Chapter Text
“Okay, so, tell me again… How did you find this band?”
Tommy chuckled, he saw that question coming, especially from Evan. “Uh, I actually heard them for the first time in the 90s, and tried to keep up for a while but I couldn’t… until last year when they released a new album and announced their tour”
“Ah, I see, so I was just an excuse to see them then?” Buck’s teasing grin made Tommy laugh and earned him a bump on his arm from his date “It’s okay, I get it, after all it’s our seventh date and I started to think you couldn’t come up with something better than the last one”
“You’re only saying that ‘cause you planned the last one, Evan, don’t get too cocky”
God, he loved it when Tommy called him Evan. Buck never thought he would feel so good by being called by his name, but the confidence that his now boyfriend would say it with made him a mess.
He lowered his head, biting his lip with a grin and reaching Tommy’s hand, intertwining their fingers. If a few months ago you had told Buck that holding another man’s hand in public would’ve been as easy as it was with a woman’s, he definitively wouldn’t have believed you.
“And it was a great date, wasn’t it?” The breach between their bodies was getting shorter, with Buck’s eyes meeting Tommy’s as they both recollected the events of their previous date.
Tommy chuckled and nodded “I cannot agree or deny that, I can only say that I did have fun, especially… at the end” Buck felt how his cheeks and ears turned bright red, which only made him look more adorable in the older man’s eyes and earned him a short but sweet kiss.
“Okay, so, what do you wanna do later? We could go for a few drinks, watch a movie, go to my place…”
“I think we could do all of that though, and I could stay the night too” Evan nodded to the second part of Tommy’s answer, with a huge grin forming on his face. He was so grateful to be dating him.
The queue to the concert was surprisingly long, considering it was held in a theatre and not a proper arena, but that didn’t matter to anyone who was waiting to enter.
There were all kinds of people ready to see the band, and their chats blended so perfectly you wouldn’t think for a second that elders, teens, young and regular adults would be all lined up to watch the same artists.
A group of 18 year olds, all giggly and excited to see their musical obsession live for the first time, were a few people before Buck and Tommy. They discussed about the amounts of videos they’d take, and if the bandmates would look as handsome in real life as they did in pictures. They were so happy to be there.
A 15 year old teen girl was waiting first in line with her grandfather, clearly very excited to be in her first concert. Both her parents had night shifts and she was sad at first at the thought of not being able to go, but her grandad immediately chimed in and insisted to go with her. She didn’t want to admit it but being able to spend time with her grandpa made her very happy.
A 13 year old boy and his aunt where waiting near the end of the queue, the woman being way more excited over the event than her nephew. Their plan wasn’t exactly to go together, but the kid’s mom got stuck at work and had practically forced her sister to take him to the concert. She was overcompensating her excitement, but he didn’t actually mind.
And a couple in their 20s, celebrating their two year anniversary with a date to see their favourite band. They'd been fans for a long time, even before they met, so it was a clear sign that they should go to the concert when they found out the date it was set in. It was their love for music that led them to meet, but it was their love for each other that brought them to this moment.
Each and every one of these people were ready to enjoy their night, regardless of any troubles that entered their ways.
By the time they'd entered the venue it seemed clear that the night was gonna be crazy.
Buck didn't think that so many people would be into that band to be honest, since he'd never properly heard of them before, which he commented to Tommy.
He chuckled at that “I mean, you were born around the time they started releasing music and they took a big break until 2004, by that time they had lost quite a number of listeners so I get it” his lips curved downwards “It’s a shame to be honest, they were a big part of my life growing up, but hey at least they’re getting attention now, right?”
Buck’s smile couldn’t have been brighter “I’m glad I can be here to share this experience with you though” his hand was once again holding Tommy’s, who began to smile at his boyfriend’s words.
They decided to get some food before heading to their section, Buck thought that some of those cheese fries that add way too many extra ingredients could be good, specially if you accompanied them with a beer. They chose to go with the light versions though, since they drove to the theatre in the younger’s Jeep.
Their section did not have designated seats, and becaue of this they had their meal on some of the tables surrounding the food area.
“God these are really good” Buck couldn’t help but lick his fingers after eating some of the fries, which wouldn’t have usually been a problem until he became aware that his boyfriend was watching him, so he stopped to drink some beer “Sorry I… These are just so good”
“Evan, it’s okay” Tommy said, sticking the fork he was eating with on the fries and deciding to take some with his hand “They are, actually, and it’s not like I’m complaining when I get to see you cleaning so much after yourself”
Buck almost choked on his beer at Tommy’s words, which earned him a few looks from the people around them. He still couldn’t get used to the way he was so quick with words, especially flirty ones “You are so gonna pay for this tonight” he said, pointing at the small drops of alcohol that landed on his shirt
“I’m counting on that” he said before sipping some of his beer.
Their meal was nice, but their conversation even better. Tommy loved listening to Evan talk, he loved the fun facts he would throw at him unexpectedly and the way his voice would slightly raise whenever he was enthusiastic about something, which was most of the time.
By the time they finished most people had entered the venue, which led to an awkward walk back to their section since they had to practically push people aside to get there, which annoyed Tommy. Buck insisted to him that it didn’t matter though, not when that gave them an excuse to hold hands for over 5 minutes. Tommy replied saying that they would’ve held hands for longer than that anyways, which earned him a slight push on his arm thanks to his boyfriend.
There were only 10 minutes left for the show to begin, and Buck needed to go to the bathroom.
“Do you think I can make it back in time?”
Tommy raised an eyebrow “I’m pretty sure you can make it back here in less than 5 minutes, don’t worry and just go”
Buck gave him a short but sweet kiss before leaving and added how sorry he was in case he did not make it in time.
He felt guilty about it, even when it could seem silly for most people, but he really wanted to see the look on his boyfriend’s face when his all time favourite band would show up on stage. This led to Buck sprinting his way to the bathroom and finally relaxing once he saw that he still had some time left to come back walking.
He was so relieved about that, but something felt… off.
Buck didn’t know what it was, but a strange feeling shot through his spine, he felt like he was having some kind of weird “premonition”. He tried to act normal, but he just couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was going to happen that night.
“Come on” he thought to himself “You’re just overreacting, everything’s fine”
But everything was not fine.
He made it just in time to hug Tommy from the back and feel the excitement bursting from his boyfriend’s body as the show started.
Four people, all well into their mid thirties, appeared on stage. The drummer was the first one to play his instrument, setting the whole ambiance for the public to scream and shout. The vocalist welcomed them to their concert and they all began to play the first song of the night.
Buck was impressed, to say the least.
The songs, up to this point, were great. He was really feeling them and wanted to jump as high as he could, which earned him a few laughs from his boyfriend who, by the way, was not any less excited about it. Tommy was a mess, shouting the lyrics as loud as he could, with euphoria taking over his body.
Buck was surprised to see this side of Tommy, a more juvenile and uninhibited version of him that left him wondering why was it hiding in there for so long. Sure, he’d seen bits and pieces of it, like the first time Tommy won a videogame match against him or when he was giving Buck flying lessons on his helicopter.
It has always been there, but now Buck could actually see it and admire it on full display.
As if it was a habit by now, he took his boyfriend’s hand, rubbing his thumb against the knuckles of Tommy’s hand, receiving a look of endearment from him. Both of them felt like they were on cloud nine, enjoying the music and each other's company, ready to let anything happen.
But there was nothing that could have prepared them for the night they were about to live.
Suddenly, there was a loud noise.
Both of them thought they heard wrong, that there was no way that actually happened. But sadly, they were right.
Buck's hold on Tommy's hand became weaker as he looked around and noticed that not only he was confused but those around him too, he could even swear that the band on stage where also questioning what was going on from the look on their faces through the screens.
Then, not one but two, three more noises like that were heard and all hell broke loose
Because of the shock, Buck and Tommy stopped holding hands. It wouldn’t have been so bad if everyone around them hadn’t started running as fast they could, trying to leave the venue. There were screams, some people were talking about bombs, others about shots, hell even electrical malfunctions were mentioned.
But that wasn't even the first thing on the minds of the couple, because as the public ran for their lives, they started to get dragged away from each other and split into different directions.
“Tommy!” he cried out, stretching his right hand as long as he could to try and reach for his partner’s hand.
“Evan!” he howl as he was taken, their fingertips barely brushing before being abruptly separated.
They tried to get back together with everything they could: they pushed other people, screamed and shouted their names, but nothing helped. Their were sinking into the void of people trying to get away.
And by the time they were able to move by themselves, there was no trace of each other's partner. Which only meant one thing.
They needed to find each other, and God help them, because they had to survive this night.