Guitars and Love Notes

“So your brother’s throwing another party?” Alex asked as they walked up the stairs. “How often does he have these?”

“They have at least four a week,” Zack explained as he opened his door and allowed Alex to enter before him.

“So you’re telling me that you are constantly around parties but you have never actually been to one?”

“It that really so hard to believe?” the younger boy asked as he turned on his TV before going over and sitting down on the bed next to Alex.

“Yes, if I were surrounded by parties all the time I would be drunk constantly,” he said making his boyfriend roll his eyes.

“That is just one of the few things that is so different between us. I would rather be in control of everything, where is you like the temporary high and freedom alcohol can give you if you’ve had enough.”

“It’s fun, you should try it sometime.”

“I’ll think about it,” Zack laughed as Alex’s phone started ringing.

“It’s Jack,” Alex said as he looked at the screen of his phone, contemplating if he should answer it or not.

“Answer it Alex. You and I both know he’ll keep calling until you do.”

Without another word Alex swiped his finger across his phone screen and answered the call as he leaned back against the headboard with an arm behind his head.

“So is your mom officially gone?” Jack asked once he heard Alex say hello.

“Unfortunately,” he said as Zack curled up against his side hoping to give him some comfort since he knew exactly what Jack was asking about.

“Well I think I know a way to get your mind off it,” his friend suggested, with a happy tone and Alex could just imagine the big grin on his friends face.

"And what's that?"

"I just heard from some of the guys that there's going to be a massive party at Zack's brother’s house tonight."

"Yeah, I know. I'm there now. Caleb and all his friends are prepping for it now," Alex laughed as he reached up to play with Zack’s short hair.

"And you weren't going to tell me?" Jack yelled through the phone forcing Alex to pull it away from his ear quickly and earning a questioning look from Zack.

"Dude, in case you forgot my mom just left for England and I'm a little upset. Sorry I didn't think to tell you about the party first thing," he sarcastically bit back as his hand feel from Zack’s hair and he quickly sat up straight, brining Zack with him.

"No, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking," Jack said and Alex could just picture him sitting there on his bed with his head down looking like a kicked puppy.

"It's cool man," Alex said with a shrug his friend couldn't see. "But you should come by and enjoy the party. We can have a beer or two."

"Sounds like a plan. Maybe we can even get you drunk enough to forget about what happened this morning."

"I don't know if I want to," Alex said as he was pushed back against the headboard by Zack, so that the younger could curl into his side once again. “I’d rather not wake up tomorrow morning just to remember that my mom left all over again. I promise you we will have a beer or two together, but I’m not getting shitfaced.”

“Fine, be like that,” Jack said with a laugh. “So what time does the party start?”

“Seven, but if you want to come a little early to hang out I don’t think they would mind,” he said as he looked down at Zack with a smile and started playing with his hair once again.

“Alright, I’ll let you know when I’m on my way over,” Jack said before saying his goodbyes and hanging up on his friend.

“So Jack’s coming to the party tonight I take it,” the younger boy said as he grabbed Alex’s now free hand and laced their fingers together.

“Yeah, and like you heard, I promised I’d get a beer or two with him.”

“Okay, well I’ll still be up here when you two are done with that.”

“Is that your way of saying you won’t come down to hang out with us?”

“That’s exactly what it is. You know I don’t like going down to my brother’s party. It just doesn’t excite me like it does you and Jack,” Zack said with a shrug. He knew that stereotypically all high school age kids found some thrill in sneaking behind their parents back and going to parties to get drunk, but he never liked how stupid his brother acted when he had one too many and he never wanted to experience that himself. Plus, was a night full of drinking really worth how shitty you’d feel the next morning?

“But how am I supposed to show off my boyfriend if he’s up here?”

“I guess you don’t,” he said as he picked up the remote and started looking for something to watch.

“Come on, it will be fun to watch all the drunk high school girls spill their drinks while they flirt with the college football team. Please,” he said as he leaned into Zack’s shoulder and momentarily tilted his head up to place a kiss on the younger boy’s cheek.

“No, I’m not going. You can go have a few drinks with Jack, but I’m staying up here.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re the life of the party?” he asked his boyfriend sarcastically as he pulled a bag of chips out of their bag of junk food and opened it.



“Where’s Zack?” Jack asked as he walked into the kitchen with his friend and grabbed them both a beer.

“He doesn’t want to take part in parties,” Alex asked with a shrug before taking a swig of his drink. “Being the good boyfriend, I’m down here respecting his decision and having a few drinks with you.”

“How long did you spend trying to change his mind?” the younger boy asked with a laugh knowing exactly how his friend could be.

“Way to long,” Alex sighed. “But I respect that he knows what he believes in and stands by it.”

“You didn’t tell me Ana was here,” Jack exclaimed, smacking his friend in the chest as a girl with long red hair walked past them, crossing the living room.

“That’s because I didn’t know she was here.”

“Well, I’m going to see if I can finally get her to admit how she feels about me. See ya later,” he said before running off after the girl.



Twenty minutes later, thanks to lots of persuasion from Alex thought their day together, Zack was actually downstairs joining in on one of his brothers’ parties for the first time in the year and a half that he lived there.

“What do you want to drink?” Alex asked as he pulled two red solo cups off of the stack and started making himself a drink.

“I’m not really the drinking type,” Zack said with a shrug scooting a little bit closer as he watched Alex pour a little bit of vodka into his red solo cup. “Why don’t you surprise me? Just nothing too strong.”

“I promise I won’t let you drink anything too strong since it’s your first time. I wouldn’t want my baby getting alcohol poisoning,” he said kissing Zack’s forehead before turning and making Zack a drink.

“If I did you would take care of me right?” Zack asked looking hopeful.

“Of course I would,” he said kissing Zack again, on the cheek this time. “Who else could I trust to take care of my baby?”

“You know my brother has taken care of me for most of my life right? If you weren’t here he could easily take care of me.”

“He’s here drinking, and by the time you got to him he’d be heavily intoxicated. So once again; who else could I trust to take care of you?” he asked as he handed Zack his drink before taking a sip of his own.

“Can we go drink these in my room?” Zack asked looking into his cup before bringing it up to his nose so that he could make sure it didn’t smell funny.

“I thought you wanted to experience your first college party?”

“No, you wanted me to experience my first college party. Can’t we take baby steps? I’ll drink at this one and at the next one I’ll stay down here and watch all the idiots dance on the coffee table.”

“Fine, but just let me go tell Jack we’re going upstairs first. I don’t need him causing a ruckus because by now he’s probably drunk, and soon enough he’ll want to lie down and he will start to freak out if he can’t find us,” Alex said with a laugh leaving Zack at the bottom of the stairs before going into the crowd and searching for Jack.

“Aww, did Alex leave you all alone?” someone said making Zack turn around only to come face to face with Lisa and her friends.

“No, he just went to tell Jack something real quick,” he said taking a sip of his drink just for something to do.

“Are you sure he’s not ditching you?” asked Lisa’s friend, Kelly.

“I’m positive,” he said as he started to search the party for Alex to see if he was coming back yet.

“We all you know that you’re just Alex’s gay experiment. Maybe he finally realized that he belongs with girls, not guys so he’s taking the easy way out and leaving you,” she suggested before taking a sip of her own drink, that Zack was guessing was completely alcohol; not something mixed with Coca-Cola like how Alex made his.

“I’m not an experiment,” Zack said as he glared over at the girl as the rest of her friends left her.

“You sure about that one?” she sneered. “Why else would he go from someone like Lisa, to someone like you,” she said finishing her sentence sounding disgusted.

“I know Alex and your friend used to have a past together and it’s obvious that for some reason you’re just mad he finally moved on from your friend,” Zack said trying to stop himself from believing anything Kelly was saying.

“Think about it Zack, Alex has been with her for years. He’s not just going to get over her in a few weeks. It should be talking him months to get over her, unless of course he’s just experimenting,” she said with a bright smile, knowing that she was really getting to Zack.

Not wanting to listen to Kelly anymore, and not wanting to give her the satisfaction of seeing him getting upset, Zack turned on his heels and made his way quickly up the stairs to his bedroom. He was so upset that he didn’t even turn around when Alex, who had been making his way back over to Zack started yelling his name.

“What did you say to him?” Alex asked as he stopped at the bottom of the stairs to glare at Kelly.

“I was just making sure he was feeling secure with your guy’s relationship,” she said with a smile trying to act as innocent as possible.

“Then why didn’t he look so secure when he went up the stairs?” Alex said making sure he glared at Kelly one last time before making his way up the stairs after Zack hoping that they boy didn’t lock the door behind himself; not that Zack ever did anyways. “Are you okay?” he asked as he cautiously walked into the room, worried about how upset Zack might be.

“Am I an experiment to you?” Zack asked as he pulled a pillow onto his lap and hugged it while looking over at Alex trying his best not to cry.

“What? No, why would you even think that?” Alex asked as he set his glass down on the desk next to Zack’s before walking over to Zack and pulling the pillow away from him and throwing it at the top of the bed with the others.

“Kelly said that you moved on to me too quickly for it to be an actual relationship,” he said laying down and hiding his face in his pillow hoping to hid the tears that were starting to slide down his cheek.

“Well that’s because Kelly’s never experienced love and has always been jealous of my relationship with Lisa. She had always hoped that if Lisa and I broke up that I would go right over to her, but that’s never going to happen, she’s too much of a bitch for that. As for moving on too quickly, it’s never too quick to start seeing someone else if you know in your heart that they’re the one,” he said as he laid down next to Zack and started rubbing his hip just so that he could touch him.

“Is that your way of saying that I’m the right person?” Zack asked peeking up at Alex looking excited.

“What do you think?” he said with a smile as he kissed the top of Zack’s head as he started moving his hand up and down Zack’s side hoping to cheer the boy up.

“Alex stop that tickles,” Zack laughed into his pillow as Alex’s hands continued moving along Zack’s side in what Alex hoped was a comforting manner.

“You’re laughing,” Alex noted with a smile. “Does that mean you’re happy now?”

“I’m with you, of course I’m happy,” he said with a smile as he turned his head slightly to the right to look at Alex.

“You have no idea how happy I am to hear that,” he said as he leaned forward and kissed Zack.

“And you have no idea how happy I am that you’re happy to hear that,” Zack said as he moved forward just a little bit so that he could bury his face in Alex’s neck to hide his smile.

“Mind if I stay here with you tonight?” Alex asked as he started playing with Zack’s hair.

“What about Jack? Don’t you have to take him home, you’re always his designated driver; which is weird considering you’re always drinking too,” he mumbled into Alex’s neck.

“I wouldn’t say I’m the designated driver, I’m just the guy that will drink less and can get us home safely. But he could always just sleep on your floor. When he’s drunk he’ll pass out just about anywhere, and I really don’t want to leave you alone tonight.”

“You know I’ll be fine if you leave me alone tonight, right?”

“Yeah, I know, but I really want to be with you right now.”

“Okay,” Zack said staying silent for the longest time. When he finally started to speak again he felt Alex jump slightly. “How do you know that I’m the right person for you? We’ve barely been together a month.”

“Because, everyone always says when you find the one you have the hardest time being away from them and imagining your future without them. I know it’s weird to already be thinking of the future when we have only been together for less than a month, but honestly right now I can’t see a future without you, and that’s how I know you’re the right person,” he explained moving back slightly so that he could smile down at Zack.

“What if I’m not sure that you’re the right person for me?” he asked nervously afraid that he was going to upset Alex.

“That’s fine. Like I said I might be rushing the gun on this one, but I can’t help it. I just don’t want to be without you,” he said shifting down so that he and Zack were at the same level. “Just know that even if it takes you a year to decide if I’m the one or not, I’ll still be here with you waiting for you to figure it out.”

“Thank you,” Zack said as he hugged Alex, only letting go of the other boy when there was a knock on his door. “Come in,” he yelled smiling over at Alex as the boy started pulling the blankets over them.

"Am I interrupting something?” a timid voice said as the door squeaked open.

"Depends, are you coming in here to continue the work of your bitchy friend?” Alex asked puling Zack closer to try his best to shield the younger boy from anymore hate.

“No, I came to apologize about her. If I had known that she was going to be like that I would have made sure she was following us when we left the kitchen,” Lisa explained.

“Really?” Alex asked, slightly skeptical of his former girlfriend.

“Really. I’ll admit when you first broke up with me for Zack I was upset, and didn’t understand why you would do that. But after seeing you two together at school I see why he’s perfect for you. I admit I wasn’t the perfect girlfriend and I hardly ever listened to your problems, which I apologize for. And he’s the complete opposite and just what you need,” she said with a smile. “I really am sorry for Kelly. I’m going to make sure she never bothers you guys again.” With that Lisa turned around and started to leave.

“Lisa,” Zack called surprising Alex and Lisa, and causing Lisa to turn around and look at him. “Thank you,” he said with a bright smile.

“You’re welcome,” she said returning the smile and finally closing the door behind her.

“Well that was different,” Alex said as he blinked rapidly, not really sure if that had actually happened or not.

“It was, but she said she’s okay with us, so that should mean that she’s going to stop glaring at me when we pass in the halls.”

“She glares at you in the halls?” Alex asked, shock painting his face.

“Yes. How have you never noticed that; you’re the one who walks me to class every day?”

“I guess you’re too distracting,” Alex said with a smile as he leaned into to kiss Zack only to stop halfway when there was another knock on the bedroom door. “Go away,” he groaned as he rested his head on Zack’s shoulder, getting a laugh out of the boy.

“Alex, I don’t feel so good,” Jack said as he walked into the room holding onto his stomach.

“That’s my problem why?”

“I think I’m going to be sick,” he said sounding like a small child.

“Get him to the bathroom before he throws up on my floor please,” Zack said shoving at Alex’s shoulder in hopes of getting him moving.

“Fine, but we’re going to continue once he passes out.”



“Do you need anything else?” Zack asked as he handed Alex another bottle of water.

“I think we should take him in. He might have alcohol poisoning,” Alex said as he looked down at his friend with fear in his eyes.

“Alex, chill, I’m fine,” Jack said with a small laugh before turning back to the toilet and throwing up again.

“This has been going on for the last forty-five minutes, please go get my car ready,” the boy said as he dug in his pockets and pulled out his keys before extending his arm out to Zack.

“Okay, I’ll grab a trash can for him to use in the car too,” he said before leaving the room and heading through the slowly dying party to Alex’s car with a trash can in his hand.

Thirty seconds after he had the car started the door to the backseat was being pulled open as Alex forced Jack inside and handed him the trash can.

“Dude, I’m fine,” the boy said as he reached up and wiped away some of the sweat that had formed on his forehead.

“Jack I know you’re worried about your parents finding out, but right now you not dying is way more important.”

“I’m fi-,” he started to say again before pulling trash can closer and throwing up again.

“How much did you drink?” Alex asked with a shake of his head as he rubbed his friends back, hoping to comfort him the best he could.

“We’re almost there,” Zack said as he glanced back at the two while stopping at a red light a block away from the emergency med center. “Does it seem like he’s getting any better?”

“No, but at least he’s not getting worse.”



Five minutes later and the two boys were carrying an almost passed out Jack into the waiting room of the empty med center and gaining the attention of the two nurses standing near the check in counter.

“What’s happened to him?” a female nurse asked as she ran over to the three with a wheelchair that she pushed up behind Jack and had the other two boys help him into it.

“We were at a party and he must have had way too much to drink. He’s been throwing up for almost an hour now,” Alex said trying his best to remain at least a little bit calm. “He started this whole almost passing out thing on our way here.”

“Are any of you even old enough to be drinking?” the second nurse, an younger man asked looking at the three with a raised eyebrow.

“Does that really matter right now? Our friend is sick,” Zack said as he turned to the man with his own questioning look on his face.

“Yes, we’ll treat him first; the questions can wait for later,” the other nurse said shooting the younger one, who was clearly a trainee, a glare. “Page Dr. Michaels,” she said as she took the handles of the wheelchair into her hands and started leading Jack into the ER.

“He’s going to be okay, right?” Alex asked anyone who was listening.

“I’m sure he’s going to be just fine,” Zack said hugging the older boy in hopes to comfort him.

“I just lost my mom; I don’t need to lose Jack too.”

“Hey, you didn’t lose your mom. She’s just a bit further away,” he said wiping the tears that were slowly leaking out of Alex’s eyes. “And Jack’s a strong person. He’s not going to leave us just yet. He has more parties to crash.

“You’re not going to leave me, right?”

“Do you know how long I’ve been pinning after you?” he laughed. “You’re not getting rid of me any time soon. I know I can be way too insecure at times, but I’m going to try and keep you around for a while.”

“Good, because I don’t want to let you go,” Alex said hugging the young boy closer to himself.



Two hours later and the two boys were still in the waiting room waiting for news on their friend. Zack, knowing that Alex was in need of comfort had pulled the older boy into his lap and was slowly rubbing his back, while Alex lightly slept.

“Barakat family,” an older doctor said as he walked out of the same door Jack had been wheeled through earlier.

“Alex, they’ve got news on Jack,” Zack said shaking his boyfriend out of his light slumber.

“Jack,” Alex asked quietly as he stood up rubbing his eyes.

“Are you Mr. Barakat’s family?” the doctor asked as he walked over to them, having heard them talking about the boy.

Zack said no at the same time Alex said yes, earning a questioning look from the doctor.

“Jack’s my brother,” he lied before motioning at Zack behind him. “And this is my boyfriend.”

“And where might your parents be?”

“They’re out of town right now. How is he?”

“Your brother is doing great now. We had to pump his stomach due to the mass amount of alcohol he ingested tonight. Right now he’s resting comfortably in a room if you’d like to see him,” he said motioning to the doors behind him.

“Can Zack come?” Alex asked as he reached behind him and grabbed Zack’s hand.

“Normally I’d be required to say no, but I think we could make an exception this time around,” he said before leading them away.

“Is there anything I need to know about his recovery?” Alex asked as the doctor stopped outside of what they could only assume was Jack’s room.

“If he was of drinking age, I would say make sure he doesn’t drink for a few months to give himself some time to heal, but since he is underage I’m going to say no drinking until he’s of legal drinking age.”

“Got it, no more drinking,” Alex said with a nod of his head. “Can I go see him now?”

“Of course,” he said as he held the door open for the two boys. “Just please let him sleep until he wakes up on his own.”

“Will do,” Zack said smiling at the doctor before following Alex into the room. “You’re tired, go back to sleep, I’ll wake you up when Jack wakes up,” he said as he stood in front of Alex and ran his hand through the other boy’s hair.

“But Zack,” he started.

“I know you’re worried, but you need to be at your best when Jack wakes up so that you can help take care of him.”

“You’re going to stay with me, right?”

“This again?” Zack laughed. “Of course I’m going to stay here with you. Now please get some sleep before you go insane.”

“Can I use you as a pillow again?” he asked timidly hoping he wasn’t embarrassing himself with his clinginess.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” the younger boy said as he sat down in a chair and proceeded to pull Alex into his lap and allowed the boy to get completely comfortable before he put his arms around him to hold him in place.