in which i resurrect a "mark in a punk band" au from PugaShann and i's recent past. some of the last parts of this were written by the infamous shan however have been adjusted but still she does need a lot of credit and appreciation because i love her a lot.

—————

it's cold outside; a durastic contrast to the hot concert hall that jack found himself packed into only moments ago. already, he's nostalgic, beginning to miss the pounding drums and heavy weight of the words spoken by the man taking centre stage.

jack swears he'd never found someone more attractive than mark edward fischbach.

and to think, that what felt like a lifetime ago but was in reality only thirty minutes ago, jack was in front row, and making eye contact with the boy in black and scarlet.

the irishman almost regrets not bringing a coat. the weather had been fine when jack left the house at 3pm, a moderate amount of sun for the oversized shirt and torn jeans that he'd decided on wearing to the gig.

but what did he expect, he lived in ireland, where the weather did what it liked and brought high speed rain on the same days the sun shone hot above their pale faces.

jack shudders as a gust of wind hits his body, forcing him back slightly. he knows it'd be hotter at the front exit, surrounded by the crowd of warming bodies waiting on their family members, friends, or taxis to take them home, but robin had instructed that they meet out back.

robin - jacks roommate and fellow college graduate - had offered to be jacks ride home, and gratefully jack accepted. but the streets would be busy, and robin was fairly new to driving, so they made an arrangement that robin could take a quieter, alternate route that would take him to the back of his destination, and he'd pick jack up there.

jack was near enough freezing to death.

he was pulled from thoughts at he flickering sound of a lighter, and a soft spoken voice.

"hey."

and jack can't turn quick enough, because he knows that voice.

and he's holding back his ramblings as they make eye contact for the second time that night.

the irishman composes himself, and smiles sweetly at the taller bloke that has one foot against the building, lit cigarette in hand.

"uh, hi."

"what're you doing out here? it's freezing! and you don't even have a coat."

he can't believe that this is happening.

seán mcloughlin is having a conversation with mark edward fischbach. and he's absolutely loving it.

"just waiting on my friend. he shouldn't be too long, and i guess i'm used to this weather. yknow, being from round here and all."

"it's a nice place. first gig here, and i'm questioning why we didn't come sooner. there's some real pretty sights."

dark eyes flicker over the smaller's form.

"yeah, i'm glad you did decide to book dublin though. god, i've been waiting years for you to."

a deep chuckles leaves marks lips as he takes a drag from his cigarette. thick grew smoke billows from between his lips, and jack is swooning all over again.

"i saw you in front row. i was really surprised actually, you came alone?"

"well bringing company wasn't exactly an option."

"oh, come on, surely a pretty boy like you has someone willing enough to go to a concert with you."

jack can feel the seering blood rushing up his neck, and to his cheeks, tinting his ears scarlet.

"actually, no."

"what's your name, pretty boy."

"seán, seán mcloughlin, but most people call me jack."

the youngers phone illuminates in the dark corner.

robin: slight dilemma
robin: the car won't start
robin: you're gonna have to hail a cab or get the bus home buddy

"shit"

"everything alright?"

marks gruff voice brings the youngers gaze to the boy, who's showing concern for someone he's only just met. he blows smoke from his lips - mindful to blow it away from jacks face - and raises an eyebrow.

"robins cars broken down. i'm gonna have to call a taxi."

and all of a sudden, there's a heavy smirk lining the koreans chapped lips.

"oh, what a shame."

jack gazes upon the sight of mark stubbing out his cigarette against the wall.

and his stomach drops at the sight of mark turning, and stepping towards the already ajar door.

but his heart race is picking up when the elder turns, and lets his mouth turn hip into a wide grin.

"you coming?"

"w-what?"

"you'll freeze to death out here, and i can't let a cutie like you do that. cmon, i'll get you a ride, and something to keep you warm."

and before jack knows it, he's following mark edward fischbach past security, and into the back halls of the local arena, heart in his throat and smile on his face.

---

tyler scheid is fucking tall.

that's the first thing jack thinks when hes guided to the room of white sofas and light mirrors that must be the bands makeshift dressing room for the few nights they're here.

"it's freezing out there. better grab a coat before we leave."

mark mumbles to the boy with the blue clipboard, who looks up with a ballpoint pen between his teeth and a hint of sleeplessness behind his glasses.

but then his gaze falls on jack, who waits in the doorway timidly, fiddling with his hands.

"i'm sorry, can i help you?"

he's younger - the boy with the pen - but there's a tinge of maturity to his tone and it takes jack a moment to connect the voice to the face.

and mark is talking before jack can ever utter a sentence.

"you can come in, y'know."

mark smirks, grabbing two cans of lemonade and throwing one to jack as he walked to the closest sofa.

"thank you."

his voice is small, because he can feel the new eyes on him, he can feel the confusion and judgement seeping through them.

"guys, this is jack. jack, meet ethan and tyler."

jack nods swiftly to the two boys, one of which is rising from his fold-out chair to approach the two still standing.

"what's he doing here?"

"oh, his roommates car won't start and he'll have trouble hailing a cab so i offered him a ride home."

"s-sorry if i'm hassling you."

"oh, it's no worries! i'm tyler, though i think you know that. it's nice to meet you."

the tallest one smiles goofily, and jack's put at ease by his friendly aura. tyler offers a hand to shake, jack swiftly take it as he internally reminds himself not to freak out because yes, he's in a room with his fucking idols but they're just regular people too.

"it's nice to meet you too."

"god, always so formal."

"just being polite, mark. maybe you could try it some time."

the two elders begin to bicker, and jack watches - mildly amused - as mark begins to gesture wildly.

"guys, please, we have a guest."

ethan blankly gestures to the irishman with his pen, and shoots daggers at the others.

"sorry, eth."

"don't apologise to me! apologise to jack! honestly, these kids are a nightmare."

jack chuckles as he moves to sit on the sofa perpendicular to ethan's, making eye contact with the youngest for the first time.

"kids? ethan were at least seven years older than you!"

mark defends, falling back onto the sofa, particularly close to jack as he cracks open his lemonade.

"yet you're still as mature as eight year olds."

"jack, don't listen to him, we're extremely mature."

"there was an innuendo in there somewhere and i'm choosing not to acknowledge it."

laughing, tyler nods and shoots a look marks way, that screams

'why is he really here?"

"i didn't mean it like that!"

---

soon enough, jack is sitting in their tour bus, among indiviuals he looks up too, and they're chatting like they've known each other their whole lives. mark and jack get on like a house on fire, and jack has to continuously remind himself that this is a one time thing.

"where do you live then, cutie?"

mark asks, tapping a few buttons on his phone and sending out a thank you tweet for the crowd from the bands twitter. jack knows this, because his phone buzzes moments later with a post notification from their account.

jack points mark in the direction of his home whilst simultaneously trying not to freak out as the taller rests his arm behind jack on the back of the sofa.

jack runs his hand through his recently dyed hair, a darker brown than he would usually like it. his leg bounces up and down, hes somewhat nervous.

"this place is really beautiful."

mark mumbles incoherently as the bus drives past a park, the fence lit by fairy lights and a collection of small lanterns.

"yeah, there's a lot of places i go to think, it's so calming just to be outside in a pretty place with your thoughts."

"i don't find a lot of those places, being on tour. there's no constant that i can confide in, even when i'm not home."

they're making eye contact. long, deep, passionate eye contact. and jack is nodding.

"i felt like that for a while. sometimes it's not the same places you need, sometimes it's just a familiar face."

jack can't tell if he's flirting or not, but mark's lips are halfway between a smile and a smirk as he lets out a small chuckle and looks down, almost bashfully.

"god, i haven't gotten sappy in a while."

"nothing wrong with that. you said it yourself, real men weep often."

the irishman recognised the streets, noticing that they're coming close to his stop, so he rises - mark following suit.

they pull into his street, the bus's casual chattering coming to a halt along with the bus, it jerks slightly and jack almost loses his footing. but luckily mark is there, and he's catching him by the hips before jack can even register that he's falling. tyler shoots mark a look as he helps jack out of the bus.

he pulls his arm slightly and hes writing on his hand with a black marker, and jack isnt sure where he got it from. it's numbers right, across the palm of his hand and its an "i'm never washing this hand again" situation.

"hey seán?"

mark snaps him to attention yet again, hes frantically glancing between black numbers and brown eyes.

"nice accent."

mark back onto the bus and jack's stood there at the end of his street, moonlight above his head and trying to digest what just happened.

—————

my depression is the reason i'm so inconsistent