Anywhere Else But Here (Chapter 2)
Title: Anywhere Else But Here (2/?)
Author: badenoughforyou
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Jalex
Summary: Jack has grown up in a world where music is a felony. It was believed to influence kids too much. Jack had never known the beautiful world of music. That is, until the day the beautiful Alex Gaskarth walked into his life and showed him the truth behind music. The beauty everyone had been hiding from him for so long.
Disclaimer: I do not own All Time Low and the title of this fic is Anywhere Else But Here by Simple Plan.
Chapter 1
Master Post
It was about nine when Zack dropped Jack and the boy off at Jack’s house. Jack took a deep breath and looked over at the boy as Zack pulled out of the driveway. The boy gave him a soft smile that made Jack melt inside. He could do this.
He poked his head in the door, relieved when he saw nobody. They both walked in, both creeping cautiously. Obviously the boy had picked up on the somber atmosphere of the Barakat residence. They entered the kitchen where they had their only phone.
"So, um, you can call your parents or something." Jack said, motioning towards the phone. The boy bit his lip and looked down.
"I… I really don’t think I can." He said, his voice shaking. Jack frowned and felt that same feeling he had felt when he saw the boy in the rain, his eyes pleading. Jack froze when he heard footsteps coming from behind. Shit. Had they been too loud?
"Jack… who is this?" He heard his mom’s stern voice. She always sounded like that when she talked to Jack. Jack turned around and sighed.
"This is…" Jack stopped. Fuck, he never even asked what the boy’s name was.
"Alex." The boy finished his sentence, his voice not relaying any of the earlier distress. In fact, it sounded almost chipper. He was way better at hiding his emotions than Jack.
"Alex…" Jack repeated, getting the feel of the name on his tongue. Jack’s mom looked about the same as she did when she walked in.
"What’s he doing in our kitchen at nine at night?" She asked, not being hospitable in the least. Jack could have cussed her out like he usually ended up doing, but he stayed silent, not wanting Alex to think he was a nut job who hated his mom.
"Jack was just letting me use the phone to call my parents. I was stuck at soccer practice and had to walk home in the rain and Jack offered to let me call." Alex said. Jack had almost even believed him, he sounded so convincing. Apparently this was enough for Mrs. Barakat because she turned around and headed back upstairs.
"Sorry about her… Alex." Jack said, loving the sound of his name. Alex's expression changed back to that hopeless look. It took everything in Jack's being not to hug the him, but he knew, after knowing him for about an hour, Alex didn't need that. Or did he?
"Do you have anywhere to go?" Jack asked tentatively. Something inside of him wanted Alex to say no. He looked up at Jack, his heart aching with the burden of everything. His look seemed to relay the message well enough.
"No... I... I don't know where my parents are." He said, feeling tired from all of this. Jack's mind jumped to the first conclusion. They must have been Resistors, but Alex said nothing more.
"You can stay here." Jack said, moving a little closer to Alex so their conversation wasn't entirely broadcasted. Alex's face lit up a little and he almost smiled.
"Really?" He asked in that same breathless tone as when Jack told him he could come to his house. Jack nodded, knowing he had to help him. Alex's eyes looked a little shiny as if nobody had ever expressed that kind of care towards him.
"Thank you, Jack." He said, obviously trying not to cry. Everything inside of him was building up and it was only a matter of time before he would burst at the seams.
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Jack led the still shivering boy to his room and shut the door behind them softly. He didn't need his mother knowing he had Alex there without asking her.
"Do... do you mind if I borrow something dry?" Alex asked, his teeth chattering. Jack could never say no to him, especially not when he looked so breakable. Jack rifled through his drawers and found some grey sweatpants, a black t shirt and a blue hoodie. He figured he would need the extra warmth.
"Umm... you can just change over there, I won't look." Jack said, turning around. He could have sworn he heard Alex laugh softly, but he wasn't sure. Jack couldn't help bu steal a glance, even though he'd sort of promised not to. Fuck, Alex was skinny. Not in the bony way, but he was getting there. He took off his shirt and Jack couldn't help the feeling of wanting to just hold him and make him warm again. He looked so brittle and numb as he put the black t shirt on, shivering a little at how warm it was. Once he was done, Jack averted his eyes as if he hadn't watched Alex get undressed.
"Really... thank you. I don't think I can really tell you how... relieved I am right now." Alex said, his voice quivering again.
"You don't have to thank me. I would have done it for anyone." Jack said, but would he? The truth is, probably not. There was just something about Alex he wanted.
Alex just smiled back at him, his eyes wide but not in the way they were before. He no longer looked terrified. He finally felt safe.
"You can take the bed." Jack said. He was always far more hospitable than his mom. Alex nodded and sat on the edge of the bed, but not laying down. Jack pulled in a sleeping bag beside the bed and laid down. All the exhaustion of the day seemed to rush over him in only seconds. Alex laid down on the edge of the bed, looking down at Jack.
"What do you think of music?" Alex whispered in the dark. Jack froze, his heart beating fast. What did he mean?
"I... um... I don't know." Jack said truthfully. He'd never heard it. He had nothing to say. "Why?" He whispered, hoping nobody would hear them.
"I... just... I don't see why they're banning it." Alex said, his tone indicating there was so much more behind his words than curiosity alone. Jack knew their reasoning though.
When Jack was about three, music was legal. It wasn't until a band started a revolution. When they had learned about it in school, the teachers weren't even allowed to state the name of the band. The fear of starting it all up again was far too great.
The band had led a revolution of individuality. It said it was fine to be way different from the rest of society. In fact, it didn't want you to fit in. This caused kids and even adults to "fuck society". It gave kids a reason to try to act out.
Soon, it led to mutiny and all hell broke loose. The individuality had caused kids to think that laws were meant to be broken.
It was only a matter of time before someone got hurt. It was a global epidemic. Parents found only one source to blame. And that was music.
Music was then banned everywhere. And it wasn't even just a single type of music. It was every genre. It just made sure that music had no place to grow again. No instruments. No CDs. No nothing. Stores were shut down, venues torn apart. It was as if it were the end of the world.
Jack had only ever heard his father play guitar. That was the only music he had ever known. And now it was hard to recall the sweet melody that had lulled him to sleep all those times. Now he ached for it.
"I don't either." Jack said, feeling numb. And with that, Alex was silent.