tongue tied.

disaster. 🍓 (georgexalex)

"y-you 'ad a date?" they were allowed to feel jealous. however, they could not act on it. it was to be dealt with verbally or ignored completely.

"yeah, but i wan' to stay 'ere..." george pulled his blanket over their bodies. "with you an' do nothin'."

george smiled at the ceiling, a triumphant one. "if you wanna, then you should."

"i love you." alex's eyes felt heavy.

"i love you too." george could barely say.

"you're such a good...friend." alex hated using that word. "thank you."

"you're a great friend too, al." george forced it out.

and without another word, he wrapped his arms around alex. his heart slowing down to match alex's heartbeat. he wanted to be in total sync with him. maybe he'd die if he wasn't.

they both fell asleep thinking, imagining, their lips pressed together. for that was all they could do, just imagine.

-

james didn't understand george and alex's friendship. none of the other men did, really. still, james was the most vocal about his confusion.

he would call them out whenever they got too close or started their...touching. he teased them about it constantly. so much so that alex eventually began to dread going around james and fraser's apartment.

fraser understood when alex told him. the other man went home that night and lectured james about his impulsiveness. he went on about how james needed to be more supportive, and understanding. how he needed to just shut up sometimes, how he needed to pretend that it was normal. sometimes, fraser said, you just don't say anything, marriott.

"but-"

"no, james. jus' shut up an' suck it up, mate. not that 'ard, is it?"

"it's weird!" james rolled his eyes when fraser rose his eyebrow with smugness. "not weird because they're guys, fuckin' weird because they're 'jus' mates'."

"look," fraser picked kenji up, holding him to his chest as he sat on their couch. "i know, i know it's fuckin' mad, but they're our friends, james. so, i don't know, jus' act like you don't see it?"

james huffed, mumbling a small "fine," he pouted, "but you understand why it's so bafflin' to me, right?"

fraser snapped a cold, hard glare at his roommate. and james said nothing ever again, he just shut up.

-

alex tried his best to take care of himself. he really did, he had alarms for all three meals and even a bedtime. not that he ever followed the bedtime, but it was the thought that counted.

however, taking care of himself was nearly impossible some days. alex was the type of person that would dig themselves a hole and stay there. no, live there.

stay glued into that tight, suffocating hole. with nothing to do but overthink and overwork himself. the alarms were ignored like those meant to wake a teenager on a monday morning. they were useless when alex went into his hole. everything, but george, was useless and meaningless.

the hole, george was sure it would kill alex someday.

"you can..." alex yawned as the clock hit three a.m. "go to bed."

george skipped the intro of big mouth as he shook his head. "if you aren't comin' to bed with me, m'not gettin' up."

alex spent most of his afternoon filming, and then spent his entire night editing. it was how he worked best, or so he forced himself to believe. george suffered through it with him, he figured it would be better if alex wasn't alone.