2-1
1239 Words
2
“MARRY ME?” PAUL ASKS. Alex is at the bathroom sink brushing his teeth before bed.
“What?” Alex spits before he chokes on the toothpaste in horror. He meets Paul’s eyes in the mirror.
“Marry me.” Paul folds his arms over his chest. He’s dressed for sleep, just in boxers, and his blonde hair is spiky from where he’s been running his hands through it in frustration over a script all evening.
“Paul.”
“Yes?”
“Nooooo.”
Paul hides his disappointment well, but Alex is more horrified over the fact that Paul even asked the question than worried about his feelings. Paul laughs like it was all a joke and nudges Alex to the side so he can wash his face. Alex keeps staring at him. If he stares long enough, maybe Paul will explain whatever train of thought led them to this junction.
He doesn’t disappoint. “Sorry,” Paul says. He pats his face dry. “Momentarily overwhelmed by domestic bliss.”
“Witty dialogue is not hiding the fact that you’re crazy.”
“I can only do my best.”
They’ve been living together for almost a year now, and they’ve never talked about making their relationship legal. Alex doesn’t see why they would. Paul’s thirty-two, but Alex is only twenty-two. In a normal world, one in which Alex has never lived, he’d be finishing college this year. Instead he’s the unexpected star of a hit TV drama, in a relationship with one of the show’s writers. And he has no interest in carrying on this conversation further.
“You want to get un-overwhelmed and f**k me instead?” Alex asks.
“That’s a sexy come-on.”
“You asked me to marry you while I was brushing my teeth and we have a flight in eight hours. Go with it.”
Paul laughs. “You’re not too sore after your climb?”
“Sore, yes, ‘too’, no. Besides, I’m making you do all the work.”
Paul swats Alex’s a*s as he walks past him out of the bathroom. Alex drops his toothbrush into the sink. When Paul does things like that he loses all ability to do anything but respond.
* * *
* * * *
TRAVELING WITH PAUL is both more and less difficult than traveling on his own. Paul insulates him from everything invasive and unsettling about it, but they also draw attention when they’re together. The world doesn’t know Paul’s face the way it knows Alex’s...yet. Paul’s been working hard to make himself a brand in preparation for what he hopes will be a long and successful run for Winsome, AZ, the show he’s still waiting for the network’s decision on. And while they don’t do press about their relationship, it’s no secret. Alone, Alex can be a guy who just sort of looks like J. Alex Cook. With Paul by his side, everyone knows exactly who they are.
In airports, people generally have the decency not to approach them. But the world is full of fans who are not as stealthy with their smartphone cameras as they would like to think; Alex has been considering starting a pinned map of airports from which blurry pictures of his sneakers have been posted.
He sits silently next to Paul as they wait for their plane to board. He has no interest in having yet another conversation that’s going to be misheard and disseminated over the internet.
* * *
* * * *
ON THE PLANE, THEY’RE in coach, and Alex squeezes into his seat by the window as quickly as he can, pulling his beanie down until it covers his eyes. Paul smiles at the absurdity as he stows their carry-ons and takes the seat next to him. They’d bought the one on the aisle too, just to have a little more space and privacy, but there’s no universe where Paul doesn’t want to be pressed up against Alex as the plane takes off. When it leaves the ground, Alex twists in his seat so he can press his head into Paul’s shoulder instead of against the window.
“f**k, I’m in love with you,” Paul whispers in his ear.
Alex snorts. By the time the seatbelt light goes off, he’s asleep.
* * *
* * * *
PAUL’S MOM GREETS THEM at the baggage claim. Alex hangs back, shy and unsure of his place, as she gathers Paul up in a hug.
Beth lets go of Paul and folds Alex into a hug, too. “It’s good to see you.”
“Good to see you too.”
She pulls back and tweaks the beanie straight on his head. “How was your flight?”
Paul and his mom chat as they make their way to the exit. Alex stays quiet, content to let them catch up. Beth came out to L.A. last Christmas, when an avalanche of scheduling disasters made it impossible for them to get out of the city for the holiday. Alex likes her. But he’s never been to South Carolina with Paul. He’s glad to help get the suitcases into the trunk and then slide into the back seat to rest with his own thoughts.
Alex dozes through most of the two-hour drive, putting an occasional word into the conversation when Beth asks him something. He finally jerks out of a nap when they pull off the main road into the driveway.
Paul turns around in his seat, his smile gentle. “Hey there. You awake?”
“Mmm. Yeah.” Alex rubs his eyes.
“Welcome to the family seat.”
The driveway is long and winds up through a lawn somewhat in need of mowing to an old farm house. Weathered siding and faded shutters speak of old grandeur and care, but not much wealth. The verandah is the stuff of picture books, complete with ancient climbing roses. When the car pulls round the side to the garage, Alex can see a large vegetable garden in the back and rows of old fruit trees stretching down to woods.
When they get out of the car, the silence of the country evening is deep and peaceful. Alex takes a deep breath. The air here smells of earth and grass, and is deeply relaxing.
“So this is why you like it here so much,” he says to Paul as Beth leads the way into the house.
Paul hesitates, just for an instant, before following. “I like it better with you here.”
* * *
* * * *
ALEX OFFERS TO HELP with dinner — strange places are always easier to manage if he can be busy — but Beth shoos them into chairs at the kitchen table and gets them iced tea. There’s more chatting and catching up between Beth and Paul, and there’s even more when Paul’s sister Sarah and her son Jake arrive for the meal. Alex sits back and enjoys watching everyone else interact. One of his favorite things about this family is that they never treat him like a celebrity or indeed like anyone other than just Alex, Paul’s boyfriend. Seeing them on their home turf is even more enjoyable. Everyone is relaxed and at ease. Even Paul, who Alex thinks of as pure L.A. in so many ways, softens somehow in this environment. Around his mother and sister his accent, which only comes through rarely at home, gets stronger.
“You boys sleep well,” Beth says once Sarah and Jake have left for the evening. Night has settled outside, warm and filled with the soft hum of insects.
Paul leads the way upstairs to the guest room, which bears no particular personality of any resident, current or former. They could be at an inn as easily as at Paul’s mother’s house.
“Is this your old room?” Alex looks around the space and tries to imagine a teenage Paul living here. What sorts of trophies and decorations did he have? What books or magazines did he have on the shelves?
Paul, though, shakes his head slowly. “No. This was Sarah’s. Mine’s a craft room now.”
There’s something uncomfortable and weighty in Paul’s voice that Alex can’t figure out. Does Paul miss this house the way it was? Does he feel displaced?
“It’s been a long time,” Alex says.
Paul shakes his head. Alex isn’t sure whether that’s a no to his assumptions or a dismissal of the topic.
* * *
- Writer
