Under A Paper Moon

Chapter 21:

Alex’s POV

“So what do you two have planned for the rest of the evening?” Ava asks once we have cleared away all the dishes and wiped down the table. “Is there a game on?”
“Yeah, Ravens are playing the Steelers, but I’m TIVOing it. Tonight is all about you and Gen, so you two can pick what we watch” I say.
“Oh my gosh! We have to watch Alice in Wonderland!” she squeals.
“We don’t have that one babe” I point out.
“Yeah we do, Gen and I bought it today at the store” she says. “the animated version that is, not the Johnny Depp one”
“Ok sounds good” I say.
“Really? I figured we’d have to schedule a girls night to watch it” she says.
“Yeah, really babe, like I said tonight is about you girls” I say.
“Did anyone ever tell you you’re the most perfect fiancé in the whole entire world?” she asks hugging me.
“You may have mentioned it to me before” I comment “but the only reason is because you’re so amazing you make it easy to be perfect” I add pressing a kiss to her lips.
“Are we gonna have desert first?” she asks.
“Hmm I’m having my desert already” I respond kissing her again.
“Jack’s gonna eat it all if we don’t get back in the dining room soon” she points out.
“Trust me babe, we bought a lot of desert even Jack can’t get through all of it in one sitting” I say.
“Well ok but I still think we should get back in there. Gen’s our guest to it’s kinda rude to just wonder off alone” she says.
“I’m sure she’s perfectly happy hanging out with Jack” I comment.
“I’m sure she is too, but I kinda want to eat desert” she says.

“Come on then, lets go get you some desert” I say taking her hand and leading her into the dining room where Jack is helping himself to what looks like a second serving of tiramisu “you want to get me and Ava some of that?” I ask.
“Sure, why not? Gen you some more?” he asks.
“I still have more than half of the first gigantic serving you gave me, so I think I’ll be alright for now thanks” she responds poking her tongue out at him.
“Yeah, Jack believes in generous portion sizes” I say.
“Generous is an understatement, this is gonna take me about three days to get through” Gen says.
“I can help you if you can’t finish it babe” he says.
“Oh so that’s your plan huh? You give me more than I could possibly eat, so that you get to have more?” she asks.
“Yeah pretty much” he admits.
“I like it” she says.
“Wow” Ava comments.
“What’s wow?” Jack asks.
“She really is perfect for you, every other time you’ve done that for a girl they’ve shot you down and accused you of trying to make them fat” she explains.
“Yeah, well Gen-gens about five million times better than any of those other girls” he says causing her to blush.
“I’m sure I’m not that great” she says softly.
“Oh no, you are trust me, those other girls have either been into him for his money and fame, or trying to make their ex jealous by fooling around with another guy” Ava says.
“Well I’m kinda glad none of them turned out to be very good girlfriend material” she comments.
“Really? Why is that?” Jack asks.
“Because if they had been then you might still be with them now, and if you were still with them then you couldn’t be with me” she says. “and well to be honest, I kinda sorta maybe like being with you just a little bit”
“Oh yeah? Is that right?” he asks.
“Mmm hmm” she responds.
“Well I kinda, sorta maybe like being with you too” he replies.
“Jack! Stop flirting with your girlfriend and give me some damn food man!” I joke and he flips me off before picking up a bowl and filling it with tiramisu, raspberries and melted white chocolate.
“You want a spoon with that?” he asks.
“Yeah a spoon would be good” I respond.
“Here you go” he says adding a spoon to the bowl and handing it to Ava “ladies first” he adds with a smirk.
“Aww, thanks Jackery!” she says taking the bowl from him and sitting down in her chair.
“And here’s some for your too Alexander” he adds fixing a bowl and handing it to me.
“Thanks” I say sitting down next to Ava and taking a bite of the food, making sure to get a bit of everything on the spoon “damn this stuff is good” I comment. “You weren’t kidding when you said the chef makes a killer tiramisu” I add turning to Gen “any chance of getting the recipe?”
“Nope, I asked him once, he told me its an old family recipe, and the only way I could be let in on the secret would be if I married him, and seeing as he’s gay and I’m not male that’s not gonna happen, we’re just gonna have to keep buying it whenever we want it” she says.
“Could we marry him off to one of the other guys?” I suggest.
“No, he has a boyfriend, and even if he didn’t I’m fairly sure, Matt, Zack and Rian are straight. But they’re friends of mine, so I’m sure I could invite them over for dinner sometime and request that he brings tiramisu for desert” she says.
“Luke’s boyfriend made this?” Jack asks.
“Scott yeah, he’s the Chef/owner of Rocco’s” she replies. “most of the stuff on the menu is derived from family recipes handed down the generations”
“But if his name is Scott, the why did he call the place Rocco’s?” I ask.
“Cause he wanted to, I don’t know. Its not written anywhere that you have to name your restaurant after yourself, he inherited the place from his grandfather, its been in the family for generations, whoever opened it called it Rocco’s. Scott didn’t want to change the name when he took it over I guess” she explains.
“I didn’t realize the place had been around that long” I comment.
“Yeah a lot of people don’t. it hasn’t been in its current location all that long, it used to be a few blocks away, but they to where they are now because its bigger and they bought it out-right, the other place was just a rental.” she says.
“How do you know all this?” I ask.
“Oh I dunno, could it possibly because she’s friends with the owner? Or the fact that she’s been going there for years?” Ava says rolling her eyes at me.
“Ok, yeah maybe that could be it” I admit.
“You really need to learn to think before you speak babe” she says poking me in the arm
“Yeah, yeah whatever” I say kissing her on the cheek “I love you”
“You told me that already” she responds
“Do you want me to stop?” I ask kissing the corner of her lips.
“Mmm, no” she says kissing me back.
“I do! I’m trying to eat my fucking desert here, I don’t particularly want to pair that with watching you two play tonsil hockey” Jack says.
“Sorry, we’ll stop” Ava says blushing slightly.
“But what if I don’t want to stop?” I ask leaning in to kiss her again just as there is a loud knocking on the front door. “Who the fuck’s that?” I ask looking at Jack for an answer, but not really expecting to get on since I don’t personally have a clue who would be attempting to break the door down at this hour of the night.
“I don’t know, far as I know we’re not expecting any visitors, everyone who’s supposed to be at this party is already here” he says.
“Yeah that’s what I thought” I respond.

“ALEX, JACK, WE KNOW YOU GUYS ARE IN THERE SO HURRY UP AND OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR” Rians voice yells from the general vicinity of the front of the house.
“What the hell does he want?” Ava asks.
“I dunno, but one of us should probably go answer the door before he wakes the neighbors, or causes someone to call the police because they think someone’s been murdered or abducted or something” I say.
“Have fun with that” he says.
“Wait what? Why should I go? What’s wrong with your legs?” I ask.
“Nothing but he called your name first, so you should go” he responds.
“Oh yeah and why’s that?” I ask.
“Because he called your name first, if he’d called my name first then I woulda gone, but he didn’t he called yours so you should go because he called you first” he says.
“Yeah but he said your name louder so you should go.” I say.
“Ugh! Why don’t the both of you just go? Seriously you could have opened the fucking door in the time you’ve spent arguing about who’s gonna open it or not” Ava says.
“Why don’t you go answer it then?” I ask.
“Because it’s your guys’s house, and he called your names, not mine” she says “besides I’m still eating my desert, and so is Gen and you guys are done so you two should go answer it”
“IF YOU GUYS DON’T OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR IN THE NEXT FIVE MINUTES I’M BUSTING THE DAMN THING DOWN” Rians’s voice yells.
“Yeah, yeah hold your horses, geez he sounds fucking drunk” I say “I’ll be right back, he’s probably just locked himself out of the house and wants the spare key”
“Couldn’t he just get Zack to let him in?” Gen asks.
“Nah, Zack’s outta town visiting his sister and her family, its his nieces birthday tomorrow”
“About bloody time! What the fuck too you guys so long? We were waiting for fucking ever out there!” Rian says pushing past me into the house.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I ask.
“Watching the game, my TV isn’t working” he says.
“So go watch it at the sports bar then” I suggest.
“Why the fuck would I do that when I can just watch it here?” he asks.
“Uhh, maybe because you can’t watch it here, I’m TIVOing it. We’re watching a movie with the girls tonight.” I say.
“But the game’s on” he says.
“It’ll still be the same tomorrow” I say.
“wouldn’t you rather watch it live?” he asks.
“well yeah, but Ava bought Alice in Wonderland and she want’s to watch that tonight so I don’t mind watching the game tomorrow” I say.
“Babe what’s taking so long?” Ava asks walking out of the kitchen and joining us in the passage. “oh hey Ri, what’s up?” she asks.
“My TV isn’t working, so I came over here to watch the game but Alex tells me you guys are watching a movie” he says.
“Yeah we’re gonna watch Alice in Wonderland, its one of my favourites” she says. “Alex is TIVOing the game though so you can come and watch it tomorrow”
“Can’t you watch your movie tomorrow?” he asks.
“Hey, back off Dawson we’re watching the movie tonight” I say.
“I was talking to her Alex, she’s the one that’s being a bitch and not letting you watch the game” he says glaring at her accusingly.
“I think you should leave” I say glaring at Rian
“Why would I do that?” he asks.
“Just get out of my house.” I say.
“But…”
“But nothing, you can’t just came in here calling my fiancé a bitch and demanding to watch the game.” I say. “and besides, you’re drunk and I’m not carrying your drunk ass back home when you pass out on the couch” I add.
“But what about the game?” he asks “it’s the play-offs”
“You’ll be lucky if you can stay awake through the first quarter man, how much have you had to drink?” I ask.
“I dunno, maybe a few beers, couple glasses of wine, a little bit of whiskey, couple shots of bailieys” he says.
“Wow, you didn’t drive home after drinking all that did you?” I ask, knowing that he and Matt went out for drinks this evening.
“Nah, we got a cab, got one there too cause we knew we’d be drinking” he says “dude I think you’re right, I don’t feel so good” he adds before running in the direction of the bathroom pushing the door shut behind him.

“Are you ok?” I ask turning to Ava who looks a little upset at Rians outburst.
“Do you want to watch the game? I don’t mind watching the movie tomorrow if you want to watch it live, I don’t want to be the bitch that doesn’t let her man watch the game” she says.
“Babe, you’re not being a bitch. Rians drunk off his fucking head right now he doesn’t know what he’s saying. We can watch the game tomorrow I am more than happy with that” I say pulling her into a hug.
“Are you sure?” she asks looking up into my eyes.
“I am 100% sure babe, if you’re happy then I’m happy” I say.
“Ok how about this, how about we watch the movie now, and then tomorrow morning after breakfast I’ll watch the game with you” she suggests.
“Hmm I think that is the best idea anyone has ever had since the dawn of time” I say leaning down and pressing a kiss to her lips.
“Better than asking me to marry you?” she asks.
“Ok, maybe the second best idea, it’s definitely in the top ten though” I say. “maybe I should go check on Rian, make sure he hasn’t fallen into the bathtub, or knocked himself out on the sink or something” I say just as he stumbles out of the bathroom and staggers over to us.
“Dude, I thought we were watching the game! What are you doing talking to this bitch still? The game’s about to start!” he says. “Go make yourself useful and get us some beers ok sweetheart” he adds pulling me away from her.
“Hey! Watch your attitude Dawson that’s my fiancé you’re talking to” I say.
“Whatever man, I just wanna watch the game.” he says.
“Yeah, I’m aware of that, but I’ve already told you that we’re not watching the game tonight because the girls want to watch their movie” I say.
“I know but it’s the playoffs dude! It’s a really important game” he says.
“The result will still be the same tomorrow morning, its not gonna change just because we don’t watch it live” I say.
“But it’s the play-offs!” he says.
“No the play-offs don’t start till next week, this week is the last round of games before the play-off rounds.” Ava says.
“Shut-up no one asked you!” he says
“Ok I think you need to leave” I say.
“What? Why do I gotta leave? What have I done?” he asks.
“Well first of all you’re drunk, and secondly you’re being rude to my fiancé and I don’t appreciate it” I say.
“She’s preventing us from watching the game! If she wants to watch her precious movie so badly why can’t she just go to her own house to watch it?” he asks.
“I could I guess, but considering the fact that I live here that wouldn’t really solve your problem now would it?” Ava asks.
“Wait what? You live here? Since when did that happen?” he asks.
“Uhh since about six or seven months ago when Alex asked me to move in with him and I said yes. You helped me move all of my stuff over remember?” she says.
“Oh, yeah right I knew that…” he says.
“Ok Rian I think it’s time for you to go to bed, we’ll watch the game tomorrow, you’re not gonna be able to follow it right now anyway.” I say.
“Maybe we should keep him here tonight, you know just incase he’s poisoned himself with by drinking too much alcohol” Ava suggests.
“That’s probably a good idea” I say “Ri you’re in the guest room tonight ok?” I add.
“YES! I FUCKING LOVE YOU ALEX” he yells.
“Yeah, I love you too man, just maybe not when you smell like a brewery” I say.
“YOU’RE FUNNY” he says.
“I know, come on it’s time for bed”
“Bed’s are fun” he says collapsing onto the floor. “Hey look at me! I’m a star fish” he says spreading his arms and legs out.
“Of course you are Rian.” I say before turning to Ava “can you go get Jack? I think I’m gonna need help getting the starfish to the guest room” I say.
“Ok” she says.
“Don’t take anything he’s said tonight to heart ok? He gets a little stupid when he’s drunk” I add.
“Yeah, I know he does, I’ve known him for almost as long as you have remember” she says. “I’ll go get Jack, it’ll probably be easier to move him while he’s still awake rather than after he’s passed out.”