Page 44 of Cross the Line

The laugh he hopes for never comes and it’s clear Theo’s doing his anxiety spiral thing. Alec pulls his bottom lip between his teeth while he thinks, unconsciously leaning his side against Theo. He holds his breath when he notices that Theo doesn’t pull away, so neither does Alec.

“Remember that summer we went to Yosemite?”

“I do,” Theo agrees. “That was what, ten years ago?”

“Eleven,” Alec supplies. “We stopped at the gift shop on the way out after two weeks of camping and we were looking at souvenirs. Charlie and Andrew and Jason were all loading up on shirts and hats and shit. But do you remember what you bought?”

“Uh, not really,” Theo says, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck.

“A postcard. Mom came and asked you if there was anything else you wanted and you told her it was all you needed, but there was this hat you kept looking at. It was brown with a mountain range on it and you tried it on when no one was looking. I saw you smile and then put it back. You never pick things for yourself.”

Theo’s cheeks have the faintest pink to them, the rise and fall of his chest slow. “Why the hell do you remember that, Alec?”

Because I’ve always seen you, even when you tried to hide. Because I know you. Because I love you.

“Pick which one you like. Don’t worry about what I said or what I was looking at. Just choose the one that you like the best, okay?”

“Alec.”

Alec’s heart beats hard in his chest and Theo’s arm is warm against his own. Rio licks his hand and Alec wordlessly counts to five before he speaks. “I know your favorite color is brown. They don’t have brown, but they have tan.”

“It is brown,” Theo agrees, reaching out for one of the collars on the bottom row, a darkish tan one. It’s simple, plain, and exactly what Alec would’ve expected him to pick. “This one is good.”

“Good choice, Theodore. Now let's finish shopping.”

Alec trudges up the front stairs to his apartment, pausing outside the front door. Someone put a welcome mat out while he was gone that says “go away” and it makes him laugh, some of his tension dissipating. Of course that same tension returns tenfold while he digs out his keys and thinks about the missed messages from their group chat and from Riley this morning about his disappearing act. He half expects the third degree the moment he steps inside, which he probably deserves for vanishing for ten hours without a note or a reply, but that doesn’t mean he’s looking forward to it.

Steeling himself for a telling off, he pushes open the front door. He’s surprised by the relative quiet, aside from the blasting coming from the television. Hunter is sitting on their couch playing some video game where you shoot things. Alec can’t remember the name despite Hunter telling him at least twice already. Alec’s never been a fan of video games. Way too much sitting for someone with as much energy as him. Hunter, Logan and Riley all play them a lot though, so he might want to learn to at least understand what’s happening just so he isn’t lost.

He’s barely got his key hung on the little key hook and his shoes on the shoe rack before Hunter looks up, eyes snapping from the tv to Alec’s face.

“I know I’m gorgeous, but it’s rude to stare.”

To his surprise Hunter doesn’t flip him off or laugh. Instead, he blushes, a reaction Alec has absolutely no bandwidth to try and examine.

“What the hell happened to your face?”

“Nothing,” Alec says, crossing the room and flopping down onto the edge of the couch opposite Hunter. Now that he’s far away from Theo, the fatigue of the day is catching up with him. He’s sore in places he doesn’t want to be, his lip is throbbing, and most of all, his chest aches. Glad as he is to not face a lecture, he kind of wishes Antonio or Riley were here.

Hunter lifts an eyebrow. “Doesn’t look like nothing.”

Were it anyone else he might be honest, but Alec still doesn’t know Hunter that well and while he’s definitely warming up to the guy, the last thing he wants to do is feel even more exposed than he already does. “Nah,” Alec shrugs, closing his eyes and tipping his back on the couch, trying to come up with a distraction. “Where is everyone?”

“Riley came by to see why you were ignoring him and then he and Antonio went to the store to get cereal and milk.”

A fresh wave of guilt rolls in. He shouldn’t be ghosting his closest friends. He debates texting them but decides to wait until they get home. This isn’t a conversation he wants to have over text and knowing his friends it’s not a conversation they’re going to let him avoid.

“Is Logan still at practice?”

“I think so,” Hunter answers, unpausing the game. Despite the sound of things exploding, Alec doesn’t bother opening his eyes. “Sports sound exhausting. You guys are nuts. You can’t do jack shit because you’ve got practice or training or you’re tired from one of those. I don’t know how you do it.”

Alec hums, not sure either. It’s only been a week since he moved back onto campus, and he already feels like he’s gonna crumble. He can’t imagine adding a full schedule on top of all the practice, not to mention the games. There was a time where nothing had made Alec feel more alive than being on the field, but those days are fewer and farther between. He’d felt an inkling of it playing in Mexico, chasing the ball for fun and not because scouts or a coach was watching him. This semester isn’t for fun. This semester has to be perfect. He needs to maintain his scholarship, keep his grades up and?—

“You’re sighing a lot for someone who has nothing going on.”

Alec exhales again, louder this time, grinning when Hunter slams a couch pillow into his head. “So what exactly are you playing again? Donkey Kong?”

“Are you fucking shitting me?” Hunter levels him with a look that could kill. “It's Call of Duty.”

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