Long Way Home

"Florida, you guys have been fucking amazing!" The brown haired frontman yells into his mic as the crowd scream up and him and his best friends. "Thank you so much for hanging out with us tonight, we've been All Time Low and we'll see you next time."

The brunette waves one last time towards the crowd and heads of stage, his three best friends in tow. Backstage is hectic, even more so than usual since tonight's show was the last of the Baltimore quartet's world tour, meaning they had a couple months off before they headed out to the UK. Everyone was buzzing to get back home after four months of touring the globe and to spend time with their families because yeah touring was what they all lived for, but not seeing the people you love takes it's toll.

"That was awesome!" The skunk haired Jack Barakat screams, jumping on his best friend's back. The elder laughs, pushing him off with a fond roll of his eyes.

"I know man, this tour was one of the best we've done."

And it really had been. To the twenty six year old, this recently wrapped up tour felt like a fresh start for All Time Low, like they had refreshed themselves and were at the peak of their career. But maybe that was because they had just announced an arena tour in the UK and had just sold out fuckin' Wembley.

"Yeah man, definitely," Jack says in response, completely agreeing with his best friend.

"So boys," came the voice of Rian Dawson, the band's drummer. He came walking up to the pair grinning and wiping his sweat covered face with a towel. "End of tour means party, excited?"

"Hell yeah we are!" Both Alex and Jack shout simultaneously, causing them to burst into laughter and Rian to roll his eyes at the duo because really, it wasn't even funny, and Alex and Jack are just twelve year olds stuck in the bodies of twenty five and six year olds.

"Anyway Alex, a little birdy told me something interesting today," Rian states smugly, receiving a worried look from the singer who notices straight away that Jack had started chuckling, as if he knew exactly what Rian was talking about. "Apparently, one of the pretty princesses caught your eye yesterday."

"Did this birdy happen to be a skunk?" Alex asks, rolling his eyes because honestly Jack couldn't keep his mouth shut for shit. That didn't mean that he wasn't good at keeping secrets – oh no, Jack was probably the best person to tell your secrets to – another reason why he was Alex's best friend. He knew he could tell Jack anything and the younger wouldn't tell a soul. However, if it was something like Alex being fucking smitten over a goddamn Disney princess, he'll tell whoever listens.

"It's a possibility." The drummer chuckles, shrugging a shoulder.

"Yeah, word has it you even tried to hit on her." The band's bassist, Zack, joins in with teasing the twenty six year old as he stands there blushing and scowling at the laughing guitarist next to him.

Despite how embarrassed he had been, Alex couldn't help but find himself thinking of the girl in the costume at random times- one of the times being when the band played Somewhere In Neverland. He didn't even know what she looked like, she could be at his concert and he wouldn't even know it was her, though he highly doubted that. However if Alex was being completely honest with himself, he found himself caring a little too much over the fact he'll probably never see her again. She had been on his mind all night and honestly he found it a little weird that he had a rather vivid dream about Wendy fucking Darling but he couldn't help it if he literally knew nothing about this girl who he couldn't get out of his thoughts.

"Yeah yeah whatever." He grumbles but his best friends just continue to laugh at him and okay, right now he really hates Jack for telling them.

"It was hilarious dude." Laughs the skunk haired male.

"Anyway," Alex starts loudly, so that he's heard over the laughter of the assholes he considers his brothers. They're still laughing, but they turn to look at him anyway. "Wendy isn't even a Disney Princess," Alex states matter of factly and he starts to walk off, away from the sound of his band who just laugh even more at him. Assholes. The whole lot of them.

He heads toward the band's dressing room, saying hi to a few people along the way, to shower. After every show the band go out and meet the fans who had stayed after the concert so the least he could do was smell nice for them. One thing that Alex loved most about being in a band was the fans. They were the reason he got to live his dream every night and got to travel around the world – visit places he never thought he'd go to. The fans kept the band alive and the four men did everything they can to show their fans how much they truly appreciated their support. No feeling could ever describe how Alex felt whenever someone told him that his band saved their life but he could relate to them because honestly, All Time Low saved his life too. The brunette has no idea where he'd be if it weren't for the band and their fans. Probably stuck in some dead end job that he didn't want but instead he was living his dream of hearing sounds of people singing his lyrics back at him every night, and for that he was grateful.

"Yo dude, c'mon. We gotta meet some fans." Came the voice of his best friend from the other side of the bathroom door.

"I'm coming," Alex replies as he opens the door, "Are there many?"

"About a hundred, I guess with it being a Thursday most kids have school and stuff tomorrow."

"True. Let's go."

#-#-#-#-#

Meeting fans never gets old, the people Alex gets to meet on a daily basis are beautiful and all have different stories. After meeting maybe eighty people the singer notices that there are only about ten people he hadn't yet met, most of them stood with Jack. He starts to make his way over to the younger male when someone stands in his way. Alex looks up at the person blocking his path and smiles.

"Hey there. What's your name?" He smiles, noticing the woman looks only a few years younger than himself. He can't really stop himself from checking her out a little. Her hair is a dirty blonde colour and falls in soft waves over her shoulders, her eyes a crazy shade of blue that makes her skin look even paler than it is. She was shorter than he was, 5"5 maybe, but she still looks kind of intimidating. She's smiling slightly, not the shy smile that he's seen a lot of tonight though, it was more of a small smirk – as if she knew something he didn't.

"Niomi, what's yours?" Alex hadn't met a lot of Niomi's but the name certainly suited her. And okay, he was a little bit confused since she was at his band's concert yet she didn't seem to know who he was.

"I, uh, – Alex?" He replies, his confusion making it sound like more of question.

"You don't seem so sure," Niomi laughs, raising an eyebrow, her eyes twinkling in the light.

"Yeah no, sorry. I'm just, – a little confused over the fact that you don't know who I am." Alex laughs slightly before realising how shallow he sounds. "And that sounded way too big headed. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Niomi laughs with him. "I get what you mean. I don't bother with the whole stalking band members thing anymore. I'm into bands for the music, not what their favourite food is, y'know?"

Yeah, Alex did know. In fact, sometimes he found it just a little weird how much his fans actually knew about him. Most of them seemed to know about his and Lisa's break up before he did. It was rare that he met fans who were just there because they enjoyed the music his band made and didn't care about what they did in their spare time. It was even rarer for him to meet a fan who didn't even know his name. He liked it though, it was different.

"Yeah. So do you want me to, uh, sign something?" Alex asks a bit awkwardly because hello, she didn't even know his fuckin' name till he told her it. Why would she want something signed? He asks anyway, probably coming off like a proper big-headed idiot, because he's decided that he likes this girl. There was something about her that made him want to know her. Which was weird since he only knew her name.

Niomi frowns slightly, "I, uh, don't actually have anything for you to sign?"

"That's cool, how 'bout a hug or a picture or something?" Alex asks.

"A picture would be cool, yeah," Niomi nods as she gets her phone out. Alex leans towards her and wraps one arm around her shoulders whilst one of hers goes around his waist, the other holding the phone in front of them ready to take the picture. The frontman can't help but think there is something strangely familiar about this situation. Just as the photo is taken Alex feels the blonde move her lips closer to his ear.

"Hey Alex," she whispers and Alex knows the gulp he gives out is audible. "You can be my lost boy if you really want." At that Alex turns to Niomi, eyes wide and jaw slack, confusion and shock evident on his features as he takes in her blushing cheeks and shy smile. The brunette remembers everything about the band's trip to Disneyland so he most definitely remembers exactly what he said to the girl who was dressed as Wendy.

"How-You-What?" There was no way this was the same girl, Alex is sure that's impossible. "Wendy?"

"Only when I'm at work," Niomi laughs, offering Alex a shy smile.

"Holy shit." Alex breathes, disbelief on his face. "Are you serious? Because apparently Jack has told a lot of people about yesterday and you better not be kidding."

Niomi laughs, nodding her head, "I am a hundred percent serious."

And yeah Alex believes her. As the pair stand there Alex looks at her, actually looks at her. He sees how her eyes seem to be looking at him but never making direct eye contact and how her fingers are keeping the sleeve of her hoodie firmly over her hands. He notices the creases under her eyes and how her hair is slightly lighter at the ends. Alex can honestly say that the he thinks she's beautiful, and he totally wouldn't say it out loud but he was more than happy to see her again.

The pair stand there, at the back of the venue for what feels like hours, just talking about everything. From the show, to what it was like to work at Disneyland, Niomi even admitted that she only came to the concert to meet Alex again.

"Ni!" A different voice pulls the pair out of the conversation and Alex tears his eyes away from the blonde to see a red haired girl walking towards the two. "Niomi, we gotta go, like now."

"What? Why? It's only just midnight." Niomi questions, glancing at Alex as she speaks.

"Yeah, but I gotta work tomorrow so we need to leave." The girl states. Alex guesses that this must be a friend of Niomi and as much as he wishes he could keep talking to her, it was obvious she needs to leave.

"Okay, that's cool." Niomi sighs, disappointment evident in her voice. Alex hopes it's because she wants to keep talking to him too. The blonde turns to Alex and offers him a small smile. "It was nice to meet you properly, Alex."

"Yeah, you too Niomi." Alex smiles in return. Just as he's about to ask for her number Niomi gives a small wave and follows her friend in the opposite direction, throwing a 'see you around' over her shoulder towards the singer.

Alex stands there just staring after her because honestly he still can't believe he just met her. He also can't believe he just let her walk away without at least getting her number. It's weird for Alex, normally when he meets a girl he finds attractive he's confident and cocky but with Niomi he was the complete opposite. He didn't even know how to talk to her because she kind of intimidated him for some unknown reason. Alex can't help but wonder if he'll ever see the blonde again because really, he wouldn't mind it.

-#-#-#-

"Yo Gaskarth!" A voice shouts over the blaring music that filled the bus for the end of tour party. Alex looks up from where he was sat on the couch, staring at the wall with a bottle of water in his hand, to see Jack pushing his way through the bodies that are crowded on the bus.

"Sup?" Alex asks, looking at Jack with an eyebrow raised when he notices Jack isn't nearly as drunk as he normally is at this point.

"What's up with you man? You've been staring at the wall for the past half an hour and you haven't even started drinking." Jack sits himself down and turns himself towards his best friend. Alex knows he hasn't been himself since they all returned back to the bus but he just can't get the encounter with Niomi out of his head.

Alex sighs and takes a sip of his water, "Yeah, just tired yknow?" He offers Jack a small smile but he knows the guitarist doesn't believe him. This was another reason why Jack's his best friend, he knows when Alex needs to talk.

"Don't give me that." The skunk haired man rolls his eyes towards his best friend.

"So remember the girl from Disneyland?" Alex asks, giving in to Jack's concern.

"Of course." Alex rolls his eyes because obviously Jack wouldn't forget that incident for a while. "The one you tried to hit on?"

"Yeah that one." The brunette runs his hand through his messy hair and let's out a small chuckle of disbelief, "Well she was at the show tonight, I spoke to her for a while afterwards."

"Holy shit, really?" Jack asks, eyes wide and jaw agape which Alex finds pretty funny since that was his reaction too. "Wait, was she the hot blonde you were talking to for ages?"

"Yeah."

"The why the fuck do you look so sad about it?" Jack asks and in any other situation Alex would of laughed at the confusion on the guitarist's face but, like, he's pretty confused too because he's never been hung up over a girl he barely knows before and yet, here he is.

"She left before I could get her number," he sighs disappointedly. And okay, maybe it comes out almost like a whine but whatever. "All I know is her name is Niomi and she works at Disneyland," he groans then. "That's literally nothing. I don't even have a last name so I can't stalk her and Disneyland is Disneyland. I can't just go up to every character there and ask if they're Niomi."

"Niomi's a pretty name." Jack says and Alex hits him on the back of the head because really now was not the time for his shitty comments. He's having an existential crisis. (Not really. But whatever.) "But seriously if you were meant to know each other, you'll see her again."

And yeah, Alex supposes Jack is right but he can't help but be sceptical. The band had two more days left in Florida, although none of them really knew why since it was the end of tour and they could just go home, so he guesses he could see her again in that time but it just seems unlikely to the frontman.

"I guess you're right." Alex says, finishing off his water and standing up, finally ready to party with his best friends and draw close to another awesome tour.

"Of course I am." Jack rolls his eyes earning himself a laugh from the elder who shoves him in the direction of the others.

"Shut up and let's party."