Login with:

Facebook

Twitter

Tumblr

Google

Yahoo

Aol.

Mibba

Your info will not be visible on the site. After logging in for the first time you'll be able to choose your display name.

Sparks Fly

Three.

::Brook::

"I want to hear more about you being a guidance counselor," Alex said once we were settled in our seats at the restaurant and the waitress had taken our drink order. "Please don't take this the wrong way but don't you remember being in high school? It was sort of miserable."

"Trust me; I've heard this all before. It's really not that bad."

"Oh no," Alex gasped. "Let me guess. You loved high school? Cheerleading captain? Class president? Senior poll voted most popular?"

I laughed, sincerely hoping he was kidding. "You couldn't be more wrong, my friend."

"Really?" he frowned. "I thought I was finally getting the chance to date a cheerleader."

I laughed again. "I'm sorry, buddy. No cheerleader here, but I was captain of the swim team, class treasurer since seventh grade and senior poll voted coolest car."

"Coolest car? Really?"

"Yeah. It was by default really. It was my older brother's car. When I was a senior in high school he move to Chicago and left me his car."

"What kind of car was it?"

"This piece of junk Mustang. My brother and his friends made a project out of it, installing a cool stereo and tires and stuff, so I guess that's what made it cool," I shrugged.

"Awesome," he smiled. "But you didn't answer my question."

"What question was that?" I asked, taking a small sip from the glass of wine the waitress had just brought over.

"Why high school?"

"For as much as it looked like I had it all together, when I started college, I really had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. Truthfully, as a kid, I always wanted to be a weather girl – not the kind that actually did the research, because I wasn’t great at science, just the kind that wore pretty dresses and stood in front of the green screen and told you to whether you’d need an umbrella or not. Eventually I realized that wasn’t the best career choice.”
Alex took a sip from his wine glass and just nodded. I was taken aback for a second by how interested he seemed in whatever it was I was saying. It felt like I could have just been reading names to him from the phone book and he’d look just as interested. It was nice.
“I hoped that I would start college and eventually just figure it out – which I guess I did. Halfway through my first semester of freshman year, I declared myself an English major.”
"You were able to become a guidance counselor with just an English degree?"
“No,” I shook my head. “I actually ended up just minoring in English. One day I heard this news report about bullying and the high suicide rate amongst kids and it freaked me out. That’s when it dawned on me that I wanted to do something about it. I did some research and by my sophomore year I transferred to the University of Delaware and I guess the rest is history.”

"Wow," Alex said with a smile, looking a little surprised. "That's really cool."

"Thanks," I felt like I was blushing a little so I took another sip from my wine. "I just remembered back when I was in school how all our guidance counselors were about 106 years old and no one went to them with problems because how could they possibly understand or relate to a teenager?"

"And you figured since you're still one, kids would flock to your office?" he cracked the joke with a smirk on his face.

I rolled my eyes, laughing. "Exactly. When I first started some parents would complain about me because they thought I was too young to be "guiding" their kids. But after my first year in the school as a counselor everyone sort of realized I had a knack for what I did."

"That's awesome. I'm just really glad to hear you're not a model or a clothing designer or something lame."

"Thanks. It's nice to feel like you're making a difference in this messed up world and I kind of feel like I am, even if it’s just with a small group of kids."

He nodded. "Hey, if you can help just one kid out of a shitty place, I think you're good."

"Me too," I nodded. "And now it's your turn."

"Uh oh. My turn?"

"Yep. Last night you told me you were a musician and I know my brother has this friend who calls himself a musician and he’s been living on my brother's couch for a few months."

"Well, I think your brother's friend needs to work a little harder," he laughed. "My band has had a little more success, I'd say, than that guy."

"Yeah? Anything I may have heard?" I asked, interested.

"Maybe… We’re called All Time Low. I guess they kind of make a big deal about us around here since not many bands really make it from this area."

I nodded slowly. "All Time Low?" I paused for a second. “Yes! My kids listen to you guys all the time.”

He raised an eyebrow at me. "You have kids?"

"No," I laughed. "From school. A couple of months ago we had spirit week and I had to supervise the juniors while they decorated their half of the cafeteria. One of the girls brought in her iPod thing and your band was the only band everyone could agree on to listen to."

"Really?" he smiled. "So, are you a fan?"

I laughed a little. "From what I remember, sure. I didn't want to pluck my eye lashes out having to listen to it like I have with some of the other stuff these kids listen to today. It reminded me of the stuff I grew up listening to because of my brother."

He smiled again. "Well thanks. I'll take that as a compliment."

"You should," I insisted. "How long have you been doing this band thing?"

"I started playing music when I was thirteen or fourteen. I don't think we really took it seriously until we were sixteen and realized we were sort of good."

"Who is we?"

"My band mates. Jack, Rian and Zack," he explained. "I met Jack when I was thirteen. I never really felt like I fit in at school before that. I moved from England when I was younger. I spoke with an accent until high school, I wore those ridiculous parachute pants and Bob Marley T-shirts. I didn't even really like Bob Marley," he said with a laugh.

"Why wear them then?” I giggled.

He shrugged. "I thought it was cool at the time, but Jack quickly informed me that I looked ridiculous and if we were going to be friends I had to wear normal pants."

"Is that when you were introduced to super skinny girl jeans?"

Alex laughed. "Basically. Jack was the first guy at our school to wear them."

"So, Jack gave you a wardrobe make-over. And then what?"

"He showed me a Blink-182 DVD and I was hooked. I knew that was exactly what I wanted to do," he explained, a goofy smile flashing his face as he thought back. "We started to play Blink-182 and Greenday covers and eventually I realized I actually had a knack for writing songs."

I smiled. He seemed really proud of what he's done. "And the rest is history?"

"Pretty much," he nodded. "We did a lot of touring on the weekends and breaks off from school. We got signed to an independent label when we were seniors in high school and just signed with a major label last year."

I nodded. "So you're feeling pretty successful now, huh?"

"Yeah. It's hard to believe that we've gotten to play shows and become friends with bands we grew up idolizing. We took our name from a New Found Glory song, and those guys are some of our closest friends. Mark Hoppus was one of the first people to text me on my birthday a few weeks ago."

"That's amazing. I met Mark Hoppus once."

"Really?"

"Well, my brother met him and I just stood there like an idiot, too embarrassed to say anything. We were at some rest stop on I95 somewhere between Baltimore and Orlando. He was really cool though. I have a picture of us somewhere."

Alex smiled. "He's awesome. Maybe one day I can re-introduce you guys."

"I'd like that," I laughed. "What other famous friends do you have?"

"Oh no," he shook his head. "I don't want to be that guy."

"You can totally be that guy; I'm curious. Do you know Justin Timberlake?"

Alex laughed. "No. Unfortunately, I don't know Justin Timberlake, but we have played a few shows with The Biebs."

"Oh," I scowled. "He doesn't compare."

"Of course not," Alex laughed.

Conversation continued to flow easily between Alex and I as our food arrived. I was pleasantly surprised about this because first dates can be really awkward if you run out of things to say early. From the looks of it, Alex wasn't shutting up any time soon.

"We're not a total party band," Alex said, referring to life on the road, Okay, we do party and drink too much and get stupid but we're definitely not Mötley Crüe."

"Well thank goodness for that," I giggled. "I can't imagine Tommy Lee would show much interest in dinner with a high school guidance counselor."

"Yeah, well, Alex Gaskarth does."

"He does?"

"Of course he does," Alex nodded flashing me a smile that faded quickly. "And he also just realized he's been talking an awful lot about himself. I'm sorry."

I shook my head. "Are you kidding? Don't apologize. I like hearing your stories. Believe me; my life has been incredibly dull by comparison."

"Oh, come on. Everyone's had a bit of a wild streak once in their life."

I shrugged. "I let my best friend's cousin pierce my bellybutton at a sleep over when I was sixteen."

"Oh, look out, badass!"

"That's what I thought - until it refused to heal properly and I eventually needed to tell my parents. Naturally, it was infected and I was grounded for a month."

Alex bit his lip, no doubt to stop from laughing at me. "That's it?"

"Pretty much. My dad worked for the police department and my older brother Mikey essentially had done everything as a kid. Between the two of them, I couldn't get away with anything if I wanted to.”

"Were you and your brother close?" Alex asked and a strange look I couldn't read passed over his eyes.

"Yeah," I nodded. "People always thought it was kind of strange that we were so close since he was a few years older than me, but we were each other's best friends growing up."

He smiled, almost sadly it seemed but he seemed to push passed it quickly.
"You said my band reminds you of the music you'd listen to with him. Like what?"

"Blink-182 obviously. New Found Glory, Yellowcard, Fall Out Boy, The Early November. Just to name a few."

He smiled with a nod. "All very influential bands to us. Any other them your favorite?"

"I do love them all, but no," I said with a blush creeping up my cheeks again. "Can you keep a secret?"

He nodded. "Of course."

"Bon Jovi is my favorite band and has been since probably before birth."

He laughed. "Really? That's awesome."

"My mom and my aunt were obsessed and I'd heard them playing all the time when I was a kid. It was like I was destined to be a fan. My mom tells a story all the time about the time she and my aunt went to a Bon Jovi show when she was pregnant with me and tried to convince the security guards that it was Jon Bon Jovi's kid."

Alex laughed again. "That's amazing. Did it work?"

I shook my head. "I don't think so."

"So, would you say Bon Jovi is your musical guilty pleasure?"

I laughed. "Oh no. It gets worse than that."

"Okay. Details."

"Well, I kind of have a Disney Channel obsession," I admitted.

"Disney Channel? Like Mickey Mouse? Because then I think you might be better suited for my friend Matt," he said quickly.

"No," I laughed. “Well, yeah, who doesn't love Mickey? But I'm referring to Disney Channel like Hannah Montana."

"Really?" he laughed.

"Oh, totally. I can say, with complete confidence, that I've seen every episode of that show multiple times and can probably recite it word for word."

"Well, there are worse things you can be into."

"I'm not done," I said slowly.

"You don't dress up in a blonde wig and pretend to be her, do you?"

"No," I laughed. "I just mean it's not just Hannah Montana - well Miley Cyrus really. I also love Selena Gomez and Taylor Swift. And don't get me started on the Jonas Brothers."

"Well, I do have a pretty big love for Taylor Swift myself.”

As we finished eating our dinner and denied dessert when the waitress asked, Alex told me about the older sisters he had that lived back in the England. They were from his father's first marriage long before Alex was born. He doesn't see them much, only when he's on tour overseas, but they do keep in touch as best they can.

::Alex::

"Really, Alex. I don't mind. You don't have to pay for me," Brook argued with me the entire walk from the restaurant to where I parked the car in the lot.

"Brook," I whined, opening the passenger side door for her. "Shut up and get in."

She laughed and I was glad she had a sense of humor. "Can I please give you something towards it at least?"

"Nope," I simply said, closing her door when she climbed in and went around to the other side and got in myself.

"But-"

"Brook, if you ask me again I will be insulted."

"Okay. Okay. Fine," she huffed putting on her seat belt as I pulled out of the parking lot. "Where are we going now?"

"It's a surprise," I said, glancing over at her with a smile.

"A surprise? No. Alex, I don't like surprises."

"Well, you have about twenty minutes to start liking them."

She frowned. "Can you at least tell me where we're going for this surprise?"

"Nope, not without giving the whole thing away."

"Great. This guy I just met is taking me somewhere in his car and won't tell me where. This is payback for the whole dog thing isn't it? You're going to take me to the woods and whack me, huh?"

"No, you freak. I am not going to whack you," I laughed.

"Okay, good," she said leaning back in her seat and glancing out the window. "Hey, thanks for dinner, by the way."

I smiled. "You're welcome."

The rest of the car ride was filled with more simple conversation between Brook and myself. I really liked that we had been able to talk all through dinner and not run out of things to say.

"We're here," I said when I had finally pulled into the parking lot of the park I was taking her to.

"The park?" she asked looking around as we climbed out of the car.

"You'll see," I said, grabbing her arm and pulling her in the right direction.

"Ice skating?" she asked as we stood before the frozen lake that was all lit up with Christmas decorations around it.

"Surprised?"

She smiled. "Yes."

"Come on," I said excitedly and grabbed her arm again and headed towards the hut to rent some skates.

"Dammit," she hissed when we were next in line. "I left my bag in the car."

"So? What did you need out of it?"

"My wallet?"

I rolled my eyes and ignored that comment. "What size are you?" I asked her when the kid behind the counter called us next.

She sighed "Seven, please."

I asked for our sizes the boy handed me our skates. "No charge," he said.

"What? Why?"

"I'm a huge fan of your band. It's on me," the kid said.

"Oh, I'm flattered but please," I said opening my wallet.

"Really. I insist. Your music has helped me through some rough times. It's really okay."

"Well, thanks a lot man. That means a lot. What’s your name?"

He smiled. "You're welcome and it’s Brian."

"Have a happy holiday, Brian" I said, stuffing a 20 dollar bill in the tip cup before walking over to the benches with Brook.

"I saw what you did," she said, nudging me with her shoulder.

"What did I do?" I asked, sitting down on the bench and removing my shoes and slipping my feet into the skates and she did the same.

"You slipped a pretty sweet tip in that kid's tip jar."

I nodded. "I'm not about to take freebies from some seventeen year old kid who's probably saving for college or a car or something."

She smiled. "That's really sweet."

I shrugged, standing up slowly to gain my balance on the skates. "I know. I can be a pretty sweet guy sometimes."

She smiled again and tucked our stuff away in one of the lockers that were set up on the side of the lake. "I'm beginning to notice."

"Come on. Let's skate," I said and we both carefully walked on the concrete towards the frozen lake.

"Now, I just want to warn you. I'm kind of an expert," Brook announced as we stepped on to the ice.

"Really?"

"My brother was really into hockey growing up. I was around skating rinks a lot," she explained as she did a little spin to show-off.

"Very nice," I nodded.

"You're not intimidate or anything, right?"

"Not yet," I laughed.

"Come. I'll show you some tricks. They're not so hard."

Over the course of the next hour or so Brook attempted to show me the very few tricks she knew. I got the hang of one of the spins she taught me but when it came to combining the spin with this sort of leap, I couldn't do it without almost falling on my ass.

I did fall once and Brook almost joined me as she doubled over laughing at me.

Once I righted myself, standing up, there was an announcement that the rink was closing up shortly for the night.

Brook glanced around and we both realized save for a few teens on the other side of the rink, everyone had already cleared out.

"Ready to head out?" I asked her.

She nodded. "Definitely. I'm freezing."

"Let's go," I smiled and skated towards the exit of the ice.

"Oh, by the way," Brook started from behind me, "I totally won."

"What did you win?" I asked, waiting for her to catch up.

"I win. You fell and I didn't," she said with a smirk.

"I wasn't aware it was a competition," I replied and in that second, I'm not really sure how it happened but Brook lost her balance and hit the ice hard.

I stared at her for a second, part of me wanted to laugh and the other part wanted to make sure she didn't get hurt.

"Oh my God," I gasped, crouching down. "Are you alright?"

"No," she squeaked out. I couldn't tell if she was crying or not.

"Jesus, Brook. It wasn't a competition of who call fall harder," I said.
She finally looked up at me and thankfully I realized she was laughing. "I know, but if it was, I totally won," she said between giggles.

"Really, are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," she said. "I slammed my knee into the ice and it will probably be bruised tomorrow and my butt is numb."

I smiled at her sadly and helped her shift her position so I could look at her knee.

Her dress ended right before her knee, so I lifted the bottom of her dress just a tiny bit more so I could get a good look. I wasn’t exactly sure what I was looking at since one, she was wearing dark colored tights, and two, I certainly wasn’t a knee doctor.

"Your knee looks fine from here," I said, gently squeezing and poking at it. I figured if anything was seriously wrong, it would hurt even more if I touched it. "You think you'll be able to walk?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I think so."

"Okay," I smiled and bent down to lightly kiss her knee cap. "Good as new."

"Thank you," she smiled and I stood up first and carefully helped her up.

I stayed close behind her as we skated off the ice and slowly made our way across the cement to where the lockers were with our stuff.

"You stay here," I said, taking Brook's skates. "I'll return them for you."

"Thanks," she smiled and I could tell she was really cold so I was sure to move quickly.

"I hope you had fun tonight," I said once we were back in the car and I had the heat blasting. "Despite the falling and busting your knee part."

She looked over and smiled at me. "I had a great time. It was definitely a pleasant surprise."

"I'm glad, but you should probably ice that knee when you get home."

The rest of the drive home was relatively quiet. Occasionally Brook would say something, or I would say something. The quiet this time around was comforting.

I was a little disappointed when I pulled up in front of Brook's house. We had a really good night and I wasn't sure I was ready to end it just yet.

"I had a really great time tonight," Brook said as we still sat in my car.

"I'm glad. It was kind of my goal," I said.

"So, do you think I'm finally off the hook for the whole almost hitting your dog with my car thing?"

"Hmm," I paused to think for a second. "I think it's safe to say you're off the hook."

"Oh thank goodness," she sighed, relived.

"I'll walk you to the door."

::Brook::

Alex quickly came around to my side of the car, while I dug through my bag for my keys, and opened the door for me and then carefully helped me out of the car and then carefully helped me walk to my front door.

It was sweet and I didn't want to bust his bubble, but my knee didn’t hurt all that much. I would have been completely find to walk on my own.

We stood in front of the door. Both of us bounced around to keep warm.

It was in that moment that I remembered why I hated this part of the first date. How did we end the night? Was I supposed to kiss him? Was he supposed to kiss me? Should I invite him in? It was frustrating.

"Thank you again for dinner," I said finally. "Next time it'll have to be my treat."

He smiled. "You think they'll be a next time?"

I shrugged. "Maybe."

He smiled again. "Well good. And you're welcome."

I watched him as he shuffled back and forth and it dawned on me that he might have been toying with the idea of kissing me.

I gave him another couple of seconds to make his move and when he didn't, I decided it was time to end the night. It was freezing.

"Get home safe, okay?" I said unlocking my door. "Maybe shoot me a text so I know you got there safely.

"Okay," he nodded. "I can do that."

"Thanks."

"Goodnight Brook," he said and my heart rate started to speed up when he began to lean in towards me and then quickly slowed when his lips lightly brushed my cheek.

"Goodnight Alex," I said stepping half inside the door and he smiled and waved one last time before walking towards his car.

I sighed loudly as I walked inside and locked the door behind me and started heading upstairs.

I noticed a small pain in my knee whenever I put pressure on it going up the stairs. Maybe I did need ice?

I took off my coat and draped it over a chair in the kitchen.

I couldn't believe Alex didn't try to kiss me. I was almost sure he would've at least tried it. Sure, I could have easily made the move, but I wanted him to.

"Jen? You still awake?" I asked, tip-toeing passed her room in case she was asleep and I didn't want to wake her.

I got no response from her but instead I heard a knock at the door downstairs.

"What the heck?" I mumbled to myself as I carefully jogged down the stairs, ignoring the pain in my knee.

I peeked through a crack in the blinds and saw Alex standing there, bouncing around in the cold again.

I opened the door and was quickly hit with a cold breeze. I should have grabbed my coat on the way down.

"Alex. What's wrong?" I asked, stepping outside.

"I forgot something," he answered.

“What did you f-" I barely finished my sentence before I was pleasantly interrupted when Alex stepped forward and grasped by face in his hands and pressed his lips down to mine.

It took me a second to react but once he began to slowly deepen the kiss, I moved my arms around his neck and he moved his arms around my waist, pulling me closer to him. I was glad for that because I suddenly wasn't so cold anymore.

"I'm sorry," he said when he pulled away and I was sure he'd done it too soon.

"D-Don't be," I stumbled over my words, still a little thrown off from the kiss.

"I got nervous before but I really, really wanted to do that," he said, touching my cheek lightly and pushing some of my hair behind my ear.

"I'm glad you came back," I assured him.

He smiled, moving forward and kissing my lips again softly. "Goodnight Brook," he said quickly before turning to walk back towards the street.

"Goodnight, Alex," I said as I watched him go. Just before he reached his car he turned back to me and waved and it was definitely hard to ignore the giant butterflies he caused to go rampant in the pit of my stomach.
***



Notes

Story Title: Taylor Swift - Sparks Fly
Chapter Title: Boys Like Girls - Five Minutes to Midnight
Brook's outfit

XOXOXO

Comments

I hope you come back to this story and update again. I miss it!

hopeless1313 hopeless1313
1/9/19

i remember reading the first chapter of this a long time ago and I came across it again a few days ago. Ever since then I haven’t been able to stop reading. I know it’s been a while since you last updated but I hope you will start updating again some day. It’s such a good story and you’ve left it on the biggest cliffhanger! No pressure though, just thought I’d let you know that I’m still very interested in finding out what happens next. :)

Chelsea Chelsea
8/12/18

That is very true all great stories must come to an end.
I am going to start reading your other story right away. I bet it’s another great one. :)

BreaClift. BreaClift.
2/10/18

@BreaClift.
That’s really sweet to say! But unfortunately it will have to end eventually... :( The plus side to not having the inspiration to write for is it can live forever that way, haha.

Have you had a chance to start reading my stop Dirty Laundry? I actually put up a new chapter this week. :-)

Newyork_xo Newyork_xo
2/9/18

I will honestly say. That this is one story I don’t want to ever end lol. Out of all the fanfics I have read over the years even about different bands. This is by far the best one.

BreaClift. BreaClift.
2/5/18