Hell Above

Three weeks later sees Jack at his wits end. He’s stood in the middle of the bread aisle in the grocery store, supposed to be picking between white and wheat, but all he can think about is how pissed off he is at Alex.

It’s not even like the blonde did anything to piss Jack off, but the younger man is utterly and ridiculously mad as he stands there staring the bread assortment down. He’d only actually left the apartment because they were out of bread and he had wanted toast, but now that he’s standing here, endless amounts of bread in front of him, he’s at a total loss.

What kind of bread do they even normally buy? Jack has no idea. Grocery shopping is normally Alex’s job, Jack just tags along to annoy him while he picks out food. He’s never had to pay attention to what is actually bought before. God dammit. Jack sighs, running his hand through his hair as he debates if he should call Alex or not. He decides that no, he’s definitely not going to call the other man, he can pick out stupid bread on his own.

Over the past few weeks Alex has pulled even further away from him, and although Jack had expected it to happen, he hadn't expected it to continue for this long. In the past when Alex had attempted to put distance between them, it had only lasted a few days, a week at most. But not this time. It’s coming up on nearly 4 weeks now since Jack felt like Alex actually wanted to be around him, and the awkward tension hanging between them now is driving Jack insane.

He’s so irritated with the elder, but he doesn't know how to talk to Alex without an argument breaking out. He’s absolutely terrified of losing his best friend, especially over something so entirely stupid that Alex made up in his own head, something that Jack has no control over. He knows that Alex probably has justifiable reasons for doing this, but that doesn't ease Jack’s anger at the other man at all.

Jack probably looks so dumb, staring at the shelves of bread in front of him while he overthinks everything he’s been keeping at bay for the past month. He’s pulled out of his thoughts after a few minutes when a voice speaks up beside him, nearly scaring him shitless.

“You seem a bit out of it, has something gone aw’rye?”

Jack looks to the left, raising an eyebrow at the stranger beside him. The man is smirking at him, giving him this amused look and Jack is so, so confused. Since when did people approach strangers in supermarkets and initiate conversations using horrible bread puns, is that something that happens now? Did he miss the next big trend? He has been spending a lot of time in the apartment lately, it’s actually a possibility.

The man just laughs at Jack’s obvious confusion, his smirk fading into a nice smile as he reassures, “Don’t worry, I’m not some psycho, you’re just in my way.”

Well, okay. Still weird, Jack thinks, as he nods and moves out of the man’s way. The man smiles at him again, retrieves the specific bread that Jack had been blocking his access to and then straightens back up. Jack is still trying to make sense of the entire situation, just sort of awkwardly staring at the stranger, but the man seems to find amusement in it.

“I’m Zack, by the way.” He says, offering the hand that isn't holding the loaf of bread. Jack accepts the handshake, smiling as he looks over the man’s features. He’s a few inches shorter than Jack, with short, light brown hair and a nose ring. Definitely not the type to kidnap people in supermarkets.

“Jack.” Is all he replies, hand dropping back to his side.

Jack spends the next hour of his life walking around the grocery store with Zack, while the shorter boy helps him get food that is actually edible. After Zack helped him pick out bread – thank god – they somehow ended up walking the entire store together, taking turns telling the other about themselves. Normally, Jack would consider how weird it is to make friends with strangers in the grocery store, but in all honesty, he’s just glad to have a distraction from his thoughts.

They part ways at check out with promises to meet up for coffee sometime, Zack’s number now stored in Jack’s contacts.

-

Jack kicks off his vans the minute he enters his apartment, using his hip to push the door shut behind him. He can hear Alex in the kitchen, and briefly considers not going in there to put the groceries away, but then dismisses that thought – he has a carton of ice cream in one of these bags and he refuses to let it melt just to avoid Alex.

The blonde is over by the sink when Jack enters, making his way over to the island and setting the bags on top of the counter. Alex glances up at the noises, surprising Jack when he says “I’ll put ‘em away.”

Jack just nods, throwing a half smile Alex’s way before making his way to his bedroom to shower.

He heads straight for his en suite, peeling off his clothes as he goes because it’s fucking freezing outside for whatever reason, despite being only mid-October, and all Jack wants right now is a hot shower – oh, and maybe for his best friend to actually talk to him, but a shower first. He turns the shower on, twisting the shower handle all the way over, not caring if it’ll make the water way too hot.

By the time he gets out, wrapping a towel around his slim waist, the mirror is steamed over completely. He heads back out into his bedroom, mentally kicking himself for not bringing clean clothes into the bathroom with him because now he’s freezing all over again.

He pulls on a pair of boxers, digging around in his drawer until he eventually pulls out a crewneck that he then slips over his head. It’s when he turns back around, towel in hand, intending to head back into the bathroom to get the sweatpants he left in there that he sees it. It’s nothing out of the ordinary really, just a small white envelope on the nightstand across the room from where he’s stood, but Jack can’t place the object and knows for a fact that he didn't leave it there.

He walks over, picking it up and flipping it over to read the writing on the front. ‘rent for jack’ is all that’s written, in a handwriting that Jack instantly recognizes as Alex’s. He stares at the envelope in his hands, eyebrows pulled together as he makes his way into the bathroom, hanging up his towel and retrieving the sweatpants he’d been after off the floor. He knows logically what’s in the envelope, but still flips it back over nonetheless, pulling open the tab from where Alex had tucked it in to keep it closed.

He tilts the envelope up, revealing several bills tucked neatly inside. Jack sets it down on the counter by the sink, ignoring the urge to take the money out and count it to see how much Alex actually put inside, and instead busying himself with pulling the sweatpants up his legs. He can feel himself growing more irritated as he stares at the envelope, and after a few minutes he finally picks it back up off the counter, turns and makes his way out of the bedroom.

Alex is by the stove this time when Jack enters the kitchen, using a spoon to push what looks like stir fry around in a skillet. He doesn't look up or acknowledge Jack’s presence at all, which just serves to further irritate the younger man. Jack leans against the counter next to the stove, crossing his arms and gripping the envelope tighter as he clears his throat.

Alex looks over to him, raising an eyebrow.

“What is this?”

Alex eyes the envelope Jack is holding up, biting his lip before returning his gaze back to the food he’s preparing as he states, “An envelope.”

In a different situation, under less strained circumstances Jack would have laughed at Alex’s reply, now though, it just pisses him off.

Alex doesn't look up again, but can physically feel Jack glaring at him. Jack continues eyeing the elder, deliberately making him uneasy in order to maybe get Alex to drop the front he’s putting up, and he does, setting the spoon down on the counter with unnecessary force before meeting Jack’s gaze.

“What the fuck do you want?”

“What do I want? I want to know why the fuck I found this on my nightstand.” The words come out a lot harsher than Jack intended them to, revealing just how angry he actually is.

Alex’s eyebrows draw together, lips dipping into a frown as he says, “I’m paying rent.” all emotion lacking from his voice.

“No, you’re not.”

“I’m paying rent or I’m leaving.” Alex counters, eyes lifting to counter Jack’s stare.

“Then leave.”