I Feel Like A Hero

"And that's it for us tonight." I say into the mic. I smile at Jack standing to my right who's strumming randomly on his guitar. "I had a blast here in Florida. It's our last show for the tour so... I don't know what we're going to do now."

"How about chill on the beach with my lover?" Jack asks walking over to me and draping an arm around my shoulders. I look at him just as he was probably going to kiss my cheek and our lips connect. I pull away before it gets too intense and blush a little.

Everyone starts chanting Jalex and I smile. So far the only hate we've gotten was from haters who don't like our band. Other bands have been really supportive of us and I'm glad because i don't know what I'd do if the bands we toured with hated us for being gay.

"Bye guys!" I shout. Jack takes my hand and intertwines our fingers as we walk off the stage. We hand Ian our guitars and head to the bus. It's only noon. We played an early show today so we can go back to the hotel and figure our what we'd like to do.

"BEACH!" I hear a high pitched voice screech. I turn to see Rian's girlfriend Cassadee Pope. "Hey, it's the adoooorable couple!" She shrieks.

"It's the perfect white toothed couple." I say. She smiles kissing Rian on the cheek. "I'm guessing you want to go to the beach?"

"Yes!" She says.

"Let's go get ready!" We head to the bus that takes us to the hotel and we start to get ready.

I go into the bathroom with my bathing suit and change. I then look in the mirror and see the horrendous scar on my stomach from that night I decided to drink and drink until I passed out. That night I cut a little too deep and was lucky they even stopped bleeding.

Everyone has seen my scars one day or another since it's been years and we've gone swimming. While they never mention them, I get uncomfortable. I hate people seeing my scars, by that I mean on the beach with scars lining my arms, stomach, and legs.

I head out of the bathroom and see Jack standing there with his perfectly unmarked skin. His hair flattened down so it hangs over his forehead and a towel around his waist. He smiles at me.

"Hey, Lexxy." He greets, pulling me in and wrapping his arms around my waist. "You're so hot." He says quietly, kissing me.

"Thanks, but you look better." I tell him. He smiles at me and everyone walks into the room. Cassadee is in a bikini, Rian and everyone are in swim trunks obviously, but Flyzik has Mickey Mouse swim trunks.

Yup.

"Your skin isn't as marked up as mine." I mumble.

"Alex, no one has noticed it and no one will question it. Just have fun!" Jack says. I nod and smile. I'm getting better, trust me. I just have my moments. "PARTY!"

We head down to the beach and lie there staring at the blue water and the perfectly white sand. Siesta Key is amazing. The extremely soft white sand is amazing under my feet. I just love the feeling of sand under my feet as stupid as it sounds.

"Tag!" Jack shrieks, poking my shoulder and running after we set our stuff down.

I chase him around the beach, tripping on the thick sand as I run. I collapse as my feet slip out from under me and land on the pillow soft sand.

"Lex!" He shrieks. He runs over to me and I giggle. He kneels down and i poke him.

"Tag!" I smile, scrambling to my feet and running, meanwhile, shaking the sand out of my hair. "Catch me Jacky!" I scream. I suddenly feel arms wrapping around my waist and lifting me up.

"Gotcha." I look down and see Zack. I start flailing around as Jack gets closer. Jack stops and looks at me as I'm in Zack's grip flailing my limbs about and shrieking. Jack tags Zack and Zack smiles at me. "Tag."

"Fuck!" I shriek as he drops me in the sand. I wince as I land on my ankle wrong trying to keep myself from face planting the ground. Who would want sand in their eyes? "Ouch!"

"You alright?" Zack asks. I nod and stand up. "Why don't we take a break?"

"I like that idea." I say. Jack walks over to me and kisses my cheek. He helps me lay out my towel and I lie down as he sets his down. "Let's cuddle."

"Alright." Jack smiles. I grab my iPod and put an earbud in my ear. I shove one in Jack's ear and we listen to Blink-182 together, our hands intertwined. "This day is perfect."

"Agreed." I smile.

"Damn Gaskarth. Where's that scar come from?" I hear a familiar voice ask. I open my eyes, squinting through the light and see Brian Dales of the Summer Set.

"Oh, um. Long story." I mumble.

"Oh... Sorry. Um... How's your day going?" He asks, sitting down. I smile.

"Amazing, how's yours?" I ask him.

"Amazing, thank you." Brian laughs. "Stephen, John, Jess and Josh are coming and they wanted to play volleyball against you guys and Cassadee."

"I kind of hurt my ankle thanks to Zack so maybe Matt can play for me." I explain.

"I hurt you that bad?" Zack asks, upset.

"It wasn't you. I landed wrong." I tell him. He sighs of relief and nods. "Will you play Jacky?"

"Sure." Jack giggles. He stands up and stretched, shaking the sand our of hair since it collected onto his towel. "Let's play some volleyball!"

I plug my iPod into a speaker we brought down and play "Good To Be Alive" by Skillet because I think it's a great party song. They start the game and I smile, watching Jack. "THIS LIFE CAN ALMOST KILL YA!" I scream.

"WHEN YOU'RE TRYING TO SURVIVE! IT'S GOOD TO BE HERE WITH YA! AND AND IT'S GOOD TO BE ALIVE! I WAS LOST AND I WAS GONE! I WAS ALMOST DEAD INSIDE! YOU AND ME AGAINST THE WORLD! IT'S A BEAUTIFUL NIGHT!" I like this song. It kind of makes me think of me and Jack.

I was almost dead inside. Jack saved me. If I hadn't met him... as I've said before, I'd be dead for sure. Enough of the depressing past.

The past is behind me.

Think of the positives.

I'm dating my true love, Jack Barakat. Everyone supports my relationship with him. I'm in an amazing band that has three full length albums out and two EPs. We have a pretty solid fanbase and touring is amazing. I've saved lives.

My past has helped people through theirs for some reason I'll never understand. Maybe knowing that even though I went through shit, I made it where I am now and that if I can do it, they can too. I guess that's all you need.

"Lex! How's your ankle?!" Rian shrieks. I stand up and give them a thumbs up. "Great get in here! Matt's tired already."

"Shut up!" Matt mutters. I stand by Jack and smile at him.

"All Time Low's going down!" Stephen shouts. We scoff.

"Yeah, right!" Cassadee shouts. I smile. They serve and it hits Rian in the head since he wasn't paying attention. "Babe! Pay attention! The losers buy the others drinks at the bar!"

"Of course that's all you care about." He says sarcastically, a smile on his face.

"Of course not! I also care about winning." Cassadee says. I laugh and Rian rolls his eyes. "Oh, and of course you, but I thought you knew that already." Rian smiles and hugs Cassadee.

The next serve is Jack. I watch him when he stretches out to hit the ball how his ribs show. I wonder if mine do. Or maybe I'm too fat.

No.

Shut up.

You're perfect Alex.

Absolutely perfect.

I spike the ball over the net and it lands just in front of Jess. She groans and kicks it over to our team.

"All Time Low; two. The Summer Set; zero!" Zack laughs, high-fiving Jack. "Who's buying drinks now?"

"It's not over yet. First one to twenty wins, remember?" John asks. I smile. This is the most fun I've had ever. I love this life. I love everything.

The fans. The parties. The bands. My new friends. Recording records. Messing around in the recording booths. Playing shows. Signing autographs. Meeting fans. Listening to stories. Being myself.

I don't have to hide my past. It helps people. I don't have to hide it.

"Watch out Alex!" Jack shouts. I snap back just in time to slap the ball over the net, almost hitting Brian in the head, earning us a point. "You looked zoned out! You almost got hit in the face."

"I have reflexes, Jacky." I say. He smiles and kisses me.

After a while, we win (duh) and we head to the bar after changing in our hotel room. Before we leave for the bar, a bring our stuff to the bus since we're leaving after and then head to the bar.

We hang out a little and since I didn't drink much and Jack did, I decide to guide Jack's drunk ass back to the bus. As soon as we get onto the bus, Jack passes out, so I have to drag him over to his bunk, nearly tripping and hitting my head.

I put him in his bunk and lie in my mine, staring out the window. The sun is setting now and I sigh. I would've loved to watch the sunset here with Jack, but the bar got the best of him and now.. He's passed out in his bunk. Oh well.

"Alex. Jack. You guys here?" Rian asks.

"Yeah." I shout.

"Alright. Where's Jack?"

"Passed out in his bunk." I say, coming out of my bunk. I see Zack sitting on the couch on his phone. "We heading back to LA?" I ask.

"It's either that or Baltimore." Rian says.

"LA. It's nice there, but it's be nice to see our parents." I say, shrugging. "I don't really care though. You choose. I'm happy with either."

"Alright! Baltimore it is. Cassadee wants to meet my parents." Rian says. I laugh. They're adorable.

"I'm going to the back lounge." I say. They nod.

The bus starts moving after a while and I yawn. Sleep. Sleep would be great right now.

I head to the bunks and get on my knees. I move Jack's curtain and see he's still out. I put two fingers to his neck to check if he still has a pulse.

He does.

Thank god.

I crawl in next to him and hug him, resting my head on his chest. His arm wraps around my shoulders.

"I love you Jacky."

Notes

GUYS A SEQUEL!!! Thank Mary for the idea! Thanks to the one person who voted before we posted a chapter:P everyone who read the first one is amazing. If you haven't yet, then check out "Fear of Falling Apart" on my page or xMareBear14x (Mary's) I'm glad we're still writing together. It was fun writing with her and I'm glad we're doing this one.

we have some surprises for you coming up in this story.
title credit: Skillet; Good To Be Alive
-Jenna<3