Believe Me, I'm Lying

“I don’t like this,” Alex hears Zack mumble under his breath as he walks beside the younger boy through the airport parking lot. He glares at him, although Zack seems to miss it, and snaps his cell phone shut. He was just on the phone with Rian, telling him to not let the moving van go to New York and needless to say, Rian is really fucking pissed. That’s an understatement, actually. He’s furious. But Alex will have to deal with that when they get there.

On his other side, Jack is walking silently, but he’s smiling. Devyn is in his arms, supported on his hip and he’s babbling on about something to do with staying in the lines when he colors and at least Jack is somewhat pretending to be paying attention. Alex can tell he’s got a ton of other things on his mind, though.

“Alex?” Jack questions when they reach Zack’s car, quietly enough so that Zack doesn’t hear. “What about your luggage and stuff? It’s probably being put on the plane now.”

Alex shakes his head, “I didn’t have any luggage. Just a carry-on with extra clothes for me and Devyn. All of our stuff is packed away in the moving van.”

“Oh. Okay. I um. Since all of your stuff is packed away, we can stay at my place until the new apartment is ready to be moved into? I mean, I haven’t told my landlord that I’m leaving yet so…”

“That works,” Alex nods. He pulls open the back door and takes his son from Jack’s arms, leaning down so he can buckle him into his car seat. Devyn hops into the seat willingly, still trying to talk to Jack over Alex’s shoulder. Zack is in the driver’s seat, glaring at Alex from the rearview mirror. But Alex knows he doesn’t have to guts to say anything right now. He’s always been the one who easily backs down. Rian on the other hand…Yeah, Alex is anticipating for that conversation to go very badly. And shit, when Josh finds out, he may as well just be dead.

The car ride back to Alex’s old apartment building was silent and awkward. Devyn fell asleep about ten minutes after they started driving. He held onto Jack’s hand and Jack wore a small smile on his face the whole time and it made Alex feel kind of bad about the fact that Rian is going to probably scream at him when they see each other.

Zack parks the car on the opposite side of the street, right behind the rental truck that’s packed with all of Alex’s stuff. He can see Rian standing by the driver’s side door, clearly talking to the driver and trying to negotiate some new plan. Alex bites his lip as he realizes they’ll probably have to pay extra to keep the truck for another day or two.

“Uh. So who’s gonna wait in the car with Devyn?” Zack asks as he pulls the keys form the ignition. He glances back at Jack before giving a significant look to Alex. “You know Rian’s going to want to strangle him. It’s been hard enough for me not to do it, but Rian’s not as good as controlling himself.”

“Right…” Alex nods, knowing his best friend is right. “Jack can stay here then. I’ll go deal with him first and calm him down.”

“Sounds good,” Jack chimes in from the back and Alex notices Zack’s hands grip tighter around the keys and he admires his self-control and he’s immensely thankful for it. He doesn’t need Zack punching Jack in the face right now even though that’s so obviously all he wants to do.

Rian’s just finished talking to the driver when Zack and Alex approach him. He steps away, thanking the man once more before his eyes land on Alex. His usual happy and carefree demeanor is gone in a flash, replaced with a furious, irritated one. He steps forward just as the rental truck starts pulling away, saying, “So tell me. How many times did it run through your brain that maybe, just maybe, you were making the stupidest decision in your life?”

Alex shakes his head, dismissing the question and asking one of his own. “Where’s the truck going?”

“It’s going back to the rental place and staying there overnight. I had to pay them for an extra day but he said that everything’s perfectly safe and you’re covered under insurance if anything happens.” Rian waves his hands, clearly not finding Alex’s question anywhere near relevant. “Now answer me. Did it occur to you that picking Jack over getting on that plane was a good idea?”

“Uh. Well. I didn’t really need to think about it… Listen,” Alex folds his arms across his chest. “I love Jack. And…Yeah, maybe in the past he’s put other things before me but that’s not going to happen anymore. He broke up with fiancé, put a down payment on an apartment we can live in together and he’s going to help me and Devyn do more than just ‘get by’ now. It’s…It’s not something I had to think about. I know you don’t like it. And I know that Josh is going to be equally as pissed as you and Zack are. But it’s my life. And this is what I want.”

Rian huffs. “Whatever.” His eyes move to Zack, who cowers behind Alex as if he knows what’s coming. “And why the hell didn’t you stop him from not getting on that damn plane?!” He reaches forward and punches Zack’s arm. “I can’t believe I trusted you to fully execute the plan.”

“I couldn’t just force him!” Zack protests, his voice coming out kind of whiney. That always happens when he’s trying to get Rian to forgive him.

“You’re twice his size! You should have grabbed him and put him on that damn plane yourself.”

Zack pouts and Alex watches as Rian’s irritation slowly slips away and he cracks a smile. He’s never been able to stay mad at Zack for very long – never for more than an hour. Alex decides it’d be in his best interest to walk back to the car now, so he doesn’t have to watch them be all cute and adorable because sometimes it just makes him nauseous.

He opens the back door to the car and finds Jack flipping through a magazine he found on the floor, Devyn still asleep in his car seat. “Rian’s really mad. But hopefully he won’t try and kill you when he gets in the car to drive us to your place.”

“That would be um. Nice if he didn’t,” Jack says sheepishly, his hand rubbing at his neck. “But actually, maybe we could take the bus? I mean, I should probably start getting used to it if we’re going to have to save money. Gas is expensive.”

Alex grins. “I think once Rian hears that, he might be a little less angry.”

-&-

It’s nearly nine at night when Jack and Alex have more than a second to themselves. Instead of taking the bus straight back to Jack’s apartment, Alex thought it would be a good idea to try and teach him the bus route and help him figure it all out. It’s confusing at first and Jack definitely still doesn’t quite get it, but Alex knows it’ll come with time. They also had to stop by the apartment building’s landlord’s office in the lobby. Jack informed him that he won’t be renting there anymore, and although the man was sad to see him go, he didn’t ask any questions, which Jack was obviously grateful for.

Now, after feeding Devyn dinner and giving him a bath and getting him changed into the pajamas that Alex had packed in his backpack, the little boy is asleep in Jack’s queen sized bed. Alex was a bit concerned that he might tangle himself up in all the sheets but Jack assured him he’d be fine. And they could check on him every hour if they wanted to. So now Alex is relaxing on Jack’s couch.

This is only the second time he’s been in the apartment and he feels a bit weird that it’ll be the last. He rests his head on Jack’s shoulder while Jack flips through the TV channels impatiently, trying to find a good movie to watch.

“Is our new apartment nice?” Alex finds himself asking, one hand moving to lace their fingers together. “How many rooms are there?”

“It’s not as nice as this one,” Jack mumbles. “But it’s a lot better than the one you were living in. There’s a kitchen, bathroom, living room and two bedrooms. One for Devyn. One for us. It’s on the first floor, too. So the backyard is ours.”

Alex’s eyes light up. “Really? Are you serious? That’s pretty fucking awesome – I won’t have to drag Devyn to the park to get fresh air.”

“That was what I thought, too. And it’s in our price range – I still make enough by teaching and I have a decent amount in my bank account still. My parent’s haven’t contacted me yet but I know they cancelled one of my credit cards.”

“I’m sorry, Jack,” Alex whispers. “I’m sorry you had to lose them-”

Jack shakes his head. “I never really had them in the first place. They didn’t really care about me being happy. So whatever. I’m better off with you and without them.” He shuts the TV off, clearly unable to find anything worth watching and he stands up. “Come on. Let’s go to bed. How long has it been since you’ve actually slept on something other than a couch?”

“Um. A long time,” Alex blushes, taking Jack’s hand and allowing him to lead him to the bedroom. “I hope I don’t squish Devyn by rolling over on top of him.”

“You won’t,” Jack says, not bothering with the light and just pulling Alex over to the opposite side of the bed where Devyn is. “I’ll keep a tight hold on you.”