The Boy by the Window.

Jack almost passed out when he saw a B- written down in red on his exam. He thanked his teacher — something he shouldn't have done because he got a sarcastic comment as a response — and grinned at Zack from the other side of the class. Zack gave him a thumbs up as he passed it too and they both chuckled.

His parents expected an A+ from him but he couldn't give a damn at that moment because he couldn't believe that he had passed Geometry. Even more so, he couldn't believe he had passed Geometry thanks to Alex Gaskarth — who was known for being a huge asshole and the most self-centered teen in their small town.

Zack and him decided to hang out at the elder's place after class so they bought pizza, sweets and even a few beers to celebrate their success. Zack pulles a face when he heard Jack say that they should get a pack of beer — Jack didn't drink alcohol— but he was more than happy to buy it. Zack's mum couldn't even believe his son had passed all his resits which annoyed him but it made him feel proud of himself at the same time. They watched a couple comedy movies and ate until they couldn't fit any more food in their stomaches.

It was 1AM when Jack found himself walking home that evening. School was finally over and his parents let him come home late for once because he was on holidays already. All his hard work had paid off and it was finally over, he couldn't be more excited to relax and take some time off from stressing out about everything.

He opened the front door and tiptoed up to his room. His parents' bedroom door was slightly open so he poked his head inside to tell them that he was home and he was going to sleep. He closed his bedroom door behind him and quickly changed into his pj's before getting in bed. He set his alarm and closed his eyes, his tired body was already falling into a slumber right before he remembered that he hadn't thanked Alex for helping him with his exam. He pulled himself up to his feet and slowly opened his curtains. Alex's bedroom lights were on which surprised the younger, but he could hear music come from the inside of his room. Oh Blink, you make miracles.

"Alex" He whispered, poking his head out of the window and leaning towards the other's house as close as possible.

He didn't get a response from the other teen. Jack thought he could have falling asleep to the sound of the music but he couldn't remember a night where Alex had fallen asleep listening to music before. It would have pissed him off and he definitely doesn't remember being mad at Alex for doing so.

"ALEX" He said louder. If he was asleep, he was definitely going to wake up now.

He heard him groan and struggle to get up, knocking some of the items in his bedroom to the floor. Jack couldn't help but grin at his success. He appeared at his window looking like a hot mess. His eyes were half closed and he glared at Jack.

"What the fuck do you want" Alex gritted his teeth and rubbed at his eyes.

"Thanks" Jack smirked at him.

"The fuck?" He looked like a confused Pokemon.

"For helping me with geometry. I passed with a B-"

"For fuck sake. Whatever" He rolled his eyes and started turning away but Jack wasn't done with him just yet.

"Alex! Come on, you're awake now, let's talk" Jack encouraged. In all honesty, he felt kind of stupid asking Alex to stay and have a conversation with him. He felt like he was talking to a kid.

"You woke me up!" He whined indeed like a kid and threw his arms in the air. Jack had to laugh, he had to. He didn't expect he'd get that reaction from the elder just for waking him up.

"My god. Can you be any more childish?" He cracked a laugh and the fact that Alex smiled back surprised him. That little fucker had an adorable smile - at least when he was sleepy.

"Shut the fuck up, I haven't slept in days" Alex yawned and turned back to him.

"Fight me" Jack smiled victorious from ear to ear and leaned against the frame of his window.

"I would, I'm too fucking far away though" He rolled his eyes.

"Come over then" Jack tried to sound seductive but failed and laughed. Alex shook his head but smiled anyway.

"Your parents would kill me"

"That's true. I should be sleeping"

"Do you wanna come over instead?" Alex said in a more serious and low voice. Jack was taking aback by Alex's offer and thought he might be joking for a moment, but shrugged and said sure anyway.

Jack simply put his slippers on so he wouldn't make so much noise going downstairs and exited his house.

Once at Alex's doorstep, he waited for him to open the door for him and show him the way upstairs, not before hearing him shush him when he tried to greet him with a simple 'hello'. Jack tiptoed up to his room and waited for Alex to close his door behind him. Once he did, Alex started talking normally and Jack's eyes widened.

"Shush! You're going to wake up your parents"

"My room is soundproof, so don't worry about it" He shrugged and started roaming through his closet.

"I don't believe that" Jack gaped at him.

"Yeah, well, not really soundproof but they installed something that reduced sound when I was a kid because I used to throw tantrums literally every day. They used to lock me in here until I calmed down" He stopped for a second to take a look at Jack, who nodded and sat on his bed, and went turned his back to him again.

"So. What are we doing?" Jack clasped his hands together and pursed his lips, not really knowing why he agreed to come to the elder's room in the middle of the night.

"We are getting drunk" Alex stated turning around once he found the bottle of whiskey he was looking for. Jack furrowed his eyebrows and asked why. "Because we can. And you've already had a couple of drinks" He said and handed Jack the bottle.

"How'd you know that?" He furrowed his eyebrows.

"Your eyes gave it away. You know what they say, 'If you're gonna drink, you've gotta drink 'till ya get drunk'"

"Who says that?" He chuckled and got a hold of the bottle. He busied himself reading the long label on it.

"Me" Alex kept roaming through his closet in search of shot glasses. He handed one to Jack and kept one for himself.

"I'm not drinking this on its own, dude"

"Yeah, you are" Alex smirked and poured the first of many shots of the night.

-

"Alex" Alex didn't reply. He was too busy analyzing his hands. "Alex. It's 6AM I should go home. My parents. My parents will get up to go to work soon. And. And they will see I'm not there" Jack slurred a bit, his mind everywhere but right there on Alex's bedroom floor.

"If your happiness and self-acceptance is based on what your parents think you're doing 24/7 when you're almost 18 years old then sure, go home, get in bed and pretend you didn't have a great time drinking with your hot neighbor" Jack wanted nothing but to respond to that comment on a rude and sarcastic way, but his mind was suck on hot hot hot hot. He wasn't sure whether Alex wanted him to admit that he was indeed hot, or if he wanted him to start an argument about his huge ego. Never the less, Jack thought Alex sounded quite intelligent when he was drunk.

"You said you're hot" It came out almost as a question. It was the only thing in the younger's mind.

"Don't you think I am?" Alex smirked up at him. Jack, without thinking much about it, hopped up from Alex's bed and sat down next to the elder.

"Did you ask me because you want me to agree with you? Or because you want to start an argument about it?" Jack was too close to Alex. Just. Too. Close. He didn't seem to realize that, but Alex knew he was too close thanks to the notes in the Just Neighbors Who Only Argue About Stupid Stuff guidebook, but he didn't bother saying anything.

"I'm asking you, because, I want to know if you think of me as more than an insensitive asshole who only cares about himself" He furrowed his eyebrows, unsure of where this was going all of the sudden. Jack was so close to him that he could have touched his face if he raised his hand high enough.

Jack, in his sober state, hadn't thought of Alex as a selfish person, more so as a rude teenager who hated most things that had nothing to do with partying and having his own kind of fun. Jack, being Jack, who never drank or smoked or anything, got drunk pretty quickly, and couldn't think of everything Alex said. So he only focused on one thing Alex said.

"You are not an insensitive asshole" He started tearing up. Inside his head, he asked himself why he was even crying, but he decided he would think about that once he had sobered up. "You" Sniff. "You and" Sniff. "You saved a kitten" He broke up crying.

Alex -who wanted nothing but Jack's honest opinion of himself- on the other hand, took a few seconds to register what Jack had just said and burst out laughing. He laughed so hard that he worried his voice would echo through the whole house even though his walls were soundproof. He laughed so hard that Jack switched his crying for laughing in a mere second because Alex's laugh was just so contagious.

Once they had calmed down and had a short sighing competition, they decided to call it a night (or morning since it was 8AM). Jack asked Alex for advice on how to tell his parents that he'd been out all night because they both started work at 9 and they were still at home, probably wondering where the hell their son went off to. Alex shrugged his shoulders and told him to tell them the truth, that he was getting drunk with their best friends' son, but Jack refused to tell them that.

Alex's parents were gone by 8AM and so he helped Jack downstairs and even to the younger's doorstep.

"Fuck" He sighed. "I have no idea what I'm going to tell my parents" He ran a hand through his sweaty hair.

"Just go up to your room and ignore them" Alex suggested, placing a cigarette between his lips.

"I'm not like you" He almost wanted to take it back, but Alex smirked and nodded. "I hope you remember this night when you wake up. I wouldn't like you to be an asshole to me after this" He confessed. He even felt embarrassed to admit it.

"I would never forget it, darling" He said with a foreign accent. "Seriously though, it's been fun. See ya later, yeh?" But before Jack got a chance to reply, Alex was already starting to walk away.

What does 'later' mean though?