Still Into You

Jack Barakat woke up on the morning of May fifteenth, well, excited, to say the least. In his defense, it was a very exciting occasion. Jack jumped out of bed as early as his college roommates would probably let him, putting on his favorite Blink-182 shirt and ripped up skinny jeans, and spending roughly thirty minutes (and an entire can of hairspray) on his hair.

At seven, his roommate, Josh Franchesci, bangs his fist loudly on the bathroom door. "Goddamnit, Jack! Open the fucking door, I've got to piss like a fucking racehorse!"

"Okay, okay!" Jack laughs, exiting the tiny room he probably would have spent more time in, if not for his grumpy English friend. But not even Josh can ruin his mood today. Today was he and Alexander William Gaskarth's six year anniversary, and he had some very special suprises for his boyfriend, starting with a fresh bouquet of roses like the ones Alex had gotten Jack when he caught a killer case of pneumonia in senior year, causing him to miss a week of school, and minimal cuddles with Alex in fear of getting him sick.

Each of Jack's gifts for Alex had a special meaning behind them, some little, some big. For example, as Jack packs his bag for the day, brown eyes linger anxiously on that velvety case holding a diamond ring...What if he wasn't ready? What if he didn't like the ring? What if-

Paranoid thoughts are interrupted by a hand clapping on his shoulder, and Jack turns to see a smiling Rian Dawson. Rian reassures Jack that Alex will most definetly say yes. It's been six years, Alex loves him, there's nothing to worry about!

With a final encouraging statement from Rian, Jack is on his way to hallway he and his boyfriend meet every morning, his confidence increasing with every step, and when Alex comes into view, back turned to him, Jack decides to take advantage of the situation, running up behind him with the bouquet held behind his back and one hand quickly covers Alex's eyes.

"Do you remember what day it is?" He whispers in Alex's ear, grinning widely.

"Of course, baby," Jack's loving beau responds. "It's our six year anniversary!" Then, he whips around to encapsulate his boyfriend in a hug, causing Jack's hands to fall off his light brown eyes.

Alex gasps. "Jack Bassam Barakat, I had no idea you were such a romantic!" He cradles the bouquet of fragrant roses in his arms and his face reads nothing but love and joy. "Just like the ones I gave you that time you got pneumonia. You're so sentimental." Alex teases, tilting his head up to give his boyfriend a short but passionate kiss.

When Alex pulls away, Jack rests their foreheads together and allows an arm wrap around his waist, whispering "Hey, let's ditch our lectures." The two 21 year olds were lucky enough to have only one class today, but Jack wanted to spend as much time as he could with his boyfriend, and discreetly texting him throughout two hours of listening to a droning old man just wasn't enough.

Luckily, Alex felt the same way. "Okay," he whispers against Jack's lips, and they head out in silence, but after a few minutes, Alex speaks again, pestering Jack about where they were going, what Jack wanted to do that day, and things of that nature. When Jack had practically begged Alex to let him plan their anniversary, The older man had only agreed in reluctance and with a bit of...ahem...persuasion.

"It's a surprise, Lexy! Don't worry, I've even got us dinner reservations." Jack winks.

Pulling a childish limp noodle move, Alex sighs as if all the air is leaving his body, and whines, "But Jaaaack!"

Jack laughs at this behavior, thinking about how cute his boyfriend is. "No buts, Lex. Well, maybe yours, but not until we get to the hotel."

Alex perks up at this. "Hotel? You got us a hotel room? Oh, how sweet!" He gushes.

Shit. Jack hadn't meant to give it away, and the blush on his face is testimony to that. "I-I mean....Well, I'm glad you like the idea." He admits, in defeat. The idea of a hotel room entertains Alex for the rest of the car ride, and Alex laughs in disbelieving happiness when he sees where they're parked, and can't get out of the car fast enough.

Jack follows his choked up boyfriend into the park where they first met, reaching to interlock their fingers. He takes looks at the shocked man beside him.

Alex Gaskarth looks like he's a million miles away, memories shining in his eyes. "We...we first saw each other here," He points, walking them over to a certain park bench and sitting down with his dark haired lover. "I was playing my acoustic guitar, a song I wrote, "Jasey Rae," and you were babysitting your neighbors daughter, little five year old who wouldn't sit still. You stuck out, cause you were wearing a Blink shirt...," he trails off, and pauses to kiss Jack full of love, a gentle, prolonged meeting of two pairs of lips, pressing gently and carefully. "....The one you're wearing now," Alex continued. "Blink was one of my favorite bands. After I finished, you walked up and put your number in my guitar case, and winked at me. I was flattered, but i wanted to play it cool, so, after a week, I texted you, and eventually we got really close hung out a lot, and after a year, you asked me out."

Jack leads an overjoyed Alex over to a picnic table under the shade, smiling the biggest he has since Alex agreed to date him. Jack was happy just making Alex happy, and by looks of the boy's face when he saw the early picnic lunch he had laid out for the two of them, Jack was going to have a hard time topping today.

"You know how I remember it?" Jack says, as they eat. "I loved your voice from the minute I heard it, and that New Found Glory shirt and expressive set of eyes certainly helped. I had to get to know you, so I decided to take a chance and give you my number. When you texted me after a week, I thought you may have forgotten me after three days up until that point, so I practically fell out of my seat. You were worth the wait, though, and after a year I finally got the courage to ask you out on a date. I was ecstatic when you said yes. Picked you up and twirled you around in the middle of Geometry, remember? We were passing notes, and ended up getting detention for disrupting class and all that."

Alex grins. "Yeah, man, that teacher was a total bitch. We spent all of that detention texting looking over at each other and giggling, though. Like two lovestruck teens."

"We were!" Jack laughs. He notices Alex has finished, and they talk and reminisce for a few minutes more. Then Jack stands up and leads Alex back to the car. "Ready for our next destination?" Jack asks.

"Definitely!" Alex chirps. "Just one question....How did you set that whole thing up?" He questions, gesturing towards the abandoned picnic basket, "And aren't we supposed to clean it up?"

"I'll never tell." Jack says. "Don't worry about it! Off we go now, Alexander!" He shoos Alex into the passenger seat, and quickly climbs into his own, then texts Josh, notifying him that they were finished with the picnic, and to please come clean their shit up.

"Where to now, captain?" Alex salutes the younger boy jokingly.

Jack grins mischievously. "The night I first met your mother."

The horror that fills Alex's face at this admission is laughable. Really, Jack finds it hilarious that the older man is so embarrassed by his mum, even after all this time. "Uhm. Is that really necessary, babe?"

Jack pouts while driving. "Don't you like Isobel, dear? I love your mom. Especially when she's in the mood to look through old baby pictures with me, and asking me point blank when we're finally going to tie the knot."

"Jaaaack!" The elder wails, covering his blushing face. "She's so embarrassing!"

The dark haired male giggles. "I just thought we'd drop by for a bit, see your old room, that tree in the backyard we carved our initials into, ya know?"

Now it's Alex's turn to pout, crossing his arms over his chest. "Fine, fifteen minutes." He turns his head to sulk at all the passing trees and houses in the neighborhood.

As soon as Jack parks, he unbuckles and leans over to kiss his boyfriend on the cheek. "Babe? Look at me," Alex complies grumpily. "Aw, don't be mad, babe, this place holds a lot of good memories! C'mon, I told your mom we'd be over by eleven."

Alex lightens up a bit, easing out of the car and attaching his hand to Jack's, then knocks on the door hesitantly.

Seconds later, it swings open, revealing none other than Isobel and Peter Gaskarth. They usher the two men in excitedly, the smell of Isobel's latest baking adventure wafting throughout the house. They talk for what feels like hours to Alex, sitting in the familiar, homey living room, turning down fresh lemon poppy seed muffins when offered, because they already ate. Then Isobel brightly inquires when she will be able to officially call Jack her son in law.

Alex's cheeks burn in embarrassment, and Jack gets the urge to kiss it off his adorable little cheeks, because really, looking that cute should NOT be allowed.

"Ohmigod, mum, shut up shut up!" The scarlet cheeked man says, rushing Jack to his room in quite a teenage girl fashion. Huh. Just like the time Isobel invited him for dinner, and Alex dragged him away from that heavenly spaghetti of hers (the woman has a way with food) to sit in Alex's room and listen to music a little louder than strictly necessary to piss off his mom.

"Wow," Jack marvels. "She hasn't changed a thing." Posters practically wallpaper the relatively small room, form Guns N Roses to Blink 182, and Alex's old bed is still unmade, as if he'd only left it yesterday and not going on four years ago.

They sit down on the bed, Alex sighing as he did. "Yeah. Mom hasn't really had the heart or reason to, so..."

Jack examines his lover's face carefully, then decides yup, time to kiss it better, and he does just that. For several minutes, they make out on the elder of the two's old bed. Then Jack pulls away. "Remember what I told you when you drove me home that night?" He murmurs.

"Um...oh." Alex looks giddy as he remembers. "You told me you loved me for the first time, and we sang along to my favorite song,'All the Small Things.'"

"Yup," the younger boy responds, giving his favorite person in the world an Eskimo kiss, leaving them both giggling.

"I love you, too, Jack Bakarat." Alex replies, goofily messing up his lover's last name.

"Hey!" Jack pokes his best friend's chest playfully. "That could be your last name someday, mister!"

Alex laughs. "You sound like my mother!"

The two boys joke around for a few minutes more, then get back on the road, taking a few baked goods with them, courtesy of a loving Isobel Gaskarth. By then, it's nearing one o clock, and they had started their day together at nine this morning. Time sure flies when you're going to propose, Jack quietly observes, feeling a bit of nervousness rise up in him again as they drive to their next destination in what Alex feels is a comfortable silence, until he notices the look on his lover's face, sees the tension just below the surface. They park, and the older male leans over to plant a kiss on the corner of his lips in what Alex hoped felt like reassurance.

Jack looks over, alarm still present on his features. "What was that for?" He questions.

Alex laughs. "Baby, I've known you seven years now. Don't think I can't tell when you're worried." The simple sentence makes Jack's concerns practically melt away, and Alex continues, "I love you, doll. I'm sure I'll love what you have in store for the rest of the day as much as I've loved the first half." He reaches across the dash to squeeze Jack's hand comfortingly.

"A-alright. Well, I thought we could look at some guitars, maybe." Jack says, indicating towards the store they were parked in front of. "We definitely don't have to buy or anything, I mean, if we can't afford to move out of the dorms together, we probably shouldn't be buying Gibsons, but I always enjoy talking with you about music, so..."

Alex smiles. "Of course, that sounds great, Jack-o! Lets go." The pair kill nearly an hour and a half in there, before a staff member ever so politely requests that they either purchase something, or leave. So, they go, ever so politely attempting to trip said staff worker on their way out, and laughing loudly at nothing, really, except maybe how uncontrollably, uncontainably happy they are.

"Where to now, my good fellow?" Alex inquires of his friend in a phony posh accent.

Jack laughs pompously, and responds in an even crappier accent, "Where do you wish to go, chap? We've got two hours until dinner."

"Hm...," The shorter man rubs his chin as if in deep thought. Then, he proclaims, "Alexander William Gaskarth wishes to go to that cute flower shop he's always wanted to go to, but never gotten the chance, so that he may purchase a vase to hold the lovely flowers wilting in the backseat, and the many bouquets to come, from his many admirers, including a smitten Jack Bassam Barakat!"

Jack laughs. "Very well. Do you happen to have directions to said flower shop, my poshly-named Casanova?"

Alex correctly navigates them to the flower shop he's looking for, but it takes them a half hour to get there, because let's be honest, Jack is not the best driver and Alex not the best with directions. They spend a few minutes shopping around, and then Alex spots a lavender, flute-shaped vase that is just perfect in his eyes and a little cheesy in Jack's. The little vase is covered in painted butterflies of all colors, and a single sentence on the side in white, "Even after all this time, you give me butterflies." Alex insists that it's exactly how he feels about Jack, and that seeing this every day will remind him. Jack insists that Alex is just too cute, and must be kissed.

They pay, and by the time they leave, the younger notices that if they head for the restaurant now, they'll get there just in time for dinner. He tells Alex this, and it's off to Chiu's Sushi.

Chiu's Sushi is a family restaurant, and one of Alex's favorite places to eat, for reasons beyond Jack's knowledge. Whatever, though. He loves seeing Alex happy. You don't need reservations to eat here, either, as Alex notes on his way in, but Jack called beforehand to make sure everything was perfect for the proposal when he wanted it to happen. So, at half past five, they stroll in, Jack and the waiter exchange knowing looks, and he leads them to Alex's favorite table, right in the middle of the restaurant. No pressure, Jack.

They order their drinks, and make small talk until the waiter comes back, and they order their food. Alex thanks Jack for the best anniversary he's ever had, to date, and they hold hands across the table, looking into each other's eyes.

Alex sighs happily. "And my roommates wonder how we got this far...,"

Jack smiles lovingly. "Let 'em wonder why, baby. I don't have to at all. Some things just make sense, and one of those is you and I."

Alex smiles back, with the same magnitude of emotions, and lifts up his glass. "Here's to six more wonderful years."

Jack toasts with him, laughing. It's now or never, the younger man thinks. He adopts a more serious expression, eyes locked on Alex and fingers on the box he slipped in his pocket before they went in. "Listen, Alex...,"

The tone of voice gets Alex's attention, and he replies only with a raised eyebrow.

"I-it's been seven amazing years since I met you, six since our first date, and even on our worst nights, baby, when we scream and fight, not a day goes by when I'm not into you...," Jack gets down on one knee, in the middle of the crowded restaurant, and Alex's eyes look about ready to pop out of his head. "I can't imagine a life without you, Alexander William Gaskarth, so will you please marry me?" Jack opens the box, revealing the most beautiful engagement ring Alex has ever laid eyes on.

"Yes, yes! Of course, yes!" Alex shouts, and everyone in the place goes wild, clapping and cheering as Jack slides the ring onto Alex's shaking finger, and they kiss for what seems like forever, in a world outside the sticky little restaurant.

The now fiancées finish their meal (on the house) and head to the spacious hotel room Jack spent a chunk of his tuition on, and when Alex hears this, he's shocked. "Jack! Really, you didn't have to!"

Jack dismisses his complaint, simply stating, "You're worth it," and pulling his fiancé in for another kiss.