Just the Way You Are

Zack’s eyes flicker open early in the morning to find Jack staring at him with a fond expression. He blinks a few times, yawns and Jack smiles –Zack’s cute on mornings.

He looks the slightly older boy in his perfect hazel-green eyes and kisses his forehead, pulling back and nuzzling their noses together.

“Morning, beautiful.” He says, and Zack looks away, burying his face in Jack’s chest. Jack sighs, very quietly, because he knows Zack hates when he says things like that, but he just can’t help himself sometimes.

Zack sits up a little in bed, yawning again and stretching. Jack sits up too, looking at Zack for a long moment before pressing his lips to his bare shoulder and smiling a little.

“Sorry,” He says against Zack’s skin, “I know I shouldn’t have said that.”

Zack looks at him, turning his head slightly, and Jack pushes his fingers under the elder’s chin and kisses him properly.

It’s slow and sleepy, as fits proper morning kisses –at least, in the Merrick-Barakat residence.

Zack pulls away first, like always, and Jack smiles at him. His curls fall just right near his flawless eyes without him even doing anything. And even though he woke up less than a half hour ago, Jack thinks he looks gorgeous.

Zack eventually drags himself up out of bed and gets dressed, but since Jack is lazy, by the time Zack’s trying to fix his hair in the mirror, Jack has barely moved.

“Get up, you sloth,” Zack says with a smirk, kissing the top of Jack’s head. Jack glares up at him for a second and sighs dramatically, throwing the covers back and standing up, moving behind Zack and wrapping his arms around his waist.

Jack knows he probably shouldn’t do it, but he nuzzles against Zack’s hair and mumbles ‘You look stunning today. Just like always.’

Zack freezes, looks at Jack in the mirror and shakes his head, trying to bluff it as fixing his hair, but Jack knows that’s a lie.

They stand like that for a while, Jack relishing in the fact that Zack is letting him hold him for this long without saying something or getting insecure.

It upsets him, a lot really, that Zack has all the insecurities he does. He wishes he could do something to help other than just reminding him that he thinks he’s the most faultless individual he’s ever come across. But still, as much as Zack hates it, he makes a point of telling him that’s he’s beautiful at least once every day, and reminding him and showing him that he loves him more than anyone or anything else on the whole earth.

“Do I look okay?” Zack asks, picking his hat up from the floor of their bedroom. Jack nods, pulling him back in for a tight hug.

“Better than okay. Perfect.” Jack says, matter-of-factly, and Zack tries to smile back, but it doesn’t work. Jack kisses him on the forehead and walks with him to the door, holding his hand tight.

“I’ll call you if I need picking up from work,” Zack says, picking up his keys from the floor near the apartment door. Jack nods, presses a kiss to Zack’s lips and smiles when he kisses back.

“I love you.” Jack says, and Zack nods.

“I know,” Zack replies, nudging at Jack’s jaw with his nose, “love you.”

One thing Jack likes about work, he decides, is the fact that he works from home. He realizes this fact as he sits down in the swivelling chair in his office, wearing just his boxers and with reheated pizza from last night.

Alex calls then, because his boss is demanding something to get ordered that Alex knows nothing about.

“How should I know what the hell a ‘ceramic bathroom waste’ is?” Alex asks incredulously down the phone. Jack laughs, pressing a few keys on his laptop.

“You’re the one that works at a kitchen and bathroom firm, Alex. Remember that.”

“Shut up, Barakat.”

“I’m just saying.”

“How’s Zack, anyway? I meant to ask sooner.”

“He’s good. Getting better, little by little.” Jack says with a proud smile, not that Alex can see.

“That’s good to hear. Tell him I said hey, would you? I have to go find this bathroom thing.”

Just before Alex hangs up, Jack hears him mumble something along the lines of ‘how the hell am I meant to find something when I don’t even know what it is!’

It keeps Jack laughing until Zack gets back from work later in the evening.

Something happened at work that day which Zack is less than impressed about –something involving Rian skipping out on unpacking all the boxes that had been delivered the night before.

But then Jack tells him the story of Alex’s idiocy with bathroom supplies, and he’s laughing again.

“You have a cute laugh,” Jack comments, and Zack blushes and buries his face in his shoulder.

“No I don’t. I hate my laugh.” Zack replies bluntly.

“You might, but I don’t. It’s kind of sexy, as laughs go.” Jack continues, kissing Zack’s forehead. Zack’s blush spreads even further and when he looks up, his cheeks are pink.

“Stop it.”

“What, you don’t like feeling good about yourself? ‘Cause I really think-” Jack starts, but Zack cuts him off with a kiss.

“I wish I could kiss you all the time,” Jack comments when he pulls away, “I like kissing you.”

Zack blushes again, and that’s when Jack realizes that he’s helping him out of the sea of low self-esteem he’s been stuck in for years.

Jack pulls him into his lap on the couch and rests their foreheads together, nuzzling against Zack’s nose gently.

“Zee, why do you keep trying to change how you look?” Jack asks, because he’s been holding that question back for months.

“Because I never feel... I don’t know, right, with how I look.” Zack replies, looking down at Jack’s chest.

“You mean you don’t think you’re perfect as you are? Well, damn, I think you’re perfect however you look. If you’re looking to be perfect, stop, because you’re already there. You’ve always been there. You’ve always been perfect to me.”

Zack opens his mouth to say something, but Jack continues before he gets chance.

“You’re amazing because you’re you. If you were anyone else, I wouldn’t love waking up next to you and being able to call you mine nearly as much as I do. Waking up and the first thing I see being you is great –better than great. I love it. I wouldn’t change anything about you. Nothing at all. Everything about you is amazing.”

Zack blushes again, smiles this adorable, shy little smile and Jack just carries on.

“And I love that smile. It’s beautiful. Earth-stopping. Smile more.” Jack says, and Zack nuzzles his nose against Jack’s, kissing him gently to stop him continuing.

“Okay, I get it.” Zack says with a smile, and just that gesture makes Jack smile. “You like everything about me. You don’t want me to change anything. And maybe I won’t.”

“You’d better not.” Jack says with fake anger. “Because I love you just as you are.”

Zack falls silent for a second, before kissing Jack gently and pulling away with a smile.

“I love you too.”