Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays

It’s Christmas, and Zack is alone. Usually, he enjoys the feeling of being by himself, being alone to think. But again, it’s Christmas, and he’s supposed to be with his family. But it’s his fault that he’s not. They went to Argentine to visit his sister who’s studying abroad, and Zack declined the offer to go with them. His parents were confused at first, of course, but they just figured he’d rather stay home and hang out with his friends during his winter break. And that was true, in a way. But today is Christmas, and all of his friends are with their families. So, Zack is alone.

He’s played Halo a million times since he woke up at 1:30. He spoke to his mom about an hour ago, and he’s watched ‘A Christmas Story’ five times. He’s bored out of his mind. He sighs and pulls out his cell phone, desperately hoping that there’s a text message or something. But there isn’t. So he starts a new message to Jack.

‘did u get the pretty pink bike u always wanted?’

He sighs again after his message is sent. He knows Jack probably won’t answer it. He’s either with his family, or he snuck out to see Alex. A small pang of jealousy rips through him. Jack is always with Alex. They’re rarely ever without each other. But they’re best friends, Zack reminds himself. Of course they’re always together. But still…Zack wishes that Jack would pay him more attention. Especially since Zack basically makes Jack a priority in his life.

It’s not that Zack doesn’t like Alex. It’s the opposite, in fact. He loves Alex – he’s one of his best friends. He just hates how unnecessarily close he is to Jack. It’s like they’re a couple, yet not. When the four of them, Alex, Jack Rian and Zack, hang out together, Alex and Jack are always cuddling and giggling to themselves about something. It bothers the fuck out of Zack, yet he knows it really shouldn’t. And today, it wouldn’t be any different. Jack is probably with Alex right now.

He’s surprised when his cell phone vibrates two minutes later, signaling a new text message.

‘i did. i also got a pink helmet 2 go with it ;) btw answer ur front door’

Not a minute later, there’s a knock on his front door. When he opens it, there stands Jack. A smile appears on Zack’s face when he sees him. “Alex wants to get Rian and bring him back to your place!” Jack exclaims, motioning to Alex who is standing on the sidewalk behind him. “And since we have to pass your house to get to his, I figured I’d inform you of the plans. And also, I don’t feel like walking anymore so Alex is going to get Rian by himself and I’m going to hang out with you!” Jack attaches himself to Zack’s side and squeezes him close. “Isn’t that a great plan?”

Zack laughs nervously as Alex winks at him. It’s almost as if Alex knows that Zack’s heart skipped a beat when Jack started speaking.

“Well, I’m going to go get Rian, and get some form of alcohol. I’ll be back soon,” Alex states. He turns around and starts back down the street in the direction of Rian’s house, which is only about a 5 minute walk.

“So what did you do all day?” Jack asks as Zack leads him into the house.

“I sort of just watched TV…that’s about it. It was really boring. I can’t believe your parents let you leave…”

“They actually told me to get out because I was just being annoying. So I called up Alex and we decided to have a party at your house.”

Suddenly, Zack is against his living room wall and Jack is the one pushing him against it. Jack’s breath is hot on his neck and Zack swears his heart is beating a bit too fast to me normal. “What are you doing?” he asks quietly, looking up slightly at Jack. Right now, Zack sort of wishes he were a bit taller.

“Alex told me to go for it…” Jack whispers. “He said if I didn’t, then I’d miss my chance.”

“What-what are you even talking about? You’re not making any sense to me-”

But then, Jack shows Zack exactly what he’s talking about. He pushes his lips against Zack’s for a passionate kiss and Zack’s knees weaken and he gasps into Jack’s mouth. He grips Jack’s waist tightly in an attempt to stay standing. As Jack’s mouth moves against his, a million things run though his head. This could all be a joke. Jack could be drunk right now. Maybe this is all just a dream. But none of them really make sense. It must be legitimate.

Zack, finally needing some air, pushes Jack away from him. He takes a deep breath, avoiding eye contact with the taller boy. Then, he opens his mouth and asks the one question repeating itself in his mind, “What does this mean?”

“It means that I really, really like you, Zack,” Jack answers in a tone that made Zack feel stupid for even asking. “Alex said he was pretty sure you felt the same way, and that I should make a move before someone else does.”

Zack is still speechless. When he saw Jack at his front door a little less than 5 minutes ago, this was the absolute last thing he had been expecting. He was half expecting to see Jack with a pink bike waiting outside. How wrong he was, obviously.

“Zack, can you please just tell me if you like me or not?”

Now Jack just sounds sad, as if he’s lost all hope in Zack responding with a favorable answer.

“I do like you… I just never thought you felt that way towards me…” Zack finally responds. His voice is gentle and quiet, as it always is. He feels Jack’s fingers gently rubbing his sides through his thin cotton t-shirt and that alone makes his heart flutter.

“Then…will you go out with me?”

A light blush appears on Jack’s cheeks as he asks the question – it’s a question he’s asked quite a few times before, but this time it seems more …right, if that makes any sense.

“I thought you liked Alex…” Zack mumbles, mostly to himself. He can’t seem to wrap his brain around the fact that Jack likes him.

“What?” Jack asks incredulously. “No – I don’t like Alex any more than a friend, ok?”

“Oh…”

“Are you going to answer my question or not? Go out with me?”

“I-yeah. Yeah I’ll go out with you.”

Zack looks down at the floor and blushes, grinning from ear to ear. Jack sighs in relief. He thought for a minute there that Zack was going to say no. He gently grips Zack’s chin and forces him to look at him. “So, I’m going to take you out tomorrow. Just you and me, yeah?”

Zack nods, smiling a bit. “Okay.” He leans forward and presses his lips to Jacks. He’s not exactly sure where the sudden rush of confidence came from, but he’s not going to complain. Jack smiles into the kiss and he grips the older boy’s hips tightly, pulling him in as close as possible.

“I’ve been waiting to kiss you for a while,” Jack says quietly after he pulls away. “It’s just like I thought it’d be.” Zack blushes – again – which causes Jack to laugh. “By the way,” he adds, leaning his forehead against Zack’s, “Merry Christmas.”