The Way You'll Love Me

Alex and Jack were practically inseparable since they had found each other. They did every childish thing that they could think of, from swimming in the lake in the middle of the night like they had that one night, to spending hours and tons of change in arcades all day. They reasoned it all as trying to make up for their teen years apart, but it was obvious to everyone around them that they both were still massive kids at heart.

The two boys also did other things together, too, though, that weren’t really necessary. But like they had said, they were making up for lost time. They did things like accompanying each other to appointments, just for the extra time together in the car, even though the other would be waiting in the waiting room the entire time.

Today, Jack and Alex had decided to take a shower together, as per usual. Once they’d finished cleaning themselves, they stood in front of the mirror together, Jack leaning against the door and admiring his boyfriend, while the younger boy fixed his brunet hair, towels around both of their waists.

“Y’know, I’m thinking of dying my hair.” Alex voiced, nervous about Jack’s answer.

“Oh, hmm? Really?” Jack had replied, head cocking to the side, imagining his boyfriend with various hair colours.

“Yeah. Blond, maybe.” Alex spoke again, and Jack could tell he was a bit unsure of himself.

“What brought this up? Why the sudden change, hmm?” Jack asked, curious as to why the smaller boy looked so frustrated as he stared at himself in the mirror.

“Well, I think I just need a change. I’m kind of getting tired of this colour. And besides, you like blonds better, right?” Alex said, almost meekly.

In the months that they had spent getting to know each other, before they had moved in with each other, there had been an abundance of questions and answers being shared. Jack had found out that Alex had adored Green Day, and Alex had found out that the other boy had absolutely loved Blink 182. Alex discovered that Jack had various siblings, while Jack discovered that Alex was an only child.

Somewhere in one of their conversations, it had come up that Jack had preferred blond hair on others over brunet; he found it prettier and more attractive. Alex had also mentioned that he’d liked darker hair. Ever since that conversation, though, Alex had begun to despise his hair. He wondered why he wasn’t what Jack liked best. He was confused as to why he even cared as much as he did, but alas, he did, and he couldn’t control it. He couldn’t help but think that there were various mix ups in their relationship, particularly doing with him not being good enough for Jack. So, regardless of how long he’d had and how much he’d liked his brunet hair, he was willing to get rid of it for Jack, if that’s what the elder really preferred.

Jack chuckled in response to Alex’s confession, giving the younger boy a completely false interpretation of how he felt about the situation. Taking notice of Alex’s expression in the mirror, the younger boy’s cheeks drained of their colour, Jack stood up straight, moving over to his boyfriend. He wrapped his arms around Alex, burying his nose in the shorter boy’s hair as he shook his head.

“No, no, no, baby. I’m not laughing at you. Don’t worry about it, really. Your hair’s beautiful, you’re beautiful, and you don’t need to change anything.”

This confused Alex once again, and the younger boy spoke, saying, “But you did say you prefer blond, right? Then why shouldn’t I do it?”

“Just because I prefer it doesn’t mean you need to have it. I love you regardless, I mean, we’re soul mates, for Pete’s sake. I don’t think your hair colour will, or can, affect our relationship, even if we tried to make it do so.” Jack punctuated his last sentence with a sigh, confused about how Alex could be so unsure about their relationship, when they were practically- Wait, not even practically- soul mates.

“I know it won’t make anything negative, but wouldn’t it make things better? Wouldn’t you like looking at me more?” Alex spoke softly.

Jack sighed once again, closing his eyes and shaking his head.

“Alex, you like ice cream, right?”

“Uh, yeah, of course, but what does that have to do with anything?” Alex replied, eyebrows scrunching together.

“Just listen. Which do you prefer more? Chocolate or vanilla?”

“Chocolate. Haven’t I told you that?”

Jack smiled at that, because, yeah, the two boys had managed to tell the other everything about themselves, including their preferred flavours of various foods.

“Yes, you have. Just play along though, okay? I know that you like chocolate. So, if I offered you a vanilla, you wouldn’t take it? You’d be disgusted by it?” Jack asked his boyfriend, smirking, because he could feel himself winning the argument already, and he was glad to win if it meant boosting Alex’s self-esteem.

“No, of course not. I’d still love it, and I get what you’re saying, but why would I take vanilla when I could easily have chocolate, in the situation where I don’t want to experience a new change. Because, like, mixing up ice cream flavours every once in a while is a lot different than hair colours.” Alex argued back, eyes rolling at Jack’s little analogy.

“Ah, ah ah,” Jack shook his head in reply, “That’s where you’re absolutely wrong. You wouldn’t be getting chocolate, you’d be getting brown ice cream that still tastes like vanilla. You’re still you, no matter what.”

“Then why do you want me? Why don’t you just go for someone that really is chocolate?”

Alex’s comment makes Jack laugh once again, and he rocks the shorter boy back in forth in his arms as he replies, “Besides the fact that we’ve been paired by a mystic force for the rest of our lives, I wouldn’t want anyone else, anyways. To me, everyone else is that really crappy, no name ice cream brand that they can’t even label as ‘ice cream,’ because there isn’t enough cream in it, while you’re over here in all of your quality deliciousness. The choice is obvious, regardless of flavour, my little creamy boy.”

This finally causes a laugh from Alex, and he leans back into the older boy’s arms as Jack speaks once again, “Now, why don’t we go get dressed, and then I’ll take you out for some ice cream, huh?”