Green-Eyed Lover

"Where are you going?" Jack asked curiously as Alex stood in the bathroom of the tour bus, seemingly worried about his appearance. Why should he be worried? He always looks perfect, at least in Jack's opinion.

"I'm gonna go meet up with Lisa," was the answer that met the younger's ears as his hands slid around the elder's waist, and he honestly had to refrain from tightening his grip. But, of course, that couldn't be right.. Could it? Alex was done with Lisa; she'd cheated one too many times, and he'd finally had enough of it.

"Why?" Jack pushed, his voice surprisingly not wavering. Really, though, there was no way this would end badly or anything, right? It obviously wouldn't; Alex was Jack's. Well, not officially or anything, but it was implied pretty heavily.. Wasn't it? You can only fool around with someone for so long before it gets serious, right?

Alex shrugged, eyes not moving from the reflection of his hair in the mirror, answering, "She asked if we could talk, said she was in town, and I agreed."

"Oh."

Oh. That was all Jack could think up on such short notice. Not something along the lines of, 'Do you know what she wants to talk about?' or 'When do you think you'll be back?' or even the truth: 'I don't think it's a good idea, Lexy, why don't you just stay here and we can cuddle and watch Batman or something?' No, just a simple Oh, which did absolutely nothing to keep Alex on the bus.

"How do I look?" Alex eventually inquired, his gaze leaving his own figure and up to Jack's face, his lip being chewed on hopefully by the cutely crooked teeth that Jack absolutely adored.

Horrible, the younger wanted to say, you should just stay in. but he couldn't do that; he cared about Alex too much to hurt him, even if it were in his benefit. When you like someone, their feelings come first, right?

"Stunning, as always," is what Jack replied with, and it was probably just a bit of an understatement; there wasn't anything in the world that Jack appreciated more than the shorter boy's looks. Well, other than his personality, that is. Jack wasn't totally sure, but he was willing to bet that somewhere along the way, he'd fallen completely head-over-heels in love with Alex. He wouldn't admit it, though; they weren't even an official couple. Yet, at least, but Jack is sure it'll happen soon. Any day now.

"You're not so bad yourself, y'know," Alex jokes, leaning back into the taller as his hands move to link with the ones still resting comfortably over his lower abdomen.

"If I weren't so attractive, you wouldn't be into me anymore," Jack retorts, but he places a kiss to the side of Alex's neck to let his beau know that he's only kidding; that he knows Alex isn't so low, so shallow.

They stand like that for a few minutes, Alex leaning into Jack's chest with the aforementioned man's chin being hooked over Alex's shoulder, both of them staring into each other's eyes in their reflection. There's love in both of their irises, Jack can feel it, and he also feels silly for worrying about this meeting between his lover and his lover's ex. After all, she's an ex for a reason, and surely Alex hasn't forgotten said reason. Who just forgets something like that?

"I should probably be going now," Alex says quietly, as though he thinks that the atmosphere will shatter if he speaks any louder. Jack takes his tone wrong, though, his heart fluttering with hope when he mistakes Alex's quietness for him not wanting to go, for him changing his mind about this little rendezvous.

"I guess you should," Jack says back in mock agreement just as softly, feigning disinterest in the subject. On the inside, he feels as though he could just burst with relief.

What Jack isn't expecting, however, is for Alex to pull away from his grip and head out to his bunk, where he bends over – and Jack swears on his very life that he doesn't admire the elder's ass in his skinny jeans – to reach in, grab his wallet and pull his phone off of its charger, before he spins around on his heel and smiles innocently at Jack.

Jack returns the look, but it's maybe just a little forced. He doesn't want to make Alex feel bad about all of this, so he obviously tries, but if it weren't his lover smiling up at him, it would've been a lot more forced. The shorter man just had that sort of effect on him.

"I'll see you in a little bit, alright?" Alex asks as he steps up to Jack, pulling the taller into a tight, reassuring hug. Well, it isn't really reassuring, since Alex has no clue about Jack's feelings or fears, but in the younger's mind, it most definitely is.

"Obviously. Just remember that sound check is at two," Jack tells him in response.

"Do you really thing I'd forget after last time?" Alex questions with a laugh, and yeah, Jack can't argue with that; the last time Alex missed sound check, Matt had made him run through the crowd of screaming girls waiting to get inside the building in nothing but his underwear. It wasn't bad, kinda fun even, up until the claws came out, and Alex may have lost his lucky boxers that day.

Without so much as a goodbye kiss, something Alex of all people would never bypass, said man is slipping from Jack's arms and gently squeezing past him, making his way to the bus door. Jack thinks about calling him back, asking for a kiss, but that isn't something people do; well, people who aren't couples at least.

A sigh falls from Jack's lips when the door closes behind his lover, and he slinks into his bunk. He isn't sulking, and he most certainly isn't jealous. Jack Barakat is never jealous.

------

Three hours later and sound check is coming to a close. Alex had gotten back just in the nick of time, and he seemed a great deal happier than he had been when he left. Jack was curious about what had happened, but he didn't necessarily have the time to talk to Alex about it. Now that they had a few hours to spare, though, Jack wasn't going to let the other man slip away without some form of explanation.

"Hey," Jack said, just as Alex was about to walk out of the side entrance of the venue behind Rian, Zack and seemingly every other crew member.

Alex spun on his heel, momentarily confused before he saw that it was just Jack trying to get his attention. "Hey," he replied back, grinning easily.

"What'd you and Lisa talk about?" the younger asked slowly, unsure of how to approach the situation. Taking the leap of faith, he even went so far as to reach out and wrap his arms around Alex's waist, pulling their bodies together gently. Alex had not a single objection to this, quickly slipping his arms under Jack's to curl around his thin waist, head leaning to rest against the taller's shoulder, easing said man's worries.

"Nothing much," was the answer given, and Jack may have rolled his eyes, but only slightly.

"It has to be something if it's got you this happy, Lex," Jack pushed, and Alex shrugged.

"Well, we got coffee and talked for a bit.. She apologized for everything, and we got back together," Alex concluded, and it was as if time stopped for Jack. Surely he'd misheard, right? People are always saying he doesn't have the best hearing around, so that must be it. That could be it, couldn't it?

"You.. You got back together?" Jack repeated around the lump slowly yet steadily rising in his throat.

"Yeah, isn't that great?" Alex replied, leaning away from Jack to see the younger full on. His eyes were sparkling with happiness, his grin wider than it had been just moments before. That all changed, though, when he caught sight of the way Jack was biting at his bottom lip, how the younger's eyes seemed to water the slightest. "What's wrong, Jay?" Alex asked, because, really, what was there to even be upset about?

"I can't fucking believe you," Jack managed to choke out, pushing Alex away just a bit too roughly; he felt a strong mix of both angry and upset, and he didn't know which emotion he should let take control.

The elder stumbled a bit before catching his footing, his voice full of confusion as he ponder, "Me?"

"No," Jack scoffed, "the other Alex."

"What the fuck did I do?" Alex pushed, not believing what he was hearing. Seriously, what the hell? He hadn't done anything!

"You're fucking around with my emotions!" Jack all but screamed back, crossing his arms protectively over his chest as he glared with everything he had. Which, in reality, wasn't all too much to begin with.

"Your emotions?" the elder echoed, and the other boy nodded. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"You can't just fucking use me and then go back to that.. that.. slut! I'm not some toy you can play with for a while and then throw to the curb! I know it may not seem like it, but hey, guess what, I have feelings too! I'm not as fucking numb as everyone takes me to be!"

"I like you better when you're numb," Alex muttered, rolling his eyes slightly. Honestly, at what point had Alex used Jack? Well, used to the point where the taller hadn't used him back; they were nothing more than cuddle buddies with the not-so-occasional fuck. At what point had that status changed without the elder's consent?

"I'm sick of this! This is the third time you've used me and went back to her!" Jack spat, snapping the elder from his thoughts. "I'm sick and tired of false devotion!"

"False devotion?" Alex repeated with a humorless laugh, shaking his head slightly. "There never was devotion, false or not, nor was there any implication, so how about you devote yourself to moving on? Or you could, y'know, suck it up and let it go? Don't make me out to be the bad guy because you're fucking jealous."

"I'm not fucking jealous!" Jack countered, but it was a rather weak attempt.

"Oh, really? You're not? Then why can't you just be happy for me?" the brunette inquired, raising an eyebrow as his own arms moved to cross stubbornly over his chest.

"What makes you think I'm not happy for you?" Jack challenged, taking a step closer.

Alex stopped and seemed to ponder this for a moment in faux contemplation before answering, "Maybe it's the way you're acting like you're the break lights failing as my car swerves off the freeway, or even like you're a fucking snake in my daffodils? I don't know for sure, but I think that could be it."

"That's your opinion, dumbass. I bet you think you're savvy for having one, right?"

"I'm fucking done with this," Alex muttered, spinning on his heel and heading out of the building. He heard Jack yell after him but didn't stop walking, instead calling back over his shoulder, "Your running mouth is falling on deaf ears, Jacky!"

Jack felt.. well, he felt numb. Alex said he liked that, didn't he? So maybe this was a part of the elder's 'Master Plan' or something of the sort; make Jack feel numb and then swoop in, smother him in kisses and tell him that everything would be alright, that they'd be alright.

Nothing of the sort happened, though, and while Jack stood there wondering what about him would never be good enough, Alex was back on the bus, hidden away in his bunk and furiously scribbling lyrics down to a song he knew the fans would love without once questioning its backstory: The Irony of Choking On a Lifesaver.