Brook-

"Oh my, God! She's bouncing again!" Jack whined from his seat next to me on the couch in the front lounge of the bus.

We were approaching the venue for the Long Island date of the tour and I was beyond excited. I had somehow convinced my aunt and uncle to let Sami join the tour in New York and stay on with us until the Baltimore date. At first the guys were a little skeptical about having a sixteen year old travel with them for a few days, but I think Alex talked them into it because eventually they all came around.

"I'm sorry," I sighed. "I'm just too excited," I sort of squealed, peaking out the window and smiling when I realized I recognized where we were. "I've been to this venue before. When I was either thirteen or fourteen, I came up to New York to visit my family and my aunt took me and my cousins to see Nsync here!"

"You're going to bounce yourself right off the couch," Jack warned me. "This is for your own good," he said before throwing his body across my lap and holding himself there.

I was so happy, once the whole baby thing was put to rest, that Jack and I were able to stay as close as we were, if not closer.

I had said some truly hurtful and down right rude things to him during that time and to say I was grateful he accepted my apology was an understatement.

I thought I may have had to grovel and beg, at least a little, for his forgiveness, but in true Jack fashion, he let it roll off his back and welcomed me back to normal with open arms. He told me that from the first time I had irrationally snapped at him, he could tell that something was wrong and I obviously did not want to talk about it which is why he kept his distance. He also made me promise next time I'm mid-crisis that I could talk to him. He would lend an unbiased ear to listen and promised to keep my secrets from Alex, if necessary..

As for things with me and Alex, it seemed like they were better than ever. It almost seemed like every time we hit a bit of a bump in the road, we came out better than ever which was probably a strong testament to how much our relationship had grown.

The whole am I having a baby or not thing in a way became a blessing in disguise. While, needless to say, it was beyond terrifying, it also made us realize what could be in store for us in the future. Over the few nights after that doctor's appointment, Alex and I had a handful of pretty deep talks about our future and what we meant to each other's future.

Alex kept telling me me that I was his future and I'm pretty sure I almost cried each time. It was so refreshing to find someone like Alex who was, for lack of a better term, immature, but who also confessed to me that deep down he loves the idea of getting married and having babies and making a life with someone.

He seemed pretty relieved when I continued to explain that I still didn't see myself getting married, but I did want to find someone to grow old with. I didn't need a fancy party and a government issued piece of paper to make that real. And at this point, I was pretty sure Alex could be that person.

It had been a really long time since I felt so content with my life. It was like all the pieces of the puzzle to my life had finally fallen back into place. I'd felt like this before and I managed to over think things and essentially mess them all up. I wasn't about to do that now. Dating Alex and meeting his friends and having them so effortlessly accept me into their circle was a life changing thing for me. And I'd be damned to let my silly insecurities and jerks from my past mess that up. This was my future now and it looked pretty bright to me.
*****

"That was one of the coolest things I have ever done!" Sami squealed as we walked off stage at the end of Yellowcard's set.

Matt was able to secure an artist's pass for Sami, so she essentially had free reign of the whole Warped Tour. I was pretty sure this experience solidified me as her favorite cousin forever and for always.

I smiled at her as she adjusted her pass that hung off the back of her pants. "And just think - that was only the first band. You still have a whole day of this to get through."

Sami laughed. "We'll see if I make."

I shook my head and nudged her in the side with my elbow. "Where to next?"

Sami went into her pocket and pulled out the print out of the day's schedule that Matt had made a copy of for her this morning. "We Are The In Crowd!"

"Awesome," I heard Alex say from as he caught up with us,slipping an arm around my waist. "I'm heading there too. I finally get to sing with them today. Timings finally worked out."

"Really?" I asked, looking up at him and smiling.

He nodded, leaning down and kissing me quickly. "Really."

This was the first time I was going to see him sing Kiss Me Again live.

Sami smiled a little wider as she watched us.

"What?" Alex asked, turning to Sami when he became aware of her gawking.

"Get a room," she smirked and I rolled my eyes.

Alex opened his mouth to reply and I could tell it was going to be an inappropriate comment. I jabbed him in the side with my elbow before he could open his mouth.

"Maybe you should just keep that thought in your head," I advised and Alex pouted, causing Sami to giggle.

"Brook, I've been a fan of this band long enough to not be shocked much by anything he could say," Sami explained.

Alex laughed this time and I shook my head. "Yeah. But this time he's about to make an inappropriate comment about your cousin and I'm not comfortable with that."

"Okay, okay. Enough," Alex chimed in. "Sam, is that Mark kid you were telling me about here today?" he asked and Sami immediately started to blush.

"What? Who's Mark?" I asked.

Sam shot Alex a glare and shook her head. "He's no one. And I don't think he's here."

Alex nodded. "Too bad. I would have liked to have a little chat with him."

"A chat about what?" I asked, starting to feel invisible.

"Well, it seems like this young gentleman-"

"Stop!" Sami squealed and Alex snapped his mouth shut.

"Stop? What? No! Why do I not know about this?"

Alex kept his mouth closed and Sami sighed.

"Fine. Mark is a boy from school that I've been sort of talking to."

My eyes widened and a big grin spread on my face. "You have a boyfriend?!"

"No!" she sighed. "And this is why I never told you about him. I don't want you to make a big deal about it."

"Right. Not a but deal. I'm sorry," I said a lot less excitedly.

"It's fine," Sami shrugged once we reached the stage where We Are The In Crowd were getting ready to play next. Taylor was standing not too far away and Sami looked starstruck.

Before I could say anything, Taylor turned around and walked over when she saw Alex and me.

"Hey guys," she chirped, giving me a hug and I could tell Sami thought I was cool again.

Tay and I had become quite close over the last few weeks.

"Tay, I'd like you to meet my cousin Samantha. Sami, Tay Jardine."

Sami happily shook Tay's hand and quickly pushed away her previous giddiness and fell into a comfortable conversation with Tay as if they were old friends.

"Okay," I whispered, leaning over to Alex. "Why do you know about my little cousin's potential boyfriend and I don't?"

Alex shrugged. "Exactly why she said. You'll get all excited and make a big deal about it and she's just not ready for it to be a big deal." Alex explained.

I nodded slowly. "I get that. But no offense, she came to you?"

Alex nodded. "I was a little thrown off by it too. But it's totally fine. I don't think you realize how close she and I are. We text all the time."

I smiled, slipping my arms around his waist. "You're seriously the sweetest person on the planet."

He smiled, kissing the top of my head. "Eh... Second sweetest."

"Oh yeah?" I asked. "Who's number one?"

Alex smirked. "That would be you, darling," he said, kissing my nose lightly.

I smiled, leaning up to kiss him quickly. "Cute."

"I know," she shrugged, moving to kiss me again, right before Sami came barreling back over.

"Oh my God! This is seriously the best day ever. Brook, thank you for almost running his dog over. Seriously. You have no idea how much cooler my life has become since!"

Alex and I both laughed as Sami threw her arms around my neck in a tight hug.

"That's probably the first time you've ever been thanked for almost turning a dog into a pancake." Alex said with a chuckle and I frowned.

"I hope it's the last. You both know how I feel about the whole thing and nothing about it is funny."

"Sorry," Sami and Alex both muttered, poorly hiding their giggles.

"Come on," I rolled my eyes, grabbing Sami's arm and leading her up the back steps of the stage to get a spot to watch We Are The In Crowd who were just about ready to start.

"I sing in front of you almost every day now. But for some reason today I'm nervous,". Alex said into my ear, leaning over once the band had started to play.

I smiled a little and leaned a bit closer to him. "Yeah? Why is that?" I asked, pushing my sunglasses to the top of my head.
He shook his head as if he didn't want to answer. "I assume because this is the first song I've written about you that I've had the opportunity to play in front of you."

My eyes widened. "What? Like you mean there are other songs written about me?"

He smirked, kissing my nose. "I guess you will just have to wait until the album is out in October."

"Not fair," I pouted. "What's the point of sleeping with the lead singer of All Time Low if you can't ever hear new music before release day?"

Alex chuckled, bumping his side into mine before turning his attention to the front of the stage.

The band had just started playing Kiss Me Again and Alex was waiting on his cue to step out.
*****

Alex-

"What are you doing?" I asked Brook.

She had just climbed into our bunk with me after having made sure Sami was settled into her bunk for the night. Brook crawled into my lap and almost immediately started trailing kissing up the side of my neck and behind my ear.

"What does it look like?" she smirked, trailing her kisses closer to my mouth this time.

"Brook..." I said slightly uncomfortable as I gently shrugged her away.

"So, we're still not having sex, huh?" she huffed, scooting away from me.

I laughed nervously. "What kind of question is that?" I asked.

"An obvious one." she replied.

"Well..." I started, my voice going a little bit higher, like it tended to so when I was uncomfortable.

"I'll take that as a no," Brook shrugged, leaning back against the wall and pulling the blankets over her leg.

"It's nothing personal, Brook. It's just after everything that went down, I'm a little weary. Plus, we don't have condoms."

Brook nodded. "I totally understand," she said flatly, pulling out her phone and unlocking the screen.

"Plus, Sami is right across the way. You would really want to do it with her so close?"

"I guess it doesn't matter, huh?" she muttered, scrolling through e-mails.

"Are you really mad about this?" I asked carefully.

"I'm not mad," she said, not looking up at me.

"You're totally mad," I decided.

"If you say so," she said, still staring at her phone.

"Brook," I sighed, reaching over and taking her phone out of her hand. "I'm sorry. Okay? If it means that much to you, we'll do it now, okay?"

"Oh yeah. That's romantic," Brook said, sitting up and rolling her eyes.

"Brook," I sighed again. "What do you want from me?"

"Clearly, I'm not getting what I want, so don't worry about it," she huffed crossing her arms over her chest.

"Am I missing something? You don't generally get like this about sex. What is this really about?"

"I don't know," she sighed and I could see her demeanor soften a bit. "I just wanted to do something nice for you... Like a reward."

I raised an eyebrow. "Reward me for what?" I asked confused.

She shrugged. "For being so great about the whole maybe baby thing. For being so great with Sami. For just being so great in general."

I smiled a little a her. "Brook, you don't have to have sex with me for doing that stuff. I do it because I love you."

She smiled a little too and rested her head on my shoulder. "I love you, too," she said softly. "I'm sorry I snapped. I guess I'm just a little..." she trailed off for a second before continuing her sentence. "Frustrated?"

I nodded. "I know. I feel it too but now that it's been so long, I don't want to rush it, yanno? It's always supposed to be special when we do that and I don't want that to change just because it's been a little while."

Brook giggled. "You're such a girl."

I laughed a little and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "I blame you for that. You've made me more sensitive."

"My bad," she giggled before I leaned down and kissed her again.

"Love you," I said.

"Love you too," she said before she squirmed out of my arms. "I'll be right back," she said before she dropped out of our bunk.

Confused, I waited a few moments until she came back, carrying a gift bag in her hand.

"What's that?" I asked her.

"It's a surprise. I wanted to give it to you when we were back in Maryland but," she paused and shrugged. "I guess this could be your reward for now."

"Brook, you didn't have to get me anything," I said as she passed me the bag.

"It's not that big of a deal," she insisted, waving me on to open the bag.

I smiled, sliding my hand inside and first I pulled out two t-shirts. One was black and yellow and the other was black and purple and both had the Batman logo on them. When I held them both up I realized the purple one was a smaller size and was most likely meant for Brook.

"These are great, babe. Thanks," I smiled.

"There's more," she said, pointing to the bag.

I dug my hand in again and pulled out a piece of paper. I unfolded it and my eyes skimmed the page. Brook had pre-ordered two tickets for an evening showing of the Dark Knight Rises for the night off we had from tour in Baltimore.

"Is the second ticket for you?"

She nodded. "Of course."

I smiled. "Are you sure? It's our only night home. You want to waste it at the movies with me?"

She shook her head. "It won't be wasted. I have the whole day planned out. Don't you worry," she assured me. "Plus, you've only been talking about seeing this movie for months, it's only fair I made sure you got to see it."

"You're so awesome, Brook," I said, neatly packing everything away in the bag again. "Thank you," I said, leaning over and kissing her. "But you really didn't have to do that."

She smiled, moving the bag to the back of the bunk and kissed me again. "Considering the ten thousand things you've already done for me, I think I'm allowed this one."

"Okay," I caved. "You have a point there."

Notes

Story Title: Taylor Swift - Sparks Fly
Chapter Title: Ashlee Simpson - Pieces of Me

Hope you enjoy. :)

I realized this story now has over 10,000 views, which is s cool. Thank you everyone who keeps checking this out. <3

FYI: I've been motivated by All Time Low's new song to start working on a new story. I think I talked about it in a note on here once... It would be a sort of All Time Low/Summer set crossover. So look out for that... You may see it soon. :)