Forget Yesterday

The last three days had been hectic for Alex. Not with anything to do with his own life, but with Jack’s. Ever since Jack told him the news that Charlotte had died, Alex’s time had been a whirlwind, spent between consoling Jack over the phone and in person, as well as a mixture of working at Vinny’s shop and talking to Vinny about the situation there. Jack was a mess, there was no doubt about it, but he was coping as best as he could. In fact, Jack was at Charlotte’s old place for three days, sorting out her old things with her parents as well as packing up Emma’s belongings, before bringing Emma back to his house permanently. That would be a big change, that’s for sure.

But Alex would stand by Jack, he knew that much. He’d never felt anything for anyone like he felt for Jack, so there was no way Alex would abandon him now. Jack needed him, and Alex wasn’t going to let him down.

However, today Alex needed to let off some steam, relax on his day off work. Rian was busy with work and with Vinny, but Zack wasn’t working either so Alex headed over to Zack and Matt’s house to chill out.

“So how are you dealing with everything?” Zack asked, handing Alex a cup of tea.

“With Charlotte’s death? I didn’t know her, only through Jack talking about her, but Jack’s really torn up about it which is completely and utterly understandably, so I’m just trying to be there for him, I guess,”

“How’s that going?” Zack asked with a sad smile.

“As well as it can, I suppose. I’ve never dealt with death of a loved one before, so I can’t relate to it, but I’m doing my best,” Alex shrugged honestly.

“And Jack’s bringing Emma back here in 2 days time, right?” Zack asked.

“Mmhmm, he’s over there now packing up her stuff. That will be hard for him. It’ll be a struggle at first because he’s not used to having her around 24/7, but he’ll get used to it. I don’t know what I’m going to do though,”

“What do you mean?” Zack frowned.

Alex swallowed heavily, looking down at his hands briefly. There was a lot going on in his head. He might as well let it all out.

“Well, this will change Jack and I’s relationship. I’m not being selfish, I swear, but it will. Jack has more important priorities than me now, and it’ll affect us. I don’t know whether it’ll be in a good or bad way, but it will affect us. Also, Emma’s going to be thrust into my life too, because I’m with Jack, and I’ve never been around children so much. I don’t want to upset her, or say the wrong thing, or make her feel like I’m invading their lives, I just…I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Alex admitted.

“Have you told Jack any of this?” Zack asked.

“No,” Alex said immediately, “he’s got enough to worry about,”

“I think you should tell him, at some point, or it’s not fair on you. You’re part of his life too, and I know you told him you’d back off but he begged you not to so he’s pulled you into this too. He needs to know,”

“I guess so,” Alex sighed.

“Emma likes you, y’know,” Zack added.

“I know. More than I probably deserve, considering the first time she saw me running away,” Alex said dryly.

“Hey, don’t put yourself down, that was an understandable situation. All you need to do around her is act normal,”

“Act normal?” Alex frowned.

“Yeah, act normal. Emma needs her life to go on as it did, normalcy, balance, or she’ll never be able to stabilise in a new environment. It’s the same as young pups when they’re separated from their moms – they need the same routine they had before, just with different people in it. Emma needs as little change as possible,”

“I can’t believe you compared Emma to a puppy,” Alex snorted.

“I work in a pet store, what do you expect?” Zack mused.

Alex smiled slightly, but nodded. What Zack said made sense. Emma would need a stable home, and he would do anything to help Jack give her that. She’d suffered enough already.

“Thanks, Zack,” Alex said softly.

“No problem. Anything to distract me from Matt,” Zack shrugged.

Woah, what?

“What do you mean?” Alex asked confused.

Zack chewed his bottom lip, before answering.

“You know how a month or so ago I was really worried about Matt? That I thought he was cheating on me? How he’d been acting strangely, talking on the phone at odd times, working weird hours…well, I might have figured out why,” Zack winced.

“You’ve figured it out?!” Alex gasped.

“I know. And it’s not what we think. I, uh, I found a ring in Matt’s jacket pocket. And I’m worried he’s going to propose,”

Alex’s jaw dropped slightly. Propose?!

“Omg really? What would you say?!” Alex asked excitedly.

“I-I don’t know, I haven’t thought about it,” Zack admitted.

“Well, if he asked you when he got back from work today, what would you say?” Alex prompted.

“Today?” Zack frowned.

“Yeah, today. Spur of the moment, caught you off guard, today,” Alex nodded.

Zack sighed.

“I don’t know if I’m ready for marriage. I mean, yeah we’ve been together on and off for 6 years and we’ve had our ups and downs, but I still feel like we’ve got a while to go yet before we settle down properly,” Zack said.

“But…”

“…But I love him. I can’t imagine myself ever being with anyone else and I don’t want to be with anyone else,” Zack added.

The two of them fell silent for a couple of seconds, Zack chewing his bottom lip while Alex thought carefully. In all honesty, he knew deep down that Zack and Matt would get married one day. But that day wasn’t necessarily now. Like Zack said, they have their problems just like any other couple, but they were perfect for each other and anyone who knew them knew that.

“All I can say is, if he asks you just follow you heart. Don’t over think it, just say the first thing that feels right,” Alex said eventually.

Zack thought over the words for a couple of seconds, before nodding. Alex let out a sigh of relief.

“Yeah, okay. That makes sense. Go with my gut instinct, that always works. Thanks Lex,”

“No problem Zack. Let me know what happens yeah?” Alex smiled.

“Trust me, you’ll know,” Zack smiled nervously.

“Alright, enough of this tea. I think we need stronger stuff to get over this sap,” Alex announced.

“I’ve got a bottle of single malt in the kitchen?” Zack chuckled.

“That’s the spirit!”