When the Day Met the Night

       It was dark when Jack began his small trek across the beach, heading toward a house whose whereabouts he really wasn't sure of. For some odd reason, he had never actually been to the beach in the night. This fact becomes even more shocking with the background knowledge that Jack usually did a lot of things in the dark. Whenever he went somewhere for fun, it was most likely after the sun went down. By no means was Jack antisocial, he and his friends simply enjoyed dedicated evenings and nights to their free time. There was something about the dark that was exciting, and that just felt right. They weren't attracted to it, though, because they were it.

       Jack was relieved when he finally spotted the house, it's location indicated by the buzz that surrounded it. He thought about how cool it was to live on the beach and how lucky these people were as he opened the gate. At the age of twenty two, all he could afford was a small apartment, and he wasn't really up for living with his parents anymore. He was confident while entering, and immediately spotted his friends. The tall, striking young man was never nervous when meeting new people in new environments, his in-your-face attitude somewhat resembled his stature, in a way. It was sort of a common thing with him, actually, his physical self being a symbol of how his mind worked. His hair was as black as the night, as well. He also rarely smiled.

       Jack's friends were sitting around a campfire with a couple other people, so he sat down to join them. There were more people scattered around elsewhere, but it was a pretty small party. A couple of guys greeted him before getting up to go to the bathroom, and a few others offered to walk to the coolers to get some more drinks. By the time Jack sat down, only two people were left.

"Jack," Matt, one of Jack's best friends, said, "This is Alex. It's his house."

"Oh," Jack hummed, nodding at the stranger, "It's a cool house."

"Thanks," Alex smiled. Jack was taken aback by it. Just like him, his friends were fairly laid back, chilled out people; Alex genuinely looked excited to be talking to Jack. Not that Jack and his friends didn't like being around each other, but their happiness was described more by things like breaking into a sprint, or the twinkle of an eye. Nothing as simple as a smile. Yet, somehow, Alex made the smile work. He made it look much more complex than just a reflex action. It suited him.

       Jack was intrigued by the blond for the rest of the night. He found his eyes constantly flicking toward him, and then flicking right back when Alex noticed. It was hard to not, Alex was more distracting than the fire. Perhaps he even burned brighter than the golden stars in the sky.

"Do you guys want something else to drink?" Another friend, Rian, asked, eyes scanning over the group, "Okay, Jack, Zack, Ale- wait, you don't drink. Alright, cool."

       When Rian left and everyone else resumed their conversations, Jack turned to Alex. "You don't drink?"

       Alex shrugged. "No, not really. I feel like it kind of blocks out other things I want to take in."

       Jack nodded, not really understanding what Alex meant. He thought about it for a second, though, and it began to make more sense. If he was such a source of light, it only made sense that he had to get it from somewhere. He had to keep his senses open. Jack smirked at the fact that this boy lived on the beach in California, who would have guessed?

"What about you?" Alex asked.

"Sometimes," Jack nodded, "When it's the right time."

"Now's not the right time?" Alex grinned. Jack wished they had actually started talking a lot earlier. Like, from when he walked in. Hell, he even wished he came earlier. "You've barely touched anything.

"I'm kind of distracted," Jack said, and somehow, he didn't need to add any sort of emotion to the sentence for Alex to know what he meant. "How old are you?" Jack changed the subject.

"Nineteen." Alex said. Jack raised an eyebrow, before the blond boy continued. "Do you want to go inside for a bit?" Alex asked. People were dwindling away, and it was starting to get a bit cold.

"Sure," Jack said, and he followed him inside.

       That night, both Jack and Alex did something they had never done before. It all started with Jack walking a bit too closely to Alex as they entered the house, and with Alex being perfectly fine with this. It escalated when they could barely talk, because all they wanted to do was look at each other. Finally, it exploded when Alex went upstairs to get a sweater, asking Jack if he wanted to come with him. They both knew there was no going back- downstairs, and from what was about to happen.

       Jack was surprised by how good Alex was at kissing. He didn't ask about it, though, he just went with it. Maybe he didn't want to know. Usually, thinking about himself in this sort of situation, Jack would feel some sense of uncomfort. By no means was it easy for him to make such quick connections with people, and he knew that while it was happening. Yet, somehow, it seemed like the rule changed. Jack knew he wanted to have sex with Alex, which was quite simple, really, except that he didn't felt such urges for specific people. Even more rarely, he actually followed through with it.

       Although he wasn't one for one-night-stands, and neither was Alex, Jack realized something in the process. Perhaps he wasn't a solid black object, but a black space, capable and wanting to be lit up with light, instead.

       Jack left in the middle of the night. Somehow, when Alex was covered by the sheets next to him, he was able to finally think normally, and realize how out of character he had been acting. Almost weirded out by it, he decided to head home. When he got back to his apartment, he didn't sleep for the rest of the night. The light was missing. Figuring he had already gone out of his way to be as close to Alex as possible, Jack went back to his house in the morning. Of course, he found Alex right where he expected him to be- in his backyard, with a cup of tea in his hands, soaking up the sun. Jack just hoped he was willing to pass it on to him.