Something's Gotta Give

Snow continued to fall down from the clouds fast and furious as Shiloh and I walked down the sidewalk towards the venue. There was a huge line of fans that almost got to my store, and each and every one of them were freezing their butts off. I giggled as we passed by all of them and walked up to the door. While Shiloh has to be on the floor during the show, she can come inside early and hang out with the band before the show starts. When we got to the door, I looked inside the glass and saw one of the security guards facing me. I waved at him and he gave me a look. My hand went into my jacket and I pulled out two all access passes and he nodded before opening the door and letting us into the warmth of the building, much to the waiting fans dismay. I shook off the snow from my shoulders and looked at the guy.

“Hi, um, could you maybe let Jack and Alex know that Kate is here?” I asked the guy and he nodded before speaking into the walkie he had. About a minute later a man came from inside the actual venue and smiled at us.

“Kate and Shiloh?” He asked and we nodded.

“Kate,” I pointed to myself.

“Shiloh,” Shiloh pointed to herself and he smiled.

“Follow me,” he told us and we followed him inside and through the venue and into the back. It was another world back here. There were speakers, wires, guitars, drum sticks, and a lot of other music equipment laying around everywhere. The guys showed us to a room and when we walked in, I saw a shirtless Alex talking to Rian and Zack while Jack was no where to be found.

“Alex, here’s your friends,” the guy said and when he did, all three of the guys looked over. I remembered Rian and Zack from when All Time Low first started out, before getting signed. Alex walked over, shirt in hand, and wrapped his arms around me.

“Yay, you made it!” He exclaimed and I smiled.

“Of course I did. It’s cold outside and my apartment isn’t necessarily the warmest, neither is my shop,” I laughed and he smiled while still resting his arm over my shoulders.

“Alright, you guys already know Kate, but you do not know Shiloh. Shiloh, this is Rian and Zack. Rian and Zack, this is Shiloh,” Alex introduced them and I thought that Shiloh was going to pass out.

“Shi, you okay in there?” I asked as I waved my hand in front of her face and she looked at me.

“Yeah, I’m fine, I’ll be fine,” she shrugged it off and I laughed.

“Where’s Barakat?” I asked as I looked around the room..

“He is in the bathroom, probably shitting himself to next Tuesday,” Alex smiled as he pulled me towards the couch that was in the room. He then pulled me down onto the couch and sat next to me.

“Typical Jack. So, how awesome is the show tonight going to be?” I asked and Alex gave me a look.

“What do you mean? It’ll be the shit!” He exclaimed.

“What Alex means is it’ll be the best we’ve ever played,” Rian said and I smiled. While we sat there for a second I remembered I’ve never actually seen them perform. I patted Alex’s knee and spoke.

“You know, I’ve never actually seen you guys perform in and actual show? Only the ones in Alex’s basement like twelve years ago,” I smiled and Alex’s jaw dropped to the floor.

“What? How have you not seen us perform?” He asked. I shrugged and crossed my legs.

“I was too busy hating you and Jack,” I explained with a shrug and he nodded.

“Understandable,” Alex smiled and then someone walked into the room, made some sort of signal at Alex and left.

“What was that?” I asked and he looked at me.

“What? Oh, it means there’s five minutes till the show starts, which means, unfortunately, Shiloh has to head out,” he sighed and Shiloh shrugged.

“It’s all good Alex, I enjoyed chilling with you guys,” she smiled before hugging me and leaving the room with a crew member.

“I feel like I’m getting special treatment. And you know I don’t like getting special treatment Gaskarth,” I looked at Alex and he shrugged.

“Well, too bad, you’re getting special treatment. Jack and I have to make up for twelve years of, in your words ‘forgetting you’,” he said and I gave him a look.

“So are you staying in Baltimore for a while? Or going and doing stuff with your band?” I asked.

“We’re in Baltimore for a bit. And I’m hoping you let Jack and I take you out somewhere,” he answered and I rolled my eyes.

“Oh come on, don’t give me the eye roll Kate. Jack and I want to be good friends!” He exclaimed and I rolled my eyes again.

“If you’re nice, maybe I’ll consider it” I smirked and it was his turn to roll his eyes.

“Always being stubborn,” he chuckled. From one side of the room, I heard a toilet flush and then saw Jack burst out of the room.

“Who is ready to blow the roof off this place?!” He exclaimed and I laughed.

“Kate!” He yelled and ran over to me before engulfing me in a tight hug.

“Jack!” I exclaimed with a laugh. For the five minutes that they had before the show started, we sat around and didn’t do much more than pick at each other. When they had to head out of the room, both Alex and Jack gave me a hug and then pulled me along with them to side stage. I wrapped my arms around my waist, it was much colder out on the stage area than it was backstage. As I stood there, I felt someone put their arm around my shoulder.

“Cold?” I heard Jack ask me and I nodded.

“Low body weight equals low tolerance for the cold,” I said and he looked at me.

“What are you talking about?” He asked, worry and concern was etched all over his face.

“Jack, not to make you worried or anything, but once a person has an eating disorder, they always have an eating disorder,” I told him and he looked at the floor.

“No one told me you had an eating disorder,” he said quietly.

“It’s not really something I just tell people Jack. I’m kinda ashamed of it,” I told him. He shrugged and then walked away. Whatever, if he can’t handle the truth, he can go fuck himself.

“Hey, why the long face?” Alex asked us as he walked up to us.

“Nothing, I’m just really cold,” I sighed and Alex looked behind me and got a smile. He walked past me and then returned with an All Time Low jacket.

“Wear this, frozen one, and you can keep it. We have a shit ton of them,” he smiled and I took it and pulled it on quickly, warmth almost immediately engulfing me.

“Since when has Jack been so concerned about actual serious things?” I asked and Alex raised his eyebrow.

“What are you talking about?” He asked.

“The Jack I used to know would be constantly cracking jokes and being super immature. Jack hasn’t done any of that since I met up with you guys. And when I informed him I had, have, an eating disorder, he walked away,” I said and Alex’s shoulders dropped.

“You have an eating disorder?” He asked.

“I do, and I’m ashamed of it. But high school did a real number on me,” I shrugged and Alex wrapped his arms around me.

“About the him caring thing, well, don’t tell him I told you this, but, he was in a long term relationship with this chick named Clara for like three years. Last week she broke it off without a reason and he’s taking it pretty hard,” Alex said to me and it was my turn to have my eyebrows raise.

“Wow, I didn’t know he was in a relationship,” I said.

“They somehow kept it away from the public eye,” he shrugged and sat down on a speaker.

“How he managed that, being Jack Barakat, I will never know,” I laughed and sat down next to him.

“Look Kate, I know you don’t forgive Jack and I for what we did, but we feel like shit about it. You didn’t deserve to have to go through that,” Alex put his arm around my shoulder and I nodded.

“It’s fine. I was just really shocked to see you guys. It kinda reminded me of everything I’ve been trying to forget,” I chuckled nervously.

“So, how about tomorrow, since we have a day off, you come with Jack and I and we’ll go to Big Matty’s and eat way too much food, then go catch a movie. After all that awesomeness, we can do what we used to do and go back to my house, or my parent’s house, and play video games all night and stay up so late that we, back then, missed first period,” Alex smiled at me and I smirked while shaking my head.

“Will there be alcohol involved at any point in that plan?” I asked and he got this big smirk on his face.

“There’s the good old Kate I know. Of course there will be alcohol involved, what kind of awesome day would I plan that doesn’t involve that at some point?” He chuckled and I rolled my eyes.

“It sounds like a lot of fun, but I do have some responsibilities you know. Like my shop for example, I have to open it and run it,” I said and he waved it off.

“Shiloh can be boss lady tomorrow,” he shrugged it off and I stared at him. He is so laid back and careless, in a good way.

“Whatever. What time can I expect you to get me?” I asked.

“Um, 11 AM,” he smiled and I sighed.

“Pick me up at my shop, since it opens at nine in the morning,” I smiled and he nodded.

“The Baltimore Trio is at it again!” Alex shot off the speaker and jumped around for a few seconds before stopping.

“You have not changed one bit Mr. Gaskarth,” I laughed and watched Alex as he held his hand out and smiled at me. I grabbed his hand and he pulled me off the speaker. We danced around for what seemed like forever, laughing and having the time of our lives, just like we used to. Suddenly Alex stopped moving and was looking behind me.

“Jack Barakat! Get your ass over here and dance with us!” I heard Alex yell and I looked where he was looking. Jack was talking to Rian about something but he smiled and ran over the instant Alex told him to. After that, the three of us danced around, laughing, singing old songs, and some of theirs. By the end of our dance party, the three of us were out of breath and were laughing so hard our stomachs hurt.

“Alright you three, sorry to break it up, because that looked like a lot of fun but, Alex and Jack, you guys gotta head on,” a crew member told us and I shrugged, my arms were on both Jack and Alex’s shoulders, since we had ended our little dance party doing the Vegas show girl dance.

“So, Jack, tomorrow the three of us are going to Big Matty’s, seeing a movie, and then going back to my parent’s house and playing video games all night,” Alex smiled and Jack cheered.

“Hell yeah, just like old times!” He hugged me and I rolled my eyes.

“Okay, stay here, don’t leave, we will find you!” Alex said and then ran off on stage. I had the biggest smile on my face and felt warm inside. For the first time in twelve years I felt normal, or as normal as someone like me could be. While I stood there, I crossed my arms over my stomach and tapped my foot to the beat. As the concert went on, I began to dance backstage and smiled every time Jack or Alex looked over at me.

“Alright Baltimore! How are we doing tonight?!” Alex asked the crowd and got screaming as a response.

“That is awesome, so Jack, since we are back in our hometown, what do you think we should do tomorrow?” Alex asked and I watched as Jack looked back at me and smirked.

“Well, I think, we should hang out with Kate. You guys know Kate, right?” Jack asked the crowd and they all screamed back at him. I’m known?

“That’s what I thought. Now, one thing that blows my mind is that Kate has never been to one of our shows!” Jack exclaimed and the crowd screamed.

“What kind of friend is she. Holy damn. But, besides that fact, we still love her and I wanna dedicate this next one to her. This is For Baltimore!” Alex yelled into the mic and the music started. A smile spread across my face as they went on with the song. Tomorrow is going to be great, I can already feel it.

Notes

Second chapter! I quite like this one, you learn more about Kate and the Baltimore Trio's past. I hope you guys like this story so far. I have decided to continue with the events that happened like 1.5 years ago. So, yeah. I am hoping you guys like it as much as I do!!!

Peace <3