oneshots: legacy edition (jalex)

Late Nights On Tour

One night of no sleep is nothing. So Alex stayed on Twitter a bit too long. It happens. He'll probably have time for a nap before the set, so it's not a big deal.

Two nights isn't so great, but Alex will manage, he usually does. He'll drink a little extra coffee and be good to go.

That's also usually around the time the band starts noticing, so Alex will have to get his story in order. They won't get suspicious if he says he was reading, right? It's not a health thing if books are involved.

Right?

Alex makes it a whole two steps out of his bunk before anyone says anything.

"Damn, Gaskarth, you look like shit."

It's Vinny. Of fucking course it's Vinny.

With a roll of his eyes, Alex makes his way to the coffee machine. Oh, sweet bean juice, may you save his sorry soul.

It's pretty early in the morning, so only a few people are awake. Zack and Rian, for one. Vinny's also up (obviously), sitting at the table looking at something on his phone.

Most everyone else is still in their bunk. Technically, Alex would've been less suspicious if he'd waited an extra hour or two for coffee, but bean juice waits for no man.

At this point, Rian and Zack know better than to even ask. Alex suffers from insomnia pretty fucking often, which gets pretty fucking annoying when it starts affecting his work, but it's not like telling Alex to just go to bed earlier will make much of a difference.

Besides, Jack will catch on before it gets out of hand, and he'll be sure to find a way to get Alex to sleep.

Hiding from Jack is damn near impossible. He's the loudest member of the band, and yet also sneaks up on everyone, without even meaning to. You turn around and he's there. How did he get there? When?

None of it really matters because avoiding Jack has only proven that something's amiss, and it doesn't take a detective to know it's Alex's insomnia. So when Jack corners Alex after the set, it's to make sure he fucking gets some sleep.

Jack holds his hand out expectantly, like a disappointed mother. "Phone, please."
"Fuck off, Jack. I'm not twelve."

He's always like this when Alex isn't sleeping. Jack can go from the most irresponsible member of the band to mom friend in about three seconds flat and it's terrifying.
Alex tries his best to shoulder past him, but Jack only reaches around Alex, pulling him back over by his middle, and reaching for the phone himself.

"Im not going to look at your secret porn twitter this time," Jack huffs, "I just need you to actually get some fucking sleep."

Alex freezes. "How did you know about-"
"I'm your boyfriend," Jack reminds him, "and you're the one who showed it to me when you were shitfaced."

After a moment of fighting over the object, Jack finally gets ahold of Alex's phone, holding it over his head triumphantly. "Now you have to sleep tonight."

Yeah, sure, because that's the only reason Alex has trouble sleeping. Surely Alex's insomnia is not also caused by severe existential dread and generalized anxiety disorder.
Clearly this plan is very well thought out.

Well, when Alex does finally crawl into his bunk, he's certainly not sleeping. Zack snoring could give anyone tinnitus, but he sleeps like a rock, so there's no way to wake him up.

Instead, Alex spends his time staring up at the ceiling, wondering what the actual fuck he's supposed to do if he can't actually sleep.

Jack's across the walkway struggling to sleep as well. Zack's snoring aside, he also can't ignore Alex shifting around in the next bunk over. Jack's always been a light sleeper, but he's gotten used to Zack. Alex is the only thing throwing off his own slumber.

He's almost be mad if Alex wasn't shyly pulling the curtain back on Jack's bunk. If anything, Jack actually smiles at his boyfriend, despite the late hour.

"Still can't sleep?" Jack whispers, scooting over as much as the small space will allow. Alex joins him without a moment of hesitation, resting his head on Jack's chest as he lays down next to him.
"My head is too loud," Alex mutters. He's clearly tired. Jack only wishes there was more he could do.

Normally Jack would just talk to Alex for hours, but he doesn't want to wake the rest of the band and crew. Plus, it would make his plan of getting Alex some actually sleep completely pointless.
Instead, Jack twirls his finger around a lock of Alex's hair, trying to stay awake long enough for Alex to fall asleep first. It's always been an impossible task.

Alex smiles to himself when Jack's breathing evens out, and tries to focus on his lover's heartbeat. His thoughts are quieter now with something else to focus on, or rather someone.
It's crazy how Jack always manages to cure Alex's sleep deprivation with just a few moments of closeness.

For once, Alex sleeps through the whole night.