Running From Lions

Alex awoke the next morning as the sun shone through the window. He looked around and suddenly noticed that his head was positioned on Jacks chest, as if they had been snuggled together while they were sleeping. Groggily, Alex rolled away, not wanting Jack to suspect anything when he woke. Alex stared at the wall for a few moments, his thoughts drawing to Tay, once again. He sighed heavily and tried to ignore the fact that she was always on his mind. Jack suddenly grunted from beside him and yawned, opening his sleepy eyes and stretching out a long “Goooodmorning sunshine!” He smiled at his best friend who lay beside him.
“Hey” Alex smiled. The two boys jumped out of bed and pulled on their clothes. Alex in a long sleeved grey shirt and black skinny jeans. Jack in a short sleeved purple tee, with matching skinnies to Alex. They had bought them together, after all. They raced down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Jacks mother was preparing breakfast. It was almost 11AM and this was the regular routine for the boys on a Saturday morning. Breakfast, video games & then Alex would head home to spend time with his family.
“Pancakes okay?” Joyce Barakat asked the two teenaged boys as they sat down at the table. The boys grunted ‘yes’ and nodded happily. Joyce continued to make the food while questioning the boys.
“Did you have a good sleep?” She asked them cheerfully.
“Amazing” Alex stated, thinking about the position he woke up in. Suddenly he cringed and shook his head, knowing that the reoccurring thoughts that he was having about Jack – needed to disappear, and fast.-
Jack nodded at his mother. “Yeah well, it was nice.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and scrolled through the latest newsfeed on facebook.
“Are we having band practice tomorrow?” Alex asked the younger boy. Jack nodded,
“Yep” He said “Already planned it with Ri and Zack before they left yesterday. It’s all set!”
Alex nodded “cool, I love summer.”
“It’s a shame it won’t last forever” Joyce Barakat interrupted, putting two plates stacked high with pancakes in front of the boys. “Don’t forget, senior year starts in a week!” She smiled cheerfully and added, “Clean up when you’re finished” before she left the kitchen. The boys scarfed down the pancakes, trying to finish the other to the end. Jack pulled out the maple syrup from the cabinet that sat behind him and drowned his breakfast in a sweet sugary taste.
“eww” Alex moaned “that is so much syrup. You’re disgusting.” He grimaced at the sticky mess.
“Whatever faggot!” Jack said laughing and shoving pancakes in his mouth by the forkful.

A half an hour later and the boys were finished washing up the dishes in the sink. Alex looked at the clock, it was about 12:30.
“Hey man” Alex punched his best friend on the shoulder. “No video games today okay? I really gotta go check in with mum, ever since being home again she… well she missed me, and she wasn’t to happy that I slept at your house on my first night back.” Alex laughed, Jack smiled at the boy.
“Well she better expect you to be over here 24/7” He said to Alex. Alex just blushed, his cheeks almost turning to a bright red color. Jack laughed again.
“Dude, no homo” He said, to Alex’s disappointment. Alex faked a laugh and headed towards the front door. He never brought anything to Jack’s house because most of his clothing lived there anyways. He was always leaving clothing here from previous sleepovers that he gave up bringing new stuff altogether. Jack made sure to leave an empty drawer in his room for Alex’s things. It was a sweet gesture, but normal to the pair.
Alex tugged on his bright green vans and hugged his best friend ‘goodbye’, making sure the hug was fast and friendly, not overly sensitive. Yet Alex couldn’t help noticing how perfectly Jack fit in his arms. He sighed and walked out the front door. It closed behind him and he made his way home.

Jack and Alex lived quite close to one-another, Alex’s house being just a few blocks away from Jack’s, so it was always an easy walk home. Passing by Baltimore High on the way. He studied the school as he passed, wondering what it would be like on their first day of senior year, which only started next week! Alex began to worry. He worried about seeing Tay, and quite possibly seeing her with other boys. He didn’t know if he could deal with it. After the night Tay and him had split up, Alex didn’t know what to do with himself. He felt as if he was empty, with no one to complete him anymore, he left his home. He walked along the Baltimore city streets, listening to his ipod and trying to distract himself from the pain he was in. It was almost 2am when Jack found Alex sitting on Thames Street, looking out at the ocean. Jack had received a frantic call from Mrs.Gaskarth at about 12:30, she explained to Jack that Alex wasn’t in bed and that he wasn’t answering his phone, she had no idea where he was. Jack immediately grabbed the keys to his mothers car and raced outside, driving around trying to find his best friend.
Alex didn’t know what to do with himself. He was in tears, fussing and crying when Jack sat down next to him, all alex did was lean into his best friends shoulder and cried. Jack had never seen Alex like this before, so sad, so vulnerable. He just hugged his best friend, and spent the entire night by his side.
In the morning, Isobel decided that Alex needed to spend time away from Baltimore, so she sent him to Los Angeles, to live with his cousins for the summer.

Alex shivered as he walked along Thames, remembering the time him and Jack sat side-by-side. He never wanted to go through that again. He shook his head and moved on down the street. He arrived home at one o’clock exactly.
“Hello!” He called into the small town house he lived in. It was nothing like Jack’s ginormous house, but it was what he liked to call home. He walked through the entrance way and into the living room where he found his mum, drinking tea and reading from a book.
“Hello darling” Isobel smiled at her son from behind her glasses. Alex smiled and joined his parents on the couch.
“How was your night?” She asked him.
“Great” He said happily “Really great, I missed Jack a lot.”
Isobel nodded “He is a great friend isn’t he?” She smiled at her son. “Darling I’ve been thinking, it’s your first week back starting next Monday and... I need to talk to you about something.” Alex sighed heavily and sank back into the couch.
“Yes?” He asked her.
“Please don’t get caught up with that wretched girl again” She stated seriously. Alex laughed at his mum, always looking out for him.
“Mum,” He smiled at her “I won’t, I saw her yesterday and… you don’t have to worry about a thing.” He stood up and kissed his mother on her forehead, smiling he said,
“It’s nice to be home again!” And with that he walked out of the living room and up the stairs, into his own room, where he pulled out his guitar and began strumming a song, a new tune, inspired by his recent home-coming.