Shining Star

Alex stared at the calendar with a wide grin. Today was the first of February. And February meant Valentines Day. Alex always loved Valentines, especially with his long term boyfriend, Rian. It wasn’t really the gift of presents or anything, was just an excuse to be more intimate with Rian.

He smiled, remembering the last Valentines Day. Rian had bought him tickets to the Ravens game, and Alex had been so excited. He knew Rian wasn’t into football as much as he was, but he’d still made the effort to come.

At this point Rian walked in, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

“Morning.” He greeted his boyfriend, giving him a kiss on the cheek. He immediately moved towards the coffee maker, something Alex had gotten him last Valentines. As he grabbed a mug and stuck it under the machine, Alex wandered over and snaked his arms round the muscular body of the younger man.

“Guess what?” Alex whispered, which Rian only faintly heard over the sounds of the coffee maker.

“What?” He asked, concentrating on the coffee.

“It’s February!” came the excited reply, but Rian merely shrugged.

“And?” He pulled the coffee out, turning to face the confused looking Alex.

“February means Valentines Day...” Alex replied slowly, wondering if Rian forgot. But instead of Rian grinning like he usually did, he just shrugged again.

“Valentines Day is of no interest to me. It’s a ridiculous holiday, why should anybody have to spend money on just one day of the year for their loved one? It’s all about consumerism.”

Alex stared at him, open mouthed. Rian had always been into Valentines Day since the first one they’d had together. And that was what, five years ago?

Rian saw the look on his boyfriend’s face and sighed, putting the coffee cup down and taking Alex’s hands. He looked into the elder boy’s eyes and smiled gently.

“Baby, just because I don’t believe in Valentines Day anymore doesn’t mean I don’t love you anymore. I just don’t want to be a part of the ridiculous consumerism fad that this holiday is.”

Alex nodded, not really comforted. He moved away, out of Rian’s hold.

“Come on, we have band practice.”

- - - - - -

Tensions were rather strained at practice. Jack and Zack could tell something had gone on by the way Alex kept missing notes, and they looked over to Rian for help. He shrugged, and both sighed.

“Hey, maybe it’s a good idea we practice another time, yeah?” Zack suggested, pulling his bass strap over his head, taking it off. “You’ve obviously got stuff on your mind, Lex. D’you want to talk about it?”

“No, no, no.” Alex replied, shaking himself. “I can do this.”

“Alex, you’ve already broken several strings already. This isn’t even a show, this is practice for a tour.” Jack had also taken his guitar off, and he made his way over to his best friend. “We’ll practice later. Come on man, give me your guitar. I’ll sort out the strings for you.”

Alex hesitated, but gave in, slipping his guitar off and handing it over to his best friend. The younger boy gave him a reassuring smile, before walking off with Zack, leaving Alex alone with Rian. Silence filled the room before Rian spoke.

“I didn’t know you’d be this affected by my decision. It’s just Valentines Day, we can use any other day to express our feelings.”

At this, Alex rounded on Rian, walking right over to him so that the only thing that separated the two was the drumset. Tears streaked down Alex’s face, and he glared at his boyfriend.
“JUST Valentines Day?” He yelled, ignoring the fact that Jack and Zack were only in the next room. “You fully well know Valentines Day is OUR day. We spend most of our year busy with tour, with focusing on albums, and even if we’re on tour, Valentines is the one day where we can calm down and make it fucking special.”

And with that, he stormed off, out of the hall they’d been practicing in, out of the venue, towards home. He knew he was being somewhat irrational, there was truth in Rian’s thoughts, but Valentines was always a tradition for them both. It was fun to plan for it and fun to see the delight in Rian’s face when he saw his present. That brilliant, pearly white smile.

The one that made his heart rise with love for the drummer.

Oh well. There was always Christmas, right? Just 10 months to go. He sighed, calming down a little as the house came into view. He’d get over it. If Rian didn’t want to celebrate, well, that was his choice. Alex wouldn’t force him into pretending to like it again. Arriving at the house, he walked in, slamming the door behind him and throwing off his jacket.

Maybe he’d just give Rian something. That wouldn’t be a bad thing, he’d have to open it if he’d bought it, right? Sighing, Alex sat down on the couch, glancing at the magazines on the table. All based on Valentines Day. Maybe it was a bit overdone. He shook his head, thinking it was going to be a long two weeks.

- - - - -

Actually, the weeks went by quite fast. There were still tensions between Alex and Rian that even the crew had caught onto, but nothing to provoke another reaction from Alex. The 13th saw them play a show in Baltimore, their hometown, and Alex was very much the showman he always was. As soon as he was off the stage though, he slumped back into the uneasy person he’d been this month. Nothing was said as everyone went back home.

The guys were having the day off for Valentines, as Rian and Alex weren’t the only couple.
The crew were with their respective girlfriends, while Zack and Jack were off together too.

As Alex woke the next day, he glanced over to Rian, who was still sleeping. Silently, he slipped out of bed, making his way downstairs to the kitchen. He was determined there would be some sort of tradition and that started with the first of them to wake up, gets breakfast. Switching on the stove, he set about making breakfast. He’d just laid down the last piece of bacon on the plate when he heard the thud upstairs. Grinning, he grabbed the tray of food and made his way upstairs, where he was met by a surprised Rian on the floor.

“Fell out of bed again?” Alex asked, trying not to laugh.

“Shut the fuck up.” Rian muttered, pulling himself up back onto the bed. It was then he noticed the tray, and his expression softened. “You didn’t have to, you know...”

“I wanted to.” Alex replied, his smile slipping. Placing the tray down on Rian’s lap, he walked round to the other side of the bed, glancing at the tray as it slipped a little. “Careful.”

Rian nodded, tilting the tray back onto his lap. Picking up a slice of toast, he took a bite, and then grinned as he noticed an envelope peeping out from underneath his plate.

“Couldn’t resist, could you?” He laughed, putting his toast back down and picking up the envelope. Alex’s expression didn’t change as his boyfriend opened the envelope, and pulled out a card. Two pieces of paper fluttered out from the card, and Rian’s eyes widened as he caught sight of it. Ignoring the card, he grabbed the pieces of paper in shock.

“You bought us two tickets to Thailand?! What for?”

Alex finally smiled, and leaned over to kiss Rian gently.

“It’s Valentines, isn’t it? I want this for you.” Rian hesitated, and then turned to Alex.

“But...you know how I feel about Valentines now.” His boyfriend shrugged, and got out of bed, grabbing a shirt and pulling it over his head.

“Doesn’t mean I can’t still give you something. I know you didn’t get me anything. Don’t worry.” And with that, he walked out of the room, grabbing a pair of skinny jeans on the way, leaving Rian alone with the tickets and food.

- - - -

The day dragged on for Alex after that. Rian had left in a bit of a hurry, telling Alex he was meeting up with a friend and then had run out the door. Alex was a bit hurt, he knew Valentines Day didn’t mean anything to his boyfriend anymore but Rian didn’t seem to even care. Alex had spent so long saving for those tickets. And all for Rian to run out the door and meet a friend.

Alex had just gone upstairs after that, and had been lying in bed for the past few hours, just staring into space. He knew it would be a better idea to start sleeping, considering how much less sleep he’d be getting on tour tomorrow, but every time his eyes started drooping, he remembered Rian’s face as he’d run out the door. He’d looked harassed, worried, and nervous. Maybe Alex had gone a bit too far with those tickets, but they’d been dating for the past five years, it wasn’t like he’d gone too fast.

Miserably, Alex finally fell asleep, having awful nightmares of Rian leaving him.

- - - -

He was woken up again by the sound of a sharp tap on the window. Opening his eyes tiredly, he shifted round to look at the window, wondering if a bird had flown into it. This actually had happened once. But no, it wasn’t a bird. He heard another tap again, and saw the stone which had hit the window falling.

Moving out of bed, he went over and opened the window, glancing out at the back yard, which was empty. Grunting in annoyance, he moved to go close the window again, but was interrupted by the sound of music. And not just any music either.

Alex almost laughed as Rian appeared in the yard, grinning as the notes of the first song they’d had on their first date floated round.

“What the fuck are you doing?” He asked, and Rian just grinned more.

“Alexander William Gaskarth, you didn’t SERIOUSLY think for one minute I would miss Valentines Day and call it consumerism, did you?”

Alex blinked, confused.

“But you said all that, and you ran out today....you didn’t correct me when I yelled at you.”

“That was a cover.” Came the reply.

“A cover for what?”

At this point, Rian laughed a little, and actually went down on one knee.

“For this. Alex Gaskarth, my shining star, will you marry me?”

Alex almost fell out of the window with shock. He stared at Rian, loving, caring, beautiful Rian, and laughed.

“YES! YES. OF COURSE I WILL.” He yelled, and Rian grinned, standing up as Alex disappeared out of sight, reappearing a few minutes later running out of the back door.
Catching his boyfriend as he jumped, Rian laughed again.

“I love you. I’m sorry for how I’ve been. It would have ruined the surprise.”

“I don’t care.” Alex mumbled, attempting to hug Rian as hard as he could. “I love you too, this is the best Valentines Day ever.”