Private Universe

It had taken me at least ten minutes to recover from my crying. I was feeling so much worse because I really had wanted to avoid crying in front of Alex. No one needed to see it. He'd done well though. He never said anything he just let me cry. When I was finally able to breath I looked up into his face and he smiled at me.

"Better?" He asked.

"Not really. But I will be." I rested my head on his chest. "Thanks."

"Anytime."

We sat there in silence until his manager found us and I could tell he had been stressed out of his mind. I'm sure he was freaking out that he couldn't find the singer to the band he was managing. It made me smile at how frazzled and crazy he looked.

"Shit. There you are." He said opening the door. "What the hell have you been doing?"

"I've been here. What's the problem?" Alex said.

"No problem. I just need you."

"For what?"

"I don't know. I just know that I was suppose to find you."

I looked at Alex just as he rolled his eyes and smiled. "Well, unless you can tell me what it's about, I'm a bit busy."

The manager looked at me and I could only assume my make up was running down my face. "Oh. I see."

"I'll be on stage at the right time. Don't worry."

"Fine. But please get into the damn venue soon. The rest of the guys are ready to kill me because it's apparently my fault I lost you. Why didn't you answer your phone?" He asked.

"I left it on the bus. I spaced it. I'm sorry. We'll head in there soon."

The manager left slamming the door a little too hard and I took a deep breath. "Let's go." I said.

"Are you sure? I don't care if we play two hours late. I will reschedule." He said searching my face.

"No. You already had to cancel the last show. Don't piss off these fans. They've already showed up. Don't disappoint them."

"Fine. But you're staying back stage. No way in hell are you helping set up on stage."

I nodded. That was more than enough. "And stay with someone. Until we finish our set stay with someone. Preferably, I would like it to be Taylor. But she can't beat the shit out of someone if it's needed."

I laughed. "Got it."

"Actually. Stay with more than one person. Tay isn't going to be much help if you need to get away." He smiled at lightly rubbed some of the make up off my face.

"Alright."

We exited the bus and I never let go of his hand. Just holding his hand made me feel safer. We walked to the venue without saying much. When we got backstage with the rest of the band they all looked at us and grinned. Jack jumped from his seat and wrapped me in his arms. I had no choice but to let go of Alex. Jack nearly tackled me to the ground.

"Oh balls. I was so worried you guys had died or something. When Matt came in to tell us you were just chillin' in the bus I was able to breath." Jack said. He let go of me and I smiled at him.

"Thanks, Jack" Alex said rolling his eyes.

"What? You guys are like...my best friends. And I don't know what I would do without you." He looked at me and grinned. "Are we going out tonight, Zooey?"

I thought for a moment and glanced at Alex. He didn't look excited about it and I couldn't agree more. "Probably not, Jackie. Not tonight."

I saw his face fall. "But I'm pretty sure I saw the one earlier today. What if, because we don't go out, I lose her forever?"

I sighed. I did not like saying no to him. I looked to Alex and I could tell he hated saying no to him too. "I'll think about it, okay?" I said.

He rolled his eyes at me. "You promised."

"I know. I just need to figure a few things out. And Alex would have to come tonight."

"What?" He nearly shrieked. "You said he wouldn't be able to come because he would get all the girls. And now you want him there?"

"I'm sorry, Jack. I have to. Tonight only."

He crossed his arms and glared at me. "Fine. But if my dream girl finds him more attractive than me, this entire deal is off and I am going to find a new match maker."

I laughed. "Deal."

I took a seat next to Alex and leaned into his shoulder. He placed his arms around my waist and I felt him kiss the top of my head. "I don't have to come, if it's going to be an issue." He whispered.

I looked at him. "No, I need you. Jack can deal with you being there one night."

He smiled. "Okay."

The atmosphere backstage was full of excitement. There was always someone hanging out back there and I was grateful. Taylor came and went a few times and Alex Deleon hung out with me for a while and we talked about their performance. The guys were warming up for their set so they weren't paying much attention to anyone else. I was a nervous wreck as they went on stage. I could only imagine the terrible things that could go wrong.

Both of the Alexes from The Cab sat on either side of me and we talked about the show and I told them about the crazy stalker lawyer. They both offered to beat the shit out him but I told them no while laughing. I couldn't even picture the two of them trying to take on Christopher Reynolds. He may just be a lawyer but there was something more. I breathed a sigh of relief when the guys got off the stage. Nothing had gone wrong.

We waited around for a bit longer so they could all shower and then we could go out. The rest of he tech crew was not excited I wasn't helping but they didn't question it tonight. By the time everyone had showered and gotten cleaned up it was nearing one in the morning. I was starting to feel the exhaustion coming on but I had promised Jack.

Everyone had decided to go out since it was the last show. All the techies and all the bands came to the same bar and I felt bad for the bartender that was going to have to deal with all of us. I didn't allow myself to drink so that I could keep track of everyone. Tay and I stayed pretty sober. Some of the guys got shit-faced drunk while others just got a buzz going. Jack got way to drunk to talk to anyone and I wasn't going to introduce him to anyone.

Eventually Taylor joined in the with the drinking. If it were possible, she got even funnier when she'd had a few drinks. I couldn't stop laughing at how ridiculous our group must have looked to outsiders. Jack had convinced Tay to join him on the dance floor and I kept giggling at them. They were so dumb. I took a sip of my soda and nearly snorted it out what I saw the next second.

Jack had Taylor's face in his hands and he was kissing her rather passionately. And she was kissing him back. It was probably one of the most adorable things I had ever seen. And I knew that they should start dating. I just knew. Alex joined my side as I watched them. His breath reeked of alcohol and he was slurring his words a bit.

"What are you doing, Zoe?" He asked.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Making sure none of you do something stupid."

"I see."

I pointed to the dance floor at Jack and Tay and Alex's eyes widened a bit. "Honestly, I'm not surprised. He's always thought she was cute."

"Really?" I was so excited.

"Yeah. I mean she is. But her and Jack get along well. Both children like ya know?" He looked back at me and grinned.

"Very true."

"Wanna dance with me?" He asked.

"No thanks. Not while you can barely hold yourself up." I smiled at him.

"Right. Got it." He went back to watching people on the dance floor and I laced my fingers with his open hand. He turned back to look at me and smiled. Then he kissed my cheek and rested his head on my shoulder. "You wanna know a secret?"

"Not really. But I'm guessing you don't have control to stop it from coming out."

"Mmm. Very true. I also probably won't remember it tomorrow. But I wanna tell you anyway."

I shook my head at him. "Fine. Tell me."

"I love you." He looked up at me and grinned.

I could feel the shock on my face. I really hadn't been expecting that. At all. And I wasn't sure how I felt about it. He wasn't going to remember he had said that in the morning and it made me a little sad. It wasn't how it was suppose to happen. I forced a smile and kissed his cheek. Then I excused myself to the ladies room so I could breath. I was officially the only person not drinking. I was going to remember what happened.

I pushed my way through crowds of people. I was about to open the door when a hand landed on mine. I looked up into the face of the person standing next to me and I wanted to scream. This could not possibly be happening.

"Hello, Zooey Evans." He said. My throat had closed up at the sight of Christopher Reynolds standing in front of me with his hand on mine.