Drowning in a River of Denial

“You have to tell someone,” I urged. Alex shook his head vehemently.

“No. It’s not a big deal,” Alex insisted.

“It is, Alex. Someone is watching you. That’s not something to just hide. It could get more serious,” I said softly.

“I doubt it will,” he replied just as softly. We were on the plane to England, to start our European tour. I was excited, to be honest. We’d spent a lot of time recently out of the country and it was just an amazing experience every time. It was a dream come true. Who thought that Alex, Jack, Zack and I could’ve made it this far? We certainly wouldn’t have been able to do it without each other or our crew. We don’t thank them all too often, but they deserve our deepest gratitude. They helped us, kept us together. They made sure that everything ran smoothly while we tried to make everything fall apart. If it weren’t for them, there’d be no us, no All Time Low.

“Alex,” I said, contemplating my next move. Possibly begging.

“Rian, it’s. It’s nothing. They haven’t done anything bad to me. They haven’t threatened me or you. They’re just, watching.”

“Which is creepy and illegal! You could tell the police and-”

“But they haven’t harmed me!” he snapped. I sighed and rubbed my face with my hand.

“I’m sorry. I’m just, I’m worried about you. I don’t want you to get hurt, baby.”

He smiled, just a small twitch of his lips.

“I like when you call me baby,” he yawned. I lifted the arm rest between us and then let Alex snuggle into me. He pulled the airplane-provided blanket over him and fell quickly into a peaceful sleep. I stared down at Alex’s dark brown hair, falling in his face.

“Pssssssst,” I heard from somewhere to my right.

“What do you want, Jack?”

“I’m bored.”

“Shut up,” Evan growled from beside the guitarist. I noticed that Evan’s eyes were closed and he was leaned back, trying to sleep.

“Nooooo. I’m boooored,” Jack whined.

“Grab my bag out of the overhead,” I said. He stood up and opened the overhead cabinet. He pulled my bag out and set it on my lap. I unzipped it and pawed through it. I finally pulled out the coloring book I packed just for Jack and then the crayons. I zipped the bag back up and handed it to Jack. He stuffed it back overhead. Once he was sat, I handed over the Superhero coloring book and crayons. He grinned and started right away. I settled back down, holding Alex close. I dropped a kiss into the top of his head, breathing in the scent of his shampoo and closing my eyes. I fell asleep easily, just as I always did when he was in my arms.