When the video chat started and they could see each other, they just stared for a minute before Alan broke the silence.
"Hi Austin," he waved at the camera before wiping stray tears off his face.
"Hey," Austin gave him a small smile in return.
"What's up?" they carried on in a normal conversation tone.
"Um, I was about to go get my suit fitted and everything, but now I'm here. What about you?" Austin asked calmly.
"Nothing much. Aaron and I watched Lord of the Rings, but that's about it," Alan purposely left out that he'd drank an entire bottle of liqueur and passed out.
"Is that all?"
"Yup," Alan squeaked out.
He hated lying to people, but he wasn't quite wanting to tell Austin what memorable events had happened.
"So you didn't have a panic attack?" Austin crossed his arms over his chest.
"Nope, what makes you say that?"
"Aaron told me," Austin said sharply.
Alan didn't reply, he just sat in bed. Silently.
"Would you like to tell me what happened?"
Alan shook his head.
"Why not?"
He shrugged.
"Okay, has Phil taken you to get your suit fitted?" Austin changed the subject.
"No," Alan shook his head, his hair falling in front of his face.
"I swear I'm gonna kill him. What about the venue? Have you seen it yet?" Austin asked.
"No."
"It's beautiful! Like, oh my god, they did such a good job. You have to see it!" Austin said happily.
"You're such a girl," Alan giggled.
"Shut up," Austin blushed and looked away.
"Are you blushing, Mr. Carlile?" Alan was clearly enjoying himself.
"Shut up!" Austin covered his face with his hands.
"PHIL!"
"WHAT?" Phil yelled back to Alan.
"COME HERE!"
"Ugh," Phil pulled away from Tino with a loud groan.
"HURRY UP!"
"I'm coming! Shut up!" Phil trudged up the stairs.
"Rude," Alan frowned.
"Why do you need Phil?" Austin asked, his face not red anymore.
"Oh damn it, you stopped blushing. I guess I could tell him to take me to get my suit fitted and to see the venue..." Alan smiled
Austin smiled at Alan, discretely, behind his hands. Alan's phone rang, blocked number.
"Hold on, someone's calling me. Tell Phil I'll be right back!" Alan grabbed his phone and ran out of the room.
"Okay!" Austin shouted to Alan's retreating body.
"Hey Austin," Phil said sitting down on the bed where Alan had just been.
"What's up?" Austin asked in the same tone he'd asked Alan.
"Nothing. Where did Alan go?"
"Someone called him, he said he'd be back though."
"Oh, okay," Phil shrugged it off, but kept sitting on the bed.
"So, what actually happened with Alan today? He wouldn't tell me anything," Austin had been told some things from Aaron, but Alan wouldn't further any knowledge.
"Well, he passed out from drinking and then woke up with a panic attack, then I think I heard him talking with Aaron about Shayley."
"Fuck. I don't want him drinking like that. It's a surprise he's not screaming about a splitting headache," Austin chose to ignore the bit about Shayley
"Yeah..." Phil agreed with a nod of his head.
Alan walked back into the room with a sigh and a partially mortified look. Phil looked up at him.
"What wrong?"
"Uh, it's nothing," Alan looked at the pictures on the wall.
"Alan, you're lying," Austin said sternly.
"Do you want me to leave so you can talk to Austin alone?" Phil asked.
Alan just shrugged so Phil took it as a yes and stood up and got up and went back downstairs.
"So, what happened?" Austin asked.
"Shayley called again," Alan said sitting down on the bed.
"What did he say?" Austin gritted his teeth.
"He wanted to see me and if I didn't show up he'd go to your hotel and kill you.." Alan started to cry.
"He's not going to lay a finger on me," Austin smirked.
"Because I'm gonna go and see what he wants and afterwards tell you what happened, right?" Alan wasn't going to risk Austin's life.
"No, because you're not going anywhere," Austin sounded serious.
"Austin. I'm going. I'll get one of the guys to follow so if Shayley tries anything at least one of them is there," Alan wanted to scream but settled on the safer alternative of not getting into a full-blown fight.
"I don't want you to see him."
"Why? I don't want him going anywhere near you."
Austin sighed, obviously not wanting Alan anywhere near Shayley.
"Why don't you want me going. Please just answer me, I'm not going to be mad, I just want to know."
"Because I love you and I don't want anything happening the day before our wedding," Austin looked down at his hands.
"Nothing is gonna happen to me, I promise."
"You don't know that," Austin argued.
"If anything happens to me, you'll be the first to know."
"I still don't want you to go," Austin's voice cracked.
"If he does try anything I can get out of it by telling him I have to go look at the venue or get my suit fitted..." Alan kept trying to reassure Austin that nothing was going to happen.
"Alan, what part of "I don't like it" don't you understand! I'd rather die than let Shayley hurt you!" Austin raised his voice.
"But I don't want you to die. Call the police and have them, like, hide in the hotel so when Shayley comes to kill you he can get arrested..." Alan tried.
"I swear I fucking hate him. You should've let me kill him that night at the bar," Austin sighed.
"What, and have you thrown in jail. No way."
"It would've been fun though," Austin gave a small smile.
"I would love to kill him too," Alan agreed.
"We should plot his death," Austin said with a grin. "I call shooting him!"
"AUSTIN!"
"It'll be fun!" Austin laughed.
"We're not killing Shayley!" Alan yelled with wide eyes.
"At least let me stab him."
"You'll get caught. Besides, he'll be here in twenty minutes to see if I'm going or not, I can stab him then. OR, oh no, you wouldn't let him touch me. You'd kill him..."
"Wait. He's coming to our house?! Oh hell no! Wait a minute," Austin went over to his bag.
"What are you doing?"
"Calling Shayley, why?" Austin had his phone in one hand and a knife in the other.
He pressed the call button.
"Put the fucking knife down!" Alan exclaimed.
"Oh, hey Shayley."
'Hello Austin, what a wonderful surprise. I hear your wedding is soon,' Shayley's voice flooded through the phone.
"Yeah, I'm so excited! I can't wait to see Alan in his suit at the alter," Austin smiled at Alan. "Maybe we should meet up. Just me and you."
'No can do. Sorry. I'd love to catch up with you sometime though,' Shayley's voice was sultry.
"Okay, how about this. If you even go near my fucking house or Alan I will fucking destroy you, do you understand?" as Austin spoke his voice became more and more menacing and threatening.
Shayley laughed nervously and hung up the phone. Austin went back over to his laptop and set the knife down.
"I think that went well, I almost had to stab a bitch."
"Might I ask why you had a knife?" Alan snorted.
"I was gonna meet up with him and stab him," Austin said with a straight face.
"Okay then... What did you and Phil talk about?!" Alan sounded like an excited schoolgirl, laying on the bed.
"Nothing really," Austin shrugged.
"Sounds fun, I still haven't told him about suit fitting.."
"You need to do that," Austin said authoritatively.
"I know, I'll text him!" Alan grabbed his phone off the bedside table, knocking over the empty vodka bottle in the process.
He swore and hoped Austin didn't hear.
"He's right downstairs, Alan," Austin chose to ignore the crash.
"Lazy," Alan replied, making Austin giggle.
They sat in silence until Alan spoke up.
"He told me to get my ass down there or else he's not taking me," Alan frowned at the text and read it over.
Austin laughed.
"It's not funny! It means I have to leave!"
"Yeah, you have to get fitted."
"I guess I gotta go. Bye. Love you!"
"Bye, Alan. I love you too," Austin ended the call.
Alan closed his laptop and ran down the stairs. Phil was playing with Aaron's hair.
"PHIL! I'M READY! WHERE ARE MY SHOES?" Alan shouted, sliding into the room in his socks.
"If you don't have your shoes then you're not ready," Phil continued playing with Aaron's hair.
"Where are my shoes?" Alan questioned again, having no clue as to where he left them.
"I don't know," Phil styled Aaron's hair into a mohawk.
"What are you even doing to Dimples?" Alan asked, looking quizzically at them both.
"His hair is fun," Phil's eyes never left Aaron's head as he talked and ruffled.
"I'm gonna go look for my shoes," Alan said, slowly backing away from Phil.
"You do that," Phil kept playing with Aaron's hair.
Alan ran into the kitchen and found his shoes sitting on the floor by the door.
Phil pulled Aaron's hair back into a ponytail, causing Aaron to finally raise an eyebrow at the guitar player's sanity.
"Phil, what are you doing?" Aaron asked, trying to slip away.
Alan ran into the living room, this time with his shoes on. He was screaming.
"He's on drugs," Tino entered the room unnoticed until he spoke.
"I CALL SHOTGUN!"
"Shut up. Let's go, Alan," Phil looked from Dimples to his boyfriend to the hyperactive ginger.
Alan ran out of the house, but quickly ran back in, shouting nonsense.
"BYE AARON!" Alan gave him a tight hug before moving along. "BYE TINO!"
He did the same to Tino before running out again. The two boys shouted goodbye to Alan before going about their normal life.
Phil started up the car once Alan got in and strapped himself down.
"You're not really on drugs, right Phil?" Alan asked, wondering if Tino was telling the truth.
"No," Phil laughed softly at Alan.
"Okay, good."
"Yeah," Phil started driving, focusing more on the road than the boy next to him.
"Do I have to get my suit fitted?" Alan asked, twiddling his thumbs.
"Yes because you have a wedding tomorrow! Oh, and the bachelor party is tonight too," Phil said with a smile.
"Wait, what? I thought we weren't doing that!" Alan looked over at Phil with wide eyes, apparently forgetting all about the bachelor party.
"We are! But its just gonna be you, me, Tino and Aaron because Pierce went back to San Diego yesterday," Phil said, obviously proud of himself.
"So basically us sitting on the couch watching movies all night?" Alan gave his a knowing look.
"Not all night because your big day is tomorrow, but pretty much, yeah," Phil didn't look so proud now.
"That's what I thought."
"We're here," Phil said laughing.
They got out of Phil's car and Alan looked at the store.
"This is going to take forever," Alan sighed, all hopes of this being a quick trip disappeared.
"Yeah, because you're so small," Phil joked and ruffled Alan's hair.
"Shut the fuck up," Alan pushed Phil playfully before fixing his hair.
Phil smiled at Alan, walking behind him a bit so he wouldn't get pushed again.
"You're a dickhead," Alan said before running inside.
Phil stood outside for a minute, replying to a text Tino had sent him. Alan stood in the doorway of the store with his mouth wide open.
"Holy shit."
"What?" Phil stood next to him.
"I have no idea how I'm going to find one.... And besides, what colour is it supposed to be? I forgot," Alan was stressing just over his suit, more stress than he normally would for other formal events.
"Black jacket, white shirt. It's nothing big, just you, Austin, and a couple of bands. From what I hear, Austin's dad is coming too," Phil was looking around at all the different possible suits Alan could wear.
"His dad's coming?" Alan's eyes were wide. "I've really gotta make a good impression now," he fretted.
"Don't worry. He's pretty chill. I met him at the last wedding," Phil started looking for suits, disregarding Alan's look.
"What? What last wedding?" Alan trailed behind Phil, confused.
"Austin and Gielle. You probably don't remember."
"No. I wasn't here when they got married."
"Oh, right. Sorry," Phil looked at Alan apologetically.
Alan turned on his heel and walked to the other side of the store and looked at suits. Phil followed behind him.
"Are you upset?" Phil asked him softly.
"No," Alan replied shortly.
"There's nothing you need to worry about. Gielle has moved on and so has Austin. I was in denial of their whole relationship anyway," Phil mumbled the last bit and Alan didn't hear.
"I am worrying though. What if he says no? What if someone objects? What if Austin doesn't want to marry me?" Alan started to cry.
"Oh Alan," Phil pulled him into a hug which Alan immediately returned, sobbing into Phil's chest. "I've known Austin for as long as I can remember and I know when he's in love with someone, but the way he treats you is far beyond what I've seen him do in the past. He really cares for you. Just the way he looks at you and how he takes care of you. I would kill for something like that."
Alan tightened his grip on Phil's shirt.
"R-Really?"
"Yes really," Phil assured him.
"Can we just get a suit and leave? I wanna see the venue, Austin said it was pretty," Alan wiped his eyes with the backs of his hands.
"Sure," Phil let him go and went to go find a tailor.
Alan sat on the floor and waited.
"Excuse me, could you help me and my friend out?" Phil asked once he'd gotten the tailors attention.
"Sure!" he responded brightly. "Any specific suit you're looking for?"
"Yeah, just a simple one. He's over here," Phil led the man over to Alan, who'd started humming to himself.
"So, just a simple black one with a white shirt?" the tailor asked.
"Yeah. Alan?"
"Hm?" Alan looked up at Phil.
"He's gonna help us with the suits," Phil gestured to the man.
"Okay," Alan stood up.
"My name is David, by the way," the tailor smiled at both of them.
"Hi David. You guys do have suits that are small enough for me, right?" Alan questioned.
"Yeah, but they're not over here. You guys can follow me," David started walking towards a different part of the store.
"Okay," Alan and Phil followed behind.
He started off in the direction of the dressing rooms, making both boys raise an eyebrow, but decide not to question it.
"Phil?"
"Yeah?"
"After this can we go somewhere to eat? I think I'm ready to try eating again.." Alan looked at Phil with wide eyes.
"Yeah, sure. That's fine with me," Phil shrugged.
"Thank you," Alan hugged him tightly.
"Anytime," Phil smiled at him.
"Let's find me a suit."
They looked around for ten minutes before Phil held one up for Alan and David to see.
"What about this one?" Phil asked. "It seems to fit you perfectly."
Alan looked it up and down a few times.
"Sure."
"Can he try this on?" Phil asked, turning to David.
"Sure, come back with me and you can try it on in there and if it's the right length then I can make some adjustments to it for you," David beckoned them to go back to the very back to the fitting rooms.
Alan looked at Phil.
"Okay, one second," Phil pulled Alan over to the side.
"I can't go in there alone," Alan said softly.
"Why?"
"What if Shayley is behind all this? What if David is one of his people?" Alan hissed and looked over his shoulder to see David looking at other suits and brushing stray dust off.
"I doubt it, besides, David seems nice."
"I don't know.. That lady at Wendy's was nice too, but she knew about Austin and I's wedding. I'm just.. paranoid," Alan chose his words carefully and said them slowly.
"Hey, just calm down. You'll be fine, plus tonight's the bachelor party, you get to hang out with your best friends one last time before you're a married man! You'll be fine, there's no reason to be paranoid," Phil said to him with a smile and a quick hug.
"Okay," Alan took the suit from Phil's hand.
"You got it, Gingy," Phil smiled at the nickname.
Alan smiled back at Phil and walked over to David.
"Ready to try it on?"
"Yep," Alan nodded his head once.
"Okay, you can just go in one of those and just come out when you're finished so I can see what adjustments I'll need to do to it. It might be a perfect fit, but we rarely have that," David gestured to the fitting rooms.
"Okay," Alan went into one of the fitting rooms, leaving Phil and David out waiting.
Phil was awkwardly standing outside the door, refusing to make eye contact with David.
"So, is he getting married or..." David trailed off.
"Yeah..."
"Oh. That's good. We always get guys around here that's getting married. We actually had one yesterday that was pretty excited about it," David smiled, seeming to love his job and how many excited guys he's helped.
"Oh, that's cool. Austin got his fitted yesterday, I think.."
"I think that was his name. He had a nose ring and lots of tattoos. He seemed really upbeat," David said looking at Phil.
"Yup, that's him. He's really excited. Alan's nervous and paranoid that something's gonna happen."
Alan unlocked the door and stepped out into the open.
"I think it's too... Yeah," Alan looked at Phil, who understood.
"I saw one that was a bit smaller than that...I think you might like it better.." Phil ran off to grab it.
Alan struggled with getting the tie done.
"Here," David walked over and helped him.
"I'm so stupid," Alan sighed, hoping David didn't hear him.
"No you're not, ties are complicated," David said, obviously hearing him.
"I guess."
"No guessing, I didn't learn until I was like twenty nine."
"How old are you now?" Alan asked.
"Thirty two..." David replied quietly.
"You only look twenty one!" Alan looked shocked.
"I hope that's a good thing," David laughed.
"Yeah, I'm only twenty three, you look younger than me," Alan laughed along with him.
"Well that's odd," David said, more to himself than to Alan.
"Alan, you can try this one?" Phil appeared with a different suit for Alan.
"Thanks," Alan took the suit and went back to the fitting room.
"Yeah," Phil sat down and waited.
"He had a hard time with his tie, so you may need to help him with that," David told him, standing nearby.
"He was never one for ties. He hates them."
"Don't we all?" David laughed, trying to break the tense atmosphere.
"Yeah."
Alan walked out, looking at himself as he went.
"I like this one!"
"I'm no expert, but I think it might need some personal fitting."
They both looked at David, who'd been circling Alan and looking him up and down. He nodded at Phil, giving him an affirmative that it would need fitting.
"Come on, Alan."
Alan followed behind him.
"Okay, stand up here please," David helped him up onto a platform. "Okay, now hold your arms out like an aeroplane," David laughed.
Alan frowned and looked over at Phil, who was smiling, obviously not liking the childish order. He sighed and held his arms out anyways.
As David sized him up Alan hummed.
"Well, the pants need to be fitted, but the jacket is fine," David said.
"Okay..."
"So, you'll need to take them off.." David said with a smile.
"Uh... I'll be right back," Alan went back into the fitting room.
Phil's phone started ringing so he politely excused himself and went somewhere else and answered.
"Hello?" he didn't bother looking at the caller ID.
"DON'T TAKE ALAN HOME! KEEP HIM WHERE HE IS, DO NOT LEAVE!" Austin's voice flooded through, screaming in Phil's ear.
"Why? Why can't I take him home? We were gonna go get something to eat, he's going to try and eat something. But why can't I take him home?" Phil sounded confused.
"Just keep him wherever you guys are now. Trust me on this, Phil," Austin sighed.
"May I ask why?"
"Shayley," Austin hung up the phone.
"Fuck, Alan!" Phil looked around for Alan.
He found David holding a gun to Alan's head. Alan was crying.
"He's not going anywhere," David smiled.
"PHIL! PHIL!" Alan started sobbing even harder.
Phil stood there in shock as Shayley entered the store.
"NO! SHAYLEY, NO!" Alan was screaming at the top of his lungs.
"Ah, just in time," Shayley smiled a wicked smile.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Phil whispered under his breath.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT?" Alan sobbed.
"Now now, Alan. Don't be like that. I just came to have some fun," Shayley smiled as Phil's phone went off, "with him."
"Wh-What are you gonna do?"
"I'm going to try and get you back," Shayley walked over to Phil, "using everyone you love," he pulled out a gun.
"DON'T YOU FUCKING TOUCH HIM!" Alan screamed and tried to get away from David, unsuccessful.
"Don't you fucking move or I'll blow his brains out!" Shayley's voice was harsh as he pressed the gun to Phil's head.
Alan went limp in David's arms, the tears streaming faster now.
"Please don't hurt him!" Alan sobbed.
"David, go sit him down over there," Shayley ordered.
"Phil!" Alan screeched for Phil, but David dragged him away.
"Alan, just do what he says. Everything is going to be okay!" Phil shouted.
Alan nodded and allowed David to take him over to his seat.
"Go," Shayley pushed Phil after him.
Alan choked back tears as Phil stumbled over.
"Want to go with Plan B since Austin isn't here?" David asked.
"What's Plan B?" Alan asked, looking up at David and then to Shayley, then back to David.
"Don't speak," Shayley slapped Alan, listening to the noise ricochet off the walls.
Alan whimpered, but stood his ground.
"ANSWER MY FUCKING QUESTION!" Alan yelled.
"I SAID SHUT UP!" Shayley smacked him again. "DAVID, PLAN B!"
This time Alan whimpered and kept quiet. David tossed Shayley the phone and held Alan so he wouldn't try and run. Shayley called Austin with a smirk upon his face.
'Hello?'
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