This World's An Ugly Place

"Why is Angel here?" Jack pouted as both Alex and I walked into Lexus' house. Ever since Alex and I had become official, Jack had nothing but complaints about it. I knew it would take awhile for him to get used to us being a thing, but it was getting a bit ridiculous now.

Alex furrowed his eyebrows at that. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, walking into the kitchen where Rian and Zack were stationed at and having a heated discussion about what time of weights were the best to lift while working out.

"I mean, it's band practice and she's not a part of the band," he said, following after Alex.

I walked in right behind Jack, poking his side which made him jump. As much as he wanted to hide it, he was very ticklish. "Aw, Jack that's not fair," I said pointedly, mocking his whining voice.

He frowned. "Sorry, you should've let me into your band before and maybe we'd share band practice."

"Is that what this is about?" I asked. "Oh, come on, Jack. You always got to sit in on our band practices."

He stayed quiet at that, knowing I had gotten him there. As much as he would pout, I knew he'd get over this quickly because he wouldn't want to ruin the entire night with a bad mood.

"Hey," I waved at the two other band members and they waved back. I went over to where they were sitting, taking the seat right between them. Despite me being socially awkward at times, I really wasn't that worried about embarrassing myself in front of new people; or that might just be because they were Jack's friends I didn't exactly care if they liked me or not.

"So what's on the agenda?" I asked with a smirk, leaning forward in my seat and Jack fought back the smile that was growing on his face. Jack and I were like twins in the sense that we could always tell what each other were feeling and right now I knew Jack wasn't really upset.

"You know that gig Case was talking about for The Star Gazers?" Alex asked, grabbing an apple from Jack's pantry.

I nodded my head. "Yeah, but I don't even know if we're getting it yet."

"Spoiler alert, but you did," Alex said, taking a bite from his apple.

I raised an eyebrow at him and he motioned at Jack for him to explain.

"Case called me and told me," he explained. "He actually said there was another gig open up for a slot as an opener for you guys, and so, long story short, All Time Low is playing as your guys' opener."

My eyes widened and a huge smile came across my face. "That's freaking awesome!" I exclaimed, not quite sure if I was more excited to know I was playing or to be able to see All Time Low's first performance as well.

"So, today we're just deciding what songs we're picking," Rian finished.

I nodded my head. "Well, it's a good thing I'm here then."

Rian frowned now. "Why is that?"

"So we make sure we don't pick the same songs as you. I mean, I'm sure we're covering similar music if your guys taste is anywhere close to Jack's."

Rian's mouth went in to an 'o' but he said no more.

"Aren't you glad you have me now, Jack?" I asked, turning back to my cousin.

He rolled his eyes but a smile was forming on his face. He could try and fight staying made at me as much as he wanted, but he wouldn't be able to pull that card for much longer.

"So, what songs were you guys thinking of?" I asked.

Jack shrugged, digging a crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket and tossing it over to me. "We were thinking of these."

I looked over the song list and nodded my head. "Pretty sweet, you think you guys can handle it?"

Rian scoffed at that. "I think you're underestimating us a bit."

I smiled at that. "Then I guess you guys can prove me wrong at the concert," I teased, looking over to the drummer beside me. I tossed the paper back over at Jack and hopped off my seat, walking over towards the door.

"W-Where are you going?" Jack asked.

"I thought you didn't want me here, anyways," I replied, the corners of my mouth twitching upwards. "No, but seriously, I have to go talk to Sebastian now about the gig. Come get me from next door when you're ready to go, Alex."

***

"So, what songs are we playing?" I asked, my body sprawled out on the long couch while Case sat on the floor in front of me, working on some sort of paperwork.

"Probably the same ones for the other show," he said dismissively, only half paying attention to our conversation.

"I don't think we should," I spoke.

"Yeah?" he half mumbled.

"Yeah. What if some of the other people from the first bar are there, what then? They'll think we can only play those few songs," I explained.

"Oh," he fully mumbled now.

"Case," I complained, pushing him with my hand to get him to pay attention to me.

He chuckled lightly at that. "No, no, I get it," he said now, gathering his papers together and standing up. "I agree, but we should only change a few songs. Like, our best songs should still stay in the play list."

"That sounds good," Sebastian agreed, walking into the room now. He had an arm full of chips, which he tossed a bag at me. "What songs are we keeping?"

"We're definitely keeping Going Away To College," I declared.

"Of course you would," Sebastian joked, sitting down beside me as I sat up and turned the TV on.

Case walked out of the room with his paperwork and I turned to my brother now. "What's up with all of his work now?"

"He's trying to apply for another job since he doesn't like his current one," he explained, shrugging his shoulders and changing the channel.

"No, no, no, not this show!" I whined as Sebastian settled on some sort of 'housing' channel. He was always big on that kind of stuff, but not so much me.

"What? This show is awesome," he said with a chuckle.

"I swear to gosh, Sebastian..."

"You want the controller, shorty? Good luck getting it," he said pushing the controller farther out of my reach.

"You're on!" I exclaimed, immediately standing up and jumping towards the controller while he suddenly stood up so I was even more out of reach. I jumped onto the couch and tackled towards my brother while he stumbled to the floor. "Give me the controller!" I exclaimed.

"Never!" he hollered back. It was times like this that I realized that, although he didn't always show it, Sebastian was just as immature as Jack was.

"Okay, well I warned you," I said as I reached down now tickling his ribs; his only tickle spot.

With that, my brother dropped the remote and was in a burst of girly giggles. Triumphantly, I snatched the remote away and returned to the couch as Sebastian regained his breaths. "That was cheating," he protested.

"I fight dirty," I said with a shrug.

"You're lucky Alex wasn't here to see that little tyrant, he'd be over you in an instant," my brother teased as he sat back down beside me.

"Well, it's a little different when I'm with him," I remarked now.

My brother raised an eyebrow at me. "How so?"

"With every other guy I've had a crush on, I would never act like that in front of them. With Alex, I wouldn't care if he was here or not because I would've reacted the same way no matter what," I explained.

"So, you're saying you can just be yourself with him," Sebastian concluded.

"Oh, God," Case gagged, walking into the room.

"Stop, I already get enough of this from Jack." I frowned.

"We're just warning up," Sebastian said with a chuckle. "Just wait until we're around both of you guys together."

I let out a groan, taking the nearest couch pillow and throwing it at Sebastian.

Notes

Gah, Rock N Roll I feel like is Angel's theme song :'D

GUYS GUYS GUYS I'm seeing All Time Low tonight and could hardly sleep last night so I'm sorry if this chapter is weird but ;aldkjf;aldsias;ldfij I'm like losing it I'm so excited :DD