You'll Never Return The Favor
Picked up and let down.
Things turned sour for Jack when Lisa came into the picture.
She was perfect. Too perfect.
Alex fell for her almost instantly and decided to introduce her to the group by bringing her to one of their rehearsals.
Sitting on the floor of Rian's basement, Jack had guitar in his lap and his amp turned on, playing random rhythms as they came to him.
Zack and Rian were occupied with playing ping pong, shouting curse words and jibberish at each other.
Letting out a loud sigh, the guitarist looked over at the clock in the corner of the room.
It was now 4:30, an hour and a half after the band usually met to rehearse, but not all of the members were present today.
Alex had told the guys that he was probably going to be late, but Jack still couldn't help but worry.
After the realization of his feelings for the vocalist, things just hadn't been the same.
Well, at least, not for Jack.
While they still always hung out and joked around like they always did, it didn't feel like before.
Now whenever they were close, the guitarist's heart would race out of control and his stomach would be exploding with butterflies.
He also couldn't help but notice how perfect Alex was, no matter what he did.
Jack spent practically every day with Alex, even their parents were best friends now.
Though, whenever the topic of girls came up, the butterflies in his stomach would go away and he would instead feel terrible knots.
The lanky boy would try his hardest to go along with Alex whenever he talked about how he wanted to bang some chick, but he couldn't help but feel jealous.
Alex was an straight as a stripper pole.
Jack, well, he didn't like labels, but he knew he was in love with Alex.
He still found girls attractive, but just not as much as Alex, but he found himself hating the ones that his best friend had his eyes on.
What he also knew was no matter how much he loved Alex, the vocalist would never return the favor.
Hearing the basement door open, Jack's guitar playing imediately stopped, his heart skipping a beat before increasing its pace.
Though, the guitarist could've swore his heart completely stopped when he saw who was coming down the stairs.
Yeah, it was Alex, but he wasn't alone.
The vocalist had his arm wrapped around the waist of some girl, and they were both laughing at the top of their lungs at some joke that Alex probably made.
Rian and Zack were still too focused on their game to notice the entrance of the oh-so-happy couple.
There was a stinging in Jack's eyes and his stomach that had butterflies in it was now beginning to feel as if there were untanglable knots in it.
Taking his guitar off of his lap and placing it on the floor, the lanky boy tried to gain some of his composure back.
Standing up, he brushed himself off, making his way over to the couple.
"...and then I was like, chicken butt!" Alex finished whatever story he was telling to the girl, who was giggling obnoxiously, her face now a bright red.
"You're such an idiot, Lexy," the girl finally managed to say once her giggling died down.
"Yeah, but I'm your idiot now, babe," Alex winked at the girl, who rolled her eyes playfully, her cheeks still flushed.
"Oh, shut up!" Leaning over, her lips were suddenly on the vocalist's and they were kissing.
It wasn't just a simple peck, either.
They were full on eating each other's faces off.
Now that was the worst feeling Jack had ever felt in his entire life.
His eyes were stinging more than ever, he could feel his body shaking, his lungs just didn't want to let any oxygen enter, the room was starting to spin around him, and the knots in his stomach just seemed to combining into one giant knot.
When the couple finally pulled apart for air, Alex noticed Jack.
"Whoa, how long have you been standing there? I didn't notice you were there until now!" Laughing carelessly, another thing that he didn't notice were the tears that were threatening to spill out of the guitarist's eyes.
"Jack, meet Lisa. Lisa, meet Jack. Isn't she just perfect?" Alex waved his free arm between the two, although the vocalist and the girl, Lisa, never broke eye contact.
"I... I think I got food poisoning," the lanky boy said as he quickly ran towards the stairs, his voice giving away that it was a lie, but he knew that the couple didn't notice.
Just as he was getting out the door, Jack heard obnoxious laughter from the pair, and he knew that Alex had cracked a joke about him.
Emptying the contents of his stomach into the Dawsons' toliet, the guitarist couldn't help but envy Lisa.
She had what he would never be able to have.
The heart of Alex Gaskarth.
Now instead of hanging out with Jack almost every day, most of Alex's free time was occupied with Lisa.
After that day, he tried not to mind it too much.
He figured it'd be another one of the vocalist's casual flings.
Though, as time passed, it slowly started to sink in that it wasn't.
Alex continued bringing Lisa to band rehearsals, making googly eyes at her and obviously trying his hardest to impress her every time she came.
It completely sickened Jack, especially whenever they made out in front of him.
Watching it made him want to throw up just like the first time he saw them together, but he managed to advert his eyes and try to think about something else.
After all, if this girl was making Alex happy, why would he complain?
It wasn't the vocalist's fault that he was feeling the way he did, it was purely his own.
The first time Alex went over to Jack's after he started dating Lisa was the day he got a call from a local label.
"Jack! Jack! Jack! Wake the fuck up, you asshole!"
Groaning into his pillow, Jack wanted more than anything to go back to sleep right now, but was unable to due to the fact that his best friend was jumping up and down on his bed.
"You asked for it now, Jacky."
"What the hell do you-" before he was able to finish the sentence, the guitarist was suddenly shoved onto the floor, his sheets still tangled around him.
Not only were the sheets on him, but so was a certain vocalist.
Alex's foot had gotten caught in the sheets as he shoved Jack off the bed, which was resulted in him falling on top of his best friend.
Opening his eyes, the lanky boy was now fully awake, and his eyes were greeted with the sight of chocolate brown ones only inches from his own.
Neither of them dared to move at this point.
Jack was still in shock due to the fact that he had just woke up.
Well, that, and he was enjoying this more than he'd ever admit.
The guitarist could've swore he saw the vocalist's eyes move down to his lips, but before he could question it, Alex was suddenly off of him.
Almost imediately, Jack missed the warmth from the older boy, a quiet groan leaving his lips.
"Sorry about that, man, but holy shit!" Alex was now bouncing on the floorboards.
Where the hell did he get all this energy?
Rolling his eyes, Jack sat up, making sure that the sheets were covering the boner that he had just gotten, his eyes now playfully glaring into the vocalist's.
"Fucking Macaulay Culkin better be in town or I swear I will kill you, Gaskarth," the guitarist tried to be threatening, but it only made Alex crack up.
"Hey, I'm trying to be serious here! You better have some good news."
Stopping his bouncing, Alex crouched down in front of Jack, his face growing competely serious.
"Well... does getting signed to Emerald Moon Records sound like good news to you?"
The younger boy's eyes went wide with disbelief.
"We.... we fucking got signed?"
"You bet your flat ass we did!"
Before Jack was able to make a comeback to the statement about his flat ass, Alex's arms were suddenly around him, practically squeezing the life out of the guitarist.
"Lex... I... can't... breathe..." Although he was enjoying the closeness, he didn't quite like the lack of oxygen his lungs were getting.
"Oh, right," letting out a quiet chuckle, the vocalist loosened his grip, his arms still around Jack as he pulled back to look into his eyes.
"I can't believe it, Jacky. Us, the losers, we got fucking signed." The way Alex's face lit up at that moment was the face that Jack knew he was going to remember for the rest of his life.
The pure happiness that was in the eyes of the guy he loved, that was going to be unforgettable.
Though, the moment was over far too soon when Alex's phone went off in his pocket.
Unwrapping his arms from around the lanky boy, he stood up, pulling out his phone.
"It's Lisa. Shit! I need to go tell her the news! Catch ya later, Jacky."
Just like that, Alex was gone, leaving Jack with a boner and a broken heart.
She was perfect. Too perfect.
Alex fell for her almost instantly and decided to introduce her to the group by bringing her to one of their rehearsals.
Sitting on the floor of Rian's basement, Jack had guitar in his lap and his amp turned on, playing random rhythms as they came to him.
Zack and Rian were occupied with playing ping pong, shouting curse words and jibberish at each other.
Letting out a loud sigh, the guitarist looked over at the clock in the corner of the room.
It was now 4:30, an hour and a half after the band usually met to rehearse, but not all of the members were present today.
Alex had told the guys that he was probably going to be late, but Jack still couldn't help but worry.
After the realization of his feelings for the vocalist, things just hadn't been the same.
Well, at least, not for Jack.
While they still always hung out and joked around like they always did, it didn't feel like before.
Now whenever they were close, the guitarist's heart would race out of control and his stomach would be exploding with butterflies.
He also couldn't help but notice how perfect Alex was, no matter what he did.
Jack spent practically every day with Alex, even their parents were best friends now.
Though, whenever the topic of girls came up, the butterflies in his stomach would go away and he would instead feel terrible knots.
The lanky boy would try his hardest to go along with Alex whenever he talked about how he wanted to bang some chick, but he couldn't help but feel jealous.
Alex was an straight as a stripper pole.
Jack, well, he didn't like labels, but he knew he was in love with Alex.
He still found girls attractive, but just not as much as Alex, but he found himself hating the ones that his best friend had his eyes on.
What he also knew was no matter how much he loved Alex, the vocalist would never return the favor.
Hearing the basement door open, Jack's guitar playing imediately stopped, his heart skipping a beat before increasing its pace.
Though, the guitarist could've swore his heart completely stopped when he saw who was coming down the stairs.
Yeah, it was Alex, but he wasn't alone.
The vocalist had his arm wrapped around the waist of some girl, and they were both laughing at the top of their lungs at some joke that Alex probably made.
Rian and Zack were still too focused on their game to notice the entrance of the oh-so-happy couple.
There was a stinging in Jack's eyes and his stomach that had butterflies in it was now beginning to feel as if there were untanglable knots in it.
Taking his guitar off of his lap and placing it on the floor, the lanky boy tried to gain some of his composure back.
Standing up, he brushed himself off, making his way over to the couple.
"...and then I was like, chicken butt!" Alex finished whatever story he was telling to the girl, who was giggling obnoxiously, her face now a bright red.
"You're such an idiot, Lexy," the girl finally managed to say once her giggling died down.
"Yeah, but I'm your idiot now, babe," Alex winked at the girl, who rolled her eyes playfully, her cheeks still flushed.
"Oh, shut up!" Leaning over, her lips were suddenly on the vocalist's and they were kissing.
It wasn't just a simple peck, either.
They were full on eating each other's faces off.
Now that was the worst feeling Jack had ever felt in his entire life.
His eyes were stinging more than ever, he could feel his body shaking, his lungs just didn't want to let any oxygen enter, the room was starting to spin around him, and the knots in his stomach just seemed to combining into one giant knot.
When the couple finally pulled apart for air, Alex noticed Jack.
"Whoa, how long have you been standing there? I didn't notice you were there until now!" Laughing carelessly, another thing that he didn't notice were the tears that were threatening to spill out of the guitarist's eyes.
"Jack, meet Lisa. Lisa, meet Jack. Isn't she just perfect?" Alex waved his free arm between the two, although the vocalist and the girl, Lisa, never broke eye contact.
"I... I think I got food poisoning," the lanky boy said as he quickly ran towards the stairs, his voice giving away that it was a lie, but he knew that the couple didn't notice.
Just as he was getting out the door, Jack heard obnoxious laughter from the pair, and he knew that Alex had cracked a joke about him.
Emptying the contents of his stomach into the Dawsons' toliet, the guitarist couldn't help but envy Lisa.
She had what he would never be able to have.
The heart of Alex Gaskarth.
Now instead of hanging out with Jack almost every day, most of Alex's free time was occupied with Lisa.
After that day, he tried not to mind it too much.
He figured it'd be another one of the vocalist's casual flings.
Though, as time passed, it slowly started to sink in that it wasn't.
Alex continued bringing Lisa to band rehearsals, making googly eyes at her and obviously trying his hardest to impress her every time she came.
It completely sickened Jack, especially whenever they made out in front of him.
Watching it made him want to throw up just like the first time he saw them together, but he managed to advert his eyes and try to think about something else.
After all, if this girl was making Alex happy, why would he complain?
It wasn't the vocalist's fault that he was feeling the way he did, it was purely his own.
The first time Alex went over to Jack's after he started dating Lisa was the day he got a call from a local label.
"Jack! Jack! Jack! Wake the fuck up, you asshole!"
Groaning into his pillow, Jack wanted more than anything to go back to sleep right now, but was unable to due to the fact that his best friend was jumping up and down on his bed.
"You asked for it now, Jacky."
"What the hell do you-" before he was able to finish the sentence, the guitarist was suddenly shoved onto the floor, his sheets still tangled around him.
Not only were the sheets on him, but so was a certain vocalist.
Alex's foot had gotten caught in the sheets as he shoved Jack off the bed, which was resulted in him falling on top of his best friend.
Opening his eyes, the lanky boy was now fully awake, and his eyes were greeted with the sight of chocolate brown ones only inches from his own.
Neither of them dared to move at this point.
Jack was still in shock due to the fact that he had just woke up.
Well, that, and he was enjoying this more than he'd ever admit.
The guitarist could've swore he saw the vocalist's eyes move down to his lips, but before he could question it, Alex was suddenly off of him.
Almost imediately, Jack missed the warmth from the older boy, a quiet groan leaving his lips.
"Sorry about that, man, but holy shit!" Alex was now bouncing on the floorboards.
Where the hell did he get all this energy?
Rolling his eyes, Jack sat up, making sure that the sheets were covering the boner that he had just gotten, his eyes now playfully glaring into the vocalist's.
"Fucking Macaulay Culkin better be in town or I swear I will kill you, Gaskarth," the guitarist tried to be threatening, but it only made Alex crack up.
"Hey, I'm trying to be serious here! You better have some good news."
Stopping his bouncing, Alex crouched down in front of Jack, his face growing competely serious.
"Well... does getting signed to Emerald Moon Records sound like good news to you?"
The younger boy's eyes went wide with disbelief.
"We.... we fucking got signed?"
"You bet your flat ass we did!"
Before Jack was able to make a comeback to the statement about his flat ass, Alex's arms were suddenly around him, practically squeezing the life out of the guitarist.
"Lex... I... can't... breathe..." Although he was enjoying the closeness, he didn't quite like the lack of oxygen his lungs were getting.
"Oh, right," letting out a quiet chuckle, the vocalist loosened his grip, his arms still around Jack as he pulled back to look into his eyes.
"I can't believe it, Jacky. Us, the losers, we got fucking signed." The way Alex's face lit up at that moment was the face that Jack knew he was going to remember for the rest of his life.
The pure happiness that was in the eyes of the guy he loved, that was going to be unforgettable.
Though, the moment was over far too soon when Alex's phone went off in his pocket.
Unwrapping his arms from around the lanky boy, he stood up, pulling out his phone.
"It's Lisa. Shit! I need to go tell her the news! Catch ya later, Jacky."
Just like that, Alex was gone, leaving Jack with a boner and a broken heart.
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4/20/14