Come Alive

Jack stared at himself in the full-length mirror set up on one of Alex's closet doors. The circles under his eyes and half-week old facial hair only made Jack feel more ridiculous than he knew he already looked. The fancy clothes Alex had left out for him were completely out of place on Jack's average body. The expensive shampoo in Alex's shower had left Jack's hair looking--for lack of a better word--like a rockstar's.
To put it simply, in this fancy apartment with the fancy clothes and accessories and shampoos, left Jack feeling completely out of place. And ridiculous.
Jack shook his head, still staring at his mediocre reflection, he searched his own eyes looking for a glimpse of normality. How long was it until Jack could go back to his apartment with his normal ramen, play normal video games on his normal Play Station and make up normal music on his normal guitar waiting for his normal shift at his normal job...
Something inside Jack twisted at the thought of his students back at the music shop, but he couldn't place it. They were probably worried about him. Who else was worried about him? Why hadn't anyone tried to contact him? Why was Jack stuck to some privelaged guy's shadow? Not that Jack was complaining. Alex was great. More than great actually.
Alex was much more dimensional than Jack had given anyone in Hollywood credit for. Alex was insightful and friendly and compassionate and understanding and empathetic and pushy and hilarious and secretive and open and quirky and nerdy and accepted and idolized and--
"Jack, you almost ready?" Alex's voice called from the other side of the door.
Jack nodded and pulled his eyes away from his reflection, "Yep. Not gonna get much better than this anyway..." His voice was quiet, he wasn't really talking to anyone in particular anyway.
Jack opened the door to join Alex whose face was plastered with some sort of emotion Jack couldn't name. "Well doesn't someone here look," Alex coughed and tweaked his voice to a few pitches higher than its natural tone, "faaaaabulous!"
Jack laughed and pulled subconsciously at the hem of his tshirt as he pushed Alex into the wall, "Shut up."
Alex jogged up the hallway after Jack, "No I mean it you really do look nice," He grabbed his keys and ushered Jack out the door, "Better than me, that's for sure." Jack grumbled a little as Alex locked his doors but he said nothing in protest and the smile on Alex's face shocked him. "Right, well dinner?"
The two were bombarded by paparazzi the second the building doors closed behind Jack. Alex, who was used to them, led Jack through the mob and into a car he'd arranged to pick them up. "Is this an every day thing?" Jack asked as soon as they were stuffed in the backseat.
Alex nodded, his eyes plastered to his knees. "I'm so sorry about that. I'd thought they'd leave me alone for one goddamn day. Don't...hate..." Alex shook his head slightly, only confusing Jack's already messed up head more. "Just remember it's not my fault alright? I try my best to ignore them, and you should too."
Jack nodded slowly; confused by the sudden serious tone in Alex's words. Jack suddenly wished he and Alex were closer, so he could dive a little deeper into those words. Learn a little more about where Alex was coming from when he spoke. Be someone Alex could spill those unfinished sentences onto; a release of probably toxic thoughts.
But, no. If Alex was going to open up to Jack, that meant Jack would have to reciprocate. And Jack was fucked up enough as it was, no one needed to know about the shitty baggage he carried with him. Besides, Alex was still another product of the media and money. In a few days maximum, Alex would be back to not knowing who Jack was and Jack would be back to hating LA and all its inhabitants.
***
Dinner was over quick. Well, relatively. It was actually over two hours of time spent between the two men at a café on the outskirts of the city. But it felt like it was over fast. The casual conversation kept Jack's mind busy and it wasn't until Alex glanced at his phone for the time that Jack even remembered it was New Years Eve. "Shit! We need to find somewhere to go before the countdown starts!" Alex stood up and left money on the table, not waiting for a check. Overpaying was just another side-effect of Alex Gaskarth, Jack smiled, "the business" had created something extraordinary here.
***
The two were walking in to a low-key nightclub. So low-key in fact that it was basically a bar with cool lighting. The ridiculous feeling that had been following Jack around all night was starting to drift. He felt comfortable here. This place wasn't so out of his league that he couldn't completely fit in to the crowd. Letting out a huge breath, Jack drank the drink in his hand in one shot and went back to the bar for another. Tonight had potential to be amazing.
***
It's a few (several, dozen) drinks later and the two girls dancing against Jack keep giggling against each other. As promised, Alex's loyal parasitic followers are scattered throughout the bar; hunters out to kill. Too bad their prey was nowhere to be found. The clock threatened that there were only about five minutes left in the year and Jack suppressed his drunk mind from getting too upset that Alex had taken him out then forgotten about him.
One of the girls, the blonde one, Jack couldn't remember her name, turned around and placed her forehead to his, she giggled, "Are you even paying attention to us?" She pushed her body closer to his and the other, slightly younger girl followed suit, Jack's breath caught in his mouth--yeah, he was paying plenty of attention to them.
"AH! Jacky, my boy!" Before he could really grasp what was happening, Jack was being pulled to the center of the room by brown haired celebrity he'd came with. "For you!" Drunk Alex handed Jack a nameless drink and cheered his own glass to the one now in Jack's hand. "For us!" Alex took his shot like a man before tossing the glass carelessly over his shoulder. Jack laughed and mimicked the action, only placing his glass on one of the many randomly arranged tables across the room.
TEN
NINE
The countdown had begun and the attention of the entire room was brought to the DJ who was leading the chorus. Alex grabbed Jack's arm and pulled them closer together, excited and drunk, he reminded Jack slightly of a little kid.
EIGHT
SEVEN
SIX
Jack was getting excited himself now. He loved New Years. New beginnings. New stories. New life.
FIVE
FOUR
Jack could feel his smile on his face. Maybe it was the alcohol or maybe it was the brain issues but he couldn't remember a countdown that had ever had him this excited before.
THREE
If Alex hadn't been holding onto him so tightly, Jack was sure he'd be jumping up and down at this point.
TWO
Here it comes!
ONE
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
The crowd burst into cheered and whoops and yells and just as Jack turned to join them, his actions were cut off by the distinct sensation of being kissed.
His thoughts were lost as soon as he realized who it was who had just attached themselves to his mouth.
His thoughts were back as soon as the cameras realized who it was too.
His thoughts were lost again as the alcohol regained control. Jack smiled against the kiss. Well okay, Alex, whatever works for you.