Zack walked into the bus while I was packing my stuff, I had made a decision, there was no turning back, me and Kellin would start a new band, without Alex, without anyone but some of his friends who wanted to start a band with us, we had settled for the name Sleeping with Sirens.

Zack made eye contact with me for a second before proceeding into the kitchen to get something to eat, he was the only one who knew that I was leaving, and over the past few months, I found myself growing real close to him, we would talk a lot, he would tell me about his personal life, and how he has had it rought in the past few years, having to do a lot of getting used to things, all in all, I couldn’t help but feel a bit bad for him sometimes.

He stepped back out of the kitchen with nothing in his hands.
“Jack, I know that you love Taylor, but please, just let me do this, okay?”
He stood right up in front of me, and I could feel his warm breath run along my lips, and for a second, I could swear I felt something for him.
And then, before I knew it, we were kissing, I didn’t even stop him, his lips tasted of strawberries and heaven, and despite the fact that I adored Tay, there was something about Zack that just made him special.
We threw ourselves onto the floor, well, more like Zack threw both of us on the floor, with his strength he didn’t really leave me much choice, but I didn’t care, after all, it felt amazing.
We kissed on the floor for a while, and when we had gotten tired of it, we got up and sat on the couch together, Zack just holding me.

“I want you to know, no matter whom you love, no matter what happens, no matter who you become, I will always love you, am I clear on that Jack Barakat?” He asked me, while hugging me harder.
I nodded to him, but tears started flowing down my face, I couldn’t help it, I just buried my face in Zacks’ chest, sobbing and stuttering away, while Zack just held me tighter.
“Zacky, I’m scared, I’m afraid of leaving, everybody’ll probably hate me, I don’t want to let go of this, but God, it’s just… Tay, I love her so damn much, and now I’m doubting if I’ll ever be able to let go of this, am I honestly that selfish that I’d place my own reputation before my love for her?”
“No, Jacky, trust me, you do love her enough, it’s just your fear of letting go of the band that’s keeping you here, it’s not just that, it’s your fear of hate, and let me tell you, if anyone ever hates on you, we’ll be here protecting you, Alex won’t get mad, Rian won’t get mad, the fans won’t get mad, man, we all love you, all that you need is that one little push from yourself, you can do it Jack, I believe in you, and once we tell Rian and Alex why you’re leaving, I’m sure they will too…”

I sat on the couch with Zack for a while, most of my things were already packed, I just had to wait for Alex and Rian to come back, and surely enough,
within an hour of us having sat down, the two walked in, luckily enough they appeared relatively sober, so I didn’t have to explain everything to drunk Alex.
“Hey umm, Alex, I kind of need to tell you something…”
“What is it man? Is it the explanation why you didn’t party hard on the last few shows we’ve had?”
“Actually, yes, yes it is. You see, I’ve been planning on leaving the band, and going with the kid we met in NYC a while ago, to make our own band.”
For a little while, there was nothing but silence, but as I saw the shock on Alex’s face become bigger and bigger, I knew that it wasn’t going to last for a long time.
And sure enough, after a bit of silence, Alex completely broke down in front of me.
“Jack, you can’t leave! Like, w-why would you do this? Is it because of us? Do we have something to do with it?”
“Alex, look, don’t get me wrong, you guys have nothing to do with it, it’s just that I have some things to take care of, and I can’t really do that in this band for certain reasons”
I was being really vague, but I had no choice, I couldn’t let them find out what my reasons were, they’d stop me without a moment of hesitation, and I couldn’t afford them trying to stop me, I had already packed my stuff, Kellin was already aware of the fact that I’d be back in New York in a while, and I had pumped myself up so much about leaving only for what? Having Alex and Rian change my mind? No, I refused to change my mind like that.

Alex looked at me, and through all his tears, he managed to force a smile.
“So, how are you planning to meet up with Kellin then?”
It was great to see that Alex was at least trying to take this well, cause' I sure as Hell know I wouldn’t have.
“Well, since we’re back in Baltimore, I thought I could sprint back home, get my car, and just drive to NYC, it’s only like, a three hour drive if I’m not mistaken”
“Yeah, that sounds great, if you want to, I can come with you” Zack suddenly jumped in, looking at me with those friendly eyes of his.
“That is, if Alex and Rian don’t mind me going away for like, a day or so?”
Alex and Rian agreed to this, and we said our goodbyes.

When I had said goodbye to Rian, I went over to Alex, he looked at me, tears running down his face, he then pulled me in for a hug, burrying his face in my shoulder.
“Jack, I want you to know that, even when we get a new guitarist, if you ever want to come back, I’ll be glad to kick the bastard out of the group just for you, am I clear on that, Barakat?”
I think that it was something in Alex’s voice that made me admit the reason as to why I leaving.
“Alex, it’s Taylor, I’m so sorry…”
“It’s fine Jacky, I could see that you loved her, and I beat myself up over it all the time, I guess there’s no more need for that, huh? It’s great that you’ve decided to go your own way, admittedly I would’ve done something different if I was in your situation, but, we’re not the same person, are we?”

Alex and Rian waved us of as we headed off to New York City, the closer we got, the happier I got, of course, it was sad that I left All Time Low, but, what could I do, I just loved Tay so much, and besides, a new start is always interesting, I guess I’ll just have to wait and see where this one takes me.

Notes

Alright, I made some considerate changes to the story, I fixed a bit in the first chapter where I accidentally called Kellin Nick (Nick having been the equivalent of Kellin until I decided to post the story here, since I needed someone famous, not just a random kid.)
I added Zack as a character, because he's becoming a bit significant, I also changed the description to the story, bear with me, I pulled an all-nighter getting this done :)
Tay probably won't become quite a major character in the story until a little bit later :3
In any case, thanks for reading <3