Shelter

Jack loved the nights where everyone was calm and hanging out together, no fights or anxiety attacks to ruin anyone’s mood. Alex had basically ignored Jack’s kiss from yesterday and brushed it off as nothing, which lowered Jack’s spirits a little. But he wasn’t too discouraged. It had definitely seemed to help Alex calm down from his anxiety attack a little faster, so that had encouraged him to keep trying his luck.

Jack had been sitting in the lounge with the band and crew all night, playing video games. It had been a relaxing night so far. The back lounge had gradually thinned out as some of the guys got bored or decided to go to bed. Jack, Alex, Rian, Zack, Evan, Vinny, and Danny were the only ones left at the moment. Alex, Zack, Vinny, and Danny were playing some car-racing game while Jack, Rian, and Evan cheered them on.

“Dammit! Alex definitely cheated!” Vinny yelled, throwing his controller down.

Alex laughed, “Just because I beat you doesn’t mean I cheated.”

“Yeah it does,” Vinny muttered grumpily, crossing his arms.

“Ignore Vinny. He’s had too much to drink,” Jack said to Alex, smirking at Vinny.

“I have not. I’m just tired. I’m gonna head off to bed,” Vinny said, proving his point with a loud yawn as he stood up and left the back lounge.

“I’m going to turn in too. It’s been a long day,” Danny said, standing up and picking up his beer cans. “You coming, Ev?”

Evan nodded, standing up. “Yeah, I’m getting tired. Are you guys gonna stay back here?”

“Yeah, we’ll probably watch a few movies before we hit the sack,” Rian said, looking around at the rest of the band.

“He said sack,” Alex giggled, and Jack laughed too. Evan rolled his eyes and walked out of the room.

“You two are so immature. What movie do you want to watch?” Zack asked, standing up and pulling open the movie drawer.

Jack shrugged, settling back on the couch, “Doesn’t matter to me. I’d say Home Alone, but...”

“Don’t even think about it,” Rian groaned.

“How about Batman Begins?” Zack suggested, holding up the movie case.

Alex nodded excitedly, “Yeah, let’s watch that!”

“You’re always a sucker for the superhero movies,” Jack chuckled, watching as Alex jumped up from the couch. He grabbed the movie from Zack and put it into the DVD player.

“That would be why over half the movies in that drawer are some sort of movie adaptation to comic books,” Zack said, sitting down.

Alex pouted, flicking the lights off and running over to sit beside Jack. “I love comics.”

“Nerd,” Rian teased, using the remote to flip through the advertisements and start the movie.

Jack rolled his eyes, bumping his shoulder against Alex’s, “Don’t worry, I love the comics too.”

“We’re both nerds,” Alex said with a grin, leaning against Jack’s shoulder to watch the movie.

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

Three and a half hours later, the band was in the middle of watching The Dark Knight, having finished the first movie already. Most of the band was, anyway – Alex had fallen asleep at the beginning of the second movie, even though he had insisted that they put it in. He was curled up on the couch, head in Jack’s lap.

“Can we turn this movie off yet?” Rian asked, looking at Jack and Zack. “Alex is fast asleep.”

“Knowing him, he’ll jump awake as soon as the movie turns off,” Jack mused, looking down at Alex.

“Just turn it down a little,” Zack suggested, motioning toward the remote. Rian turned the volume down and the boys were quiet for a few moments. Zack spoke up first, “Alex is sleeping quietly.”

“For once,” Rian muttered. “His nightmares are getting old. How many years has it been now?”

“Like four.”

Rian yawned, “I’ve lost so many hours of sleep because of his nightmares. Did you know that the more sleep you get, the longer you live? He’ll be the cause of my premature death.”

“Maybe you just need to invest in a pair of earplugs. That’ll help you sleep,” Zack shrugged.

“Hey, cut it out. It’s not Alex’s fault that he has the nightmares. You think he likes having them?” Jack defended, putting a hand on Alex’s shoulder protectively.

“He could get medicine to help his anxiety. That would probably stop the nightmares too,” Rian protested, frowning.

Zack sighed, “It’s not our business, Ri. No one can really tell Alex what to do.”

“If you were in Alex’s position, you wouldn’t want people forcing medicine on therapy to you either. You’d want to try to work it out on your own, wouldn’t you?” Jack pointed out.

“I guess you’re right. I still think he needs some sort of help with this though. I know he wants to do it on his own, but he just can’t,” Rian sighed.

“I dunno – Jack seems to be his medicine. He makes Alex’s attacks and nightmares go away better than anyone else can,” Zack shrugged, smiling slightly at Jack and Alex.

Jack just smiled, looking down at Alex and pushing the older boy’s hair off his face. Alex was still sleeping peacefully, blissfully unaware of the conversation his friends were having about him.

“That’s true. Jack’s his drug,” Rian admitted, smiling at the two. They were all quiet for a moment before Rian stood up. “I’m going to head to bed, I’m tired. Night, guys.”

“I’m gonna go to bed too. Are you gonna stay in here and sleep with Alex?” Zack asked, standing up and stretching after Rian had left the room.

“Yeah. I’m afraid that he’ll wake up if I move, so I’ll just stay here,” Jack said softly, reaching for the remote. Zack grabbed a blanket off the far end of the couch and tossed it at Jack before heading toward the door.

“Night, bro. Don’t pop a boner while Alex is on your lap,” he said with a wink. Jack blushed and looked away from him, leaving Zack laughing as he left the lounge.