Curious (mxm)

Simple Happiness

Erik's POV

As much as I tried to be mad about Axel's date with Alyssa, it was difficult. Watching Axel and Jackson interact was way too enjoyable, so it was turning my sour mood into a good one.

I figured the shopping trip would be absolute hell. Axel seemed to be dead-set on being mad at me and hating Jackson, plus I wasn't too happy with him either. But somehow, the negative energy hadn't lasted very long.

I was beginning to think that Jackson had the magic ability to radiate sunshine and happiness. It was addictive even to Axel.

The two bickered back and forth, sure, but the malice in Axel's eyes had slowly faded away. Despite his anger issues, Axel always found it difficult to be mean to people.

Once Axel bent towards Jackson, holding out a onesie and asking, "Is this like the ones on Pinterest?" I knew that we'd broken the ice.

Thank God. I couldn't keep waiting until Axel was at work to invite Jackson over.

Checkout took far longer than anyone else in the line of Target. The cashier clearly had questions, but was too nervous to ask them. He gave a weak, "Congratulations," as he finished bagging the last item.

"Thanks," Axel said. I thought it was cute, the way he held his chin high and puffed out his chest. Already proud of a kid who was barely even alive.

"We're going for a gender neutral theme," Jackson continued. The guy's eyes widened. "Galaxy. It's a lot of cutesy cartoons in the shape of stars and planets and things. Want to see a Pinterest picture similar?"

There was one lady behind us with a bag of chips and tampons. She glared into the back of Jackson's head like she was hoping her eyes would shoot lasers.

"Very nice," the guy commented in response to the picture Jackson had pulled up.

"Isn't it?" I said, just to screw with his mind even further. "We're so excited."

The cashier looked between the three of us. He nodded. "Nice. I'm happy for you. Um. Have a nice day."

Poor retail workers. They were such pure souls.

"Well that was fun!" Jackson chirped on our way to the car. "Any other time you guys want to convince random employees that we're in a three-way relationship with a child on the way, I'm down. Do you mind dropping me off by the way? Erik picked me up and my mom will be really mad if I don't end up back at home soon."

Axel gave him a weird look. "You live with your mom? And she cares about where you are? Erik, how old is this kid of yours?"

"He's twenty-four!" I said, slightly too loud, in an effort to defend myself. "He's a senior in college, a major in kinesiology, he has a dorm on campus—"

"And I like warm hugs," Jackson added.

We stared at him.

He nodded. "No? You didn't watch... never mind. Awkward."

"Fine, I guess your kid is an acceptable age," Axel said, staring Jackson down. "Yeah, twenty-four isn't too bad I guess. But why are you still living with your mommy?"

"Because I'm twenty-four, dude!" Jackson hit the back of Axel's seat with his foot. "I don't know what era you grew up in, but I have no hope of moving out until I have a grown up job, you know? I need to have an income— Erik, remember our conversation from earlier?"

I rolled my eyes. "There's more to life than paychecks."

"Okay, Mr. Stuffy Photography," Axel said, shoving at my head. "Besides, you might be morally obligated to become this little shit's sugar daddy. Poor kid. Look at his phone."