Shameless

April stood frozen behind the merchandise table. Alex's song ended and for a moment, all the cheering fans in the room fell to silence.

Her hands trembled when suddenly, Samson, the replacement merch salesman smacked her on the back.

"These guys are damn good," he said, a small chuckle slipping out between his lips. "Looks like you're gonna have some competition on your tour." April barely noticed the short man as she grabbed her guitar case from under the table and pushed him out of the way. "Hey!" he yelled.

She was on a mission. She needed to find Alex. She needed to find out something important before he disappeared from her life forever. Was that song about her? Did he actually want her in his life? Is this why he tried to hard to keep her from signing with Fueled by Ramen? All of these questions rushed through her head as she pushed through the crowd of tween girls and sweaty fathers.

Panic! At The Disco took the stage. Brendan thanked All Time Low for joining them on their tour and announced that they were taking a break from tours to write a new album. His eyes strayed to the merch table and he let out a soft sigh when he noticed the absence of a certain girl. He had given up on her. She wasn't meant for him. He counted the rest of the band in, and the crowd went insane.

--

Alex sat out by the tour bus, smoking a cigarette and sipping from a beer. He waited anxiously to hear the voice he wished for as he sung his song on stage. Instead, he was greeted with a different voice.

"I get it, man."

Jack had sat down next to him on the curb. He snatched the beer out of his hand and took a sip. "That song was about her. And, man, I'm sorry all that happened. But maybe this is what's best for you. And her. She's gonna go off and live her dreams. You can live your dreams too." He tried his best to console his friend but saw that his words were barely making a difference.

"It's like that bullshit they say in all those bad dog movies. If you love something, let it go-"

"No," Alex said suddenly, "some things are easy to let go. Her? I don't think I can. She became my best friend, my confidant and so much more. I... I want her to be happy. I want to apologize for everything I said to her. For treating her like just another dame."

"Don't get to film noir on me, man," Jack joked. This got a small chuckle out of Alex and a smile, something Jack sorely missed.

"Then don't let her go. Fuck those dog movies."

"It's not my choice anymore. She left and if that's what she wanted to do, I can'd do anything about it."

Jack sat, perplexed for a moment. "Shit man," he said softly "you really love her."

Alex let out a soft chuckle as a smile crossed his face. "Yeah, I love her."

CLANK, BOOM.

The guitar slipped out of my hand as I heard those words. Suddenly, all of my questions were answered. He wanted me to stay because he wanted me.

Alex turned slowly and let out a huge, relieved sigh as his eyes met mine. He dropped the beer bottle, which crashed on the floor as he rushed to me, lifting me up and kissing me strongly on the mouth. He held me like that for what felt like years. Years that I wish never ended. He slowly lowered me to the ground, his body pressed against mine.

"Alex I-"
"I know and I'm-"
"No, I'm-"
"I should have-"

We both fell to silence and laughed for a moment.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, pulling my face close to his, so that the tips of our noses barely touched. "You deserve to follow your dreams. And I get that this tour will take you far away from me. But I want you to know that I love you, and that won't change. That wont disappear. That will follow you."

My heart swelled. "Alex," I said softly under my breath. "I..." I couldn't come up with anything good to say, so I replaced my words with kisses. When I finally gathered my faults, I looked him in the eyes, a soft smile on my face. "I'm on this tour."

It was obvious that Alex was a little disappointed. His eyes sank a bit, but were pulled back up by her finger on his chin. "And you're coming with me."

"... What?"

"My tour is six months. Last I checked, you guys don't have another tour for, oh, right, six months. And I know this because I'm the lady with the schedule."

"Well, technically, I'm the lady with the schedule but okay."

"Some lady with the schedule you are," I said, giggling.

Alex pulled me in close. "I guess I'm your tour babe," he said, letting out a small laugh.

"I guess so."

As he held me there, in the dark, warm Nevada night, surrounded by tour busses and the distant honks from Vegas traffic, everything fell silent. I felt them. The fireworks. And they were there to stay.