Alone Together [boyxboy]

Alone Together {14}

A.N.- I'm sorry if this comes out formatted strange! My laptop has been broken all summer and I'm getting a little desperate, so I'm doing this on mobile. My laptop beig broken is also why I haven't updated in so long, sorry guys!

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​​​***Alexis's POV***

​I cracked my eyes open, a little disoriented. Jonas was lying next to me, scrolling through his phone.

​I rolled onto my back and rubbed my eyes. I turned my head, seeing Micah sleeping on Jonas's bed. He was cuddling one of my shirts to his chest.

​"Sorry," I mumbled, voice thick with sleep. "I didn't mean to sleep here."

​"It's fine. It wasn't safe to let you drive," Jonas said, looking away from his phone to me.

​I closed my eyes, testing if I would be able to fall back to sleep. But no, my body refused to cooperate despite how tired I still felt. I was used to running on little sleep.

​Opening my eyes, I glanced back over at Jonas. The last time I had woken up next to a man like this, we'd both smelled of cheap alcohol.

​"I think you need to take a break from work. You look exhausted. You're going to get sick," Jonas said.

​"I have to work," I said. "We have a lot of expenses to cover."

​"There are five working adults in that house," Jonas said. "You can't afford one day off?"

​I slung an arm over my eyes, patient but exhausted. "Bills are expensive. Ace's paycheck usually relies on how much he gets tipped. Christian makes the most, but he can't work right now. I make the least amount, and I have to care for Micah. Ike and Jer barely make more money than me. We have to afford insurance, food, clothing, bills, gas, and little expenses that start to add up. Six people living in a house go through a surprising amount of toilet paper."

​Jonas laughed a little, and blushed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to laugh."

​I couldn't help the small smile that came to my face. "It's okay. Look, I know it seems like us combining our paychecks should be enough to live comfortably, but you'd be surprised. All of us need to put money away in the bank for desperate times, as well as afford expenses. It's a lot to take on."

​"I wish I could help," he said.

​I let my arm fall away from my eyes. "You are helping. Do you know how much it helps that you've been watching Micah?"

​"I can't believe your friends won't help with him," Jonas said, a surprising amount of anger in his voice.

​"It's not their responsibility. He's mine," I said. "They warned me when he first started living with us that I'd be responsible for him. They help out, though."

​"I wouldn't trust Jer with him," he said.

​"I don't," I said, earning another laugh from him. "Ace helps out a lot. And Ike helps out sometimes, too."

​Jonas turned a little to face me. "How did you meet those guys, anyways?"

​"The same way you did," I said. "Ike stole my money."

​"Oh, of course, how silly of me. That's how all good friends meet," he said.

​"He gave it back. We were teenagers. He was just trying to keep himself and his brother fed," I said. "He stole my wallet, got confused when I didn't try to take it back, and we started talking."

​Well, that was a very simplified version of what had actually happened. But that was the basics of it all.

​I looked up at the ceiling, remembering back then. We'd been young teenagers, just a bunch of stupid kids. Not even old enough to purchase cigarettes, but already stealing just to keep ourselves fed.