This Is What Happens When Love Meets Destruction

-||FF Two Months||-
"Barakat, hurry up!" I yelled as I pulled on my beanie. "The snow's not going to keep falling forever!"

"Shush!" He yelled back as he came appeared on the opposite side of the living room. "Keep it down, Alex is passed out."

I rolled my eyes slightly. "Alex will survive if I wake him up from his little kiddie nap." I said.

As soon as he got close enough to me, I tugged on Jack's hand, pulling him out the front door and into the fresh snow that had fallen over night, and was still continuing to fall around us. I giggled loudly like a little kid as I released Jack's hand and ran across the yard, kicking up snow as I went along. Stopping at the edge of the lawn, I scooped up a handful of snow, ignoring the fact that I didn't have any gloves on, and made a snowball, throwing it at Jack before he had a chance to dodge it.

"Vinnie!" Jack yelled, running after me. "You're gonna get it." He threatened.

I laughed wildly as I took off to the opposite side of the lawn, with Jack right on my heels. Changing my mind suddenly, I stopped in my tracks, causing Jack to run right into me and together we fell down to the snow covered ground in a heap.

"Vinnie, what the fuck?" Jack questioned, rolling onto his back.

I simply sat up, giving him a mischievous smile and then grabbed a handful of snow, shoving it into his face before I jumped up and took off once again.

"Victoria, you're gonna get your ass handed to you pretty soon." Jack growled, though he wasn't truly mad at me.

"Babe, let's wake Alex up and make him come out and play with us." I grinned.

Without waiting for his answer, I made two more snow balls and threw them at Jack's bedroom window, knowing that Alex was in there, sleeping. Unsure as to whether or not it was enough to wake him up, I made one more snow ball and went up to the window, standing up on my tip toes, peaking inside.

"Gaskarth, wake up!" I yelled while knocking on the glass. "Come outside and play!"

The bundle of blankets stirred slightly before it slowly sat up. Alex sat there, staring at me tiredly before he frowned and got up. Slowly and clumsily, he unlocked the window and opened it, giving me a questioning look.

"What do you want?" He mumbled.

"Alex, I want you to come and play in the snow." I frowned.

"I was sleeping, though." He pointed out.

Giving him a soft smirk, "this should wake you up then," I replied, and then threw my last remaining snow ball at him, earning a loud shriek from him, which was soon followed by a rather long string of profound words.

"Vinnie!" He yelled, "I'm gonna kill you!"

I continued to hold my smirk on my face, up until I saw him disappear from the room, and emerge through the front door a few seconds later, wearing only his shorts, a t-shirt, and a pair of shoes.

"Alex, you're crazy, it's cold out - "

I cut myself short when he nailed me with a snow ball. Seeing him coming after me, I screamed slightly and took off. I'm fast, but Alex, without any motivation, is faster than me. Right now, he was motivated to catch me, and offer me a bit of payback. Alex caught up with me halfway across the yard and wrapped his arms around me, pinning my arms to my sides momentarily before he brought us down to the ground.

"Jack, I got her!" He yelled before climbing on top of me so that I couldn't move.

"No, don't!" I laughed, knowing exactly what they were going to do.

My words were lost, though, while the two started to torture me with the falling snow. I tried my hardest to tell them to stop, but they didn't listen to me. It wasn't until Alex realized that his clothes were soaked clear through that they stopped, letting me catch my breath and recover from the 'attack.'

"That should teach you not to mess with us." Alex smirked.

"Whatever," I grinned. "Two against one is not a fair match at all. Rematch." I joked.

"After you find yourself some warmer clothes." Jack said. "You'll be getting sick out here."

"We've only been out here for like five minutes." I whined.

"Your nose is starting to run." My boyfriend pointed out. "And it's kinda gross."

"Well, stop looking at it then." I huffed.

"Vinnie, get inside." Alex laughed softly. "Jack's right, you'll be getting yourself sick out here. And I can pretty much guarantee that you don't want to be sick during Christmas."

"You guys always spoil my fun." I said dramatically, but led the way into the house nonetheless.

In the foyer, we all shed our shoes, coats, though in Alex's case, he pulled his shirt off. He threw it at me, hitting me in the face with it.

"Damn you, Alex." I mumbled, pulling it off my face and throwing it back at him. "Put your fucking clothes back on."

"Just 'cause you can't handle all this sexiness." He smirked, draping his shirt over his shoulder before disappearing into the hallway.

I rolled my eyes before turning back to Jack, who had taken his shirt off as well, seeing as how most of it was wet too.

"I just put some clothes in the dryer," he told me, "they're probably done by now."

Placing a hand on the small of my back, Jack steering me through the house, leading me to the laundry room. Making sure to close the door behind him, he turned around and gave me a mischievous smile.

"What's with that look, Barakat?" I grinned.

"What look?" He questioned with a soft laugh.

"The look that says you have some bad thoughts running through your mind." I accused him.

"Not bad ... tainted more like." He corrected before he leaned over, pressing his lips to mine.

While his lips caressed my own, his fingers worked their way underneath the bottom of my shirt. He broke the kiss momentarily to pull my shirt up and over my head, letting it fall to the floor before he kissed me once again. Before I knew it, I was left wearing nothing but my panties, while I had somehow stripped Jack down to his boxers. His lips had since left mine and were kissing their way along my bare collar bone.

"Babe, we're not gonna hook up in the laundry room." I whispered. "And plus, Alex is here."

"I wasn't thinking about hooking up," he replied between kisses, "I was just trying to warm you up." He said, slipping a finger underneath the elastic part of my panties.

I swallowed down the excitement that had risen in my throat, and then placed my hands on his chest, pushing him away gently.

"Well," I said slowly, trying to keep my voice steady, "mission accomplished."

Jack laughed in response and then kissed my lips one last time before he leaned over and opened the dryer, pulling out some clothes for the both of us.

"Here," he said, handing me a shirt, "still warm."

I quietly thanked him and then pulled it on before Jack handed me a pair of boxers. I wriggled out of my panties, causing a school boy smile to pull across Jack's face before I pulled them on. I kicked my wet clothes into a pile, giving Jack a soft smirk before I left the laundry room and made my way into the living room, finding that Alex had changed as well and was sprawled out on the couch, talking to someone.

As soon as he realized I had joined him, he hurried up the conversation, and then ended it before he shoved his phone back into his pocket.

"Who was that?" I asked, taking a seat beside him.

"A friend." He replied.

I wrinkled my nose, and then frowned to myself. "You were talking to Amy, weren't you?" I accused.

"No," Alex said, giving him a soft smile as he reached up and messed my hair up slightly, "if you must know, I was talking to Rian. I asked him to drop something off for me real fast. He should be here in a couple of minutes."

"Oh," I said.

"Is that okay with you?" He grinned.

"Well, yeah, I suppose."

Alex laughed quietly to himself and then grabbed the remote, turning on the television. While he flipped through the channels, desperately trying to find a show that wasn't about Christmas, I let my eyes wander to the Christmas tree that Jack and I had decorated a couple of weeks ago. Underneath were presents galore, including eight presents for me, from Jack ... not that I had been counting or anything.

Today was Christmas eve, and tonight I was going to spend the night with Jack. My aunts, uncles, and cousins had decided to spend the Christmas with us this year, and in order to make more room for them, I offered to let some of them stay in my room, while I stayed with Jack. Tomorrow I'll be spending the first half of the day with Jack and his family, before I went back to my house to have dinner and open presents with my family.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the front door, and Alex jumped up to answer it. Gazing up at him, Alex caught my eyes and then gave me a stern look.

"Stay where you are." He demanded before he opened the door just wide enough for him to slip through and outside before he closed it once again.

I tilted my head to the side and fought the urge to get up and peak outside to see what he was doing, but knew better. So instead, I grabbed the remote from where Alex had abandoned it, and then hit the button that would take me to the list of shows that had been recorded on the DVR. Before I found a show that caught my interest, though, the front door opened once again and Alex poked his head inside.

"Vinnie, close your eyes." He instructed.

"Why?"

"Just do it." He insisted.

I raised an eyebrow, and then did as I was told.

"Okay, come on, Rian." I heard him mumble.

There were some footsteps as Alex and Rian entered, but I still didn't open my eyes.

"Okay, Vinnie, you can open them."

I opened my eyes, only to find Alex standing in front of me, holding a big box covered in wrapping paper, while Rian stood just behind him, an excited smile on his face.

"Alex, what's that?" I asked.

"Your Christmas present." He smiled. "I'm going to be out of town tomorrow, so I thought that I'd give you your present today. Now hurry up and open the box before you figure out what's inside."

"But, Alex, you didn't have to get me anything for Christmas." I said, climbing to my feet.

"You can just lift the top off." Alex said softly when he saw my hesitation.

Placing a hand on either side, I lifted the top off and almost dropped it in surprise when I saw the black and white puppy that was curled up in a ball inside. Seeing me, he stood up and yipped happily at me, all the while wagging its tail.

"Alex, you got me a puppy?" I asked.

"Well, I know that every year since you were little, you've asked for a puppy for Christmas but no one ever got you one, so ... " He trailed off, giving me a soft smile.

"Oh my goodness, Alex," I whispered as the stupid, emotional tears started to well up in my eyes.

Carefully, I reached into the box and picked up the puppy. The puppy licked my hands, arms, and face in response, happy to finally be out of the box.

"Is it a blue nose?" I asked.

"He's a mix." Alex replied. "But he's definitely half blue nose."

As I hugged the puppy to my body, I felt the stupid tears finally start to fall. "Thank you so much, Alex." I whispered.

"You're welcome, sweetheart," he whispered back, lending a hand to wipe away the tears. "His name is Diesel; his collar and tags are in the box. He's gotten all his shots and everything. The animal shelter gave me a copy of his shots too; they're in the box as well."

"Alex, this is the best present ever." I said softly. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He repeated.

"Vinnie," Jack's surprised voice cut through the living room. "Where'd you get that puppy from?"

Turning to him, I smiled brightly. "Alex got him for me, for Christmas." I said happily. "His name's Diesel."

"Oh," Jack said offhandedly. I saw him shoot a look at Alex, jealousy written deep in his usual friendly stare, before he turned back to me and forced a smile, "cool."

I smiled back, and then turned to Alex, only to find him watching Jack with an unreadable expression on his face. A sudden sense of tension settled in the room, and Rian must have felt it as well because he nudged Alex slightly.

"We should probably get going, Alex." Rian said. "I left my car running, and I still have a couple of errands I need to do before I drop you off at your house."

"Yeah, okay." Alex said, finally breaking his gaze from Jack. Turning back to me, a smile crossed his lips once more. "Merry Christmas Vinnie."

"Merry Christmas, Alex." I smiled softly. "Merry Christmas Rian."

"Back at ya." Rian replied. "And the same to you, Jack."

"Yeah Jack," Alex said, a faint hint of a smirk threatening to cross his lips, "Merry Christmas."

Jack muttered a faint 'merry Christmas' in response and watched as Alex and Rian disappeared out the front door, leaving just Jack and me in the house. Jack studied me momentarily before he gazed at the door as if expecting Rian and Alex to walk back in.

"I think I'm going to take a nap." He said finally, and then turned around, disappearing into the hallway once more.

I frowned softly, knowing that Jack was jealous, and I couldn't help but wonder if Alex had gone out with the intention of making him jealous, or if he really didn't know that Jack would get jealous.

Carefully, I set Diesel on the floor, letting him wander off and explore the rest of the living room, and then picked up my cell phone, quickly dialing Alex's number.

"Vinnie?" He answered after a couple of rings. "Did I forget something?"

"Did you have intentions of making Jack jealous?" I asked bluntly.

Alex was silent for a few seconds, giving me my answer right there.

"I wanted to get you something that you really wanted." He replied finally. "And yeah, I knew that he was going to get jealous. So what."

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Have fun tomorrow, Alex." I whispered. "I'll see you whenever you get back in town. Goodbye."

"Bye, Vinnie." He said softly.

I ended the call before I could say anything else to him, and then tossed my phone aside, unable to help but be upset with Alex now. He was the one who pushed Jack and me together in the first place; he had no right to run around and do things just to make Jack jealous.