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Alan checks the clock on their bedside table, and it reads 9 in the morning. It’s been months since he got to wake up this late due to the team’s training season.
Jeff isn’t at home because he’s asked for a day to spend with Charlie and the other kids that were under Tony’s care before. They had promised to meet at least once a month to check up on each other’s current lives. They took their big brother role seriously, making sure that the kids are safe and secure with their new families.
The silence at home made Alan bored, so he called North and Sonic to hang out.
“Uncle, your favorite brothers are here!” North receives a hit on his head from his almost boyfriend, which he received with a smile.
“No need to be loud, we’re the only people here. Also, who told you you’re Uncle’s favorite? P’Babe will throw a tantrum if he hears you.” Sonic scolded the rowdy person that came with him.
“You really can’t live a day without bickering, I wonder how you’ll be when you finally get to put a label on whatever you guys have going on.”
“Who says our relationship doesn’t have a label? You hurt my feelings, Uncle.”
“Quit overreacting, North.. Hey!” Sonic couldn’t even finish his sentence because North kissed him on the cheek then ran on to cling to Alan’s arm, using him as a shield before the pretty boy hit him again.
Alan laughs at how silly the two young boys were, “Alright, come eat with me. I might lose my appetite if you keep fighting in front of food.”
North pulls a chair for Sonic to sit in, but he moves to sit next to Alan.
The noisy boy pouts as he sits on the chair that was supposed to be given to his almost boyfriend.
“Tell me if I am overthinking but I found it weird that you suddenly called us here.” North even put his fingers on his chin as if he was someone who was questioning a suspect for a case.
“No, you’re right. I asked you to come here to ask you something, but before that, I need you to promise me you wouldn’t laugh.”
North raises his right hand and places his other hand on his chest, “I promise I won’t laugh. Hey Sonic, you do the same.”
When North reached out to make Sonic follow his actions, Sonic moved back, “I can do it myself, no need to make an excuse to hold my hand. Do you want another offense?”
“Alright, alright. Leave me out of your troubles and help me deal with mine first. I need your suggestions about what to do or where to go on a date. I feel like Jeff has always been giving in to my preferences when we go out, so I figured I should try to do the same this time, but I have no idea on what you young people like to do.”
North bites his lip, suppressing a laugh, “Who would’ve thought you’d ask us for dating advice after you rejected everything we told you to do before you started dating Jeff?”
“Stop boosting your ego and use your brain for what you’re being asked.”
North holds his chest as if he was stabbed by Sonic’s words and this time Alan and Sonic did not react to it, giving North a signal to take things seriously.
“Well, I heard amusement parks are still a hot place for people who are dating. There’s also a trend of wearing school uniforms if you visit that place.” North suggests.
Sonic claps excitedly, “That would be cute! Couple outfits!”
“I will smack your head if I find out you’re just tricking me, North.” Alan warns him, remembering how North suggested a public confession for Jeff, someone who prefers to be alone.
“Okay, I am giving you permission to do that, Uncle.”
“Sonic!”
Alan and Sonic laughed at North who is pouting and has his arms crossed like a kid.
“Sometimes I am not sure if I have a suitor or a son.” Sonic adds.
“I will keep it in mind. Thanks, you two.” Alan gave North and Sonic a pat on the head to acknowledge their assistance.
🎡🎢
“P’Alan, Jeff is home.”
Alan walks to the door to welcome his boyfriend with a hug and a kiss on the lips. “Welcome home, sweetheart.”
The couple sit on their sofa, Jeff leaning on to Alan’s chest with arms wrapped around each other.
“The kids were so excited to tell stories about their families, showing off photos of what they ate, where they went, what they did together and their accomplishments in school. Charlie and I were glad that they get to live a normal life like other kids their age.”
“You two did well.” Alan smiles as Jeff snuggles closer. “By the way, do you have plans this weekend?”
“Probably just sleeping in, why?”
“Would you like to go on a date with me?”
“Hmm.” Jeff tries to reply, but he’s already dozing off.
“Let’s get you to bed, you big baby.”
Alan lifts Jeff into his arms, the younger clinging on to him like a koala as they walk to their bedroom. Usually Jeff would shower and change into pajamas, but because he’s already tired to do so, Alan took the towel from their bathroom and wiped Jeff’s body before dressing him up with his pajamas.
“Goodnight, Ai Nuu.”
🎡🎢
“We’re here!” Alan points to the castle-like entrance of the amusement park.
Jeff’s eyes widened in surprise, “How’d you know I wanted to check out this place? I only mentioned it to North and Sonic when we were talking about how to spend our days off. Oh wait, I forgot how North can’t keep his mouth shut.”
Alan smiles, “To be honest with you, if I didn’t know about North courting Sonic, I would get jealous of how much time you spend together.”
“Come on, Uncle. You already know you’re the only man who has my heart.” Jeff squeezes his boyfriend’s cheeks and pouts to tease him.
“If you only want to tease me, you shouldn’t get close to me like this.” Alan pulls Jeff to kiss him on the lips, catching the younger off guard.
“Uncle!!”
“There, there, kid. Let’s get inside before the lines get too long.”
Upon entering the park, a realization hits Jeff: he can’t recall a memory of going to an amusement park because he had always been at the mansion to train when he was young, and when he and Charlie managed to leave the mansion, he was at his condo or the university. It took him years to finally enjoy the life he deserved to have.
Alan notices his boyfriend spacing out, so he squeezes his hand to call his attention, “North suggested we have the full experience and told me to book this.”
The older man leads the way to the rental shop and they were handed two complete outfits. They went on separate changing rooms because they can only fit one person at a time.
“Are you done, Uncle? I don’t want to go out alone, it would be too embarrassing for me.” Jeff asks from the next room.
“Hmm.”
The curtains were drawn open, and so was Jeff’s jaw because his boyfriend is so cute wearing a high school uniform. It’s now his turn to get jealous of the people who got to see Alan during high school, he’s sure that a lot liked him back then.
Alan feels shy, scratching the back of his neck while avoiding the younger one’s gaze. “Is this okay? I kind of want to change into my real clothes.”
“And what? Leave me wearing this when you’re the one who suggested we do this?”
“No, we’ll wear this together. One day isn’t that hard for me.”
“Yay! Let’s take a photo now because I am sure we won’t look as good anymore after going on rides.”
They entered the photo booth that was just outside the rental shop. Jeff presses something on the screen and the 10 second countdown appears. “Don’t forget to look at the camera, Uncle!”
Their photos went like this:
1st: Holding hands and their heads close to each other forming a heart shape
2nd: Poking each other’s cheeks
3rd: Piggyback ride (this was the hardest one to do because their faces almost didn’t show, Alan had to almost split his legs to do so)
4th: Jeff wraps his arms on Alan’s neck while Alan has his arms on Jeff’s waist as they share a quick kiss on the lips.
They wait for their photo to get printed and Jeff couldn’t hide his smile when he saw how cute the results were. He takes out his phone to take a photo and was about to message North when Alan takes his phone away.
“Didn’t we agree on not using our phones during dates?” Alan uses his scolding voice, but Jeff isn’t scared one bit.
“That’s because you used to take calls for work while we’re on dates!”
“Well I just told you about how I felt about you being close to North!”
Alan isn’t mad about it, but pretends to sulk because it’s not always that Jeff is the one who’s trying to pacify him. It’s because even at times that Jeff is at fault, Alan is the one who asks forgiveness.
Jeff acts cutely, using a finger to poke Alan’s arm to make him look back and when he does turn his head, the younger man gives him a peck on the lips.
“Don’t be mad anymore na, I have already put my phone inside my bag.”
Alan is attacked with kisses all over his face that he had to give in, “Okay, okay. I am no longer sulking!”
“So tell me, do you like rides or is your heart already too weak for this? Let me know so we can just go on rides for kids.”
“Are you teasing me because I am old?”
“Hey! Why are you turning my concern into something bad? I just want to do something that the both of us will enjoy.” Jeff answers, hands on his waist.
Alan takes his chance to wrap his arms around the younger’s waist and say, “Sorry, love, it’s just that I am trying to figure out what we should do because I don’t really know how youngsters date.”
“Just to remind you, I am not that young anymore. Kids don’t do this.” Jeff leans close, so close that their noses touch. Alan closes his eyes, preparing himself for something that doesn’t happen because Jeff suddenly ran away while laughing.
“You already had enough kisses, Uncle. You might get sick if you have too many sweets!”
🎡🎢
“Are you sure you want this to be the first one?”
“What is it? I can’t hear you!”
Alan moves closer to repeat what he said because his voice gets drowned out by the screams of those that are currently riding the rollercoaster.
“I said, are you sure you want to try the rollercoaster first?”
“Yes, I am so thrilled to try it! Or are you scared? I promise to hold your hand the whole ride.”
“We’ll see who’s scared.”
They’re guided by the staff to their seats and secured their safety belts.
The ride slowly moves to the top, and before Jeff can even brace himself, they get dropped so fast. The grip he had on Alan was so tight that their hands started to turn red.
Jeff couldn’t scream because he was feeling a lot of things at the same time, while Alan was screaming and enjoying the ride.
The roller coaster comes to a stop and Jeff feels like his blood is just starting to resume circulation after pausing for a few minutes. Alan holds his whole body as they walk to the exit. They find a bench nearby and sit on it.
“How are you feeling?”
“Dizzy.”
“See, that’s why I tried to convince you that it was not a good idea to ride it.”
“Then you should’ve tried harder! I was so scared and I couldn’t even speak or ask the operator to make it stop and now I am so embarrassed that it was what I felt while on the ride you seem to like so much.” Jeff says in defeat.
“Hey, I brought you here to enjoy. If this isn’t the right ride, we can get on another one until you find something that you really like. I don’t mind walking around with you.” Alan hugs Jeff, making him relax by rubbing his back. Jeff is again relieved that Alan didn’t make fun of him, almost crying because of the rollercoaster.
“Thank you for your warm hug, but I am kind of getting hungry.”
“Okay, let’s go find something to eat.”
While walking to the food stalls, they pass by the souvenir shop where Alan stopped to look at the cute headbands. Jeff notices how Alan’s eyes were interested but senses that he was shy to ask about it.
“I will only wear one if you wear them too.”
“Oh then, let’s just go on our way. I wanted to buy the bunny one for you because it might look good on you.”
“Well too bad, because I am going to buy the carrot one so we’re matching.”
Jeff grabs the two headbands and pays for them before Alan pulls him away from the shop. He puts it on Alan’s head then squeezes his cheeks because he was so cute. He wants to show it off to the other members of the team, but keeps his promise of not using his phone.
“Have you decided on what you’d like to eat?”
“A hotdog sandwich and I saw cotton candies that had different shapes, I want one.”
“Okay, whatever my baby wants.”
Jeff gets shy and runs off to the food stall so Alan cannot tease him.
🎡🎢
The couple lines up for the ferris wheel, which is going to be the second and last ride for them because they spent too much time and money for the ring toss game that they found while looking around for a place to eat in.
Jeff is eating a pink cotton candy that was bunny shaped while Alan is hugging the big teddy bear, the grand prize for the ring toss game. They enter the gondola and the ride begins.
“Are you scared of heights, Uncle?”
“Not really scared of heights, you know how I love the thrill of anything exciting. Besides, I love how the view is different up there. How about you?”
“I don’t really know the concept of fear as we are trained to confront all types of things to find and hone our ability from a young age. But maybe, I learned how to get scared when I met you all, in a good way though. It made me realize that I can finally feel things without worrying about it not pleasing someone or not being useful, because those feelings are normal.”
Alan holds Jeff’s free hand, “If ever you feel scared, know that you have me, to hold your hand, stay by your side, be anything and everything you need.”
“What’s with the sudden display of affection? You’re making it obvious how head over heels you are for me.”
“I love you, Jeff. Thank you for letting me love you.”
“I love you so, so much. Your love is one of the greatest gifts life has given me.”
The ride slows down as they get on the peak, they look outside and see the lights brought by the park and the surrounding places. As they enjoy the view and each other’s company, Alan brings out his phone to take a selfie. Jeff placed the teddy bear in the middle and hugged it with his boyfriend.
🎡🎢
On the ride home, Jeff’s eyes are glued to his phone, busily typing something. Alan’s eyes are on the road, his lips smiling widely as Jeff seems to forget that he’s also a part of the group chat who’s now getting bombarded with notifications.
He makes a mental note to message North and Sonic to thank them for their advice because today’s a day well spent.
“I am glad you enjoyed today, Nuu. I was kind of hesitant to follow North’s words after a prior experience of hearing nonsense from him.”
“Thank you, love. For our next date, let me plan it please?”
“I already told you, I’m all in with whatever my baby wants. Now let me in with the conversation, what did you tell the other kids?”
“Not telling you, go see for yourself later.”
Alan checks the group chat as soon as they arrive home and finds their photo at the ferris wheel and Jeff trying to make others jealous about how he was the only one who saw the cute side of the great Uncle of X-Hunter.
Babe replies with the rolling eyes emoji, asking Charlie to take him on a date too. North flexes how it was his idea, with Sonic calling him out for taking the credit because it was Jeff’s idea. Kim sends a message saying he doesn’t care about Alan’s cute side because it will just bother him and give him nightmares.
Alan smiles, seeing as how the team has turned into one big family.
“Uncle!! Hurry up! I can’t shower without you!” Jeff shouts.
Alan throws his phone on the sofa as he replies, “Coming!”
The couple get to bed after a quick shower, saying their goodnights and hugging each other as they surrender to their tired state and fall asleep.