Growth: Part 6 by Jamiesstories2

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A/N: Continuation of part 5

This is the continuation of Growth. Please read the previous parts before reading this.

Growth: Part 6

"Whenever you’re ready, you can take a seat."

Jeff gave Alex a knowing smile.

"I’d love to stick around and watch, but I’m famished. See you at home?" He asked.

Alex could not talk, this much he knew for certain.

"Mhm," he eventually mustered, and with that, Jeff grabbed his umbrella from the stand near the door and left the shop.

Alex placed his (useless) book to the side and stood up, nearly falling back into his seat as his legs momentarily refused to support him. He walked, quite slowly, over to the chair, but felt that he couldn’t sit down, and simply stood, frozen once again, in front of the chair.

"Are you alright?" Javier asked, seeming genuinely concerned for Alex, "feel free to take your time."

Alex nodded, "I-I’m okay, thanks," and promptly threw himself into the chair. Javier turned the chair back towards the mirror, and Alex was met with the reflection of Javier’s slightly amused, slightly concerned look looming over his own incredibly pathetic expression. Javier increased the height of the chair, and smiled kindly at Alex.

"Is it okay if I take your hair out of its bun?" Javier asked.

‘Of course, idiot,’ Alex reproved himself, ‘you need to take your hair out if he’s going to cut it.’ Alex reached up to undo his hair himself, but Javier touched his hands lightly before they reached his head, stopping Alex in his tracks.

"If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to do it," Javier said, "I have to touch your hair to cut it, after all."

Alex attempted to take a deep breath, his heart becoming overworked from the combination of Javier touching him and his sitting in a barber chair, but it came out closer to a strained puff of air. He lowered his hands and nodded the affirmative for Javier to let down his hair.

"Thank you," Javier said, sincerely. Gently, Javier reached up to Alex’s head and removed both hair ties, unwinding them from Alex’s hair. Alex watched as his cascade of brown hair fell down to its true length, no longer confined by Alex’s usual restrictive style.

Javier bit his lip, presumably to restrain whatever comment had come to his lips. The self control did nothing, however, because the other barber in the shop whistled in surprise as he was sweeping up the clippings of Jeff’s hair.

"That’s some hair you got there," he said, dryly. Javier’s head instantly whipped toward the man, shooting him with a ‘shut-the-f***-up-or-watch-what-happens’ look, while Alex turned bright red. Javier turned back to Alex.

"It’s very nice," Javier complimented Alex. This, somehow, only made Alex turn a darker shade of red.

"T-Thanks."

"I’m going to brush it a little bit now, okay?" Javier asked. Alex nodded the affirmative. "And while I brush it," Javier continued, "you’re going to take a deep breath, and tell me what’s going on right now."

"What?" Alex asked breathlessly. Javier smirked.

"You heard me," he said, "I’m fairly used to nerves. But… something else is going on, isn’t it?"

Javier didn’t wait for an answer. Instead, he picked up a comb from the top of the vanity next to him and ran it through Alex’s hair, causing Alex to jump nearly a foot in the air.

"Deep breaths," Javier reminded, "now, whenever you’re ready, what are you thinking about right now?"

Alex did as Javier commanded: breathe in, breathe out. But there was no way he could tell Javier about Dan, it was all so… embarrassing.

"I… can’t," Alex said, weakly.

"Can’t what?" Javier responded, continuing to gently run the comb through Alex’s chestnut tresses.

"Can’t tell you."

Javier stopped combing Alex’s hair, deep in thought for a moment. Then, he looked down at his watch.

"Isaac," the other barber looked up from sweeping, "do you have any more appointments today?" Javier asked.

"Nope."

"Go home early, then, I’ll handle closing the shop."

The other barber, Isaac, Alex guessed, paused, giving Javier an incredulous look, before stopping his task, putting the broom away, and gathering his things to go.

"Could you get the shades and the open sign on the way out?" Javier asked.

Isaac merely chuckled, before responding in a language that was definitely not English. Javier rolled his eyes, before replying with a quick,

"Gracias."

Isaac rolled down the shades, and turned to Alex before he left.

"Have a nice evening."

"You too," Alex responded, weakly. And with that, Isaac left, flipping the sign from open to closed as he did so.

Javier turned Alex to face the other chair in the shop, then sat in it and turned to face Alex. He regarded Alex, with eyes full of concentration and concern. After a silence that felt, to Alex, uncomfortably long, Javier finally sighed.

"You don’t have to tell me anything, Alex," the barber conceded, "but I think this experience is going to be a lot better, for both of us, if you do."

Alex looked away, unable to handle Javier’s piercing gaze.

"It’s… stupid," Alex finally managed to spit out, almost whispering, "Just an ex of mine…"

"You seem to care a lot about something so stupid," Javier replied, matching Alex’s volume, but with more confidence.

Alex balled both of his hands into fists, his nails digging into his palms. The chorus of no’s in his head, which had died down for a solitary moment, had now evolved into a downright scream. Javier spent a moment longer staring Alex down before rising from his seat and coming behind Alex once again, turning him back toward the mirror.

"Well, we’re all alone now, if there’s anything you’d like to say," Javier reminded, before pulling his comb from his back pocket and resuming his calming strokes.

Alex became rigid once again, as Javier’s renewed combing surprised him, but he was relieved by the fact that Javier wasn’t going to force him to say anything. As the teeth of the comb pulled along Alex’s scalp, his fists relaxed and he felt his shoulders loosen. A thought floated across his newly-peaceful mind: maybe, he could tell Javier. He immediately dismissed it as absurd, ridiculous, embarrassing, but the longer he sat and the more relaxed he became, the more he mulled over Javier’s words. It was going to be harder for both of them, but for Javier especially, if he had no idea what was going on. There was a chance Javier could do something to help Alex, but only if the barber knew what was bugging him. Alex thought to Dan then. To his utmost refusal to say what was wrong, even when something was quite obviously wrong. Maybe this was a chance to start making up for the mistakes he’d made with someone new.

Alex, lost in thought, barely noticed when Javier stopped combing and instead started running his fingers through Alex’s hair, inspecting strands for dead ends or unevenness. Eventually, as Javier reached an understanding of his client’s hair, he softly brought Alex back to reality.

"So, Alex," he said, gently, "What are we doing with your hair today?"

Alex paused, it was now or never.

"My ex-boyfriend cut my hair without my permission."

Javier bit back a laugh at how unrelated the response was to his question, but Alex’s reactions suddenly started to make sense. As soon as Javier regained control over himself, he started to ponder the best method of determining exactly what had happened to Alex.

"I’m sorry," he started, "I see now why this kind of thing would make you particularly nervous."

"I mean- i-it’s okay," Alex replied, finding himself wanting to defend Dan when he still felt what had happened was decidedly his fault, "I did ask him to give me a trim…"

"And?"

"He, uh, he got the idea I… might like more than a trim," Alex explained, attempting to gracefully avoid his fetish.

"But he didn’t ask you?" Javier clarified. Alex shook his head, feeling a telltale pressure building behind his sinuses, indicating the presence of tears.

"That’s pretty s**tty."

"Really, it’s- it’s alright. I don’t even know if it was that bad," Alex mumbled. Javier cocked an eyebrow, indicating for Alex to continue.

"I-I know he betrayed my trust, and that’s bad," Alex said quickly, in response to Javier’s incredulous look, "but it did look… good, and- and he had reason to think I would- I would like it…"

"So you forgave him?"

Alex nodded, then shook his head, then nodded again, he was definitely about to cry. He let his head drop, hair covering his face, but he felt a hand come to his forehead, softly guiding his hair away from his face, and lifting his head in the process. Javier made eye contact with Alex in the mirror, hand still deep in Alex’s hair; he was gentle, but he wanted to push Alex, and he wanted Alex to know that, too. Eventually Javier removed his hand, but he held Alex’s eyes with his own in the mirror.

"You don’t have to tell me this," Javier said, "but you called him your ex. What happened?"

Alex sighed, still full of the warmth Javier’s touch brought him. He didn’t want to say this, he didn’t. But something about the way Javier looked at him pulled words from his throat he didn’t know existed. Javier was asking him to communicate, and once asked, he felt like he could finally answer.

"I tried to forgive him, but-" Alex’s voice nearly cracked, "we- we never really talked about it, properly. We just k-kept going."

"And after that, it was never exactly the same?" Javier concluded, half as a question, half as a statement.

"I-I never let him cut my hair again, of course," Alex said, sounding as if he was trying to justify the decision to himself, "and I guess he could feel I didn’t trust him in the same way…"

Alex trailed off, but Javier stayed quiet a moment longer, giving Alex a space to say more.

"He left for grad school-- in Chicago," Alex filled the space, "We tried long distance, but I knew it wasn’t going to work from the moment it started. I’d pushed him away."

Javier digested Alex’s words, his brows slowly furrowing together.

"As much as you may have pushed him away, Alex," Javier started, considering how to word his next thoughts, "He’s the one who messed up in the first place, and he’s the one who went to Chicago. He pushed you away, too."

Alex blushed; he heard Ben’s words echo in his mind, for the millionth time. Alex had always denied himself the pleasure of moving on, no matter how many times Ben or Jeff had encouraged him too, because he felt as if someone who had messed up a relationship so badly never deserved another. But here was Javier, with no reason to care, calling him on his bulls**t. The relationship had been a two way street, and maybe, Alex considered, maybe neither of them had really been doing what they were supposed to.

Javier smirked and raised his eyebrows at Alex, as if to say, "I’m right, and you know it," but he kept his mouth shut.

"You might have a point…" Alex whispered, residing in a strange emotional intersection of embarrassed, relieved, and aroused.

Javier, thankfully for Alex, decided not to gloat, and simply patted his shoulder twice, before rubbing it quickly with his thumb.

"Now, Alex, what would you like to do with your hair?" Javier asked. Alex, who had, at this point, entirely forgotten he was in a barber chair, and that the person behind him was about to cut his hair, froze. Javier noticed the muscles of Alex’s shoulder tense under his hand.

"I know I can’t undo what your ex did," Javier soothed, "but I’m here to do exactly what you want."

Alex had the impulse to tell Javier his father had scared him long before his ex, but he held back, figuring he’d already made Javier do enough therapy for one day.

"Uh, just a-a trim."

"Okay," Javier responded, kindly. The barber took a lock of Alex’s hair between his pointer and middle fingers, holding it up in the mirror so Alex could see it. Javier slid his fingers down the strands until they were about two inches from the ends.

"This is about how much I would cut off to get rid of the dead ends," Javier explained, "Does it look like the right amount? Do you want me to cut off less? More?"

Alex surveyed the hair between the barber’s fingers. Alex thought back to his first haircut with Dan, how it had been perfect, exactly what he’d wanted. With the amount Javier was offering to cut, his hair would still be significantly longer than back then, longer than he really liked it. But Alex was not about to tell a barber to cut off more of his hair, he’d had enough stress today.

"Looks good," he lied.

Javier paused for a moment, clearly hearing something change in Alex’s voice.

"Are you sure?" Javier asked, "I can try to leave it longer."

"Actually-" Alex started, then paused. Was he really doing this? "Actually, would you mind going a little shorter?"

Javier raised his eyebrows, clearly surprised.

"Shorter? Okay," Javier’s lips slid into a smirk, "How much shorter?"

"Like, uh, maybe about here?" Alex reached out from under the cape and indicated a spot a couple inches below his shoulders.

Javier’s eyebrows shot up further.

"That’s a good seven inches, at least," Javier clarified, "You sure you’re okay with that?"

"Yeah. I’m sure."

"Okay," Javier responded, nodding. The barber walked to the set of drawers next to the chair and picked up a spray bottle and his trusty comb, walking back behind Alex.

Alex watched Javier in the mirror as he began to run his comb through Alex’s hair once again, this time splitting it into sections, separating the top from the sides and back. Javier paused for a moment, deep in thought.

"Alex, since you mentioned your ex cutting your hair, when exactly was the last time you were in a barber shop?"

Alex felt heat return to his face, as he dissolved into a mumbling mess once again.

"It’s, uh, it’s been a-a while…"

Javier continued dampening the bottom section of Alex’s hair, having clipped up the top half. He worked in silence for a moment longer before cocking an eyebrow and using the mirror to look straight into Alex’s eyes.

"What does ‘a while’ mean?"

Being pinned under that gaze, Alex felt his stomach flip.

"Like, um, kind of… never?" Alex whispered.

Javier smiled, amusement lighting up his eyes.

"You should’ve said so earlier," he said, and then lowered his voice slightly, coming closer to Alex’s ear, "Now I have to make sure this is a good experience."

Alex shivered, Javier’s voice filling him with warmth. Javier moved away from Alex’s ear and went back to dampening his hair, while Alex tried to discreetly shift in order to hide his excitement.

"Since you’re new to this, I’ll do my best to explain to you what’s going on," Javier said, returning to a slightly more professional tone, "Essentially what I’m doing right now is sectioning off your hair, which makes it easier to trim. Once I’m finished dampening your hair, I’ll trim this back section."

Alex was somewhat familiar with this process, even though he’d never officially had his hair cut by a barber, but he appreciated Javier’s concern for his anxiety.

After a few more moments of combing and spraying, Javier returned to the set of drawers and grabbed a pair of shears. Seeing Alex’s eyes follow the shears in the mirror, Javier guessed at his anxiety.

"Would this be easier if I turned you away from the mirror?" Javier asked gently.

Alex thought about it for a moment. Of course, not being able to see Javier’s every move was frightening, but he’d never watched someone cut his hair before, and being turned towards a mirror would mean he couldn’t look away.

"Um, yeah, it might be better."

Javier nodded and turned the chair to face the window at the front of the shop.

"It’s a shame the shades are down," Javier said, "There’s a coffee shop across the street with a patio, you can see everyone who sits there. It makes for great people watching…"

Alex turned a bright shade of red, of course Javier had known who he was the whole time, this was just his way of saying so.

"A shame…" Alex whispered.

For a moment there was silence, but as Javier gently directed Alex’s head down, preparing to take the first snip, he started the conversation again.

"So, Alex, tell me more about yourself. What do you do?"

Alex felt a comb run through his hair one final time, before a little tug, presumably Javier’s fingers, and, finally, the sound of scissors shearing through hair. Alex took a deep breath, feeling a renewed wave of anxiety (and arousal) as the haircut officially began.

"I’m a teacher," Alex murmured.

Javier chuckled.

"A noble profession."

Alex filled with warmth at Javier’s compliment, and he instinctively turned his head down and away from Javier in embarrassment. Suddenly, he felt Javier’s thumb and index finger grasp his chin, firmly directing his head to its original position.

"Tsk tsk," Javier chided, "Head still."

The feeling of Javier’s hold on his chin sent sparks through Alex’s body, but Javier seemed to make little of the dominant motion, returning to the task of cutting Alex’s hair and restarting the conversation.

"What grade do you teach?"

"S-Seventh, mostly."

"Oh, now that really is a noble profession," Javier joked. Alex, having learned his lesson this time, didn’t turn his head, but instead laughed.

"Did you choose to teach seventh grade?" Javier asked.

"To be honest, I would’ve preferred high school, but I need to eat," Alex explained, "And I’ve warmed up to it. Seventh-graders can be a lot, but it’s a magical time too, the start of adolescence, the start of self-discovery, so much happens in the year I teach my students, I’m lucky to be a part of it."

"You certainly see magic where I don’t, but I’m glad you like it," Javier said, "Is it your first job out of college?"

"I mean, yeah, but you say it like that, makes it sound like I just graduated yesterday," Alex replied with a chuckle.

"You didn’t just graduate yesterday?"

"More like nearly three years ago."

"I wouldn’t have guessed we’re the same age, you look deceptively young," Javier said, smiling.

The conversation lulled for just a moment, and Alex became conscious once again of the sound of shears in his hair, feeling his pants growing tighter, he prayed for Javier’s baritone voice to distract him once again.

"What do you teach?" Javier finally asked.

"Uh, Latin."

"Latin? I have to admit, I haven’t heard that one before. Do you like it?" Javier replied.

"Teaching Latin? Yes," Alex declared, "My job as a whole? Most of the time."

"Most of the time?"

"My students are great, my co-workers, too. My boss? He leaves something to be desired."

"Hmm," Javier hummed his understanding, "Tell me more."

Alex opened his mouth to respond, but as soon as he thought of Brendon, his mind slipped to his father, and to all the awfulness those two men brought.

"I-I don’t wanna talk about my s**tty boss right now."

"Fair enough," Javier responded, "If I had one of those, I probably wouldn’t want to talk about him either."

"Speaking of which," Alex took the opportunity to shift the conversation, "How do you like… your profession? How did you even start, um, doing this?"

Javier, noticing the pause in Alex’s speech, decided to poke fun.

"You can say the word ‘barber,’ ya know? Won’t kill you."

"Sh-Shut up," Alex whispered weakly in response. Javier only snickered.

"To answer your question, I do love my job, and it’s mostly a matter of having no idea what to do after high school."

Alex laughed.

"God, I can’t imagine how my dad would’ve reacted if I told him I was going to cosmetology school."

"From experience with my set of strict, immigrant parents, not well, but they get over it," Javier replied, "I’m honestly so grateful for Isaac, if he hadn’t offered me the opportunity to buy the shop together, I wouldn’t have been able to support myself much longer."

"So you and Isaac own the shop together?"

"Yeah, although it was his family’s money that paid for most of it; he was kind enough to give me half, he didn’t have to," Javier paused a moment in reflection, "God, I love that man."

Alex’s heart fell to his stomach, was his thought about Javier and Isaac’s relationship correct? Were they together?

"That’s, uh, good of him," Alex mumbled, and the pair fell silent once again.

Alex’s concentration slipped back to his hair. At some point, Javier had released the top of his hair and begun to trim it. Alex felt the slight tugs as Javier’s comb pulled through tiny knots, or his fingers held Alex’s locks in place while they were cut. Every snip of the scissors through his hair made Alex a little harder, and a little more anxious.

Finally, Javier, either perceiving Alex’s anxiety or out of pure curiosity, broke the silence.

"Okay, I know you said you didn’t want to talk about it, but I really wanna know more about your boss."

Alex made a sound halfway between a chuckle and a sigh.

"I actually don’t mind, if you really want to know."

"I really want to know," Javier replied. His blatant curiosity was almost cute to Alex.

"My boss just has some very rigid views about… gender."

"Lemme guess," Javier said, "He hates the long hair?"

"And he lets me know at least once a day."

"Oh, he sounds great," Javier replied, sarcastically.

"I’m also, um, not exactly out at work," Alex explained quietly.

"Is he keeping you in the closet?"

"Kinda," Alex murmured.

"Oh, Alex," Javier sighed, "It wasn’t so long ago I was in the closet, too, it’s not… a fun time, I know."

The cogs in Alex’s brain took a second to spin.

"You’re gay?" He finally blurted out.

Javier laughed.

"Yeah, I’m gay, and don’t even tell me you weren’t curious because I could see you trying to do the mental math from the moment you walked in."

The embarrassment overtook Alex once again, and, totally forgetting about last time, he pulled his head down and away from Javier, trying to hide his face. Alex felt Javier’s grip on his chin, slightly more forceful this time, as his head was brought back to his original position. Javier kept his hold on Alex for just a second longer, squeezing his chin before releasing him.

"Por los clavos de Christo, do I have to tie you down?" Javier lightly exclaimed.

The suggestion of Javier tying him down, along with the extended touch, made Alex nearly explode. He dared to sneak a glance at his lap, and… oh god, he was showing through the cape. Alex’s breathing became labored with anxiety about getting his haircut, which then mixed with arousal, which then mixed with his anxiety about his arousal.

Javier put a comforting hand on Alex’s shoulder.

"Hey, are you okay? I was just joking, I promise," Javier soothed, seeing Alex’s less than composed state.

"Y-Yeah I’m okay," Alex breathed out, "Would- would you mind turning me back to the mirror?"

Javier didn’t even respond, he simply turned the chair back to the mirror. As Alex caught sight of himself, he began to calm down; his hair was shorter on one side than the other, but it was just as much as he’d wanted. His eyes flicked up to Javier’s face. His breath nearly caught in his throat once again, just seeing his barber again reminded Alex just how attractive Javier was, dark eyebrows furrowed in concern. Alex’s eyes moved down to his lap, still very visible but slowly calming, Javier had definitely seen something, there’s no way he hadn’t.

"How are we doing?" Javier slowly asked.

"O-Okay."

"You’re close to done," Javier said, "All that’s left is the right side, everything else is basically cut."

Javier waited a moment longer, before holding up the shears in the mirror.

"May I?"

Alex sighed, now much calmer.

"You may."

Javier ran his comb through Alex’s hair once again, before Alex watched in the mirror as Javier took the ends of the locks between his index and middle fingers, and cut them away with the shears in the other hand.

As Alex’s mind started to return to normal, a question he’d neglected came to the front of his mind.

"Javier, can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"You and Isaac, is that… a thing?"

Javier burst out laughing, so hard he was barely making a sound. Once he finally regained his composure, he returned to Alex and his confused expression.

"I’m sorry," Javier replied, still chuckling a bit, "It’s a fair question, it's just… if you knew Isaac, you’d know he’s the straightest guy you’ll ever meet."

"Ah," Alex replied, feigning calm while his stomach filled with a swarm of butterflies.

"Why do you ask?" Javier replied, saying each word with deliberate slowness.

Alex felt the anxiety returning, the onus was now on him to make a move.

"Just, uh… curious." Alex dragged the ‘s’ out until he ran out of breath.

"Mmm, curious," Javier repeated.

Silence settled on the two men, only interrupted by the snips of the shears. Alex watched as Javier finished the right side, before going around his head one more time, adding texture and layers. Chunks of brown hair lay strewn across the cape and floor, it was almost hard for Alex to believe it was his.

"Alright," Javier announced, "It’s done, why don’t you take a look, play around with it, let me know if there’s anywhere you want shorter."

Alex slowly raised his hands to his head. As Javier had cut his hair, it had dried, and it was now somewhere between damp and dry. He ran his hands through it a few times, inspecting the layers, and coming away nearly jumping for joy.

"It’s perfect," Alex said, in awe.

Javier smiled behind him.

"Good."

Javier laid his hands on Alex’s shoulders and gently pulled him back, as he’d leaned towards the mirror in awe.

"We’re not totally finished yet."

Alex remembered, of course, Javier would have to clean up his neck. He sat back.

"My least favorite part."

"Really?" Javier asked, sounding surprised, "I feel like this would be the easiest part, I’m barely even cutting anything off."

"I have a… complicated relationship with clippers."

"Your ex?"

"My dad," Alex corrected.

Javier sighed.

"Unfortunately, I interact with many a parent like that. Good thing there’s another option."

Alex regarded Javier with confusion.

"If you’d prefer," Javier explained, walking to the vanity and reaching into a drawer, "I can use a straight razor instead," pulling a razor from the drawer as he said this.

Alex looked at the blade, it was frightening at first, shining a bright silver and promising a closer shave than any other tool in the barber shop. But as Alex thought over Javier’s proposition, he warmed up to the idea of the razor. It couldn’t be any worse than clippers, after all.

"All right," Alex agreed, "Use the razor."

Javier cocked his head a bit and smirked, before walking away to make lather.

"Never thought those words would come out of your mouth, did ya?" He joked, causing Alex to flush.

Soon Javier returned to his post behind Alex, gently tilting Alex’s head down and holding back his hair with one hand, while circling lather onto his neck with the other.

"You just keep still," Javier instructed, "I’ll be done before you even know I started."

And with that, Javier picked up the razor and made his first pass down Alex’s neck. Alex nearly moaned as the blade ran along his skin; he’d felt nothing like it, that gentle scrape of sharp metal against skin setting his heart ablaze. Javier ran the razor down his neck again, using his free hand to hold Alex’s hair back and pull the skin taught as he shaved the fuzz from Alex’s neck. For a third and final time, Javier ran the razor down Alex’s neck, before Alex heard the clack of the razor being set down, and felt a towel run along his neck.

"Better than clippers?" Javier asked as he released Alex’s hair from his grip.

Alex raised his head.

"Much better."

With that, Javier’s face split into a grin.

"Well," he said, after a pause, "You’re all done." He removed the cape from around Alex’s neck, and lowered the chair.

"Javier, really, thank you."

"Of course, Alex. It was an absolute pleasure."

Alex paused for a moment, not wanting to get up from the chair and end the experience. Finally, though, he rose.

"What do I owe you?" he asked.

"Oh, please," Javier replied with a laugh, "This one is on the house."

Alex simply smiled and blushed in response, walking back over to gather his things. He glanced out the window and sighed.

"Still raining."

Javier looked up at the comment.

"That it is," he affirmed, pausing a moment in thought, "I’m headed out for the evening, but if you wait for me to close up, I’ll give you a ride home."

Alex, who had his back to Javier, turned to face him.

"No, Javier, I couldn’t possibly inconvenience you more than I already have."

"You have not inconvenienced me at all," Javier declared, "And I shouldn’t have phrased that as if you had a choice, I’m not letting you walk home in this."

Alex opened his mouth to argue, but he knew he wasn’t going to win, besides, he wasn’t going to say no to more time with Javier.

"I’ll wait then," he finally replied, quietly, and sat back down in the waiting area. He picked up his book again, but attempting to keep his eyes off Javier was a fruitless task, and he soon reverted to watching Javier as he closed up the shop.

Alex watched as the barber picked up the broom Isaac had discarded and began to sweep up the cut chunks of brown hair strewn across the floor. After a few minutes of silence Javier looked up from sweeping to find Alex’s eyes on him.

"What?" He asked, smirking.

Alex smiled in response.

"Nothing."

Javier returned to his task of sweeping, still smiling.

"You know you needed it, right?"

Alex laughed, feeling heat rise in his cheeks at Javier’s unfiltered declaration.

"I’m serious," Javier said, stopping his sweeping once again and raising his eyes to meet Alex’s, "You look much better."

Alex felt the need to turn away, to break the stare, but he was paralyzed. It was the same look Javier had given him two weeks ago, a challenge, an invitation.

"Javier?"

"Mhm?"

"Do you want to get dinner with me sometime?"

Javier lost control of his smirk, and it burst into his full, bright smile.

"I thought you’d never ask."

XXXXX

Alex wasn’t totally sure of how he got home. Mostly, it involved a lot of staring at Javier, and an exchange of phone numbers along the way. He couldn’t sleep that night, although he filled the time with other, more private, activities. Alex guessed the sleepless nights would get worse before they got better.

The next day, Ben found Alex at lunch, sitting as he normally did, at his desk, grading papers.

"Alex, how was your night?"

"Fairly uneventful," Alex lied, he didn’t want to say anything yet, in case Ben got over-excited and things with Javier didn’t work out.

"Same here, although I had a meeting with my book club," Ben replied with contentment, and the pair began a conversation about their latest reads.

Alex felt a headache coming on, and decided to let down his hair and give his scalp a break. As he did, Ben glanced at him, looked away, and then turned back to face him slowly.

"Did you get a haircut?" Ben asked, his voice tinged with surprise.

Alex blushed, he didn’t realize it was so obvious.

"Uh, yeah, I guess that’s what I did with my evening," Alex responded, attempting to act casual and totally failing.

"And there’s nothing else you want to tell me about your evening?" Ben asked with sarcasm and disbelief.

"Mmm, nope!" Alex replied, still attempting to keep up the casual act, despite running his hand through his hair again and again.

"Okay," Ben declared, elongating both syllables, "Well, I like it."

"Thanks," Alex replied, "I like it too."

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