The Leather Jacket

On the morning of the funeral Alex didn’t want to wake Jack. He hadn’t slept most of the night and it almost seemed cruel to wake him after so little rest knowing what the day held. To be honest in the days since his mum’s death Jack hadn’t been sleeping much and neither had Alex as a result. Alex had done his best to comfort him in every way he could, he’d made him eat when he wouldn’t do it himself, he’d held the younger as he cried and had promised to always be by his side.
“Jack...” he whispered softy.
“Jack, you need to wake up”
Jack’s eyes fluttered open, red rimmed from lack of sleep but beautiful as always.
“Today’s the day”
Jack sighed and closed his eyes again, resting his head on Alex’s shoulder.
“It’s okay, we can get through this” Alex said, kissing Jack’s messy bed hair.
“Spouse so” Jack mumbled.
“Yeah, why don’t you go shower and I’ll fix us some breakfast?”
Jack nodded against Alex’s shoulder and moved to sit up. Alex kissed his cheek and left to the kitchen. He couldn’t help thinking how much he missed Jack’s smile, he hadn’t seen in much recently. As much as that was understandable Alex couldn’t help but miss it, that goofy smile and infectious laugh. He hoped when the funeral was done that Jack would start going back to his Jack.

Alex made Jack’s favourite for breakfast but he barely ate himself. The food felt cardboard in his mouth and the coffee bitter. He had been so busy thinking about Jack he hadn’t thought about how much he’d been dreading the day. He didn’t want to go through with it but he would, for Jack’s sake.
“Not hungry Alex?”
“Not really, are you... okay?” Alex asked, he wasn’t sure what to say at this point.
Jack just nodded.
Alex smiled and got up, putting his barely eaten food in the sink.
“I’m going to shower, you might actually want to put some clothes on” Alex chuckled at Jack sat at the counter still in his towel.
Jack pouted in mock hurt and Alex placed a kiss gently on his lips. As Alex went back to the bedroom he passed his guitar leant up against the wall, where he’d left it after tuning it the night before. A few days previously Jack had asked him to play at the funeral.

“Alex?”
They’d be lying on the couch in silence for so long Alex was surprised to hear the younger speak his name.
“Yeah?”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Course you can”
“Will you sing? You know at the...”
“Course I will, what would you like me to sing?”
“There’s this song... My mum’s favourite in fact and I want it to be played but only if you sing it” Jack said.
“Wow, it would be an honour Jacky”
Jack sat up from where he’d been lying alongside Alex with their legs tangled together, he reached for his phone on the table and after a few quick taps of his thumbs a song began to play. The sound of a familiar acoustic guitar filled Alex’s ears.
“Wonderwall?” he asked.
“She was a bit of Oasis fan” Jack said.
“I can do it, you sure you want me to play this?”
“Very”
Alex placed a kiss to Jack’s lips and felt Jack smile against him.

Alex snapped out of his thoughts, he needed to get ready and stop worrying. He’d played to crowds of 1000s but yet he was having nervous over a group of like 15. It was just so important to Jack and he didn’t want to mess it up.
When Alex finally got out of the shower after spending way too long messing about with his hair he found Jack sitting on their bed. He was fully dressed in his new suit but he was struggling with doing his tie.
“Need some help?” Alex asked, kneeling down in front of him.
“I can never do these things” he said.
“No worries, Matt taught me, he said I couldn’t be a famous musician and still not know how to tie a tie”
Jack cracked a smile as Alex slipped his hands around his neck and finished putting the piece of material in place.
“Wow, you scrub up well Barakat” Alex said, standing back to admire his handy work.
“Thanks, I think you like you best like that” Jack said, indicating to Alex’s towel.
Alex laughed and picked up his own suit, it almost matched Jack’s exactly expect Alex had a bow tie instead.
“You look like The Doctor” Jack commented as Alex fiddled with the bow tie in the mirror.
“No I don’t” Alex protested.
“I never said it was a bad thing” Jack said, coming up behind Alex in the mirror and fixing it for him.
Alex looked at the clock on the wall beside them, it was nearly time to go. The hours had disappeared and the pair were nearly ready to face what was in front of them.
“We’ve got to go” Alex said.
“Yeah we do”
Alex picked up his guitar and Jack’s hand slipped into his, as they headed for the door he looked back almost to check that everything was still the same. It would be the same apartment when they came back but it’s whether the same people would be the ones coming back is another question.

It was only a small service, Jack didn’t have a great deal of family and the friends were mostly his. He didn’t say a lot, greeting most people with a hug and a mutter of words. Alex stayed quiet beside him, his hand reaching out for Jack’s to reassure him he was still there. When the service began Jack took them to the front, seeing the coffin brought tears to Jack’s eyes and Alex had to resist wiping them away. Too soon the Minister stopped talking of Jack’s wonderful mum and Alex had to do his part, he had to praise Jack’s hand away from his own because he’d been holding on for dear life.
“It’s going to be okay” Alex whispered in his ear as he finally removed his hand from his loves grip.
Alex sat on a chair in the middle of the Chapel, he had no mic just his guitar on his lap. He hadn’t felt so scared about playing in years but as he saw Jack looking at him, those big beautiful eyes staring at him just like he remembered from the very first time. Alex smiled and placed his fingers on the strings.
“Today is gonna be the day
That they’re gonna throw it back to you
By now you should’ve somehow
Realised what you gotta do
I don’t believe that anybody
Feels the way I do, about you now
Back beat, the word was on the street
That the fire in your heart is out
I’m sure you’ve heard it all before
But you never really had a doubt
I don’t believe that anybody
Feels the way I do, about you now
And all the roads we have to walk are winding
And all the lights that lead us there are blinding
There are many things I
Would like to say to you but I don’t know how
Because maybe, you’re gonna be the one that saves me
And after all, you’re my wonderwall”
As Alex sang he saw tears run down Jack’s face, he hadn’t cried all day not once until Alex’s voice had filled the room. Alex nearly choked on the lyrics as he finished the song, he knew that Jack had picked the song for his mum but Alex had sung it for him. The words, the lyrics all for Jack like they’d been written just for them.
“I love you” Alex whispered in Jack’s ear as he sat beside him again.
“I love you too”

The service was over, it had been just what’s Jack’s mum would have wanted, full of happy memories and music. Everyone was making their way back to the cars, they were going out for a meal but Jack and Alex had hung back. Jack had wanted to see the grave before they left, it was nothing but a hole in the ground as it was yet without a headstone but he still wanted to see.
“Are you okay?” Alex asked.
“I’m okay”
Those were the only words Alex needed to hear, he went on tip toes to press his lips to Jack’s, letting the younger put his arms around his waist and pull him closer. When Jack pulled away from the kiss Alex noticed how alive his eyes looked again.
“Let’s go, I’m hungry” Jack said.
Alex chuckled and let Jack lead them away from the grave. They hadn’t gotten far when Alex’s phone began to vibrate in his pocket, seeing the name on the screen he told Jack to go to the car and he’d catch up. Jack agreed saying something about not being long because he wanted food. Alex answered the call and listened to the voice on the end of the phone, his front teeth clamped down on his lip as he listened. When the caller hung up Alex didn’t move, however was he going to break that news to Jack?