Apartment 4C

The first week of being Alfie’s boyfriend made Jake feel happier than he could ever remember. The sweet greeting kisses, the slow goodbye kisses, the hugs, the hand holding, the cute little texts that he didn’t have to feel embarrassed for getting mushy about…everything made him happy. Nothing really had changed in their dynamic, but it was like now he had this new addition, everything seemed that little bit lighter, a little bit rosier.

Elliot was right. He was head over heels for this guy already.

Was it such a crime to be so sappy already? It couldn’t be, could it? He was 25, he was allowed to embrace his feelings for his younger boyfriend. Especially since Alfie would also turn 25 next month. His love life had been so void of a real relationship for so long, since Sophomore year of college actually, so he was allowed to bask in the glory of this new one, right?

Okay, so Jake was maybe being a little mushy, but he didn’t care. Alfie made him happy, and that was that.

Alfie was actually sleeping in his apartment tonight, sleeping next to him right now. Well, that sounds a little creepy, but there was a totally solid explanation of why Jake was still awake and Alfie was zonked-out asleep. It was a Friday night, so while Alfie finished his day shift (Jake already having finished work at 1pm), Jake cooked them both an elaborate dinner (3 courses and wine), and Alfie had come over straight from work. And seeing as Gabe was out at some form of comic book convention for the weekend, and Elliot had a date tonight, they’d had the entire apartment to themselves to drink copious amounts of wine and lazily make-out without his friends judging them or making lewd comments from across the room.

It turned out that red wine made Alfie very sleepy (and incredibly adorable), so by 11pm Alfie was close to falling asleep. Naturally, Jake offered him a place in his bed to zonk out, and Alfie did so almost immediately, not relishing the thought of having to drag himself upstairs. So cute. Jake wasn’t exactly tired and still had work to do for Monday, so instead of spending the weekend doing that work and not spending it with Alfie, he decided to get it over and done with now. That wasn’t bad, was it?

Alfie didn’t seem to mind anyway, with his head using Jake’s thighs as a pillow, Jake able to rest his arm on Alfie’s shoulder to prop his book up while typing with his other hand. It was a win-win situation.

It was close to midnight when Jake’s laptop chimed with a Skype invitation. Betty Brown. What the hell was his momma doing up this late? He frowned, clicking ‘yes’ to accept the Skype call, marking the page in his book and saving his documents on his laptop while he waited for his webcam to turn on.

And then his momma’s face came onto the screen.

“Jakey-bug! How are you?” she said happily.

Jake blushed slightly. As the ‘baby’ of the family, she’d always given him ridiculous nicknames.

“I’m good thanks, momma. Why are you still awake?” Jake mused.

“Oh you know your father, he’s snoring like a chainsaw so I came downstairs to read a book for a while. Then I decided to call you. Why are you still awake?” she grinned.

Jake snorted. Yeah, that sounded like his dad.

“I’m just finishing up some work so I can have my weekend free,” Jake smiled.

Then his momma frowned. “Baby bug, can you turn a light on or something? Your picture is awfully dark,”

Jake turned on the bedside lamp without hesitating. Then his mom’s eyes went wide.

“I knew I wasn’t imagining things! Who is that bare-chested young man?” she cackled.

Oh crap! Alfie! And he’s shirtless! Crap! Oh why did he not think of this before answering the Skype call?!

“This is Alfie and he’s my boyfriend, not a one night stand, and oh my God it was a totally innocent sleepover and…”

“I may be old and your mom, but you don’t have to explain things to me,” his mom interrupted, “And the fact that you called it a sleepover kinda proved that nothing happened,”

Jake just blushed. He really was such a 12 year old girl around Alfie. Fuck this was so embarrassing.

“Just…don’t tell dad?” Jake winced.

“You know your father only wants you to be happy,” she frowned.

“I know…but he also doesn’t want to know details,” Jake pointed out.

His Dad is a 52 year old farmer from Kansas – there was only so far he could push his tolerance. Not that his Dad didn’t accept his sexuality, but still. There were some things the man didn’t need to know.

“True. I’ll just let him know you’re seeing someone,” his mom grinned.

“Thanks mom,” Jake said, sighing slightly in relief.

If his dad knew details, he’d be getting calls from his brothers and his brothers’ wives within days, hounding him over and over again. Not what he wanted.

“Go on, I’ll let you get back to that incredibly handsome boy. Call me in the morning,” his mom teased.

Jake blushed again. This really wasn’t the way he planned on telling his family about Alfie.

“Thanks, I’ll call you after breakfast,” Jake nodded.

She grinned and waved, before ending the call. Jake found himself yawning, yawning enough to decide to shut down his laptop and place it on his bedside table. Jake smiled down at Alfie, who was still fast asleep, and snuggled back down next to him, smiling even more as Alfie’s arm slid around his waist. How was this man so perfect?