Long Live Us

*Alex's pov*

Alex let out a long sigh as he fell onto his couch. He was shattered after his first day of school, and was sort of looking forward to Monday where he would be allowed in lessons and out in break times. Jack and Rian had told him they would introduce him too the rest of the group, and Alex hoped they would all be as nice as the pair. Alex had taken a real liking to Jack, and loved his laid back, confident and humorous attitude towards everything and everyone. Rian was also funny, and easy going, but he was quieter and calmer than Jack.

"How was your day sweetie?" Alex's mum said, walking into the room with a mug of tea and some biscuits in her hand. She set them down on the table in front of Alex before retreating to the other couch and perching on the edge. Nodding, Alex leant forward and grabbed the mug of tea between his hands.
"Yeah it was kinda alright actually, better than I expected anyway." He said, slowly taking a sip of the tea. His mum smiled at him, her eyes brightening with the news that her son was finding the move okay so far.
"Did you meet some nice people?"
"Yeah, the form tutor paired me up with a guy and I kinda just hung out with him and his mate." Alex said, feeling his checks heat up as he thought of the dark haired boy.
"Ooo is he cute?" His mum cooed, but Alex just shook his head and laughed. Alex was so grateful for his mum accepting he was gay because he knew it could be a lot worse, if she had been totally against him for it. His mum would often ask about boys, and Alex liked that he was this close to his mum and felt he could talk about everything with her. His dad was fine with it, but wouldn't talk about it with Alex, but he was fine with that.
"And you didn't get too...nervous..did you?" Alex's mum continued, hesitantly. The boy shook his head, smiling gently but proudly up at his mum. Alex was prone to panic attacks, and had nearly had one before he had left his house that morning, but had somehow been okay throughout the day. There was very little anyone could do when they happened, and normally Alex would have to try and calm himself down as best as he could. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. The doctors in England said that people with anxiety issues normally found one person who could calm them down in any situation, but Alex wasn't sure if he believed it, and was certain that even if it was true that he would never meet someone who would care enough to bother with him. The boys mum looked content, so stood up and walked out of the room.

A few hours later Alex's dad arrived home, and the small family sat round the table for dinner. It was the usual chatter about Alex's first day at school, although there wasn't much too say seeing as he had no lessons. Alex's dad talked about his new job, a designer for an engineering company, and then conversation switched to how Alex's mum would be starting her secretary job on Monday. All was good and content in the Gaskarth household it seemed, which made Alex feel good about the move and how things were going. Admittedly, he had been terrified to make the move to America. He had had no idea what to expect, and was worried about everything that could happen or possibly go wrong. But so far, it seemed, everything had been going to plan.
"Oo, Alex you start music school tomorrow," his mum said, smiling at him. Alex nodded, whilst his mum told him when they would leave and where it was and all that stuff. Nerves began to pump through Alex's body, but he took a deep breath and reminded himself of how well today had gone, and there was a chance tomorrow would go just as well. Plus, he'd have his guitar with him and that always gave him everything he would ever need. So much so, that Alex used to think that his guitar was his panic attack 'cure' - that was until Alex had had one with his guitar in hand a few years ago. Yet, Alex still knew he wouldn't survive without his guitar.

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The following day, Alex woke up to the sound of his mum's awful singing. He groaned loudly, wishing his mum would keep it down, always. He crawled out of bed, grabbed a towel and hopped into the shower. He remember it was music school day, and was actually sort of looking forward to it. In England there'd never been anything like this too go to, and the young boy hoped this would help his confidence as well as his music. As Alex pondered over the day ahead, his mind also wandered to the day before, and he found himself thinking of Jack again. As Alex remembered every detail of the boys face, everything he did, where every single one of his hairs fell, he noticed that he was thinking about him quite a lot. Shaking his head, he pushed away the thought of anything happening between them. Ever. He was 100% certain Jack was straight, and it'd be weird if Alex tried too hit on him. What was weirder is that Alex had only known the boy a day, and you can hardly say that's knowing someone. Concerned and confused, he stepped out of the shower, wrapped the towel round his waist and went back to his room. Alex picked out a pair of black skinny jeans and a grey top, and shrugged on a New Found Glory hoodie before styling his hair. After twenty five minutes, Alex was finally content, so grabbed a pair of black vans and his guitar and went downstairs.
"Morning sweetie," His mum greeted, bubbles flying everywhere as she washed the dishes, "we'll leave in 5 minutes, so you'd better eat something." So Alex made himself a slice of toast, and lounged on the couch watching morning television. He began to feel worried and panicky about the day, and had to take a few deep breathes to calm himself and stop sweat from forming at his hair line and on his palms.

An hour or two later of frantic map reading and directions, Alex and his mum pulled into the car park. The building was small, pretty much a church hall, with grey stone walls and a pointed roof. There were a few windows on the wall, allowing sunlight into the rooms on the other side. Alex could already hear the crashing of drums and strumming of guitars as people warmed up. Taking a deep breath, he got out of the car and slung his guitar over his shoulder, following his mum to the small wooden door. The two of them entered, and knocked on a door to their left which had "office" written on it. A few moments later the door opened, revealing a young man. He had on a long sleeves grey top with black jeans, and had short, spiked up black hair. The man had quite tanned skin, and his chin was covered in stubble and despite the long sleeves, Alex could see he had tattoos up both his arms. He had dark brown eyes, and a set of perfect white teeth which he revealed by smiling a greeting.
"Hello, you must me Mrs and Alexander Gaskarth?" He said, putting out his hand for them to shake.
"Call me Alex," the boy replied, blushing slightly.
"Sounds good. I'm Pete Wentz, don't bother with 'sir' or any of that - just Pete." He said, smiling again, before leading Alex down the corridor. He waved goodbye to his mum, and followed Pete. The inside was all wooden, with the doors painted in white, each with a little label across. They stopped at one labelled "music hall" and went in. The room was a lot bigger than Alex had expected, and there was chairs littered around the place, and about twenty kids sitting in them. Alex guessed everyone there was a teenager, and most smiled up at him as he walked in. Guitars and bases were leaning on chairs, there was two drum kits at the back, a piano on the left and some boxes stacked up on the right. The room was bright, sun streaming in through the windows on the back wall.
"Right guys settle down and set the chairs up right again please." Pete said, as the shuffling around began. "This is Alex, he's starting today so everyone make him feel welcome and part of the crew please." Smiling down at Alex, the teacher motioned to the chairs for him to sit down. Looking around, Alex spotted a boy sitting by himself to the right of the group, who was smiling shyly up at him, making a bigger effort to look friendly than all the others who waved or shouted "hey Alex" before returning to their conversations. The boy had long, black hair and tanned skin - which made Alex think he had foreign background. The boy had thick eyebrows, and large brown eyes. His lips were a pale shade of pink, and Alex spotted a nose piercing. Subconsciously, he decided he would go and sit with this illusive boy. Putting a hand on his guitar case, he grabbed a chair and pulled it up next to the boy, who was wearing a khaki striped t-shirt with grey trousers. He had a guitar on his lap, and his hands strummed over the strings effortlessly as he tuned it. At hearing Alex next to him, he looked up from his guitar, and his eyes brightened and a smile broke across his face.
"Hey, I'm Alex." Alex offered, smiling as he sat down and took his guitar out.
"I know," the tanned boy laughed, "I'm Vic." He replied, also smiling. Alex pulled out his guitar, which had various band stickers plastered across the wooden frame. Alex ran his hand gently over a Blink 182 sticker that kept sticking up, trying to get it to stick again. He quickly tuned his guitar, and was ready just in time for Pete to start the lesson.

They'd been taught how to play a song Pete had written with his friends called Thanks For The Memories, and Alex loved how all the instruments sounded together. He'd really enjoyed himself, and this guy Vic didn't seem too bad either.
"Hey we should hang out some time." Alex said, as the two of them put their guitars back into the cases. However Vic froze, staring at Alex, who looked up too meet his gaze, confused by the boys reaction. Maybe Vic didn't like Alex, or he was being too forward, or it was way too obvious he was gay and the statement had come out the wrong way?
"R-Really?" The tanned boy stammered, his eyes filled with surprise. When Alex nodded, and huge smile erupted across his face and he nodded. "
Yeah I'd love that! Should I urm, give you my number?" He asked, putting his hand into one of his pockets to grab his phone. The two boys exchanged numbers before saying goodbye and returning home. As Alex walked to his mums car, he smiled contently. Today had been a success, and now all he had too look to was the first proper day of school. And Jack...

Notes

okay so I just made myself lunch without burning the house down & I haven't died :3 so I'm pretty proud of myself, so have another chapter!