Your Never Fading Smile

Chapter 34

"Hey..." Greeted with a rather monotone voice Jason his band mates once he entered the practice room. All eyes turned towards him and gazed at him as if he's some bizarre creature. "What's their problem?" Wondered Jason while raising a curious eyebrow.

"You seem really down those days. Are you sure you're okay?" Questioned one of Jason's band mates as the man in question just shook negatively his head. "I'm totally fine. Let's stop talking about unimportant matters and begin to practice for the festival." "Psychological well being matters. Since I know that you rarely care about yourself, my duty as the leader, and your friend, is to remind you to take a better care of yourself."

"Yeah yeah, I know that Nick. No need to overreact. I am perfectly fine." Dismissed Jason the vocalist of the band by the name Nick and walked towards his position. "Come on, let's start." "...Right."

~~~

After Jason was done practicing for tomorrow's festival, he began to walk immediately towards his best friend only to not find him anywhere. "That bastard is nowhere to be found those days!" He thought to himself. "Just where is everyone?"

"Hey Jason~" Greeted a certain purple head while approaching happily the troubled Jason. "Tch..." "What? You aren't happy to see me? Just a while ago you were aggressively crying in front of me because of how hurt I was from fighting those bullies. You don't care about me anymore?" Complained dramatically Alex, placing a hand in his heart for emphasis.

"Don't talk to me... I'm tired." Mumbled angrily Jason, more than he wanted to. "I see, I see. You just finished practicing with your band, right? You must be tired so go on and rest~ See ya later babe~" With those last words Alex left, leaving behind an astonished Jason. "That's the first time he leaves like that..."

Jason didn't thought too much about it and left towards the dorms in order to rest. He wasn't that exhausted physically, but rather he was extremely anxious about tomorrow's festival. That would be the first time he would play in a public place in front of so many people. And he most certainly didn't wanted to screw everything up.

Jason finally arrived at his room and laid down on his bed. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and tried to calm down his anxiety. But much to his displeasure, the thought of Alex couldn't leave his mind. "Why was he like that today? Did he finally learned self-control? Was I too harsh on him? Is it my fault? Wait, why am I thinking about him?! Of course and this isn't my fault! Just why...! Ugh!!"

Jason's little panic attack didn't last long as he got a call from his best friend Noah. "Hey." "Hey, got any time to meet?" Asked Noah out of the blue. "Sure where are you." "Come by the bench. I'll be waiting for you there." "Got it." Jason didn't questioned anything about it and got slowly up from his comfortable bed and left towards the usual spot he and his friends always hang out together.

Soon enough, when he arrived at the bench, he was greeted by the one and only purple head of the university. "What are you doing here?" Questioned Jason and Alex showed him a sly smirk. "Who knows. Maybe I was waiting for a certain guitarist to come and keep me some company." "So I was never meant to meet up with Noah after all..." Thought Jason while shaking negatively his head. "Those two bastards..!"

"I'm leaving." Spoke monotonously Jason but Alex's smirk never faded. "Aw come on~ Here, take a sit. After all this way you came through, you can't just leave like that." Suggested Alex while patting the bench for emphasis. Jason let out a short sigh and finally sat beside Alex, their hands almost touching. Jason stubbornly looked the other way but still didn't made an effort to pull his hand away.

"You look tired." "Yeah no shit..." Mumbled Jason under his breath and Alex gave him an understanding smile. "You are anxious aren't you?" Questioned after a while Alex and Jason's surprised eyes showed just that. "I'm not..." "If you say so~ Just for you to know, you are going to kill it tomorrow and I'll be there first sit rooting for you." Reassured Alex while placing a hand over Jason's hair, showing him his most sincere and warmest smile.

Anxiously, Jason immediately got up and started leaving, but not before voicing those lasts words. "Don't you dare forget what you just told me."

"...I won't."

~~~

"This is it boys. It's our time to shine." "Yeah let's go and show everyone how awesome we are!" "Yeah!" Cheered everyone while preparing their instruments behind the scenes. Everyone except Jason. He was still extremely anxious and afraid of the many possible outcomes that could happen while performing with his band. Still, even with his nervousness, he promised to himself that he would give his best. He wasn't planning on letting anyone down.

"You ready?" Questioned Nick and Jason firmly nodded his head. "Let's do this." Just then, the scenes opened revealing a whole sea of people. Jason's heartbeat increasing faster by the second. His breathing shortening as a feeling of nausea started to slowly appear in his head. "I can't do this... I'll screw everything up... I'm going to let everyone down..."

"Jason!"

Jason's eyes widened at the sudden call of his name and his head turned to face Alex who was standing right in front of him with the proudest smile he ever saw.

"You can do it!"

"You idiot..." Jason showed a bright smile and started to feel more relaxed. The grip on his guitar tightening with determination. "You better stay and watch the whole show!" Yelled happily Jason and Alex showed a smirk. "That's my plan!"

It was a bright moment. For both Jason and Alex. Jason didn't knew why he felt like that, but he wasn't planning to ignore it anymore. After all the things that happened, he finally accepted himself and his feelings. Alex in the other hand was proud and kept gazing completely astonished at the man right before his very own eyes.

After the show ended, Jason left the stage and hurried to find Alex. His heartbeat increasing once more, but this time, for a complete different reason.

Alex saw Jason who was literally running towards him and his eyes lightened up. His smile wide and hand hanging in the air for a high five.

"Jason! You were amazing! I–!" Without being able to finish his sentence, Jason grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and kissed him.

Alex froze and his eyes widened. He wasn't expecting anything like this. It was as if his whole reality just shattered. But he wasn't displeased. If anything, he felt the happiest person in the world. The hand that was hanging in the air slowly getting warped around Jason's back as he leaned deeper into the kiss. Both of them no caring about the strange stares or the surprised gasps from the people around them.

"I thought you didn't like men?" Smirked Alex once they finally got a breath. "I don't..." Blushed Jason along with his usual glare and Alex gave him a loud laugh. "Okay... Okay... Then why did you kiss me?" "You... You are an exception." "Ahh..." Alex's heart skipped a beat and took Jason into a big hug.

"I love you so much God damnit..."

"I too... I love you too..."