Pocket Full of Dreams

Alex and Josh’s washing machine remained broken for the following week, as well. Alex ended up going to a friends house for a small get-together a few days after the laundromat situation, sheepishly bringing along his favourite pair of jeans and asking his friend if he could wash them. His friend graciously agreed, and there was no issue, although Alex did feel quite silly. The jeans were important to him, though, and he wanted to able to wear them before he had to bring the rest of his pants to the laundromat the following weekend.

Come time to wash said jeans, Alex found himself to be quite nervous. As he decided which clothes to bring along, the brunet realized that’d he’d need to wash more than just his jeans this time around. Unsure why he was being to critical of which items to take, Alex frowned in annoyance. Ignoring his mind and hurrying along, he shoved whatever was in front of him into a bag, leaving his room and entering the living room.

“Going to see that boy?” Josh asked from where he sat on their couch, eyebrows raised as Alex crossed the room, placing his heavy bag by the door.

“I’ve mentioned him once,” Alex mumbled as he stood by the door, “We barely spoke.”

“Well,” Josh reasoned, “You did sound pretty excited, and if I’m not mistaken, you seem quite nervous right now, as well.”

“I don’t even know if he’s interested in me,” Alex sighed, “We had a pretty normal conversation.”

“Even if he hasn’t shown any signs yet, you should totally go for it. Although, watching you for as long as you described would definitely count as a sign of interest in my book.” Josh smirked, wiggling his eyebrows and finally cracking a smile out of Alex.

“Whatever,” Alex huffed, lifting his bag and opening the door. “I just need to do my laundry.”

“Have fun!” Josh called out as Alex closed the door, throwing a wave over his shoulder before he did so.

As he walked the streets to get to the laundromat, Alex found himself to be completely confused by his inhibitions. He was unsure of why he was so eager to go to the laundromat, rather than being impatient about fixing his broken washing machine. Although Alex was able to acknowledge his pestering interest in Jack, he was more so confused by why they were able to have such an effect on him. Breathing to calm himself down as he approached the store, Alex shifted his bag from hand to hand nervously. It was quite obvious that the majority of his being was hoping that Jack was working that day, but a small part of Alex also detested the idea, with fears that he’d embarrass himself, or something of the like.

Smiling as the chime went off in response to his entrance, Alex kept his eyes to the ground on his way to a machine. Dropping his bag, he then let his eyes wander to the ceiling, fringe disguising his line of view. The presence of a familiar figure widened his grin even more, and Alex went about his business hoping that he wouldn’t be the one to have to make the first move.

Luck appeared to be on Alex’s side that day, as footsteps sounded throughout the shop. Not long after, Jack was standing beside Alex, leaning against one of the machines as he asked, ‘You’re back?”

“It appears so,” Alex laughed, as he continued to load the washing machine. His nerves were calmed by Jack’s not-so-smooth introduction, fears of judgement and awkward conversations in general washing away.

“Yeah, it does. Sorry. Uh, how’ve you been?” Jack asked, wondering if he could subtly work his way around finding out if Alex had received his message.

“Fine, I suppose. Quite boring, in all. You’d assume I’d have made more friends by now, having been here for five years,” Alex chuckled, standing to face Jack as he finished up his chore.

Realizing that he’d have to dig deeper to find out if Alex was aware of his poorly executed plan the week prior, Jack asked, “So, how are your clothes? The jeans you washed here, I mean. Nice and clean?”

“Yeah, they’re great?” Alex replied hesitantly, voice raising as he gave Jack a look of confusion. “But, get this,” he began again, launching into a story, “I dropped my favourite pair right in a puddle of mud after I left, so I ended up having to wash them at a friend’s house again.”

“And which pair might those be?” Jack questioned, prying even further.

“The ones with all of the patches,” Alex said, matter of factly, before noticing a slight damper on Jack’s mood. “Why, do you ask everyone about the satisfaction of their pants?” Alex asked with a grin, hoping that Jack would find the question at least a little bit funny.

“Only the cute ones,” Jack mumbled, before his eyes blew wide. Alex, meanwhile, had a good laugh at the other boy’s response.

“I think that’s the most typical thing you could've said,” Alex marveled, severely amused by the situation.

“I’m very aware,” Jack pointed out, slouching in embarrassment. “I’m sorry.”

“You apologize too much,” Alex decided, “No more of that.” It was quite funny to him how he’d been the one to walk into the store as nervous as ever, but now it was Jack making a fool out of himself.

“Oh, s- I mean, yeah. Okay,” Jack smiled softly, shaking his head. “You’re right, though. For only having met you twice, I’m pretty nervous right now.”

Alex blushed in response to Jack’s confession, cursing himself as he thought about how he shouldn’t be the one to become all flustered. Jack had been the one stuttering for their entire conversation, but now that Alex was in his hands, the brunet saw the situation back from the way he had when he’d entered the shop.

Many more casual words were exchanged between the two young men, and before they knew it, Alex’s laundry had been done. Frowning in the realization of the fact, Alex contemplated asking Jack for some sort of contact information, before backing out of the idea once more. Although they’d chatted for a couple of hours, Alex still didn’t want to be a bother. He especially didn’t want to confuse Jack’s kindness with interest.

As Alex excused himself to the washroom before he had to make his walk home, Jack took action for the second time. Scribbling out his name and his number in the same fashion as he had the week before, Jack prayed to anyone that was listening that Alex would discover the note, and at least think it was a little bit sweet, or something like that. Jack slipped the piece of paper into the pocket of Alex’s American flag patterned jeans, grinning proudly as Alex came back into view just in time. The pair then exchanged goodbyes, each of them silently hoping that it wouldn’t be their last run-in with each other.