Shelter

Alex had been oddly sweet to Jack for a few days now, and Jack had finally realized that it was probably from his happy mood. Alex’s lack of nightmares was awesome, to be honest. He had been genuinely happy and nice for a nearly a week. He was being especially sweet to Jack. They were together constantly, either playing video games or hanging out outside of the bus. Alex had allowed Jack to cuddle with him almost every night, much to Jack's content.

With Alex in such a good mood, Jack had decided that he was going to take a chance and ask Alex out on a date tomorrow – the first time Jack had attempted to ask him in months. He couldn’t say no after being so sweet to Jack, could he?

Whatever the answer would have been, Jack never found out. His plans were ruined in a matter of seconds later that night. He woke up suddenly during the middle of the night after hearing a scream. Alex. Jack groaned and buried his face into his pillow, slightly annoyed. Fuck. Why couldn’t Alex’s nightmares just go away for good?

“Jack?” Alex’s voice, small and timid, appeared outside of Jack’s bunk a few minutes later. Jack pulled open the curtain of his bunk and saw Alex standing there, visibly shaking a little. “C-can I sleep with you?”

Jack sighed and scooted toward the wall, patting the bed, “C’mere, Lex.”

“Thanks,” Alex whispered. He climbed in and Jack frowned, realizing he was crying.

“What upset you?” Jack asked softly as he pulled the blanket over them.

“I had a nightmare that I was drowning... I woke up gasping for air. I’m not sure why. I started having an anxiety attack as soon as I woke up though,” Alex mumbled, searching for Jack’s hand under the blanket and grasping it tightly.

“Everything’s okay. Just try to get some sleep.”

Alex didn’t respond – he just sniffled, wiping his eyes with his free hand and burying his face into Jack’s pillow. Jack sighed and closed his eyes, trying to regain his sleep. Hopefully Alex would still be in a decent mood in the morning so that Jack could ask him on that date.

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When Jack woke up the next morning, Alex was gone. He wasn’t in Jack’s bunk, anyway. Jack climbed out of his bunk and stumbled into the front lounge, looking around and blinking in the sudden light. “Where’s Alex?”

“He woke up really early and went to get coffee. He’s been wandering around the venue since then,” Zack said, looking up from his laptop.

“Does he seem like he’s still in a good mood?” Jack asked.

Zack rolled his eyes, “Considering the fact that he told me to fuck off when I said good morning... no, I think he’s pissed.”

“Fuck,” Jack groaned, kicking a shoe out of the way as he walked to the fridge. “I was going to ask him something. He’s not going to say yes if he’s mad.”

Rian grinned up at him, “Were you going to ask him on a date again?”

“Shut up, Rian. I thought he might say yes this time because he’s been so happy,” Jack said, blushing as they laughed. He pulled an energy drink out of the fridge and walked back toward the bunk area. “Go ahead and laugh, you assholes. I’m going to go find Alex.”

Jack got dressed and fixed his hair quickly before heading into the venue. It was empty except for a few stray janitors. He was hoping that Alex was in a decent mood now that he’d had time to wake up a little. Maybe he was just in a bad mood when he first woke up and talked to Zack.

Jack found Alex backstage inside the venue, kicking a rubber ball against the wall over and over again. “What are you doing?” Jack asked with a chuckle, hands in his pockets.

Alex glanced up at Jack, stopping the ball. “I’m taking my anger out on this ball instead of a human.”

“Why are you in such a bad mood?” Jack asked, grimacing.

“I’m pissed off because my nightmares came back,” Alex grumbled.

“They were bound to come back eventually,” Jack pointed out with a sigh.

Alex scowled, “I didn’t want them to come back. I hate them. Those nightmares are what literally make my life a living hell.”

He started kicking the ball against the wall again, harder this time. Jack hesitated before saying, “Maybe I could lighten up your bad mood a little bit.”

“How?” Alex asked dryly.

“Um, do you want to go out to lunch or something? Just the two of us? It’ll take your mind off the nightmares,” Jack said hopefully. Alex looked up at him for a moment before shaking his head.

“No.”

Jack’s face fell and he blushed furiously. “Oh. Okay,” he mumbled. Alex didn’t look up at him and Jack turned around quickly, heading back to the bus dejectedly. That was a more rude rejection than usual. At least when Jack usually got rejected, Alex would apologize or make up an excuse.

Jack walked back onto the bus, letting the door fall shut behind him. Rian and Zack were still in the front lounge and they looked up when he walked in. “Did he say yes?” Zack asked curiously.

“Of course he didn’t say yes. He never says yes,” Jack muttered, walking past them and heading to his bunk. He planned to stay there for the rest of the day; or at least until one of the others thought of something fun to do.