Hell Above

“Are you gonna tell me what happened with your dad?” Alex asks from his position in front of the dresser, facing away from Jack, who’s perched at the foot of his bed.

Jack shrugs, Alex catching sight of the movement from the reflection in the mirror when he looks up from the open drawer he’s digging through. “There’s not much to tell. We made up, I guess.” The falseness is clear in Jack’s words, and Alex knows there’s something the younger isn't saying, but he chooses not to question it.

The elder sighs, pushing the drawer closed in defeat. He’d been rooting around for a bigger long sleeved shirt than the one he has on, in hopes of avoiding a confrontation with Jack. When he turns around, said man meets his eyes, gesturing with his finger for Alex to come to him. The blonde does, stepping forward until he’s stood in front of Jack.

The younger takes his hands, pushing his sleeves up and flipping them over in his own to reveal what Alex had spent all afternoon trying to cover up. There’s deep purple bruises scattered against the pale flesh of the man’s wrists, creating nearly perfect rings. Jack had noticed the elder tugging at his shirt sleeves since he’d gotten home, but hadn't wanted to bring it up with Vinny there.

Jack sighs, tugging at his bottom lip with his teeth as he flicks his eyes up, away from the wounds, to meet Alex’s anxious ones. “So bondage, huh?” Jack asks, letting go of the blonde’s wrists. Alex reaches forward, pushing the younger down onto his back without warning. Jack is quick to reach out, twisting his fingers into the fabric of Alex’s shirt, pulling the blonde down with him.

Alex turns to the side as he lands on the bed beside Jack, rolling over to face the younger, who’s laid flat on his back. Jack turns his head to the side, meeting the elder’s eyes as he says, “I’m not stupid, y’know.”

“I know.” Alex mumbles, face tucked into the crook of his arm against the mattress. Jack is still looking at him, in that way that makes the blonde feel weightless and pulls at his chest in a way he can’t explain. He knows this is what Vinny was referring to earlier, this feeling and this undertone of finality in the look in Jack’s dark eyes. Alex knows that if this had been a few years earlier, he wouldn't still be here with Jack. The blonde would have bolted at the first opportunity that arose, being too scared and insecure to stick it out and see what came.

But he’s not the same person he was then, and he knows it’s because of Jack. The younger gets the credit for breaking through Alex’s walls, and although there’s still some tearing down to do, they've both come a long way.

-

Alex is well aware of the heat against his skin from where Jack is pressed behind him, his arm laid over the blonde’s side and pressed smooth against his stomach. The younger is asleep, having drifted off earlier into the night and leaving Alex alone with himself.

The elder knows it’s probably well past midnight now, but just can’t bring himself to settle down and drift off. There’s a constant hum of thoughts running through his head and the light from the window in front of him isn't working to ease his mind any. His conversation with Vinny earlier is repeating in his mind. Despite the innocence of Vinny’s request, it had brought forth something that Alex had been trying to push aside and not think about for weeks.

Now though, with the familiarity of Jack’s body curled against his, its hard not to consider it.

He lays still for a few minutes, going through the motions of his decision in his head once, then twice more before he rolls over to face Jack. Sitting up, he pushes at the younger’s shoulder until the sleeping man rolls onto his back.

At the disturbance, Jack stirs, peeking his eyes open to find a dark room. “Jack.” Alex says, propping himself over the man to straddle him. “Wake up.”

The younger groans, not pleased with having been woken up in the dead of night. He’s gradually waking up now though, sleep clouded brain alert enough to realize Alex probably had a reason to wake him up. “What do you want?” He asks, leaning up a bit onto his elbows to get a better look at the elder who’s perched over him in direct line of the light from the window.

The blonde is quiet for a moment, fingers smoothing against Jack’s hips through his shirt. “I wanna have sex.”