wax wings: seven
December 2012
Barakat residence
Alex is glad when all of his holiday obligations are over with and he can spend some time with Jack, finally. It’s not that he doesn’t love his family, because he really does. It’s just difficult to go through life with a fake smile pasted onto his face, watching his ex-wife and son and knowing that soon, he’s only going to see Pete every second weekend. Jasey will find someone else. She’ll remarry, and the nuclear family structure she’s tried so hard to preserve will remain intact. He fidgets with the radio dial in his car - Jack is running a little late, so he’s waiting in the parking lot. Somehow, he doubts that the other Barakat siblings will welcome his presence in the apartment. Jack told him about May’s blow-up. From the sound of things, it was quite the sight to behold. He’s relieved when Jack finally appears and gets in the car.
“Hi, my love,” Jack says, leaning over to kiss him. “I missed you yesterday.” Alex fights the urge to nuzzle against his boyfriend’s unshaven jaw; he’s pretty sure that May is watching them from her bedroom window. Jack’s fingers are cold against his skin.
“It’s cold out, baby. You should be wearing gloves,” he scolds Jack playfully. He’s really not sure why they’re taking his beater instead of Jack’s Audi. And all of his fumbling around with the sound system goes to waste the second Jack starts flipping through his CDs. Alex sighs. “I should’ve known you were going to do that.” It’s blink-182, which is not surprising at all.
“Old habits die hard, y’know. Make a left here, babe.” Jack spends the duration of the drive directing him - Alex has no idea where they are going, and isn’t about to ask because he suspects it’s supposed to be a surprise. When they pull up in front of an unfamiliar apartment building, he’s confused. He doesn’t know anyone that lives in this part of town, and as far as he knows, neither does Jack. It’s sort of out of the way of everything; they passed a convenience store on the way by, but the area is mainly residential. The sidewalks are even shovelled, and it doesn’t look like an eight year old’s work. Alex feels only slightly guilty about making Pete shovel the driveway; after all, his own parents made him do it as a kid, and he didn’t die or anything. There was that one time he gave himself a bloody nose by accident, but... “Earth to Alex,” Jack says, reaching over to unclick his seatbelt for him. “Come on, I have something I want to show you.”
Alex follows hesitantly, clinging to Jack’s hand childishly. He hates surprises. It was him - not Jasey, even though everyone thought it was - that wanted to know the sex of the baby early. He’s the one that does most of the cleaning around the house; he has this thing about everything being lined up neatly and everything sitting at a ninety degree angle or it really bothers him. And it’s not that he’s obsessive-compulsive or anything. He just hates clutter! There’s nothing wrong with that. Jack rummages around in his pockets and produces a set of keys. “Jaaaaaack,” Alex whines, hoping his boyfriend will take pity on him and tell him what the surprise is. “Where are you taking me? Are you going to lure me to a seedy motel room to take advantage of my hot body or something?”
Jack squeezes his hand lightly. “It’s something much better than that.”
“Unless the surprise is getting to party naked with Tom Delonge, I don’t see how this surprise can be a good thing at all,” Alex mutters under his breath. Jack laughs and kisses his cheek. “You know I hate surprises.”
Once the door is unlocked and they are standing in the lobby of the building - which is just as nice and fancy as the outside - Jack wraps his arms around Alex’s neck. “Just trust me. I know what I’m doing.” Alex buries his face in Jack’s hair. Jack wouldn’t surprise him and-or scare the hell out of him needlessly. Whatever it is he’s planning, Alex will try his best to love. Unless there’s a clown involved in some way; then he has no control over his actions and will be rendered helpless by his paralyzing fear of them. Jack leads him up a few flights of stairs - they’re on the top floor of the building now. He fumbles around with the keys again and unlocks one of the doors at the end of the hallway.
Alex’s heart is in his throat. “Where are we?” he asks softly.
“This,” Jack says, tugging on his hand, “is our new apartment.” He’s smiling nervously, looking at the ground. “I mean... if you want. Since you still haven’t found a place and May said you couldn’t stay with us, I just thought...” He looks perfectly adorable, all flushed from nerves and biting his nails. Alex has already decided that this is the best surprise he’s ever been given.
“Baby, I... Wow... You’re, you... Are you sure? This is a huge step, we haven’t even...” He pulls Jack into a hug with the intention of never letting go. “I love you so much, you know that?” Jack can probably feel his heart racing; not that he cares, really, considering he’s sort of shaking and trying not to cry. He hasn’t been this happy in a long time. This is the best thing that’s ever happened to him.
“I know it’s kind of short notice, but the super said we could start moving stuff in on the first... I thought we’d probably do it the second, though, because you’ll probably be too hung-over to move furniture the day after New Year’s.”
Alex says, “I’m not sure if I should consider it thoughtful or mean that you think I’m going to be too hung-over on the first.” He kisses Jack’s forehead, still hugging the younger man tight. “This is the best surprise you’ve ever given me, I think.”
Jack snorts. “Better than the clown? Because I thought that one was pretty good.”
“If you ever do that again, I swear to God I’m making you sleep on the couch for the rest of your life,” Alex mutters darkly. He’s already taking mental inventory of the space, thinking about what furniture they’re going to need and where to put it. Most of the furniture in his and Jasey’s - now just Jasey’s, a thought that he is really growing to like - they got second-hand from friends and family. It would be nice to have some new stuff, but realistically they aren’t going to be able to afford everything brand new. As Jack walks him through the apartment, he can’t stop smiling like an idiot. It’s a very long tour, too, because they keep getting distracted and stopping to kiss every few feet. They are going to live together. Alex can’t stop thinking about that fact. He’s going to get to see Jack every second of the day; they are going to get to do stupid, boring things together like brush their teeth and watch movies and... It will be nice.
They will argue, of course, but probably only about trivial things like Jack leaving dirty clothes on the floor after he showers. Days like these make him feel so grown-up; moving in with his boyfriend, thinking about furniture shopping and who will do laundry and cook. It will probably be him, of course, because despite his profession Jack is still a child at heart. But it’s alright - Alex knew that when they started dating, and it’s something he hopes will never change. He can’t help feeling a little giddy about only having to live with his ex-wife for a week longer. In his head, he’s begun referring to her as the Beast. That’s how she’s been acting, even though he’s been trying to minimize his presence in the house and he’s gone most of the time she is at home. It will be so, so nice to live with Jack instead of her.