In My Arms: A Salex Story

Bad Things

The longer the night went on, the drunker Alex got. The bar at The Candlestick only served candle-themed novelty drinks, but he was downing Bahama Breeze spiked slushies like it was nobody's business. Though it was common for him to get wasted when he was playing shows, tonight was different, as he was desperately trying to numb the heartache he was feeling over Sam. Only halfway through the setlist, Alex had become so drunk that he was just sort of swaying around on stage with a befuddled look on his face, loosely holding a pink Strawberry Bunny Shortcake daiquiri in his hand. He could barely even play the guitar after guzzling about twenty drinks in the span of 45 minutes, leaving Sam to have to sing his songs for him. The fans in the audience were getting irritated, having paid money to see their fearless leader, Alex Giannascoli, sing his heart out to them in this candle shop, but instead having to watch some random ass man halfheartedly cover for him. Once Sam got to "Gnaw," a fan favorite at the end of the setlist, Alex started acting strange. 

Dry your eyes, I won't tell your mother....she won't ever discover...things you kept under the covers..

As Sam sung these lyrics, Alex started hyperventilating and dropped the sugary pink beverage he was holding. His eyes wide, he drunkenly tottled back to the drumset where Julien was playing, and whispered in her ear, slurring his words, "Julien..you have to get me the fuck outta here.."

The urgency in Alex's voice sent a chill down Julien's spine, and unsure of what to do, she replied hesitantly, continuing to drum as she spoke, "Can you wait just a few minutes, the show is almost over, we've only got like, one more song after this one." Alex just looked at her and shook his head turbulently. He probably should have said the show was over a few songs ago, as he was completely unable to perform at this point, and was making a complete fool out of himself. He tried to walk up to Sam to tell him to stop singing and send everyone home, but just before he could tap his best friend on the shoulder, he tripped on some wires and flipped head first off of the stage, landing on a basket of Sun-Drenched Apricot Rose scented candles. 

Alex's fans and bandmates all gasped, rushing to his aid (and some fans to take selfies with him as he lay injured on the ground, covered in broken glass and candle wax). As soon as Sam saw what had happened, he instantly jumped off stage as if he was Batman, coming to Alex's rescue. Though he was barely conscious, Alex loved this, as he had always had a crush on Christian Bale from The Dark Night (2008), and felt that Sam was really embodying that energy right now. As Julien and John shooed fans away from the helpless musician that lay on the ground, Sam scooped Alex into his arms and carried him backstage. 

"Sam-Sam.. the fucking fan pages.. they're gonna post about this on Instagram.. put me down.." Alex pleaded softly, "Joey.. Joey's gonna see this.. please, I can't...." He tried to wiggle out of Sam's arms to no avail, but he secretly really enjoyed being carried around by Sam as if he was some kind of princess that had just been rescued from a tower. Even though some audience members, well-meaning or not, were snickering at his drunken stumble, all Alex really cared about was being here with Sam. In his arms. 

Backstage, Alex laid somnolently on some musty old couch that smelled like cigarettes and crushed velvet while Sam tried to figure out what to do with him. He wasn't really injured, apart from a few gashes on his arms from the broken candles that Julien had cleaned up with a first-aid kit. She and John ended up going back on stage after the incident to tell everyone to go home, and John, being the ditzy bassist that he is, offered everyone a full refund. Meaning the band had made absolutely no money from the catastrophic day they had. Though that was a terrible move on his part, Julien was being uncharacteristically nice to him now that Lucy was there. But when Alex heard they had lost all the money from the night, he was absolutely beside himself.