Wanderlust

“So maybe…we can cut back on the trips for a while. Just until the summer. This job is-”

“Okay.”

Jack blinks. “Okay?”

With a shrug, Alex goes back to folding his laundry. “Yep. That’s what I said.”

It was easier than he thought it would be, Jack realizes. He thought for sure that Alex would be annoyed at Jack’s request; that he’d get upset and storm out of the house and tell Jack he’s being selfish. But he underestimated him, once again. Of course Alex is okay with this.

“Thanks, baby,” Jack sighs, wrapping his arms around Alex from behind. “I appreciate it.”

Alex snorts out of amusement. “You act as if I was going to throw a bitch fit and tell you to go to hell. Jack, we’re as good as married.” Jack’s breath hitches. “You’re stuck with me. Sickness, health, better, worse – all that bullshit. And if you want me to chain myself to our house for a few months? So be it.”

“Well, you don’t have to chain yourself to the house,” Jack muses, kissing right behind his ear. “Just this state. This city, more preferably. But I know that’s unrealistic.”

“That’s like asking Zack to not go surfing,” Alex states, pulling away from Jack and gathering up his folded clothes. “You’d be crazy to think he’d go along with it.”

Jack watches him go, smiling fondly and letting out the breath he’d apparently been holding on to. He got the phone call early that morning, when he’d been working on a web design for a customer, from his boss telling him about a new customer who was apparently going to pay big money. It’s an intense design that’ll need a lot of attention and Jack can have it if he’s up for it. And Jack knows he can’t pass it up – but he’s going to need a constant source of reliable internet and that means he can’t just get up one day and fly across the globe to follow his restless boyfriend. If he finishes this design and the customer is satisfied with it, Jack thinks they’ll be set for a while. Money-wise, at least.

Jack’s cell phone vibrates on the kitchen table and he’s instantly reminded of the fact that he’s sort of supposed to be on his way down to the boardwalk already. Daisy is sitting by the front door with her leash already on and she’s wagging her tail and looking at Jack expectantly. He totally forgot about her in his nervousness while confronting Alex.

Slipping on his sneakers that he left near the front door, he shouts, “Hey Lex, I’m going out with Zack! I’ll be back later!” and picks up the other end of the dog’s leash before opening up the front door. Daisy pulls him down the walkway towards the car and Jack has to hurry to pick her up before she starts jumping up and scratching at the door. The last thing Jack needs is Alex complaining about her “ruining his car”.

She sits in the passenger seat for the entire drive down to the boardwalk, sticking her nose out the window and enjoying the smell of the salty air. He meets up with Zack in the parking lot, finding him in his Nike sneakers and ugly basketball shorts that Jack has been trying to convince him to burn since high school.

He hasn’t seen or had a real conversation with Zack since he found out about him and Martin’s little…whatever they have going on. It’s not that Jack doesn’t know what to say, it’s just that he doesn’t really know if Zack knows that he knows. It’s a complicated thing, really.

“So, how’s Martin?” Jack finds himself asking as they start their walk down the boardwalk side by side, Daisy leading the way and taking the time to sniff every weed or other strange object they come across. “I haven’t spoken to him in a few days.”

Zack nods, “Martin’s fine. Really good, actually. I mean, now that I scrubbed him clean of all that glitter, you know.” He elbows Jack in the ribs and smirks and yeah, he knows. “In all seriousness…You’re cool with uh. Me and him?”

“Dude, I don’t care what you and Martin do. Like I told him – as long as you don’t do anything gross while me, Alex or my dog are in the room, it’s all good.”

“Well, about that…I hope you realize that Daisy has no sense of personal space or privacy because while we were-”

“If you finish that sentence, you’re going over the railing and into that sand dune.”

And that keeps Zack’s mouth shut for a little while. They walk the length of the boardwalk and then turn to walk back, Daisy slowing down towards the end and looking tired. This is a good thing, Jack acknowledges, because when they get home she’ll be so tired that she’ll just lay down and sleep for a while and Alex won’t be able to complain about anything. He hopes, at least.

They’re sitting on one of the benches, overlooking the water, when Zack speaks again. He’s got both feet up on the railing in front of him, watching Daisy drink water out of Jack’s cupped hands. “So, you think you’re going to be sticking around for a little while?” he asks, biting his lip as if he’s not sure he wants to hear the answer. “Like, you’re not going to be going on any impromptu vacations for a bit…right?”

“Right,” Jack agrees, but he can’t help frowning. He’s always felt bad about leaving so much and handing off his responsibilities to his friends and never seeing them. “I spoke to Alex this morning, actually. I uh, got this client and I really need to spend time on the design so I told Alex we can’t go away for a while and he took it well so. I should be sticking around for a few months.”

“Oh, good,” Zack laughs, leaning back on the bench, “Cause seriously, I miss having you around all the time.”

It’s just a downside to dating Alex, Jack realizes. And there are downsides to dating anybody, really. You just have to find enough upsides to make up for it. And Alex has a lot of upsides. “Me too. Actually…I wanna ask you…if you were going to propose to someone like Alex, how would you do it?”

“Shit…Am I going to have to buy a suit sometime in the near future?”

“If I can figure out how to propose? Yeah, definitely in the near future.”

*

The next morning, Jack wakes up alone. He rolls over, looks at his alarm and finds that it’s nearly five in the morning, and Alex’s side of the bed is very obviously slept in and Jack has no idea what to do first. He has half a mind to just go back to bed because this is insane. He told Alex that they had to stay put for a while. Why can’t he stick to that? Why does he have to be going somewhere every other day? Why-

“Did I wake you up?”

Jack flips back over, eyes finding Alex standing in the doorway in boxers and one of Jack’s t-shirts. He smiles when he sees he’s got Jack’s attention and jumps onto the end of the bed.

“Couldn’t sleep. Had to pee. Sorry if I woke you,” he explains as he slides back underneath the covers, grabbing Jack’s arm and wrapping it around himself. “I set your alarm for nine because you have work to get done. So go back to sleep.”

He snuggles into Jack’s side and tangles their legs together and Jack has no idea what just happened. He thought for sure Alex was gone – he can’t even remember the last time he woke up alone and Alex was still in the house. He’s pretty sure it’s never happened. But here he is, keeping his word and holding Jack together. His conversation with Zack from yesterday afternoon comes back to mind and yeah, it’s gotta happen soon.