About That (Almost) Kiss [boyxboy]

I'm made of scotch tape and string (Alec)

As they crowded into the elevator, Alec snuck a quick glance at JP, wondering if he'd been annoyed when Alec invited himself upstairs. But JP didn't look annoyed. As usual, he looked a little worried, or maybe pensive. Alec thought it was cute when JP frowned hard with concentration during their class's weekly critiques, or paled with nervousness before a critique of his own work-as if he had anything to be afraid of. He was so talented-so much better than Alec, especially at drawings. JP had a natural flare for gestures or anything in motion. That was why Alec was so curious about JP's graphic novel.

Really.

The elevator jerked to a stop and Taylor swanned out, telling JP some story from the party. JP nodded, but soon glanced back at Alec, his cheeks pinking.

The jacket really did look good on him.

A few minutes later, Taylor had fetched his keys from his room and brought them back down to JP's room on the third floor.

"All right, you two," Taylor said, as he unlocked the door, "have a fun night, okay? And JP, maybe think about a lanyard for your keys? Or staple them to yourself. I'm just spitballing here."

"I know, I'm sorry," JP said, grimacing. "I've been a little distracted."

"No shit!" Taylor said cheerfully, patting JP on the cheek. He ambled back to the elevator bay, leaving JP and Alec alone in front of JP's partially open door.

"How many times have you locked yourself out lately?" Alec asked.

"Just twice," JP said.

"That's not too-"

"This week," JP clarified.

"This week?" Alec's heart skipped a beat. "So... you've been a little distracted this week?"

JP cast him a quick, sidelong glance, his throat working. "Yeah." He pushed the door open the rest of the way. "All my finished pages are on my computer."

"Okay. Great." Genuine eagerness to see JP's work warred with Alec's intense desire to find out what had JP so distracted. Surely, last weekend was just... a whim? A drunken mistake? Plenty of drunk guys had kissed Alec over the years. It had never meant anything more than, at most, a passing interest. A few moments, a night, a couple of weeks. With Rand, about half a year. Lately, Alec had been passed over enough.

JP stepped into his room, gesturing for Alec to follow him, but all Alec could do was stare. Artwork covered every square inch of the walls, including tons of posters from different graphic novels, comic books, and webcomics. Alec recognized the Sandman, xkcd, the Young Protectors, Artifice. Others, he didn't recognize. Some of the artwork had to be JP's, with his characteristically fluid gestures rendered as bold sweeps of black ink.

The room had only one bed, which meant, Alec realized with a pang of jealousy, that JP lived alone. In between his unmade bed and his computer desk, JP had crammed an easel, a gigantic drafting table, and a storage unit filled with art supplies.

Alec took a few steps into the room-into JP's room. His amazing room.

"It's kind of a mess," JP apologized, standing in the center of the room and rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's not at all," Alec said. "It's fantastic."

JP made his way past his bed to the computer desk in the far right corner. Even on his desk, there were no textbooks. Instead, a huge computer monitor took up practically the entire desk, with a big drawing tablet stuffed underneath it.

"Here," JP said, tapping a couple of keys. "I'll pull up the first page for you."

The computer screen lit up, and after a few more clicks, JP opened a massive image file. The title page. It showed a young man in a futuristic military uniform, standing on an alien world with a spaceship behind him. It should have looked like a pulp sci-fi novel cover, but the intense energy of his face and his stance gave the page life. JP had captured the young man's proud, fierce determination perfectly.