The Truth Is Hard To Swallow [Fourteen]
Title: The Truth Is Hard To Swallow [Fourteen]
Author: detourtoyou
Rating: NC-17 overall
Pairing: Jack/Alex
POV: 3rd
Summary: Of course the one time he decided to act his age, Alex would end up messing even that up. But in his defense, it was hard to act his age when he was faced with things so entirely beyond his age and maturity level, like a one-night decision that decided to follow him into the rest of his life.
Warning: Mpreg
Disclaimer: This is sadly false and a complete lie created by my mind. Title taken from Toxic Valentine by All Time Low.
A/N: I blame the two updates in one day completely on Mike damnedifidoyah who wanted it, and well, I can never say no to you <3 And I definitely think a rough day equates to another chapter so that you'll hopefully forget the major Calex in the last chapter? Although I don't think this will help haha
To say that he was nervous was the biggest understatement of the century. Alex was on edge, jumping at every little thing and close to hyperventilating any second. How could he not be though when he was going to be introducing his boyfriend to his mom as the father of his child. Only not really because that was Jack. Alex shook his head of the thought. The last thing he needed tonight was the sullen boy invading his already jumbled mind.
One week was so not enough time for him to get his shit together and do this. He kind of wished he had just chickened out like he had originally planned to back when Caleb first suggested the meeting.
"Breathing, Alex, you should try it," Caleb teased as he cut the engine.
Alex threw him a sharp glare, unappreciative of the other's joking manner. The redhead seemed to catch the hint because he smiled sheepishly, leaning across to pacify the anxious boy with a chaste kiss. It worked for only a brief second before Alex was pushing at his shoulder with a jittery hand.
"Maybe we should just go somewhere else. I don't think she's home right now."
Unbuckling his seat belt, Caleb slipped the keys out of the ignition, reminding the panicking boy, "You told her I was coming today."
"I don't think she heard me, so she's probably not home."
"You just called her on the way here," pointed out Caleb with an amused smile, one hand resting on the steering wheel.
"I'm sick. We should go to the hospital. What if there's something wrong with the baby?" Alex tried in vain once more with a hopeful glimmer in his eyes.
"Nuh-uh. You're not getting out of this one. Now c'mon, I don't want to keep your mom waiting." He pecked Alex's cheek before opening the door and getting out.
With a groan, Alex followed suit, slamming the door shut as hard as he could. It gave him only a tiny fraction of satisfaction, especially when Caleb just rolled his eyes at him. Alex took the offered hand, palms slickened with sweat at the nerves bouncing around. Together, they walked up to his apartment, keys jingling in his hands as Alex tried to get the door to open. He hoped to some higher being that the locked would be jammed. It clicked open, granting them entrance. Fucking lock.
"You're more nervous than me, and I'm the one meeting your mom," murmured Caleb with a laugh. He brought their joined hands to his lips, pressing a kiss to the other's knuckles. "Don't worry, Alex. I'm here with you."
That was exactly the reason why Alex was so nervous. He pushed the door open anyways.
"Mom?"
For a few relaxing seconds, there was nothing but silence and it had never sounded more musical to his ears. The false sense of relief was shattered, however, when he heard the thin, "In the kitchen," float to his ears.
Apprehension eating at his nerves, Alex took a deep breath and walked to the kitchen, finding his mother sitting in the same chair with the same cup on the table from the night he told her he was pregnant. It was filled with tea this time, though, and somehow, Alex fervently hoped that the change of beverage was foretelling a different outcome than that night. He sat down in front of her, and Caleb followed into the chair next to him.
"Hi, Mom." She just smiled weakly in response, and he took that as his cue to continue. "Um, Mom. This. This is my," Alex breathed in, choking on the thickness of the tensed air and the word stuck stubbornly in his throat. He could do this. Caleb was his boyfriend. There was nothing wrong with that. But the word refused to surface, and after another ten seconds of useless stammering, Caleb cut in, taking Alex's hand in his own under the table and giving it a reassuring squeeze.
"Hi, Mrs. Gaskarth. I'm Caleb Turman. It's nice to meet you, ma'am." He held out his hand to shake and after a reluctant glance, his mom shook it.
"So, you're the father?" she asked instead of returning his greeting, mouth curling into a frown as her eyes landed on him.
Shaking his head, Alex pressed, "Mom. Don't." He had been hoping they could just have a civilized conversation that didn't revolve around the baby but rather their relationship. Apparently, he had been hoping for too much. Like always.
She turned hesitant eyes towards him, lipsticked lips pressing into a thinner line. Her voice was stiff as she spoke, "Why not, Alex? I want to know. My son is pregnant; I think I have the right to know who the father is."
The soft but firm declaration brought only a puff of air to be expelled from Alex's lips, disbelief coloring his eyes. Not even three sentences in and the conversation was already taking a turn for the worse. Alex knew he should at least try to steer it back on to the polite path it was never on, but he couldn't. Not after hearing that. His eyes narrowed, all the hurt of those weeks, the rejection she had put him through, finally coming unhinged.
"You have the 'right' to know? What 'right' are you talking about, Mom? Because if I remember correctly, you were the one who couldn't even bear to look at me after I told you that I was pregnant," he spat out, inhaling sharply through his nose. He felt Caleb's fingers tightening around his own, trying to calm him down. Alex didn't want to be calmed. He wanted his mom to know just how much she hurt him when she was supposed to be one of the first people to just hug him and tell him that it would be okay. That she still loved him no matter how much he screwed up and that she would always love him. Not avoid him like the fucking plague, like even one look would disease her as well. It hurt. It fucking hurt, and now, she had the nerve to speak so rudely to the only person who was willing to love and look after him and the baby?
"I said I needed some time, Alex."
"How much time, Mom? And you know, I'm your son, but you won't even talk to me anymore!" Alex yelled, throwing up his free hand up in the air. "You have no right to be rude to the only person who actually loves me and wants to take care of me and the baby!"
Her face pinched with shame, flinching at his harsh, but true words.
Caleb placed a warm hand on his shoulder, leaning in to whisper soothingly, "Alex, calm down, please. We didn't come here to fight with your mom, remember?"
In all honestly, Alex didn't remember what he came here for. He knew it was going to be a lost cause. His mom didn't want to even be in the same room as him much less meet his boyfriend. How was she supposed to accept Caleb if she couldn't even accept Alex as he was right now?
"We didn't come here for you to be insulted either," Alex countered, pupils dilated with flaring anger.
"She didn't insult me. She's your mom, Alex. You know that she cares for you." Caleb pulled his lips into a small smile, turning his attention back to Alex's mom. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Gaskarth. I didn't mean to cause any trouble between you and Alex. I just wanted to come and introduce myself to you." Smile never faltering, Caleb tugged the pregnant boy closer to his side, their twined hands lifting from his thigh to come into view and rest on the tabletop. "I also wanted to tell you that I am going to assume full responsibility for Alex and the baby. I'm sorry we didn't tell you sooner, but it doesn't mean that I'm ashamed. I'm serious about Alex, Mrs. Gaskarth, and I promise you I will support and take care of them."
Silenced reigned over the room as king, not even allowing the sound of their breathing to make a disturbance across the air. Caleb sat solid by him though, and Alex tightened his grip on the other's hand. The violent swing in his stomach had been burned away by the anger and hurt, but now that Alex had managed to rein himself in, he could feel it coming back full-force. It was dizzying.
"I appreciate that you are willing to take responsibility for your actions, but I think it would be best if you leave," she said with a deepening crease of her lips, held taut by a string of anger threaded with confusion, hurt, shock, and the entire spectrum of emotions.
"You're kicking him out now?" asked the pregnant teen incredulously, losing all his timidity. There was another rush of feelings curling in the back of his mind and feeding his words. "He's my boyfriend, Mom. You can't just kick him out because he told you that he wants to take care of me!" Alex shouted, slamming his hands onto the table. The sharp recoil of pain didn't deter him.
"Alex, I think it's better if I just leave."
"No! This is my house as much as its hers!" He rounded on his mother, anger burning the colored irises of his eyes. "If you want him out of this house, then I'm leaving with him."
A look of slow-progressing horror contorted her face as she stared at him, speechless. His lips twisted into a wry smile of satisfaction at the alarm painting her face.
"Alex, no, don-"
"No, I'm sick of living in this house and feeling like I've done something so terribly wrong. I made a mistake, but I'm trying to take responsibility for it! And if my own mother won't accept and support me, then I'll just go somewhere else." The legs of the chair scraped against the tiled floor of the kitchen as Alex stood up. He didn't even bother glancing over at his mom, heading straight for his room to pack his things.
The sound of the door opening and closing alerted him to Caleb's presence in the room. He continued shoving his belongings into the duffel bag, hardly caring that everything was probably going to be wrinkled to hell and back.
"Alex," Caleb called out softly, coming up behind him and taking a gentle hold of his wrist. "Alex, don't do this."
"Tell that to my mom," he muttered and jerked his hand back to finish packing.
"She loves you. She's just really overwhelmed."
"And I'm not?" Alex snapped, eyes digging into the redhead. "I'm just as confused as she is, and I'm just as scared as she is, but I'm the only one actually trying to deal with it. She's just hiding behind her stupid excuse of needing time! She's my mom, Caleb. She's supposed to be there for me instead of leaving me just as scared and confused and just." He threw the shirt in his hand onto his bed, drained. "She can't be my mom just whenever she feels like it and when it's convenient for her."
Alex collapsed onto the bed, head held in his hands. The bed dipped next to him and an arm curled around his waist, tugging him in towards warmth. Alex fell against him, hands falling onto his midsection.
"I don't want to stay here anymore, Caleb," Alex whispered into his neck, breath tickling the other's skin. He could feel Caleb's breathing hitch, holding it for a thought before it released.
"Okay."
--
This was a bad idea.
It was the sole, continuous thought running through Alex's head as he stood awkwardly in the middle of the much too clean room, duffel bag in hand. Mainly because when Alex wanted to leave his home, this wasn't exactly what he had meant or been expecting. He couldn't decide if it was good or bad thing, although he was definitely leaning towards bad. Really bad.
"Um. Where am I sleeping?" he asked, eyes scanning the junk-free floors. He hoped he wouldn't have to sleep on the floor.
"I'd let you sleep in the guest bedroom, but there's a leak and the vent is broken so it doesn't get any heat," Jack supplied unhelpfully, arms crossed as he leaned against the door frame. "And my dad's room is definitely off-limits considering he's kind of a stickler for rules and shit. Which only leaves my room."
"You want me to sleep on the floor?" blurted Alex incredulously, feeling a small kick on the inside of his stomach that reminded him why a bed was necessary for him to sleep on at night.
Jack peered at him through narrowed eyes beneath thick lashes. It made Alex feel like he was a colossal idiot even though it was a perfectly valid question in his opinion, and his eyes dropped to the floor in embarrassment. Jack had this effect on him. Although, if he couldn't sleep in the guest bedroom and he couldn't sleep in Jack's dad's room, that meant he had to sleep in Jack's room, and he sure as hell could only see one bed. Which meant that he had to sleep on the floor. Right?
"What are you, stupid? Of course not. You're pregnant; Zack and Caleb would have my ass if I let you sleep on the floor."
Oh. Well. Okay. That made sense.
"Oh," he mouthed softly, setting the bag on the floor and himself on the edge of the bed. Standing for long periods of time was tiring now that his entire body felt like it weighed twice as much. "Where are you sleeping then?"
"Floor," muttered Jack with a shrug of his shoulders. "Unless you want me to sleep in the bed with you, but you're so goddamn huge, you'll probably end up flattening me during the night or something."
Alex scowled lightly and turned away, eyes straying to the window. He wasn't that fat. The bump stretching the polyester of his shirt said otherwise.
Out of curiosity, the pregnant teen asked, "So, how come your dad's not here?
"Fuck if I know. He's on another business trip." Jack shrugged, pushing himself up off the door frame and walking over to the bed. He plopped down on it, causing the mattress to spring up and down. "How come you left your house?" he asked in return, lying back on the bed, arms behind his head.
"I don't want to talk about it."
Fingers circling his wrist, Alex shook his head. There was no way he was going to tell Jack what had happened at his house.
"I think I get to know considering you're staying at my house for however long this is going to last," pointed out Jack.
"Trust me, I don't want to be here any more than you want me here." And it was true. When Alex had left his house with Caleb, he had every intention of going to Zack's house and crashing there. Unfortunately, Zack was momentarily staying at his grandmother's while their house was being remodeled which crossed him off the list. Caleb was promptly crossed off as well because his cousins were staying over and there was barely enough room despite Caleb's insistence that there was. Alex did not know Kyle and Rian well enough to impose on their families, and a few of Caleb's other friends that the redhead had suggested were a no for the same reasons. Which left Alex with Jack. Which normally would pose a problem considering their parents were going to be married soon, except Jack's dad was gone leaving the other boy to the entire house by himself. Naturally, Caleb had jumped at the idea and was dropping him off about ten minutes later. Which brought him here, sitting on the boy's bed with no where else to go.
"Whatever. I'm gonna go get something to eat," announced Jack, getting up to his feet and heading for the door. Alex was left alone in the room, uncertain whether to follow the other or not. He huffed, frustrated.
It was bad enough that Alex had to ask the other to stay over at his house (although Caleb had been the one to ask), but swapping secrets and bringing in emotional baggage? There was no way that was going to happen. Not between him and Jack. It was something Alex realized; the closer he got to Jack, the less the secret about the baby wanted to stay sealed in his lip, and it was the one thing he couldn't afford to fuck up.
Nothing could change between the two of them just because of this sudden imposed living arrangement. Alex refused to let it, and with a determined nod of his head, he got up off the bed and followed after Jack, stomach rumbling in hunger.
He wanted to at least do this one thing right.
Author: detourtoyou
Rating: NC-17 overall
Pairing: Jack/Alex
POV: 3rd
Summary: Of course the one time he decided to act his age, Alex would end up messing even that up. But in his defense, it was hard to act his age when he was faced with things so entirely beyond his age and maturity level, like a one-night decision that decided to follow him into the rest of his life.
Warning: Mpreg
Disclaimer: This is sadly false and a complete lie created by my mind. Title taken from Toxic Valentine by All Time Low.
A/N: I blame the two updates in one day completely on Mike damnedifidoyah who wanted it, and well, I can never say no to you <3 And I definitely think a rough day equates to another chapter so that you'll hopefully forget the major Calex in the last chapter? Although I don't think this will help haha
To say that he was nervous was the biggest understatement of the century. Alex was on edge, jumping at every little thing and close to hyperventilating any second. How could he not be though when he was going to be introducing his boyfriend to his mom as the father of his child. Only not really because that was Jack. Alex shook his head of the thought. The last thing he needed tonight was the sullen boy invading his already jumbled mind.
One week was so not enough time for him to get his shit together and do this. He kind of wished he had just chickened out like he had originally planned to back when Caleb first suggested the meeting.
"Breathing, Alex, you should try it," Caleb teased as he cut the engine.
Alex threw him a sharp glare, unappreciative of the other's joking manner. The redhead seemed to catch the hint because he smiled sheepishly, leaning across to pacify the anxious boy with a chaste kiss. It worked for only a brief second before Alex was pushing at his shoulder with a jittery hand.
"Maybe we should just go somewhere else. I don't think she's home right now."
Unbuckling his seat belt, Caleb slipped the keys out of the ignition, reminding the panicking boy, "You told her I was coming today."
"I don't think she heard me, so she's probably not home."
"You just called her on the way here," pointed out Caleb with an amused smile, one hand resting on the steering wheel.
"I'm sick. We should go to the hospital. What if there's something wrong with the baby?" Alex tried in vain once more with a hopeful glimmer in his eyes.
"Nuh-uh. You're not getting out of this one. Now c'mon, I don't want to keep your mom waiting." He pecked Alex's cheek before opening the door and getting out.
With a groan, Alex followed suit, slamming the door shut as hard as he could. It gave him only a tiny fraction of satisfaction, especially when Caleb just rolled his eyes at him. Alex took the offered hand, palms slickened with sweat at the nerves bouncing around. Together, they walked up to his apartment, keys jingling in his hands as Alex tried to get the door to open. He hoped to some higher being that the locked would be jammed. It clicked open, granting them entrance. Fucking lock.
"You're more nervous than me, and I'm the one meeting your mom," murmured Caleb with a laugh. He brought their joined hands to his lips, pressing a kiss to the other's knuckles. "Don't worry, Alex. I'm here with you."
That was exactly the reason why Alex was so nervous. He pushed the door open anyways.
"Mom?"
For a few relaxing seconds, there was nothing but silence and it had never sounded more musical to his ears. The false sense of relief was shattered, however, when he heard the thin, "In the kitchen," float to his ears.
Apprehension eating at his nerves, Alex took a deep breath and walked to the kitchen, finding his mother sitting in the same chair with the same cup on the table from the night he told her he was pregnant. It was filled with tea this time, though, and somehow, Alex fervently hoped that the change of beverage was foretelling a different outcome than that night. He sat down in front of her, and Caleb followed into the chair next to him.
"Hi, Mom." She just smiled weakly in response, and he took that as his cue to continue. "Um, Mom. This. This is my," Alex breathed in, choking on the thickness of the tensed air and the word stuck stubbornly in his throat. He could do this. Caleb was his boyfriend. There was nothing wrong with that. But the word refused to surface, and after another ten seconds of useless stammering, Caleb cut in, taking Alex's hand in his own under the table and giving it a reassuring squeeze.
"Hi, Mrs. Gaskarth. I'm Caleb Turman. It's nice to meet you, ma'am." He held out his hand to shake and after a reluctant glance, his mom shook it.
"So, you're the father?" she asked instead of returning his greeting, mouth curling into a frown as her eyes landed on him.
Shaking his head, Alex pressed, "Mom. Don't." He had been hoping they could just have a civilized conversation that didn't revolve around the baby but rather their relationship. Apparently, he had been hoping for too much. Like always.
She turned hesitant eyes towards him, lipsticked lips pressing into a thinner line. Her voice was stiff as she spoke, "Why not, Alex? I want to know. My son is pregnant; I think I have the right to know who the father is."
The soft but firm declaration brought only a puff of air to be expelled from Alex's lips, disbelief coloring his eyes. Not even three sentences in and the conversation was already taking a turn for the worse. Alex knew he should at least try to steer it back on to the polite path it was never on, but he couldn't. Not after hearing that. His eyes narrowed, all the hurt of those weeks, the rejection she had put him through, finally coming unhinged.
"You have the 'right' to know? What 'right' are you talking about, Mom? Because if I remember correctly, you were the one who couldn't even bear to look at me after I told you that I was pregnant," he spat out, inhaling sharply through his nose. He felt Caleb's fingers tightening around his own, trying to calm him down. Alex didn't want to be calmed. He wanted his mom to know just how much she hurt him when she was supposed to be one of the first people to just hug him and tell him that it would be okay. That she still loved him no matter how much he screwed up and that she would always love him. Not avoid him like the fucking plague, like even one look would disease her as well. It hurt. It fucking hurt, and now, she had the nerve to speak so rudely to the only person who was willing to love and look after him and the baby?
"I said I needed some time, Alex."
"How much time, Mom? And you know, I'm your son, but you won't even talk to me anymore!" Alex yelled, throwing up his free hand up in the air. "You have no right to be rude to the only person who actually loves me and wants to take care of me and the baby!"
Her face pinched with shame, flinching at his harsh, but true words.
Caleb placed a warm hand on his shoulder, leaning in to whisper soothingly, "Alex, calm down, please. We didn't come here to fight with your mom, remember?"
In all honestly, Alex didn't remember what he came here for. He knew it was going to be a lost cause. His mom didn't want to even be in the same room as him much less meet his boyfriend. How was she supposed to accept Caleb if she couldn't even accept Alex as he was right now?
"We didn't come here for you to be insulted either," Alex countered, pupils dilated with flaring anger.
"She didn't insult me. She's your mom, Alex. You know that she cares for you." Caleb pulled his lips into a small smile, turning his attention back to Alex's mom. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Gaskarth. I didn't mean to cause any trouble between you and Alex. I just wanted to come and introduce myself to you." Smile never faltering, Caleb tugged the pregnant boy closer to his side, their twined hands lifting from his thigh to come into view and rest on the tabletop. "I also wanted to tell you that I am going to assume full responsibility for Alex and the baby. I'm sorry we didn't tell you sooner, but it doesn't mean that I'm ashamed. I'm serious about Alex, Mrs. Gaskarth, and I promise you I will support and take care of them."
Silenced reigned over the room as king, not even allowing the sound of their breathing to make a disturbance across the air. Caleb sat solid by him though, and Alex tightened his grip on the other's hand. The violent swing in his stomach had been burned away by the anger and hurt, but now that Alex had managed to rein himself in, he could feel it coming back full-force. It was dizzying.
"I appreciate that you are willing to take responsibility for your actions, but I think it would be best if you leave," she said with a deepening crease of her lips, held taut by a string of anger threaded with confusion, hurt, shock, and the entire spectrum of emotions.
"You're kicking him out now?" asked the pregnant teen incredulously, losing all his timidity. There was another rush of feelings curling in the back of his mind and feeding his words. "He's my boyfriend, Mom. You can't just kick him out because he told you that he wants to take care of me!" Alex shouted, slamming his hands onto the table. The sharp recoil of pain didn't deter him.
"Alex, I think it's better if I just leave."
"No! This is my house as much as its hers!" He rounded on his mother, anger burning the colored irises of his eyes. "If you want him out of this house, then I'm leaving with him."
A look of slow-progressing horror contorted her face as she stared at him, speechless. His lips twisted into a wry smile of satisfaction at the alarm painting her face.
"Alex, no, don-"
"No, I'm sick of living in this house and feeling like I've done something so terribly wrong. I made a mistake, but I'm trying to take responsibility for it! And if my own mother won't accept and support me, then I'll just go somewhere else." The legs of the chair scraped against the tiled floor of the kitchen as Alex stood up. He didn't even bother glancing over at his mom, heading straight for his room to pack his things.
The sound of the door opening and closing alerted him to Caleb's presence in the room. He continued shoving his belongings into the duffel bag, hardly caring that everything was probably going to be wrinkled to hell and back.
"Alex," Caleb called out softly, coming up behind him and taking a gentle hold of his wrist. "Alex, don't do this."
"Tell that to my mom," he muttered and jerked his hand back to finish packing.
"She loves you. She's just really overwhelmed."
"And I'm not?" Alex snapped, eyes digging into the redhead. "I'm just as confused as she is, and I'm just as scared as she is, but I'm the only one actually trying to deal with it. She's just hiding behind her stupid excuse of needing time! She's my mom, Caleb. She's supposed to be there for me instead of leaving me just as scared and confused and just." He threw the shirt in his hand onto his bed, drained. "She can't be my mom just whenever she feels like it and when it's convenient for her."
Alex collapsed onto the bed, head held in his hands. The bed dipped next to him and an arm curled around his waist, tugging him in towards warmth. Alex fell against him, hands falling onto his midsection.
"I don't want to stay here anymore, Caleb," Alex whispered into his neck, breath tickling the other's skin. He could feel Caleb's breathing hitch, holding it for a thought before it released.
"Okay."
--
This was a bad idea.
It was the sole, continuous thought running through Alex's head as he stood awkwardly in the middle of the much too clean room, duffel bag in hand. Mainly because when Alex wanted to leave his home, this wasn't exactly what he had meant or been expecting. He couldn't decide if it was good or bad thing, although he was definitely leaning towards bad. Really bad.
"Um. Where am I sleeping?" he asked, eyes scanning the junk-free floors. He hoped he wouldn't have to sleep on the floor.
"I'd let you sleep in the guest bedroom, but there's a leak and the vent is broken so it doesn't get any heat," Jack supplied unhelpfully, arms crossed as he leaned against the door frame. "And my dad's room is definitely off-limits considering he's kind of a stickler for rules and shit. Which only leaves my room."
"You want me to sleep on the floor?" blurted Alex incredulously, feeling a small kick on the inside of his stomach that reminded him why a bed was necessary for him to sleep on at night.
Jack peered at him through narrowed eyes beneath thick lashes. It made Alex feel like he was a colossal idiot even though it was a perfectly valid question in his opinion, and his eyes dropped to the floor in embarrassment. Jack had this effect on him. Although, if he couldn't sleep in the guest bedroom and he couldn't sleep in Jack's dad's room, that meant he had to sleep in Jack's room, and he sure as hell could only see one bed. Which meant that he had to sleep on the floor. Right?
"What are you, stupid? Of course not. You're pregnant; Zack and Caleb would have my ass if I let you sleep on the floor."
Oh. Well. Okay. That made sense.
"Oh," he mouthed softly, setting the bag on the floor and himself on the edge of the bed. Standing for long periods of time was tiring now that his entire body felt like it weighed twice as much. "Where are you sleeping then?"
"Floor," muttered Jack with a shrug of his shoulders. "Unless you want me to sleep in the bed with you, but you're so goddamn huge, you'll probably end up flattening me during the night or something."
Alex scowled lightly and turned away, eyes straying to the window. He wasn't that fat. The bump stretching the polyester of his shirt said otherwise.
Out of curiosity, the pregnant teen asked, "So, how come your dad's not here?
"Fuck if I know. He's on another business trip." Jack shrugged, pushing himself up off the door frame and walking over to the bed. He plopped down on it, causing the mattress to spring up and down. "How come you left your house?" he asked in return, lying back on the bed, arms behind his head.
"I don't want to talk about it."
Fingers circling his wrist, Alex shook his head. There was no way he was going to tell Jack what had happened at his house.
"I think I get to know considering you're staying at my house for however long this is going to last," pointed out Jack.
"Trust me, I don't want to be here any more than you want me here." And it was true. When Alex had left his house with Caleb, he had every intention of going to Zack's house and crashing there. Unfortunately, Zack was momentarily staying at his grandmother's while their house was being remodeled which crossed him off the list. Caleb was promptly crossed off as well because his cousins were staying over and there was barely enough room despite Caleb's insistence that there was. Alex did not know Kyle and Rian well enough to impose on their families, and a few of Caleb's other friends that the redhead had suggested were a no for the same reasons. Which left Alex with Jack. Which normally would pose a problem considering their parents were going to be married soon, except Jack's dad was gone leaving the other boy to the entire house by himself. Naturally, Caleb had jumped at the idea and was dropping him off about ten minutes later. Which brought him here, sitting on the boy's bed with no where else to go.
"Whatever. I'm gonna go get something to eat," announced Jack, getting up to his feet and heading for the door. Alex was left alone in the room, uncertain whether to follow the other or not. He huffed, frustrated.
It was bad enough that Alex had to ask the other to stay over at his house (although Caleb had been the one to ask), but swapping secrets and bringing in emotional baggage? There was no way that was going to happen. Not between him and Jack. It was something Alex realized; the closer he got to Jack, the less the secret about the baby wanted to stay sealed in his lip, and it was the one thing he couldn't afford to fuck up.
Nothing could change between the two of them just because of this sudden imposed living arrangement. Alex refused to let it, and with a determined nod of his head, he got up off the bed and followed after Jack, stomach rumbling in hunger.
He wanted to at least do this one thing right.