Barakat, Jack Barakat

Amy’s POV.
Buzz
“Ugh”
Buzz
….
Buzz
“Leave me alone”
Buzz
I really wish they would stop calling me. I’m not going to answer and they know it. They’ve tried and tried, but I just don’t want to speak to them. I can’t. Jack deserves to be happy, so staying out of his way would be best for him. And Alex? Now I feel bad about Alex because he hasn’t done anything to me, but I can’t face him. After running off after we left Jack’s, how could I speak to him? He doesn’t deserve this. Neither of them do.
After 20 blissful minutes of peace, my phone started ringing again. I sighed looking at the screen and realised it was Cass. Cass was the only one who knew where I was. Nobody has seen me in 2 weeks. That’s because I moved back into my old apartment. I sort of missed this place, but it is really lonely. I’ve become so used to living with someone that I’m finding myself upset of a night. I haven’t been able to sleep properly. I don’t feel safe at all. Last time I lived here, I was kidnapped in the middle of the night. That went well. It’s sort of made me paranoid. The slightest noise during the night is enough to startle me. I feel like such a coward, but laying into Holly that night in Jack’s just felt so good. It felt like I was releasing so much that I had kept inside and it had built up. I finally found a way to release it, and boy was I proud of myself. People may say that I should’ve acted like the bigger person, but Holly started it. I couldn’t walk away without laying into her even if I tried. I’m just afraid she will come after me again. I don’t know what’s happening with her right now. Is she still with Jack? Did she run off? Who knows. Maybe I would know if I picked up my damn phone, but I just can’t bring myself to.
“Hello?”
“Amy! Thank god, I thought something had happened to you! Alex and Jack are panicking because you’re not answering your phone”
“Wait, Jack is panicking? Why?”
“I think Alex said something about being friends again, I don’t know. Just please put those two idiots at ease and call them” she sighed.
“Fine. But if it all goes bad, I’m blaming you” I let out a small laugh to let her know I was joking.
“Sure thing. Just let me know how things go. Love you” she said cheerily before hanging up. I sighed, running a hand through my hair. Guess it’s now or never. I picked up my phone, scrolling through my contacts until I reached Jack’s name. The sunglasses emoji and heart next to his name still remained. I refused to touch it. I hit the call button, the butterflies immediately swarming in my stomach. I hadn’t really spoken to Jack properly in over a month. My nerves were getting the better of me, my hands slightly trembling. What am I so scared of? I’m being stupid. With every ring, my anxiety flared up and threatened to bubble over, that was until he spoke.
“Amy?” he sounded somewhat shocked.
“H-hey Jack” I couldn’t help but smile, thank god he couldn’t see me.
“Why haven’t you been answering our calls?” hurt. He sounded hurt? Why?
“I’m sorry” I frowned.
“Can we meet up?” I nearly choked on my own breath.
“Yeah, okay. I’d like that” my smile was slowly returning.
“Good. I really want to speak to you. It’s been so long. I just-we need to sort things out. I’m just hoping we can become good friends again” my heart dropped slightly at the word ‘friends’.
“I’d like to be friends” I smiled.
“Okay. How about we meet at Starbucks, you know the one where I met you after our concert?” oh god. Why did he have to mention that?
“Haha, yeah, I remember. You were such an ass that day” I laughed, I heard him chuckle too and my heart fluttered. His laugh was one of my favourite sounds.
“Yeah, don’t remind me. Still sorry about that, but for real, can we meet there say tomorrow around noon?” he sounded hopeful.
“Of course” I grinned.
“Cool! I’ll see you tomorrow then” I could hear the smile in his voice.
“I look forward to it” I hung up and just stared off into the distance. Maybe being friends with him won’t be so bad after all.

******
“I SWEAR I WILL BE BACK JACK BARAKAT! THIS ISN’T THE LAST YOU’VE SEEN OF ME” Holly shouted as she stormed out of Jack’s apartment off to god only knows where. Jack just shoved his middle finger up to her before shutting the door.
“Sit. We need a chat” Alex pointed at Jack’s couch as he pulled up a chair facing Jack. Jack sat on the edge of his seat waiting for Alex to speak. Alex ran a hand through his hair, ruffling it about.
“I think you deserve to know what happened that day” Jack sat in silence waiting for Alex to continue.
“As you know, Amy went out shopping” Jack nodded.
“She was pulled into an alley by Holly and her ‘goons’” Jack gulped.
“She blackmailed her. Told her to stay away from you otherwise she’d tell you that she’d slept with me” Jack thought of the letters he had received, it all making sense.
“Amy knew that you were still wary of her relationship with me, so she was scared. She couldn’t go back to you so she came to me. She was scared and needed comforting. The pair of us were stupid. We got drunk, a bit too drunk and we kissed. That was it. I swear to you right now Jack, as my best friend, we did not sleep together. I just hope you can believe me and forgive us. You should’ve seen the mess Amy was in after you left. I don’t doubt that you were the same. She knew she had hurt you and it killed her”
“She sent me letters” Jack spoke up.
“Holly. It all makes sense now. I kept receiving anonymous letters each day telling me to watch out for you and Amy. I now know it was all Holly. God, I feel so stupid now” he ran his hands over his face and through his hair.
“I should’ve known it was her. I should have offered to go shopping with Amy that day and none of this would’ve happened. We’d be sitting here right now having a laugh about something stupid I’d done”
“It’s not your fault Jack. It’s all Holly. You know how she is. I just couldn’t believe you’d go back to her”
“She came to me. You know how I am with her. I needed the company. But I didn’t sleep with her. Not once. I didn’t feel like getting an STD from that thing. She wasn’t happy about that, so I bought her gifts to keep her quiet. I just needed someone around” He sighed.
“I forgive you Alex. And I believe that nothing more happened between you and Amy” he offered Alex a smile.
“Can we go back to being idiots again, always getting drunk and somehow ending up naked?” Alex laughed.
“For sure” Jack laughed too as he got up and gave Alex a strong hug.
“Call Amy” Alex said.
“I know you probably don’t want to rush straight back into a relationship with her, but just tell her you want to be friends”
“Do you think she’ll meet with me?” Jack was worried.
“I know she will” Alex smiled.
******

Notes

I smiled the whole time while writing the Jack and Alex scene <3