Painting Flowers

Alex didn't remember a thing about being all over me when he woke up from his sleep, so I just found it right not to tell him. I mean, that would freak both of us out, and it would just make everything really awkward, so I just tried to forget about it and push matters to the back of my head.

Once I went upstairs to his room again after having some food with his mom, I found him reading a book and I interrupted his silent thinking by inviting him to come over and stay at mine. Alex blinked at me from just above the pages of his book and narrowed his eyebrows together, giving me a confused and slightly pissed off look.

"Can you not see I'm sick?" he questioned, putting the hardback down on his duvet covers and folding his arms tightly across his chest.

I rolled my eyes and sighed with a smirk, stepping over the carpet towards his mattress and sitting down on it. "You can be sick over at my house, if you feel the need. C'mon, 'Lex, celebrate your birthday with me. Who else would you rather be with? Your dog?"

"Baz would make a better companion than you," he pondered aloud, sniggering at the hurt expression I gave. "But Jack, I don't feel well. 'M gonna throw up. It feels like someone's punching me in the gut and kneeing my chest."

"Too bad," I shrugged, standing up and hearing Alex sigh and grumble loudly. "Hey, fuck you, man, you normally love staying at mine. I've got food."

Alex whined, closing his eyes and letting some air out through his nose as he said, "I've got food, too. Now, can you please shut the fuck up, 'cause I've got a headache now 'cause of your loud voice."

"Your voice is all nasally and annoying, too, it isn't just mine," I said. "I've got constant headaches from hearing you talk, but I never complain, do I? No. The answer is no."

"Okay," said Alex. He lay back on his bed, staring up at the ceiling and wrapping the covers around his body tighter.

I rolled my eyes again. "'Lex, you're not going back to bed."

His gaze flickered towards mine for a minute, and I noticed a small smile on his lips. Ah. Playing hard to get. "I know I'm not going back to bed. Well done. I'm just not going to your house."

"Yes, you are," I said, reaching forwards and grasping Alex's wrist in my hand. I ignored his groan. "Come on. Get up."

He shook his head. "No. Leave me beeeeeeeee. I just wanna throw up and sleep and read forever, I don't wanna be forced to spend time with an asshole like you.

"Rude," I said, smirking. I pulled him back up into a sitting position, and gave a grin at the glare he sent in my direction. "Okay, get up, before I drag you back to mine."

Alex shook his head. "Don't rape me."

"Don't flatter yourself, dude," I said, and Alex stuck his bottom lip out at me. "Seriously. I don't have time for your bullshit. Just come over. We can watch one if your dumb movies or some shit, if you really want to, too...?"

This had Alex widening his eyes and sitting up a little straighter. "What one? The Fifth Element?"

"I honestly don't care," I laughed. "If you've got the VHS, then I've got the video player for it, y'know?"

Alex grinned up at me. "Okay. Can you get it from the shelf? 'Cause, y'know, I'm doing you a favour by just agreeing here."

"Sure," I said. Letting go of his hand and turning around, I stepped forwards a few times until I was in front of his bookcase and studying the large amounts of CDs, books and video tapes that had been placed on top of each other. Since Alex was neat and separated all of his things into order on the shelves, I was easily able to squat a little and file through his video section, pulling out the VHS box that was labeled "The Fifth Element (15)" on it and standing up, walking back over to his bed and examining the cover. It looked really weird, almost as if someone had gotten high and just drawn what they'd seen when they were looking into a kaleidoscope.

I voiced this opinion to Alex. "Looks weird."

"Mhm," he said, and he was nodding his head and smiling when I looked back up at him. "Now, c'mon, are we gonna go over to yours or not?"

I laughed and shook my head, handing the video tape over to Alex, who just smiled and stood up, rubbing his fingertips over the plastic cover and walking towards the window with his eyes still glued to his beloved film. "I thought you were sick?"

He glanced over at me and laughed a little as he opened the windowpane with one hand. "Dude, I am sick. I'm just not gonna chuck up my guts right now, y'know? I thought I'd be nice and not puke all over you whilst we're crossing a tree, so I can kinda hold myself for, like, five seconds."

Smirking and shaking my head, I followed him to the window, helping lift him up onto the ledge and manage to wriggle outside. Alex stretched over and grasped the branch nearest to him, tucking the VHS underneath his arm and stepping onto the tree, walking across the thick twigs that could support his weight.

I followed quickly after him, and a few moments later, I’d slid inside of my room via the window. Alex smiled at me and went over to the television, taking the videotape out of its sleeve and putting it into the flap at the bottom of my TV (it was small and shitty, but hey, it was a TV, so I couldn’t really complain; Alex didn’t have on in his room after all), pressing play and sitting himself down on the bottom of my bed.

“So, what’s this film about, anyway?” I questioned, sitting beside him and clutching my knees to my chest as a bright green light flashed across the screen, displaying the title of the film.

“I dunno,” Alex shrugged, “it’s in French.”

I was about to say something in return, but then I closed my mouth and turned my face slightly to stare at him. Alex obviously wasn’t fazed by my words, however, as he just smiled at the screen as it faded into dark and, sure enough, a voice spoke from the TV in French. I didn’t get a thing that the person was saying, but a glance towards Alex told me that he loved this movie a lot, so I just shrugged and we sank into silence, watching the film as it began.

*

We watched the movie for a bit, but I got bored half way through it (seriously, all those French voices were getting to my head, and I almost started to think that I was French for a second), and I went downstairs to get Alex and I some food.

"Hi," I said to my Mum and Dad when I went into the kitchen, immediately heading over to the fridge and pulling out a bunch of sausages and hot dog buns. "Alex is over."

"That's nice, dear," mum replied airily, and I glanced over to see her washing the dishes. Dad was sitting at the table, reading a letter with a concentrated stare on his face. "Would he like to stay over tonight? Or have you already invited him yourself?"

I shrugged, going to the microwave and opening the door, putting all the sausages into the little spinny dish thing and setting the timer for a minute, closing it afterwards and hearing the whizz of electricity start up. "I dunno," I said once I'd gone to the other side of the room, reaching up and pulling two plates out from a cupboard. "It's Alex's birthday today, so I dunno, I think he might want to spend it with his family. But he's all sick and stuff."

"Aw no, that's a shame," Mum sighed, and I nodded whilst re-opening the packet of rolls and putting one on each of our plates. "Well, you know he's always welcome to stay here, whenever. What did you get him for his birthday?"

Her question made my ears go hot, and I stumbled out a, "um, nothing yet," in reply.

I heard Mum tut, and I just bit my lip. "Well, you need to apologise to him and promise to get him something at the weekend. Good friends get each other presents, Jack."

"I know," I groaned, resting my hands on the countertop and staring at the tiles patterning the kitchen wall. "But, to be honest, 'Lex isn't that fussed that I didn't get him anything. I mean, he's not brought it up at all, so I guess he's fine with it. We're just watching a film upstairs, and he seems pretty happy, so..." I finished with a shrug.

"Yeah, but he'll think you don't care, which really isn't a good thing for your best friend to think about. You do care about him, and you ought to show it," Mum told me.

I rolled my eyes. "Mum, trust me, Alex knows I care about him. He's not stupid. I could tell him that his birthday present is a hot dog. D'you think he'd buy it?"

Mum didn't laugh. Not even a smile. "Jack, not everybody in the world is as understanding as Alex is. You should make the most of a friend like him, because there's not many people in the world who are like him. He's good for you, he's a good influence and I know he makes you happy, so show him that you care about him by getting him something. Even something homemade, like a card or... I don't know, an album of all the things you've done together over the past few months, he'll really appreciate it. Trust me." I turned around, and mum wasn't doing the dishes anymore; she was just staring at me, wringing the towel in her hands.

I sighed. "Okay. Okay, yeah, I'll do something like that. I dunno. Something."

We were silent for a few moments, before the 'ding!' of the microwave went off, and I turned to get it, opening the door and shovelling a few sausages onto Alex's and I's plates, holding one in each hand as I headed out the kitchen door again. "Enjoy," mum said.

"We will," I called back, opening the door with my elbow and stepping out into the hall. I turned and headed up the stairs, not taking them two at a time 'cause falling down the stairs wouldn't be a very good thing to do, and turning right when I got to the upstairs landing. I'd left the bedroom door wide open, and I smiled to myself when I saw Alex sitting on my bed, hugging his knees, eyes glued to the screen and his mouth open just a tiny bit.

"Hey," I said, kicking the door closed behind myself as I stepped into the room. I put the plates on the duvet cover in front of Alex, and sat down beside him, crossing my legs over and tilting my head a little as I saw the main guy in it making out with assistant lady friend. Typical.

"You're missin' the sexy time, dude," Alex said, and I just laughed, leaning forwards and picking the hot dog up in both hands and taking a bite out of it. Ah. Nice.

"Mmph," I said through the food, "what did I miss?"

"A hell of a lot of making out, for one thing," he said. "And the bad guy did a bad thing and now everyone's mad."

I smirked, gulping down the remains of the hot dog and bun. "Naturally." Alex laughed, and I watched as his eyes crinkled a little bit and his lips stretched out into a smile, although he was still intently watching the screen. "You know I care about you, right?"

The smile dropped off Alex's lips, and he frowned at my TV screen for a second, before he turned his head towards me and blinked at me. "What?"

"Um, it was just when I was down getting us our food, I told my mum it was your birthday, and she got all pissed at me cause I didn't get you a birthday present- sorry, by the way -and she said that you'd think I didn't care about you if I didn't get you anything," I explained, and Alex just looked at me. "I know it's kinda dumb, but, like, I dunno, I do care about you. Even if I don't act like I do sometimes. I'm just not good with feelings and shit, y'know?"

Alex nodded slowly, eyes darting to my bed covers, fingers scratching at his neck, the bit of skin that was showing above his shirt. "Uh, okay. Yeah. Well, if you didn't care about me, I'd kinda be wondering why you'd do all this for me," he gestured around to the TV and the hot dog on the plate, then shrugged. "But yeah, I don't really mind if you didn't get me anything. 'S cool. Having you in my life is enough." He laughed and elbowed my side, and I just smirked and shook my head.

"Okay, wow, that was so gay, I'm sorry," I shook my head at the carpet and grinned.

"Whatever," Alex said, then he went back to staring at the TV screen. "But you're making me miss out the best bit of the film. Not cool, Jack. So not cool."