Brook-

"Jack," I gasped, walking into my apartment Tuesday afternoon after work. "What are you doing here... laying on my couch... in my apartment... alone?"

"Oh, Brook. Hey!" he said, sitting up quickly. "I had lunch before with Jenn and then she left for class. She said since I was half asleep on the couch just to hang here until she got back."

"Oh," I nodded, hanging my coat up on the hook next to the door. "That's totally fine but tonight is her late night and she won't be home until after eight."

"Actually, her last class was canceled for tonight, so she'll be back home around five," Jack explained.

I nodded again. "Right. So, are you staying for dinner?" I asked walking into the kitchen and looking into the refrigerator for an idea of what to cook.

Jack followed me into the kitchen a second later and gave me a sad smile. "How ya doing, B?"

I sighed. "Dammit, Jack. Is that what this is about?"

"No," he said quickly. "It's just convenient. It's been three days since you broke up with Alex and Jenn says you haven't really talked about it."

I shrugged. "So? There isn't really much to talk about. We broke up. That's it."

Jack sighed. "That's not just it, Brook. Come on!"

I closed the refrigerator door, maybe with a little more force than I intended because it made Jack jump slightly. "What exactly is it that you want me to say right now?"

Jack shrugged. "Nothing. I just want to know if you're okay."

"I'm fine." I said bluntly.

Jack rolled his eyes. "You're not fine. But you are a terrible liar."

I threw my arms up, huffing loudly. "I'm devastated, okay? I'm totally, completely heartbroken over this, okay? Are you happy?"

Jack shook his head, frowning as he stepped closer to me and pulled me into a hug. "Of course I'm not happy. My two best friends are miserable and I can't fix it."

I shrugged Jack away, shaking my head. "It's not your problem to fix, Jack."

He nodded. "Are you sayings it's a problem that could be fixed?" he asked, hopeful.

I shook my head. "No."

"Shit, Brook. Did you want to take a second to consider it?"

"No," I said. "I don't need a second to consider it. I'm going to tell you the same thing I told Alex.
He knew how important trust was to me. And when I found out that stuff about him and Lina, that trust was gone. And that's it. There's no coming back from it."

"Look, I get all that," Jack said. "But the fact that you and Alex weren't even officially a couple at that time doesn't mean anything?"

"No. It doesn't."

"So, this is it. You guys are just done. Forever?"

I shrugged. "Not to sound completely like Taylor Swift but Alex and I are never getting back together, okay?"

"No," Jack shook his head. "It's not okay. He is so incredibly fucking heart broken over this. Alex is my best friend and I've seen him go through some tough shit but it's only been three days and I've never seen him this way before."

I spun around and glared at Jack. This time I meant to slam the cabinet closed as hard as I did.
"Can I tell you that I am sick to death of hearing how broken up Alex is over this? I'm the one who was clobbered in this and yet he's the one everyone is worried about."

Jack shook his head. "That's not true..."

"Yes it is!" I snapped. "Emily and Ryan called me last night. I guess Ryan heard about us from someone. And they briefly asked how I was doing and then it was like ten thousand questions about Alex."

"Brook..."

"But I get it... Most of my friends now were his friends first so I get it... It's nothing I haven't dealt with before." I stopped when I felt an uncomfortable lump forming in my throat. I refused to cry again in front of anyone over this. And so far I've done pretty good.

But that's not to say I wasn't a complete mess when I was alone.

"Hey," Jack said softly, gently placing his hand on my arm. Instantly tears stung my eyes and I did everything I could to push them back. "Yeah, Alex has been my best friend for over ten years. So what? If you need me too, Brook, I can be there for you."

I shrugged his arm off and walked to the other side of the kitchen, shaking my head. "I'm fine," I repeated.

"But you're not, Brook," Jack continued, following behind me.

"Don't you get it? I don't want to talk about this. I just want to move on."

"And how the hell do you expect to move on if you don't talk about it?" Jack asked.

I sighed. "This sucks," I said. "Okay? It's been three days and I miss him more than when he's gone for a month."

Jack nodded slowly, realizing that maybe I was going to open up to him. "He misses you too."

"No," I snapped. "You're not supposed to do that! We're talking about how I feel. You're not supposed to make me feel worse by telling me how he feels."

"Oh please, like you didn't know he misses you." Jack scoffed.

"Forget it. I'm done talking," I said walking out of the kitchen and towards my bedroom. "I'm not even hungry so you and Jenn are on your own for dinner."

"Brook," Jack called after me, his hand wrapping around my wrist and stopped me from walking further. "Don't shut me out."

"I'm not," I said, jerking my hand back.

He looked really serious. And really worried. It almost made my stomach hurt to see someone like Jack look like that. "Jenn told me everything that happened after you ended things with Josh."

I felt my eyes widen a bit but I didn't say anything.

"She's really worried about you. We both are. That's kind of why I'm here. She was afraid for you to be home by yourself."

I sighed. "I appreciate that, Jack. But that's not going to happen again. I promise."

"Then eat dinner with us."

"I'm not hungry."

"Brook, please?"

"Fine," I caved. "But we're ordering Chinese."

Jack smiled a little. "Deal."

"And you're buying," I added.

"Fine with me."

"And you have to tell me everything about you and Jenn..."

Jack's eyes snapped up to mine. "What...."

"Please. Did you really think I wasn't going to question the fact that you've been here every night since the party?"

Jack shrugged. "I don't know. We both kind of decided that we weren't going to make a big deal about it to you... Given your current situation."

"Jack... Regardless of what's happened between Alex and me, I'm still so happy for you guys. Alex and I have been secretly plotting you two to get together for months."

"Really?" he asked with a smile. "I mean... We're not really together or anything yet. But I'm excited to see where it could go."

I felt my smile widen. "So..."

"So?" he eyed me.

"Did you kiss her?" I asked, wiggling my eyebrows.

"Brook!" he laughed. "A gentleman never kisses and tells..."

Now it was my turn to laugh. "Please. Why start being a gentleman now?"

He rolled his eyes. "Okay. Fine. We totally kissed."

My smiled widened even more now. "Yeah? Was it good?"

Jack had a sort of dreamy grin on his face. "Definitely one of the best."

"Jack!" I nudged him with my shoulder. "When you guys get married..."

"Whoa... Whoa... Whoa..." Jack gasped, waving his arms up. "Who said anything about getting married?"

"Ah. It's not so fun being on the other end of that, huh?"

Jack faked a frown. "I guess not."

"I'm happy for you, bud," I said, throwing my arm over his shoulder. "I know you've been waiting for this for a while."

"Yeah..." he smiled, a light blush creeping up his cheeks. "I just wish I would have noticed it sooner, you know? Jenn's been practically sitting under my nose this whole time."

I nodded. "Jenn's complicated though. She determined to finish med school with no interruptions. I'm actually surprised she's letting this happen."

Jack smiled. "She flat out told me she's glad I live in California and tour a lot. That way she doesn't feel bad about being so busy with school and stuff."

I shook my head. "Wow. You guys are actually crazy. It was hard enough getting by with Alex on the road all the time. I couldn't imagine if he lived across the country on top of that."

Jack nodded. "Rian and Cass make it work..." he said. "And it's not like you have to worry about that with Alex anymore."

I nodded slowly as Jack and I sat on the couch in the living room. "I guess there's the silver lining."

Jack shrugged. "You'll just miss him all the time now."

I sighed, dropping my head down to Jack's shoulder. "This sucks."
*****
Alex-

"So what's the game plan?" Rian asked me, plopping down in the space next to me on the couch.

"Game plan for what?" I asked, staring blankly at the TV. Some move was on but I hadn't really been paying attention. I'd sort of been walking around in a daze for the passed few days.
"For getting Brook back. You have to have some kind of plan." Rian insisted.

I shook my head. "No plan, Rian. I've called her and texted her a thousand times since the party. She won't talk to me."

Rian frowned. "She'll come around eventually. This can't just be the end."

I sighed. "I think it is. I'd never seen her so mad at me before. And let's face it, she's been mad at me before plenty of times."

"Yeah. But Alex, she loves you."

I rolled my eyes. "You don't think I thought about that? I know she loves me! That's what makes this whole thing so much more frustrating."

"Have you tried just going to her apartment to see her?"

"No," I shook my head. "I don't know if I can handle the rejection from her in person."

"You can't let her go without a fight, Alex." Rian said.

"Thank you for pointing out the obvious," I sighed. "I just can't believe I fucked this up."

Rian nodded slowly. "Look, you should've told Brook the truth but don't you think she's overreacting a bit?"

"Of course I do. But she won't listen to reason. That girl is so emotionally damaged from her ex. It's a miracle it took this long for me to send her running."

"Do you want to know what I think?" Rian asked carefully.

I looked up at him and shrugged. "Okay..."

"I think she realized how serious you guys were getting and maybe she even started to consider the idea of settling down and starting a life with you and it freaked her out. And she was looking for a way out and she found it."

I listened to Rian's words and analyzed them in my head. They just didn't make sense to me.

"I don't know, Ri. I think if she was freaked out about that, she would have went running a while ago."

"Maybe she didn't realize how serious it was until recently?"

"No, this is just my own damn bad karma. I fucked with the emotions of one too many girls in the past and this is what I get. I finally found a girl I want to settle down with and there she goes..."

Rian sighed. "I wish I knew what to say."

"I lost her trust. And the way Brook is, I'll never get it back." I sighed, frustrated.

"I really just don't feel like this is it for you guys." Rian said.

I sighed. "I hope you're right but this is how relationships work. If one person wants to break up, you break up."

"Do you want me to have Cass talk to her for you?"

I shook my head. "No. That's okay. I don't want to bother her right now with this nonsense. Besides, Jack is there now. I told him not to but he insisted on trying to feel her out for me."

"Right," Rian nodded. "She might tell Jack she just needs time and then everything will be fine."

"Or not." I grumbled.

"Think positively, dude," Rian encouraged.

I sighed for what felt like the hundredth time. "That'll be hard," I said, holding my phone up to
Rian to show a text I just got from Jack.

I'm sorry, dude. It doesn't look good.
***

Notes

Story Title: Taylor Swift - Sparks Fly
Chapter Title: Maroon 5 - Payphone

...