I Need a Phone Call. I Need a Rain Coat.

Alex had never wanted to move to Baltimore.

He had been perfectly happy where he was, but his job had relocated him very suddenly. He’d never moved out of his hometown until recently, and he’d been ripped away from his home, his family, his friends, and most importantly, his fiancé. He was twenty-four, and for the first time, he was living alone.

He kept joking around with Jack that he should just move in with him, but he would never actually put him in the position where he would have to choose. Sure, he desperately wanted to live together, but he would never force Jack to drop everything just to be with him. Long-distance sucked, but he wanted Jack to be happy, no matter what it did to him.

Although he’d be lying if he said he was happy.

He’d been in Baltimore for four months now, and Jack hadn’t visited him once, or even mentioned wanting to. Alex was starting to fear they were experiencing the supposedly inevitable drifting apart that so many long-distance couples complain about. They’d Skyped a few times, but mostly, they talked on the phone. The conversations were usually hurried or went to voicemail because they both kept forgetting about time zones; they were three thousand miles and three hours apart.

It was seven PM when Alex got home, which meant it was four on Jack time. It was Jack’s day off, so he’d probably answer. And Alex needed to make that phone call. He just had to hear Jack’s voice right now. He was missing him more than usual today. But as he reached for the phone, it started to ring.

It was Jack.

Alex grinned goofily as he answered. “Hey babe! I was just about to call you!”

Jack chuckled. “I figured you’d just be getting home. Was I right?”

“God, you’re good.” He rolled his eyes. “So guess what. It’s raining in Baltimore.” He mumbled, mostly as a note to himself for later, “I need a rain coat.” He hadn’t expected all the rain here. It rained at least three days every week. When he’d looked up the climate before moving, it made it seem like it rained a whole lot less. This was not what he’d bargained for.

“That’s four days in a row,” Jack laughed. “I bet your hair’s looking awful.”

“Hey! Be nice. My hair is as fabulous as always.” It wasn’t, though. He hadn’t been putting as much effort into his appearance lately. No one to impress, after all.

“I’m sure it is, love. And even if you shaved it, I’d probably still love you.”

“Best compliment I’ve gotten all day.” Sadly enough, it was. “I miss you.”

“I miss you too, Lex. So much.”

“Move in with me!” The usual joking tone was gone this time. He meant it.

“Are you serious?” Jack asked, and Alex could almost see him running a hand through his hair as he asked it.

“Dead serious! Come on, move to Baltimore. I miss waking up to you every day, and—”

“Alex. You know I can’t,” Jack cut in, voice flat. “I’d love to, but I can’t.” His end of the line was filled with cars and voices and noise at that point, and he said, “Look, I’ve gotta go. I’ll catch you later.” And he hung up.

Just like that.

Not even an I love you.

Alex felt his lip quivering as he set his phone down, tears filling his eyes. He knew he was being selfish by asking him to relocate, but he just wanted his Jack back. But Jack didn’t even have time for him. That phone call had been the shortest yet, and he’d been kind of snippy and emotionless toward the end.

He should’ve stayed at home and found another job. But the pay raise had been significant, and he was so sure Jack would eventually join him out here on the east coast. But here he was four months later, and there wasn’t even the slightest hint that Jack wanted to see him at all.

This was what he’d been afraid of since he moved, that their relationship, no matter how strong it was, wouldn’t be able to withstand the miles. It happened to the best couples. Who was to say they were impervious to reality? Was this how it would be? Their conversations would get shorter and less affectionate and further apart, and then communication would all but cease to exist, until they could hardly call themselves a couple anymore?

Surely not…they’d been together for so long, and they were set to get married next year. If one of them was going to break things off, they’d say so, not just let it be an implied breakup.

And now he was over-thinking and freaking himself out. He needed something to distract his brain. He flopped onto the couch, and turned on the TV. Of course, every channel was playing a cheesy chick flick.

If this was a movie, something amazing would happen right about now. Alex would march up to his boss on Monday and tell her he was quitting because he had to move back home to be with his fiancé, his soul mate, his everything. He would give a heart-wrenching speech about it. His boss, secretly being a hopeless romantic and not the ice queen she was initially portrayed as, would be moved to tears and tell him that she’d just received word that there was an opening higher up back at his old office, and that she would give him a stellar recommendation. He’d surprised Jack by showing up three days later.

But this wasn’t a movie, and Alex’s boss was definitely an ice queen.

If this were a movie, everything would work out just the way he wanted it to. He and Jack could be together without complications, and he wouldn’t be terrified they were nearing a split. There would be a little bit of drama in the middle, but because it’s a romantic comedy and not a shitty Nicholas Sparks film, it’d end up all happy and wonderful with perfectly timed jokes and a kiss under the stars.

But again, this wasn’t a movie, and it was far from perfect.

At some point in his sad musing, he fell asleep. But he was woken at 4:17 to somebody knocking on the door.

No idea who the hell would want him at this hour, besides the meth-head two doors down that had tried to sell him various (obviously stolen) items since he moved in, he took his time going to this door.

It wasn’t the friendly neighborhood drug addict, though.

“Jack!” he screamed, flinging his arms around the skinny boy’s neck.

Jack reciprocated, winding his long arms around Alex’s torso. “I missed you,” he breathed in his ear.

When he pulled back, he saw that Jack had a two large suitcases and a duffel bag. “How long are you planning on staying for?” he teased.

“A long time.” When Alex didn’t see what he was getting at, he rushed over what he said next. “I mean, the rest of my stuff is on a moving truck right now. You were serious about me moving in, right?”

“Yes! Of course I was. Oh my god, are you shitting me right now?”

“Nope. As soon as you left, I started hunting jobs out here. After I found one, I started getting all packed and stuff. You’d be surprised how long all of that takes.”

“And all this time, I thought you just didn’t want to talk to me.” He shook his head at himself, then saw the shopping bag in Jack’s hand. “What’s that?”

“Oh, I almost forgot! I bought this for you. You’re probably not attached to the Ravens yet and I know you don’t even like football, but it was the only one I could find…” He trailed off, offering the bag to Alex.

It was a rain coat.