Hell Above

Alex wakes up to a dark room. He can hear the mild hum of the New York City traffic flowing 20 floors below, and when he reaches out, hand searching for a body tangled beside his, his fingers grip nothing but cold sheets. Sighing, the blonde sits up, glancing around the dark room to try and gauge exactly how long he’d been out of it.

The longer he sits there, bare legs still wrapped up in Jack’s black sheets, the more he grows anxious and fidgety. Eventually, he gets up, making his way around the large bed and towards the door, the dull glow from the hallway tracing the outline from where it had been left open slightly.

The man pauses, taking a deep breath and trying to convince himself that everything is okay. His mind is racing though, hyper-aware of the fact that he woke up alone. What if Jack regrets what they did? What if he hates him now?

He swallows, gripping the door handle before making his way out into the dim hallway. He can make out the soft murmuring of the T.V. from the living room, and follows the sound slowly, willing his feet to move out of both anxiety and his half-sleep state.

Jack looks up as Alex sits down next to him on the couch, offering the elder a small smile before pushing the bowl of mac and cheese he’d been about to eat into the other man’s hands. Alex watches as Jack gets up from the sofa, heading in the direction of the kitchen. In the tiny amount of time that Jack is gone, Alex manages to convince himself he ruined everything between them, but then Jack is coming back, a second bowl of mac and cheese in hand. He plops down next to Alex, nudging his shoulder lightly with his own. “You okay?”

It takes Alex a moment, he’s too concentrated on over-thinking everything, but then he meets Jack’s eyes, mumbling out “I- Yeah, I’m okay. Thank you.” He looks back down to the bowl in his lap, not even realizing how hungry he’d been until he takes a bite.

Jack nods, although Alex doesn't catch it, and then returns his gaze to the reruns of Skins he’d been watching. It’s at the next commercial break that he speaks up again, not bothering to face Alex as he speaks around bites of mac and cheese. “I was beginning to think you’d died or something, you've been out for like 7 hours.”

Alex’s eyes widen at that, he didn't even realize he’d been asleep that long. “What time’s it?” His voice is still scratchy from sleeping so hard for so long, and it’s making his words blend together a bit.

Jack just smiles, thinking Alex is probably the cutest thing he’s ever seen. “Uh,” He reaches across the coffee table in front of them, hand gripping his phone before unlocking it to check the time. “Almost 1:30.”

He hears a tiny ‘oh’ come from the man beside him, and then Alex is asking, “Did you sleep at all?”

The younger shakes his head, offering a hand out to take Alex’s now empty bowl as well as his own. He gets up, making his way back into the kitchen and sets the dishes into the sink before returning to find Alex curled up against the pillows at the far end of his couch.

“Can we cuddle?” He isn't sure why he’s asking, normally one of them would just settle against or on top of the other, – it was normal for the pair to be so close. But after this afternoon, Jack isn't sure what is going through Alex’s head. He lets out a silent breath of relief when Alex meets his eyes and nods, straightening out his legs and scooting forward on the couch cushions to allow Jack enough space to squeeze in between the blonde and the back of the couch.

Once Jack is settled behind the elder, he wraps a cautious arm around the blonde, taking Alex’s free hand in his own and resting their joint hands in front of them on the cushion. Alex squeezes Jack’s hand lightly, a silent reassurance of ‘we’re okay.’

Jack just pulls him further against his body, resting his head on the pillow behind Alex’s and closing his eyes.

“Night ‘Lex.”

“G’night Jacky.”