Six Feet Under the Stars

The greasy, fatty, artery-clogging hangover cure Jack concocted had rendered me completely immobile.

Clutching my overstuffed stomach, I groaned loudly and laid back trying to keep my food down where it belonged. I feared if I shifted too much, or made any sudden movements, the bacon and eggs would make their way out where over the concrete under me.

Alex lifted my Converse off the ground and then clunked it back onto the cement. "Yep. Just as I thought; she's dead."

I leaned to whack his arm, but didn't want to push the amount of mobility I used so I gave up on that idea quickly. "Just... go away."

"Good one. Really, the best comeback I've heard." Alex told me sarcastically.

Rolling my eyes, I focused on the story Rian was telling from the other side of the tour bus outside: "-- running and then the paintball just zoomed past my head. I swear it was going like a hundred miles an hour. I sprinted behind a wall and dodged another red paintball just barely, like it almost clipped my nose. And then the guy--."

Jack groaned loudly and fell back from my right side, landing next to me. He faced the stars, mimicking my body language, and then shifted his head towards me. "Hi."

"What's up?"

"Sick and tired of being sick and tired with Rian's paintball stories." He told me with a slight smirk. "I have a feeling he exaggerates everything about what happened."

Just as he finished that sentence, Rian's voice volume grew a little louder, telling an exciting part of the tale. "A whole ambush team came up to me with their guns firing. I had to do this crazy flip to avoid everything--."

"Definitely lying." I agreed, whispering to Jack.

He smiled and replied under his breath, "It's kind of funny though."

"I think so too." My voice was even softer than before.

"Hey, you two swapping secrets over there?" Alex regarded us curiously, looking a little sad being left out of the conversation.

"Yeah. I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you. Melanie is the only exception to the rule." Jack spoke to Alex, but kept eye contact with me. Laughter twinkled within the depths of his eyes.

"The only exception." I repeated for emphasis, nodding.

Alex pouted with puppy dog eyes as Jack and I broke down in quiet laughter in our little bubble of a civilization. "He's so needy." I joked.

"Gotta deal with it, I guess." When Jack shrugged, his T-shirt audibly scraped against the pavement. He added with a laugh, "And I have to tell you; there's a mosquito on your nose."

My eyes grew wide. "Well, get it off."

Taking his index finger, Jack tapped the point of my nose. "It's gone now. I think it flew away before I could kill it though."

"Well, it gets to live another night."

"Lucky bug."

I shook with soft laughter, "Your finger was strange, by the way."

"How so?" Jack looked amused.

"Very coarse. Must be the guitar playing."

He splayed his fingers out in front of me. "Yeah, it's the calluses. I've had them for years now and they're not going away. Playing so much keeps them built up. Honestly, I love how they feel. It makes me think I've accomplished something with my life."

I spread my fingers out too and placed them on his. Mine were dwarfed by his palms in comparison. "You already have with All Time Low. I mean, that's a lot to be proud of. Your playing always sort of amazes me."

"Really?" He sounded skeptical.

"Well, I guess me and about a million other girls. But seriously, you're really talented." I complimented him sincerely and watched a smile form on his lips.

"Thanks. That really means a lot coming from you because I know you're into some pretty sick bands. Your music taste is pretty kickass."

I laughed, "Thank you."

There was a tug at my shoelaces. Following the pull, my eyes met Alex's and his eyes were wide and seemingly endless. "Wanna go for a walk?"

"Sure." I replied, readily. "Sorry to leave you, Jackie. Hold down the fort until I get back."

"Will do." He saluted me while I carefully climbed to my feet.

When Alex threaded his fingers through mine the whole company around us wolf-whistled and hollared phrases that jumbled together into a collective mumble. Trying to appear uneffected we walked away at a normal pace, though we both blushed facing where only the two of us could see.

The silence between us wasn't peaceful; it seemed tense and strange. Alex kept a mask on but I could tell something was bothering him below the surface. My mind wandered off on ideas, wondering if the touring was getting too much or if Caitlyn had contacted him again with more about her baby on the way.

I squeezed his fingers, "What's wrong?"

"If I ask you something, will you tell me the truth?"

That took me aback. "Of course."

"I'm serious. One hundred percent honest. I don't care if it'll hurt me; I want to know." His voice was deadly serious and laden with worry.

Immediately, I became anxious. "Yeah, I promise."

"Okay." He stopped walking in the middle of two RVs a good distance away from the tour bus site. "Is something going on between you and Jack?"

I nearly laughed. "Of course not. Are you crazy?"

Alex breathed a hesitant sigh of relief. "Maybe. But, I mean, just back over by the bus it looked like you guys were getting along really well and having a good talk."

"We were." I told him. "But that's because we're friends."

"And... you're not lying?" The apprehension in his eyes I found sweet.

"No, I'm not. I'm telling you the truth." Resting my hands around his neck, I looked up into Alex's eyes, "Don't be jealous."

"I'm not jealous." Alex tried to deny huffily.

"Whatever you say." I smiled to myself. "Now, I think I left my keys down by the lake. Can you help me find them? I would go down there by myself, but I don't want a bear to kill me."

"Grizzly or black bear?" He questioned, pulling me in the direction of the guardrail.

"Hell if I know." was my quick reply, earning me a chuckle from Alex.

And just that easily, the air between us had cleared and the familiar feeling of comfort and lust began to encompass us once more. It was good to have things back to normal. I hated it when things with Alex and I were off. It was so uncomfortably painful not to be on the same track as him.

Scaling the side of the embankment, we slowly made our way down in the pitch black keeping our hands connected only partially for safety. The lake looked just how we left it; dark, blue, and alone. The footprints from our last journey wound up a good twenty feet away from where we stood now.

Pointing his cellphone light down, Alex searched the ground for my key ring. "Are you sure you had it down here?"

"No."

Alex turned and stared at me. "Then why did you--?" My lips cut his question short. "Oh, I see."

Gripping my hips tightly, Alex kissed me as hard as he ever had which momentarily stupefied me. Frozen under his mouth, he took the advantage to hike his hand halfway up my T-shirt and by the time my body had loosened, I was pulling the rest of the material over my head for him.

A hand trailed down my chest lingering over the lace bra harnessing in my breasts. Fingers twirled the black bow connecting the two halves of the undergarment together and my breath came faster as Alex's lips trailed under my chin and down my neck. Somewhere along the way, his shirt came off and then a part of my jeans as we moved our lewd activities to the floor of the forest.

Alex planted kisses in strategic locations down from my chest to my bare stomach, to my hips where the top of my jeans rested half-way unbuttoned. I could only focus on breathing in and out as the denim was stripped from my legs for the second time that night.

When I looked down at Alex, I caught an animalistic gleam in his eyes that reminded me of a feral beast. Soon the two of us were completely naked and Alex leaned over me letting his hands map out my topography. I grabbed one of his hands and kissed the palm fiercely as his hair brushed against my forehead tickilishly.

Our heartbeats aligned up together as he laid fully on top of me. I was ready and I knew he was too, but for some reason he held back from me. I kissed his forehead, "Alex," my lips moved to his temple, "come," then my mouth touched his cheek and chin, "on."

His eyes, black orbs of obsidion, loomed from over me. "Melanie, I don't have a condom."

The heat inside me was almost at its peak. Indecision clouded my mind, but the lust coarsing through every vein in my body dulled the logical part of my brain. The responsible thing would be for us to call off these spur of the moment actions and wait until we had some contraceptives. That's what I would do, the left half of my brain told me sternly.

Unfortunately, I favored the right hand side of my mind. Nearly breathless, I dug my nails into his bare back. "I don't care. Do it anyway." With a strong thrust of the hips, Alex pushed inside of me.