I wake to the piercing pain of an oncoming headache wakes me up and my hand immediately goes to my head, meeting a mop of tangled hair. My eyes flutter open and instantly close again, trying to shield themselves from the blinding sunlight.

I sit up and stare at the lump under the blankets beside me. I barely register it deciding that I probably crashed with Jack, but do a double take when I see light brown hair poking out from the top of the blanket. I pull it down a little revealing Alex’s sleeping face and instinctively recoil in shock.

“Shit.” I say louder than intended and I freeze as Alex turns around in bed almost hugging me to him.

I search around the room for my clothes deciding to make a quick escape. Spotting my dress, I hurry over to it and I’m in the process of pulling it on when Jack bursts through the door speaking at a volume that is way too loud for this time of day. “Get up! I want pancakes! Go make me pancakes Alex!”

“Shit.” I repeat as I finish pulling my dress on. Alex moans in bed and I’m starting to panic because it was bad when I thought Alex would wake up and find me partially naked in his bed, but now Jack is here too and I don’t know what to do.

“What the fuck? Fallon?”

Now Alex lifts his head, his face covered by his brown hair. “Fallon?”

I glance at both of them unsure of what to say.

“Why are you in Alex’s room?” Jack asks, his voice rising.

I can’t lie to him. I know that I can’t ever lie to Jack. But thankfully, I don’t have to because a familiar song blares out from my phone and I leave the room eagerly to answer it. “Hello.”

“Fallon, hey.” For a moment, I forget how to breathe, how to think. Only one thought is racing through my mind and it’s that Daniel is on the phone. Daniel has called me. I feel the rush of the feelings I felt before when everything was fine, weak in the knees, my heart’s pounding and my hands are slick with sweat.

Calm down, I tell myself. He probably just called by accident.

“Daniel,” I say, my voice surprisingly composed. “I’m surprised you’re calling me.”

“Yeah, me too,” He replies. “But you seemed kind of trashed when we spoke last night and I wanted to see how you were holding up.”

“We saw each other last night?” I ask, my voice rising in surprise. What the fuck did I do last night, I wonder.

“We did. You were pretty drunk. You kept raving on about how Alex Gaskarth was your new boyfriend.” When he says the last part his voice sounds stiff and forced. I immediately think he’s jealous and my heart swells with happiness.

“What?!” I ask, incredulous about the part about Alex. “Why would I say that I’m dating Alex?”

“You’re not?”

“Oh no, of course not!” I rush out trying to clear up any confusion. “We totally aren’t dating.”

“Oh that’s, that’s great.” The relief in his voice confirms to me that he was, in fact, jealous and I smile. “I have to go now, but we should definitely meet up one day for coffee. I know things might be awkward between us but I would really like to continue our relationship as friends.”

Ignoring the last part, my pulse races once more and I rush out my answer, fearing that he may change his mind. “Yes, that would be great. We should definitely meet up for lunch or dinner whatever’s best.”

“Okay, I’ll call you to make plans.”

“I will pick up, to confirm these plans.” I respond smiling widely.

We hang up, and I wish I could live in this moment where everything actually seems to be going right in my life. I’m so happy that I actually dance, jumping around in the hallway until Jack sticks his head out of Alex’s door. “Fal, there’s something you need to see.”

The expression on his face is nervous and I’m immediately worried that something’s wrong with someone we know. When I come into the room though, no one’s on the phone speaking hysterically to anyone else about someone’s sudden death. No, instead both Alex and Jack are huddled around Alex’s laptop, staring at the screen. Alex has a dumbfounded expression on his face as he runs his fingers through his hair.

“What’s going on?” I ask, still confused at what the problem is.

Alex looks up at me and silently hands the computer over to me. The headline reads: AMERICAS NEW ROMANCE. At first I notice nothing wrong with the photos I’m scrolling through. They just seem to be of a couple making out and having a good time together and I couldn’t understand what was so startling about the images. And then I begin to recognize my hair and my dress and I realize that the girl in the pictures is me. I’m confused because I just didn’t understand why I would be a part of America’s New Romance. But then I realize that the guy my lips are attached to is no one else but Alex Gaskarth.

Notes

i can't stop listening to If These Sheets Were States and Somewhere in Neverland. I think I have a problem.