One Last Kiss
One Last Kiss
Alex had been the one that insisted they all go out. It had been impossible for he and Jack to spend quality time together since the tour had started, which had in a way lead to the entire band wondering around a small Christmas market in the town they’d been staying in. There were only three days left of their short Christmas break before they were back on the road and playing shows again which had also left them with an incredibly small amount of time together. Once the tour resumed, Jack and Alex barely have any time alone.
Looking up into the night’s sky, it was hard to distinguish between stars and descending snowflakes. The winter scene was almost perfect. Typical Christmas songs were playing through speakers along the edge of the market also, only getting louder towards the bar in the middle that Zack and Rian were headed towards. Carefully, Alex had slipped himself and Jack away into the dark streets before the rest of them could notice but once they had, they didn’t care too much about it. It was no secret that Alex had planned for himself and Jack to spend the night alone somewhere anyway.
"I've missed you." Jack had grinned. "Where are we going?"
"I just want to take a walk with you." Alex had smiled up into his lovers eyes. For a while, the couple just walked through the winter night in silence. Occasionally, Jack would slow down to kiss his lovers cheek and Alex would return it with a tight hug.
"Alex?" Jack broke the silence.
"Yea?" They stopped in the street. Snow was still falling around them, chilling the air further.
"I can't go without you again."
"What do you mean?"
"When we're on tour...we hardly speak at risk of fans finding out about us or something." Jack frowned. "I can't do that much longer." Instead of reacting, Alex simply laughed slightly.
"We'll make it, we always do." He'd giggled. "We'll be fine."
"But I don't want it to be that way!" Jack protested. "Why can't we just be ourselves for once?"
"Fine, we'll be ourselves." Alex was still smiling. "It'll get better, I promise."
"Thank you so much." Jack grinned again, sealing their small promise with a long kiss. The night had certainly reached it's coldest when they both decided to head back, giving Jack an excuse to hold Alex close. He couldn't help but dream about how nice it would be if everybody knew their well kept secret. It was clear that everybody on the bus already knew, especially after most of them had seen them share the same bed most nights, but apart from that there was almost nobody that knew the truth. Maybe if they did, he and Alex could have more moments like this. Happy, perfect moments.
But something stopped them on their way back. Up ahead, both men could clearly see something was wrong. From what they could make out, it looked as if somebody was beating a woman and trying to shove her body behind a set of bins. The attacker didn't look too strong though, yet the woman was almost lifeless.
"Should we help?" Alex suggested, shaking slightly with fear. Before he could even think of what to do, Jack was already sprinting up the street to defend.
Then came the shot. It pierced the air with a sickening crack and Alex watched on in horror as Jack's body fell to the floor. The seconds it took for him to run over to where his lover was lay seemed to fall out in slow motion and the twisted soul that had just fired the gun fled the scene before anybody could even get a look at his face. That wasn't the main issue though; the pool of blood was.
Alex managed to phone an ambulance and state his location before the shock was over and reality sunk in. Quickly, he took off his coat and placed it under Jack's head for support before removing his shirt and pressing it against the wound in a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding.
"I'm fine." Jack whispered, his voice patchy.
"You're bleeding." Alex yelled. He'd not realised that he was crying until the years spilled over his cheeks. In the distance, he could hear the sirens of the ambulance drawing closer but he knew it was no use waiting for them.
"Stay with me Jack." He trembled. He was doing everything to try keep Jack from realising the truth, but it was pointless. The bullet had hit his chest and there was too much blood, chances of survival were minimum.
"Don't leave." Jack whispered. "I'll be fine. You're panicking." he almost laughed.
"There’s so much blood." Alex broke down. Jack was everything to him, the thought of him in pain was unbearable.
"Stop worrying! It just looks that way" Jack tried to reassure him, flinching in slight pain when either of them moved. It seemed impossible to calm Alex down, especially considering the fact he couldn't even move himself up to hold his lover tight. Jack knew there should be much more pain too, but he was slowly becoming numb in the cold.
"Promise me you’ll make it.” Alex sobbed. He'd lay next to Jack's body, despite being shirtless in the snow, so he could be closer to his lover.
"I will, I promise." Jack reached over to take Alex's hand. The sirens were definitely close now, probably just around the corner. "One thing..."
"Anything." Alex's voice was just a whisper.
"One last kiss?"
The kiss had been perfect. Every memory they'd shared over the past 12 years seemed to have gotten caught up in that one kiss and Alex refused to break it until the medics arrived.
But Jack must have known the turht known, because in that kiss, Alex had the experience of feeling Jack's life slip away. He'd died in Alex's arms, exactly how he wanted to. "Blood loss" was the cause, declared at the funeral. So many people had turned up; especially considering the boy’s death was classed as "abrupt". Many cried too, almost all except Alex. Maybe he would have if he hadn't known that in his last minute, Jack was happy. And because of that; so was Alex.