Six Feet Under the Stars

Despite Alex's verbal promises, Jack ended up falling off of the concert stage that night.

It was more of a stumble than an actual fall but my heart skipped in panic when I saw him disappear into the pulsating crowd. One second Jack had been decently playing the riffs to a song about poppin' champagne and the next he was gone. The lyrics were sort of ironic in the whole situation. Of course the girls had shouted, scrambled for a touch of his hair or a graze of his skin.

With wide grins, Alex and Zack had hauled Jack back onto the stage though the fans still continued to squeel at an ear splitting volume. Over the microphone, Alex's crackled laugh sounded, "Sorry. Jack was having a bit too much fun before the show." In reaction to his statement, the girls wolf-whistled. "Yes, I do mean sex." The volume increased exponentially.

Keeping cool under the situation, Jack just shrugged and nodded his head in sheepish agreement. He took a moment to glance at the guitar in his hands which had miraculously stayed clear of any damage. Giving a thumbs-up to a roadie in charge of instruments back stage, Jack scratched a pick down the length of the strings. All Time Low barelled ahead with the song and finished without further incident.

Listening to the lyrics in the number, I noticed something I often felt when listening to All Time Low. It seemed as if the words brought out inside emotions that the band members often could not, or did not, say aloud. That made me wonder if I really knew them at all.

After a moment, the lights in the concert hall dimmed and whining equipment was swapped for acoustic guitars. Alex took a seat down and addressed the crowd, "Well, I hope you don't mind if we slow things down a bit now. It's about ten thousand degrees in here and we're gonna head into something a little slow. I hope I don't fuck things up."

A small laugh escape me and I shook my head at Alex's words. Acoustic guitar soared through the venue and the fans went wild for the band's classic, "Six Feet Under the Stars." I had heard the song in passing a few times, but the sound of Alex's voice enthralled me in the acoustic version of the number. It was truly beautiful.

His singing voice was tender but at the same time exemplified the desperation in the lyrics. It painted the story of a boy thinking he wasn't good enough and then in turn end up messing things up with a girl. Alex closed his eyes for most of the song but in the line about the sweetness of Jaeger a smile quirked at the side of his mouth and he took a moment to glance in my direction.

I was pretty sure he couldn't see my answering grin because of the bright stage lights. But after a few more songs the band ended their set on a high note with the fans; I was pretty sure there were enough panties and bras thrown on stage for the band to open up their own lingerie store. The four boys trotted back stage, high on adrenaline.

A sea of backstage personel assaulted Jack upon his entrance asking if he was hurt from his previous fall. The guitarist answered the curiousity abruptly, but politely and made his way through the chaos over to me. "Are you still drunk?" I questioned, withholding a smile.

Resting a hand on his head, Jack scrunched his face up in deep thought. "I don't think I am but then again you can never be too sure about things like that."

Laughing, I gave him a tight hug around his torso, leaning my face comfortingly against his gray T-shirt. Jack smelt of a dizzying array of alcohol, sweat, and Ralph Lauren cologne. "You were really great out there, Jack. The playing was phenomenal even if you were a little tipsy."

He snorted with laughter, "You did see me fall, right?"

I shook against his chest while trying to hold back my giggles, "Yeah, I saw that. Honestly, I think hundreds of people out there witnessed it too. It'll end up on YouTube, by the way. I hope you know that."

"Damn. Worldwide humiliation." Jack joked easily. "Ah, well. Shit like that's bound to happen sometimes. You just gotta move on and pretend it never happened."

"Good plan."

"Are you being sarcastic?" asked Jack suspiciously, pulling back slightly to look down into my eyes. He had once told me that it was easier to spot liars that way.

I decided not to test his skills and answered honestly, "Yeah, I was just teasing."

After that, the other three band members strolled up with Alex in the lead. Somewhat guiltily, I pulled out of Jack's arms and put some space in between the two of us which caused him to frown momentarily. "Jack! I thought you were Superman. Why didn't you fly off of the stage?" Rain demanded.

The guitarist laughed, "Didn't shed my Clark Kent gear fast enough."

"Damn, that would have been the perfect opportunity for you to reveal your true identity. All the fans and the flashing lights. Perfect media coverage right there."

"I should have thought about it more thoroughly." Jack admitted scratching at his chin as if seriously considering the idea.

Swallowing a gulp of water, Alex shrugged, "Maybe next time."

In a frantic rush, one of the men working security informed us that fans had broken the barrier outside. It was rare to see a bodyguard actually look scared. Nervously, the five of us huddled together and discussed our exit strategy which in a nutshell included running for our lives to a van and hoping no fans tackled anyone on the way out.

Honestly, it had a lot of room for potential disaster.

My heart pounded in my chest as we lined up at the exit door. For a split second, I caught a sullen Dorian's eye from across the stage where he was busy raveling up wires again to pack up from the concert. Shockingly, Alex noticed the silent exchange between me and my ex-boyfriend, and he blocked my view of Dorian with his body. That earned him a grateful smile from me.

A bodyguard had his hand on the bar to open the door, "Ready guys? Just straight out to the van. Don't stop; you might be trampled. Shit, this is like some Beatles flashback." He wiped his sweaty forehead with the back of his hand, "I didn't sign up for this bullshit."

Without warning, he swung the door outwards and pandemonium greeted us from the other side like a sea of screaming monsters. Faces seemed to morph like a fun house as our group sprinted into the battle zone. The girls oustide clawed for a touch of the band and I felt myself being pushed to and fro like I was trapped in the undercurrent of a turbulent ocean unable to escape the waves.

My heart felt like it stopped when I tripped over my feet and fell to the ground. Feet stamped around me like a loose herd of animals on the prowl. Crawling on the black asphalt, I didn't know which way was towards the van and which direction was back to the venue. All I knew was that I had sure as hell better stand back up before I got trampled.

The preoccupied fans were too worried about their idols to notice me struggling to come to the surface below them. It was absolutely terrifying not to have a safe way out and the panic meter in my mind inched upwards. Flip flops and Toms stepped on my fingers as I made whatever progress I could to wherever I was going. I had lost all sense of direction and felt like curling up on the concrete and waiting out the worst of the storm.

Suddenly, there was a body bending down on the ground next to me. My mind was still confused at my current chaotic surroundings to pay much attention to their facial features. All I heard was a voice urging, "Come on, Melanie. We can't stay here. Yeah, that's right; climb up on your feet. Good, just like that."

A hand took hold of mine as girls tried to pull my savior to pieces. There was an external pull dragging me diagonally through the craziness. Somehow the forces outside were blocked and I was in the back seat of a car in total shock, my jaw hanging open slightly.

Rian took a brochure advertising Seattle's nightlife and fanned my face with it, "Breathe."

I did.

"God, she really doesn't look good. She's pale as shit. It's just like that one time when she just collapsed in between those tour buses. Does anybody have some water?" A somewat frazzled voice rambled from around me.

"Did everyone make it okay?" For some reason my brain distinctly remembered Zack asking the concerning question.

There were scattered replies from inside the vehicle as I struggled to get my mental processes back in order. I felt like a computer modem shutting down and then having to reboot to retain any working order.

Like a machine, I assessed the injuries I had sustained from the fall. My fingers felt a little swollen from the stomping shoes and throbbed somewhat uncomfortably. My knee stung sharply which led me to believe it was a bloody mess from the result of friction and force. Scuffs on my hand bit rawly into my palms like uncooked meat. However, I was more concerned about my emotional distress rather than the physical.

The previous swarm of fans had been too much to deal with. I had never looked that sort of insanity and uproar in the face. It was almost like I had stumbled out onto a battlefield without any training or armor to fall back on. I had only myself to rely on to make it through the chaos.

Immediately after that thought, I realized I had just lied to myself. I not only had myself to rely on, but someone had been there for me. Someone had stopped and made sure I was okay. They had helped me despite the risk of injury to themselves. Their soothing words had guided me through the mess and back into safety.

After a few minutes of silent musing, I realized I still had a death grip on that someone's hand and was leaning for support on their shoulder while squished in the back seat of the car. My knuckles were death white as I studied them and the way they were intertwined with another's masculine hands.

My brain computed in the details one by one. The callouses on the fingers and palms. The warm temperature of the skin. The pulse I somehow could feel racing mine. While my mind began to feel normal again, I followed the trail of fingers up to lean, almost skinny arms, and then a set of hunched shoulders.

My eyes took in the concerned set of my savior's mouth and the way the pink turned slightly down at the corners. Trailing upwards, a sizeable nose loomed into the figure and then a set of eyes that gauged me for any sort of reaction that would relieve the possibility of a mental breakdown on the horizon.

And then my rescuer spoke, "You scared me half to death back there, Melanie. One second you were there and the next you were on the ground. I thought you were a goner for sure."

It was Jack.