Fall Away

"Yo Lex what's the history homework?" Jack asked from his seat on the bed.

The other looked up from the window seat and rolled his eyes. "It's your class Jack, you should know this stuff- I don't even need any of this."

"Just answer the question sweetheart,” Jack stated, smirking.

"Pages fifty six to sixty three, you dickwad," Alex mumbled, flipping a page, and running a hand through his hair before shaking it lightly.

"Now, don't be that way cutie." Jack flipped the textbook open, going to the section he’d been told to, and biting the cap of his pen as he scanned over the contents of the first page.

Alex blushed and ducked his head before looking back down at the book in his lap. He really was adorable in Jack's opinion.

"Whatcha reading, sexy?" That seemed to hit a nerve because Alex didn't just blush; he turned bright red and sputtered, trying to form a response. Jack tugged on the string of his hoodie as he watched the caramel-haired boy look away uncomfortably. When he did meet Jack's gaze he was considerably less red but still slightly pink.

"Jane Eyre. It's for my school I've been trying to find out what they're all studying so I don't get left back when I wake up."

There was suddenly an uncomfortable silence as he realized that he might not even wake up. Jack noticed and immediately tried to dispel the awkwardness in the only way he knew.

"Come sit next to me, it's hard to look at your crotch from this far away."

Of course: a dick joke. It made Alex laugh though and he hopped off the window seat before sitting down beside Jack, so Jack's way with words once again prevailed. He did leave a considerable distance between the two, however, and Jack wondered for a moment if the ghost was scared of him. He ignored that thought though and only shuffled closer to a blushing Alex, before placing his textbook on his lap.

"Hey Alex can you tutor me?"

"No," Alex replied without even looking up from the page.

Jack sighed before looking down at the page of his own book. The words simply swam together and formed waves of black ink as he stared at the paper. This is what being on LSD must be like, he thought. It was hard to concentrate beside Alex; it really wasn't his fault. The last week the two had been inseparable, with Alex following Jack to and from school and staying when he hung out with friends, only leaving when Jack was in the shower, changing, or with family and of course when he was sleeping. It was an unspoken agreement that Alex was to be around and every once in a while when busy Jack would look up to search for Alex just to see that he hadn't run off or disappeared.

"Stop staring at me; I know I'm hot but you have work to do." Jack was startled out of his thoughts only to find that he had in fact been staring at Alex who was now giving him a smirk. "We can always fuck to get rid of all our built up sexual tension," he continued.

Jack's mouth fell open in surprise. "What happened to blushing Alex from five minutes ago?"

"I buried him under all the desire I feel for you," he winked slowly, biting his lip and licking the area seconds later. Jack's eyes were stuck on his wet pink bottom lip until Alex coughed quietly, giggling. "We should kiss now," he whispered.

Jack nodded slowly, still staring at his lips before the meaning behind his words sank in and his nodding turned into frantic head shaking. Alex laughed loudly.

"What?” Jack frowned before looking down at his book, trying to read. “Shut the fuck up ghost boy."

Alex shrugged before he started humming softly, kicking his legs into the air. Jack's eyes strayed to the long denim clad legs, admiring their shape, before the tune of the humming registered in his brain.

"Wait- sing what you're humming," he instructed.

Alex looked up shyly, before clearing his throat and softly singing:

"I'll get over you, I know I will,
I'll pretend my ship's not sinking,
and I'll tell myself I'm over you,
cause I'm the king of wishful thinking."

Jack stared in shock, trying to find the right words to explain, "Jesus Christ you are an amazing singer, I think I want to marry your voice."

Alex blushed before recovering quickly and smirking. "Thanks, my moaning is pretty hot. Y'know, I heard singers do it louder."

Jack smiled, "I'll be sure to keep that theory in mind and maybe one day I'll test it." He stared at Alex with a serious look on his face before they both burst into laughter.

Jack tugged on his sleeves, glancing down at his hands. "But anyway it's cool that you listen to New Found Glory."

"Who?"

Jack stared in shock at Alex who looked just as confused.

He started to explain: "You know, the song”-

"I came up with it," Alex interrupted.

Jack almost choked on his spit because he simply wasn't sure whether to laugh or be worried about the soul's mental health. "Dude I'm not retarded, I listen to the band too, it's their song."

The ghost shook his head slowly, looking as confused as ever. Jack sighed before standing up and walking over to his desk and stopping in front of the cd rack. He scanned the sides until he found the one he was looking for. He pulled out the cd case and opened it before taking out the cd. Jack walked over to his stereo system and turned it on, placing the cd inside. After skipping around a few tracks and adjusting the volume, he left it to play and walked back to Alex, taking a seat beside him. The first few lines were sung and Alex's face remained blank until his face dawned with recognition at the chorus, followed by a look of guilt and shame.

"Holy shit.” He listened to a few more seconds, before continuing, “I forgot this band and this song! When it appeared in my head suddenly I was wondering why the words came to me so easily yet I just chalked it up to inspiration but, oh man, it's not my song. I am so dumb." He pressed his hand to his eyes, looking so embarrassed that Jack decided to hold in the laughter he knew was about to spill out. Once the urge was gone he wrapped an arm around Alex's shoulders, pulling him in.

"Hey it's okay, it's just a dumb mistake,” Jack tried to reassure the boy.

He shook his head. "I didn't even recognize a band I probably listened to before. I probably know more bands and maybe I even know the bands you've been playing but I completely dismissed it and didn’t think twice."

"Shit, you mean you don't even remember your music?" Jack grew worried, he didn’t know what he’d do if he lost his music.

"I only remember stuff after something triggers it, like now I remember that New Found Glory is one of my favorite bands but I can't remember the other ones." He stared at the ground sadly.

Jack suddenly had an idea which actually made sense for once. He bounced up excitedly. "I'll make you a deal. You tutor me in my homework and I'll tutor you in music and other stuff you need to remember."

Alex thought about it for a moment, shaking his hair out of his eyes. "But it's a lot easier to show me a song and sit beside me until I remember than me trying to teach an idiot like you about the communists."

Jack feigned a look of hurt. "Baby, don't hurt me like that."

Alex rested his head on Jack's shoulder carefully as if worried to disturb the balance they’d created, "Fine." It was silent for a moment as they both thought about the recent events.

"Hey you said you thought you came up with the song from inspiration, what was it?" Jack asked, looking down at Alex fondly.

Alex looked up again, smiling softly. Without thinking it through, he blurted out the answer: "You."

Jack's eyebrows furrowed as he thought about it, before giving a small smile. "You know, you might be the king of wishful thinking, but I don't want you to get over me. I quite like making you blush."

The ghost smiled brightly, showing his teeth, and hooked his chin over Jack’s shoulder, before he realized their close proximity. Jack seemed to understand at the same time but did nothing to separate them even though it would be fairly easy to take his arm off from around Alex. The two stared at each other; dark brown eyes meeting lighter caramel eyes. There was a certain electricity in the air and Jack’s arm slid off of Alex’s shoulder on its own. He couldn’t register what his body was doing; it was as if Alex had him under some ghostly spell as their faces inched closer and their breath mingled in the small space between their lips. Alex carefully walked his hand over to Jack’s, laying it on top, before lacing their fingers together. The contact was too much for Jack, however, and he felt a jolt of heat spark up his arm, causing him to leap back on the bed, cradling his hand to his chest.

“You- You tried to kiss me!” Jack whispered, bewildered, as he stared at his hand. There were goose bumps lining his arm and the little hairs were stood up high from the very first contact the two boys had ever had.

“Sorry,” Alex blurted out suddenly. “I didn’t think touching you would have such a big effect. I’ve done it before.”

“But this is the first time I’ve ever been aware of it,” Jack proclaimed, glaring at Alex. He sighed loudly, standing up, and grabbed a leather jacket off a chair near his computer desk. “I’m going out, there was supposed to be a party at Jonathan’s house or something.” He walked out of the room, only to come back in seconds later to give Alex, who was still sitting in shock on the bed, a curious look. “You coming or not?”