Chapter 33 - Jack here.
I had completely forgotten about The Killers concert that Niall, Katy, Alyssa and I were going to until Niall turns up on my doorstep, his hair cropped shorter than it was again after being away at Sheffield. Without talking to him, I glance over to Katy's house to see that she's not back for Christmas yet, and neither is Alyssa. But he's here.
"It's tomorrow," he says hurriedly, all in a blur. "Um, do you think that Katy'll be alright?"
"Wait- what?"
"We're going to see the Killers," Niall reminds me, raising one dark eyebrow. I hear Dan calling me from the kitchen but I step outside and close the door. "Right. Well, I dunno. I haven't spoken to either of you for ages. I dunno how she is."
I don't know why I'm being like this - cold and patronising - but I guess I have every right to be because of how cold he and Katy were when Alyssa and I flew in to save them in that fucking forest.
Niall stares at me for a while, his whole frame frozen, his shoulders back. Then it's as if the freeze frame is over and he moves again, shifting his balance from foot to foot and shaking his head. "Alright, whatever. I'll call you when you're not in this mood."
"What the fuck." I stare at him, suddenly really annoyed. "You're the one who was all weird when Alyssa and I came over all the way from Cambridge to get you and your girlfriend out of the forest because of your stupidity."
"Hey, Katy was really injured-"
"And you both didn't even say thanks or anything," I finish. Immediately I feel like a child, but I can't help but let him know I feel about him; about Katy; about people in general these days. I'm so fucking sick of it all.
"You could just tell me you don't wanna go to the concert and that's fine." Niall doesn't get the point.
He's incapable of understanding - either that, or he is just trying to move the topic away from the whole forest thing. I stare at him and stay silent, my arms now crossed over my chest. He begins to look shifty, and drops my gaze.
Then we hear the car.
It's a loud beep, so loud that I jump without controlling it after our heated discussion. Niall immediately begins to walk away towards the road as I spot Alyssa's blue Toyota, and I sit down on my doorstep, leaving them to say hi.
I realise that I'm being too angry. I realise, but I can't help it and I want to stop but it isn't possible. When I feel like this the least I want to do is smile. Niall begins to talk to Alyssa as she climbs out, but I can't hear what either of them are saying as Alyssa walks around to the boot of the car and Niall follows her. She looks faintly pissed off, to be quite honest. Only faintly.
She meets my gaze after that, her scarf blowing around her in the sudden harsh wind, and gives a small smile before hauling her bag out of her boot. Then she leaves it there, along with Niall who is still speaking as she walks away, towards me.
"How's it going?" She asks, raising an eyebrow. It's as if we are just friends, as she stands there with her hands on her hips, staring down at me. I slowly stand up and we stare at eachother.
"Better now you're here."
A small smile. "I thought so. You look kind of sad, is Niall tormenting you?"
"Yeah, about the Killers." I slowly grab her waist, and my hands aren't shaking, just firm, and she steps forward, and then her hands are on either side of my face as she kisses me deeply - there's no warming up or leading up, she just gets right into it. The kiss is hungry and urgent, and I want to take her away somewhere as she touches my hair and then shoulder and then arm and chest and stomach, her warm touch burning through my December cold shirt, and she has too many layers on and I don't have enough. There is so much between us, even when I firmly press her against me and wrap one arm around her waist, and there is nowhere to go but here so both of us continue to hold on and on and
"Oh." There is a cough behind me, and when Alyssa pulls back she looks all red and hot and flushed and sexy, her eyes wide.
Dan is staring at us both with such surprise that I can't look at him for more than a few seconds. I'm not embarrassed (although Alyssa definitely is), but it's just weird. It doesn't feel right.
"Where are you going?" I ask him, noticing he has his coat on.
"I'm meeting Christie at the cinema." Dan pauses and looks funny as he steps down onto the drive, smiling at Alyssa before looking at me. "Have a nice time, guys."
"Yeah, you too." I smirk and then gently tug Alyssa closer as Dan starts to walk away. Niall has apparently disappeared.
"I have to go say hi to my parents," Alyssa whispers as I try to pull her inside. "Besides, your dad isn't gonna want me here all the time."
I stare at her, freezing for just a second. "There isn't anyone here. Please, just come inside for a bit. I missed you." I can't help but stroke down the side of her soft cheek, as her bright green shine up at me. I watch as she looks back at her bag on the road, then smiles at me.
"I missed you too, Jack."
-
The next day, Alyssa and I find ourselves standing in a line of hundreds of people outside the O2 arena, beside a very silent Katy and a very excitable Niall. There are all sorts of people around us, some murmuring songs by the Killers to keep their spirits up in the cold. Alyssa looks back at me with a bright grin.
"I can't wait," she whispers through chattering teeth, and from the corner of my eye I see Katy let a small smile show. I pull my jacket sleeve up to check the time on my watch - ten minutes until eight o'clock, which is when the doors open.
"Ten minutes," I whisper back, shivering. Alyssa pulls her sleeves up from over her hands, which are red and shaking. I smile, before holding one of them in both of mine, rubbing it gently. As Niall and Katy begin to talk quietly, their heads bent together, I press millions of kisses along her fingers, then gently blow on her skin. Giggling, Alyssa lifts her other hand for me to do the same to that one too, and I do.
"Hmm, thank you." She leans up to kiss my jaw, then buries her cold face in my neck. For a second, I'm shivering crazier than ever. But then we both stop.
As some guys in front of us start up a bad rendition of Everything Will Be Alright, Niall turns to Alyssa and I.
"What you guys getting me for Christmas?"
I laugh, as Alyssa narrows her eyes at him then shakes her head. "You'll be lucky if you get something," she teases.
"It's meant to be a surprise, idiot," Katy adds, shaking her head with the ghost of a smile. I haven't really talked to her that much, but I think that is best - I'm not prepared to get my head bit off for no reason.
Alyssa begins to sing along with the guys in front, rather quietly as she keeps her arms wrapped around me. I smile and stroke her hair, as Niall begins to sing the lyrics loudly. After a few minutes everyone around us is yelling Runaways at the top of their lungs - including me - until the line moves down.
It's all push and shove as we are asked for our tickets at the door and they are scanned and then we are allowed through the doors. There are a few people buying drinks at the bar but most people are making a beeline for the auditorium because they're standing - like us - and want a good seat, so that's what the four of us do. Alyssa holds my hand numbingly tight and wraps her arm around Katy's, who is clutching Niall firmly as he leads us into the place. It's massive, the stage full of dark blue lights and everyone talking excitedly around us. We come to stand at the back of the crowd that's already there, about ten metres or so from the front. Immediately, the whole place begins to fill up with people behind us.
"Who's the supporting act?" I hear Niall ask, as the girls stand in the middle. We all shrug, and I stare at the diamond cross on the jacket of the boy in front of me while some girls behind me begin to poke my butt with their bags.
The supporting act is this country guy called Raymond Loss, and he comes on after half an hour. Some people start to video him and he sings about six songs. After every song he says, "So, my name is Raymond Loss, and I am so excited to be here."
"We know!" Katy yells after the forth time, and a few people laugh.
At the end, when he's saying thank you and everything, a guy behind me shouts, "What's your name! Tell us your name?"
But Raymond Loss ignores him if he heard him and just grins at us all before walking offstage.
Then we have to wait another half hour before the Killers come on. Alyssa stands there, looking around in silence with a great big smile on her face. I'm trying to shift forwards so I'm away from these girls who keep rubbing against me from behind. I think Katy is having the same problem because she suddenly swears very loudly and then turns around to stare at the girls behind. They all stick up their middle finger.
"What's wrong?" Niall asks. Alyssa looks up at me confusedly and I slowly shake my head.
"Stop rubbing your arse against me!" One behind me shouts. The others laugh, and I stand still for a second.
"Fuck off," she mumbles again. That's when I turn around to stare a the bitch. "You fuck off. You're the one who keeps touching my arse, give me some space, for fuck's sake."
Alyssa looks terrified. That's when this tiny one with dyed white hair who is even smaller than Alyssa begins to move around the side of Katy, so Katy gets separated from Niall.
She's trying to get closer to the front.
"Oi. Fuck off." Katy actually pushes her back and then holds out her hand for Niall. He scowls at the girls and then moves in front of the midget girl, who swears loudly and gets pushed back.
"Ew, her hair keeps touching me." Now the girls behind me are tugging on the ends of Alyssa's long hair. Beside me, Alyssa starts to frown, but doesn't turn around.
"Can you just fuck off." I turn around and glare at them all. "Move back or something; stop touching her hair and stop rubbing against my arse."
"Why don't you move forward, dickhead?" One of the bitches asks, raising an eyebrow. The guy in front of me turns around to stare at us, and then one of the girls scowls at him.
"What you looking at, faggot?"
Thankfully, all the lights go down then. They try to move in front of us, but I keep pushing forward and then everyone is rushing forwards, so I make sure I'm holding Alyssa's hand tightly and I think we've lost them; they've gone off somewhere towards the left.
And then Brandon Flowers is on stage, and everyone is screaming around me, and the show starts.
-
"Oh my God, oh my God!" Katy screams and jumps up and down a few times once we are out on the busy road, outside the arena.
Alyssa screams, then laughs and falls against me. "They were amazing!" She yells, then holds onto me tightly. And in that moment, I don't think I'll ever forget how she looks at me then - her eyes shining under the city lights are her cheeks faintly pink, her eyeliner ever so slightly smudged.
Niall and I just laugh as we drag them off towards the tube station. None of us can keep still, and I keep laughing every so often. My heart's still beating the rhythm of the last song and I can feel sweat evaporating off me now that we are out in the open air, away from the giant crowd.
Katy is telling us how she'll send us all the videos she took, and Alyssa is singing Human and me and Niall are still laughing. However then we turn the corner, and there are blue lights flashing and yellow tape around some things and some people standing silently, some frantically speaking on the phone, some crying. Immediately the four of us shut up, and stand still.
"What's that?" Niall suddenly asks loudly, and I follow his gaze towards a huge scene - what looks like the remnants of a car and a bus against the wall of the tube station. A woman runs past us, screaming, and some police are walking around the place.
Three screeching police cars stop in front of us and we step back as officers clamber out of them.
"What the fuck?" I hear myself ask.
And then, a man and a woman walk past us, and the woman just whispers shakily, "There was a gas explosion in that bus. The tube is down."
---
Thanks so much for reading. :) I hope you enjoyed! Of course it would mean a lot to me for you to comment and vote :)
I wonder if you guys could tell me if there's anything specific you want to see more of in this story; like romantic scenes, drama, arguments, maybe a certain character, maybe more diverse descriptions or vocabulary? I want to make this story the most enjoyable it can be for you guys. :)
Have a lovely day!