Endlessly

Monday.

Jack can't decide if he likes Alex's house or not. It's the exact opposite of his own - small and minimal. The walls are white and the abundance of windows let the sun filter through every room. Alex tells him it reminds his parents of heaven. What he does know is that he definitely prefers his own home, but when Jack woke up this morning still sick, Joyce insisted the boys go to the Gaskarth household for a few days. Just being in the presence of multiple full angels should help him feel better, and Peter can keep a professional eye on him.

"You shouldn't even be able to get sick after you get your wings." Joyce explains.

Peter has the same opinion. "You're obviously a unique case. Honestly, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do. You're feeling better than you were yesterday, right?" Jack nods. "Well then I think you should stay here and rest, and we'll keep an eye on you for a few days and see what happens. I'll see if I can find anything out about your condition in the meantime. Hopefully we won't need to use it, but just in case, I'd like to have information on hand."

"What information?" Isobel runs down the stairs in sweatpants and a t-shirt, hair tied in a messy bun. Alex takes a look at the clock and sees she's late for her weekly yoga class.

"How to treat half demons for illness."

Isobel's head snaps to Jack, as if she just now realizes he's there. She pauses her scurry for a second and looks him over. A smirk slowly spreads on her face. "You get too close to a church?"

"I don't know, ask your son."

Her gaze slides to Alex. "Did you try to take him to church with you?"

Alex crosses his arms over his chest and glares at his shoes. "I forgot, okay?" He snaps.

"You forgot your boyfriend would burn alive when he entered a church?" Isobel laughs and goes to kiss her son's forehead. Neither of the boys tried to correct her when she said 'boyfriend.' They're getting tired of correcting everyone and if Jack has anything to say about it, it won't be long until they do have an official label.

"Shouldn't you be leaving?" Alex grumbles, pushing his mom away.

"You're lucky I should!" She hits him playfully on the side of his head. "Oh, and Jack, you don't have anything to worry about. From the looks of it, you almost died. It'll take a few days to come back from it, but you should be fine. All demons have different reactions to something like this, but judging by how you look right now, I'd say you're a pretty strong demon. You said you went inside the church?"

"Well, my arm did."

"Yeah, if that were a regular demon, they would have been up in flames by being that close. You resisted, and the closer you are, the harder the crash." Isobel shrugs before kissing Peter and running out the door.

Confusion grows in Alex's mind. Isobel is a preschool teacher - how did she know that when Peter didn't? Jack voices his thought.

Peter sighs and covers his face with his hands. "Isobel is a...she's very old. Thousands of years my elder...one of the first beings created ever."

Jack seems to accept the answer, and on the outside, so does Alex. There's something off about the story. Never once has his father stumbled over his words like he just did. He must be hiding something, Alex decides.

And he's not sure how, but he will find out what it is soon.

***

Tuesday.

"I'll only be gone for an hour or two at the most. You should stay here." Alex tries to extract himself from Jack's hug. He's only going to the mall because he's in desperate need of new jeans and shoes, but Jack insists on accompanying him. Alex, however, is positive that Jack is still sick and should stay home and rest.

"I swear I'm feeling 100%. I want to go with you." Jack whines, peppering Alex's face with kisses. "Please don't fight me."

"All you want to do is buy my clothes and follow me into dressing rooms." Alex laughs.

Jack hums. "How about if you let me buy a pair of jeans that make your ass look good, I won't even try to follow you into the dressing room?"

"Or you could stay here and sleep and let me buy my own ass-hugging jeans while still not bothering me while I'm trying stuff on." Alex teases, stepping back to stop the lip attack on his face.

"What will I do without you, though? I don't think your parents really like me that much..." Truth be told, Jack knows they're only putting up with him because it's out of their control. Sometimes he sees their glares from the corner of his eyes screaming that he isn't welcome here. "Besides, I'm craving Taco Bell."

Alex rolls his eyes. "There's no way you're letting me go alone, is there?"

Jack's eyebrow rises into his forehead. "Is there a reason you want to go alone?"

"No, I just don't want you to overwork yourself. No offense, but you still look like shit."

Jack doesn't answer with words. He only turns to find his jacket, wallet, phone, and car keys. Alex knows it's pointless to argue anymore and leaves the room while Jack finishes getting ready.

Despite Alex's initial reluctance to bring the demon, he proves to be useful in fetching different sizes and colors, much as he grumbles and complains about it. Alex just smiles innocently and claims that's what he gets for coming along.

Once Jack is finished buying Alex entirely too many jeans (in the angel's opinion) and four pairs of shoes, they stop at Jack's favorite restaurant. He inhales the air and moans. "I wish I could live inside a Taco Bell." He claims, only making Alex laugh. "Is it okay if I just get a bunch of tacos to split?" He asks, and Alex nods. "Great. You stay here then and watch the stuff. I'll be back." Alex at least wanted to pay for lunch considering how much Jack has already spent today, but he's gone before Alex can even offer.

Alex smiles as he watches Jack stand in line, staring at his phone. With every day they spend together, Alex feels more of the initial tension dissolve. Jack's proved to be nothing like the demon he expected. He's kind to Alex and he absolutely spoils him. The kissing isn't too bad, either. By now there's barely any strain left in the relationship. Still, he's got a gut feeling that there's a second shoe to drop, and as much as he hopes to be wrong, it's not often that he is. It's like this is the calm before the much anticipated storm; the honeymoon phase has to end sometime, and Alex can only hope that the damage caused isn't irreparable.

The angel sees it coming before even Jack does. The tray coming towards Jack is stacked precariously high with tacos and two rather large containers of nacho cheese - it's Jack's obsession that he introduced to Alex on their first taco trip. Because they're dining in the food court, the containers don't have lids. So when the server trips over something behind the counter and falls forward, there's nothing stopping the taco tower from toppling over and pushing the cheese off the tray.

One of the containers lands right between Jack's feet, the force of landing sending gooey cheese into the air and onto Jack's jeans and shoes. The second one, though, is what sends Alex bolting over to the Taco Bells, clothes left forgotten at the table.

Even though he runs, Jack is screaming profanity before he can reach him, fingers becoming sticky with orange as he tries to pull the cheese out of his hair before it dries. "Fucking hell! I pay good money for this hair and these clothes and all it takes is you tripping over your own damn feet to ruin it! What the hell am I supposed to do now, walk around like this all day? You better be giving me a fucking refund and replacement food for this shit!"

When Alex reaches the demon's side, the large food court is almost completely silent, all eyes focused on the meltdown. Embarrassment and anger are his two most prominent emotions. While the embarrassment is self-explanatory, the anger is directed at Jack. The server's face is literally tomato red, and tears pool in the corners of his eyes. And Jack's not even done yet; he still rants on about how stupid the young employee must be and how he'll make sure the kid is fired. "Jack." Alex whispers harshly. Jack doesn't even react. There's not even a flinch to suggest he heard it. "Jack!" Alex growls at normal volume, tugging at Jack's orange-stained shirt.

Jack pauses mid-word and turns on his heels to Alex. "Shut up, Alex."

Alex probably shouldn't be taken aback, but he is. It takes him a couple of second to react - just enough time for Jack to look back at the poor employee and open his mouth again. He doesn't get any words out, though, before he's pulled back by Alex, forcing him to look at the angel. "No, you shut up. You're making a bigger deal out of this than it needs to be. Don't tell me you've never spilled anything before. There's no need for you to throw a temper tantrum in the middle of a fucking mall."

"Shut. Up. Alex." They're chest-to-chest now, but neither is willing to back down.

Their eyes blaze as they stare one another down. It feels like everyone in the room is holding their breath, leaving no more air for Alex to take in. "Unless you want to take a trip to the police station and get charged with harassment, I suggest you go back to our table, get a pair of the jeans you just bought me, and change in the bathroom." Alex speaks clearly and concisely, and while at first he wants to continue his protest, Alex's eyes show no signs of lying. The bullheaded side of him wants to scream that it doesn't matter, it's not like he hasn't spent a night in a cell before and it will take less than an hour to get bailed out, anyways. However, his common sense says that he's already on Alex's bad side, and while usually extremely forgiving, angels are notorious for having a wicked mean streak when offended. Not to mention that going through all that paperwork again would be tedious and boring. In the end, it's Alex's fiery eyes full of resentment that make him stomp off, hoping that the asshole who spilled the cheese has to clean up his tracks all around the floor.

No one moves until Jack's disappeared into the bathroom. As soon as the door slams shut, the crowd breaks out in hushed whispers and heavy glares towards the Taco Bell. Alex pays them no attention though, focusing his attention on the one who needs it. "Hey!" He steps over the mess to the server, who, now that Jack's gone, has let his tears flow freely. A coworker stands beside him in a half hug while another employee gets a bucket and mop.

"Please don't. I'm so sorry, okay?" He sniffles.

"I'm not here to yell at you." Alex softens his face and tries to look as inviting as possible. "I want to apologize for my boyfriend's reaction." Boyfriend is the easiest way to describe them at the moment, although after this scene Alex is positive he doesn't want that right now. "He's got anger issues, if you couldn't tell."

"Yeah, no shit." The girl comforting him snorts.

"I can't lose this job." The boy sobs. "I only started a month ago and I need this job. My mom is sick and we've got bills to pay and mouths to feed and-"

"Don't worry about that. If I have anything to say about it, you'll be working here for as long as you want." And because the boy is so down, Alex can't help but add on to the apology, sending a quick prayer that God will support his decision. "And I have the feeling your mother will be feeling better very soon." Jack storms out of the bathroom just then, and once again the place is silent. "I should get him out of here, but again, I'm so sorry."

Alex turns before the guy can say anything else, but the broken "thank you" he hears fuels his burning steps the closer he gets to Jack.

It's about to be a very long drive home.