Love is a Dangerous Thing

"Is kissing really that exhausting for you?" Alex laughed after they'd finally stopped kissing and wandered out to the living room where Zack promptly laid down and closed his eyes.

"It made me very nervous and that made me very tired and now I very much wanna sleep," Zack mumbled into Alex's stomach from where his head laid in his lap.

"Alright, you get your sleep Zacky."

When Zack finally woke up later that day it was mid-afternoon and his head was still resting on Alex's lap. Slowly he stretched out and yawned, turning more on his side he kissed Alex's stomach through his shirt and laughed quietly at the startled reaction it provoked. He kissed him again before he sat up properly, swinging his legs over the edge of the couch.

"You slept a long time, buddy," Alex informed him as he fell into the older's side. "Kissing really wore you out, huh?"

"Yeah." Somehow he felt like he wanted to be closer to Alex so he gave up sitting next to him and moved onto his lap instead.

"Make yourself comfortable," Alex laughed. "Dinner's in the oven, should be ready in half an hour if you want to do something."

"No way," Zack grinned. "We already practiced, that means our next kiss has to be real, I want it to be special."

"Special?" Alex raised an eyebrow at that. "Like a fancy restaurant special or like I confess my undying love for you special?"

"Didn't you do that like two weeks ago?" Zack smirked and Alex groaned, tightening his arms around him with a frustrated sigh.

"When you do that I actually feel my heart straining to beat," Alex loosened his hold to look at Zack with a hopeful smile. "That was a very nice thing to say, some might even say it was a special thing to say."

"Not a chance."

The next morning Zack woke up later than usual to an empty bed and quiet apartment. He took a deep breath, Alex was probably just typing up his article in the living room. Crossing his fingers and holding his breath he got out of bed to look for the older boy. First he checked the living room then he moved to the kitchen then he checked Alex's room, the last room, finding it empty. Quickly he checked all the rooms again, searching for a note that was nowhere to be found.

Repeatedly he reminded himself that this wasn't a big deal, he could wait, and Alex would come back. There was probably an emergency at work or maybe Alex had gone to get them the groceries they still needed. No matter the situation though Zack was going to be fine, he was going to take care of himself because that was something he could do.

He took another set of deep breaths and then walked to the kitchen to make himself a small bowl of cereal, he would have ate more but they really had absolutely no food. With his bowl in hand he made his way back to the living room where he flipped on the tv and watched cartoons while he ate. He checked the clock a few times but mostly he stayed calm and thought about how proud Alex would be when he saw that he didn't have an episode.

When he finished his bowl he put it in the kitchen sink and wandered back to his room to get dressed as another way to kill time. In an attempt to cheer himself up he stole Alex's sweater from their hamper and pulled it over his long sleeve shirt. He was just heading back to the couch when he heard the doorknob turning which meant either Alex was back or they were being robbed, either way he froze in front of the door and waited.

"I hate you."

"Well, good morning to you too," Alex laughed, closing the door behind him with his foot and carrying about seven grocery bags into the kitchen. Zack trailed closely behind but Alex knocked his hands away when he went to put away whatever was in the bags. "No time, Zacky, I need you to go out with Chris today and get some new clothes, he should be here any minute now and don't forget to take your house key."

"But where were you? You didn't even leave a note," Zack whined, sticking out his bottom lip while he tried again to look in one of the bags.

"Zack, house key, stay focused," Alex pushed the bag out of his reach again. "My folks decided to renew their vows on New Years Eve, it was a spur of the moment decision, so I took them out to breakfast. I figured you wouldn't want to go but I also had complete faith that you'd handle yourself just fine on your own and from the looks of it I was right, right?"

"Yeah, I can take care of myself," Zack stood up straighter with a confident nod of his head. "I just ate breakfast, it wasn't a big deal."

"Good then stop pouting and go get your house key. I might not be here again when you get back, if that's the case you can ask Chris to stay or stay home by yourself."

"Isn't there anything else you wanna say or do?" Zack asked hopefully because it wasn't everyday he took care of himself without incident.

"Come here," Alex sighed but smiled as he pulled Zack into a hug. "I'm very proud of you for not getting freaked out when you woke up alone, I love you very much. Is that what you were looking for?"

"Mhmm," Zack quickly pressed his lips against Alex's cheek and then left to get his house key. By the time he walked back out Chris was already waiting for him and Alex waved them out quickly.

"Alright, we've been assigned to get you nice clothes," Chris explained as they made their way down the stairs and out to the street. "But let's talk for a bit while we walk. How's everything going? I heard there was a Jack situation a couple days ago, you doing alright?"

"Yeah," Zack shrugged. "It didn't bother me as much as I thought it would, except he hit Alex, I didn't like that. I don't want Alex to get in a fight every time we see him."

"Right," Chris pointed out the shop front they were headed to while they waited at a light and then continued their talk. "If you're feeling better about this Jack thing then the next step is to just let go of him completely, if you guys see him just steer Alex in the other direction. Don't give him the chance to rile Alex up, be the bigger man and walk away because let's be honest Jack isn't ever gonna fill the bigger man role himself, even I know that."

"I can do that," Zack looked around the mostly empty shop they'd entered and eyed up the different suit jackets, dress slacks, and ties with a nervous swallow. "What exactly do we have to get? I haven't had to look nice since I graduated 8th grade."

Chris chuckled and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, "we're getting everything."

Everything was a bit dramatic Zack thought but they did have to get a lot of stuff which resulted in lots of trying things on which was awful. Finding clothes that fit was undoubtedly the most depressing thing in the world for Zack who at one point jokingly suggested they look in the pre-teen section. All the clothes were too big for him, leaving him constantly drowning in a sea of buttons and silky fabric. Every time something didn't fit he felt himself losing more and more confidence and staring harder and harder at himself in the dressing room mirror. All his hopes of having filled out a little since the start of the month deteriorated along with his mood and when they finally did find a pair of slacks that fit he was already done.

"Wait, wait, wait, I think I've found a solution," Chris called out as he walked back to where Zack was standing by the dressing rooms. "Try this whole thing on, I think you'll like it."

"I doubt it," Zack mumbled as he took the outfit handed to him and went back into the fitting room. He didn't bother looking in the mirror after he'd changed because he didn't want to deal with the constant disappointment of not looking how he wanted. Instead he opened the door and cleared his throat to get Chris's attention.

"Dude, you look good," Chris grinned as he looked Zack up and down. "Do you like it?"

"I don't know," Zack shrugged. "I didn't look, I need help with the tie first anyways."

"I'll tie it for you and then if you just leave it like that you'll be all set when you have to wear it." Chris fixed the tie around his own neck and then handed it to Zack who slipped it over his head and adjusted it. "Alright, take a look so we can either get going or pick out something new."

Zack walked back into the dressing room praying he'd like what he saw and smiling when he did. His suit and slacks were a navy blue color that he never would have picked but looked sort of nice on him. He left the jacket unbuttoned and adjusted the collar of his crisp white dress shirt with a satisfied grin. The clothes were finally the right size which he thought made the whole thing work a million times better than anything else he'd tried that day. His jacket and pants gave him the illusion of simply wearing well fitting clothes and not being ridiculously small and his skinny black tie added to his sharp appearance.

"I look really good," he called happily out to Chris. Honestly he'd never been happier with his appearance than he was then and it took a little while for him to change back into his regular clothes because he just liked looking nice for a change.

Chris talked the whole way back home, the way he always did, and Zack pretended to listen but mainly he just thought about how impressed Alex was going to be. He interrupted Chris to thank him for finding something nice for him to wear a dozen times and even hugged him before he left because he was just that excited. Keeping his suit bag tight in his arms he jogged up the stairs to their apartment and slid his key in the lock to let himself inside.

"Alex," he called out, glancing around the dark apartment he flicked on a light as he made his way down the hall to his room. He figured Alex must have still been out like he said he might be and carefully hung up his suit bag before taking his shoes off and making his way back to the living room. Pulling the remote out from where it was wedged between seat cushions he turned on the tv for background noise and then curled up to take a nap.

When Alex wasn't home a few hours later he started to worry, not that Alex had left him but that something might have happened to him. He tried to keep himself occupied by making dinner for himself, a grilled cheese and some Apple juice, and watching movies but it didn't make him forget the anxious feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was five hours later and eight in the evening when Alex finally walked through the door. Naturally Zack asked a lot of questions but Alex simply shrugged him off with a suspiciously well told story about work and long lines and not having enough money for a cab.

As if coming home late and blatantly lying about it wasn't bad enough Alex insisted they went out for lunch the next day. He claimed it was an apology date even though Zack repeatedly reminded him he hated eating and people and therefore had no desire to go out. To compromise Alex skipped going somewhere nice and instead bought them burritos from a taco truck while they wandered aimlessly through the city. Anytime Zack asked if they could go home the older would laugh and shake his head with a murmur of, "not yet, buddy."

It was five in the afternoon when they finally made their way back to the dark apartment where Alex refused to turn on any lights. Instead he guided Zack back to his room and turned on that light with the same grin he'd been wearing all day. Zack on the other hand was thoroughly exhausted and not even close to happy.

"What's wrong Zacky?" Alex asked as Zack fumbled with the laces on his shoes in a frustrated attempt to untie them.

"I'm tired, Alex," Zack snapped, pointing an accusing finger in Alex's direction. "I had to try on a bunch of clothes yesterday and then you never came home and I thought you were dead and I just wanted to show you how nice I looked in my suit but you were too busy lying to me to even ask about it."

"I'm sorry, bud," Alex apologized, crouching down in front of Zack he pushed the angry boy's hands away and untied the laces himself. "How about you take a nap and I'll come get you when we need to get ready for my parent's thing?"

"Y-yeah, but lay with me." Zack climbed in bed and pulled the covers up around him, falling asleep before he could even see if Alex laid with him or not.

All too soon Alex was waking him up again and telling him they had to get ready. He finally asked about Zack's suit and the younger boy smiled for the first time all day. While Alex got dressed in his own room Zack looked over his suit to make sure it hadn't mysteriously been stained or ripped and then began getting dressed himself. Starting with his socks he methodically put on each article of clothing paying close attention to buttoning his shirt right and adjusting his tie several times. He left his jacket off while he brushed his teeth and combed his hair in the bathroom mirror.

"You're not even hideous today," he smiled at his reflection.

When he was happy with the way his hair looked he walked back across the hall to his room to put his jacket on and grinned at the sharply dressed guy he found sitting on his bed. Alex was dressed in a dark gray suit with a black dress shirt and gray bow tie that he looked to be adjusting not for the first time. He looked better than Zack, the younger boy thought but he didn't let it bother him too much because Alex always looked better than him.

"Wow, you look wow," Alex blinked a few times, his mouth hanging open while he stared at Zack who promptly blushed and looked at his feet. "Chris should pick out all your clothes."

Zack shook his head and slipped on the jacket he'd left hanging over the chair in his room. Sitting down he pulled on his shoes, doing his absolute best to not acknowledge the way Alex was staring at him. With his shoes tied tight he glanced back up at his boyfriend with a half confident, half uncertain smile.

"Don't look too bad, huh? I mean, I don't look as good as you but I don't think-"

"You look a thousand times better than me," Alex stood and offered a hand to help Zack do the same. "Whoever took you to prom was very lucky."

"I didn't go to prom," Zack blushed as they walked hand in hand out of his room. "I stayed home and cried because, you know, the guy I liked and stuff."

"That's funny, I did the same exact thing."

"S-sorry," Zack stammered, doing his best not to fall in the dark hallway.

"That's okay," Alex said, his voice still as happy as it had been all day. "Maybe we'll get a do-over," he added as he opened the front door. Together they walked out but they didn't get much further because before Zack could head down the stairs Alex was pulling him back. "Looks like there's a letter for you, Zacky."

"A letter?" Sure enough Zack found a black envelope with his name on it taped to the door where Alex was pointing. Taking it down he slipped it in his pocket and tried once again to walk down the stairs so they wouldn't be late.

"Wait, you have to open it," Alex reached in Zack's pocket for him and handed the envelope back over with a smile that he was obviously trying to hold back. "Might be something important."

Zack gave him a weird look but opened the envelope because he was sort of starting to get used to Alex's weird behavior. A mist of gold glitter fell from the envelope as he pulled out a handmade card. The front simply said "You're Invited," which led him to believe it was for Alex and he tried to hand the card to him instead but Alex refused to take it.

"Buddy, did the envelope say my name?"

"We're gonna be late," Zack muttered as he opened the card and scanned quickly over the writing. "It just says we're invited to a dance, it must be for your parent's thing tonight."

"Nah, they're not having a dance, they're having," Alex stalled for a few seconds looking a little lost. "Whatever I told you they were having. Anyways, I'm intrigued by this dance thing, we're already dressed, maybe we can swing by later. What time does it say it starts?"

Zack glanced at the card again, "7-ish," he laughed and checked the time again to make sure he read it write. "It says 7-ish"

"7-ish you say," Alex said in a overly interested voice. "Gee, it's 7-ish right now," he informed Zack while he stared at his watch-less wrist. "Where does this dance take place?"

"It says our living room," Zack frowned. "It actually says "our living room," that's creepy."

"You're a real handful, you know that Zachary?" Before Zack could reply Alex turned him around and opened their front door again. "If we went back and I asked you to prom, what would you say?" He asked as they once again stood in the dark doorway.

"Yes, I'd say yes, but wha-"

"That's funny, if you asked me, I'd say the same exact thing," Alex cut off Zack's response and flipped on the lights. "Welcome to prom Zack, sorry it took me so long to ask."

Zack's face lit up with the biggest smile he could manage as he stared at their living room that was decked out in light blue streamers and hanging lights. The coffee table was pressed against the balcony door and home to a bowl of punch, a couple different bowls of chips, and a Prom 2014 sign that was taped to the front. Their Christmas tree was still lit up in the corner, casting long multi-colored shadows across the floor and adding to the dim lighting. The whole thing was perfect he thought as he looked around almost in disbelief of the scene before him.

"If Rian doesn't take our picture soon he's gonna get grouchy," Alex warned, nodding towards a slightly disgruntled Rian who waved at Zack but glared at Alex.

"How long has he been here?" Zack craned his neck and looked further around the room to make sure no one else was hiding out.

"Ri's been setting up since we left," Alex explained. "So probably like six hours, mostly he's just been hiding in the dark kitchen though, that's not even work."

"Easy for you to say, now let's take some pictures before I miss my whole New Years Eve."

"Alright, alright," Alex held his hands up in surrender, shutting the door and leading Zack further into the room.

Zack grinned happily as Alex wrapped his arms around him and rested his chin on his shoulder. He could hardly wait for Rian to finish snapping pictures before he turned around to fix his grin on Alex.

"This is pretty special?"

Alex nodded, "I was hoping you'd think it was very special."

"I do." Zack rested his right hand over Alex's heart and put the other one behind his head leaning in to press his lips against Alex's exactly how they'd practiced. A camera flashed and a door closed as Zack pulled away to stare at Alex with an excited expression and a hopeful tone. "This is what our life will be like all year?"

"Well," Alex smiled, leaning in and kissing him a few more times. "I'm hoping that with any luck tonight won't be the last time you say, "I do," because I'd sort of like our lives to be like this forever."