Merry Christmas, Alex Gaskarth

It’s a cold night. Your breath swirls in the air in front of you as you wait for the red light at the crosswalk to turn green. Your nose is running nonstop at this point, causing you to wipe at it with the back of your mitten every couple of minutes now. What you’re doing out at 10 o’clock on a Tuesday night is quite a valid question to a stranger, but to anyone who knows you would know better.

The light finally turns, and you scurry across the street. You can already hear the bass pounding from the venue down the street, and you smile. It’s one of your favorite sounds, and your heart clenches at the memories that come swirling to the front of your mind every time you hear it.

Your pace gradually picks up to a run, and you’re holding onto your beanie as you head towards the venue. You slow down once you get to the entrance, and the bumper at the door lets you in without hesitation, seems how you’re on a first name basis at this point.

“Hello, Y/N,” he yells after you.

You turn around and smile at him, walking backwards seems how you’re in a bit of a rush. “Hey, Jaime. Good crowd tonight?”

He grins back at you. “Yeah, it’s a pretty good turnout. Be safe, sweetheart.”

You laugh and turn around, continuing your journey throughout the venue. You make your way around the crowd and make your way side stage, tapping the shoulder of the bouncer in front of you. He turns around and smiles when he sees you.

“Hey, Y/N. Have fun,” he says as he lets you past the barricade. You can hear the girls behind you screaming to take you with them. You smile and take your Canon out of your bag, taking the lens cover off and turning around to take a picture of the madness.

Once they see the camera and realize who you are, well, let’s just say things get a bit rowdy.

“Y/N!” They call. “Take a picture of me!” “Over here, over here!”

You really do wish you could get a picture of each of them, but you have a job to do to pay the rent.

You blow them a kiss before heading over to the front of the stage.

It always takes your breath away to look up and see the people who saved your life less than five feet in front of you. You eyes widen before you raise your camera to snap a shot of none other than Alex Gaskarth.

You’d always dreamed of becoming a professional photographer and writer, and here you are. You have your own – very successful – website, taking pictures and writing reviews of alternative concerts and music festivals. Your dad helped out, considering he was big in the photography business. Sadly, he passed away a couple years ago in an unfortunate incendiary car accident. Not only has your career taken flight, but so have you. You get to travel the US, seeing every nook and cranny of the country, along with your heroes.

You decided to come home for the holidays though, and tonight is Christmas Eve. Of course, All Time Low just happened to be playing a show at one of the venues in town, so you thought you’d stop by and take a few pictures.

Your camera is giving you difficulties for a moment, and when you finally fix it, you put your eye up to the viewfinder to see Alex Gaskarth looking down and winking at you. You hit the capture button and blush like crazy.

You scurry on over to stage right, where Jack is running around like a madman. When he sees you, he lays down on the amp, putting his face up close to your camera and sticking his tongue out. You giggle and take a picture before he bops you on the nose and jumps up.

You feel someone bump into you, and you look over to see one of your best friends.

“VIC!” You yell over the crowd as you tackle him in a hug. “It’s been too long,” you smile.

He grins back at you. “I know sweetheart. I heard you were in town, and I knew you wouldn’t miss this for anything, so I thought I’d stop by and check.”

You met Vic in high school. He was a few grades ahead of you, but you’ve always had a great friendship, so you’ve never let anything as insignificant as age get in the way.

“Well, how did you get up here?” You ask.

“Y/N. Jaime’s practically my brother,” he says with a sparkle in his eye. “I hang out here quite a bit.”

“Well, I’m glad you showed up!” You say happily before hugging him.

“Alright, well, I’ll let you get back to work. I don’t want you to miss some good shots! I’ll see you after the show?” He asks.

“Yeah, definitely!”

“Alright, see ya!”

“Bye, Vic.”

You get back to taking pictures, getting some really good shots.

They’re almost to the breakdown of the song they’re playing, and you know there will be an epic guitar throw, so you wait a few moments, camera poised and ready. Just as you predicted, Alex and Jack throw their guitars across the stage, each making a grand arc in the air. Time seems to slow down, and you hit the capture button a dozen times as the guitars fly. You watch as the boys catch each others’ instruments and pick up where they left off in the song.

The song ends soon, and the crowd goes insane, and you whip around to get a picture. You’re having a hard time getting a good angle and overall view, so you’re moving the camera all around, trying to get a good shot, but you just can’t get one. All of a sudden, you feel a pair of arms under your armpits, and you’re lifted up onto the stage. You turn around to find Zack and Jack smiling at you.

“You looked like you needed some help there,” Jack says.

You’re smiling from ear to ear, and you’re sure you look like shit, but in all honesty, you don’t care. These are the guys who saved your life.

“Thank you,” you yell over the roar of the crowd.

“No problem, sugar,” Jack winks at you.

You feel an arm sling its way around your shoulder, and you look over to see Alex guiding you up to center stage.

“See, this is dedication. Traveling from show to show, putting up with smelly band members and our stupid dick jokes. Tell me, sweetheart, do you enjoy your job?” Alex says into the mic.

You nod automatically, in a daze that this is happening.

“Good, because it’s people like you who keep us going. All of you, you come out to our shows and show your love in the best ways. When you chant the words to our songs, that, that right there is one of the most surreal moments during the whole show. You can feel it in your bones and soul, and you’re all one; it brings us all a little closer, even if for only a moment,” Alex says earnestly. “What’s your name, hun?” He asks you.

“Y/N, Y/N Y/L/N,” you answer.

“Y/N, I like that name,” he says before winking at you.

You blush like crazy.

“Well, Merry Christmas, Y/N. How would you like a group picture of the bands?” He asks.

You nod furiously, and he laughs.

“Alright, meet us after the show and we’ll take care of that. Be careful out there,” he says as Flyzik walks you offstage, where Vic is waiting for you sidestage.

“Holy shit, did that just happen?” You ask him incredulously.

He chuckles. “Yep.”

He escorts you back to the front of the stage, where you finish taking pictures. Sooner than later though, the show ends, and you wait with Vic as the crowd dwindles to just a few insistent fans.

Jaime comes up to you, grinning. “The guys are waiting for you,” he says.

“Woo!” You say, pumping your fist in the air.

“Well, I’d better get going. The family’s waiting for me back at home. I’ll see you around?” Vic says.

“Of course! Merry Christmas, Vic,” you say as you give him a hug.

“Merry Christmas, Y/N,” he says before taking off.

Jaime guides you back to the dressing rooms, but stops before opening the door. “Merry Christmas, hun,” he says as he pulls you into a grizzly bear hug.

“Thanks,” you giggle as he lets you go.

He finally opens up the door, revealing Jack doing a keg stand, which you quickly grab your camera and snap a picture of.

“Y/N!” You hear none other than Alex call to you. He pulls you into the room, where you’re thrown into the festivities of band members on Christmas Eve.

You get so many amazing pictures, and Alex keeps you by his side the whole time.

Suddenly, Jack’s making some big commotion. “GUYS. IT’S MIDNIGHT. IT’S MIDNIGHT. DO YOU GUYS KNOW WHAT. THAT. MEANS?”

Everyone rolls their eyes as Jack screams, “It’s CHRISTMAS!”

Alex just laughs. “Merry Christmas, Y/N.”

“Merry Christmas, Alex,” you grin.

Alex looks above the two of you, quirking an eyebrow. Curious, you look up. Shit.

Mistletoe.