Running From Lions.

The next morning was no better than the night before. Jack woke up at 9am - which, in his opinion shouldn't even be a legal time of day to wake up - with a pounding head ache and confusion to match. He didn’t know what to do with Alex, he’d said everything he could and hoped that Alex would stick to his word, but what that boy you could never tell. He opened his curtain and dragged himself out of his bunk before making his way to the lounge area trying to be as quiet as he could to avoid waking his sleeping band mates.
When he got there he saw the glass bong smashed by the foot of the couch which Alex was sprawled across under an ugly blue blanket which Rian had found and put over it to cover up all the unidentifiable stains added to it from all the drunken parties they’d held.

As if he knew Jack was there, Alex rolled over and blinked a few times, getting his eyes used to the sudden bright light before smiling at Jack. Jack stood awkwardly on the other side of the room with what he hoped was a friendly and nonchalant expression but in reality was more of a judging glare.
Jack sighed, rubbing circles into his temples, before walking over the fridge and grabbing a can of Red Bull, energy... that’s what he needed.
Suddenly he felt somebody’s chin hook over his left shoulder and warm breath on his neck.
“You know,” Muttered Alex, voice husky and deeper than usual due to both the fact he’d woken up, and the weed last night. “I don’t know if your mother ever taught you this, but it’s rude to stare.”

Heart still racing from the shock of Alex’s arrival, Jack simply mumbled “I-I wasn’t.” Before nudging the older boy in the stomach with his elbow and walking over to sit on the counter top. Alex just looked at him with an amused smile and Jack groaned to himself.
Alex was always like this after they had serious discussions or Jack got angry at him about something, he was always extra flirty with Jack, probably thinking it would get him back into his good books or something, but all it really did was put Jack on edge even more and confuse him.

Him and Alex had always been closer than most best friends, heck Jack had basically saved Alex’s life after he’d had to leave all of his friends back in England and had nobody in America. Jack was the only person that actually seemed to give a damn about Alex and made the effort to talk to him and it all started there. But, they weren’t just best friends, they were more than that and they, along with most of the band, knew it. Neither of them were openly gay or even bisexual but there had always been this tension between them that nobody could really put their finger on.

They often shared bunks, snuggling when they were lonely or just needed somebody. It also wasn’t unusual to see them kissing when they were drunk, but apart from the incident after the Forever the Sickest Kids’ party, they’d just left it at that, a quick peck and nothing more.
Now things were different. Jack found himself wanting to be with Alex all of the time and any time not with him, in his opinion, was time wasted. They’d snuggle up on the couch and whereas before Jack was content with that, now all he wanted to do was lean over and kiss his best friend, but that is just what he was, his best friend and Jack couldn’t let some stupid hormones get in the way of that. He accepted that being on tour, you’re away from real human contact, hugs, kisses, sex and sometimes that gets too much. Sure, there were girls throwing themselves at him most nights, but it wasn’t the same, he was never the “no strings attached” type, and would prefer a proper relationship over that any day. He was sure that was the reason he was feeling like this about Alex, and tried his hardest to keep the thoughts he had out of his head and get on with the music and the job at hand.

Alex, however, wasn’t so subtle. He liked Jack, he knew he liked Jack and everybody knew he liked Jack... including Jack. He’d known it ever since he’d moved to the new, different country and Jack had been his closest friend for a long time. He’d tried to distract himself with girlfriends, one night stands with band whores and he’d even considered leaving the band more than once to get away from Jack because there was no way that Jack felt the way he did. Except that one night, when they’d been fooling around on the same couch he’d just stood up from, he started to think that maybe there really was something there, because Jack wasn’t the type to just fool around with anybody, he liked commitment, and even if he was that type there was no way he’d do it to Alex... right?

Both of their thoughts were interrupted as Rian and Zack both came walking in still half asleep.
Rian groaned picking up on the awkward tension in the room and knowingly looked at Zack who took it upon himself to break the uncomfortable silence.
“Look, I don’t know what went down after we went to bed last night, and frankly I don’t care, this is getting pretty fucking old pretty fucking fast so can you two just end whatever is going on between you and we can all go back to normal.” He shook his head and went to settle on the coach before turning on the television, Rian hot on his heels.

Alex could hear their mumbled discussion, knowing full well that they were talking about himself and Jack. He looked over at said boy still sitting on the counter top while absentmindedly playing with the strands of hair around his ear, biting his lip while clearly deep in thought, a worried expression covering his face.
With a sign Alex pushed himself from his leaning position against the counter to a standing position and shuffled over to his best friend standing in front of him. Jack, showing no signs of seeing him, continued to stare into space.

“Jacky,” Alex mumbled, placing his hands on the younger boys’ thighs and moving closer to him. It was only when he reached forward and pushed a piece of fringe out of his face, Jack acknowledged his existence and sighed, before placing his arms around the older boys neck pulling him into an embrace, chests pressed together and hearts beating in time. Alex snuggled his nose into the crook of his best friends neck breathing in his musky morning scent. Jack was the first to pull away from the embrace only to keep his hands on the older boys’ shoulders and lean forward so their foreheads were touching. Both boys were smiling, both of them had missed this feeling of comfort from just being together.

“I don’t want to lose you, Jack.” Alex mumbled finally, looking into the younger boys deep brown eyes.
Jack chuckled, causing a look of confusion to cross the old boys face.
“You won’t lose me, Lex, I’m always going to be here... always.”

...But even Jack couldn't promise that.