Shelter

[Jack]

Jack loved being on tour. It was a great way to spread their music, gain new fans, and play for the old fans who had stuck with them for so long. It was also a ton of fun to hang out with all of his friends on the tour bus. The only person on the bus who didn’t love touring was Alex, but that was understandable. Jack figured he wouldn’t like touring either if he had all the problems that Alex had.

Okay, they weren’t problems. They were quirks. It was what made Alex unique.

Jack was the one who ended up comforting Alex all the time, whether it was a nightmare or an anxiety attack. Honestly, he didn’t really mind. Sure, it meant he got less sleep some nights and was a little more stressed out, but that was easily solved with some beer or music. What was important was that Alex was okay. Alex was more than a best friend to him. Jack took it upon himself to take care of Alex because he kind of loved the older boy.

The most frustrating part about that was that Alex knew that Jack liked him. He even admitted that he liked Jack a bit too. But Alex refused to get back into dating any time soon. The poor guy was lost in his anxiety and nightmares and was too afraid to venture into the unknown. That didn’t stop Jack, though. He understood that Alex wanted some space, but he wasn’t hurt by it. He was insistent on his hope that Alex would give him a chance some day. Jack continued to comfort and joke around with him despite the fact that Alex had rejected him a hundred times.

That’s what friends are for, right?

It was the first day of tour, a national tour that would last most of the summer. Jack had walked onto the bus earlier in the day and thanked God that it had air conditioning, because it had to be at least 95 degrees in Maryland. The band and crew had packed up the bus the day before, so they had started driving earlier in the day. They were driving a few hours to kick off the tour in Boston that night.

Jack was already settled in, but the rest of the guys on the bus were still putting stuff away and arguing over bunks. Jack was walking around, looking for Alex. How hard could it be to find someone on a small tour bus?

Jack finally found Alex sitting up front, having just emerged from his bunk for the first time all day. He was sitting on the couch with his knees up to his chest, staring at the floor. Jack sat down beside him and nudged him with his elbow, making Alex jump slightly.

“Oh, hey,” Alex said, sounding a little distracted. He looked like he was shaking slightly.

“First day of tour jitters?” Jack, patting him on the back. Alex just nodded, staring back at the floor. “What are you nervous about?”

“I dunno. Everything?” Alex said with a nervous chuckle, looking up.

Jack smiled sympathetically and hugged him, able to feel Alex becoming less tense almost immediately. “Don’t worry about anything, Lex. Everything will be fine.”

“You say that every time.”

“And isn’t everything fine every time?” Jack asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well if you don’t count the hundreds of nightmares, I suppose so,” Alex mused.

Jack rolled his eyes at him, “Just relax, okay? Tour is supposed to be fun and you’ve got a stick up your ass.”

“Too bad it’s a stick instead of a dick,” Alex joked dryly, laughter in his eyes as he looked at Jack.

“That was not what I wanted to hear as I walked into the front lounge. Keep the sexual comments to yourselves,” Flyzik complained, shooting a look at them as he walked in.

“Flyzik has a stick up his ass, too,” Jack whispered loudly, making Alex laugh.

--------------------

It was a normal thing, waking up to Alex screaming or crying during the night. Everyone was used to it by now, after four years of touring together and having to deal with it. Most of the band and crew were able to sleep through it or fall right back to sleep at this point. Jack’s ears were practically trained to listen for Alex’s cries though, and he was always the first to get to Alex’s bunk to comfort him. Like tonight, for example.

Jack woke up to a cry in the middle of the night and he yawned, pushing his blankets off and climbing out of his bunk. It was only the first night of the tour, so he wasn’t surprised that Alex was having a nightmare. Crouching down, he pulled the curtain over Alex’s bunk open a bit and gave him a sympathetic look. “Nightmare?”

Alex nodded, eyes wide. He was breathing heavily and looked like he could burst into tears at any second. Jack began to crawl into the bunk and Alex scooted closer to the wall to give Jack some room. Jack pulled the curtain shut and had just managed to pull part of Alex’s blanket over his own body when Alex hugged him tightly.

“Was it a bad one?” Jack asked softly, hugging the older boy back.

“Yeah. It was... it was terrible...” Alex mumbled as he buried his face into Jack’s chest. He didn’t usually want to talk about his nightmares; it made them seem more real and brought on further anxiety attacks.

“It was just a dream, Lex. It wasn’t real. Try to go back to sleep,” Jack murmured, pressing a light kiss to the top of Alex’s head. Alex ignored the kiss, just as he did every time. He just cuddled closer to Jack. Jack sighed, resting his head against Alex’s and closing his eyes so he could at least get a few more hours of sleep.