Dark affairs

I stay seated where I am replaying the scene I just witnessed in my head. Rians face when Cass scolded him like a teenage son. I have to giggle at the memories, you can see who wears the pants in this relationship.

I don't notice Jack has woken up until he falls into the opposite couch and pats his lap for me to join him.

"What has got you in a good mood this morning? And what was all this commotion before?"

I get up and take a bottle of water from the fridge and plant myself in his lap where he immediately engulfs me in a hug.

"That was just Cass arriving this morning and she called Rian out for being an ass to me, that was quite funny to watch." I tell him smiling.

Jack throws his head back and rubs his face. "Oh my god I totally forgot Cass was coming today. She is the nosiest person on the planet. When Rian tells her what happened, she will snoop around and pester everyone to find out what's going on. We'll better be gone before she comes back and I intend to stay out until we have sound check that way I might have a chance of not being interrogated."

He seems actually worried about it and I snort because of how this delicate girl is keeping the big guys on their toes.

"Maybe we should take Alex with us. In the state he will be in he stands no chance against Cass' inquisitive mind." Jack worries on.

I make a face. After all the shit Alex has been doing these last days, I'd definitely need a break from him but that is apparently not happening. I trust Jack's judgement when it comes to Alex and I also don't want our secret being spilled. Although I don't know how the rest of the guys haven't caught on yet, we haven't really been subtle about the whole situation with all the drama and arguments going on.

"Okay, Rian and Cass went for something to eat, so I think we better get Alex up then, we don't know when they're gonna be back," I sigh and get up holding out my hand to pull up my boyfriend.

Jack groans and lets himself be pulled up. "My god as if touring isn't stressful in itself. What are we, a drama club?"

I chuckle and walk to the bunks with him in tow. "We would make a good stage play though, right?"

I hear him laughing and know he is not really that distressed.

Getting Alex up and ready is not that easy though, he must've had an excessive amount of alcohol last night and combined with his breakdown he is a complete wreck today. Not to mention the guys have to play a show tonight so things don't look very promising.

He seems still very out of it and once we got him up and pushed into the bathroom with the order to get ready quickly I have to go knocking every five minutes to make sure he didn't just fall back asleep.

When he finally comes out he just sits down beside me and Jack, swaying a little and trying not to let his eyes droop. He hasn't spoken a word yet and he acts like a toddler and just does what we tell him.
I have never seen him like that, he used to be always this hard headed, loud mouthed and almost rude person. I'm not sure which one I prefer.

"That's another reason to get out of here as soon as possible, if Rian sees him like that" Jack explains to me as if Alex isn't in the room, "he'll gonna flip out about him not being able to play a show tonight and so on."

"But will he be able to play a show tonight though, do you think? ," I ask back doing the same thing and just ignoring Alex's presence.
I would have to answer to a lot of questions from my boss if the guys were to cancel a show while I was here to monitor everything.

Jack just shrugs "Maybe not right now but he will be fine by tonight, we had worse and still managed to play." He looks at his phone. "it's still, uhm, five hours until sound check." But then his eyes go wide as realisation sets in. "But damn, it's getting late, we should get him out of here before they come back."

"I'm sitting right here, you know." Is the first intelligible thing Alex has said all morning, his voice is hoarse and he looks ridiculous, obviously he's still so hungover, that he couldn't fix his hair and button his shirt properly.

I roll my eyes and turn to him to button up his shirt and look around for a beanie for him to wear.
If we run into fans, he should at least look kind of presentable and not like a homeless person.

Once we're ready to go Jack and I take Alex in between us as we walk down the road because the fresh air hit him hard as we left the bus but we think walking might help him to recover.

After a while of silently marching down the road we spot a coffee shop and as we all are in desperate need of some stimulants we decide to go there.

We enter and I immediately feel welcomed, the interior is all dark vintage wooden furniture and tables with comfortable looking big leather chairs and sofas. The walls are brickwork and there are mounted framed blackboards with the menu and the daily specials written in fancy cursive fonts.
The shop itself is very narrow but the tables stretch long into the darker back of the room. It is pretty busy and we are lucky to get a free table that is big enough for the three of us.

Jack has to get up to order at the counter because he lost in stone paper scissors against me and it's no use sending Alex as he looks as if he couldn't remember his own name at the moment.

When Jack comes back with our order number he falls into the chair opposite me and relaxes but looks up when Alex clears his throat. "Okay, guys, I wanna say I'm sorry for the mess I made yesterday and I can't thank you enough for being there for me although I don't deserve it."

His voice is still shaky but it seems he is slowly getting better.

Jack and I make eye contact and we probably both think the same, how are we gonna tell him we want to call off the deal?

I look closely at him, he really looks like shit! He hangs his head low and his eyes are dull and his beard shadow makes him look older beyond his years.

I feel sorry for him and decide to try and soothe him so I lean forward and grab his hand.
"Look, Alex...."

"I can't believe you didn't tell me about this, Rian." We hear someone walking past behind us talking loudly and we all instantly recognise the voice.
We look at each other in panic and I try to sink further into my seat to maybe not be detected. Jack just tips forward and hides his head on his folded arms on the table. Only Alex sits there, his eyes wide with fear.

"Oh, guys! What are you doing here?" Of course Cass has spotted us. "We just wanted to leave but now that we met you, do you mind if we join you for a bit? Rian!" Without waiting for our reply Cass squeezes herself beside me and Rian stands around awkwardly for a moment before he sits down beside Alex with an almost apologetic look on his face.

Notes

Enjoy ;)