Welcome to Paradise

“Too much of anything is too much” I watch my boyfriend of four years sing, his hands carefully placed on the guitar hung in front of him. As the sound reaches my ears I can’t help but smile from ear to ear. Four years ago I woke up from a coma to find Alex, ever since then we’ve been inseparable, as best friends, as boyfriends, as band mates.
“You enjoy that Jack? You’re smiling like the joker” Laughs Rian, Alex’s friend from high school and now the drummer in our band.
“It’s amazing” I say, not long after waking up in hospital Alex and I decided to start a band. Four years down the line and we’ve recorded three albums, two EPs, toured half way across the world and met Blink -182!
Alex finishes the song and I pick up my guitar again to join him, we’re rehearsing a new set as we’re about to go on tour again!
“You were staring; did I have something in my teeth?” Alex jokes, as I can my place to the left of Alex.
“You were amazing” I say, brushing the hair from his eyes, he smiles. I run my fingers down the neck of my guitar, the familiar feeling on the strings beneath the tips of my fingers.
“Ready?” Alex questions, I realise everyone is waiting for me. I give him a little thumb up, my fingers find the cords and music fills the room. Behind me I can hear Rian’s drums, to my right Alex is dancing around with his guitar waiting for his queue to sing and at the end there’s Zack who’s jumping around with his bass.
“I fraught it for a long time now, why drowning in a river of denial, I washed up, picked up all my broken things”
I can’t help but smile as we play, we really did we’ve made to a place we’ve only dreamed of. Everything is perfect.
“Yep I think that’s it” Alex says, we’ve been playing the set for a few hours trying to make sure we have the right mix of old and new songs.
“I love it, the opening on Six Feet Under never gets old” I say.
“Your moment to shine” Rian jokes “Don’t fuck it up, like you always do”
“Shut up Dawson” I elbow him and he falls off the stool he was sitting on.
“Alright guys, stop injuring yourselves and get on the bus” Our tour manager Matt calls from across the room.
“Hey Jack pushed me!” Rian yells.
“I don’t care who started it, just get on the bus” I laugh as I pull Alex to his feet, he’s grinning the dimple on his cheek showing.
We all go back to the bus, Rian laughing at how I messed up playing Dear Maria.
“I always fuck up that middle bit” I say.
“Maybe you should actually practise” jokes Alex.
“Nah I’d rather kiss you” I say, pulling him into a kiss.
“Get a room you two” calls Zack from behind us. I flip him off and go back to kissing Alex.
I go straight to the back of the bus and turn on the tv, flopping down the couch I get out my phone and start checking Twitter. It isn’t long before me and Rian are involved in some kind of Fifa battle, Zack is probably off working out somewhere and Alex is no doubt asleep in his bunk.
“It wasn’t raining earlier was it?” I ask.
“No, it was sunny, why do you ask?” Rian asks, his eyes not leaving the screen.
“It’s gone really dark” I pause the game and push the screen back on the window to revile a really dark, evil looking sky.
“That doesn’t look good”
“Alex!” I call.
“Piss off Jack” he moans, I obviously woke up from some nice dream.
“You have to come see this” Alex stumbles out of his bunk, his messy bed hair making me smile.
“What the fuck?” he asks, seeing the dark storm clouds above us.
“We thought you might know, you’re the one who likes space and shit” says Rian.
“Yes space, not fucked up weather!” We all stare out the window; the clouds see to be getting darker by the minute. The bus door opens and a soaking wet Zack walks in.
“What the fuck’s going on out there?” he asks. “One minute I was working out in the sun the next thing I know it’s raining so hard it feels like I’m drowning!”
“We don’t know, it’s freaking weird though” I say, staring out the window.
“You can say that again” he says, there’s a huge crash of thunder outside making us all jump. Alex ends up sitting on my lap.
“What the fuck?” he yells, I’m shaking as the lightening lights up the room.
“I’m scared Lex” I whisper.
“It’s okay Jack, it’s just a storm” he whispers back, kissing my forehead. There’s another crash of thunder a lot louder, like it’s almost on top of us. The lightening hits, a blinding light outside the windows.
“Why’s it gone dark?” I ask the light of the lightning bolt has gone now it’s just dark outside.
“I don’t know” Rian presses himself up against the glass. “It looks like smoke”
“Smoke?” Alex questions. The smoke starts to seep onto the bus through any gapes in the windows or doors.
“Fuck!” Alex yells, jumping of my lap. He goes to the door in an tempted to open it but it doesn’t.
“No fuck!” he yells, banging at the door. The smoke is still coming in, seeping across the floor and around us. Zack tries to break the windows but they won’t break.
“What the fuck is going on here?” he yells, the smoke is getting thicker.
“I... I don’t know” I panic, starting to cough. “We’re going to die” I cough.
“We’re.... We’re not going to die” says Alex, coughing harshly into his arm. He goes to the front of the bus.
“Dammit!” he yells. “There are no keys” he goes into the coughing fit, the smoke raising so it’s hard to walk through but I make it to him as he stands bent over coughing.
“I love you” I whisper, wiping the tears from his eyes.
“I love you too” he crocks.
“See you in Hell guys” I call, I wrap my arms around Alex, tightly holding him to my chest as the smoke consumes us. I close my eyes everything going black, the last thing I feel is Alex in my arms till everything is gone.