Stuck with You

Saturday came quickly, and Matt found himself at Zack’s party. He had been there for a while now, and the party was a little more energized. Someone had brought alcoholic drinks – Matt knew Zack wasn’t the one who had provided them – and everyone was more lively than they had been when the party first started. Matt hadn’t drank anything yet, but he knew he wasn’t going to stay sober the whole night. Zack, Rian, Evan, and Matt were standing at the far corner of Zack’s basement, just goofing around and talking.

“So how is tutoring Gaskarth going?” Rian asked Matt with a smirk.

Evan raised his eyebrows in surprise, “That’s who you’re tutoring?”

“Unfortunately,” Matt rolled his eyes, taking a sip of his pop.

“That explains why he mentioned you a few times in the past few weeks,” Zack smirked slightly.

Matt lowered the can of pop from his mouth, “What do you mean?”

“Gaskarth has mentioned you a few times in class in the last few weeks. He was asking about you; like how old you were and if you’re always a douche,” Zack chuckled.

“He’s the douche,” Matt grumbled, taking another sip of his drink. Of course Alex would say something like that about him.

“Aw, don’t be so hard on the kid,” Rian laughed. “He’s just trying to be friendly. I’ve seen him talking to you in the hall a few times since you started tutoring him; he looks kind of like a lost puppy.”

“More like an annoying bitch.”

“Give him a chance; he’s a cool guy. He’s bi, too,” Zack said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively at him.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Matt demanded.

“A boyfriend or girlfriend would do you some good. You’re a grumpy little bitch lately,” Evan said, nudging him in the side.

Matt rolled his eyes, “Oh, shut up.”

“See! That’s what I mean by bitchy.”

Matt opened his mouth to retaliate, but was cut off as two lanky boys rushed up to them. “Hey Matt! Hey Zack!” Alex greeted. “I was wondering where you guys were.”

“The host of the party shouldn’t be hiding in the corner,” Jack Barakat, Alex’s lanky, skunk-haired friend, scolded.

Zack shrugged, stepping back from the group, “He’s got a point. I’m going to go be social; you losers can stay here in the corner, if you’d like.”

“I’m not a loser!” Jack exclaimed, following Zack as he walked away.

“He kind of is,” Alex said, turning to Rian, Evan, and Matt.

“True,” Rian shrugged, looking over at Evan. “C’mon, let’s go find Grieco.”

“Rian!” Matt glared at Rian, knowing he was trying to leave him alone with Alex. Rian just winked at him and tugged Evan away, leaving Matt alone with the younger boy.

“Matt, come on! Let’s go dance. You can’t be a loner over here the whole party,” Alex insisted, grabbing Matt by the wrist and pulling him over to the rest of the people.

Matt sighed, allowing Alex to pull him along, “Maybe I want to be a loner!”

“Well, that’s too bad, because you’re coming with me.”

--------------------

Once Matt realized Alex wasn’t going to leave him alone for the rest of the night, he figured it was as good a time as any to start drinking. By the end of the night, Matt was still only partially drunk; it took a lot for him to be completely wasted, and he didn’t feel the need to do so anyway. A little alcohol in his system was good enough. Alex, on the other hand, was a little more drunk than Matt after the same amount of drinks. Matt had cut him off after that, not wanting to see the kid get wasted. Alex hadn’t protested, which was good. If he had started fighting him over it, Matt would have left him by now.

But he hadn’t; he’d stuck with Alex all night. He had to admit that when he wasn’t stuck with Alex for tutoring, he was actually pretty cool. He’d been so focused on being annoyed at him for the last few weeks, he hadn’t taken a chance to get to know him.

It was about eleven-thirty, and some people, including Matt and Alex, had been dancing and goofing off in the middle of the basement. Everyone started to disperse, leaving to go home or talking in smaller groups. Matt wasn’t sure where Zack, Rian, or Evan were; he hadn’t seen much of them since the beginning of the party. Alex tugged on Matt’s arm to pull him into the back corner of the basement, where he had been earlier.

“What, Alex?” Matt asked, turning to look up at the taller boy. He was caught off guard as Alex pressed his lips against his. Holy shit! Matt almost pulled away, but pushed his lips against Alex’s harder instead. What? He hadn’t been kissed in quite a while – he was going to take what he could get. Plus it was Alex; if it was some random guy, he’d have knocked him out already.

Alex pulled away suddenly, guilt washing over his face as he looked at Matt. “Shit. I-I’m sorry.” Matt opened his mouth to respond, but no words came out. His head was still spinning from the kiss. Alex took this as a bad thing, biting his lip, “Sorry. I’m gonna g-go...”

Alex rushed away before Matt could stop him, running up the stairs. Matt turned to look around the room, and saw Zack staring at him with a knowing smirk. Matt shook his head, trudging upstairs. When he didn’t find Alex, he grabbed his car keys and headed out to his car. He could make the drive home without killing anyone; he wasn’t completely drunk. He got into his car, sitting there for a few minutes just to think. There was no way Alex kissed him on purpose. Hell, the kid was drunk. His judgment was off. He didn’t actually mean to kiss Matt... did he?

And the worst part of it all was that Matt had really liked it.

--------------------

Matt and Alex didn’t speak to each other for four days after the party. By the time their next tutoring session rolled around, Matt had nearly forgotten about it – until Alex showed up at his door that Wednesday afternoon. Matt let him inside, and the two boys silently sat down at the kitchen table. Matt finally cleared his throat, speaking up, “What do you need to work on?” His voice came out a little squeakier than usual, and his face flushed pink as Alex glanced up at him.

“Algebra,” Alex finally replied, pulling his book out of his backpack. “I think I know most of it, though.”

“Really?” Matt asked, surprised. Alex usually asked for help, even when he did know the stuff.

“Well, yeah; you have been teaching me. I actually do remember some of the stuff you say to me, despite what you think,” Alex chuckled, lightening the mood a bit.

Matt shrugged, holding his hands up in defense, “Sorry for thinking that you needed help during a tutoring session.”

“I’ve got a good tutor,” Alex shrugged also, glancing up at Matt for a moment before looking back down at his work.

Alex worked quietly on his homework for the most part, only asking Matt for help on a few problems. It wasn’t until the end of his homework assignment that he needed more help. “Am I doing this right?” he asked, after Matt had explained how to do the problem.

Matt scooted closer to look at the work, reaching out to point at the paper. “That should be an addition sign,” he said. Alex reached out to fix it, his hand brushing against Matt’s. Matt pulled his hand away as it tingled. Dammit, Matt. Focus. You’re supposed to be tutoring.

After they had finished the tutoring session for the day and walked over near the front door, Alex finally addressed the problem they had both been avoiding. “Flyzik, about that party...”

“If it was a drunk kiss, I totally understand,” Matt interrupted, looking up at Alex. “I’ve had my fair share of those.”

Alex shook his head, his cheeks blushing as he did so. “No, it actually wasn’t. That’s what I wanted to tell you,” he said in a quieter voice.

“Oh.”

“Yeah... I’m sorry. I just- I just figured you’d be less likely to punch me in the face or something if I did it at the party,” Alex sighed.

Matt raised an eyebrow, “Whoa, wait; you wanted to do it before then?”

“Well I thought you were pretty cute when I first met you, and of course those natural hormones kicked in. But yeah, I kind of like you. For a week or two, now,” Alex admitted, blushing harder. He didn’t like being mushy like this. It went against his obnoxious attitude.

“Gaskarth, are you being serious right now? Or are you fucking with me?” Matt asked hesitantly.

Alex shook his head quickly, “No, I’m serious. Hell, that’s the only reason I went to the party to begin with. When you mentioned that you were going, I mentally decided I was going to go too. Sure, Zack invited me, but other than that the party would have been pretty lame without you there for me to bother.”

“I see,” Matt looked at him curiously.

“Not that I just want to bother you... it’s just my way of being friendly,” Alex said.

“I’ve definitely noticed you being obnoxious, if that’s what you’re trying to suggest.”

Alex shrugged innocently, “It’s my way of life.” Matt didn’t respond, and he continued, “Anyway, if you didn’t like it, I really am sorry. I can go find a different tutor if it’s gonna be awkward.”

“No,” Matt said abruptly, reaching out to grab Alex’s wrist as he began to turn away. Alex turned to face him, a slight smile tugging at his lips. “It’s fine; I definitely want to keep being your tutor.”

“I was kind of hoping you’d like to be something more than that,” Alex said with a little more confidence, looking at Matt hopefully.

“Like... what?” Matt asked, teasingly. He knew what Alex wanted to say, but he wanted to hear it out loud.

“Like, my boyfriend?” Alex looked both scared and hopeful as he waited for Matt to answer, and Matt chuckled.

“Sure. I think we could give that a shot,” Matt smiled warmly, leaning up to kiss Alex on the cheek softly.

Alex grinned, “Seriously?”

“Seriously,” Matt repeated with a chuckle, “I mean, who else has the patience to put up with you?”