I Love Your Bubblegum Smile

“Where the fuck is my tie?”

Harley’s ears must have been playing tricks on her. After all, nobody in All Time Low even owned a tie, let alone wore one on any occasion.

She listened carefully but heard nothing, so she returned her attention back to the paperback novel in her hand. “

Where the bloody fuck is my tie?!”

No, there was definitely someone going on about a tie. And by the sound of it, that someone was attempting horribly at an angry British accent. Harley attempted to ignore it, but curiosity got the best of her.

She found herself bookmarking her page, before pushing herself away from the comfort of the hotel’s bedding. There was nobody else in her room, and though the noise was distant and muffled, it was still annoying.

Harley did not even bother to slip on some shoes, before walking out into the hallway of the floor of their hotel. She stood in the hallway for a minute, taking in the dark green carpeting that stretched for miles and the tens of doors that lined the area.

The complaints seemed to be coming from the room next to hers, which just happened to be Alex’s room.

Harley knew she shouldn’t interfere with Alex—after all, Alex and Harley didn’t have the best history—but curiosity got the best of her and she found herself raising her fist to come in contact with the hardwood of his suite door.

“What?!” An irritated voice shouted, and Harley considered leaving.

After all, if Alex was in a pissy mood, she did not want to be the one to deal with it. She began to leave but was interrupted as the door flung open. At first, Harley thought she had knocked on the wrong door.

After all, the boy in front of her could definitely not be Alex. His ginger hair was sticking up in a million different directions at an attempt to be combed back, his tattooed arms were covered in a completely wrinkled dress shirt, a navy blue tie decorated with what appeared to be flamingos was haphazardly strewn across his neck in an attempt to be tied, rolled up dress pants adorned his legs and mismatching socks clung to his feet.

He looked like an absolute mess, and it was hilarious. Harley found herself collapsing into a fit of laughter upon seeing him, which only aggravated Alex further.

“What?” He repeated.

“What happened to you?” Harley asked breathlessly upon regaining enough of her breath to form a proper sentence.

“I don’t fucking know!” He hissed, flinging the door open and storming into the room, indicating to Harley that she should follow.

Harley stepped into the room, before closing the door gently behind her. Alex’s suitcase was perched at the side of the room, its contents strewn across the floor.

“All I know is that Kara fucking abducted Lisa, and the next thing I know, Lisa’s coming back to me saying that we need to have more fucking ‘alone time’. And I’m like whatthefuck? Apparently, we haven’t had a date in a really long time, so I offered to take her to the movies. Of course she has to be fucking difficult and now we’re going to some fucking five star restaurant, I have no fucking idea what to wear, I have no fucking idea what to say and I’m going to make a fucking idiot of myself because I don’t know how to fucking act normally!” He ranted exasperatedly.

Once he had finished, he collapsed on the bed angrily. Harley opened her mouth, but closed it again upon realizing her options. She was probably going to regret this in the future, but Alex looked so desperate with his large shining brown eyes and rumpled shirt.

“I could help you if you want…” Harley trailed off, meeting Alex’s confused gaze.

“What?”

“Well, I could help you get ready and stuff.”

“I don’t…” Alex trailed off, not bothering to finish his sentence but instead sighing in defeat.

“First off, your shirt is way too wrinkled. Don’t you know how to iron?” Harley asked, and upon receiving a helpless look from Alex, she sighed. “Hand me the iron and the ironing board in the closet.” Alex smiled tentatively, before walking to the closet and retrieving the items she had asked for.

“I need to iron your shirt.” Harley said, and Alex swiftly unbuttoned his shirt before handing it to her.

Their fingers grazed, causing Harley to blush and look away, looking anywhere but Alex’s now shirtless chest.

The room was hot, and the air condition was turned off. Harley stood in shorts and a faded glamour kills t-shirt, feeling the sweat gather underneath her collar. She waited patiently for the iron to heat up, before straightening out the shirt sleeves and ironing them.

The room was silent as Alex watched Harley skilfully iron his shirt. Steam puffed from the cheap hotel iron, and when Harley looked up again, she almost burned her hand in surprise.

Alex stood in his boxers, holding his pants in his hands as though it was the most natural thing in the world.

“What are you doing?” Harley sputtered out, averting her eyes and setting down the iron before she managed to burn her arm off.

“Taking off my pants,” noticing her bewildered expression, he continued, “I have to iron these too, don’t I?”

Realizing that this was a perfectly valid point, Harley returned her eyes to the shirt in front of her and began to iron.

But he was right there. Alex was right in front of her, standing only in his underwear. He was right there.

Temptation riddled her mind, as Harley attempted to concentrate on the plaid design of the ironing board. She couldn’t help herself. She was a girl, after all. Harley bit her lip, but gave in her internal war as her eyes slowly began to snake towards Alex.

His eyes met hers as he smirked and watched her take in his appearance. She immediately blushed, before returning her gaze to the ironing board. They were charcoal gray boxers.

He was wearing charcoal gray boxers.

Harley’s fingers trembled as she handed Alex his pressed shirt and repeated the gesture with his pants. Harley averted her eyes as he slipped on the clothing, slowly buttoning his shirt at an agonizing pace. He tucked in his shirt and pulled on a clean pair of black socks.

“Do you have dress shoes?” Harley asked, walking over to his suitcase to see one thing and one thing only—piles of sneakers.

“No,” Alex called guiltily, before muttering something under his breath. Harley glanced at the clock and realized that there wouldn’t be enough time to go to the outlet mall across the street.

“You’re going to have to wear your Nikes.” Harley sighed, before selecting a pair of white and black Nikes and handing them to Alex. “Do you have a tie?”

He shook his head once again. Harley sighed, before getting an idea.

“I’ll be right back.” She said, before padding barefoot to the room across the hall. Knocking swiftly, Harley waited as the door swung open.

Matt Flyzik—the tour manager—had lazily opened the door, a Mickey Mouse t-shirt in hand. Harley ignored the fact that he was shirtless, and walked in. Vinny Vegas—one of the other guys who worked in merch and Danny Kurily the guitar tech were sprawled across the bed watching a sitcom.

“What’s up?” Matt asked, following her inside.

“Do any of you guys have a tie? This is an emergency.” They sent her shrugs, before returning to the television. “Guys, Alex is in dress pants and a button down, and I need a tie ASAP.”

“Holy shit!” Danny laughed, practically springing off the bed at the new information. “Alex in a suit, I’ve got to see this!” He began to walk towards the door, but was stopped as Harley grabbed his arm and pulled him backwards.

“No!” She barked, “Alex is already nervous enough. He doesn’t need any other people making fun of him. All I need to know is if you any of you guys have a tie.”

“Yeah, I have one. I had to go to my mother’s fiftieth birthday in Seattle a few weeks ago” Danny said, walking towards a pile of clothing that lay in the corner. “Blue or black?”

“Blue.” Harley said, watching him as he rifled through the clothing.

“Here,” he said, producing a navy blue silk tie. Harley thanked him, as he laughed.

“No problem, but I want the pictures of Alex.” He winked and she smiled before leaving.

Walking back to Alex’s room, she held the tie in her hand triumphantly. Alex looked up from the bed, and almost broke his arm getting off the bed as he rushed towards her.

“I can’t fucking tie this thing.” He grunted, gesturing towards the tie as though it was snake about to be wrapped around his neck until he choked.

“Let me help...” Harley sighed, before pulling the hideous flamingo tie off his collar. “Stand up straight.” She said, and wrapped the tie loosely around his collar, before tying it nimbly around his neck.

“This is too”—breath—“fucking tight.” Alex choked out, gasping for air dramatically. Harley laughed, but only loosened the tie slightly. Running her fingers through his hair, Harley quickly, smoothed it down so it was bordering controllable.

“There,” Harley said proudly, eyeing her work appreciatively. “Lisa will be a very happy girl.”

Alex walked towards the mirror, before smiling widely and turning sideways, checking himself out.

“This is sick.” He laughed, patting the now-smooth shirt.

“Is that a good thing?” Harley asked, attempting to decode Alex’s boy-code.

“Yeah,” he said, winking at himself in the mirror. Harley scoffed, but decided not to say anything as Alex straightened his tie. “That is a very good thing.”

“I’m glad,” Harley retorted, letting an odd silence fill the air as Alex continued to appreciate himself in the mirror. “I’m gonna go now...” Harley began her journey towards the door but quickly halted upon hearing Alex’s voice.

“No!” He cried, like a small child calling to his mother. “I need you!” Harley turned around, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion as her brown hair swayed into her vision. “I need you to come with me on my date. I can’t do this alone.”

Alex sounded so vulnerable, just like on the night when he and Lisa were getting back together.

“I can’t Alex,” Harley sighed, pushing her hair back, “You need to do this on your own. I don’t want to be the third wheel.”

“You can invite Travis!” Alex blurted out, wondering why he had done such a thing. “He is your boyfriend after all, right?”

“Yes...” Harley hesitated, suddenly feeling uncomfortable in the small hotel room.

A hotel room which was not hers. She glanced around, noticing the large bed, the two suitcases that laid open on the carpet. One was almost empty, plain and black while the other was hot pink with lighter pink polka dots that was filled to the brim with anything from silk to cotton to cashmere. Harley could make an accurate guess that the latter belonged to Lisa. Harley’s eyes returned to Alex, who was waiting for an answer.

“I’m not sure Travis would be okay with going.”

“It’s just a double date.” Alex persisted, the corners of his lips pressing downwards. “It’s only for a few hours.” He watched Harley carefully, “I really need your help.”

“Fine,” Harley sighed, before looking at Alex warily. “But you are going to have to give me a few minutes to change.”

“You look fine in that.” Alex mumbled, but nodded his head.

“Good,” Harley stated, before whipping out her cell phone and punching in the numbers that had been given to her a few days before.

“Hi Travis?” She asked, once the phone had been picked up. “I need you to do me a favor...”