Belle et la Bête

Alex walked briskly down the sidewalk towards his new job—he was early, but it was also his first day, and his new manager, Matt, had said that he'd need to be there a half hour before his shift would normally start so that he could be shown the ropes. Matt had also said something about just asking for some guy named Jack to show him around once he walked in, and he'd also apologized profusely. Alex wasn't really sure why he'd done that, considering he wouldn't say specifically what the problem with Jack was, but he figured it couldn't be all that bad. Really, if this 'Jack' was so horrible, why would he even still have a job at CD's 'R' Us? Stupid name for a music shop, no doubt, but it was the only music store hiring in the city, and Alex refused to work anywhere that wasn't completely music oriented.

Suddenly, a bell rang out over his head, signaling that he'd finally arrived at his destination. The tinkling pulled him from his thoughts, and he partially jumped to attention. With a quick glance around, he noticed three other men around his age to just be walking among the aisles rather lazily. Alex headed towards the front counter, which, unlike the rest of the store, was surprisingly empty. He took one more look around before shrugging to himself and ringing the small bell positioned on the counter. A few moments passed, and nothing happened, so he decided to try again, and again, and again.

“Shut up, will you? I heard you the first hundred 'dings'!”

Alex jumped slightly at the sound of the voice as a light blush crept onto his cheeks. Now standing across the counter in front of him was one of the three guys who'd been lounging around. He was a few inches taller than Alex—which was insanely tall, considering the caramel haired man was a steady six feet, at the very least. The new guy's hair was styled similarly to Alex's, but it was a nice, deep raven-colored. He was thin, especially for his height, but the lanky features and big nose that he sported worked wonderfully. His lips, though as impossibly thin as they were, were twisted into a deep scowl, which reached his glaring, brown eyes, his thick eyebrows—which were also like Alex's—arched questioningly.

Just from looking at him, Alex got the vibe that he was kind of, maybe, just a little bit of a jerk. He was attractive on the outside, but not so much on the inside. Basically, he was the complete opposite of Alex personality-wise, whom everyone felt the need to call beautiful. It was not only because of his good looks that they called him that, but it was also because of his kind heart. Alex himself thought it was a little odd to be called beautiful, but a compliment is a compliment, so he wasn't going to complain.

“Well? Are you just going to stand there and gawk, or are you going to tell me what you want?” the guy snapped, a huff of annoyance leaving his lips.

“Oh, uh... Yeah, Matt hired me a few days ago. He said my shift starts in, like, a half hour from now, and that I'd need to get here a little earlier than I usually would because I'd need to be shown around by Jack?” Alex more questioned than stated, a friendly smile pulling at his lips.

“Of course he'd say that I'd be the one to show you around,” the guy, Jack, grumbled moodily under his breath as he stepped from behind the counter once more. “Let's go then, I don't have all day.”

Alex nodded even though Jack had his back to him and quickly scurried after the taller man, not needing to get on his bad side even more so than he already was.

“Listen up and listen good because I'm not going to be repeating myself,” Jack said. “Basically, we don't have specific jobs. If you see something that needs to be done, do it. The only thing is, don't touch the register; that is my job specifically. Before we go in the back, see those two guys over there?”

Alex looked to where Jack had started pointing, noticing the other two guys he'd seen earlier, and he turned back to nod in acknowledgment.

“The really big one is Zack, the slightly big one is Rian. If you need anything after this, ask them. Moving on,” Jack said as he pushed through a door and walked into the back of the store. “Lunch breaks are a half hour long, whenever you want it, just let someone know before you leave. Here's your locker, I don't know the combo, so don't bother asking me for it.”

“Actually, Matt gave me a—” Alex started, his hand moving to reach into his back pocket.

“I don't care, whatever-your-name-is,” Jack said with an annoyed sigh.

“It's A—”

“I. Don't. Care. So that's pretty much it, I'm sure you know how to find a certain band in a music shop, and if you don't, you should just quit now. If you need me for anything, don't.” With that, Jack walked back out to the front of the store, leaving Alex alone in the back, slightly confused and a little hurt. He wasn't going to let Jack's nonacceptance of him get him down that easily, though.

A quick sigh of his own fell from Alex's lips as he closed the distance between himself and his locker. After making sure the combination worked properly, he closed it back up and walked out to the front. He wasn't all too sure what to do, per se, but he decided he might try and introduce himself to the other guys, Rian and Zack.

“Hey, can I help you with anything?” one of the two asked—Alex couldn't remember which was which, honestly—smiling widely as Alex approached a little nervously. He didn't seem as bad as Jack, though, so that was a good thing.

“Well, I just started working here; I figured I'd come say hi. Jack said you both work here, too? Well, not in so many words, but I think that's what he was trying to get across,” Alex explained, a smile of his own tugging at his lips.

“Oh, cool, I'm Rian, and that's Zack. Don't worry, we don't bite. Was he really that bad?”

“Well, I mean, I guess it all depends on what you mean by 'bad'. He wasn't really all that welcoming, but it's whatever,” Alex said with a shrug.

“Don't mind him,” Zack mumbled shyly as he walked up out of nowhere, “he's like that with everyone.”

That, of course, got Alex's attention, his curiosity spiking through the roof. People aren't just rude for no reason at all, right? He didn't think so, but he figured it wouldn't be right to ask since it was his first day. Instead, he was going to find out what it was from Jack himself, he just had to give it some time, and now that he worked here, it wouldn't be much of a problem.

“Come on, we'll give you a tour of the floor,” Rian offered as he threw an arm around Alex's shoulder, leading the slightly taller man away from where he was standing. Alex took a few steps and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jack watching him from where he was sitting, once again, behind the counter. He wasn't scowling anymore, but when he caught the blonde's gaze, he looked away quickly. That was when Alex decided he'd find out what was up with him if it was the absolute last thing he ever did. He had to.

------

Months passed, and Alex had only gotten a little closer with Jack. Getting a little closer, of course, meant that the taller of the two no longer gave him death glares whenever they made eye contact, and he could also hold a small conversation without snapping. It wouldn't seem like much to anyone else, but to Alex, it was amazing progress nonetheless.

Rian and Zack could see that their friend felt something for Alex, and they wanted to bring it up to the cashier, but it was kind of hard when he'd always deny it and throw insults their way. Jack had some bad history with an ex, and now he denied everything that involved having feelings. Feelings made you weak, and that was one thing Jack was no longer.

Jack knew he was attracted to his newest co-worker, and that thought alone scared him. He couldn't afford to be used by someone the way Josh had used him—turns out he'd been cheating from early on in their two year relationship, and Jack only found out about it on the night he'd proposed. He'd definitely not been expecting to hear, “Jack, I'm cheating,” in place of a, “Yes!” There was no way he'd ever let that happen to him again, and what better way to assure he stayed away from getting hurt than by not admitting how he felt? He voiced this to his only three friends—Rian, Zack and Matt—when they'd tried talking to him about Alex, and they'd all simply scoffed at his overly stupid explanation; blocking people out wasn't the way to go, but Jack just didn't seem to understand that.

“Alex isn't Josh, Jack,” Rian had pushed. “If you'd just give him something of a chance, y'know, maybe act a little friendlier every now and again, you'd see it for yourself. He must be somewhat attracted to you if he hasn't quit yet.”

“Whatever,” was Jack's cleverly muttered response as he shook his head no.

“Well, the least you could do is try to be nice to him. You're not a jerk to us, you don't need to be a jerk to him. He's put up with you for, what, five months now? He deserves some sort of kindness from you,” Matt said. “Do it or you're fired.”

They all knew Matt was simply joking, but Jack still didn't want to lose even just one of the few people who had stuck with him for so long, so the next morning, when Alex walked in and repeated his daily routine of saying 'hello' and smiling at the taller, he returned the saying as well as the gesture.

Alex visibly faltered because, yeah, he was certainly not expecting anything of the sort. At least, not for a little while longer. Sure, he could talk to Jack fleetingly every now and again without getting any negative effects thrown in the mix, but he'd never gotten an actual smile from the other man. He'd never even gotten a fake one. Instead of saying anything else, he'd simply headed into the back to throw his hoodie in his locker. Zack was in there as well, and while he never really spoke too much, he was an awesome listener; he was someone Alex could use at just that moment.

“Dude, Jack just smiled at me. Is he okay?” he'd inquired. Zack's eyes widened momentarily before a sly smile spread across his face.

“I don't know, maybe you should go and try to talk to him,” was the answer Alex received in reply—the most Zack had ever said in one sentence—before the bigger of the two walked out, leaving a confused Alex alone to his own devices.

Alex decided to leave Jack alone on that day, so as to not push his luck. His good mood was surely bound to fade by the next day, so what would be the point in getting his hopes up?

The next day, however, the process was repeated. The number of hateful looks Alex would be given seemed to decrease every day afterward until they'd vanished completely. After a while, he tried to talk with Jack, and he was quite pleasantly surprised when they got more than a few sentences out and the raven-haired man didn't go off on him like some sort of time-bomb.

“Have you guys noticed anything different about Jack lately?” Alex pondered aloud to Rian and Zack, who shared a quick, knowing glance amongst themselves. They noticed, and they'd also had to go quite a few nights just listening to their friend gush like the gay man he is about how 'sweet' and 'special' and 'perfect' Jack thought Alex was. It was literally like an overnight switch, but they weren't going to question it. Once Jack had started letting Alex in, it was like he'd done a complete one-eighty with his attitude.

“Well, now that you mention it, I suppose I have,” Rian mused, his gaze moving to the ceiling as though he were in deep thought. He was willing to give Jack as much time as he needed to just make a move, but Zack was tired of all the waiting. It was pretty inevitable at this point anyways, right?

“He likes you, bro,” the biggest of the three muttered, rolling his eyes as Rian groaned his frustrations with the other out.

Alex wasn't entirely sure what to do with the information he'd been given, mainly because he didn't think it was possible for Jack to like anything. Would Rian and Zack lie to him? Were they just messing around? Those sounded like some pretty much more reasonable explanations.

“Chill, man, you don't have to do anything about it,” Rian interjected quickly before Alex could even think of something witty to say. “Just let him come to you; he's close to cracking now, you have to let him come to terms with things. It's hard for him.”

“Why is it so hard, though?” was the first thing that Alex blurt, and he quickly pursed his lips as though that would somehow make the words come back to him.

“Well, it all started about four years ago,” Rian began, not even seeming fazed by the directness of the question, or the fact that it was really none of his business in the first place. The way he saw it, Jack was his best friend and it was fine to just go talk about the younger's past. Alex would eventually have to find out at some point, and it'd probably help if he knew everything beforehand. Not like Jack would willingly tell him.

When Rian's story came to an end, Alex finally understood what the problem had been all along; he'd probably become closed off and cold-hearted if that happened to him, too. The fact of the matter, though, was that Alex still didn't know if Jack had feelings for him or not. He could only think of one way to find out, and he was a little worried that his plan—which he didn't even voice to the other two—sounded stupid, but he wasn't going to back out.

------

The very next day, Alex arrived a bit earlier than he normally would, something he hadn't done since his first day. “Morning, Jacky,” he chirped as he walked through the door, using the nickname he knew the younger liked—he can't recall when or how he'd found out that little piece of information, but he didn't think it was all too important anyway. As long as Jack enjoyed being called that, who really cared?

“Hey, Lexy,” Jack called from where he was leaning into the counter, a smile lighting up his face when he saw the elder. “You're early.”

“Yep, I know. I couldn't wait to talk to you,” Alex replied smoothly, sending his most dazzling half-smile right back; no one has ever been able to resist it before.

Jack's cheeks darkened just the slightest, and his grin seemed to widen just a bit, too. Well, it was all going according to plan so far.

“So,” Alex started as he stepped closer to the counter, trying to be nonchalant about his next move. “Me, Rian and Zack have agreed that you seem a lot happier lately. They won't tell me why, though—apparently they know already? You should let me in on the secret.”

Jack seemed to deflate as his teeth sunk into his bottom lip. He thought about it as he looked Alex over, deciding that giving some vague details about why he'd started acting a little better to everyone couldn't hurt all too much.

“It's nothing, really. I just kinda started talking to this guy, and I don't know. I think there's something there, y'know?” he stated with as casual a shrug he could muster.

“Really now? What's he like?” Alex pushed, stepping yet another few feet closer.

“Um... Tall, not too toned like Rian and Zack, uh...” Jack more or less stuttered, his mind racing for words that would describe the man standing before him without making it all too obvious. What were the actual odds of his feelings being returned? They were really not all that great, especially with how he'd acted towards the elder for the first few months of them even knowing each other. “He's, uh, beautiful,” Jack finally decided, his gaze rezoning in on the other. “Inside and outside.”

With that, Alex figured he should just take a leap and go for it. Sure, he could be wrong, which would really suck and cause all friendliness between them to turn awkward rather quickly, but he didn't have all that much to lose in the first place.

“Yep, there's definitely something there, Jacky,” Alex said, expression turning serious.

“How do you know?” Jack questioned, his face turning a little pale.

“I don't know, maybe it was the whole 'Beauty and the Beast' transformation that started when we actually began talking, but that could also just be me,” Alex said with a gentle laugh. “Seriously, you were kinda obvious. Don't worry, it's cute.”

Jack still didn't know whether he should feel relieved now that Alex knew about his whole high school crush on him or not, but all he could stammer out was a, “So what do we do about this now?”

“I don't know,” Alex mumbled, more to himself than anything as he tried to recall the movie he hadn't seen in a good few years. “I can't really remember what happens next.”

“Pretty sure Beauty kissed Beast after that,” Jack muttered before he could even stop and think about his choice of words.

Alex, following Jack's example of not thinking before doing things, shrugged and closed that last little bit of distance between himself and the younger. Jack was still leaning over the counter, as he had been earlier, and he was a bit too surprised by Alex's next actions to move.

Their lips had just barely connected when the door above the entrance tinkled.

“Finally,” Zack shouted in excitement, successfully startling the other two, who pulled apart almost immediately at the sound of his booming voice.

“Really didn't think your voice went that loud,” Rian mused as he walked in behind Zack, sending a quick smile at their slightly embarrassed friends. “We'll just be in the back then. Try and be ready to, y'know, work in, say, five minutes?” With a wink, he disappeared into the backroom, practically dragging Zack behind him.

This time, it was Alex to ask the infamous, “What now?”

“They get, like, married after that,” Jack explained. He wasn't sure how he remembered that, considering he'd actually sat and watched the movie maybe all of once in his life.

“How about we slow down for a second,” Alex said with a chuckle. “Hear me out before you say anything, but I think we should go on a few dates and then become official. After that, we, I don't know, move in together, if things work out for a while, and then, if things still continue to go strong, we discuss plans for marriage? How does that sound?”

Jack simply smiled and nodded in agreement before leaning in to press one more quick peck on Alex's lips. “I think that sounds like a pretty good plan.”

------

Alex and Jack did eventually get married, and Rian and Zack were probably the most emotional of all the wedding's attendants. Jack seemed to go through life with a new found joy, and Alex was always right with him, every single step of the way. With the return of Fall Out Boy and the demise of My Chemical Romance, CD's 'R' Us seemed to be constantly flooded with customers. All in all, the world was better, and Jack would swear on his very life that it was all because of Alex walking into, well, his life, and he wouldn't have had it any other way.