The Mixtape of Hatred

Jack didn't know what to do, on one end he really wanted Alex to love him back, but on the other, he's starting to fall in love with Brent's eyes.

They were clear and a gorgeous light shade of green, it in a way matches his newly cut hair, it was no longer wildly curly but a little bit wavy and a nice shade of brown, making his eyes a little bit more visible as it is no longer covered halfway by his hair. His glasses were replaced by contact lenses which made him look less hipsterish than before. It was strange, it's like Brent was never really sick, it was like he got a new look altogether.

"You look nice," Jack smiled, "Welcome back."

Jack's days were getting better by the hour, it usually crumbles down at night because he was so used to getting flashbacks of his past that he'd forgotten to function without them. It gave him the sense of closure, but nowadays he had to move on.

A lot of things were going on in his life, it wasn't as major as the day he tried to reconcile things with Alex, but minor things that matter to him. Cookie died two days ago, Conner met Leslie and immediately ranted on about his and Jack's old collection of nickles, Brent finally came back to work, everything was supposedly great.

Of course, he still feels like there's a gaping hole inside of him, but that doesn't matter anymore; he's trying to ignore it.

"Thanks, Baratwat," Brent grinned.

"You don't look like my Hipster Brent, though, I might have to come up with a new nickname for you."

"You can still call me that, I don't mind."

Jack shook his head, no, "Doesn't fit, what about... Yeast Extract?"

Brent chuckled, "Hipster Brent is fine."

-

Brent wasstarting to grow on him, he was no longer the annoying hipster boss he used to know, but a caring gentleman.

He didn't immediately shoot down Jack's idea for making Leslie a permanent member of the team like he would before, but he did imply that he doesn't like working with anyone but Jack. It was sweet, in a way, but when he told him that he was getting too worn up working by himself making lots of ridiculous coffee orders and how he'd managed to train Leslie well enough to be an efficient worker, unlike the last trainee we was supposed to train, who immediately quit after she made her first soy latte, claiming that soy milk wasn't really milk at all.

Brent was nothing like Alex, Alex was an oldschool romantic who'd get his significant others such magnificent gifts and would travel with them to exotic places on a whim just to show that he loves them, Brent took time with even the simplest gestures such as admitting that he liked Jack. Alex would write you a song and serenade you with it because the moment reminds him of you, Brent has no musical talent he knows of. Alex would kiss you under the stars because he likes to point out all wonders of the galaxies and kissing you equally, Brent hates astronomy. The list goes on, and as perfect as Alex was to him, he was never his in the first place.

"Oi, Hipster Brent, wanna go get dinner sometime?"

He felt lighter when Brent said yes.

-

They were on their first date and not everything went according to plan.

Jack drove both of them to the Thai place he enjoys most, only to find out Brent hates Thai food, so he had to look for another restaurant, the one where they both can eat something. He found out a lot of things about his boss, that his sense of humor was roughly similar to his and Alex's, maybe if Tanner didn't happen, the three of them would be great friends. Or maybe they'll never meet, maybe everything will be different.

"Are you okay?" Brent asked worriedly, "You're gripping the wheel too tightly and your knuckles are turning white."

Jack took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down, "Yeah, I'm fine."

It's been so long since he'd last seen Alex, and despite the traumatic events that occured, deep down he wanted to see him again, to apologize for ruining their possible future together when they were young and stupid. He should've never let him go, it was a mistake, it was his mistake that has been haunting him ever since the flashbacks stopped.

He missed Verity, as absurd as that sounds, he misses that girl, she was smart and gorgeous, she was the last girl he's ever dated. Their relationship ended badly and it was, yet again, his fault. He ruined something with his gorgeous girlfriend because deep down, he was still in love with his ex best friend.

And now? He was going to ruin his first date with his boss, solely because he couldn't stop thinking about that one person who broke his heart just because he did the same years ago.

-

He was lucky he didn't lose his job after the date, maybe Brent liked too much to let him walk around the city jobless with no one to love him.

He misses Cookie, the cat would usually sit on his lap and purr when he knows thwt his master was feeling down, looking at all the cat stuff he didn't have the heart to throw out, he called Conner so maybe they could pick out a kitten from the shelter.

He was suprised when the other boy came in with an orange kitten instead, he said it was a she and he named her Frosting.

His best friend was an idiot.