FSE

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I am soooo sorry I took so long to post this chapter. I've had a lot on my mind and my computer is being a skank-basket. I'll try to get the next one up soon.

Also, lyrics in this chapter are property of Fall Out Boy

Each band member had been fairly calm about their upcoming gig the entire week. That is, up until Friday actually rolled around. They'd each managed to stay home from school, Marcus bragging about how it was not a problem for him, while a few of the members had to beg for permission. Lauren also accompanied them, which wasn't out of the ordinary. But Marcus had managed to talk Oliver's parents into letting him come too.

So far, the day had been a disaster. They'd decided to meet in the garage at noon. It started with Marcus running late, still practically pulling his pants on as he rushed up the street. While exiting the house that morning, Zane accidentally banged his bass bag off the doorframe hard enough to break off the top tuning peg. Needless to say, he was not happy. Leon broke a string during the first song, and a speaker on Oliver's keyboards started fading in and out (which fixed itself after a few bangs). So far, Alex's old guitar was the only thing that hadn't failed them. Despite their setbacks and a quick trip to the music shop down the street, they managed to pick up and form a good practice session.

Mitchell and Evan showed up at around four o'clock. Since Mitchell had agreed to carry all the equipment in his van for their gigs, he had deemed himself important enough to attend their practice sessions. He stayed to listen to the group practice a few songs, then they dismantled Marcus' drums, and packed all of their equipment into the van. Evan thought it would be nice to go out for dinner and do some catching up. So they squeezed into the van and made their way to a burger shop in town.

"So," Evan said as they sat at their table, enjoying lunch. "What's new? And what's with these odd looks between you two?"

As he said this, he gestured at Alex and Zane.

"Well these two pansies finally started dating." laughed Marcus.

Evan smiled. "Is that so? It's about time."

"Shut up, Marcus," Zane snapped, clearly embarassed. "What about you huh? You were practically raping Oliver in the hallway yesterday."

Marcus' face flushed furiously. "Shut up, Z!"

"I'm not suprised these two finally hooked up," Mitchell added in. "Especially after the whole boarding school incident."

Now Zane blushed. "What?! How do you know about that?"

"Leon told me."

"Leon! You swore you'd never tell!"

Leon shrugged. "...Oops?"

"Wait a minute!" Oliver spoke up. "He knows what the infamous boarding school incident is, and we still don't? Zane, we see you everyday! How come you won't tell us?"

"Don't worry about it, Oliver," Zane sighed. "It's not important."

"I'll bet he told Alex!" Lauren said with a grin twice as devilish as Marcus'. "Make him tell!"

"Tell us, Alex!" Oliver demanded. "He won't get mad at you."

Alex shook his head. "N-no! I can't tell! I swore I wouldn't!"

"So you do know!" Marcus grinned. "Well, then in that case, I guess I'll just have to give Zane every little detail of everything you and me did while we were dating....Everything."

Zane glared at Marcus for a minute, wondering if that was punishment for him, or for Alex. "...Just tell them, Alex."

"...Okay," Alex shrugged. "He kissed another boy in front of the headmaster."

Oliver looked disappointed. "I didn't know what to expect, but I thought it would be something much worse."

Marcus agreed. "Me too. I thought you like, spray painted bad things around the grounds with no clothes and a hard on. But about what me and Alex did-"

Oliver poked him in the side. "Careful..." he warned.

"Lots and lots of sex." Marcus finished triumphantly.

"Shut up, Marcus!" Alex cried, panic written across his face. "That's not true, Z!"

"Don't worry about it, Ax," Zane said. "It doesn't bother me."

"Oh, really?" Marcus smiled. "Well, in that case, we also-"

"Shut up!" Alex was nearing tears.

"Maybe we should go," Oliver suggested. "Before someone draws blood."

Since everyone had finished eating, they did as Oliver suggested. But it didn't stop Marcus' harassing (or as he called it 'enlightening'). Fortunately, Oliver was able to shut him up so Zane didn't have to hear about the sexual exploits he tried to share, whether fictional or not. They headed straight to The Lion's Den, where the owner, a tall panther named Jake, was standing patiently in the back lot, smoking a cigarette. He smiled as they piled out of the van, practically trampling each other in the process.

"Little crowded?" Jake asked with a smile.

"Aw, sweet!" Marcus grinned, walking toward the pub owner. "Cigarettes! Can I have one? Roger won't let me smoke in the house, and these guys don't let me smoke at band practice."

Jake laughed. "I don't supply cigarettes to high school kids, even if they are of age. I'm not losing my bar over some confusion like that."

Marcus sulked while Lauren stepped in front of him. She bobbed her head to the side and both she and Jake stepped away from the others. The rest of the group returned to the van, starting to unload the set. They removed the smaller instruments first, Marcus grabbing, then passing to its owner. He grabbed Zane's bass first and went hand it to him, but unfortunately dropped it to the ground.

Zane scowled, then glared at Marcus for a brief moment. "Hasn't my poor bass been through enough today? You'd better hope the three remaining tuning pegs are still there!"

Alex bit his lip as Zane walked toward the bar, patting his bass bag like a wounded cub. He quickly grabbed his guitar as Marcus passed it to him, then followed Zane inside before anyone else. They walked to the stage, as they had done many times, and started to organize their things. For some reason, Alex suddenly felt extremely nervous about what he was about to say to Zane, and it was showing.

"Hey, Z," Alex asked shyly. "Do you...have to work tomorrow night?"

Zane glanced at him, concerned. "No, the manager is making me work for a few hours in the morning. You'd be surprised how many different types of breakfast pizzas people think up. Why? Are you okay? You don't seem like yourself all of a sudden."

"Well, my mom is going out of town for a business trip for a few days. She leaves tomorrow and won't be back until Monday night. I...don't like being at the house by myself at night, so I was going to see if you...would stay with me?"

Zane placed a paw on the wolf's shoulder, giving him a soft smile. "Sure, Ax. You really had me scared for a minute. Is that all you wanted?"

He nodded, smiling.

"Don't scare me like that." Zane gave a quick laugh. "Why did you get so...weird all of a sudden?"

"I don't know. I'm always scared when I ask you to stay over. I'm...always afraid you'll say no."

"I could never say no to you."

Alex's smile brightened again. Zane just had that effect on him. He was about to lean over and give him a sweet kiss...but Marcus walked in.

"Now, now, don't stop what you're doing because of me," Marcus cackled.

Zane smirked. "I hope you drop that drum on your foot."

"How about I drop this drum on his foot?" Oliver asked, carrying in the large bass drum. "Get out of the way! This thing is heavier than it looks!"

"Why didn't you have Mitchell carry that in?" Alex questioned.

"Well, he seems to have gotten absorbed in a conversation with Lauren. Apparently, we aren't allowed to get in on it."

"Why not?"

"I don't know. I guess it's private."

Evan entered next, carrying more of the drummer's supplies, Leon following behind doing the same. A few moments later, Lauren, Jake, and Mitchell came in, each carrying different musical items. The stage wasn't very big, usually being used for comedy acts and karaoke. But Jake had always insisted on them playing in the bar, being good friends of Lauren's. He even admitted that he liked the music, saying that some of his friends would, too, but they never showed up. They set everything up, connecting cords, flicking switches and adjusting lighting. After the sound check, they even did another practice session before the bar opened. Alex couldn't shake the nervousness as they prepared to walk on stage. Zane stood next to him, calm as ever. How could he do that? Neither Zane nor Leon did much talking to people other than their friends, yet Zane remained steady. Alex glanced at him, his paws shaking.

"How do you do that?" he asked. "How aren't you nervous?"

"Not nervous?" Zane repeated. "Are you crazy? I'm nervous as hell!"

"But you don't look it."

"Well, I suppose I'm not as nervous as you are. I mean, you have to play that guitar and sing lead vocals. I guess I'd be a lot more nervous if I had to do that."

"Thanks, Z. I don't really feel much better."

Zane laughed. "Come on, Alex. You've done this before. Just think, I'll be only a few feet away, just as nervous as you are." He smiled. "You'll do fine. You always do."

They walked out onto the stage after Jake announced them, each going to their instrument of choice. Alex looked over the audience, taking in each face. He saw Mitchell and Evan looking up at him, while Jake was walking off the stage towards Lauren. The rest of the faces were unknown. Before he even had a chance to consider running off, the band kicked up their first song. Without a thought, Alex joined in. It was a natural flow, just like the blood in his veins, and Alex wasn't even sure why he had been nervous. The words flowed from his lips, mixing with the heavy music.

"She says she's no good with words but i'm worse,

Barely stuttered out "A joke of a romantic" or stuck to my tongue,

Weighed down with words too over-dramatic, Tonight it's "it can't get much worse"

Vs. "no one should ever feel like.."

He loved the feeling as he sang, seeing the people bobbing their heads to the music. Their music. It was everything he could want. He quickly glimpsed Zane out of the corner of his eye. It only made him happier, seeing the little bassist bounce along with his bass line. Alex made a mental note to pinch his cheeks later, though he wasn't sure how well Zane would take that. He loved his band right now, everything about them. Though, he reflected, it wouldn't hurt for them to have some new songs sometimes.

The entire show went rather well, and Alex was pleased with the crowd's reaction. They played for a good part of the night before the crowd started to die down. When he looked at the clock, he felt kind of bad. It was almost two o'clock in the morning, and he recalled that Zane had to work in the morning. The bassist already looked tired, and they still had to break everything down and pack up.

"Hey, Z," Alex said, rubbing his boyfriend's shoulders as he packed his bass away. "Why don't you go rest in the van? The rest of us will take care of this part."

Zane shook his head, quite enjoying the shoulder rub. "No, I can help."

"But you have to work, and you're tired. I can tell."

"I'll be fine, Ax. Don't worry about me. I'll just go to bed when I get home."

Alex nodded, and the band tore down their set and packed everything into the van as quickly as possible. They thanked Jake before leaving, then once again piled into the van for the short ride home. He sat in the middle of the second row, between Zane, on his left, and Lauren, on his right. They were all fairly silent during the trip, all of them exhausted from their busy day. Alex glanced around at everyone, all with tired eyes, flashing yawns in turn.

But then he felt a small amount of pressure on his left shoulder. He glanced over slowly to see what it was. Zane had fallen asleep, his head lulled to the side and resting on Alex. He smiled, raising his right hand and stroking Zane's red furry ears.. They were almost home, and Alex didn't want to have to wake him.

"Mitchell," Alex said, quietly and trying not to move. "Could we go to Leon's and Zane's house first? He fell asleep, and I know he has to work early."

"Sure," Mitchell answer, his voice also low. "If you guys want, I can just bring the instruments to your house tomorrow so that we don't have to unpack tonight."

Alex gave a slight nod. "Okay."

As requested, they pulled up in front of Zane's and Leon's house first. Living across the street, Marcus climbed out of the van, too, followed by Oliver who also lived nearby. Leon got out, too walking to the sliding door near Zane. But before he even started to get out, Alex could already hear the sound of Roger's voice from his porch.

"Where the hell have you been, Marcus?! I've been worried sick. I was just about to call the cops to look for you....You had a gig and didn't tell me? Ugh, I swear, one of these days, I'm going to kill you..."

Alex snickered silently, then looked at Leon. "I'll carry him in. Will you open the doors for me?

Leon nodded, helping Alex out of the van. Alex had been to the house before, but not nearly as frequently as Zane had been to his. After all, they always had band practice at his house, so it was just natural to hang out there. Besides, Zane didn't have any video game systems. Just a room of bookshelves full of books, a desk, a TV and a few DVDs, a Rubik's cube, and a ton of crossword puzzle books. Sometimes, Alex wasn't sure how he survived in that room. But that was yet another reason he loved Zane, strange as he might seem.

He followed Leon into the house quietly, seeing as the adults were already asleep. Mitchell waited, parked in the driveway with the headlights off, trying not to disturb the neighborhood (unlike Marcus and Roger). They crept up the stairs, where Leon pushed open the door to Zane's room, then walked to his own.

Alex flicked on the small lamp near the doorway, not wanting to turn on the blinding light on the ceiling. He slowly walked over to Zane's double-sized bed, resting the sleeping fox comfortably on it. After pulling a small throw-sized blanket onto his boyfriend, he turned and headed for the door. He glanced back over his shoulder, a smile creeping over his face. Zane looked so adorable. Looking back in front of him, he reached for the lamp to turn it off.

"Ax?" Zane's tired voice said. "Where...are you going?"

Alex smiled lightly. "I have to get home. It's late, you should get back to sleep."

"...Stay."

"Huh?"

"Stay with me. Please?"

Alex smiled brighter now. "...Okay. Just let me go tell Mitchell, okay?"

Zane fidgeted a little, moving to his side, giving a quick nod and closing his eyes. Alex quietly slipped back down the stairs and to the door. He gave Mitchell a quick wave, and understanding what it meant, he started up his van, and drove away, a smile on his face. Alex shook his head, closing the front door and locking it, figuring that Leon had already fallen asleep without doing so. He went back upstairs to Zane's room and closed that door, too. He grinned, glimpsing the figure on the bed. Zane had already fallen back asleep. Then, he reached over and turned off the lamp and went to the bed. He knew he would sleep well with Zane just being beside him.