Running From Lions

Alex looked up at his best friend with wide eyes, he didn’t say a word.
“What?” Jack said to him, breaking the silence. Alex just continued to stare at the younger boy who knelt in front of him. Should he say something? Did that kiss mean anything or was it just to comfort Alex? The boy was so confused.
Just then, the doorbell rang and a huge smile lit up Jacks face.
“Food.” Was all he said, he turned and ran for the door. “Don’t worry man I’ll pay!” He said to Alex who was still sitting on the floor. When Jack was out of sight Alex sighed heavily to himself, wiping the remaining tears on his cheeks. He was quite the mess, with millions of thoughts rushing through his head. How could he even begin to understand Jacks intentions? Did he only want to make him feel better, or was there something more going on that Alex just didn’t see? He didn’t understand.

Moments later, Jack bounded into the room with two boxes. He placed one in front of Alex.
“Hawaiian for Lexy,” He smiled happily, “And meat lovers for me!” He opened the box and sat down on the couch before devouring the first piece. Alex just stared longingly at the flat box which lay in front of him. How could he even begin to eat with all these emotions jumbled up on the inside?
“Not hungry?” Jack noticed the way Alex hadn’t even touched his food.
“No…” Alex trailed off. “Just a lot on my mind still I guess.” He sighed again and ran his fingers through his hair, which was now a mess, so much for fixing it perfectly before Jack arrived.
Jack removed his own box of pizza from his lap and positioned himself on the floor beside his best friend.
“Talk” He said simply. Alex looked at Jack with alarm. ‘Talk?’ he thought to himself. ‘how could I talk to the one person who it making me feel like… this!?’ he wanted to scream out loud, or punch something, but he knew that wouldn’t resolve anything, all he could hope for was an understanding best friend. Alex inhaled deeply,
“Do you ever feel,” Alex began “Like… you know this person right? You know them, you’ve known them for what seems like forever, but yet, something happens and… everything changes?” Alex explained, hoping that Jack wouldn’t realize who he was talking with.
Jack looked at his best friend with his deep brown eyes and sighed,
“Yes,” He said slowly “I think that happens to everyone at some point” He raised his eyebrows at Alex. “Is that what’s getting to you Lex?” He asked the older boy who was looking away from him now. Alex didn’t respond right away. “Lex?” Jack repeated, he crawled across the floor so that he was now sitting in front of Alex.
“What’s going on?” Jack said with concern. Alex didn’t have the courage to look into his best friends eyes. How could he have screwed things up so bad? There was no way he could see Jack the way he had before. No longer was Jack his immature best friend… he was everything now. Jack was the only one who could understand Alex through all of his pain. When he was struggling with Tay, or his parents, Jack was always there. When he was trying to figure out a new lyric for a new song but he just couldn’t get it to perfection, Jack was there to make him feel better about it. Jack was always there, no matter what.
“I don’t think you should stay” Alex said suddenly, still unable to find the courage to look at Jack.
“What?” Jack said suddenly. He reached out and grabbed Alex by the chin, forcing him to look the younger boy in the eyes. “Alex what the fuck are you talking about?”
Alex couldn’t handle himself, this was all moving too quickly for him, he wasn’t ready to lose his best friend, yet he knew that if Jack knew the truth… that was exactly what would happen. Alex stood to his feet, Jack followed the boy, not letting him leave the room.
“Alex!” He yelled at his best friend. Alex just stared into Jack’s eyes.
“I can’t do this right now.” He said, he backed up and walked from the room. “I’m sorry Jack, I have to go out… you can stay here. If you want, but I just… I have to go.” And with that Alex quickly put his shoes on, and walked out the door. Jack stood from the door way and watched his best friend race down the street. He wouldn’t go after, him, not again. He knew that there was something going on with Alex, and if Alex couldn’t talk to Jack about it, then there was something seriously wrong.
Jack waited at his best friend’s house. He knew that if Alex’s mom was to come home she would be worried that her son wasn’t there yet. He needed to be there to explain where he had gone. He sighed heavily and trudged up the stairs, maybe there was something in Alex’s room to explain his strange behaviour. He entered the room with ease, having been there many times before. The familiar sent of Alex rose to his nose and he smiled. He always loved that smell. Jack sat down on the older boys bed and buried his head in his hands.
“you are so stupid” he said to himself. He knew that he had caused this mess; he must have freaked Alex out by kissing his forehead. Jack groaned and fell backwards on the soft bed, for weeks now Jack had been trying to hide his slightly romantic feelings for his best friend, but lately It had become more and more difficult. It all started when Alex came back from L.A, Jack opened his door to see his best friend standing there, and he couldn’t help but notice how amazing it felt to see him again. After that, it had all become so clear to Jack. Alex was the one, the one who was always there no matter what. He understood Jack, like no one else. He was the one who was always helping Jack when he couldn’t quite get a riff right on guitar, or when he was having difficulties matching chords to lyrics, Alex and him combined… were invincible. Jack groaned once again.
“And now you’ve gone and messed things up” He moaned out loud. He knew he couldn’t keep this to himself, but it was too risky to explain his feelings towards his best friend. He knew that it would only mess up their friendship. He tried endlessly to focus on girls again, trying to impress every single female who caught his eye, but it didn’t work. Any conversations made were empty, nothing could compare to the way he felt when he was with his best friend, Alex. Jack knew what he had to do, and he wasn’t going to find any answers here in Alex’s room. He scribbled out a note to leave for Alex’s mother, explaining that Alex would be home later that evening. He ran down the stairs and out the door, hoping that his actions would fix this mess that he had created in the first place.