Counterpoint

Chapter 56

Alexander

   I take a deep breath before allowing myself to fall back into Thomas's lap. He chuckles quietly as he runs his fingers through my hair. My eyes slowly close as I smile at the gentleness of the touch. It is in moments like this where I wonder what my life would have been like if he and I had simply met earlier. Would we have been friend when we were children? The fantasy of knowing him since childhood is rather selfish, but I suppose having one fantasy about Thomas wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. It was bound to happen eventually. 

   "Are you comfy down there?" He asks softly, his palm resting on my forehead as I open my eyes. His lips are curled into a gentle smile as he looks at me with slightly hooded eyes. There is so much love present in his eyes that I find myself struggling to respond for a moment. My heart is beating harshly against the inside of my chest causing me to lose my breath slightly. 

   "Yeah," I mumble, biting my lip slightly as I fight the urge to laugh as my mind conjures up a witty response. 

   "I don't think I like that laugh." He chuckles.

   "Yeah, I wouldn't either." 

   "What's so funny, dare I ask?"

   "No," I laugh turning away from him slightly. "I can't."  One of his hands rests on my shoulder and I can't stop the suffocating laughter that has bubbled up inside of me. He rolls me back onto my back and looks down at me with a broad smile. 

   "I don't think I have ever heard you laugh this much before." he taps my cheek lightly with the back of his hand. "Now tell me." 

   "No!" I laugh. "You'll get mad at me."

   "Tell me." He grumbles as he shakes me a little. "I want to know."

   "Your lap is comfy because it's completely flat." I giggle in response. Thomas glares at me, his grip on me tightening slightly. 

   "That's funny, is it?" He grabs my cheek tightly making me wince from the pressure. "I'm going to remember that the next time you're in the mood." He releases his hold on my face and I frown up at him, knowing that he had meant every single word he had said. 

   "I told you that it would make you angry." I mumble, "it just popped into my head, it's not like that's what I think about you really." 

   "Mhm." He hums in response, his hand returning to my hair, gently gripping and running through the dark strands. "You really have a sharp tongue, Alex."

   "It can have some good uses." I murmur in reply. "Sometimes." 

   "I'm not angry." Thomas sighs after a moment. "Stop worrying." I open my mouth to reply but he covers my mouth with his palm before looking at me directly. "Don't tell me you weren't, you always mutter when you're worried." I look away from him as I cover his hand with mine, gently trying to pry it away from my mouth. "I'm not angry, you being a pain in my ass isn't something new." I glare up at him as I lick his palm in an attempt to have him remove his hand. He simply smiles down at me, pressing is hand closer to my face. "I wouldn't do that." 

   I stare up at him in silent question as his thumb brushes over my cheek.

   "You may start something you won't be able to finish." He chuckles as I retract my tongue as my face begins to heat. "There's a good boy." I slap his hand and he simply laughs. His hand slides off of my mouth. He looks like he wants to say something, but stops when his phone buzzes. I can't help but glare at him as he slides it out of his pocket and completely ignores me for a few moments. You would never believe that he loves me more than that phone by the way he stares at it. 

   His eyes narrows as he scans through his phone. I don't know what he is looking for, but it's starting to piss me off how much he is ignoring my presence. The painfully jealous part of me wants to recapture his attention by any means necessary. It wouldn't take too much effort, I can imagine. A few heated kisses across his stomach, perhaps even slipping one of my hands up the back of his shirt would be enough to regain his attention. 

   "What is that?" he mutters, zooming in on something on his phone. I glance up at him curiously before he starts to laugh hysterically at whatever he is seeing. "Braces?! You had braces?" He laughs. My entire body flushes with horror as I try to grab his phone, quickly rising to a sitting position.  He laughs as he lifts his phone above his head, the phone angles in such a way that I can see a picture of me as a kid with a full set of metal braces over my teeth. 

   "Where did you get that?!" I scream as I try to grab the phone from him. He laughs as he wraps his arm around my waist, pulling down into his lap, my legs on each side of his hips. His fingers dig into my hips, keeping me pinned down as tears streak down his cheeks from laughter. 

   "You're so cute!"

   "Who sent that?!" I shout in outrage. 

    "Shh," he giggles. "it's okay." 

   "It's not okay! Who the hell sent that?!" My heart clenches when I hear his phone buzz again. 

   "There's a video!"

   "Delete it!" He laughs as he hold me tightly to him, while holding the phone above himself so he can still watch the video. I slump against him as the video plays. 

   "You had a lisp, how cute!" he laughs, gently patting my back as my forehead collides with his shoulder. 

   "Please kill me." I grumble. 

   "Now we're even." He chuckles. "There is nothing to be embarrassed about." He offers in comfort. "I'm not even sure why you kept that a secret from me."

   "Because I look like an absolute fool." 

   "How dare you," He gasps. "he's precious." 

   "Stop talking like he is a totally separate person from me."

   "Look at him!" he gushes, bringing his phone down enough that I can see my teenage face with a goofy grin on my face, metal brackets gleaming in the sunlight. "I think i'm in love."

   "You better be." I grumble. 

   "I don't remember talking to you." I glare at him as he laughs. "I'm only teasing darlin'." He grins as he turns his attention back to his phone. I grab his face and clash our lips together. He groans in surprise as he drops his phone, gripping onto my hip and gently touching my face as he returns the kiss. Our tongues brush against one another and he groans lowly in the back of his throat as I keep him pinned against the couch. I grip onto the back of the couch, boxing him in before pulling away from the kiss. Thomas groans in protest but makes no move to recapture my lips as I lean over him. 

   "Now, who do you prefer, the boy or the man?"

   "Whichever one you are." He teases. 

   "Don't be cheeky." 

   "I can't make any promises." He smirks. "I have to admit that the boy is rather adorable, but I will have to choose the man." His breath strikes my ear and I shiver at the feeling. "There are things I want to do with the man that the boy would never be able to keep up with." 

   "Thomas," I grumble. "don't be lewd."

   "I love you." He chuckles, pecking my lips gently.