#forlex fic
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Malex Fic - Love will get you there
Made with a day to spare! This is my March fic for @alexguerinappreciation. I choose the spotlight of Alex’s canon relationships. I consider this a Malex fic because that is where we end up, but this is both pre canon and post canon so I write about Alex’s family, his relationship with Maria and Forrest on the way to Malex’s happy ending.
It’s a 5 +1 about 5 times Alex wanted to change his name before the one time he finally does it. Warnings for canon child abuse.
If you hate Maria or Forrest, please don’t read this. Also if you really like Jim Valenti, you may not like how I wrote him.
Love will get you there on AO3
Summary: Alex was never much of a Manes man or 5 times Alex thought about changing his name and 1 time he did
Title is from an Inhaler song.
I am going to put the whole fic behind the cut because it opens with Jesse being abusive. Nothing graphic but I wanted to give an extra warning.
1.
“What did I tell you?” Jesse leans in close to Alex’s face. He doesn’t yell, he doesn’t need to.
“Don’t leave toys on the floor,” Alex sniffs. His dad tightens his hold on Alex’s shirt. “Sir,” Alex adds quickly before his dad can hit him again.
“I won’t warn you again, Alex. Next time there will be real consequences.”
Alex tries to wiggle out of Jesse’s hold. His back is sore from where his father used his belt. Just thinking what will happen if he forgets to clean up again makes him start crying again. He tries to hold back his tears, hoping his father won’t notice and ends up hiccuping.
“Manes men don’t cry,” Jesse shakes Alex roughly before pushing him away. “You're confined to your room for the rest of the evening. Maybe some time alone will help you remember how to behave.”
Alex runs to his room, he wants to slam the door but he knows if he does his father will follow him and punish him again. Instead, he hides between his bed and the wall and cries silently. Once he calms down, he takes his camping bag from his closet and begins filling it with clothes.
“What are you doing, dork,” Clay asks from the doorway.
Alex startles and wipes his eyes before turning to face his brother. Clay is almost as mean as his father, and he’s afraid to let him see him cry. “I’m leaving. I’m going to live with Mom.”
“Mom doesn’t want you, dummy. She doesn’t want any of us.”
“That’s not true,” Alex insists. He doesn’t yell even though he wants to because he doesn’t want his dad to hear him. “If I tell her Dad hurt me, she’ll come get me.”
“No, she won’t,” Clay tells him. “She’s been gone almost a year, and she hasn’t called once. She’s not going to help you. Even if she wanted to, Dad would find you and bring you back. Manes men stick together, remember.”
“I don’t want to be a Manes man,” Alex says miserably. He hates being a Manes, he hates all the rules. Manes men don’t cry or laugh too loud or sing. Manes men don’t waste their time watching cartoons or playing with girls. He hates all of it.
“Grandpa will hide me. I’ll change my name so people will know I belong with Grandpa, and Dad won’t find me because I won’t be a Manes,” Alex nods, confident he’s solved the problem.
“You’re so stupid. You’ll embarrass Grandpa just like you embarrass Dad. He’d bring you back himself just to get rid of you.” Clay shakes his head. “You’re a Manes, Alex, whether you like it or not. You need to start acting like one before you bring all of us down.”
Alex turns away from Clay and ignores him until he leaves. He takes everything out of his bag and puts it back, not bothering to wipe the tears from his face since there was no one to see him. Clay’s right. No one wants him so he’s stuck being a Manes.
2.
Alex kicks his feet against the edge of the exam room table until his father glares at him, and he goes back to sitting perfectly still. He can hear the doctor explaining his restrictions and medication dosages to Jesse as the nurse adjusts his sling. Alex lets the words wash over him, his dad will probably make him take the sling off as soon as they get in the car, and he won’t be giving Alex any pain meds.
It wasn’t like this was the first time Jesse had separated Alex’s shoulder so he’s used to the pain. In the past, they’d always put it back in at home, but this time Jesse couldn’t get it to pop back into place. He kept trying until Alex was throwing up from the pain, and then he finally drove Alex to the emergency room.
“Now Mr. Manes, I need you to step out of the room for a few minutes.”
“Sergeant Manes,” Jesse corrects the doctor. “And if it’s all the same to you, I’d like to take my son home now. He’s fine, there’s no reason to keep fussing.”
“Sergeant Manes,” the doctor begins again. Alex almost smiles because he could hear the eye roll in the doctor’s voice. “It’s procedure, which I’m sure you understand. If you’ll just follow me, I can get you started on the discharge paperwork, and you’ll be on your way shortly.”
Jesse stops in front of Alex on his way out. “I’ll be right outside, Alex.”
Alex knows he’s pretending to be concerned, making sure the doctor thinks he cares. He tightens his hand on Alex’s good shoulder enough to hurt. It’s a warning to remind Alex that Jesse expects Alex to behave as if he’s in the room. Alex nods to let him know he understands.
“Alex,” the nurse directs his attention back to her once Jesse is gone. “There is someone we’d like you to talk to. Remember this is a safe space. It’s ok to tell the truth.”
Sheriff Valenti comes in through a door opposite of where Jesse had left. He follows the nurse into the corner, away from Alex, but the room is small, and Alex can still hear everything they say.
“He came in with a separated shoulder,” the nurse begins.
“Alex is from an active family. Four boys, lots of roughhousing,” Jim interrupts.
“His x-ray showed scar tissue in the joint. This isn’t the first time this has happened, and we also saw evidence of older untreated injuries. I’m sure you understand why we’re concerned, Sheriff.”
“I’ll talk to him. Alone please.”
“Of course,” the nurse replies before leaving.
Jim walks to the foot of Alex’s bed. “How are you feeling?
“Fine, sir.” Alex isn’t lying. They gave him a shot before they reset his shoulder, and he feels good. Tired but not in pain.
“You want to tell me what happened, son?”
Alex used to pretend Jim Valenti was his father. When Jesse really started hurting him, he imagined the Sheriff rescuing him and taking Alex home and promising Alex that he wouldn’t let Jesse hurt him anymore. Then he’d admit that he was Alex’s real father, that he’d kept it a secret, but he would tell the truth to protect Alex. He would let Alex live at his house, and Alex and Kyle would be brothers for real.
He would close his eyes and imagine Jesse showing up to take him back, and Jim stopping him. He would stand in the doorway with his hand on Alex’s shoulder and tell Jesse, “Alex is a Valenti now. You can’t hurt him anymore. Don’t ever come back here again or I’ll have to arrest you.”
It’s a stupid dream, Alex knows that, but maybe it’s because Jim called him son that he decides to tell the truth. “It was my dad,” he says. “He was mad at me and this was my punishment.”
The Sheriff looks sad for a minute, and Alex thinks this is it - Jim will take him home, and he’ll finally be safe. Maybe his dad will even go to jail, and he’ll be too afraid to even talk to Alex again.
Then he takes a step back and when he looks at Alex, he’s serious - not like Kyle’s dad, but like when Alex has seen him working.
“Alex, are you sure that’s what happened? That is a serious accusation, and if you tell me that is what happened, I’ll have to let your father know what you said,” he says it kindly, but Alex knows it’s as much of a threat as Jesse’s shoulder squeeze had been. “It’s easy to get confused when you are in pain,” the Sheriff continues. “Maybe you are mixing up the pain you felt when your dad tried to help you with when you were injured.”
“You’re right,” Alex says flatly, the last of his dreams of rescue vanishing. “I was fooling around with my brothers on the training course, and that’s how I hurt my shoulder. My dad tried to fix it, and that hurt too. I must have been confused.”
“That’s what I thought,” Jim sounds proud, and it makes Alex want to cry. “Thanks for clearing that up. You’ll be able to go home soon.”
Jim starts to leave, but he turns back to hug Alex carefully. “You’re strong, Alex,” he whispers. “And nothing lasts forever. Remember that.”
He does leave then, and Alex gets up to follow him, to ask him why he acts like he cares, but won’t help him, but he hears his father’s voice outside the door.
“What are you doing here, Jim?” Jesse asks.
“The hospital called in a suspicious injury. You’re lucky I got the call and not one of my deputies.”
“How I discipline my son is no one’s business. I don’t care what some bleeding heart doctor thinks.”
“I know that, Jesse,” Jim tries to calm him. “But I can’t always be around to cover for you.”
“I’m not going to coddle him like you do your son. Alex is a Manes. He needs to toughen up. Until he figures that out, he can take whatever punishment he deserves.”
“Just keep him out of the hospital and there won’t be a problem.”
Alex hears Jim walk away, and he’s back on the table, expression blank by the time his father opens the door.
3.
Alex doesn’t see Maria the day after Haley Moore’s party. His penalty for taking part in Battle of the Bands is a day at his father’s mercy. Alex cleans out the garage and runs through his father’s training course three times just to prove music doesn’t make him weak. By the time the sun sets he is sore and exhausted and wants to die, but he’s been uncharacteristically cooperative all day so Jesse doesn’t object when Alex says he wants to shower and go to bed.
Back in his room, he picks up his phone and wonders if he should call Maria. He knows what happens during ‘seven minutes in heaven’ doesn’t count once you leave the closet, and Maria hadn’t acted any different the rest of the night, but Alex can’t help but think about it.
It felt nice - kissing Maria, letting his hand brush across her chest. He thinks he could do it again, and Alex never really imagined kissing a girl before. Maybe if he could kiss Maria, be her boyfriend, his dad would back off. Jesse doesn’t really like Maria, says she’s from bad stock - a father no one remembers and a mother who acts stranger every year. But she’s a girl, and if Alex could love her, he wouldn’t be gay, wouldn’t be a sissy disgrace like Jesse says he is.
Alex thinks about it the rest of the night. He tries to imagine his future with Maria. Maybe they would stay in Roswell together, and they’d still have their band and they could play at the Wild Pony once they were old enough. Alex never thought much about having a family, but he thinks Maria would be a good mother - the kind who smiled and laughed and made kids feel loved. He loves Maria, Alex knows that, so if he could learn to be in love with her, he could be happy, and it would be safe.
He’s still thinking about when he meets Maria at the Crashdown the next night to work on a science project. Maria smiles at him like she always does, but she doesn’t try to hold his hand or anything. They get their actual work done quickly, but Alex told his dad they had a lot to do so they have plenty of time to just hang out.
“Kate Long stopped by before you got here,” Maria tells him.
“I’m sorry,” Alex wrinkles his nose. Kate is a bitch and she always gives Maria a hard time.
“Me too. But she dropped her notebook, and I could see where she was writing ‘Kate Bernhardt’ over and over again.”
“Gross,” Alex and Maria both pretend to gag.
“No offense, Alex, but if we get married, I am not changing my name to Manes,” Maria says casually, almost like a joke.
Alex wrinkles his nose, “I’d rather be a DeLuca.”
“Alex Deluca,” Maria hums around the name as if considering it. “Mom would like that.”
“Yeah?” Mimi is the closest person to a mother Alex has had in years. He likes the idea of being her family officially. “I’ll help you, you know, take care of her.” Alex doesn’t mean only in this fantasy world where they get married, and he can tell by the way Maria’s expression softens that she understands.
“I know you will.” She reaches across the table and squeezes his hand. It’s not romantic but it still feels good.
Flint’s waiting for him when he gets home. “Didn’t know girls were allowed in your kind of closet, Alex.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” He tries to shoulder past Flint, but Flint boxes him into the corner of the room.
“Heard you spent seven minutes of heaven with Maria DeLuca. Didn’t know you had it in you. She put out?” Flint asks with a leer.
Alex pushes him, hard. “Don’t talk about Maria like that.”
“Chill out,” Flint rolls his eyes and follows Alex into the bedroom. “I just never thought I’d get to talk about girls with my sissy little brother.”
“There’s nothing to talk about,” Alex glares at Flint.
“Then you can shut up and listen and maybe you’ll get it right next time.” Flint lays back in the bed, crossing his arms under his head. “First time I did seven minutes in heaven it was with Missy Osborne. Everyone knows she’s easy so I figured I hit the jackpot. She let me touch her boobs, under her bra. And God, I almost shot my load right there. Walked around hard the rest of the night.”
Flint keeps talking but Alex tunes him out. It hadn’t felt like that with Maria. Kissing her felt good and safe, he would do it again, but it wasn’t like that. Alex wonders if maybe there is something wrong with him after all.
(He feels like that with Michael. Just brushing their hands together makes Alex’s skin tingle where they touched.. When Michael kisses him for the first time, Alex feels like his whole body is on fire. That feeling never goes away.)
4.
Alex is walking to the store after his shift at the museum when he sees Maria scrubbing graffiti from the brick outside the Crashdown.
“Need some help?” he asks, taking a sponge from the bucket.
“Thanks,” Maria looks up and gives him a watery smile. “Mr. Ortecho says to leave it. There’ll just be more tomorrow. But I can’t. It’s only been a few weeks, and they just won’t stop.”
Alex nods. He’s barely seen Maria, seen anyone since the funeral. But he’s heard about the harassment Mr. Ortecho has been dealing with and it makes him sick. “Sorry I haven’t been around to help. My dad’s been on me extra hard.”
“I think all our parents are,” Maria says sadly. “Mom only lets me come here for a few hours and wants me at home the rest of the time.”
It’s not the same at all with Jesse, but Alex just nods.
“I can’t believe I forgot,” Maria suddenly exclaims. “I never asked you about museum guy.”
“Museum guy?”
“You sent me this text, ‘On my break I had the best kiss of my life’ and then nothing. Come on Alex, you can’t leave me hanging.”
If it weren’t for her bloodshot eyes, she’d look like the Maria he’d always known. He wonders if Maia’s been happy about anything since Rosa died, and he can’t bring himself to tell her that moment led to a different tragedy. So he tries to remember how he felt when he sent that text, how he felt before his father destroyed it all.
Alex closes his eyes and it is easier than he expected to remember everything about that moment in the museum. How he’d been afraid Michael was there to tell him off or beat him up, but then Michael kissed him and everything changed. He knew, finally, who he was, knew there was someone who wanted him as he was. It was the best moment of his life.
When Alex opens his eyes, Maria gasps as the smile on his face. “It was the most amazing kiss,” he begins.
“How amazing?” Maria teases.
“So amazing I would stay in Roswell forever if he would just keep kissing me.”
Maria laughs, and it’s a happy sound even if they both know he’s lying. Alex can’t stay in Roswell - the town will kill him if his father doesn’t do it first. But it’s nice to imagine a world where Michael is enough to change all that.
“Who is it?” Maria asks.
“I can’t,” Alex’s smile dims. He already failed Michael by not keeping him a secret, he won’t do it again. “He’s not out. I can’t tell you.”
Maria nods. “But he’s good to you, right?”
“He’s perfect,” and Alex means it. When it’s just him and Michael, he’s happier than he ever imagined he could be. He already feels Michael slipping away when they’re apart, and he can’t blame him. Michael was hurt because of him, because Alex wasn’t careful, because he couldn’t protect him.
But Alex is clinging to the future he wants for them despite his father’s threats and pressure to enlist. Michael has a scholarship. If he gets out of Roswell, Alex can follow him. He’s been doing research for years, he knows how to hide. They can change their names so his father can’t find them. Not the same name, not now, but someday Alex thinks, when he knows they are safe, they can share a name, share a life for real. One his father can’t take away.
Alex doesn’t tell Maria all that. Right now they both need to pretend everything is like it was a few weeks ago. Alex is falling in love, and Rosa’s alive and nothing hurts.
Alex thinks about kissing Michael in the bed of his truck, the sun on their face, Michael’s hair soft in his hands. He thinks about how carefully Michael always presses his lips against Alex’s until Alex opens his mouth and then it’s like Michael can’t get enough. He thinks about how Michael’s skin feels under his hands, how he loves to feel the beat of Michael’s heart in his chest. He thinks about how tightly Michael holds him in sleep like he’s trying to hold Alex in place. And he thinks about how desperately he wants to stay in Michael’s arms forever.
“He’s perfect,” Alex tells Maria again. “He makes me happy.”
“He’d better or he’ll have to answer to me,” Maria makes a fist, and they both laugh. “I’m so happy for you. You deserve this.”
Alex nods and turns back to the graffiti before Maria can see the way his smile falters.
5.
Alex leans back against the headboard and watches as Forrest starts to get dressed. He’s enjoying the way Forrest’s briefs stretch across his ass as he stands up to look for his shirt when Forrest sits back on the bed, phone in hand.
“I envy you, getting out of Roswell for a while,” he tells Alex as he reads his message.
Alex is leaving the next morning to track down the remains of Project Shepherd, but told Forrest he was on a long term recruiting assignment. Forrest had come over with take out and a strip of condoms to ‘see Alex off.’
“Maybe if I’m in one place long enough, you can come visit,” Alex offers.
“Yeah, I’d like that,” Forrest turns to Alex with a smile before going back to typing furiously on his phone. “I am definitely ready for a change of scenery.” Forrest tosses the phone on the bed before pulling on his pants.
“Everything ok?” Alex asks, surprised by the bitterness lacing Forrest’s voice. He’s never really seen him irritated before.
“Sorry, it’s just my uncle scolding me for offending one of his cronies. He likes to remind me that everything I do reflects on the Long name,” Forrest rolls his eyes.
“What happened?”
“Some guy came up to me at the diner and wanted to know why I hadn’t been at the last few meetings of the Roswell Regiment. He told me my family had a long standing tradition of standing between Roswell and undesirable elements, and it was time for my generation to step up.”
“Ouch,” Alex commiserated. He knew more than most about the weight of unwanted family legacies.
“I told him I was too busy sucking cock to play cowboys and Indians with the people on the wrong side of history.
Alex laughs because he can hear Forrest saying that. “Well if they had a meeting in the last hour,” Alex pretends to look at a watch he’s not wearing, “I can vouch for your story.”
“I’m sure he’d appreciate the first hand account.” Forrest sighs and runs his hand through his hair. “You’d think between my hair and the general aurora of gay, they would understand that white supremacy and racism aren’t really my thing. But they think all Longs are the same.”
“Being a Long sounds as bad as being a Manes,” Alex tells him.
“Does that mean you won’t take my name when we get married?” Forrest asks, all smiles again.
“Absolutely not,” Alex says without even needing to think about it.
Forrest clutches his hands over his heart and gasps dramatically, pretending to be hurt.
It’s cute; Forrest is cute so Alex leans forward and kisses him. He ignores the twist of wrongness in his stomach at the thought of marrying someone other than Michael. He knows he and Michael are over for good, but he isn’t ready to start thinking about anyone else with the same seriousness.
When Forrest kisses him back, Alex moves so he is straddling Forrest’s lap. “Besides,” he whispers against his lips, “I’m not the marrying type.”
“Oh?” Forrest asks, sliding his hands under Alex’s ass and pulling him closer. “What type are you?”
Alex bites back his instinctive response of ‘not the type who gets a happy ending.’ Things with Forrest are fun and easy, and Alex wants to keep them that way. He pushes Forrest onto his back and tells him, “I guess you’ll just have to find out,” before kissing him again and making sure talking is the last thing on either of their minds.
+1
Michael isn’t the first person he tells or even the second. Alex doesn’t think anything of it because to him it’s obvious, and it never occurs to him that Michael just won’t know.
He tells Greg when Greg calls to confirm he can’t make the wedding.
“I’m so sorry, Alex. I have an oral exam and an observation that can’t be rescheduled,” Greg says with obvious regret.
“It’s ok,” Alex reassures him. He’d love to have Greg there - he’s the only real family Alex has. But they didn’t really give him any notice. “If we were planning ahead we would pick a date that works for everyone, but.” Alex trails off, not sure how to articulate the urgency he and Michael feel. Why waiting just isn’t an option.
“I get it, Alex, I really do. After everything you and Michael have been through, you want to grab your happiness as soon as you can. I am just so happy for you, for both of you. And I’ll be back in a few months so you can show me all the pictures, videos, everything.”
“I think Isobel has an Oscar worthy production planned,” Alex laughs.
“I can’t wait,” Greg replies warmly.
“There’s one more thing,” Alex begins hesitantly. “I’m taking Michael’s name.”
Greg doesn’t respond and the silence stretches out. Alex hopes Greg doesn’t object. It won’t change anything, Alex has made his decision. But he’d like to have Greg’s support.
“Greg?” Alex prompts.
“Alex,” Greg says, voice thick before he clears his throat. “I’m so proud of you. I know how hard it’s been for you to let go of all the bullshit Dad shoved down your throat, to forget about the Manes legacy. I’ve been afraid for a long time that you would never be able to put it behind you. And now you're marrying the love of your life and starting a whole new life. I don’t even know what to say.”
“You’re not upset?” Alex can’t stop himself from asking.
“You’re my brother, Alex. I love you, and I want you to be happy. That’s it.”
“Thanks,” Alex says, his own throat tight. He wants to tell Greg he loves him too, but those aren’t words that were ever said in his house. It’s been hard enough learning to say them to Michael, to stop feeling like it was safer to hold them inside. But there’s something else he can say that Greg will understand. “I want that for you too - happiness. I’m free now, Greg, and I want you to be too.”
Alex stops by Eduardo’s office the next day.
“What are you doing here,” Eduardo asks when he spots Alex in the doorway. “Don’t you have a wedding in less than twenty four hours?”
“Kyle wanted a final checkup,” Alex shrugs.
“And?” Eduardo asks, eyes narrowing in concern.
“Clean bill of health,” Alex reassures him. “And speaking of the wedding, I was hoping I could ask you for a favor.”
“Of course.”
“You know Michael and I have a honeymoon planned,” he begins.
“Yes, a month, I believe,” Eduardo fills in. “That can be extended if you want more time.”
“I’m learning I’ll always want more time with Michael,” Alex laughs. “But I think a month away is a good start. Once we’re married, I want to change my name to Guerin. I know the process can take time, and I don’t want to wait until we get back from our honeymoon to get started. I was wondering if there is anything Deep Sky can do to speed things up?”
Eduardo leans back in his chair and smiles. “Just leave everything to me.”
Alex feels Michael stumble just a bit when he tells him he’ll be signing his checks ‘Alex Guerin” from now on. He accepts Alex’s explanation without any further questions, and then there’s so much going on - well wishes and goodbyes, Max leaving, finally putting Roswell behind them even if it’s only for a month - that they don’t talk about it again.
Three days into their honeymoon, when they return to their hotel after dinner, the concierge hands them an envelope he says was delivered for them earlier.
The outside just has their room number, no indication of who it’s from. It’s the right size for weight for pictures. Alex turns it over in his hands before holding it out to Michael.
“Maybe Isobel dropped off wedding pictures,” Michael speculates, coming to the same conclusion, when holding it up to the light doesn’t yield anymore information.
“I doubt Isobel drove six hours to drop off wedding pictures.”
“Only one way to find out,” Michael shrugs and hands the envelope back to Alex.
Alex sits at the small table in what passes for a dining area in their suite and waits for Michael to join him before he opens it. He pulls out the contents and lets out a small gasp. Alex holds his driver’s license, now labeled ‘Alex Guerin” in his hands, lets his updated passport and credit cards fall to the table.
Michael leans closer to see what he’s holding. “That was fast,” he comments, picking up and skimming the note Eduardo left. He congratulates them again and lets Alex know the rest of his updated documents - employee ID, bank accounts, social security card - are locked in the safe in his office.
Alex’s hands shake as he stares at the ID. He doesn’t realize he’s crying until Michael wipes a tear from his cheek.
“Hey, we can change it back,” he tells Alex, looking at him with concern. “It’s ok if you changed your mind.” Michael leaves his chair and turns Alex away from the table so he can crouch in front of him.
“No,” Alex pulls Michael up and kisses him. “No,” he repeats,finally dropping the license so he can cradle Michael’s face in his hands and kiss him again. He hopes Michael can feel his happiness, his joy because he finds himself fumbling for words to explain what it means to see his name in writing.
“I want to rent a car,” he says when Michael pulls back and goes back to his own chair, holding Alex’s hands in his.
“What?” Michael asks, concern returning to his face. “I know the truck’s old, but she’ll get us where we need to go.”
“No, I mean,” Alex shakes his head, frustrated with himself for communicating so poorly. “Sorry, it was just the first thing I thought of that would require an ID. I want to show off my new name.”
“Proud of it, huh?” Michael laughs, but Alex can hear the underlying hesitation.
“Michael, you have no idea. I want to tell everyone. I wish I was young enough to get carded.”
“I’m glad,” Michael says quietly, squeezing Alex’s hands. “I’m glad it feels good to let that part of your past go.”
“It is, but it’s not just about the past. When I saw this - saw ‘Alex Guerin’ in writing - I realized it’s less about letting something go than it is about moving forward. Being a Manes meant something, and no matter how hard I tried, I could never escape it completely,” Alex takes a breath, relieved to feel that burden gone. “But I’m not Alex Manes anymore. I’m Alex Guerin, and I get to decide what that means. That’s what I care about, who I am now, learning how to be your husband, building our life together.” He pulled Michael’s left hand to his mouth and kissed his wedding ring.
Michael picks up Alex’s discarded license and studies. He strokes his thumb over the picture before setting it down. “I never cared about my name. It wasn’t mine, it was just something they gave me because they had to. I can’t tell you what it means or if there are Guerin family traditions, and even if there are, it wouldn’t matter because they aren’t mine. Funny isn’t it, your name came with the worst family baggage imaginable and mine came with nothing, and we both suffered for it.”
“Michael,” Alex says helplessly, seeing the tears in Michael’s eyes. He reaches for him - to offer comfort, to fix what can’t be fixed - he doesn’t know. “Your name means something, it had a history that you gave it - omelet breakfasts and secret lairs and music and undying devotion.”
“I’m not upset, Alex,” Michael leans back and tangles their feet together. “I’m just so,” his eyes drift back to the table, covered in documents bearing the name ‘Alex Guerin.’ He turns back to Alex, and while the tears are still there, his smile outshines them. “Thank you for wanting to share my name, for making it ours, for wanting to start traditions with me that we can share with our family one day - however that looks.”
Alex shakes his head, too overwhelmed to speak.
“And I promise we can rent cars and join every gym and grocery store and casino membership plan we can find just so we can show off our name. But first I want to take my husband to bed and make love to him.”
Michael stands up and holds out his hand to Alex. He lets Michael pull him up, then walks toward the bed unbuttoning his shirt as he goes. “I love you, Michael Guerin,” he says as Michael pushes him onto bed and begins to undo his pants.
Michael’s answering smile is both wicked and sweet. “I love you, too, Alex Guerin.”
#alexguerinmonthly#malex fic#rnm fic#my fic#alec centric#malex happy ending#forlex but ends malex#maria deluca friendly#forrest long friendly#alex and maria friendship#alex is always trying to escape being a manes#jesse manes is a monster
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It had been a difficult transition, learning to see a different side of Forrest, a more disciplined and structured side. Harsh edges that could have been forged in war, or rather from being a skeptic all too close to the truth.
They worked together well.
Alex had come to that realization one hazy morning when the light was filtering in through motel blinds, Forrest’s arm draped across his hip. Because he’d pulled strings, made a few delicate lies to his superiors, and followed Alex out to unravel the Project Shepherd strings. Remove all traces of the disease the Manes and Valenti men had instilled into the world.
It wasn’t even that, the moving from place to place and digging through his families marred history. Wasn’t Forrest using his connections and knowledge to dredge up the Manes men’s secrets.
It was more than that. Forrest had only nodded and accepted Alex’s weak explanations, had fully accepted that Caulfield and Project Shepherd, though strongly rooted in his family, weren’t his secrets to share.
Alex frowns as he watches Forrest pack up the last of his things. It was their last night in Nevada, before they returned to Roswell. Before the last year meant nothing, just a blip in the grand scheme of things. Only the two of them erasing the very thing Forrest had dedicated his whole life to uncovering and sharing with the world at large.
“Thank you,” Alex says, voice sticking in his throat uncomfortably. A small hateful voice in the back of his mind calling it a weakness, to make one’s self reliant on others.
Forrest arches a brow silently, “for?”
Alex rolls his eyes at him, “you’ve spent the last year haunting ghosts with me. At the expense of some very angry calls from your ’employer’.”
read on ao3
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Any chance for new snippets from ring maker fic?😉 Plus I totally agree with your comments about Michael’s feelings!
I have been writing, it's about 45,000 words now, I'm hoping I can get it to the finish line in the next week or so. I'm a bit salty from last night so this snippet contains the "villain" of my story, Forrest Long.
so not forrest long friendly! and it's still pretty rough.
Previous snippets : 1 , 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
The small bit of glass drew him back to his workbench. Hope was still a dangerous thing to him as he set to work on a second ring, but maybe it was time to be brave. Just as he was about to separate a new disk of tungsten to work into a ring, he heard Walt’s voice from the front of the shop, “The UFO museum is right down the road if you want to gawk at something and not buy anything-”
That was a very rude observation, even for Walt, who had no patience for a lot of the undecided tourist crowd that wandered through their door but still managed to coax them into buying something. Perhaps he had been left alone too long in the role of shop clerk while Michael had had his private breakdowns about Alex in the workshop over the last week, to remember the first rule of retail. Tell the customer what they want.
It was time to stop hiding with his kiln and to face his responsibilities as the other half of ownership.
Michael stood up, brushed off his hands and straightened his clothes. He prepared himself to charm whatever particularly clueless tourist that had wandered into his shop and smooth over the ruffled edges from Walt’s derision. Pasting on his face his retail worker smile, he stepped into the main room of the store and then stopped dead at who he saw before him.
Walt’s insolence made a whole lot more sense to Michael just then. Standing in his store, with his hands all over the clean, glass cabinets was Alex’s boyfriend, Forrest Long.
Fuck his life.
Forrest snapped his head up from his perusal of the display, and then flashed a wide smile at Michael’s appearance. “Well, we meet again, Michael, isn’t it?” His voice was sweet as honey. “Your boss over here has a strange way of greeting customers. How does this shop stay in business?”
“I ain’t his boss, and we do just fine for business,” Sanders cut in, before picking up his bottle of Windex from under the cabinet and glared at the other man. Michael knew exactly what he was planning, and it wasn’t to clean off the prints from the glass surface, that was for sure.
He swiftly moved to cut him off from spraying Forrest, sliding in front of him smoothly. “That’s true, he’s not my boss, um, we co-own the shop together.” Michael turned to Walt, who was glowering at him in disappointment. “Why don’t you take a break and get some lunch.”
“It’s too late for lunch.”
“Then an early dinner.”
Walt looked mulish at the suggestion, before reading the seriousness in Michael’s jawline and backed off. “Fine, I’ll head off, I was gonna check in with Arturo anyway about getting a cup of coffee after his lunch rush. If you’ve got this all under control.” Walt glanced dismissively at Forrest before turning back to Michael. “But you call me if you need me… to pick you up something too.”
With that, Walt disappeared back into the private area of the shop, presumably on his way out the backdoor to their neighbor, the Crashdown. Michael turned back to Forrest, who was still looking around the store with bored interest on his face. “Is there something in particular you’re looking for that I can help you with?”
“Hmm, I stopped in here looking for answers, can you help me with that? I’ve been trying to pin my boyfriend down for lunch, but he’s always busy, and apparently he’s always busy here.” Forrest’s genial smile didn’t waver as he stared at Michael. “Did you give Alex a job or something?”
“Or something,” Michael answered evenly. “I can tell you he’s not on the payroll.”
“That’s very funny.” He kept smiling at Michael, but it never reached his eyes. “He’s not much of a shopper, so I’m very curious. According to Alex you’re old high school friends. So what is this, just two old friends catching up? Every day for the last two weeks?”
“Are you following him or something?”
“No, that was just a guess, but thank you for confirming it.” Forrest smirked smugly, before giving Michael a searching glance from head to toe. “I have a hard time buying the ‘friends’ story. I know all of Alex’s friends from Roswell. He talked a lot about Maria and Liz over the years. He’s never mentioned you.”
Michael glanced down, hooding his expression as he examined his work below, gleaming on the dark velvet. He hoped the gesture hid his anger. “Maybe I’m not very memorable.”
“Oh, I find that hard to believe. Alex, he’s never been one to hang around if he’s bored. Trust me.” A lock of dark hair fell over his eye before he shook it back into place with a practiced move. He brought his hand up to his chin, tapping it thoughtfully. His hand was adorned with several heavy rings, including an ugy signet on his ring finger. Michael didn’t see a space for a wedding ring or engagement ring on the other man’s finger, or space for anything outside of egoism. “He played the field for a while, but you know, I was the one who outlasted all the others.”
“Yeah he mentioned you guys have only been together for the last two years.”
Forrest’s face flinched minutely, Michael’s observation landing a very neat hit. “It’s been three years.”
Michael shrugged, not arguing the point. He knew what Alex had said to him about their relationship, and so did Forrest, based on the joke he had made the other night.
“Well, if you really know Alex, then you know how he can be. A bit closed off from his heart and his head.” Forrest waited for a reaction, before continuing with a slight edge to his voice when Michael remained bland. “I can tell there’s a bit of history here. Something unrequited? Let me guess, did you have a crush on him in high school or something? Then you lost touch with him when you went to college?”
Unrequited.
Michael kept himself from laughing, although there was a shade of truth in that word. Unrequited as a unit of measurement could mean a number of things. After all, there were several ways he had never measured up when it came to shared feelings. Shared dreams. Shared weakness. He considered it unrequited when it came to believing they would end up together one day. He considered it unrequited when he thought about how Alex could ever consider marrying this prick in the first place.
Outloud, Michael shook his head, “Nah, I never went to college.”
“So what are you to him? His old townie fling then?” The derision dripped heavily in the air between them.
“You’ll have to ask Alex that.” Michael kept his retail-smile in place with effort. “If you dare, that is. I mean, I suppose if you’re a gifted writer, you might be able to come up with a way to ask him that without coming off as a jealous prick. But I wouldn’t bet money on that.”
This time Michael scored an even deeper hit, invoking the implication of jealousy. Forrest licked his lips in response, and looked down, avoiding Michael’s gaze obviously. His fingers tapped restlessly on the glass. “You’re probably right. That’s not a great look for me, to be threatened by you of all people. I’m going to blame this on too much time staring at microfiche.”
“Sure. If the shoe fits.”
Instead of firing back, Forrest pressed his finger on the glass over the turquoise jewelry arrangement. “Interesting shade of blue in your inventory.” Michael fought with the urge to use Walt’s Windex on the other man, but stayed unmoving as he continued lightly, “I think it’s unique only to Roswell and only to stones mined in the last seventy-some years. The book I’m writing, it’s all about the late 1940s and Roswell. Lots of secrets and mysteries here after World War II.”
“I wouldn’t know. My high school history class was a little limited in scope.”
Forrest smiled again, back to the too-friendly expression of before. All of his previous attempts at intimidating Michael had vanished, covered up by the veneer of politeness. “I’ll be sure to send you an advanced copy then.” He tapped the case again with his ugly signet ring, before backing away toward the door. “It was nice getting to know you better, Michael.”
Michael didn’t bother with a response. He didn’t trust himself to make a polite one. God, after he had met the man at Ann’s pre-wedding party, he had left the event without having any idea what Alex saw in the guy. He was even more confused now about the appeal for Alex. Perhaps it was petty of him to believe, but there was no way it was good sex. The way Forrest had turned every subject back on himself, even at the party, Michael had a hard time seeing him as an unselfish lover.
Not for the first time, he thought that Alex had deliberately sought out a partner that wouldn’t remind him of their past, of Michael. He was starting to see that it might be a good thing, he wasn’t coming up short in the comparison with Forrest. Literally or metaphorically.
He heard the backdoor to the store open and close heavily. After a moment, Walt was back at his side. Without speaking, Michael handed the bottle of Windex over to him with a roll of paper towels. He snatched it from Michael’s grasp greedily, like he was being reunited with a long, lost companion, and spraying it heavily over the jewelry display case, targeting the prints. With one swipe of a towel, he erased all signs of Forrest Long from their store.
“Oh shucks, is Shorty gone?”
“Yes, he just left.”
“Did you call him a cab so he could get home?”
Michael turned to Walt, and lifted his eyebrow curiously. “Why would I call him a cab? Didn’t he drive here?”
“Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t. All I know is that we had a car in our lot that didn’t belong to a paying customer, so I had it towed.” Walt wiped the glass with a shade more enthusiasm than the task really merited, with a butter-wouldn't-melt-in-his-mouth smile of faux innocence. “It was Arturo’s idea.”
#malex fic#malex wip#jewelry maker au#michael guerin guerilla jewelry maker#not forrest friendly#anti-forlex#thanks for the ask!#i stan walt sanders
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Words: 933
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Forrest Long/Alex Manes
Characters: Alex Manes, Forrest Long
Additional Tags: Established Relationship, Canon Queer Relationship, Date Night, Open Mic Night, Boys Kissing, alex manes appreciation, Alex Manes Deserves Nice Things, No Beta for the Wicked
Summary:
Alex and Forrest + Date Night @ the Wild Pony
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Hi! I have binge read your first one shot collection again so get ready for some requests. (My current tv show just disappointed me in the worst way so I need some Malex, Kylex, and Forlex healing via reading your work) I wanted to request a Kylex epilogue for chapter 25. I love how vulnerable Alex let's himself be at the end of the story. Thank you!
@pluckygazelle
Sequel to this fic.
***
Alex and Kyle sat in Kyle’s car, waiting at a stoplight that had long since turned green, but as there was no one else on the road, they felt in no rush to get wherever they were going. The night was officially ruined, and Kyle wished he had some magic words to help Alex feel better, but the memory of Michael’s words, Michael’s eyes on Alex, the anger and plea in Michael’s voice, was beyond any comfort Kyle could give.
It didn’t matter who his actual boyfriend was, Alex’s kryptonite would always be Michael. There was no getting past him.
“Do you want to talk about it?” he offered, and Alex, staring outside the window, merely shook his head.
“Alex,” he sighed, “it’s okay.”
“It’s not,” Alex said. His brows were pinched, his lips pursed. Kyle used to interpret that look as Alex thinking hard, but he’d learned a long time ago to see the remorse alongside Alex’s train of thought, the pain that encompassed it all. It was a complicated feeling only Michael could bring on.
It’s okay, Kyle told himself. You knew what you were getting into. It’s Alex, and Alex is always worth it.
He took Alex’s hand, and kissed his fingers until the tension in his shoulders faded.
Alex finally slumped against his seat and heaved a sigh. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“Don’t be sorry.”
“He shouldn’t get to me this much.”
“But he does,” Kyle said simply. “I know. It’s okay,” he repeated.
“It’s not,” Alex repeated as well, turning in his seat to face him. “Kyle, it’s not. Stop making excuses for my . . . my . . .”
“Your what?”
“My weakness,” Alex confessed quietly.
“Are you kidding me?” Kyle asked, turning to face him, too. “Alex, you’re the strongest person I know. Look, I didn’t want to say this, mostly because it’s a real hit to the ego—”
“Don’t break up with me,” Alex said at once, covering Kyle’s hand on his with his own, squeezing hard. “I swear, I won’t—I won’t talk to him again, I won’t go near him again—”
“Whoa, slow down,” Kyle cupped his jaw. “Slow down, baby. I’m not going to break up with you.”
Alex clenched his jaw, eyes glassy and resigned. “What’re you calling it then? Freeing me? Letting me go? Making me happy? I’ve heard it all before.”
“Alex—”
“That’s what you’re going to say, isn’t it?” Alex said. “That Michael and I are cosmic soulmates and should be together, right? That we’re destined for each other and no one else will ever measure up, and any other crap way to tell me who I’m supposed to love and who I’m supposed to be with—”
“Stop.” Kyle slid a hand into his hair, forcing Alex to look at him instead of letting him fade away in front of him, back into his dark thoughts. “I am not abandoning you to some guy that won’t treat you like you deserve.”
Alex’s eyes focused, and his lower lip trembled ever so slightly. Terrified to hope. “What?” he croaked.
Kyle let his hand fall down to the nape of Alex’s neck and massaged the area until Alex stopped looking like a cornered kitten, expecting trouble and both prepared and terrified of fighting it.
“I do think you and Guerin love each other,” he said, and as Alex opened his mouth to argue it, Kyle cut in with, “But I know you love me, too.” Alex clamped his mouth shut, but nodded vigorously, his hand squeezing Kyle’s tighter as he leaned in an inch. The small hopeful gestures made Kyle’s lips quirk. “And yes, I think you and Michael have some kind of cosmic soulmate destiny that keeps you together.”
His expression turned serious as he went on, “But cosmic means jack if he doesn’t show it, Alex, and he doesn’t show it.” He dropped his hand from the nape of Alex’s neck to the small of his back, pulling him. “I show it, and I’ll keep showing it. So yeah, I know about you and Michael, and I know how important he’ll always be to you.”
He kissed Alex’s hand. “But I also know that if we’re ever going to break up, it’s not going to be because of me. I had to say that you love each other out loud because the day you say it is the day we end this. And I don’t know when that time will be—”
Alex was already shaking his head. “It’s not—”
“I don’t know when that day will be,” Kyle insisted, “but I don’t want it to be today. Not now.” He brushed the back of Alex’s hand with his thumb. “Not yet.”
Alex searched his face, somehow able to hear what Kyle wasn’t saying. That he didn’t want to see Alex try to lie to himself. Someday, when the time was right and Michael finally got his head out of his ass, Alex would choose him. Alex would always choose Michael over the world.
And yet, when Alex’s fears settled and he took Kyle’s hand and whispered, “I love you, Kyle,” Kyle took all the comfort he needed in it. For now, Alex loved him. For now, Alex was his. And that was good enough.
He’s worth it, Kyle believed with every cell in his body. These moments will always be worth it.
#kylex#kyle valenti#alex manes#kylex fic#roswell new mexico#roswell nm#michael trevino#tyler blackburn
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navigation
gifs
gif tag
kpts gifs
rnm gifs (rnm sideblog)
fanfic
writing tag
kpts fic:
intoxicated | vegaspete, explicit, 2.4k
latent | vegaspete, explicit, 5.5k
rnm fic:
part of my chemistry (this jealousy) | malex, teen, 1.5k (tumblr link)
mischief | max & michael, gen, 1k (tumblr link)
red jacket | rosa, gen, 850 words (podfic link)(tumblr link)
heart of lightning: a roswellian tale | echo, teen, 20k
wash away | forlex, mature, 500 words
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What's Become of You teaser💖😁
This fic starts about a month after season 2 final. This is anti miluca and forlex so be aware. This is an endgame malex fic despite how it starts
Just as Michael opened the door to the Crashdown Forrest walked out very angrily nearly bumping into him. Moving back he stared amused, " Alright then-" he chucked walking into the diner.
He looked around seeing if there was anything that could tell him why the blue haired historian was so upset. His amusement dropped when he noticed an upset Alex near the window. Michael sighed, shifting, debating if he should go up to him or not. They hadn't seen each other since the open mic night at the Pony. Michael was doing his best to avoid him and give Alex the space he deserved.
But Michael missed him, he could always hear the echoes of Alex's song play in his head. He hated that the lyrics would always be unfinished in his head until he got the courage to ask Alex himself.
Not being able to ignore the knot in his stomach he moved towards Alex, "What did the fries do to you?"
Alex whipped his head up, taken back by his presence. He looked around before licking his lips ( Which Michael couldn't help but watch), " Nothing. They're fine."
Michael sat down across from him, despite it probably being a bad idea, "what's wrong Alex? Trouble in paradise already."
Alex looked up confused.
" I saw Forrest leave, rather upset."
He sighed heavily, " Yea..uh I told him I'm being recruited for something and I have to leave."
Dread filled Michael's stomach like a weight, " what?.." He exhaled, " But I thought you didn't have to do that anymore."
"I don't!" Alex said urgently. He looked around before leaning in, " I found more Project Shepherd stuff. I need to go clean it up."
" I thought we were done with that? I thought you were done after your dad died?"
" I did too," Alex fell back in the booth, tired. It was then Michael noticed how exhausted he was. The bags under his eyes, the tightness in his shoulder. " but me and Greg found more stuff while cleaning out his house. I have to take care of this before it bites us in the ass. "
Michael exhaled, shaking his head, this wasn't what he wanted for Alex. Before he could open his mouth and express his dislike Alex was already getting up and throwing a few bucks on the table, " I'm leaving tonight. I don't know how long I'll be gone but I promise I'll keep you and your family safe." With that he was gone.
He scoffed, shaking his head, " It's not my family I'm worried about."
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Thinking about all the fic I didn’t write but still could (but probably won’t):
Teen!Malex stargazing
Malex Taken AU
no umbrellas for desert boys (forlex fic)
cave painting (Rosa-centric Roswellian tale spin off)
Rosa haunting Isobel fic
Maria/Gregory visions fic
Echo alien sex fic
Malexa vampire fic
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WIP game
rules: post the barebones plot of your wips
and let people send you an ask with the title
that intrigues them the most and then post a
snippet/tell them something about it! then,
tag as many people are you have wips!
WIP List:
* Day 24 [forlex + eduardo]
* Rewrite [max/alex au for Heat Weekend]
* Bussy [a/b/o fic i was working on for my birthday]
* Kids Series Next Part [addition to my malex adopted kids series]
* Phan2 [kylex au]
* Dodgy Fic [kylex bully fic]
* Curtain [au where alex has a sexual relationship with a sentient shower curtain]
* Day One [kyle fic i started for kyle week in 2019]
* KW V2 [kylex fic i started for kyle week in 2021]
* Shower [self-indulgent fic where alex accidentally walks in on jim in the shower]
Abandoned WIPs
* Fairy 3 [final installment to my Alex is a Fairy AU]
* Slut [alex is a total whore during his training at the Air Force academy(?)]
Tagging: i don’t know 12 people to tag so anyone who sees this & wishes to participate, feel free to consider yourself as tagged!
Tagged by: @blaidddrwg1982
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My fics:
Young Royals
Relationships: Malex - Isobel/Kyle (Kybel) - Alex & Isobel - Alex & Liz.
Young Royals AU (Prince Michael).
Anti Maria Deluca.
***
Grave Dangers
Relationships: Malex
Mr. Jones kidnaps Alex.
**
Forlex
Relationships: Forlex.
Jealous Guerin- Past Malex - Endgame Forlex - Good Guy Forrest Long
**
Taken
Relationship: Tarlos.
Kidnapped TK.
#malex fanfic#malex fanfiction#malex fic#malex angst#malex fluff#malex#forlex#forlex fanfiction#forlex fic#forlex fanfic#alex x forrest#anti maria deluca#alex manes#michael guerin#mr. jones#mr jones x alex#forrest long#tarlos#tk strand#carlos reyes#tarlos fanfic#tarlos fic#tarlos fanfiction#kybel#kybel fic#mine
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Malex Fic - You know I love you so
Written for the @yearoftheotpevent June challenge of “(accidental) love confessions.” I wanted to give Michael and Alex some time to enjoy getting back together and to tell people about their new relationship so I added a few days to 3x09 between Kyle being released from Deep Sky and Alex getting sucking into the Lockhart Machine. This really just some fluff about them telling everyone they are in love. Their are brief references to past Miluca and Forlex. As always, this is a Maria friendly fic.
You know I love you so on AO3
Title from “Yellow” by Coldplay
Summary: There first date is still a few days away. It's too early for Alex and Michael to say "I love you." At least to each other.
Michael sits at the bar, fiddling with his empty beer bottle until Maria comes over.
“Want another,” she asks, already handing him a new bottle.
“Good to see you back in action,” Michael smiles. “But are you sure it’s not too soon?”
Maria rolls her eyes. “I wish everyone would stop asking me that. I’m fine, 100% fine, even certified by both Liz and Kyle.”
“Alright I’ll back off,” Michael holds out his hands in surrender. “But you can’t blame us for caring about you.”
Maria’s stance softens, and she smiles at Michael. “I’m lucky I had so many people on my side, I know that. But what about you? I heard you and Alex had quite an adventure of your own.”
It’s an opening Michael can’t ignore, but instead of the carefully worded explanation he planned, he blurts out, “ I love him, Alex, I mean.”
“I know,” Maria’s smile gentles. “He loves you too.”
Michael blushes and ducks his head, but doesn’t deny it. Alex hasn’t said the words - neither of them have which makes Michael’s confession even more awkward - but Michael feels them. He feels them in the way Alex kisses him, the way he smiles at Michael’s dumb jokes and the way he holds him in bed, no space between them.
“It doesn’t mean I didn’t love you too,” he says. And Michael knows that is what he’d really come here to say. Alex comes before and after - and hopefully forever after - but he doesn’t want Maria to feel like she was just a pit stop along his way back to Alex.
“I know that,” Maria takes his hand off the bottle where he’d been picking at the label and squeezes it. “I loved you too. A relationship doesn’t have to last forever to be important. We had a good thing together, it was what we both wanted and needed at the time.”
“And now?” Michael can’t help but ask.
“And now we’re friends. You’re where you need to be and I,” Maria hesitates for a second. “I’m figuring it out.”
“We have a date this week,” Michael confesses, a disbelieving thrill of excitement in his chest just from talking about it. “We wanted to tell you first before you saw us or heard about it from someone else.”
“That’s great,” Maria’s smile is wide and genuine. “I shouldn’t have said when I did before, but I really do expect an invitation to the wedding.”
Michael knows he should brush it off, but he can’t bring himself to pretend it’s not what he’s always wanted so he draws an “X” over his heart, “Promise you’ll be first on the list.”
“I’d better be. Now go bother your siblings,” Maria points to where Isobel and Max are sitting, having come in sometime while they were talking, “so I can get some actual work done.”
“Here you go,” Kyle sits next to Alex and sets their drinks on the table. “Boring beer for you and a Pomegranate Pluto Martini for me.”
Alex makes a face when he sees just how bright Kyle’s drink is. “So this is why you wanted to meet here instead of the Wild Pony? Because Maria won’t make you drinks that glow.”
Kyle throws back his head and laughs. “Just wanted to celebrate my clean bill of health. There’s nothing like Taylor Swift Drag Night to make you feel alive.”
It’s a fairly quiet Tuesday at Planet 7, no drag queens in sight yet, but Alex thinks he understands what Kyle is trying to say. “I’ll drink to that,” he agrees, tapping his bottle against Kyle’s glass.
“I’ll have you drinking one of these by the end of the night,” Kyle says, quickly downing his drink and signaling one of the bartenders for another.
Alex just shakes his head. He’s been to Planet 7 a few times with Forrest, but it’s not really his kind of place. Kyle, on the other hand, seems completely comfortable. He knows most of the staff by name, has glitter highlighting his cheekbones, and Alex is pretty sure he’s wearing lip gloss. He doesn’t know what to do with any of that, but tonight is supposed to be about Kyle having a good time so he’s trying not to think too much.
“So tell me what I missed,” Kyle prompts him once his new drink has been delivered.
Michael is the first thing Alex thinks because Michael is all he thinks since their kiss on the patio. He tries to push away the images of Michael’s smile after they kissed and the way his body looked spread out over Alex’s bed. “Nothing much,” he answers as casually as he can..
“You got laid,” Kyle’s eyes widen, and he points at Alex. “Who was it? Is he here?”
Alex looks around quickly just in case Michael showed up while he wasn’t looking even though he knows Michael is at the Wild Pony with Max and Isobel. He’d declined Alex’s invitation to join him, sending him off with a kiss and a promise to take pictures if Kyle did anything embarrassing. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he says, doing his best to stonewall Kyle.
“Don’t lie to me. I know that look. It’s the same look you had after you hooked up with Forrest. Is it Forrest? Did he come back because he can’t live without you? He didn’t convince you to run away with him did he? I just got out of coma, don’t leave town again.”
“What is in that thing? Alex eyes Kyle’s drink suspiciously. “You shouldn’t be this drunk after one and half drinks.”
“It’s more like four. I had few before you got here. Devon makes a mean martini,” he waves his hand carelessly in the direction of the bar and the bartender winks at him. “But don’t change the subject. You definitely got laid, and I want to know if you’re running away with some cute guy and leaving me behind.”
“I’m not running away with anyone,” Alex admits with a huff.
“So it’s not Forrest. Who is it? If you don’t tell me I’ll just get Isobel to get it out of you.”
Alex winces because nothing the Air Force taught him would prepare him for being interrogated by Isobel “It’s Guerin. Michael,” he corrects.
“Oh, thank God,” Kyle sighs dramatically. “The sexual tension between you two was getting uncomfortable.”
“There’s no sexual tension,” Alex protests.
“Maybe not now,” Kyle wiggles his eyebrows. “But the last time we were all out together, and he was playing pool, the things he did with the pool stick to get your attention were very suggestive, educational too, but mostly suggestive.”
Alex blushes, “It’s not like that.”
“It’s not sexual?” Kyle sounds doubtful. “Because I know you got laid”
“Ok, yes I got laid,” Alex cuts him off. “But it’s not just sex. I love him,” he admits without meaning to.
“Oh,” Kyle’s brow furrows for a second before a bright smile blooms on his face. “That’s awesome, dude. I’m so happy for you.”
“Thanks, I’m pretty happy about it too,” he admits, finding it easy this time to say just how much Michael means to him.
Michael walks away from his conversation with Maria smiling and wondering if he should text Alex even if it means interrupting his night with Valenti. When he gets to their booth, Max and Isobel are having a whispered conversation that stops once he sits down.
“What’s up?” he asks when they both turn to look at him. He really hopes it's not another Jones emergency. He wants his date with Alex before the next pile of shit hits the fan.
“Nothing,” Isobel says too brightly.
“You and Maria looked like you were having a pretty intense conversation when we got here,” Max says.
“Not really,” Michael shrugs. Intense seems like too strong of a word, important yes, but it’s not like they were fighting. “Just wanted to talk to her about something. And make sure she’s feeling alright.”
“It’s nice that you are so concerned, but we don’t want you to get hurt,” Isobel reaches across the table and takes his hand.
“Ok?” It’s a question because Michael really has no idea what she’s talking about. He feels like he walked into the middle of the wrong conversation.
“Michael,” Isobel sighs and sits up straighter, taking her hand away. “You know Maria is seeing Greg Manes.”
“Greg’s not the Manes I’m in love with so I don’t see why that would be a problem,” Michael shrugs.
“You mean Alex, right?” Max asks.
Michael rolls his eyes, “I sure as hell wasn’t talking about Flint.”
“Does this mean we can finally talk about your secret, sordid teenage affair with Alex Manes instead of just hinting about it?” Isobel leans forward eagerly.
“No, and it wasn’t,” Michael makes a face and Isobel raises one brow at him, “sordid.” He’ll give her secret, but there was nothing sordid about how they felt about each other. Sure, they fucked it up later, but when he fell in love with Alex it made him feel lighter and hopeful.
“Does he know how you feel or are you still waiting for the right time? You know the weird emo poet guy is gone,” Isobel tells him.
“Oh, he’s very aware,” Michael smirks, thinking of how thoroughly he’d demonstrated his feeling this morning.
“So you’re back together,” Max, ever the romantic, smiles.
“No,” Michael corrects, but he feels bad when Max’s face falls and Isobel rushes to comfort him.
“Maybe he just needs time,” she says. “He wrote you a love song after all.”
“We are together,” Michael admits. “Just not back together. What we had before is over, and we need to start fresh if this is going to work. Can’t keep looking back.”
Max winces a little, and Michael knows he’s thinking about his own complicated history with Liz.
“So when did it happen? Who made the first move? Was it romantic or one of those fighting until your kissing moments?” Isobel bombards him with questions, most of which he has no intention of answering.
Michael leans back in the booth and sighs. “It’s still pretty new, and it’s still not sordid,” he makes another face at that word. “Although the sex is,” he trails off and lets out a low whistle.
Max drops his face into his hands, but Isobel claps her hands, “Tell me everything,” she demands.
“Iz, no,” Max looks up and glares at her.
“What, even you can admit they are hot together.”
“And it’s not secret this time,” Michael says, drawing their attention back to him. “We have a date this week.”
“That’s awesome, man,” Max beams at him.
“When is it?” Isobel asks. “I’ll need an hour, no two hours, to get you ready.”
“I can dress myself,” Michael objects, looking to Max for support.
Max laughs, “Don’t look at me. She has a whole section of my closet marked off for date clothes and knows if I don’t use them. I’m thrilled she has someone else to torture.”
“I wouldn’t have to do that if I could trust you to get changed before you go out,” Isobel scolds Max.
“Hey, I thought women liked a man in uniform.”
“Not that ugly brown uniform you wear. Now, I remember how Alex looked in his dress blues for the parade,” she smiles dreamily and turns to Michael. “Does he ever wear that for you? Because he should. The role play possibilities are endless.”
It’s Michael’s turn to cover his face with his hands. “Maybe we should have kept this secret,” he groans, but no one believes him.
After their respective nights out, Alex and Michael went back to their own homes, and while they exchanged texts about how their evenings had gone, they hadn’t seen each other. Alex was surprised by just how much he missed Michael even after only a few days together, and pleased at how he isn’t afraid to let Michael know it. So it was no hardship for him to leave early enough to pick up three coffees instead of one and stop by the junkyard on the way to work.
He leaves his own coffee in the car and heads toward the garage with the other two. As expected it’s Sanders who he sees first. Alex isn’t sure if he has an alarm system on the driveway entrance or he just spends all his time watching for cars, but he always appears the minute someone gets out of their vehicle.
“Car trouble?” Sanders asks as he makes his way to Alex.
“No, sir, just stopped by to see Michael.” Alex lifts the coffee cups a little higher in the air.
“So you’re coming by in the daylight now, out in the open, instead of sneaking around hoping no one sees you?”
Alex feels a flush of shame on his face. He was never embarrassed to be seen with Michael, just afraid, but he knows how he looks. “You’ll be seeing a lot of me now. I’ll do better by him,” he says as confidently as he can. “I love him,” he adds because Sanders is Michael’s family, and Alex wants him to know he’s serious.
“I could have told you that. One eye,” he taps his patch, “but I’m not blind. Don’t know why I have to keep reminding people of that,” he grumbles. “And you’ll both do better because you’re not a couple of scared kids this time. You’re not hiding from that no good daddy of yours, and he’s not so used to secrets he wouldn’t know the truth if it slapped him in the face.”
Alex laughs because he’s not wrong, but “No, now we're just dealing with his,” Alex pauses and reconsiders his words because he can’t bring himself to call Jones Michael’s father in front of the man who really should have that title. “Now we’re dealing with Jones and all my bullshit from a decade in the Air Force.”
“Never gonna be perfect,” Sanders grunts. “But you’re better together than you are apart. Start with that.”
“Thanks,” Alex shifts on his feet. He wasn’t expecting to have a heart to heart with Sanders so soon. It makes his anxious to see Michael, to be reassured he hasn’t fucked things up already. “Here, this is for you,” he thrusts one of the coffee cups at Sanders.
He sips it cautiously then smiles before narrowing his eye at Alex. “Michael tell you how I take my coffee?”
“Nope, he told me you take it black.”
“Idiot,” Sanders mumbles under his breath. “Guess coffee runs are your job from now on.”
“I can do that,” Alex agrees easily. Sanders' approval is worth the hours he spent reviewing the footage he hacked from the coffee shop to find out Sanders preferred coffee is a double espresso latte with half vanilla, half coconut and almond milk.
“Best be on your way before Michael glares a hole in my back waiting for me to let you go. Guess I know why he’s been smiling like a loon these last few days. Probably explains the limp, too.”
Sanders walks away leaving Alex choking on air. But he spots Michael waiting in the doorway of the garage, and his smile is worth the embarrassment.
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i like your body. (i like what it does, i like its hows)
For the few of us who are fans of forlex, here’s an offering of Alex exploring a new routine. Title and fic inspired by the ee cummings poem.
Read on AO3
The darkness of the night makes it more intimate. Two bodies undulate, only skin, close and tight on a large bed. Alex tucks in close into the circle of heat, leaning into strong thighs, curls his legs in close to him. Forrest is a line of warmth around him, and he gently scrapes Alex’s scalp now.
Alex leans into the feeling of comfort and warmth, but holds himself tight in a ball. He holds his elbows inside his thighs, locked away from wandering. His hands dance around his knees, trying not to touch the stump, but he feels the emptiness still.
Alex feels the ache now, not only the emotional ache of having lost a part of his body. The physical aches, the soreness of the muscles in his thighs and torso. The way his back had curved and arched when they fucked, the way Forrest had moved his fingers inside him, opening him up slowly then with urgency. He still feels it, achy and hollow and perfect.
Alex rubs his thighs together, feeling the pull of exertion, and he likes that ache, the reality of it, the physicality of it.
Alex loves the anchor of sex, of this sex. He likes the memories it leaves on his body, the way he can reach out again and refresh it. The ways in which it isn’t always sexy but still lets him float for a while that becomes sexy eventually. The pain is the sensation that reminds him that someone likes him, just him, just Alex Manes. Likes him enough to hold him, to own him, that Forrest wants him.
It’s been months now, but their rituals are still soothing. They can’t always be together, but they always make sure to set aside the weekends to themselves. Alex is new to this, the stability, the domesticity, and he needs the safety of a routine. He knows Forrest had his doubts early on, worried about things getting boring, Alex being bored. But Alex likes this, the certainty, the repetition, the comfort of knowing Forrest will be here, every Friday night.
His mind shies away from the old memories, of broken promises, and emotional landmines at every corner. This is good now, what he has with Forrest. It is safe.
The night always starts with dinner together, cooking, eating, enjoying the night. The wine always helps, just enough to remove the burden of the day. The constant obedience of the Air Force hierarchy, the frequent turmoil of the residents of Roswell. He never knows when to switch off the compliance instinct, and when to stand his ground. Old friends out of sync, new friends too new to have any sync. Knowing he’s coming back home on Friday nights to a dinner date, to Forrest who doesn’t need him to be anything else but himself, that’s real comfort.
Forrest stirs on the bed, breaking the rhythm of his fingers on Alex’s scalp, and hums. A wordless question to check. Alex nods a little, letting him know that he’s alright.
Forrest moves his shoulder a little, “move up here, Alex,” he whispers. Alex unfolds himself, shimmies up to face Forrest. Forrest doesn’t say anything more, the darkness of the night and the warmth of the bed are enough to understand.
The kiss is soft, soft and slow. Alex’s lips move over Forrest’s, familiar and sweet. They stay in that rhythm of mouths moving over each other, hands holding each other, legs entangled. They kiss because they can, and because there is no urgency to do anything else, to be anything else, go anywhere else.
Forrest pulls him closer, wraps a hand around Alex’s waist and flips over him. The kiss deepens in a way that feels real, that feels good. Forrest’s hand touches his hip, too-light and still trembling, and Alex, lays his own hand over it, presses it down firmly, encouraging Forrest to curl his fingers. His body is into that, the desire in him is into it. Forrest understands, and digs his thumb in just inside the long bone arch of Alex’s hip as his fingers, outside, dig into the muscle of it. Alex likes the gesture for what it says, the way Forrest covers him, solid and present and a lover who knows what Alex likes, wants to give Alex the pleasure he desires.
Forrest pushes down, a delightful frisson going through Alex from contact of skin to skin.
Alex rolls his hips a little, there is no urgency, just a slow drag build of honey like heat. Forrest ducks his head down and mouths at Alex’s shoulder, groans softly. Alex wants and wants more and doesn’t know how to put his want into words. The desire sticks to this throat, behind his teeth. He wants to be pulled closer, to be held. Comforted. Wanted.
Loved.
Forrest must understand, he is so good to Alex that way, because he puts his left leg over Alex’s hip and pulls him close. Yes. Yes this is what he wants, their erections creating the best friction ever. Alex closes his eyes and sees the star bursts of pleasure with that slight line of pain, red and blue and green. A rainbow spectrum of desire, of joy.
A groan bubbles out of his throat, instead of words it’s just a moan. He gets a bite for his trouble, just a roam of teeth on his throat and shoulders that makes him moan again. The room is filled with just their breathing, their gasps, the slick sound of their bodies moving together, the creak of the bed.
Forrest whispers his name, and Alex knows the pleasure is building, his body is responding to the way Forrest moves faster now, hips snapping a little more, seeking more. Alex’s knee digs into the mattress, seeking purchase, mouth seeking Forrest’s. Their kiss is more of just shared breaths, gasping, dancing. He feels the urgency in his own body, the way he wants that climax now more, and pressing.
It almost feels like they come together, one right after the other. Forrest groans low and heavy and Alex follows him right after, relief flooding his body. The starburst behind his eyelids turned supernova.
They fall back side by side, face still turned towards each other, legs almost still tangled. Sweat pools on Alex’s back, and around his temple, a cool contrast to his flushed skin. Forrest fumbles off after a moment, going to the bathroom to clean and returning with a washcloth. Alex waves his hands in a vague go ahead sign at him, and Forrest chuckles before slowly and carefully cleaning Alex up.
Alex feels his eyelids getting heavier, and only vaguely registers the bed dipping with Forrest’s return. An arm snakes up to his waist and Alex turns, wanting to recreate that feeling of warmth from earlier. Of being held. Forrest’s lips brush the side of his neck as sleep tries to stake claim on his body and mind.
His body still felt jagged most days, aches and pains and memories of old trying to mix together. But this was safe, this was good. Alex focused on the safety of the warm circle around his body, and drifts off to dream of rainbows and starbursts.
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smile
Just a little Forlex meetcute.
***
Rosa is sticking out her tongue at him, darting behind a snowman, kneeling down to grab more snow.
Alex is well aware he’s probably too old for this, but he also needs this, running around with Rosa, pelting each other with snowballs like they did when they were kids. He can’t even remember the last time he smiled before this impromptu snowball fight. It figures that Rosa would find a way to make him laugh again.
He grabs a fistfull of snow, packing it tightly into a ball, waiting until he sees Rosa start to dart away from the snowman before throwing it.
To his horror, a man walks right in the path of his frozen projectile.
“Oh, fuck, I’m so sorry!” Alex immediately apologizes, rushing over, reaching out to brush the snow away before pulling his hands back, not knowing whether the touch would be welcome.
The man is handsome with a wide smile and blue hair that he clearly hasn’t dyed very recently, given the dark roots. “No harm done,” he replies confidently, meeting Alex’s eyes. “If I have to be hit by a snowball, I’m glad it was thrown by someone who looks like you.”
Alex finds himself ducking his head a bit, blushing. He’s not used to this, men being so forward about flirting with him. It’s not like he was the only queer man in the Air Force, but DADT turned being private about it into a habit. “I’m still sorry,” he finally says. “Can I make it up to you?” It’s only moments later when he realizes how this man could interpret that.
“Sure,” the man replies, smile growing wider. “You can let me buy you a coffee.”
Alex grins at that, “Deal. I’m Alex, by the way.”
“Forrest,” the man replies, holding out his hand for Alex to shake. Alex can’t help but notice all the rings he wears, the metal a cool contrast with the warmth of Forrest’s grip.
“So, about that coffee,” Alex says, already following Forrest toward The Crashdown. “I hit you with the snowball. I’m thinking I should pay.”
“Why don’t I pay this time?” Forrest asks, opening the door, “And you can pay the next time?”
Alex turns back to look at Forrest as he steps inside, “That sounds fair.”
“Good,” Forrest replies, leading the way toward the counter. “So, Alex, tell me, why exactly were you throwing snowballs at unsuspecting passersby?”
Ten minutes later, Alex has already told Forrest all about his friendship with Rosa and Forrest is asking Alex out on what he refers to as a proper date. “I’ll even cook,” he promises.
It’s been so long since Alex was on an actual date. Since before his injury. So he takes a moment to think.
“Look, if you’re not interested, then-”
“No, it’s not that!” Alex quickly interrupts. “I’m most definitely interested. I just don’t know if…”
“It’s not that complicated,” Forrest replies. “I like you. I’d like to get to know you better. And, unless you’re a serial killer or a clown enthusiast-”
“I’m former Air Force. I, um, I lost part of my leg.” He can’t quite believe he’s putting it out there so plainly. And he’s expecting it to backfire spectacularly.
That is, until Forrest replies, “So, you’re a hero.” He shrugs, “You’re not telling me anything that makes me any less interested. Just so you know.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?” Forrest asks, as if asking for clarification.
“I’ll have dinner with you.”
Forrest’s confident grin slides back into place. “You’re not allergic to dogs, are you?”
“Not that I know of?” Alex replies. It’s not like his dad would have ever let him have a dog when he was a kid, even if he always wanted one. And then, well, he couldn’t exactly have one while he was off serving in the Air Force.
“Good. Because I like you. But my dog, Buffy, well, she’ll have to have the final say. Can’t date anyone she doesn’t like.”
“That seems fair,” Alex laughs, already looking forward to meeting Buffy and spending more time getting to know this man who has made him smile more in the past ten minutes than he thinks he has in the past ten years before meeting him.
#roswell fic#forlex fic#roswell new mexico#forlex#alex x forrest#alex manes#actual cinnamon roll#protect him at all costs#forrest long#*myfic#idk i just wrote this tonight
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Michael had no right to be jealous and he knew that.
He was trying so damn hard not to be as he worked in the bunker alongside Alex and Forrest. It was definitely hard at first, but Alex was happier than Michael had ever seen him and he couldn’t bring himself to stop that. Well, technically, he’d tried to put himself out there for Alex three months prior after seeing them together for the first time, but Alex had said no. So now he was trying.
When they first brought Forrest into the situation, it was by accident. He’d been in the wrong place at the wrong time and saw too much alien shit to explain in any other way. However, now that they had him apart of the crew, he was helpful. He knew the best ways to skim through boring old documents and, after realizing it was indeed aliens, he had a lot of knowledge. That meant they did research together. Which was fine as long as they didn’t show any PDA.
However, today, Alex wasn’t in a good mood and that meant Forrest was trying to help.
“Stop it,” Alex said firmly. Michael tried to look over to them without making it obvious that that’s what he was doing. He could see Forrest leaning into Alex’s personal space, nudging his nose against his arm like a dog. “You’re distracting me.”
“Take a break, you’re stressing me out by proxy,” Forrest told him. Michael saw the way Alex’s lips almost tugged into a smile as he did his damnedest to keep serious. “C’mon, please?”
“I need to get through this and we can go home,” Alex told him. Home. Michael hated that.
“I’d rather go home later and have you feeling good than go home earlier with hours of pent up stress,” Forrest said, smacking a kiss against his sweater-covered shoulder. “Let’s release that stress.”
“Oh yeah?” Alex asked, “How do you propose we do that?”
Michael felt his stomach drop, genuinely terrified they were going to kiss (or worse) in front of him. Which, he supposed he deserved. But still. The thought made him sick.
But, instead, Forrest stood up and walked towards the table in the middle of the room. Michael couldn’t help it as his eyes followed him in confusion. Forrest tapped away on his phone and Alex slowly turned his swivel chair to face him. He put his phone on the counter and swiftly turned to face Alex with a devious look.
“They’re gonna clean up your looks with all the lies and the books to make a citizen out of you,” Forrest started alongside the music that begun to play. Michael frowned.
“No, we’re not doing this right now,” Alex said despite his large smile. Forrest held out his hand for him.
“Because they sleep with a gun and keep an eye on you, son, so they can watch all the things you do,” Forrest went on, walking closer with a dumb swagger in his walk. Then he slammed his hands on Alex’s armrests, getting close to his face as Alex got more and more red. “Because the drugs never work, they gonna give you a smirk, ‘cause they got methods of keepin’ you clean.”
“Forrest.”
“They gonna rip up your heads, your aspirations to shreds, another cog in the murder machine,” Forrest sang. Then he grabbed Alex’s hands and pulled him to his feet, pulling them flush together before he started dancing on him like a dumbass. “They said all teenagers scare the living shit out of me!”
“I refuse to have a dance party right now!”
“They could care less as long as someone’ll bleed!”
“This is so unprofessional!”
“So darken your clothes, or strike a violent pose! Maybe they’ll leave you alone but not me!” Forrest sang, dipping Alex in a way that caused him to laugh so unexpectedly hard that even Michael was smiling.
Forrest did the same thing for the next verse, dancing around Alex and pestering him to try to get him to lighten up. Alex stayed pretty strong for the most part, just shaking his head at him. However, Alex kept looking over at Michael and it made him wonder if this was something they did often to blow off steam and Alex was only holding off because Michael was there.
Well, that just wasn’t an option.
“Will make them pay for the things they did!” Michael joined in on time, standing up and causing both of them to look at him in shock. Forrest collected himself much faster than Alex.
“They said all teenagers scare the living shit out of me!” Forrest and Michael said in unison, Michael doing his best to dance along if only to make Alex smile like that. “They could care less as long as someone’ll bleed!”
“C’mon, Alex!” Forrest urged, grabbing his hips and making him move a little. It would’ve normally driven Michael crazy, but Alex was staring at them both with so much affection that it was worth it.
“So darken your clothes or strike a violent pose! Maybe they’ll leave you alone but not me!” Alex scream-sang back, causing them both to cheer for him.
They all danced in a really embarrassing fashion to the instrumental break, bad air guitar and under-used headbanging and awkward shoulder movements all in full swing. Forrest spun Alex around and then surprisingly grabbed Michael to do the same, making it clear he was welcome to join their fun.
So they jumped around together, screaming along to a song Michael didn’t even realize he remembered all the words to. It was honestly the most fun he’d had in weeks and it was with his ex and his ex’s new boyfriend. Who would’ve guessed that?
Alex touched him and danced with him and Forrest didn't mind. In fact, Forrest danced with him too. It didn't make sense, but they were equals and trusted. There were no dirty looks shared no matter who touched whom, it was just fun. It clicked in Michael's head for the first time on what exactly was so great about this Forrest guy. He was fun.
"See, now didn't that help?" Forrest asked as the song ended and they found themselves catching their breath as if screaming and dancing for two minutes was an actual workout.
"Yeah," Alex said, smiling at them both with red cheeks and fond eyes, "Thanks."
"I think I need to have more dance parties," Michael agreed. Forrest nodded at him.
"Ultimate way to feel better, I promise. If Grey's Anatomy taught me anything, it was that," Forrest insisted. Michael laughed and that made Alex smile wider. "Okay, you two geniuses get back to reading, I'm gonna go pick up some food. A burger from the Crashdown sound good? No lettuce or pickles on yours, Alex, and extra cheese and hot sauce, no ketchup, on yours, Michael, right? And I'll get extra fries."
Michael nodded despite his shock that Forrest both knew his order and trusted him to be alone with Alex.
"Thanks, man," Michael said.
"I gotchu," Forrest said. He leaned forward and gave Alex a peck on the lips and for once Michael didn't want to strangle him for it. Then it was just the two of them.
"I get it now," Michael said, nodding, "I get why you like him."
"Are you going to steal my boyfriend, Guerin?" Alex teased. Michael snorted and shook his head.
"No, I'm just saying. You look happy and... Well, if I can't do that, I'm glad someone can. Happy looks good on you," Michael said. Alex smiled genuinely and nodded, reaching out to squeeze his arm gently.
"Thank you. It looks good on you too," Alex said. Michael knew that while he was happy enough right then, he'd never be truly happy without Alex. But it was too nice of a view to say anything about that.
"Let's get back to work."
They did work later than anticipated that night, but, when they left, everyone was still feeling good.
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Fic Tag Game 🌻
Tagged by @bekkachaos 💗
Rules - Recommend us 3 of YOUR fics: 1 that is “most popular” and 2 that are “hidden gems!”
My most popular is definitely:
Forget Me Not; After an attack against Mr. Jones, Michael forgets that he ever dated Maria.
And two works that I really, really love and am very proud of myself for that don’t get almost any attention are:
Under the Sea; (forlex au) Alex Manes has been terrified of the water ever since his mother had drowned. This phobia has endangered his engagement to the man he loves, and so he must overcome it as quickly as possible.
To do so, Alex agrees to accompany his delusional father on a voyage out to sea, against the wishes of his brother, Gregory, and his sister-in-law, Isobel.
Alex does not expect this venture to change his life so drastically, nor does he expect the creature that saves him . . .
and
Sense and Sensibility; (malex au) Two brothers, Alex and Kyle, face heartache as they had never experienced once they move to the countryside of Devon. Alex thinks far too much alongside rationality and reason, while Kyle allows his passion to lead him. As they both fall in love, they must learn to balance their hearts and minds, while also holding on to the sacred brotherhood that exists between them.
Sorry I’m so late responding, but thank you so much for tagging me, I loved bringing some of these hidden gems into the light 💗
In response, I’ll tag @ravens-words and anyone else who’d like to do this 💕
#alex manes#michael guerin#malex#malex fic#roswell new mexico#roswell nm#tyler blackburn#michael vlamis
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Coda
Alex/Forrest
Roswell, New Mexico
Coda to 2x08
Go get him whispered a voice, faint beneath the decades-old echo of his father’s words ringing in his ears.
Alex couldn’t remember the last time - if ever - he’d felt a heat like that, a rush of attraction to someone who wasn’t Michael Guerin.
Forrest was sexy from the stocky way he was built to the pull of his favorite jacket across his shoulders, from the way the corner of his mouth ticked up on certain words to the intensity in those pretty brown eyes that had Alex wanting to strip down and bask in the weight of Forrest’s attention.
Alex got to his feet, leaving his beer untouched on the bar. The second he was up, the decision made, a sense of urgency took over. He left a couple bucks for Maria and cut across the crowded bar, out the double doors and into the brisk dessert night.
Alex stood beneath the flood light, letting his eyes adjust. Forrests’s car was still in the parking lot.
Alex wasn’t afraid of fear. He’d spent his life learning to coexist with it. Fear was comforting, familiar. Fear let him make excuses, cut out early and sit on the side while life happened around him.
He was afraid of this. Of crossing the gravel, of Forrest leaning against the hood of his car, of leaping and taking a step off the edge and into the wild unknown.
Forrest looked unsurprised, like he’d been expecting Alex. “I had a feeling,” he said in reply to a question Alex hadn’t asked. Alex wasn’t quite used to the way Forrest looked at him, always with an almost smile in his eyes, like he loved what he saw and wanted to keep looking.
Alex took a breath in and slowly let it out. Adrenaline and relief coursing through him, the near miss and the almost of standing toe to toe in the shadows of the Pony.
“How long were you planning on waiting?” He asked, struggling to keep his voice light, casual, when he felt anything but.
“Hadn’t thought that far ahead,” Forrest said. Alex appreciated the way Forrest spoke, blunt and honest. “I don’t know you well, but you don’t survive everything you’ve been through without a fucking arsenal of courage.”
Alex let out a breath, sharp and stunned. When Forrest spoke, Alex listened. He wanted to keep listening, thought maybe if Forrest kept speaking, Alex could start believing.
“I’m not that courageous,” he said, shaking his head but taking a terrifying step closer.
Forrest pushed his weight to his feet. He was an inch or two shorter than Alex and so full of light and life. Alex wanted to cling to it.
“Maybe not in your eyes,” Forrest conceded. “But from where I stand?” He reached out, eyes unwavering from Alex’s and slipped a hand inside Alex’s coat. He settled his hand carefully at Alex’s hip, gauging that explicit consent he was a fan of. “You’re a badass, Captain Manes.”
The words were spoken, clear and concise as though Forrest had never been so sure of anything ever, and Alex leaned in, closed the distance between them and plunged into the abyss.
Forrest hesitated for a moment, letting Alex take the lead and then all at once he responded with the kind of energy and heat that had burned bright through Alex since he showed up at the Pony for open mic night.
Alex slid his arm around Forrest’s waist, head tilted to allow for the slight difference in height.
Forrest kissed him, lips and the slightest hint of his tongue at the seam of Alex’s mouth and then abruptly ended the kiss.
He was gratifyingly breathless. “Yeah,” he said, as if to himself. “This’ll work.”
Alex smiled and leaned in, not quite ready to let go. He kissed the corner of Forrest’s mouth. “Should we go back in?”
Forrest shook his head, reaching out to pull Alex closer by the hem of his coat. “Maybe in a minute.”
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