Colder Than My Heart

Sarah watched as Alex took yet another sip of his energy drink.

“You’re gonna crash half way through your set if you drink any more of that,” Jersey teased from besides her causing her to laugh.

“I can crash if I want to,” he retorted pressing the metal to his lips. Sarah rolled her eyes as a smile played on her lips.

“Such a good example Alex,” she commented sarcastically. To Alex’s ears it was almost as if she’d purred the words. He’d never heard her say his name before and he liked how it sounded. He let his mind wander to what it would be like if she whispered his name against his ear. His thoughts were caught short as he pulled the can away without thinking to return it to his horizontal position. Jersey and Sarah watched as he caught himself before he could pour more than a small amount of the liquid past his lips. Alex grunted as Sarah looked on with eyebrows raised.

“Missed my mouth,” he explained.

“Obviously,” she chuckled light-heartedly.

“It happens,” he mumbled to her letting a smirk play on his lips. Jersey laughed to himself before catching sight of Blake waving him over behind Alex’s shoulder, beckoning the two over. Jersey nudged Sarah’s thin arm with his own and gestured to the other band member. She saw the arm beckoning them and followed as Jersey began to pace the space of the floor. Alex furrowed his eyebrows, curious as to what was going on. “W-Where are you going?” He stammered as he regained Sarah’s attention. She turned back letting their eyes meet before shaking her head lightly.

“Sorry, I dunno. I think Blake wants us all over at the side,” she shrugged in apology. Alex looked over to the lanky boy and watched as Jersey approached him. He nodded in understanding as he turned back to Sarah.

“Well do you think he’d mind me stealing you for a few minutes?” He asked with a small smirk tugging one corner of his mouth upwards. Sarah’s eyebrows rose slightly at the look. She didn’t know why he was so interested in talking to her; she simply sent him a grateful smile, assuming he probably just wanted a friend. Alex took the smile as a sign of acceptance and placed his hand on the small of her back briefly to guide her away from the rest. They left the back stage area and moved to a small patch of grass. Alex turned, sitting himself down on the grass before Sarah turned and did the same.

“So what did you want to talk about?” She asked with a raised eyebrow, pulling at small blades of grass trapped between her fingers. Alex extended his arms behind him, leaning back o his hands as he shrugged his broad shoulders. He bit his lip, racking his brains for an excuse. Honestly, he’d wanted to get her alone and try and charm her before he had to leave and she possibly disappeared into dust. Although he didn’t think this would be a good thing to tell her.

“I just feel like I can relate to you. I heard about Jack helping you,” he lied causing a blush to creep up to her cheeks as she shamefully turned her eyes away. Alex frowned lightly. Although he had successfully managed to spin a lie to a woman he barely knew he didn’t like making her feel embarrassed to be around him. After all, making her shy away wouldn’t help his plan to swoon her. “Hey,” he protested before shifting his weight onto one hand and bringing the other up to pinch her chin lightly. He pulled her face back around forcing her to reluctantly fix her eyes on him. “I told you, I can relate to that,” he began letting his hand drop and leaning back on it once more. “I still get really bad anxiety attacks. I blacked out on stage once,” he half-heartedly chuckled as he himself felt his cheeks burn.

“Really?” Sarah asked out of curiosity. Alex seemed the type of guy to laugh in the face of stage fright, not to suffer from it to such an extent.

“Yep,” he nodded lightly, flicking the hair from his eyes. “It’s just natural. It’ll get easier though, pretty soon too,” he smiled. Sarah sent him a weak smile, returning to the grass she continued to shred as she replied to his words.

“I don’t know about you but I wasn’t always so shy,” she muttered half hoping he wouldn’t hear her. Alex tilted his head to the side as his thick brows creased in curiosity.

“Oh really? What happened?” He asked watching her every move. He noted as she bit down on her lip, grinding it between her front teeth slightly as she fought to continue.

“There was some incident with one of my friends in elementary school,” she began quietly before stopping herself and smiling lightly. She shook her head, a small chuckle escaping her lips as she thought over the events. “It sounds ridiculous,” she commented before Alex interrupted her.

“Sarah nothing’s stupid if it hurts you,” he replied softly. She looked back up to him once again and sent him a soft smile of thanks before continuing.

“Well basically it ended with our whole class laughing at me and my confidence has never been the same,” she sighed before tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. “I know it was a long time ago but everything’s been baby steps since then,” she shrugged. “Honestly my hands go clammy whenever I get handed a mic. Every day on this tour feels like someone’s just out to watch me fall. I just feel like I’m being put on show. All my confidence is an act, I just wish it didn’t have to be.” She frowned. “Sorry,” she apologized. “I don’t know why I’m explaining all this, you must already know what I’m talking about,” she muttered, averting her eyes once again. Alex sent the side of her face a look of understanding before placing a reassuring hand on her lower back. Sarah looked back at the man before noticing it was his hand running soft circles into her skin. She allowed him to do so before looking to his eyes.

“Whatever happened I’m sure whoever’s fault it was, is a complete idiot,” he told her earning a warm smile in return. He could feel his lips attempt a smile but the sinking in his chest weighed it down. Luckily she turned away, admiring the people shuffling around her, doing their jobs just in time to miss the frown that tugged his lips downwards. Alex thought about his previous intentions with the girl, simply using her for his benefit, and couldn’t understand why he had thought of such a plan. He had just listened to Sarah’s true thoughts. Ever since the day he saw her present herself to an audience of hundreds who had possibly never heard of her before he always thought she was the one leading the band on. He was wrong. In reality the band were the ones pushing her out onto the stage. He sighed inwardly and shook his head to himself. He couldn’t have been more wrong.

Both musicians turned their heads up towards a boy running towards them. Sarah had never seen him before, his hair was short, he had a youthful perky look about his face but he was by no means much younger than the man to her left. He slowed his paced before eventually stopping in front of the two.

“Alex, you’re needed. You go on stage in ten,” he explained pointing a thumb over his shoulder towards the stage he had so recently ran from. Alex nodded in understanding as Sarah took to her feet and his hand dropped back to the turf beneath them.

“Sure Grieco,” he muttered in reply sending him a smile before the boy turned and jogged back at a gentle pace in the direction he had come from. Sarah turned and extending a hand out to Alex. He looked at the dainty fingers held out to him and grinned slightly. As if she could lift me he thought to himself. However, being the gentleman he was he took her hand whilst using the other to push himself from the ground. She smiled at him before turning once again and walking in the direction of the stage. He followed not too far behind her forgetting what he previously thought about and admiring the way she carried herself. For a less than confident person her walk was almost a swagger. He let his eyes drop, watching the way her hips swayed with each step causing another grin to make its appearance. That girl looks good in denim.

Alex trotted ahead of her, reaching stage side quickly so he could sling his guitar over his shoulders. Sarah gradually made her way stage side with the rest of her boys. Her arms were folded across her chest as she sent Alex a warm smile. He returned her smile with a toothy grin as she neared the group and stood beside Thomas. Alex turned to Matt seeking his approval to go on stage. Within a few moments the music pumping through the speakers silenced and the boys practically bounded onto the stage. Alex yelled obscene greetings into his microphone as the crowd screamed their hearts out in an attempt to have a member of the quartet on stage hear them above the rest. Alex took a step back from his mic and sent a smile to his friends by the side of the stage that all had impressed looks on their faces. The boys slammed down on their instruments, playing the intro to This Is How We Do. The simple introduction alone was enough to make the crowd scream even louder.