All Figured Out

The next morning Zack awoke in a room that wasn't his.
And then he remembered talking with Alex for hours the night before.

As he moved to get out of Jack's bed and go to his own hotel room to shower, Zack noticed something weighing him down.
Looking to his right, Alex's head was laying on the pillow with his arm under it, while the other arm was thrown over Zack's waist, with his legs thrown over Zack's.
Zack made note that his face was calm, and his hair was matted down, and he had small smile on his lips.

The close contact made Zack smile, and he told himself that there was no way he'd move from his spot.
This was probably the only time he'd be able to be this close to Alex, and he was going to take advantage of that without imagining horrible things about the singer, praying he wouldn't get 'excited' this early in the morning.

Alex on the other hand, was completely awake, and hearing Zack sigh in content was the reason he'd been smiling.

Last night Alex had realized Zack fell asleep while he was talking, and couldn't help but crawl into the bed with is friend to fall asleep himself. He loved that Zack looked so peaceful, but he thought that if Zack woke up before him in the morning, he'd be angry at how close the two boys were.

But now Alex knew that wasn't the case, and that made him happier then he had been in a while.
Sighing to himself, he thought over what happened last night.

Last night:

"Thanks Alex, for accepting me. It means a lot." Zack smiled at Alex.

"It makes me feel a little better Zacky, knowing you trust me to tell me that."

"And you can tell me when you're ready Lex." Alex grinned at his friend, thinking that maybe he'd tell him in the morning at the airport when they leave for tour.

"Uhm, who did you tell first?" Alex asked, fiddling with his hands.

Zack sighed, "I didn't tell Rian until last year. I kinda didn't have a choice though. He found me locked in the bathroom." Zack laughed awkwardly.

"Oh," Alex said, not too sure how to continue the conversation, "well everyone knows now right?'

"Just you and the guys. I can't tell Matt yet, especially since he's still heated from tonight."

Alex cringed at the memory of Matt yelling at him, and he could feel the tears returning to his eyes.

"Sorry Lexi, I didn't mean to bring it up." Zack said sadly.

"It's o-okay Zack," Alex wiped at his eyes frantically, getting rid of the tears, "that was a few hours ago. He apologized, it's okay."

Zack smiled at his friend, happy he could get over it so easily.

Zack yawned, putting his hand over his mouth and lying down on Jack's bed.
"Is it okay if I just crash here? I'm too tired to move." He asked, looking over at Alex with his hands behind his head.

"Sure thing Z," he smiled, laying himself down on his own bed.

"Thanks."

~~~~~
Alex couldn't sleep. He'd been trying for the past hour, and Zack had fallen asleep while they were talking about that nights show.

Zack looked so peaceful while he slept, and that alone made Alex happy.

A few months ago, he'd come to terms that his sexuality was anything but straight.
It all happened when a gay couple had come to one of their shows, and one of the boys had told his partner he loved him, all while standing in front of the band at a meet and greet.

Jack cooed, saying how it was 'fucking adorable' how they admitted their love for each other for the first time in front of so many people, while Zack and Rian smiled.

That night Alex couldn't get the couple out of his mind and thought about how wonderful it was for them to be so open about it in a world of haters.

And ever since then he'd been thinking about being gay.
It had never crossed his mind in high school, and he was wondering why it was happening now. He'd never been too religious, but he wasn't sure how his parents would react to it if he did happen to be gay.

But Alex himself realized that he was gay as soon as he had his first 'wet dream' about a friend from a band they had toured with a few years back.

And it hit him just the other day, and that's when Jack found him in the bathroom crying.

He wasn't ready to tell anyone about it yet though. And it made him feel better when Zack came to him tonight to tell him he was gay, too.

But it had taken Zack 3 fucking years to tell anyone at all, and that made Alex think that maybe it would take him that long too.

Zack snored softly on the bed on the other side of the room, and Alex smiled in his direction again.
Biting his lip, he stood up from the bed, straightening his shirt and moved towards the other bed.

He sat down on it slowly as Zack stirred on the bed, rolling over so that his body was facing Alex's.

Alex laid his body down on the bed facing his friend and gently laid his head on the pillow next to Zack's.
His body tensed slightly as Zack stirred again, this time laying on his back.

Alex scooted his own body closer and felt his eyelids dropping.

Maybe he'd sleep good tonight.

Present

"What're you thinking about?" Alex jumped as Zack spoke above him.

"Uh, nothing." Alex noticed his arm was still thrown over Zack's waist, and he knew Zack could feel it there, but he still had yet to say anything.

Alex took his arm back, still facing Zack, who turned his body so he was facing Alex.

He smiled, "Then good morning."

Alex smiled back at his friend, "Good morning to you too."

He suddenly felt something inside of him jump. Like there was a little kid throwing rocks in his stomach. He'd gotten that feeling before with Lisa.
When they first started dating, she made him as nervous as a little kid going to middle school for the first time, and every time she did so much as hug him he'd get butterflies.

Jumping from the bed he glared at Zack, making him get out of bed as well.

"Get out." Alex said through gritted teeth.

"What?" Zack asked confused.

"I said get out. Now. I don't want you here." Alex moved to the other side of the bed and pushed on Zack's back, shoving him toward the door.

Zack spun around quickly, "What the hell Lex, last night you said you were happy I was here and now you're kicking me out?"

"Yeah so?" he spat, "That doesn't mean I want you here now. Just get the fuck out of the room before I force you out."
Alex crossed his arms over his chest as Zack looked at him sadly, opening the suites door.

"Okay," he said, shutting the door behind him.

He walked across the hall and pounded on the door to the room he and Rian shared and waited for someone to open it.

Jack opened the door, "What the hell dude it's 8:30." Jack rubbed at his eyes and he noticed Zack looking at him sadly.

"What happened?"

Zack fell to the floor in a heap and put his head in his hands.

"Alex hates me."

"What? You're crazy? C'mon stand up." Jack grabbed his friends hand and pulled him from the floor and into the hotel room.

"Who was it Jack?" Rian came into the kitchen part of the room and saw Zack standing there with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Alex hates me Rian. He shoved me out of the room."

"What? Why the hell would he do that?" Jack asked, moving across the room to sit on the counter.

"I don't know. Everything was fine last night, I even made him laugh. And then this morning..."

Rian sighed, "What happened this morning?"

"I uhm, I woke up and Alex was cuddled into my side." Zack blushed as he admitted this to his friends.

Rian smiled at Zack, knowing that it must have made Zack happy.

"Am I missing something?" Jack asked, pointing between his two friends.

"Sorta." Zack said, rubbing his arm up and down.

Rian looked at Zack skeptically, "You don't have to tell him Z."

"I want to Rian, he'll figure it out eventually."

"Just tell me already!" Jack screamed, throwing his hands up in frustration.

"I-I love Alex." He looked down at the floor, not wanting to make eye contact with Jack.

"Really Zack?" He asked.

"Uhm,yeah."

"Wow. That's new. Now I know what it means when you stare at him like he's sex on legs." Jack joked.

Zack laughed slightly, feeling better, but blushing a deep crimson.

"I do not..." He whispered.

Jack laughed at him, "Yeah bro, you so do. Sometimes I think you're gonna throw your bass into the crowd and attack Alex to the ground and make babies right there on stage."

Zack's blush got deeper as Rian started laughing with Jack as they imagined Zack attacking Alex to the stage floor.

"Men can't get pregnant dumb ass."

The three boys turned their heads in the direction of the open door to see Alex standing there leaning against the wall, his lips in a flat line, his eyes still dark and cold.

Zack knew Alex had heard what Jack said, which only meant that it would make matters worse.

And if Zack was being honest, he was more afraid at that moment then he'd ever been in his entire life.