Don't Panic (Jalex)

It's Only The Apocalypse

The summer sun shines brightly through the half open blinds of their master bedroom. Clothes litter the floor as Alex Gaskarth tosses them out of their closet in search for a shirt he can't seem to find.

"Jack!" He calls out only as his search begins to seem hopeless. "Have you seen my red flannel?"

Footsteps ring out through the hallway as Alex's boyfriend and roommate, Jack Barakat, walks towards their shared bedroom. "Which one?" Jack asks as he walks in. He's holding a half empty bag of potato chips, having packed for the flight a few nights ago.

"The red one," Alex repeats.
"Yeah, I know. You have seven."

Alex drops the clothes he's holding onto the floor and walks out of the closet. "The one I wear all the time."

With a slight roll of his eyes, Jack sits down on the bed and motions to the red flannel shirt directly next to him.
"This one?" He asks, shoving a handful of chips into his mouth.

Alex smiles sheepishly as he grabs the shirt and tosses it into his already overflowing bag. "Thanks, Love."
Jack simply hums in response.

They've been living together a few years now, and Jack is more than aware of Alex's tendency to wait until the last minute to pack for a tour. Jack briefly wonders if Alex remembered to buy hair bleach to help Jack with a few touch ups on his two-toned faux hawk, but then decides it's not worth the fuss.

A few more shirts go into Alex's bag and Alex has to sit on top of everything just to close the zipper.

"Did you take the dogs to my parents' house?" Alex asks.
"Yeah," Jack says with his mouth full. "You could've come with me if you hadn't waited until the last second to pack up your shit."
"I was busy!" Alex protests.
"Doing what? Watching conspiracy videos?"
"Shut up!"

With the bag finally closed, Alex lays on top of it, exhausted just from trying to shove everything into a suitcase.

"Did you pack your toothbrush?" Jack asks. He crumples up the now empty bag of chips and looks at Alex expectantly. "Or what about this thing?" He points to the bag of shower necessities sitting on the bed.
Alex curses under his breath and unzips his suitcase. He stumbles over to grab the bag and kisses Jack on the cheek as he walks by.

"Hurry up," Jack says. "I don't want to miss our flight."
"We won't miss it," Alex argues. "We'll just be cutting it really close."

Finally the suitcase is closed for the last time and Alex carries it out into the living room. Jack follows behind him. "Have you seen my phone charger? If I don't have my phone on the flight I will cry."
"Is it the one on the counter, charging your phone?" Asks Alex flatly.

Jack stops walking and looks at the counter. "Possibly."

Alex may misplace items in plain sight, but that's simply why he and Jack get along so well.

They're basically one and the same.

*****

When they've packed up their car with their suitcases and instruments, they drive to Rian's place to meet up with Rian and Zack.

It's a small two bedroom home, but Rian just uses the spare room as a recording studio. Ironically, the band doesn't even use it to record their own songs.

Normally they'd drive separately, but after a shared complaint of parking lot prices, the band agreed to start carpooling in a large van, which saves gas, parking, and worrying about where everyone is at the airport.

"Christ," Rian huffs, when Jack and Alex finally arrive, "took you guys long enough."

Rian gives Alex the keys to his van so they can pack up their shit, while Jack makes some comment about Alex being late to everything.

Then when they're done, they take off towards the airport in Rian's dirty old van.

"What were you guys even doing?" Zack asks them from the passenger seat while scrolling through Twitter. Nothing of interest has happened since he last scrolled through Twitter, but it's not like there's anything else to do.

"Alex forgot to pack," Jack answers without looking up from his phone.
"I didn't forget!" Alex argues. "I was busy!"
"Oh sorry," Jack rolls his eyes, "Alex waited til the last minute to pack."
"Kiss my ass!" Alex yells.
"Maybe later."
"You fucking-"

Rian hits the breaks and turns around like an angry parent who's had enough of their bickering children. "I will cancel the tour right now and you two will have to explain to the UK fans that the whole tour was canceled because I didn't want to spend an hour in the car with you two fighting."

For a second, Alex looks like he's about to start an argument with Rian, but then his gaze moves to the windshield of the van as the anger begins to fade and a new emotion rises up in his chest. Fear.

Rian's glare softens as he turns to look at Jack, who is also stunned silent. He turns around slowly, unsure of what he'll find. But the one thing he wasn't expecting was millions of UFOs flying through a bright red sky.
"What the hell..." Zack mutters from the passenger seat.

Jack reaches for Alex's hand as what can only be the apocalypse begins.

The UFOs flying overhead release a strange blue gas into the atmosphere as cars around them begin to drive way above the speed limit.

"Hey, Ri?" Alex says in a small voice, clutching Jack's hand tight enough to crush fingers. "I don't think the airports are letting any planes take off right now."
"Yeah..." Rian agrees, a bit dazed as he looks up at the red sky.
"We should probably stick together," Jack says. "I mean... who knows what could happen now."
Zack nods, changing the radio station to the news. "Maybe we should come up with a plan then."
"A plan," Alex echoes. "Yeah. A plan. That sounds good. Good idea. Yeah. Plan."
Jack looks at his boyfriend nervously. "Are you okay, Love?"
Alex simply nods, still staring at the red sky above them.

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