Don't Leave Me

A long tired sigh escaped pink plump lips as a teenage boy sat on his bed with homework papers scattered around and his laptop sitting in front of him. Mid terms were coming up and it seemed like all his teachers formed a plan to give him a bunch of essays due on the same day. And all of this work wasn't helping his anxiety. Music was playing in the background, but that wasn't enough to help him.

Alex looked up at his laptop screen and noticed he had an incoming Skype call. Quickly answering it, Alex smiled when he saw his cousin Josh.

"Hey Josh, what's up?" Alex smiled as he pushed papers away.

"Just wandering what you're doing." Josh shrugged casually, sending the teen a smile.

"Essays." Alex sighed.

"Sucks. Why don't you stop what you're doing and open your goddamn bedroom door?"

"Why should I?" Alex questioned, but turned around when the door opened, revealing Josh with his cellphone held up.

"Bloody hell, Lex, look at this mess." Josh spoke up, taking in Alex's messy room.

"Josh!" Alex smiled and leaped off his bed and into Josh's awaiting arms. "When did you get here?"

"About a few minutes ago. The guys and I are playing our last show here in Baltimore tomorrow night so I'm staying here. Aunt Isobel wouldn't let me stay at a hotel." Josh grinned, setting the skinny boy on his bed. "Did you hear the news?"

"What news?" Alex questioned, shutting off his laptop and putting his papers away, letting Josh lay on his bed.

"That the lead singer for All Time Low got kicked out and they're looking for a replacement."

"What? Where'd you hear that?" Alex questioned.

"Their twitter and we're in the same circle kid, you hear a lot." Josh explained as he searched through twitter for the band's tweet. "Found it. It says; It is with a heavy heart that we must announce our separation from our lead singer for reasons that will remain within the band. As of now we are searching for a new singer and will announce our new band member as soon as we find him or her."

"Wow, but do you know why he left the band?" Alex asked curiously, earning a smirk from Josh.

"Duh. Max is great friends with him and he texted him about two days ago saying that he'd be leaving because of some issues he was having with Jack."

Alex simply nodded and laid down next to his cousin who was texting someone from his band. After a few minutes of silence, Josh sat up with his maniac like grin plastered onto his face.

"I got you in." He simply said.

"In where? Joshua Franceschi what the hell did you do?" Alex hissed as he sat up quickly, going dizzy for a few seconds.

"Well, you get to meet All Time Low tomorrow! Their manager saw the video I sent him of you singing and he wants to see you because he thinks you'd be great for the band."

"What?! N-No, Josh! I can't do it!" Alex cried.

"Love, you gotta relax. Please do this, it's your dream to be famous and this is a perfect chance for you to show the world you're not some weak little boy hiding underneath his covers." Josh said, pulling his cousin into his arms.

"T-They won't like me." Alex stuttered out, resting his head on Josh's shoulder.

"They will because you're an excellent kid and you know that. I'll go with you if it makes you feel better, hmm?"

Alex nodded even though he was beyond terrified. Alex slept poorly that night, constantly waking up to nightmares about what would happen during the meeting. Eventually morning rolled around and with it an eager Josh to get his cousin started with his dream.

"Josh, I-I don't think I can do this." Alex panted as Josh parked in front of a building.

"You can and you will because I know you, Lex. You're strong, you just tend to show your weaker side more. You'll be fine though because they're all really nice and they'll like you right away." Josh encouraged and dragged the boy out of the car and inside the building.

"Hey Josh!" Someone greeted from down the hall and Alex looked up to find Rian Dawson, the drummer for his favorite band.

"Hi, mate! Brought my cousin here cause Flyzik told me to. He liked the way he sings." Josh stated proudly, wrapping an arm around Alex's shoulders.

"Yeah I heard him too and I gotta admit, you have a great voice kid." Rian smiled warmly, calming Alex's nerves down a little.

"T-Thanks." Alex stuttered out, a blush creeping up onto his cheeks.

"We were just waiting for you guys to get here. And don't worry, we're just going to ask you some questions and get to know you a bit before we come to a certain conclusion."

Alex nodded and all three walked inside the building. Alex feeling his heart beat furiously against his chest as his stomach started to reject the food he had had earlier. Josh placed a comforting hand on Alex's shoulder and smiled down at the slightly shorter boy. Alex smiled back, a weak smile, but his lips curved up none the less. Rian opened a door and inside were the remaining two members of All Time Low, plus Matt Flyzik and two other guys.

"Josh, is this your cousin?" Matt asked, earning a nod from Josh and a small squeak from Alex as he was pushed forward a bit. "Don't be shy boy, if you're going to be part of the band you're going to have to get used to being loud and obnoxious like these kids."

Jack scoffed and rolled his eyes while Rian glared daggers at the boy who was already starting to hate Alex. Zack simply smiled over at Alex and nodded as he confirmed Matt's statement.

"Take a seat you two. Alex, I'm going to ask you some questions so we can get to know you. That okay?"

"Y-Yeah." Alex stuttered out nervously as him and Josh sat down on the couch previously occupied by Zack.

"Good. How old are you kid?"

"Eighteen. Just turned eighteen actually." Alex responded, looking around the room. His eyes landed on Jack who was staring, well more like glaring, back at him.

"You're still in high school, right?" Zack asked.

"Yeah, but I'm graduating in May, maybe mid January if I really want." Alex shrugged.

"This kid's really smart." Josh stated proudly, arm wrapped around Alex's shoulders, making Alex blush.

Matt nodded in interest and they all proceeded to ask more questions. Well not Jack. He sat there thinking of ways to make the new kid run away and for him to never come back.

"Alex, we saw a video of you singing and I must admit that you have an amazing voice. We'd really like it if you were our new lead singer. What do you say?" Rian asked Alex who was sitting there in shock, fear and confusion. Did he really have that much of an amazing voice for a band to make him their new singer right off the bat? Or were they just desperate?

"I-I'd love to." Alex finally answered after receiving a nudge to the ribs by Josh's elbow.

They all cheered and pulled the still shocked Alex into hugs. Josh chuckled as he watched his awkward cousin try to socialize with his new bandmates.

"This is excellent! Boys, we're in the studio as soon as we can to start working on the new record." Their manager announced.

"What about telling the fans about Alex?" Zack questioned.

"We'll tell them this weekend along with an update about what's going on. Alex, is it possible you can come to the studio tomorrow after your classes are over?"

"Yeah. I'll be here right away." Alex smiled.

"Great. Meeting dismissed!" Matt called as he clapped his hands and wandered out of the room gracefully.

Once back in the safety and comfort of his room, Alex and Josh were relaxing in total silence. Alex's mind was still racing with the day's events. He couldn't believe he now belonged to a famous band. His favorite one at that.

"You'll be fine, right?" Josh asked Alex worriedly.

"What do you mean?" Alex asked, pretending to not know the real answer because even himself didn't know if he would be okay or not.

"You know exactly what I mean, Alexander. You haven't really been okay since Jared's suicide attempt."

"I know, but I think I'll manage. Maybe the job will be distraction enough so I won't think of it as much." Alex shrugged.

"Are you going to call him to tell him the news? You already told your parents."

"Not sure. I haven't talked to him in two weeks."

"Well you better tell him, mate."

"Did you notice how Jack was glaring at me the whole time?"

"Yeah, I'm sure it's nothing though. Jack's a great guy, it just takes him awhile to get used to new people." Josh chuckled.

"Oh." Alex sighed.

What Alex didn't know was the trouble and drama that would come along the way.