so I could practice getting better at this...Is that okay?" I asked, looking up at him.
Jack nodded, "Yeah, I actually don't think that's an awful idea. I mean, I wasn't okay, but I was okay. I was surviving and distracting myself, then when Rian came over, it was alright. I think if I can just manage to keep my head on straight, understanding that you will be back, it'll be okay. You have to do the same, though. You have to just do your work and understand that I will be here waiting for you. Can we manage that?" 
I nodded, "I think so." 
"Okay."
He grabbed the remote, turned the TV on and started scrolling through all the channels.

*Jack's POV*

I sighed as I scrolled through the boring channels before finally giving up and going to on demand.
"I want the blanket." Alex mumbled.
I smiled, put the remote down and dragged the blanket off the back of the couch and laid it over us.
He nestled himself against me. 
I looked through the free movies that on demand had, settling on the first Transformers movie. I put the remote down and snuggled up with Alex.
He watched it for a minute, laughing at some of the parts and groaning a little at some of the more cringy lines in the movie. 
However, just like always, it barely took thirty minutes in before Alex was snoring that teeny tiny snore that most people would hardly pay attention to, but I thought it was cute. Except at 3 AM when he was basically in my face. Then I had to sort of readjust myself so that he wasn't snoring directly in my ear, but apart from that, I loved it.
Maybe I should give him a little more credit though.
He didn't always fall asleep during movies, just about 99% of the time.