Unlawfully Wed

The next afternoon, Alex was getting ready to go over to John's when he heard a knocking at the front door. He made a face, as he was not expecting any visitors. "George, can you get see who it is?" he called out from behind the shower curtain, shivering slightly as cold hair from the hallway wafted in.

"I got it, sweetheart!"

Alex pulled the shower curtain shut again and got back under the stream. He let the hot water push the last of the soap suds through his waves, the bubbles going down his back and tickling him as they slid over his rear. Distantly, he could hear George talking to someone in the front room, but he couldn't make out exact words nor the sound of the visitor's voice over the water pounding against the tile.

Alex shrugged and finished rinsing off. He made sure that all of the soap was off before shutting the water off and stepping out, shivering as he grabbed his towel and rubbed his hair and body. He made sure that he was mostly dry before twisting his hair up into a messy bun and getting dressed in a pair of jeans and a dark-green tee shirt that had an Against Me! logo on the front. He went into his bedroom and grabbed a black half-zip and his socks, putting both on before slipping his shoes on and going downstairs to see if George was ready to go.

When Alex slipped into the kitchen, he was surprised to see Phillip and Angelica standing with George. Phillip looked uncomfortable as he leaned against the counter, his hands shoved in his pockets. He was looking down at the ground silently, his shoulders dropping down and his lower lip puffed out in a pout.

Angelica, on the other hand, had her arms crossed and her eyes narrowed, tapping her foot along with the beat of her words as she spoke to George. " . . . and I swear, we may be young, but if you do anything to hurt our father, you will regret it--"

"Angelica Lynn!"

Angelica immediately went silent and turned to look at her father, her glare darkening even further towards him. "I told you, Dad, I don't want to see you get hurt again, and if George thinks he can just waltz into our lives again--"

"Angelica, knock it off." He walked the rest of the way into the kitchen and put an arm around George's waist. "I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I don't need you trying to protect me. You're the child, I'm the parent, not the other way around."

Angelica rolled her eyes and pushed away from the counter. She grabbed Phillip's hand and pulled him with her. "Come on, Phillip, let's go on over to Uncle John's and let him know what an idiot," she looked back at Alex before turning away, "our father is being."

Phillip didn't say anything, shrugging before following his sister out of the room. Alex watched them leave before he stepped in front of George, using the hand that was already pressed against his back to pull him tightly against his chest. He could feel George's heart racing and his shoulders trembling lightly.

"I really hurt them, too, didn't I?" he asked, the vibrations jiggling Alex's ear. He sighed, wrapping his arms around Alex's upper back. "I didn't mean to hurt them."

Alex debated for a moment before deciding to answer truthfully. "They considered you just as much their parent as they do me, Eliza, or Maria. They were the ones that helped me pick out the ring I wanted to give you."

Georg let out a shuttering breath. "God, I really screwed everything up, didn't I?"

Alex removed his head from George's chest and looked up at him. George had his head turned to the side and was staring resolutely at the wall. Alex reached up and turned his head towards him. "Hey, don't look like that. What happened in the past is in the past. Let's just focus on building a future together, okay?" He leaned up and pressed a kiss against George's lips.

*George kissed him back, making quiet, contented sounds every time their lips met. He reached up and pulled Alex’s hair down out of its bun, using his fingers to separate the strands and lay them down around Alex’s shoulders as they kissed. Once they were all separated, he took a handful of them and wrapped them around his fingers, giving a gentle tug and biting down on Alex’s bottom lip when he moaned.

Before Alex was able to get too aroused, however, George pulled away, giving Alex one final peck before holding him an arm’s length away. “As much as I’d like to continue, darling, we better get going before Hercules and Gil decide that they want nothing to do with me.”

Alex pushed forward again, trying to catch George’s lips. He really wasn’t all that concerned with what his friends thought, not when he had his beautiful man back in his arms. George, however, still wouldn’t budge, locking his arms and leaning his lower back against the counter and jutting his hips forward so that Alex couldn’t press against him. Alex took a step back and crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow accusingly. George chuckled and shook his head. “Sweetheart, we have all the time in the world to be together. One night isn’t going to kill us.”

Alex rolled his eyes and began to turn around. “Speak for yourself,” he muttered, grabbing his keys off the counter and stuffing them in his pocket. George chuckled against and moved behind him, giving his ass a quick squeeze and wrapping his arms around Alex’s waist to kiss his cheek gently before letting go. “I love you, Alexander.”

Alex let out an exasperated sigh. “Yeah, yeah, I love you, too. Come on, the quicker we get there the quicker we can leave.” He gave George a smile to let him know that he wasn’t really annoyed before reaching down and interlacing their fingers.

Alex led George out to the car, only letting go of his hand to get in. Once he started the car, he took George’s hand again as he began to drive towards John’s house. He turned on the radio and began to hum to himself, enjoying the song that came on first.

Alex got so into the songs, in fact, then he didn't notice how uncomfortable George was until they were pulling into John's neighborhood. Alex turned the radio off and looked at George, who was biting his lip and staring out the window with a blank look in his eyes.

Alex squeezed George's hand, trying to get his attention. George didn't respond at first, but when Alex squeezed his hand again, he looked over. "What's wrong, sweetheart?" Alex asked, lifting George's hand to kiss his knuckles.

"Nothing's wrong." He looked out the window again.

"Don't lie to me, George. No more lies, remember?"

George sighed and nodded. He looked over at Alex with sad eyes. "What if they still hate me?"

Alex pulled up in front of John's house and pressed another kiss to George's hand. "I'll be by your side the entire time. Promise." He smiled at George before nodding towards the house. "Are you ready to go?"

"I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

Alex let go of George's hand and turned off the car, getting out and walking up the driveway before George could waste any more time. George followed behind him silently, wringing his fingers in front of him.

The front door flew open before Alex even had the chance to get his hand on the doorknob. "Hey, Alex!" Hercules exclaimed, already swaying a bit on his feet and holding a bottle of vodka in his hand. He stepped down onto the porch and pulled Alex into his arms, giving him a sloppy kiss on the cheek. "How have you been in the last few weeks, buddy? Eliza and Maria are already here, but they weren’t really talking too much about how you’re doing. They’re so involved with the baby, see.”

Alex couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yeah, Hercules, I know they’re busy with little Zettie.” He rolled his eyes and leaned forward to give his friend a quick hug before he reached behind himself and grabbed George’s hand, pulling him until he was standing side by side with Alex.

Hercules, apparently, hadn’t noticed George when they first walked up, but the moment he saw him by Alex, his eyes got wide. “George! I knew that John had said that you were getting’ out, but I didn’t expect to see you here so damn soon! I thought Alex would have made you give him a little space for while before he let you come back!” He hiccupped, lifting his bottle and taking another swig of it.

Even without looking, Alex could tell that George stiffened at the comment. Alex narrowed his eyes at Hercules and let out a low, irritated growl. “Okay, Hercules, I think you should go back inside and find your wife. Tell her that I told you to lay off the booze for a while, eh?”

Hercules held the bottle up, his crooked smile growing. “Elizabeth’s a pretty lady, ain’t she?”

“She sure is, Herc.” Alex reached down and tangled his fingers with George before stepping around Hercules and making his way into the house where hopefully the rest of the people in his life would be more sober and more understanding of Alex and George’s situation.

When the men reached the living room, Alex immediately pulled George over to Eliza, begging her with his eyes to say something nice. Eliza caught on, standing up and pulling George into a hug, kissing his cheek and cupping the back of his neck. George didn’t relax in her arms, but he moved his hand up to pat her on the back. “Hi, Eliza,” he said, clearing his throat and rocking back on his heels to put a few extra inches of space between him and Eliza. Eliza didn’t like that, however, and stepped back into George’s space, moving her hand down from his neck to his lower back.

“It’s good to see you again, George,” she said, giving him a genuine smile and rubbing his back before giving him the space that he craved and stepping away. “You look really good.”

George coughed. “You look good, too, Eliza. That short hair really suits you.”

Eliza reached up and twisted one of the longer strands against her neck. “Thank you, George. Maria thinks so. too.” She glanced over at the bathroom door as it opened. Maria stepped out and gave Alex a wave before walking towards them. “Speak of the devil and she will appear.”

Maria kissed her wife on the cheek before leaning forward and doing the same to Alex, and then to George. George still looked uncomfortable, but he didn’t flinch when Maria took his hand and swung it slowly before letting go.

George nodded his head at her, regarding her in the same way he had regarded Eliza. “You look great, Maria. You don’t look like you were ever pregnant.”

Maria laughed, shaking her head. “Trust me, I definitely feel like I was. Getting these pants on tonight? I don’t see how Eliza managed to make it all these years without that stinking’ baby gut. I mean, I carried twins for half the time she did and I’m over here looking like a bloated whale.” She patted her stomach and sighed, shaking her head. ‘Well, enough about that. Are you glad to be back in town? I’m sure it’s going to be a big adjustment, going from a small community to this.”

Before George could answer, Eliza held her hand out to pause the conversation. “I’m sorry Maria, George, but I’m going to pull Alex away for just a moment while you two talk.”

George looked uncertain, but he nodded, so Alex gave him a gentle kiss before following his ex-wife through the house and out the back door onto the patio. He waved at the group of people across the yard, which included his children, Gil, Gil’s children, Hercules’ daughter, Martha, and JP.

After a moment of silence, Alex turned and looked at Martha, who was leaning against the railing with her fingers interlaced over the ground. He put an arm around her shoulders and brought her close to his side, resting his face against the top of her head. “You know, it’s kind of strange to have the group all together again,” he said, shaking his head as Gil and Martha began to argue about the proper way to toast a marshmallow. (Alex had to agree with Martha; burnt was the only way to go.)

Eliza nodded, turning slightly so that she could nuzzle into the crook of Alex’s neck. “I think it’s nice. I can’t remember the last time we all did something together. Just you men, yes, but all the kids, all us women?” She shook her head before pausing, lifting a finger up as if she was drawing a diagram in the sky. “You know, I think the last time we actually did anything was when George was around the first time. New Year’s Eve, remember that? Phillip and Angelica somehow managed to knick some of Hercules’ booze and threw up all over George’s brand new leather jacket that you got him for Christmas.”

Alex snorted as he thought back to that day, from an hour or so before the picture that was “hidden” (hanging) in his hallway was taken. “Oh, yeah. I forgot all about that. I was so mad, but George brushed it off like it was nothing.” He closed his eyes for a moment, letting the memories wash over him, before opening his eyes. This time, his voice was softer as he spoke. “I’m really, really happy to have him back again, Eliza. I didn’t realize how much I still missed him until he came back home.”

Eliza nodded. “I know, honey. Hercules and Gil might not show it, but I promise you that we are all happy for you. The kids, too. I know how much they missed George over the years, too.”

“That reminds me, did Angelica tell you that she’d been hiding the letters that George had been writing me in one of the coats in the front closet?”

Eliza snorted, her shoulders shaking against Alex’s ribs. “Like mother, like daughter.”

“Yeah, exactly.”

“Hey, look, Maria convinced George to go out to the bonfire. Hi, sweetheart.” She waved towards the ground as Maria and George walked around the side of the house. Maria was still talking enthusiastically with her hands and was laughing at something. George was laughing too, although his hands were in his pockets as he walked. Eliza watched them before looking up at Alex. “Go ahead, then. Go get your man.”

Alex smiled. God, he had missed being able to call George his. He kissed the top of Eliza’s head before untangling his arm from around her and jogging down the steps to where George and Maria were picking their marshmallows out from a large assorted bag. Alex wound his arms around George’s waist and pressed a kiss to the back of his neck. “The pink ones are my favorite,” he said into his ear, his breath catching as he felt George shiver beneath his touch.

“Mm, strawberry it is, then,” George responded, turning his head to kiss Alex back before getting the marshmallow and putting it on the prongs. Alex kept his arms around his waist as George thrust the metal into the fire.

Martha, who was eyeing the bag of marshmallows with a half-melted s’more in her hand, walked around the fire and pinched Alex on the hip lightly before reaching up and ruffling his hair. She tugged lightly on a few strands before moving his hand to poke George’s cheek. “What did I tell you, huh? Told you all your moping was pointless.”

Alex didn’t need to be looking at George’s face to know that he was rolling his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, Martha, you were right, I should have just gone home.” He stuck his tongue out. Martha laughed and hit him with her marshmallow before going back to the other side of the fire.

Alex let George finish burning his marshmallow before he grabbed him by the belt loop and pulled him over to one of the stumps that John used as chairs. He stepped out of the way and pushed George down before sitting on his lap and throwing his arm around George’s shoulders. George made a noise of protest when Alex sat down, but his was smiling against almost immediately as Alex leaned down and stole a bite of the marshmallow.

“You could have just made your own,” George teased, pulling the marshmallow off the prongs and holding it out for Alex to take another bite. “You don’t need to steal mine.”

Alex took the rest of the gooey mass off of George’s fingers, trying to keep his expression as blank as possible when he used his tongue to lap at the strands that were stuck to George’s skin. George let out a strangled sound, but Alex ignored it, choosing instead to let out a quiet moan at the combination of George’s skin and the artificial strawberry flavoring. “You don’t even like marshmallows,” Alex reminded him, taking the prongs out of his hand and holding it out for Phillip to take.

George shrugged, but his smile didn’t fade in the slightest. “It’s the little things that I forget. Part of growing old, you know.” He winked.

Alex rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to respond. Before he could, however, Gil reached out and pressed a hand to Alex’s chest to keep him where he was so that he could look at George. “So, George, I am thinking about maybe trying and planting some sort of vegetable garden for the kids and Adrienne to do this summer. What type of plants would you say are the best for beginners?”

“Oh, well, I would do—”

Alex tuned out the rest of George’s words. Gardening had never really been an interest of his. However, seeing the way that George and Gil were talking to each other, as if there had never been any sort of divide between them, that was something that caught Alex’s interest, and as he looked at the men, he knew that it was something that he would never get tired of seeing.

It didn’t matter that five years had gone by since the last time that Alex and George were close like this. It didn’t matter that George spent the last several months lying to him. It didn’t even matter that in all of his excitement to talk about gardening, George managed to shove Alex off of his lap and onto the hard, damp earth. All that mattered was that they were together again, and nothing was going to change that.

This was the way that everything was always supposed to be.