the Reckless and the Brave (Sequel to Scream, to be Heard)

My Immortal

The next morning I woke up, and, realizing what happened last night, checked my phone again. I had another text from Danny's mom saying what day and time and where the funeral was, and went to find Alex. I eventually found him in the other guy's room, and told him what the text had said. He then bought some plane tickets back to Baltimore for all of us to go there, and almost had to cancel the first tour date but figured out we would make it back in time. Then I was whisked away to the studio again, where we recorded the vocals to the songs except for the original, which had been recorded a while ago as just a demo, and decided we would do that except just tweak a few things like the ending, which took about five minutes to re-record and make a chord change. Then we were on our way back to Baltimore, and arrived close to four in the morning. As we arrived at the airport, reporters swarmed around us. I tried not to scream as they hounded me for questions about Danny, my music, and about my relationship with Alex. I pulled on Alex's jacket which was way too big on me, as the airport was like a meatlocker. Zack, Jack, and Rian chased the reporters away and kept me and Alex in a protective circle, Alex guiding me back to the car with his hand around my waist and my body drawn close to his. We barely got in the car, and drove home and eventually reached the house without any reporters trailing us, and unlocked the door.

I went into my room and changed into the same sweats I was wearing yesterday, and went back into the living room. Alex and Rian were sitting on the first couch, Jack and Zack in two separate armchairs. I sat down next to Alex, who put an arm around me. "Hey, don't come out here," he said. "You need to go to sleep." I shook my head.

"I can't sleep now," I replied. "Just knowing that in a few hours Danny's gone forever is killing me." He nodded.

"Will you sleep if I come with you?" He said. "I know it always makes you feel better to not be alone." I reluctantly nodded, feeling ashamed that he knew my weakness. I had always been afraid of being alone, and Danny's death had just increased that about five thousand percent.

"Thanks," I said. We turned and descended the stairs into Alex's room and he undid the covers as I went to the bathroom, because the three glasses of water on the plane really added up. Then I crawled in next to Alex, who was reading something on his phone. He put it away to charge and I heard the ding right before he turned the light on and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close to him. He kissed my temple as I turned over so I was facing him. A sudden thought came into my mind, a question that was burning to be answered. "Alex?" I asked, my voice coming out as a croak. He let out a noise that told me to continue. "Why has everyone I love died?" He laughed.

"I haven't left you yet," he said. "And I'm not going to. And all of this just makes you a stronger person. Everyone you love hasn't left you. They're just setting up the path for when your time comes." There was pain in his voice, and I could tell he didn't want to even think about me dying and therefore didn't say it.

"But when will that be?" I asked, the words flowing out of my mouth without my consent.

"I don't know," he answered. "And it was almost a few weeks ago. But you're here now, that's all that matters. Just not soon. For me." I could hear him smile as he kissed my forehead. "Now go to sleep." I laughed and put my arm around his waist, hugging him for a moment. I let go and let my arms be the barrier between us, and the only thing keeping me from breaking down at being alone.

I woke up with Alex's arms not around me, and alone in his bed. I was surrounded by his scent, though, which was still not as good as having him with me. Rian was fixing the shower head in the bathroom and emerged with a victorious look on his face. "Hey, get up," he said. "The funeral's in a few hours." I nodded and got out of the bed, Rian putting a hand on my back and helping me up the stairs. I took a shower and dressed in my solid black dress that went to my knees and straightened my hair. I slipped on a necklace that Danny had given me, and then walked back outside. Alex and the guys were already out of their rooms, wearing suits. The only thing that didn't make them look like they had warped into civilized humans was the fact that Alex was wearing a studded belt and had his hair spiked up like normal. He looked at me and smiled.