Strange Comfort. [Alex Gaskarth]

One.

My heels clicked against the floor as I walked into the venue. It had been years since I spent time with these boys. I pulled at my knit cardigan and looked around for the boys or at least Jenna or Cassadee. I made sure my black hat was still on and looked around some more. I was about to call out to someone, but someone rushed up to me. I couldn't see who it was, but someone wrapped their arms around me and lifted me off the ground.
"I missed you," I heard Jack yell. I hugged him and laughed at the childish man.
"I missed you, too, Jack!" I told him. He pulled away and pulled me towards he dressing rooms. He looked at me with an evilish smile and burst through the door.
"Look who I found!" He yelled, making everyone inside the room jump. I looked around for the familiar face, but didn't see it. Everyone rushed towards me and tackled me to the ground. I laughed and yelled for them to get off. One by one they climbed off me and helped me up. The door opened behind me and I turned to see who it was. Instantly, we both froze.
"Hannah?" He asked, breaking our silence, but not breaking eye contact.
"It's Bliss," Jenna chimed in. Alex smiled and it made me smile.
"I didn't know you'd be here," he said. I nodded and shrugged at the same time, looking stupid. "Well, what's new?" I knew what he was really asking, but he was hiding it from everyone else.
"I got a new job, I'm still living in the same place, but I got a puppy," I told him. We stood the same distance apart the whole time, not breaking eye contact.
"Any boyfriends?" I heard Cassadee yell. I laughed and shook my head, no, breaking the eye contact finally to look down at my heels and run a hand through my hair. Alex never looked away.
"Nope," I said. "I could never keep up with anyone else."
"I figured you'd be dating Chris Evans by now," Alex said. I laughed and moved towards the couch.
"I'd be lucky if that man even gave me the time of day," I told him.
Everyone could sense the tension between Alex and I. We hadn't spoken to each other in years except on Twitter when we congratulated each other on whatever we had done or reminisced on old memories that fans had brought up. Our friends spoke around us, but we both kept glancing at each other while everyone spoke. I couldn't believe how much he'd changed from the last time I saw him, and I bet he was thinking the same, too.

Flashback~

I walked out of the McDonalds with two cups of soda and one bag just of fries and hopped into the car. I placed the cups in the cup holders and laughed as Alex messed with his newly dyed hair. I waited for him to drive, but he wouldn't go. I looked at the time and yelled at the boy. He turned to me with a sweet, I-didn't-do-anything smile that he normally did when he knew I was upset. I laughed and kissed the boy's cheek as he drove towards the apartment.
When we walked in, we were instantly greeted by everyone else in the band and crew. How we all fit in this small apartment, I never knew. I followed Alex to his room and sat on his bed with him, eating French fries and hiding from everyone so they wouldn't steal our food. They had released their DVD and were celebrating like no other. I wished I could've been a part of it, but instead, I stayed in Baltimore and worked. Alex placed his hand on my thigh and smiled at me. I scrunched my nose and laid back on the bed.
"I like your hair like that," Alex told me. I moved my legs to look at him.
"Like what?" I asked.
"Curled and brown with some blonde in it," he said. I nodded and looked up at the ceiling.
"I'll remember that," I told him. He jumped up and ran out of the room as fast as he could. I sat up to see what he was doing, only to be confused even more when he brought back a wrapped box.
"Open it," he told me, too excited for me to open the small box. I unwrapped it slowly, scared of what was inside, and pulled the box out of the wrapping. I opened it up and found a heart necklace with opal filling the inside of the heart. I looked up at Alex with the biggest smile on my face. "We were in one of the Dakota's or somewhere and I thought of you when I saw them," he explained.
"You're such a sweetheart, Gaskarth," I told him as I planted a kiss on his cheek.

~

I touched my neck to check if I did put the necklace he had given me on. I smiled at it then looked up at Alex who seemed like he was about to ask me a question.
"Have you been back there?" Alex asked. I tilted my head, trying to understand his question. "Italy, I mean?" I looked over at Zack with a smile
"Actually we were planning to go back together soon! Once it's warm, of course," I said. The door opened and Flyzik smiled at everyone.
"Time for meet and greet, guys," he said. Us ladies waved goodbye then went back to talking.
A few hours later and we all were watching All Time Low play like the old days. We were like young adults again and jamming to our best friends doing what they loved. I listened to the lyrics that had I hadn't listened to even though I promised the guys that I would. I knew some new songs were about me. I tried to pay attention to what they meant, but I couldn't unless I listened to it a hundred times. Jenna danced around with Cassadee while I stood around, still listening to the music.
Eventually the concert ended and I was on the bus about to say my goodbyes. I'd already said goodbye to the crew and girls and got ready to say goodbye to the boys. They walked into the bus and I stood up from my spot on the couch. I waved to everyone on the bus and headed to the door. I hugged Rian, then Zack, then Jack, who squeezed me as hard as he could, but fortunately for me, his scrawny little arms weren't as strong as Zack's, who's arms could break me if he squeezed me as hard as he could. I pulled away from Jack then stared at Alex for a moment. I smiled finally and wrapped my arms around his neck, him wrapping his around my waist.
"Are you really leaving?" He asked. I could hear the hopefulness in his voice. He hoped that I would at least stay to help them take their bags home. I pulled back a little, us being arms length apart now, but our hands staying in their spots. I shrugged.
"I need to get home to my puppy. Plus my cars here. And I don't want to get in the way. And I don't want anyone to get upset," I told him. He knew what I was talking about. Everyone did.
"No one would get upset. It's us. We all love you," he said. I sighed then nodded.
"I'm driving, though," I said. Alex nodded and hugged me again.
"Can I go with you?" He asked. I shrugged as I headed off the bus.
"Why not?" I said. We climbed into my car and waited for the bus to go. "So, is she even-" was all I could get out before Alex pressed his lips against mine. I wanted to stop it, but, God, did I miss him. We sat in my car making out like two high schoolers hiding from our parents and anyone who hated us.
The bus honked at us about 20 minutes later to tell us it's time to leave. I followed the bus around until it got to Jack and Jenna's place. Alex told me that he was staying with the two until he was able to get a place alone. I nodded and helped everyone put their things into the home then said my goodbyes again. This time, Alex didn't try to follow me, or at least I didn't think he was going to. I started to unlock my car when I hear him run up behind me, scaring the living shit out of me as he touched my sides. I laughed as he wrapped his arm around me and cupped my face with one of his hands. I placed my hand on top of his and my free arm around his neck.
"We are literally two teenagers," I told him. He laughed a little and kissed me.
"Just like when we met," he whispered. I pulled away and gave him a look. He rolled his eyes and groaned. "Fine. But we've always acted like this."
"Yes we have," I agreed. "Now I have to leave, Alex. I'll see you around, okay?" He held onto me until I finally turned toward the car. He waved at me before I pulled out of the driveway and I smiled before waving goodbye.