Sock Monkeys and Mailboxes

"Hey, Alex?" I called from where I was laying in my bunk.

"What's up, babe?" he asked after a few moments of nothing but the sound of his footsteps as he walked closer to my bunk. He pulled the curtain away a little slowly - probably just in case he thought I was naked or something - before he squatted down to be a little closer to eye level with me.

"I'm bored," I whined, allowing a pout to form on my lips as I put on my best puppy dog eyes. Granted, my eyes were pretty puppy dogesque on a regular basis as it is. With the added finesse, it's hard to say no to me.

Or so I've been told.

"What would you like me to do about that?" he inquired as he sat down on the ground in the middle of the hall, effectively blocking all possible traffic. At least no one was walking towards the back lounge or front area at that time; we were actually the only ones left on the bus since everyone else was already inside the venue, getting ready for the show we had later that night.

"Entertain me!" I exclaimed, dragging out each vowel for all they're worth, and then some.

"What would you like me to do for you, then?" he pushed, seeming partly amused and partly exasperated.

I thought about it for a moment, because, honestly, when I'd called him back here, I thought he'd have something fun to do, sexual or not. "Um.. Play a game with me," I answered slowly, my eyes zeroing in on the wall behind Alex's head as I zoned out slightly.

"What kind of game? We haven't played Mario Kart in a while, if you're up for losing," he half suggested, half joked.

"No," I said with a roll of my eyes. "I don't wanna play video games, I wanna play like a Twenty Questions kind of thing."

He simply stared at me for a few moments before he shook his head. "Hi, I'm Alex, have we met before? You know, I've just been your best friend for ten years and your boyfriend for six, but that's whatever."

"Oh, come on, there has to be something we don't know about each other," I sighed exasperatedly.

"No, I'm pretty sure we know it all by this point," he said with a smirk and a wink as he made to stand back up again.

My mind raced to think of anything we haven't talked about before, and a few moments later, I was spluttering out, "Irrational fears."

Alex stopped moving and his gaze returned to my face. He didn't say anything, just stared at me. "You're afraid of spiders," he said after about sixty seconds of a silent stare down between us.

"And you're scared of death, but those are perfectly rational fears. Have you seen spiders? They're creepy as fuck! Eight eyes, eight legs, hairy and they run and jump and just thinking about them makes me cringe!" I exclaimed as I shuddered.

"You realize that we'd fit under the description of 'hairy' and we 'run' and 'jump' a hell of a lot more than most guys our age," Alex said with a laugh as he repositioned himself back down on the floor, crossing his legs in front of him.

"That's completely beside the point, and you know it," I said with a pout. "Now, are you gonna play with me or not?"

"I don't really think we can consider it a game, per say, since all we'll really be discussing is our 'irrational fears', which I'm not even sure I understand what you mean by that, and I think it should just be ca-," he rambled.

"Are you gonna play with me or not?" I asked again, this time a little firmer than before.

"Sure, baby boy, I'll play this little game with you. Who goes first?" he asked with an endearing sigh, the ghost of a smile gracing his lips as he quirked an eyebrow.

"I dunno," I answered with a shrug. "I think, since this is all my idea, you should go first."

"Fine, but you have to explain what you mean by irrational before I start," he demanded.

"Like.. Fears that are stupid and other people aren't scared of them, it's more or less just you, and you know they're stupid, but you can't help but be scared," I explained, nodding to myself when I was sure that sounded about right.

"Alright, uh.. Okay, I have one. Just don't laugh at me," he said slowly, looking deep into my eyes so I knew that he wasn't kidding.

I reached out to link my left hand with his right, giving it a reassuring squeeze as I leaned out of my bunk to give him a quick kiss. "I promise I won't laugh, Lex, and if I do, you can.."

"Revoke sex rights for a week," he finished, a devilish grin spreading across his face.

I thought about it for a moment before my eyes narrowed. "What do you mean by sex rights?" I asked slowly, looking him over as he shrugged innocently.

"By sex rights, I mean the most you'll get from me is a kiss until this time next week," he answered.

"That's like a punishment to you too," I pointed out, thinking I'd won.

"My sex drive isn't as bad as yours is, baby boy," he replied with a smirk, and I knew he was right. I also knew I could go without laughing at Alex.

"Fair point, which brings me to my end of this. If you laugh at my fear, you have to be ready whenever I am for the next week," I reasoned, mirroring Alex's smirk.

"That's not really a punishment to either of us," he countered, to which I shook me head.

"Your sex drive isn't as bad as mine is, baby."

"Alright, fine, and if we both laugh?"

"Then this was just a good learning experience," I reasoned with a shrug, and he nodded.

"Okay, no one knows this, but.. I'm terrified of Sock Monkeys," he said, a deep blush creeping on his face.

I bit my tongue and held my breath for a few seconds, and when I was sure I was under control - because there is no fucking way in hell I'm losing this - I asked, "Why?"

"I don't know, they're just really creepy. Like, what the fuck is that red thing on their face? Is that supposed to be lips or is their mouth just hanging open? Do they not have jaws? And don't even get me started on their freakishly long limbs!" he visibly cringed.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, pulling the best hurt expression I could possibly manage.

"It looks good on you, baby," he blurt quickly, leaning forward to kiss me. He pulled away and his eyes glazed over slightly as his hand began to shake in my own.

"You're fine, baby," I cooed, bringing his hand up to press a kiss into the back of it. He shook his head quickly to rid himself of his thoughts before his gaze fixed onto my own again.

"Go on, it's your turn," he encouraged, his eyes widening in wonder.

"Well.. Okay, um.. Oh, I'm, uh.. I'm scared of walking past mailboxes.." I mumbled, avoiding eye contact with Alex as my cheeks became painted in red. It's funny how this seemed like something fun to do until now.

"You're scared to.. Wait, hold on a second there, I don't think I heard you correctly. It almost sounded like you said that you're scared to walk by mailboxes," he said slowly, as if he didn't believe me.

"Yes, Alex, that's what I said. I'm scared to walk by mailboxes," I stated deadpan.

We both went silent for a moment and I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. He was staring at me, which would make it like the tenth time today that he's done that, before he burst into laughter. It wasn't even your normal kind of laughter, it was the kind where you're literally gasping for breath, tears rolling down your cheeks.

Somehow in his hysterics, he ended up lying flat on his stomach in the hall, his hand still clutched in mine. His face was buried in his arm and his whole body was shaking uncontrollably.

I started feeling embarrassed, but then I caught sight of Alex's ass through his too tight skinny jeans, and I remembered that even though Alex just learned something insanely stupid about me, I'd get to have my way with him whenever I wanted for the next week.

"Why are you.. Why are you scared of mailboxes?" he finally choked out as he wiped at his cheeks.

"Because what if there's, like, something like a giant ass fucking tarantula hidden inside, and it senses me walk by and then it fucking jumps out to attack me or something? It could happen, Alex!" I whined as his hysterics started back up again, full force.

"It, uh.. It sounds like you've put a lot of thought into this," he mused between fits of laughter.

"Well, I mean, I don't really.."

"Shut up, Jack, you obviously do. That would explain why you're never the one to go and get the mail when we're home!" he exclaimed, as if he'd suddenly learned all the answers to life's problems.

"Yeah, whatever, don't make me find a fucking life size Sock Monkey. I'll put that shit in your bunk when you're out signing things after a show, don't test me, Gaskarth," I warned. I wouldn't actually do something like that to him, but the more I thought about it, the better it'd sound.

How cute would a scared Alex be? Until he'd get pissed at me, of course. The guys would all find out about his fear and tease him until the end of time. Then he'd be sure to tell them about my fear, and I honestly don't know which one is stupider, so they'd probably split up to get us equally. That wouldn't be fun.

Maybe I'd just find a life size one and put it in our bed at home one day when he went out. Then only we would know about it and, sure, he'd be mad at me, but it'd be cute nonetheless.

"I'm sorry, baby boy, I didn't mean to laugh," he cooed, sitting up and leaning in to kiss my nose. "I hope I entertained you enough for now."

With that he stood up and disconnected our hands. Closing the curtain, I heard him take a few steps before I, once again, remembered the little deal we made.

"Hey, Alex?" I whined again, and I heard him sigh as he made his way back over to me. He opened the curtain again, but this time I was naked.

"What the hell are you doing?" he mused, looking me over suspiciously.

I bit my lip to hide my smirk as I answered simply, "You laughed."