Something's Gotta Give

One and a Half Years Ago

Various voices swirled around the store as I sat on the stool behind the counter. It was snowing like a mad house outside and seeing so many people shopping around surprised me. Shiloh, my good friend and cashier, stood behind the register helping a customer while I sat behind her, on my phone. When Shiloh finished with the customer, she turned to me and smiled.

“So Kate, are we still on for tonight?” She asked me and I moved my eyes to look up at her. When I focused my eyes on her, she had her arms crossed and a smug smirk on her face. What was it we were doing tonight? Nothing spectacular, Shiloh’s not that kind of person.

“What were we doing tonight again?” I asked her sheepishly and she rolled her eyes.

“We were going to go to that All Time Low concert? The one that is at the venue right down the street from here? The concert that we have been using to sell so much stuff the last like month?” She was trying to get me to remember and I licked my lips. That’s right, the All Time Low concert. Shiloh bought us floor seats and I told her we’d go, because I needed a night out.

“Oh, yeah. That one,” I muttered and bit my lip.

“Kate, please tell me you did not forget about it! We’ve been freaking out about this for like ever!” She exclaimed and shook my shoulders.

“I didn’t forget, I just pushed it out of my mind, since the store has been so busy. You don’t even understand how many orders I’ve had to put in within the last month. My head is a little screwy right now,” I told her and she sighed dramatically.

“Girl, you need to take a break from this whole thing, which was why we were going to the concert tonight!” She exclaimed and flailed her arms around obnoxiously.

“You guys are going to the All Time Low concert tonight?” I heard someone say from behind Shiloh. She turned around quickly to answer but I watched her whole body freeze and her breath stop.

“Shiloh, you okay there?” I asked as I put my hand on her shoulder and stood up to see who she was looking at. When I saw who it was, I stood there and stared at the two guys in front of us. One with dark brown hair, a blonde streak in the bang area, the other with a more chestnut brown hair. Both had messy hair and had smiles on their face. But the second they saw me, both of their faces fell and they stared at me.

“Kate,” I heard Jack say quietly and I just continued to stare at him.

“Jack,” I responded quietly, but not quiet enough cause Shiloh turned to me and gave me wide eyes.

“Wait, you know Jack Barakat?!” She exclaimed and I kept staring at the two. Alex stood next to him with his arms crossed.

“You could say that,” I said and Jack raised his eyebrows.

“Is this your shop?” He asked and I nodded.

“Yeah, why?” I asked.

“I’ve been shopping here since it opened. I didn’t know you owned it,” he said.

“Jack, if you had been shopping here since it opened, I would have known. What are you guys doing in here anyways?” I asked.

“Hold on,” Shiloh held a finger up to Alex and Jack before turning back to me, “when were you going to tell me, your best friend, that you know Jack Barakat and Alex Gaskarth?!”

“It’s not really something I’m proud of,” I told her and her eyebrows furrowed and she got confused.

“Kate, you know famous people. How is that not something to be proud of?” She asked. If only she knew the reason why.

“Well, you try having your two best friends completely forget about you to go and do the music thing, then you tell me that you’d be proud of knowing these two assholes,” I said and she looked at me with an even more confused look.

“What?” She asked.

“Nothing, um, are you two buying something, or?” I asked and Jack set down three CDs. Some oldies we used to listen to.

“Look Kate, can we talk?” Alex asked me and I looked at him for a while before answering.

“Ring them up Shiloh and send them upstairs,” I told her and walked away and up the stairs. When I got to my office, I sat down on the chair and closed my eyes. I haven’t seen either of them in over ten years, why did they decide to now come back? They left me, alone, in the biggest time of need. I understand they had dreams, but they could have taken me along with them. As I thought, I heard two people walk into the room and then stop. I looked up at them and then sighed.

“You can sit down,” I told them and they nodded before sitting down on the two chairs I had in there.

“Look Kate, we didn’t forget about you,” Alex said. I looked at him and chuckled.

“Well it sure seemed like you did,” I laughed and he looked at his hands.

“Okay, I admit, we let the fame and the rush of becoming a band get to us. But, we didn’t forget about you Kate. At least I didn’t,” Jack said and I looked at him and he smiled at me.

“You guys left me. I was alone, and both of you know just how well I deal with being alone,” I said and Jack nodded.

“Yeah. But, we were kinda thrown into the music industry. I tried going back to tell you we made it, but our management said no. So when I heard you owned this store after I talked to your brother, I told Alex that we had to come down to talk to you,” Jack said and I looked at him.

“The Jack and Alex I knew wouldn’t have cared what the hell management said. You guys would have come back for me no matter what. But you didn’t. Do you even know what happened to me in high school?” I asked. Jack bit his lip and nodded.

“How in the hell do you know?” I asked.

“Kian told me,” he said. I leaned back in my chair and scoffed.

“Of course he did. Look, I went into a deep depression when you guys left. I stopped eating, I slept around. I had sex with Kyle Spencer, you remember him right? Well, I fucked him and then he went around saying that he only had sex with me to stop me from stalking him. Everyone at Baltimore High turned against me and I was alone,” I said and Jack kept watching me carefully.

“Wait, if Kyle did that shit to you, why was he by your house?” Alex asked.

“That is a really long story. But you guys don’t understand the shit I went through after you left. You just walked away and never fucking looked back,” I told them and Jack shook his head.

“I thought about you every day Kate. I wanted to call you so many times,” he started.

“Why didn’t you?” I asked.

“Because our management and label threatened to drop us if we didn’t get our heads in the game,” he answered and I shook my head.

“So music before friends?” I asked and he shook his head.

“No Kate, I just,” he stopped because he knew he didn’t have an explanation.

“Kate, let’s not fight. We were actually coming down here to give you tickets to the concert tonight, but you’re already going,” Alex said and I rolled my eyes.

“Shiloh bought the tickets, I don’t even want to go,” I said blatantly to both of them and they both gave me a hurt look.

“Why don’t you want to go?” Alex asked.

“Why would I want to go to the concert of my two former best friends who left me alone in high school?” I asked.

“Kate, please, come to the show, we’ll show you that we didn’t forget you!” Jack said.

“How will going to a concert prove to me that you didn’t forget me?” I asked.

“You know our song For Baltimore?” Alex asked. Of course I’ve heard it. I do listen to them.

“Yeah, what about it?” I asked.

“We might have written it about you,” he said and I looked at him. Now that I think about it, a lot of the lyrics do relate to me. I stared at them for a good three minutes before talking.

“If I go, and that’s a big if, will I be on the floor? Or backstage?” I asked.

“Backstage,” both Alex and Jack said.

“What about Shiloh?” I asked.

“She’d have to on the floor,” Alex said.

“Deal,” I said.

“Wait, I thought Shiloh was your best friend,” Alex said. I chuckled and nodded.

“She is, but sometimes, I need a break from my friends,” I said and they nodded. We all stood up and I walked around my desk and looked up at both of them. Then Alex held his arms out and I smiled before wrapping mine around his waist. As we hugged, I felt Jack put his arms around me from the back and I laughed.

“Yay! The Baltimore Trio is back together!” Jack exclaimed and I rolled my eyes.

“Let’s see how long it lasts this time,” I muttered and held tightly onto Alex. He kissed the top of my head and held me tightly. Alex was always the one I felt closest to, he always protected me and I gave him advice. Jack was always the one who would crack a joke, and that was about it. I’m glad the two are back, and that they didn’t actually forget about me. But I still can’t just forgive them.

Notes

Hello All Time Low fanfiction community! This is my first ATL fanfic and I am hoping you guys like it. This one, and the next one, are the kinda prologue chapters. It takes place like a year and a half ago. I'm not 100% sure if I'm going to just continue with the events that happened 1.5 years ago, or skip ot the future. Whatever I decide, I'll let you guys know!!

I hope you liked it!!

Peace <3