alex potter

jxckdaley‌:

Jack grinned nervously, closing one eye as Alex ragged on him for stealing. “I never change,” Jack said with a shrug, his cheeks and hands tingling, “Some pretty amazing shit though. This guy got some ancient crystal dildos and I stole an elon musk flamethrower. The rich people in this town are hilarious.” Jack didn’t know why Alex hung around them–surely she had better company–but he was going to enjoy it while it lasted.

Jack nodded at her wise words. “Of course. You’re a strong independent woman. But also, I’ll fight anyone in your honor. Just say the word, milady,” Jack tipped an invisible fedora.

Jack witnessed the scene between his two friends, eyebrows twitching ever so slightly. He got the feeling there was something else between them–maybe just fuckbuddies sure, but there was some kind of emotional weight too. Jack could be perceptive from time to time. Or he was just high and over-analyzing everything. All of it was possible.

“I like Noah a lot. We only met recently. But I could tell he was a real one,” Jack nodded, suddenly serious, “Just like you, Alex. Real ones. Real ones.” 

“They’re called chakrubs, bro,” Noah wheedled for comedic effect, rolling his eyes. “Rest easy, Alex, they’re not getting used on anybody. Consider them a trophy. A shrine to a city that would rather buy dildos that are gonna poison their pussies than donate that money to a homeless shelter.” He lifted a metaphorical glass in the air. “Lakeham, we salute you.”

Even still, as Alex caught his fingers with her own, he gave her a look of unmistakable fondness. Eyes twinkling, his heart in his eyes, a wide grin on his lips, he watched Alex for a few moments before he drew her hand to his mouth. He pressed two tender kisses to her knuckles. “You are as vast and lovely as the stars, ma’am,” he murmured, not even thinking to censor himself with that fresh hit stirring through his mind.

He made no move to let her hand go. Just let his gaze wander back to Jack with a similarly soft grin.

“You hear that? A real one.” Whatever that meant. “I like you a lot too. I’ll be real, once I found out who you were, I didn’t think I would, but Jesus fuck, you walk the walk, my man. Can’t wait to make you a friendship bracelet, to be honest. What’s your favorite colors?”

@alexispotters​

As if to make things worse, the two morons hadn’t even stolen something that was worth the effort they had put into it. Alex wasn’t sure what to say, temporarily at a loss for words, a simple scoff slipping through parted lips, shaking her head slowly. When she quickly gathered herself again, she finally stated, “That’s insane. You two are insane.”

When Jack went on to assure her how he would fight in her honor, a bubbly laughter escaped her lips, admiring his chivalry but most of all feeling grateful for having someone like Jack as her friend. “Thanks, Jack. You’ll be my first call if I need back-up.” And he actually would, him or Noah — they both held a special place in her heart. 

As Noah kissed her knuckles, a softer smile entered her lips, suddenly feeling somewhat showered by affection. “You guys are crazy. Crazy, but that’s why I love you.” Letting her fingers stay entangled with Noah’s, she moved her other hand to reach out and do the same with Jack. 

Holding onto both of them, in that moment, Alex didn’t at all mind the two of them becoming friends. In fact, the thought of all three of them being good friends was rather appealing. “You’re both real ones, if that’s what we’re calling it. You too, Jack.” The two individuals she trusted most in town, both in the same place — she really couldn’t remember the last time she had felt so relaxed and content.

jxckdaley‌:

Alex was right, of course–her friendship meant more to Jack Daley than any two month relationship they would have had (that was about the longest Jack had gone), and he nudged her back lovingly in response, as if to signal of course. Even if she was damn cute when she bit her lip. Yes, Jack had become contented in a life of having just a little bit of a crush on Alex, but not so much that he couldn’t be her actual friend. She must have known this somewhere in her heart too, and accepted him. That’s all he really could ask for at this point.

He made sure she didn’t pull too hard on his vaporizer so she wouldn’t totally choke, patting her on the back as she coughed thankfully only a bit. She didn’t have to do anything she didn’t want to, and Jack was eager to keep it that way.

This relationship between Alex and Noah, though? Fascinating. It didn’t fully make sense, or maybe it did, because so far they were the only two people in town who didn’t hate Jack’s guts, which bonded them more than they probably thought. His eyebrows rose up into space as he learned they hooked up. On numerous occasions. And Jack couldn’t even get it in once?

…He kept that thought to himself. And now he was a bit confused as Alex was leaning in on the details, but he did laugh.

“I’m sure he can. He’s already made me feel amazing things in my soul. We committed a theft together,” Jack said with a beautiful smile, “And he’ll be the first I call in case I discover anything new about myself. I just hope he respected you like the true lady you are. Or disrespected you if that’s what you’re into.”

Alex went right the fuck into it, and Noah burst out in a shocked laugh - would’ve doubled over with the force of it if their heads weren’t in the way. He rubbed his eyes as he came down from it. “Go on, go on, Alex, tell him more about how amazing I am at fuckin’ - s’really getting me hard,” he teased, punching the words a little more just to make the statement as ridiculous as possible. He did drop his hand, however, at that statement - why would it be weird, exactly?

It wouldn’t be weird. Noah fucked his friends all the time - everyone he’d ever met, except for the assholes, were gorgeous, and every damn one of them made his heart flutter if he stared at them for a little too long. The only weird thing about it would be that Jack was straight. Even still, there were plenty of opportunities to fuck around with somebody just for someone else’s pleasure.

Which made his mind work, shambling through vivid, exciting images of the two of them in his frankly embarrassingly giant bed, Alex’s hands on the back of their necks, pushing them toward each other with a cheeky smirk, Jack hesitating just an inch away before he took a deep, brave breath and jolted forward for a kiss–

No, yeah, that wouldn’t be bad, right?

But then Jack spoke, reinforced in Noah’s head exactly how much of a silly fantasy it was, on par with jetpacking to work tomorrow, and instead he laughed, thankful that the darkness would likely hide his pink-kissed cheeks. “You’re right. Theft is the backbone of brotherhood.” He gestured dramatically across the sky. “Put that on a t-shirt. Anyway. For the record, I am an excellent experiment for bicurious dudes, so.” Noah held up a hand, thumb and pinkie extended, and wiggled it. “Call me, bruh.” More silly accents, more distancing himself from the reality, more fumbling for the vape in Alex’s hand without much comment. He needed another hit, fuck.

After he took it, he lay back on the log and nudged Alex lightly. “I mean, I hope I respected her.” For just a fleeting moment, as he stared up at the stars, there was the faintest hint of vulnerability in his voice - craving validation, getting so slowed down that he felt like his ankles were stuck in sludge.

@alexispotters​

Throwing a punch over her head in Noah’s direction at his teasing words, she couldn’t contain her laughter still, sighing at him. “Like you weren’t already” Alex teased back, biting down on her bottom lip, starting to feel the effect of the hit. Normally, had they been alone, the teasing between them would probably have continued for longer than that. But around Jack? Yeah, no, it just felt wrong. Alex wasn’t necessarily private, but she would still feel disrespectful doing it in front of someone who she knew had gladly taken Noah’s place back in the day.

Luckily, they moved onto other matters, and how Noah had already managed to make Jack feel things in other ways. His phrasing resulted in another laughter escaping her lips, one that, however, was soon cut short thanks to Jack’s next statement — theft? “Hold on, hold on—” Raising one hand as if to pause their conversation altogether, she queried. “You two stole something?” Alex eyes widened then, staring at Jack in disbelief. “Are you guys insane?! Please tell me it was at least worth it.” She wasn’t angry, or even surprised really — they were just far bigger morons than she had been counting on. “I can’t let you two loose anywhere these days, can I?” Shaking her head, she scoffed, leaning her head back once more against Noah.

For a moment then, Alex stayed silent. Just taking in the insane fact that she was sitting there, out in the woods, with both Jack and Noah, and that the two already knew each other. What were the odds, really? Two of her closest friends, making them all an even greater threesome? Well, maybe not in the literal sense — perhaps a trio would be a better way to describe it.

“Jeez, you two. I’m not some porcelain doll that’s gonna break if you’re not careful enough.” At least not around Jack and Noah. “And don’t talk to me like I’m some lady that needs to be respected.” Wrinkling her nose, it sounded far too proper and lady-like. “I mean, it’s sweet, Jack, but I can handle myself around guys.” A smile grew onto her lips, and Alex nudged Jack’s shoulder again, lovingly. Throwing a look back at Noah, she then moved the arm closest to him to reach out for his hand, entangling their fingers for a moment. She wanted to say, ‘You think I’d come running back to you if you weren’t?’, but instead left with only, “You’re doing just fine Noah, alright?” Doing, as in the present. As in, still doing it. A small detail, but seeing as they had only talked about hooking up in the past around Jack so far, it could be the one thing to let him in on that secret too.

jxckdaley‌:

Jack only smiled at his declaration of Alex; he felt comfortable knowing that the other two knew he was joking, and he wouldn’t have to explain himself. Or at least, hopefully. He hardly even noticed Noah kissing him on the cheek (but he still noticed it, then wondered if Alex’s cheek was fair game as he still had some unsatiated curiosity about her).

Jack nodded at her recount of the story, and grinned like a fool. “Big ol’ schoolboy crush.  Pre-podcast Jack. Pre-gym Jack. She’s a real one, even if she broke my heart,” Jack emphasized the last line for dramatic effect, putting out the pouty lip before laughing slightly.

Jack raised an eyebrow at her concern. “There’s nothing illegal about being goofy,” Jack pulled on his vape again, offered it to her, and blew more smoke rings (because irony.) “You’re a goodie two shoes,” he said, scrunching his face up a bit before looking up at the man fingering his head, “How on earth did you two meet up and become friends?” Jack pondered how small a world it was, after all. The head massage did feel nice though, and Alex’s head on his shoulder; he put a brotherly arm around her in response.

“Three hot friends indeed. Good for us. Assorted, healthy snacks.”

The question made Noah hesitate a little. Even high as shit, he had boundaries, and those boundaries extended mainly to maybe Alex doesn’t want Jack to know we fuck like rabbits when we hang out. Could have to do with her reputation, with his lifestyle, with any number of things.

And then he forgot what he was thinking, so fixated on the softness between his fingers and the way his lips still tingled from kissing their cheeks, and he settled for a quiet chuckle.

“I could see that. She was always a heartbreaker back then. Had everybody looking in those big doe eyes and sighing all sad and shit when she didn’t even notice them.” He paused. “Was gonna say it’s a shame we didn’t cross paths then, man, but it would’ve been worse - I would’ve been hitting on you non-fucking-stop. Was a much bigger shit then than I am now - weird, I know.

“Alex, go on, tell him how we met.” Better to put it in her court - let her lead. He sat up fully, crossing his legs behind them, and continued the hair playing.

@alexispotters​

Her, a heartbreaker? Alex stifled a laugh, smiling widely. Around her first time in New York may have been the time she fully realized how much of a woman she truly was, having grown up around men all her life, but Alex, breaking hearts? That was far more than she wanted to acknowledge herself.

Head lifting from his shoulder to gaze up at Jack, she giggled. “I’m sorryyyy, Jack.” Pouting with her bottom lip too, she knew she he had forgiven her a long time ago. “But you got something better. You got a friend.” Emphasizing the word, she leaned in to give a soft kiss on his cheek, perhaps influenced by Noah’s previous ones. Offered the vape, Alex hesitated — she was a goodie two shoes when it came to stuff like that. Usually Noah was the one to talk her into things, but hell — it was just for the night, right?

Drawing her first smoke, Noah’s words rang clear in her head, eyebrows furrowing, wondering where to start. Breathing out, she handed the vape back to Jack, inevitably coughing one or two times first, not used to the feeling. She really wasn’t a smoker — never had been. Had to do with her mom’s cancer, for sure. 

“He was a bigger shit back then, for the record.” Leaning her head back instead, more or less right into Noah’s lap, she gazed up at him. “How we met?” Repeating his question, she grinned. “This asshole charmed his way into my pants. Like, literally.” Maybe she should’ve hesitated more about saying it, but this was Jack — Alex trusted him, because Jack knew about so many things in her life already. “Then it happened more than once. I think we fucked way before we became friends.” She giggled again — not really used to voicing the word fuck often out loud. “He can make you feel the most amazing things.” Alex let out a light sigh, then lifted her head slightly to look at Jack. “Not saying you should try it, Jack — because that’d be weird. And trust me, this guy would hump anything.” All said in jest of course, but really, it would be weird.

jxckdaley‌:

Jack enjoyed listening to Noah speak, even though he was certainly too high to unpack a mouthful like “practicing ethical non-monogamy” at the moment, it was nice to hear the other man talk about something that was definitely important to him. Jack made a mental note to ask him about it again later when he could really think about it, but for now he just listened, and felt the man’s hand brush through his hair, which felt pretty damn good. Jack didn’t take the time to register what it meant, he just let himself feel it. Turns out, letting himself feel good wasn’t too bad, actually.

He giggled, pulling another toke from his vaporizer and blowing it into the sky. Jack’s hair was nice. A bit long at the moment, but Jack thought maybe he could get into that. “Thanks. You don’t think I should cut it?”

The conversation was cut short, for an apparition appeared through the smoke cloud he had just blown. It took on a strong resemblance to Jack’s good friend Alexis, making him squint. The illusion sounded like Alex as well. And then it came to sit beside Jack, and he opened his eyes wider and registered–oh. It was actually Alex.

“Alex!” Jack sprung forward out of Noah’s grip to give the woman a hug beside him, grinning like a schoolboy, “I’d never ditch you in my life. I was just pre-gaming with my–wait, you know Noah?”

Jack turned to look at him, squinting suspiciously, “How do you know my girl?`”

The appearance of Alex had Noah’s grin spread even wider, complete with a fluttering in his chest as he sat up. “Hey!” He let her plop down beside Jack - even magnanimously let Jack get the first hug - before Noah breathed a reverent couple of words: “More hair!”

He was a man of simple pleasures.

Jack was halfway through his interrogation - his girl, he called Alex, and if Noah didn’t already know all about the state of Alex’s love life, he might even be concerned. Instead he laughed, catching Alex’s chin in one of his hands, and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. “Alex and I have been friends for years. Knew each other in New York.” Before she disappeared, before she left him behind with no explanation, before…

Hell, he was too high for that.

“Hey, c’mon, nobody ditched anybody tonight. We’re just three hot friends hanging out in the woods, getting high~” Noah gave Alex one more kiss on the cheek, then just as impulsively left a quick kiss on Jack’s cheek as well. Only then did he shift to slide fingers through both of their hair, sighing with deep, pleased satisfaction.

“Mmkay.” Noah’s grin stayed positively blissed out. “You can keep talking now. We’re good.”

@alexispotters​

Jesus Christ — the two had been sitting there for longer than she had expected, and were higher than she had expected. Alex, on the other hand, was only slightly tipsy at this point. She’d had two or three drinks already back at the bonfire, but that wasn’t nearly enough to make her not notice all the smoke.

Overwhelmed by the sudden affection, first Jack’s hug and then Noah’s kisses, a bright laughter slipped through her lips, pushing them both back away. “Your girl? I’m not your girl, Jack.” Or anyone’s girl, for that matter. Alex snorted, acting offended by his words. It was funny how Noah then went on to label them as just friends, when she was pretty sure they had been more than that all along. Not romantically involved, no, but surely, fuck buddies had to count for something?

“Me and Jack met around the same time too actually, back in the big apple. He had a crush on me back then.” Nudging Jack teasingly by the shoulder, she grinned. That was years ago now and with no hard feelings left between them (at least to Alex’ knowledge), leaving her to think it was no trouble talking about it in front of Noah. Feeling Noah’s hands slide through her hair, Alex leaned back, sighing lightly, not at all objecting to the treatment. He had always been good with his hands.

“You guys are crazy, you know that, right? People can hear you all the way from the bonfire. You could get caught. And you’re gonna bring me right down with you.” As accusing as her words might have sound, a grin was still smeared across her lips as she voiced them, proving that no matter what she said, she was feeling pretty content where she was in that moment, moving to lean her head against Jack’s shoulder.

“Wait — you’re coming?” And for a second, Will’s voice reverted back to the old Will, the one who sat at home rereading The Picture of Dorian Gray for the sixth time with a glass of wine. But he quickly regenerated his previous confidence, giving her an even larger grin, and nodding his head. “Okay, yeah, you’re coming… of course you’re coming. I was thinking in a couple of weeks, I’ll take off a couple days for work…it’ll be fine.” It was fine. Things were going to be fine. 

Yet somehow, a big lump made its way back up his throat, and his heart felt as if it was going to burst out of his chest. “It’s going to be fine… right?” And what if things weren’t? The reality of what he just did hit him, and he wished he’d had the sense to buy refundable tickets.

It didn’t come as a surprise that Will started questioning his decision so soon. For someone who wasn’t usually that spontaneous, it was only expected. “Hell yeah, I’m comin’.” Far more confidence was heard in Alex’ voice than in Will’s, and the grin on her lips only confirmed as much. Besides — it was pretty amusing to see him half-panicking on the inside. Did that make her a terrible friend?

A bright laughter slipped through her lips, unable to keep it in when seeing his reaction. “Relax, Will. It’ll be fine — I promise.” Things had a way of working themselves out one way or another when it came to travels. “And really, you don’t have to do it so soon — just wait a couple of months instead of giving yourself a panic attack by taking off in a week or two.” As fun as it was to watch, there was no rush; the point was to live life to its fullest, but not to literally do it all within the same month.

There it was again, the subtle flirting; even though she couldn’t conceivably had done it on purpose, considering what had transpired between them, it was enough to make his heart fidget. “You’re right, you’re totally right.” He needed the impulsivity, the excitement, the ability to see the world with fresh eyes and a new outlook. What had happened to the Will that traversed the world, Jakarta one day, Berlin the next, the person that had led him to the love of his life? No wonder he was miserable. This was the first time he realized, this was not him. 

Sliding his phone out of his pocket (he despised people who left it out in the company of others) he pulled up Google Flights. “I’m going to do it. Book a flight to Cape Town. You coming?” The invite was three-quarters a joke, like her initial offer, but he wouldn’t have said no to a friend. “Holy shit. I just did it.” He waited for his stomach to sink with dread, but instead, he only felt giddy, despite the fact that he had no concrete plans for the trip.

If they were being completely honest, Alex hadn’t been expecting Will to jump onto her suggestion so quickly. For the time she had known him, he didn’t really do impulsive that often, unlike herself. So, seeing him pull out his phone and actually do something about it left her with a feeling of surprise. Lips parting, she watched him in silence, making no efforts of hiding her reaction.

“Shit, Will. Are you serious right now?!” Leaning in over the table to snatch his phone from his hold, she glanced down at the screen and the confirmed tickets. “Wow. Seriously, wow. I’m impressed.” A wide grin spread across her face then, and she handed his phone back to him. “And that’s a yes, by the way. As in yes, I’m coming.” Who was Alex to say no to an adventure? She knew a lot of people were picky about who they went to travel with, but according to her, there was no such thing as an unfit travel partner — whereas her and Will had history, she didn’t believe it was something that would complicate things. And even if it did, they were friends. As long as they made sure to stay friends, they would both be fine. “So when are we going?”

As the minutes ticked by, Noah could feel the heaviness of the burden coming onto his shoulders. He held it without any fear, just like he held Alex, breathing in the smell of her soap and nuzzling into the back of her neck.

He’d do this whenever she needed him to.

Maybe that was how he knew he was already fucking gone for her. Heart and mind both. Just like he’d known for years.

“Why don’t I just hold you all night?” he asked softly, voice rough. “Chinese food warms up good. We can have a midnight snack. And you don’t have to be alone with all this bullshit. And I get to hold you. We all win.”

It was nice, really. Having someone around. Alex had never really committed to having a boyfriend for a reason, because relationship were always messy. But this? Noah was a friend. A good friend. Maybe sometimes even a little more than a friend. And maybe Alex should have been a little less blind to her own feelings to realize that what they were doing probably wasn’t right to Noah at all. But the brunette had always been naive, and of course, she was therefore convinced that Noah shared her view of things.

“Yeah. That sounds great.” Nodding, Alex felt like she had talked enough about the past for the time being, turning around until she was facing Noah behind her. Reaching out to cup a hand around his neck, her fingers twirled into the curls she was just able to get to, leaning in to press her forehead against his, gently nuzzling his cheek. 

She wasn’t entirely sure why, but maybe it was the fact that she brushed past his lips in the process that encouraged her to then move to press her lips onto his in a kiss, far softer and emotional than the ones they usually shared. With far more meaning. 

When she pulled back, a faint smile rested on her lips. “Thanks Noah. For being here. I mean that.” 

As Alex spoke, Noah felt very much like he must be intruding in some painful space of her heart, where he didn’t deserve to be. Those words stirred up frightening images, paired with his sharp desire that the very same man, the armed robber, had died a slow and painful death in retaliation.

He let out a shaky breath as he wrapped around her a little tighter, readjusting them both. Slowly he brought her down to the bed, where they could face the same direction, his body cupping hers gently from behind. His arm locked around her waist to keep her secure.

“Fucking bastards,” he breathed, squeezing his eyes shut against the back of her neck. He had no more to say - he needed to see if she needed to speak more first.

As much as Alex words reminded her of the past, forming a lump in her throat and making her heart feel heavy, it felt good to get it out there. For him to know what had been going on. Few of her friends, current friends, knew the full story. Some knew it had been work related, others didn’t know any details at all. Noah was one of the few who she had let in on the real stuff.

“Yeah...” Her voice trailed off, a little weaker now, tired from her day and the memories. And people questioned why she had a hard time letting others in — because she had seen enough of the bad in the world to know that people generally sucked. “Today wasn’t as bad, but bad enough.” It was more about things piling up, eventually just getting a little too heavy to keep carrying.

Curling up against him, it felt good to rest safely within his arms; unusual for the two of them, but still good. She couldn’t remember the last time they had just spent a night cuddling, partly because she didn’t want to mess things up with Noah. But today? She couldn’t help that he had been the first one she had called, he just had a way of being exactly what she needed him to be, whether it was a temporary distraction or a shoulder to lean on.

For some reason, Noah always considered that it would need to be something far worse than just work to drive her away from him, to ghost him so that he only found out where she’d gone through word of mouth. Just as quickly, he recognized how selfish of a thought that was, but…

“A break,” Noah parroted softly. His hand had gone still in her hair.

For some reason, he hadn’t considered that her severing their friendship and whatever their relationship had been beyond that as just a break, like one might pause a Netflix show they were bingeing for a while.

He let out a deep sigh and pressed a kiss to the top of her head again. “…yeah, just, uh…just tell me if it happens again, okay? Even if it’s hard. Even if it’s just a text, and then you block me because you’re not ready for a reply. Just…not like that again. Okay?”

It wasn’t the best explanation she could give him, and judging by the way Noah reacted, it wasn’t what he was expecting to, or wanted to her. He didn’t sound disappointed or acted like he needed more — not at all. Honestly, he was a little too sweet in that way. Noah gave her all the time in the world to get things out, but sometimes, maybe Alex also needed someone to pull things out of her.

“I promise.” It was an easy promise to make, luckily — she had no intentions of letting him down a second time. But then again, when Alex took off the last time, things happened pretty quickly, leaving no room for goodbyes. She would just have to make sure to make time. “I wasn’t even planning on coming back at first.” Despite the heaviness of the subject, it felt good to get off her chest, and she really wanted to make Noah see that she hadn’t meant to hurt him. 

“It was...” Trailing off, her words were trembling, debating on whether or not she should get into detail. Then she let out a sigh, lifting her head momentarily from his shoulder. “It was an armed robbery. Some guy... killed this family in cold-blood. They...” Her next words somehow got stuck on their way out, creating a forced pause while struggling to get them out. “They had two kids.” Without even realizing, her fingers were digging deep into Noah’s shirt. “The youngest was just two.” Just barely breathing out the last sentence, Alex swallowed down hard, turning her gaze in the other direction, knowing she wasn’t prepared to face Noah just yet.

jxckdaley‌:

Jack could sense pain in Noah’s voice, which upset him. He wondered exactly how Noah’s own Hank situation had gone down. Hopefully it wasn’t too bad, Jack was considering making his own amends in honor of the new, positive lifestyle he was trying to live out here on the edge of Connecticut. Hopefully Hank and Noah could make their amends, too.

“Probably a good idea. Dating complicates things. No matter what kinda…. whatever-amory you have,” Jack said, assuming he wasn’t problematic for saying it. He grinned, face lighting up the darkness up at Noah. “You’re not too much for me, either. Someone’d have to work really hard to get me to tap out on ‘em,” Jack, in his high mind, wasn’t sure if that made sense. Too bad.

“You can trust me on that front. I’ve never not been honest with other people. Sometimes that’s a fault.” Like it had with Hank. “I have a feeling that you appreciate that kind of thing, though. I’m not worried.”

Jack laughed. Yeah, he probably should go to therapy. But for now, getting high in the woods with his new friend was more than enough. “Short kings are the strongest of us all,” Jack said, deciding to double down and pull again on his vape, when he heard someone coming through the woods.

“Ethical nonmonogamy,” Noah corrected kindly, grinning so widely his face felt like it might split in two. “I am ethically nonmonogamous, I practice a form of ethical nonmonogamy mostly defined as polyamorous. The other terms, I can teach you about once I’ve got the Powerpoint ready. You ever done that? A drunk or high Powerpoint party? So fucking good - let’s plan one.”

Even as he talked - rambled was more like it - his gaze flitted to Jack’s hair again, seeing how it caught the gleam of the moonlight. They weren’t very deep in the woods, likely close enough to the tree line to be heard, and it meant the trees overhead weren’t super thick. From here, one stream of white light cut through, made his locks shine.

His hand moved unbidden.

His breath caught in his chest for a moment at the softness of Jack’s hair, and his grin only widened as he feathered a few of the locks between his fingers.

“Always be honest with me. Even if it pisses me off.” He shifted his hand slightly, his short nails lightly running over Jack’s scalp. “I mean it. Speaking of honesty, you’ve got fucking rad hair, dude.”

Even in the middle of speaking, he heard a twig crack, and his gaze flitted right to the edge of the trees.

@alexispotters​

Like a stray wolf, Alex had separated from the rest of the crowd at the bonfire. But there was something pulling her there — a familiar voice, you could say. Mainly belonging to a friend who had more or less promised to meet up with her at this bonfire thing but never really gotten back to her, but the closer she got, the more she realized that Jack’s wasn’t the only voice she recognized. And stepping out to finally get them both in full view, seeing Jack and Noah together came a surprise.

“Wow — really?“ Furrowing her eyebrows, she scoffed. “You two, out here? Getting high? C’mon.” She had realized as much already at a distance. "How do you two even know each other?!” Walking closer, Alex realized that she apparently hadn’t been keeping up. Not only did the two seem friendly, but maybe even more than so, considering Noah’s hand in the Jack’s hair. But then again, it was Noah — he kind of always had a hard time keeping his distance.

“Jeez Noah, give the guy some space.” Her voice teasing, she moved to join them, getting down on the ground next to Jack. “And you, you dickhead — you told me we’d meet up here and now I find out you ditched me for this guy?” Directing a firm but gentle punch into Jack’s chest, Alex snorted, acting offended.

Noah didn’t rush her. He didn’t speak. As hot as his blood ran, he didn’t always need to fill the silence - there was a time and place for quiet, and this was one of those moments. Instead, he busied himself with playing with her hair, twirling a tendril around his fingers sometimes, others just gently rubbing the strands between his fingers.

When she finally spoke, it was the last thing he expected to hear.

Had it sucked being practically ghosted in favor of Europe? Yeah. Hell yeah. There was a reason his friendship with Alex was tentative again, whether they were sleeping together or not. He looked at her with wide, surprised eyes, blinked, then rested his chin on top of her head once more. “I forgave you for that a long time ago.” He couldn’t tell her it was okay - it wasn’t - but he didn’t hold it against her anymore. “Do you wanna talk about why you did? Or is that a talk for another day?”

She didn’t witness the surprise on his face herself, but even if she had, it would have been expected. To Noah, it was an entirely different subject. To Alex, it was the same thing as today, but worse. She wasn’t sure why, but having his forgiveness made her feel a little better; in reality, she had jumped onto a subject she wasn’t sure she would get a scolding for or not.

“It’s fine. It was a long time ago.” It wasn’t fine though, not really. But pretending like it was made it a little easier for her to go on. “And it was the same thing, really — work.” A weak laughter slipped through her lips, filled with hopelessness. “Turns out working in the big city really wasn’t for me. Today... That was just an accident.” If ‘just’ really was a good way to put it. “But back then... That was intentional.” Which had made it so much worse to deal with. “I needed a break. I should’ve told you, but it just got a bit too much back then.” And they both knew Alex wasn’t really the one to easily dump her problems on others — at least not the more serious matters.

Will nodded, knowing that Alex was right. It could always be worse, his mother ticked. There was always someone worse off than him; after all, he had a nice safe little life here. The problem was that craving too much safety meant that boredom would find its way in. He didn’t mind boredom so much when things were happier in his life, but now? Now, Will craved something other than the monotony of his daily life.

There was something to be said about how Alex encouraged Will to put himself out there. Will appreciated that she lit the fire underneath his but to get him moving, to experience something other than suburbia. “I don’t know…” he shrugged, trying to come up with a good answer. “I guess I’ve always wanted to see South America. Chile, Brazil, somewhere around there.”

Unlike Will, Alex had never been afraid of an adventure. Or well, maybe he wasn’t afraid of one, but rather didn’t give himself time to experience things. It was easy to get stuck within the same, repetitive habits, never putting your foot down and trying something new. Maybe Alex was a little too extreme in the other direction instead, but at least she got to experience a lot along the way because of it.

“South Africa would be amazing. Definitely count me in.” Unless it would be awkward to go on a trip together like that — she honestly couldn’t say for sure, not sure if they would have truly put everything behind them if traveling together. “I’d love to go on a safari someday. Definitely high on my bucket list.” Not that she didn’t already have a million other things on it too. “Seriously though, you should go somewhere, Will. It’ll do you good.”

Nudging the boxes of food aside, Noah let his eyes follow her, still feeling the warmth of her embrace. The movement to the bed seemed significant for only a moment, and then he discarded any thoughts of fooling around - sometimes it was what someone needed to relax, to get their head back on straight, but…no, he’d rather not tonight, he decided. Just wanted to make sure she was all right instead.

He trailed after her, discarding his shoes along the way, then climbed into bed with her. The sight of the massive dog in her lap made his lips quirk.

“And here I thought I’d be the one cuddling you,” he teased. He curled up against the headboard even still, then put an arm around her shoulders, lightly encouraging her to lean down so she could rest her head on his shoulder.

“This is nice,” he said absently, beginning to pet through her hair.

As Noah joined them, a mild smile spread onto her lips, burying her head in Mike’s soft fur for a brief moment while holding onto him, inevitably only making him move more, trying to escape. “Well, Mike has been cuddling me for the past two years. He does a pretty good job with it too.” Loosening her hold, the dog quickly jumped back down onto the floor, his tail wagging back and forth as he stayed at a much safer distance.

Feeling Noah’s arms around her shoulders, Alex moved to scooch closer to his side, curling up against him. Wrapping an arm around his stomach, she leaned her head down onto his shoulder, nodding. “Yeah. Your cuddles are alright too.” Trying to sound a little teasing, her lips formed another smile.

After a few minutes of silence left with her own thoughts, they had moved right back to the past, suddenly blurting out, “I’m sorry I just bailed on you and everyone else back in New York.” Noah was sweet — he hadn’t deserved it.