Running From Lions.

Sweat dripped down Alex’s forehead and he could feel his eyes prickling as they began to water, but he held the smoke in his lungs for as long as he possibly could, until he exhaled just before they felt like they would burst. With a cough he laughed and looked at the three other faces watching him carefully, each with anxious looks on their faces.
“See? It’s fun!” He exclaimed, over excitedly. Zack shook his head as he stood up, “I don’t think so, bro. Thanks, but no thanks.” He said before disappearing into the bunk area. Alex sighed. “Fuck you, then” He mumbled to himself while he ran his finger in circles around the mouthpiece of the bong sat between his legs. He didn’t even need to look up to know what looks would be on Rian and Jacks faces; he knew he was on a road to nowhere. With a sigh he turned to the boy sat on the sofa in front of him, “Rian? What about you?” He asked hopefully, already knowing the answer that he’d receive. As expected, Rian also stood up and shook his head before following Zack’s lead and getting in his own bunk.

That left just Alex and Jack alone sat on the carpeted floor with the multicoloured glass bong now placed between them.
“Dude, I don’t know if this-” Started Jack calmly, But Alex cut him off with a laugh.
Looking puzzled, Jack went on “This isn’t a fucking game, Alex.” Seeing the older boy take no notice and continue to laugh he shook his head, he sighed, “This is our life you’re fucking with here.”
They both knew he wasn’t just talking about the pot anymore.
“Fuck off, Jack” Alex snapped back, “Everybody knows you’re not perfect so you can stop the stupid act now.”

During the tense few minutes of silence that followed, Alex picked up a lighter and took another long hit before leaning back against the uncomfortable grey couch. Jack mumbled something to himself and with a sigh, he moved to sit next to him. There wear a few more minutes of silence except for the sounds of the bus hitting bumps in the road and other passing traffic.
“Why are you doing this?” Asked Jack, his voice now calm.
“Doing what?” Alex snapped back, knowing exactly what.
“First the crappy performances; forgetting your lyrics and fucking up the timing. Then the drinking every night until you can hardly stand... and now this? Drugs? Why are you doing it? People are noticing Alex...the other guys, Rian, Zack... Matt. Hell, our fans are even noticing.”
Alex laughed. “I’m not doing anything Jack, I’m Alex remember? I’m inde-fucking-structible.”

Jack suddenly remembered a conversation the two boys had a couple of weeks back when they’d all been hanging out on the Forever The Sickest Kids bus, which soon turned into a party and everybody got completely wrecked, including Jack and Alex. They’d decided to leave the party when people were beginning to pass the boundaries of “fun” drunk and move into the stage of “throwing up, getting naked and trying your chances with anybody within reach” drunk.
When they’d got back to the bus, they were the only people there and instead of heading straight to their bunks, they’d decided to chill out for a while, both collapsing on the couch. They were messing around and joking when suddenly they found themselves kissing.

This wasn’t an unusual thing, they often shared drunken kisses, but both boys knew it was something more than that. The kiss went from light and friendly to desperate and longing, until they were a mess of lips, tongues and teeth, hands roaming over the new, previously untouched skin of the other boy.

Eventually, Jack had controlled his hormones and pulled away, but a few seconds later and he knew there would have been no stopping it. It had felt so wrong, but so right at the same time and it’d left both boys confused and breathless. Neither of them were sure who had made the first move, but they’d put it down to the alcohol and wordlessly agrees to move on and forget it ever happened before retiring to their bunks for remainder of the night.
The next morning wasn’t as awkward and uncomfortable as Jack had expected, but it seemed he couldn’t avoid talking about what had happened when Alex brought it up in conversation while they were sat back on the same couch eating breakfast.
“We should just forget about it.” Jack had concluded, wanting to stop talking about it and change the subject. Alex on the other hand, perseviered with the subject.
“What if I can’t forget?” He mumbled.
“You’ll get over it, you’re Alex Gaskarth, remember? You’re indestructible!”
Looking back, it probably wasn’t the most tactful thing to say when Alex was visibly upset, but he’d just wanted to stop talking about it completely and if that meant pissing Alex off then that’s what he’d have to do. Not only was his thoughtless joke the reason that Alex ignored him for the next two days, but it was also the start of Alexs’ strange and out of character behaviour.

Jack turned to Alex and there was an awkward moment where they both realised they were remembering the same thing.
“I’m sorry,” Jack mumbled, breaking the silence, before looking down at the floor.
“No... I’m sorry,” Alex mumbled in reply, “I’ll cut down on the drink... and the weed. It was just for a bit of fun, nothing serious.”
Jack looked up and tried to force himself to return the over-friendly smile Alex was giving him which was probably supposed to comfort him in some way, but did quite the opposite.
“It’s cool man.... It’s cool.” Replied Jack was a sigh before pulling himself up into a standing position, giving a half-hearted wave at the older boy and walking the same way Rian and Zack had previously. He needed to spend some alone time in his bunk sorting this all out in his head.

Alex found himself alone, with that familiar tight feeling in his chest he’d been getting for weeks every time Jack wasn’t with him. Only, it wasn’t his chest that hurt, it was his heart. With a sigh he reached over for the bong that was still in its previous position on the floor. Shrugging, he got his lighter out again and took another long hit to calm himself down.
“What Jack doesn’t know won’t hurt him.” He mumbled to himself, exhaling the smoke.

And, he didn’t know how wrong he was.