Hearts & Spades

"If you keep messing with your hair, it's all going to fall out." Rian commented, watching his friend's movements in the mirror.

"It looks terrible!" Jack exclaimed, ignoring the other's suggestion and tugging at his dark locks while staring hopelessly into his reflection.

"What are you talking about? It looks fine to me." the stocky boy insisted, fighting off the urge to laugh at the elder.

Finally, his hands fell to his side, but only so he could shoot Rian his best death stare. "What do you know, you don't have any hair."

"Hey... I do so..." he murmured, running his fingers through his own buzzed scalp. "Why are you freaking out anyway? I thought you didn't care about these stupid dances?"

Jack narrowed his eyes at his companion's challenging tone, "I don't. I'm only bothering with it because Cass insisted."

"Sureee, it totally has nothing to do with Alex." Rian mocked, grabbing his suit jacket from the edge of the bed and slipping it over his shoulders.

The lanky teen chewed on the inside of his cheek, his eyes dropping to the ground for a brief moment. "He's just going with me. I didn't want to be a third wheel, plus, the kid needs to get out more."

"Jack, you took the guy out on a date for fuck's sake." the younger of the two argued, obviously getting sick and tired of his best friend denying his painfully obvious crush on Alex.

"So?" he questioned, attempting to sound stern but appearing rather defeated instead. If only Rian knew he'd actually kissed the boy in question not once, but multiple times.

He rolled his eyes, letting out a huff as he fiddled with the dark maroon tie around his neck. "Alex is pretty cute, for a dude anyway - and super sweet. I may have only known him for like twenty minutes, but I like him. And I know you do too."

"Yeah... I guess you're right." Jack admitted, a small unintentional smile at the edge of his lips. He didn't even know why he was trying to keep it a secret anymore, maybe he just didn't want to accept it himself. Liking Alex meant he was opening himself up for a world of pain all over again.

Rian tugged on the edge of his sleeves, grinning at his own appearance. Tonight was going to be amazing, with his girlfriend and best friend at his side. As he turned around, he saw Jack struggling with a purple tie of his own, causing him to stifle a laugh. "Purple?"

The raven haired boy scowled, "Alex picked it out, okay?" but his angry tone was short lasted as he remembered the shopping trip the two had gone on.



"Hurry up, Jack! There's still a few places I want to check before everything closes." Alex called, his hand wrapped tightly around the other's wrist as he drug him along.

"Ugh, you said that an hour ago." Jack groaned. The two of them had been running around all day looking for the 'perfect tux' for the following night. Maybe he should not have waited until the last minute to take them shopping, he had no clue how pretentious the younger was.

However, just like every other time, his complaint was ignored. The brunette continued on until he came to an abrupt stop in the middle of some overly fancy shop in the mall. "Oh, look at this one!" he exclaimed, taking hold to a lavender tie hanging on the display.

"Really? Purple?"

Alex paid him no mind as he took the fabric off the rack and held it in front of Jack, seemingly trying to see what it would look like if he was to wear it. "This would look incredible on you!" he said cheerfully.

Jack scrunched up his nose in slight discuss, "You sure you wouldn't like a blue or green color?" he suggested desperately ignoring the way the other's comment made his cheeks flare up.

"What? Do you not think it'd look good on me?" he pouted, moving the tie to hold it against his own chest. His bottom lip puckered out, his eyebrows coming together as he stared up at the taller of the two. God damn it.

"No... you'd look adorable." he nearly whispered, watching as Alex's face suddenly lit up.

"Alright then, it's decided!"

One precious puppy dog face later and Jack was forced to agree to wear the most hideous color for his senior winter formal.



Rian offered a soft smile, taking a few steps towards Jack and assisting him. He didn't want to ruin their night by remembering the last time he was helping his friend get dressed. "Well, he has good taste. It does look rather dashing."

"Shut up, Dawson." Jack spat playfully, pushing his hands away when he began trying to fiddle with the rest of his attire.

As he slipped on his shoes he saw the other digging through his bag in the corner of his eye. Jack pulled out two fake flowers, twirling them in his hand when he thought he wasn't being watched. "No way." Rian spoke up, interrupting the silence. "You bought boutonnieres? Was that his idea?"

Jack glanced up quickly, his first instinct was to hide the items behind it back, but it was far too late for that. "Oh, no. He, uh, he doesn't know about them."

"What happened to this only being to get him out of the house, huh?"

"I just want him to have a good time, okay?"



"Jaaack, Jack, we're here." called the boy behind the steering wheel, waving his hand in the other's face when he turned to look at him.

"I know." he replied anxiously, his eyes traveled back out the window to the small house with the porch light on. Jack swallowed the lump in his throat, trying to shake away his sudden nerves.

A female voice from the back of the car broke the tense atmosphere. "Don't worry, just go get him. We'll wait here." Cassadee smiled reassuringly, twirling the ends of her curled locks. She was wearing a beautiful beaded red dress that matched her boyfriend's tie, no one could deny that she looked beautiful tonight.

Jack nodded slowly before opening the car door and stepping out. The few steps that it took to reach the doorbell seemed endless, he could feel Rian and Cass's eyes on him while his feet moved in sync with his pounding heartbeat. What had gotten into him?

He tugged sharply on his tie before knocking on the wooden door, teeth pulling at his bottom lip as he awaited the answer. Before long the handle turned and a glowing Mrs. Gaskarth was standing before him with a familiar dimpled smile etched across her features.

"Oh, Jack, you look absolutely stunning." she cooed, taking a step back and allowing him to walk into the house.

He chuckled shyly, nodding in Alex's father's direction when he came into view. "Thank you, may I ask where Alex is?" he asked politely. The last thing he wanted was to look like a fool in front of his parents, especially when he felt the other man's eyes on him.

"I'm sure he'll be down in a second, I've never seen him so worked up over something before."

Just as he opened his mouth to reply he heard someone clear their throat from the top of the stairs. Alex was standing there, holding his hands together and obviously nervous to the point of almost shaking. But, it was almost like one of those cliche movies when the boy is waiting at the bottom of the stairs and his date walks down to meet him, looking incredibly breath taking. Only this time it was a bit different. Alex was clumsy trotting down the steps, straightened hair hanging in his eyes - pretty much the opposite from a graceful and gorgeous princess.

The shorter of the two wore the same lavender tie except his was fixed into a bow, the smile on his lips was small and hesitant yet genuine. All he could manage to say in the moment was a simple, "Hi."

Jack's eyes ran over his form once again before he returned the gesture, "Hi."

"You two are precious! Let me go get my camera!" his mother cheered, more or less ruining the moment but the two teens laughed anyway. When she came back with the camera in hand, they scooted closer to one another, Jack wrapped his arm around Alex's waist and grinned until he heard the click. "Come on, you two can do better than that..." Mrs. Gaskarth pleaded. Then the brunette stood on his tip toes and pressed his lips to Jack's cheek, causing his eyes to widen before the scene was captured. "Awe, Jack you're blus-"

"Alex, I got you something." he blurted out, cutting off the older woman. He released Alex in order to take one of the flowers out of his suit pockets.

"A boutonniere?" he said through a bright grin, standing up straight so Jack could gently place it on his suit. Once it was adjusted Jack ran his hands down Alex's arms and nodded. "How does it look?"

"Really be-... uh, pretty." he chocked before reaching for the other flower he had tucked away. "I even have a matching one." But, as he was about to put his on, Alex grabbed his wrist and paused his movements.

"Nu-uh, that's my job." the sixteen year old scolded, taking the small trinket away from him and fixing it onto his coat.

"Ouch! Lex, you stabbed me!" he yelped when Alex accidentally pierced the flower through both his clothes and poor Jack's skin.

"S-sorry." he giggled, his smile disappearing when Jack reached out and grabbed him. "Hey! Put me down, you're going to ruin my tux!"

Alex's parents stood by each others side, laughing to themselves at the scene before them. Then, the piercing sound of a car horn came from outside. "We better get going before Rian throws a fit."

"Okay, but you boys be careful and have a good time! And, Alex, remember not to be out too late, I love you do-"

His mother was still speaking when he closed the door to his house, getting a skeptical look from Jack as a result. "She would have never stopped if we didn't do something."

The taller simply shook his head, holding out his arm so Alex could hook his around it. As they approached the car parked in the street the passenger window rolled down and a smiling girl popped her head out. She must have stolen Jack's spot up front. "You weren't lying when you said he was a cutie!"

Jack's jaw fell open for a moment before he let out a whine, "Cassadee!" Her big mouth could be all that it took to creep Alex out but instead he felt the smaller boy's grip on him tighten.



The moment the four stepped out of the car they were engulfed by the sound of music blaring from inside the building. Jack felt a small spark of excitement from within his chest, he never expected he'd actually be looking forward to something like this, especially after the accident. However, here he was, a large goofy grin on his face and Alex by his side.

"Wow... theres a, uh, lot of people." the sixteen year old stated, partially hiding his face in the other's sleeve. Jack glanced down at him and his expression softened.

"Don't worry, it'll be fun. Let's catch up to Cass and Rian." he suggested, pulling them through the double doors and into the crowded gymnasium.

Alex swallowed the lump in his throat as he was lead through the swarm of people, all dancing and laughing amongst the lights. For a sheltered home schooled boy this was something new entirely. Eventually they came into a circle of teenagers, their two friends being amongst them.

"Hey! Barrack actually showed up!" a boy with a lip ring shouted over the ruckus around them.

Jack simply shrugged his shoulders and tugged his date closer to his side, "Guys, this is Alex."

"Name's Matt." said the scrawny boy who had been speaking earlier. But, before he could get much more out a dainty red head seemed to pop out from behind him.

"Jack! You never told us your new boyfriend was hot!" she squealed.

"B-b-boyfriend?" Alex chocked as the stranger cupped his face in her hands.

"Hayley, leave him alone." Rian interfered, gently pushing her away from the poor terrified boy.

Once the overplayed love song faded out a fast beat pop song replaced it and the group seemed to all scream out at once. Before Alex could even ask, he felt Jack being tugged away from him and there wasn't a thing he could do about it. They must have went to go dance.

"Do you not like this song?" Asked someone behind him. As he spun around on his heels he saw Cassadee with one thin brow raised.

"Uh, I just don't really know how to dance, I guess." he murmured.

"I'll stay here and keep you company." she offered as they fell back into an awkward silence. The anxious teen simply nodded in response. "Jack really likes you, you know that right?" she blurted out as she watched him stare longingly at the raven haired boy jumping around in the crowd a few feet before them.

"Oh, no, he just brought me along because he feels bad for me..." Alex said, his voice laced with sorrow as he glanced back down at his hands. When the girl replied with a lone 'Huh?' he explained himself. "Did he not tell you? I'm the boy who got Bethany's heart after the accident."

Cassadee's face transformed into pure shock and confusion causing Alex's to do the same. "He never mentioned that... he just talked about how much being around you seemed to put him at ease."

"R-really?"

"Really. He never actually told us how you two met, but I guess it's pretty cool you've got Beth's heart though."

As Alex was about to ask more questions, his heart fluttering, the person who was the star of their conversation returned.

Jack wrapped his arm around his date, struggling to catch his breath but laughing all the same. He rested his head on top of the other boy's as he regained the ability to speak. "What were you two party poopers talkin' about?"

"Oh, nothing..." Cassadee replied, winking slyly in Alex's direction. "Hey, where's my boyfriend?"

"Huh? He was right behind me..." he mumbled, turning to look in the other direction. Then a new song began to play and his face flushed. "Fuck."

"Jack, what's the matter?" Alex asked meekly, starring up at the taller boy in worry.

"He told me he was going to do this but I didn't know he was serious... oh well, I guess a promise is a promise." He seemed to talk to himself over the sound of the strange music. Alex had never heard the song playing before, it certainly didn't sound like something they'd play at a high school dance. "Alex?" he called pulling him out of his own mind.

"Yeah...?"

"Will you dance with me?"

"Um, I don't really know how..."

"Nonsense, come on." Jack grinned, taking his hand and pulling him out to the center of the floor. Most people had actually cleared out, probably because, much like Alex, they'd never heard this song before.

"What are we doing?" he whispered, but the elder only put one finger in front of his mouth before pulling him into his chest. One of his hands rested on the small of his back while the other took Alex's hand. The brunette sighed in defeat and wrapped his arms around his neck.

"Just followed my lead, okay?" Jack said quietly, beginning to sway to the song though they could both feel the army of eyes on them.

"Aren't you afraid of what people will think?"

"No, why would I be?"

Alex didn't reply after that, not because he didn't have anything to say, no he had a hundred questions running through his head. But he remained silent because he actually began to listen to the lyrics of the song that filled the room.

'You smell like girly shampoo. I love when I smell like you.'

"You really don't know what you're doing, do you?" Jack chuckled, his breath hot on the other's ear. "Come here." he tugged Alex closer, letting him stand on top of his feet so he could guide him.

The embarrassment was enough to make the younger feel as if he was going to explode, and he probably would have said something if he wasn't so caught up in the song. Did Jack choose this himself?

'You are the strong sense of calm that takes away all the pain.'

This time it was Jack who was avoiding eye contact, as the room spun slowly around them. Alex wished he would just look at him...

'I'm crazy for you 'cause your love kept me from going insane'

He was going to call his name but his voice got caught up in his throat. Jack's hair was glistening in all the lights, his lip being tugged at by his teeth yet his gaze remained else where.

'You stole my heart with one kiss. Embraced my soul with your lips,'

The next lyrics Jack actually sung aloud, he couldn't sing for shit but it still manage to make him grin like a fool. "And I'm forever grateful."

He gave up on trying to get the elder to face him. Instead he rested his head against his chest, listening to the sound of his beating heart over the sound of the gentle music. This was real, not a strange figment of his imagination. Jack was here, and he wasn't going anywhere, at least not any time soon. And for once, Alex didn't feel guilty for being alive.