Not Pretending Anymore

All he wanted in the world was a certain speedster, and to get him all he had to simply do was not to pretend anymore.

Alexander Aaron chewed on his gum yet again, the flavor tasting a bit dull and stiff in his mouth. He guesses that's what happens after 2 long hours, and unbelievably, these 'Avengers' don't have one packet in the whole 3 story mansion. Plus, his PSP ran out of battery and not one god damn person owns a charger either, so, therefore- not a happy god. His lips set in a flat line.

"Has anyone seen Dani?" a panicked Jessica Jones rushed into the large room followed by her husbands best friend, Danny Rand. The mother of the missing toddler scanned the room, her stern eyes resting on the young god. "Alex?" she asked hopefully as Danny left the room, still searching. "Seen her? Last time I checked, she was with Clint." she clenched her fists tight. "I'm going to kill him."

Alex popped his gum lazily and shrugged. "Nope." he said shortly. "Why don't you ask Clint?"

Jessica turned out of the room sourly, continuing on her search for Dani. "Sometimes," she muttered ever so faintly that Alex had to use his super-god-enhanced hearing to understand her. "I even wonder why you're on the team."

"That makes two of us." Alex thought sadly to himself, folding his arms above his head and arching his back. Really, who in their right mind would pick a ten year old for a superhero team? It goes against all of Steve's morals- hell if he thought the Young Avengers were reckless and stupid, the poor super-soldier as going to have a bloody heart attack when he saw who Tony had 'recruited' for the team.

With nothing else to do, he directed his ice-glue gaze outside the huge glass windows and down onto the Mansion's backyard where most of Earth's Mightiest Heroes were training since Tony had practically banned them from the Mansion. He could see Clint and Kate down the far end of the archery range near the pool, and then he saw Jessica charging towards the older archer. It would've been funny if it didn't happen everyday.

"Hey." Alex turned around suddenly to see Tommy Shepherd standing in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest. "Wanna play X-Box or something?" the speedster offered. "There's like, nothing to do around here." he walked in and sat down with a humpf next to Alex. And maybe a little too close. Their legs were touchng and their shoulders bumping each other. Tommy noticed Alex's sad face and punched him playfully in the arm. "What's up?" he asked, kicking his feet onto the table- obviously not caring that it was one of Tony's high-tech-computer-glass-billion-dollar-if-you-break-it-you-are-literally-screwed ones.

"Don't do that!" Alex growled, dragging Tommy's feet of the table. "I don't have time for this. Just piss off."

Tommy grinned and put his feet back onto the table with a certain confidence. "Aw, what's wrong?" he shuffled over a bit, forcing Alex to move further and further down the leather couch.

"Stop it, will you. Leave me alone." Alex pushed Tommy in the shoulder.

The speedster just smiled and ruffled the young god's blonde hair. "Come on. You know you love it." he shifted close again, smirking when Alex tried to move away, but was stopped by the arm of the couch. The god glared at him with hatred. "Don't you?"

Alex closed his eyes for a second, it was all too much. "Why do you pretend, Tommy?" he sighed, opening his eyes and looking straight into the green ones of the speedsters. From what he could see, Tommy looked startled at the question and slightly taken aback.

When Tommy didn't say anything, Alex tried again. "I've had enough of pretending, Speed. I'm sick of it. You piss me off, but I just can't be angry at you 'cause-" he froze mid-sentence when he realized that he said too much, his cover nearly blown. Alex sniffled slightly. I love you.

"Are you crying, Alex?" Tommy put a reassuring hand on Alex's shoulder. "What ever I did, I'm sorry. You can tell me anything, you know." he flashed him a warm smile that was rarely ever on his face, but it softened when it wasn't returned. "Really. Actually...maybe not. I'm not good with the personal stuff. Just ask Billy or something."

Alex looked at his hands, twisting and curling his fingers in his lap. "I don't want to pretend," he whispered pleadingly. "I...I can't do this. I wasn't trained for this. No one told me that I had to deal with this in my life."

"Deal with what?"

The God of Fear looked away with a dark look in his eyes. "It...doesn't matter."

"If it's about you, it matters." Tommy pointed out. "You're important to me, Alex." A warm hand was placed on Alex's thigh which recieved a slight jolt from the god. Take your hand off me, please. It's not supposed to turn me on.

"That's the problem." he muttered, eyeing the green and silver cloaked hand.

Tommy gave him a quizzical look. "You're the problem?"

"No...well, yes."

"Explain."

"It's me. And you."

"Me and you, what? What's wrong with us?"

"I don't want to pretend."

"Then why don't you stop pretending...whatever you're pretending?" he suggested. "And we've really got to stop saying that word." he added in an undertone.

"I have to pretend. If I want to stay friends are not screw 'this'-" he motioned to all around him. "-all up. I have to. Tommy, you make it so hard for me to look at you and not-"

"Punch me in the face?" Tommy offered, leaning back into the couch rolling his eyes at Alex. "Don't worry, it's on everyones mind anyway."

Alex looked up to the speedster, a daunting look in his eyes. "No." he said, eyeing the speedsters lips cautiously. Truth be told, the looked god damn delicious. "This." he leant up as quick as he could, grabbed the surprised and rigid speedster's shoulders, pulled him down and simply kissed him. By the way Tommy just stayed frozen, eyes widened watching the younger by nearly 6 year old boy kiss him, Alex knew he screwed the fuck up. He ruined it. His life as an Avenger, his life as he knew it.

Alex let go of his shoulders slinking back into the couch, avoiding Tommy's shocked gaze from the contact. "Fuck. I- I'm...I'm so sorry, I just-" he tried to get up to run and bury himself in his bed and hate himself forever, but a hand quickly struck out and held him back by grabbing his small waist, pushing him down on the couch next to him.

Tommy forced Alex to look in his eyes, a small smile on his face. "Don't be." he whispered as he lowered his head and pulled the god down into another breathtaking kiss. Nothing else mattered. There was no one else. He felt Alex relax and put his hands on his shoulders, trying to get more of the speedster. He needed more. There just wasn't enough for him. Tommy, to him, was irresistible in every possible way. And there was no way in hell someone like Speed would ever consider someone as screwed up as he was.

As Tommy gently retreated from the kiss, he brushed the blonde hair falling into Alex's eyes. "You could've told me. I've been wanting to do that for ages."

"I just didn't know if you felt the same." Alex explained, blushing. He had kissed Tommy. The first person he had ever fallen in love with and it had to be him. Though, it did pay off. "You and Kate-"

"Do you really think I was in love with her?" he chuckled softly, twining his fingers together with his. "Ah, Alexander Aaron, I wonder why I love you sometimes. Do you think I never noticed you? Every time I was with Kate, I saw you in the corner of my eye waiting for something or someone, and sooner or later I figured it out. After some discussion with myself, I came to the conclusion that I felt the same way about you. Never expected I'd fall for the 10 year old son of Ares, but you can't help who you fall for. You were all I suddenly wanted in the world."

"Really?" Alex said skeptically.

Tommy nodded and touched Alex's soft lips with his finger. "I'm not pretending anymore."

Around the corner leaning in the doorway, Billy Kaplan, the brother of the speedster, sighed and looked to his boyfriend who was next to him a massive grin on his face as he watched to 2 boys. "Looks like I owe you 20 bucks, Ted."

End