~Jack's POV~

My second week at school had finished, and I was amazed at how many friends I had made. In my previous schools, I never really fitted in with anyone, so now I felt like a more positive person and my mom seemed happier too. Alex had made new friends too, which I was over the moon about. He was very close with Cass, which I had to admit, made me slightly jealous. You could tell that he was closer with me, it was obvious, but when ever I saw them together I felt my stomach churn. I valued their friendship though, and didn't really think much about it. Besides, Cass had Rian, and although we weren't dating or anything, Alex had me.

I was planning on asking Alex out to the September ball. Jess told me all about it, she was going with Jaime, and I wanted to make me and Alex kind of official. I was planning on asking him next week, and I was super nervous. What if he doesn't want to go with me?

Me and Alex were always together whenever we had the chance. Every night, I went to his, or he came to my house. In school, I would hold his hand at lunch under the dinner table so no one could see, or put my hand on his leg; I always felt like I needed to be close to him. Tonight he was at work, although I don't see why he needed a job. He said he likes to do stuff for himself, and he doesn't like his parents fully providing him with everything he needs. He's a good kid.

He works at the Starbucks which is 3 blocks from my house. According to Alex, Rian was always in there, and I'm surprised he hasn't been offered a job there already. He was obsessed, to say the least. Whenever Alex had his shift, I popped in and shared a hot chocolate with him for his break. He sat in the back at break, so we could cuddle and share smooches on the couch without people noticing. Everyone who worked with him thought we were a cute couple and always said we should make it official, but we never talked about it really. I grabbed my keys and jacket and stepped out of my house and started to head for Starbucks. It was nearly 5pm, the time Alex had his break.

The air was starting to get colder, you could really feel autumn starting to kick in, I put my earbuds in, and bounced along the sidewalk, excited to spend time with him. When I reached the workplace, it was busy, busier than usual for a Friday afternoon. I saw Alex behind the till, and you could tell he wasn't going to be on his break for a while. I nodded his way and he frowned at me, apologising and saying he would try to get his break as soon as he could. I took a seat on the couch and thought about nothing whilst I waited.

"Hey, sorry about that, it's been packed!" Alex appeared, making me jump, and I stood up and followed him into the back. I checked the time, he was only 15 minutes late.

"It's okay, what time do your shift finish today?" I asked. I wanted to take him somewhere special.

"6, I think, hang on, I'll just go and check with Mark." He quickly ran out of the room, returning a few seconds later. Mark was Alex's manager, and it was weird, he actually looked exactly like Mark Hoppus. The first time I saw him, I couldn't believe it. It's weird actually, the way they have the same name and look like twins. The only thing different is that Starbucks Mark has lots of tattoos, too many to count. I still asked for a picture with him though, and most people do whenever they visit the shop. He's sorta famous in Baltimore.

"Yeah, I finish at six." Alex took a seat next to me. "Why do you want to know?" He looked up at me.

"I want to take you somewhere special." I smiled and leaned in to kiss him.



"Okay, so can you please tell me where we are going now?" Lex hadn't stopped bugging me since I told him that I wanted to take him out, and we were now walking to our destination.

"You'll find out in a minute." We turned the corner and stepped into a park I always visited as a child. The sun was slowly going down, so I had to be quick. "I always came here as a child with May and Joe. It's one of my favourite places, where I can just relax, and not have to worry about anything." I smiled as the memories ran through my head. "See that tree over there?" I pointed and Alex nodded. "I always climbed that tree, and it's the best place to watch the sun set." I looked at Alex and watched a smile grow on his face.

"Well what are we waiting for? Come on!" Alex started running towards the tree, grabbing my hand so we were running together. When we got to the big oak tree, I helped him climb up, I followed him. We sat on a thick branch, where there was a clearing in the leaves, and we made ourselves comfortable. Alex sat on my knee. He was as light as a feather so I didn't mind, and it was nice being close to him.

"This is beautiful Jack, thank you for this." Alex looked at me.

"Actually, there was something I wanted to ask you, as well as taking you to see the sun set with me. I stared into his eyes, him looking straight back into mine. I wanted to ask this next week, but I felt like I should do it now, seen as we were in a romantic setting, and all.

"Would you like to attend the September ball with me, Alex Gaskarth? And would you do the lovely honour of being my boyfriend?" I didn't mean for the boyfriend bit to come out, but it just felt so right.

"I would love to, Jack Barakat." Alex replied his eyes glowing.

We we both leaned in and connected our lips. My lips tingled against his, and sparks zoomed through my body at full speed. We carried on like that, until I slowly opened my mouth and licked his bottom lip, asking for entrance, and he gasped, opening his mouth just enough that I could slip my tongue in. At first he didn't respond, but got used to the sensation and started to move his tongue with mine. We fought for dominance, but he eventually gave up and I took the lead. Our tongued danced together. I moved my hand up towards Alex's face and caressed his cheek. He held onto my waist and pulled me closer, and I leaned into the touch. I wished this moment could last forever. After a while, we disconnected our lips, and I shot a smile at him, which he returned.

"Thank you." I said simply, and we continued to watch the stars swallow the sun, leaving us in the darkness.

Notes