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Mibba

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A Story to Tell Your Friends

Twenty-Six.

“There you are! Where did you get off to?” Alex asked as Jack and I finally reappeared in the room they’d led me to earlier. Mark, Matt and Travis were nowhere to be seen and I only assumed they were getting ready to go on. Tammy threw a worried look my way and I shook my head a little, moving over to sit next to her on the end of the sofa. I was trying to avoid getting into any more stupid situations with Jack and I knew if I sat at the end of the sofa, he wouldn’t have any way of sitting next to me.
“We needed beer,” Jack shrugged, sitting between Rian and Alex on the other, bigger sofa.
“And neither of you thought to bring me one? What kind of friends are you?” I smiled weakly at Alex, trying to laugh at him but unable. I still felt the shame in my gut from allowing myself to become such a mess and knowing I had to explain to Jack how pathetic I was. Tammy was still staring at me and I was doing my best to ignore it now. I’d explain to her later, but right now I didn’t need anyone else questioning me. I figured everyone in the room knew how much of a loser I’d been for the last two months, either through Alex or Lisa, or even just by looking at me, but I didn’t want to draw attention to it. It was only the band, Tammy and I remaining at the minute, though I didn’t even want most of them knowing what I’d become. Tammy was unavoidable and while I didn’t want Jack to know just how badly him leaving had affected me, I knew telling him was going to be part and parcel of having him back in my life. Alex I’d at least half fooled by only letting him in on fragments of what I’d been like, keeping the worst to myself, but Zack and Rian probably knew nothing, and I knew so little about them that I didn’t feel comfortable with them knowing much more than they could guess. I kind of wished I’d acted as reasonable as my social media had made it seem. I’d only brought it onto Twitter a couple of times in 2 months, when inside I was dying to post updates all day long that made him feel guilty.
I saw Alex look briefly between Jack and I, a confused expression passing over his face. I should have known sitting away from Jack would cause some sort of suspicion. I’d barely spent a second away from his side since we’d met and Jack frequently forced his friends to move to be by my side, clearly this was out of the ordinary.
“We’re pretty crap friends,” I told Alex. “But, honestly, I much prefer drinking your alcohol than giving it to you.” This time I forced a laugh and watched Alex scowl at me playfully.
“I suppose you need all the courage you can get with Mark hanging around. He could jump out on you any second.” This time I scowled at him, thankful the sofa I was sat on was backed by a wall so I didn’t feel the need to look behind me.
“Don’t mess with me like that Alex; I could have a heart attack at any moment.” The four boys laughed at me and I briefly saw Tammy roll her eyes. For all the crap I gave her, she was much calmer about her current situation than I was about mine. I was the biggest fan girl, walking-freak-out going and everyone here knew it.
“I’m surprised you haven’t already.” I caught Jack smiling at the conversation and flashed a grin his way, making him smile wider. I figured our previous conversation had worried him at least a little and I wanted to assure him that I was, in fact, fine now. Thankfully, he took my meaning.
“I mean, I’ve gotta be honest, I figured I would have embarrassed myself much more than this by now.”
“Yeah, no shit. Excuse your lack of breathing and you’ve actually been a normal person,” Jack laughed at me.
“No, Jack, don’t tell her that,” Tammy interrupted. “She hasn’t been a normal person. You called her last night and I’ve been dealing with the mess you created. She called Lisa twenty times, she called me fifteen times while I was at work, and even Alex will tell you she was shaking before you appeared. So, no, don’t encourage her.” My stomach dropped a little at her words, feeling a double meaning, but I brushed my concern aside. She was right: I’d been harassing her and Lisa all day and I had been an absolute mess until I saw Jack.
“She seemed calm enough to me,” he shrugged.
“You think she shows you the crazy teeny-bopper inside? Please.” I snorted at their conversation. She was only half right. I was a mess until he’d appeared, but I didn’t hide that from him; he made me forget everything I was nervous about, as if just hearing his voice reassured me. It had been so long since I’d heard his voice I’d forgotten the way it made everything else fall away. It was dangerous, I know, but as long as I kept my head tonight, it wouldn’t be an issue much longer.
“Okay, I’m a crazy teenager, I get it. Please stop.”
“No,” Tammy laughed, to which Jack agreed. I groaned.
“I thought tonight was about me having a good time.”
“It was, but we like to mock you,” Jack laughed. I scowled.
“I don’t like your attitude, Barakat.”
“Aw, poor baby,” he pouted. “Do you want me to not give you passes to see your idols in future?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I’d like.” Tammy shoved me lightly, telling me to stop being a drama queen. “No, I won’t. You guys are ruining my night.” Jack’s grin spread wider, knowing I was joking.
“That’s cool, I’ll just walk you out, shall I?”
“Well, no. I mean, I’m here now, what’s the point?”
“Nice save, Parsons,” Alex commented. I smiled brightly.
“I’m good at talking my way out of things.”
“Hey, guys, it’s time,” a guy I didn’t recognise called through the door. The guys nodded, thanking him before he left.
“Time for what?” I asked. I didn’t think it had been that long since the guys had gotten off stage so I couldn’t see what it was time for.
“Blink,” Jack told me. I stared at him dumbly, still unsure where the time had gone. “Clara, it’s been an hour already. It’s time for the guys to go on. Come on.” I felt myself pull a confused face but stood up anyway, following the guys out.
“Are you okay?” Tammy asked as we followed behind the four men.
“Yeah,” I sighed. “Jack just tried to talk to me about some things and I wasn’t ready for it.”
“Tell me if you need me to pretend to kick his ass and we can leave.” I laughed at her, throwing my arm around her shoulder and giving her a brief hug. Words couldn’t describe how good it felt having this girl as my best friend. She always knew what to say. “You are going to talk to him though, right?”
“Absolutely,” I nodded, letting go of her. “I just think it’d be better if we waited until after the show.” Tammy nodded as we finally made it to the side of the stage, where the boys had stopped to watch. Apparently Mark and the guys were beneath the stage, so we were in nobody’s way.
“Clara, come on,” Jack stated, grabbing me and pulling me forward so I was stood next to him. I grinned as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder, pulling me close. “This is your first time, right? It needs to be special.”
“Jack, you’ve already pulled out all the fucking stops. It’s special. And even if you hadn’t, just being here makes it special enough.”
“I love it when you get all mushy on me,” he laughed, quickly pressing a kiss to my temple. I was glad he hadn’t missed my meaning. Just being here with Jack was enough for me, never mind the backstage passes, the incredible view, or meeting the guys, we could have been in the worst seats in the house and I would have loved every second of it. All I needed was Jack here with me.
My stomach flipped at the thought. I knew I was in love with him, and I hoped he felt the same, but I had a feeling that after I admitted just how pathetic I’d been to him, he’d forget about me in an instant. He didn’t need someone as needy and useless as me in his life, when he had so much going for him. I was worried that the more time he spent with me, the less he would be interested, but so far I’d been proven wrong. I just hoped he continued to prove me wrong.
I heard the first notes of Feeling This start up and started bouncing on the balls of my feet. I felt Jack’s chest rumble against my shoulder and knew he was laughing at me, despite being unable to hear him.
“I feel like I should let you go into the pit,” he shouted in my ear. “I think you’d fit better there than here.” I grinned brightly, shifting my head so he could see the smile on my face and know I wasn’t ignoring him. He was right: I wanted to jump and sing badly, but clearly right here wasn’t the place to do it. I knew I wasn’t the only one who felt this way when Jack started moving lightly next to me, as if he was dying to jump about in the same way as he did on stage.
“I feel like you should join me,” I laughed back to him, still staring in awe at the band playing in front of us.
“Always,” he told me, pushing another kiss to the top of my head. I leaned back into his chest, trying desperately to keep my knees from giving way. My reactions to everything he was saying and doing tonight were beyond perfect and I could feel myself melting every time he flashed his cheesy grin my way. I felt like I was taking more than half of what he said and blowing it well out of proportion. While I’d taken his newest comment to mean he’d always join me, it could easily have been something so simple as always wanting to be in the crowd. I couldn’t help the way I twisted what he said to me and I knew half of the time I was doing it to make myself feel better, but the grin on his face and the affectionate way he held me all the time seemed to tell me he could possibly love me too; silly, pathetic little me.
My chest welled as it always did when I thought of the possibility of Jack’s affection, before quickly deflating when I remembered I was making things up. How could he possibly love such a needy mess? I wasn’t special. Jack was by no means perfect, but I couldn’t help but feel like he deserved someone so much better than I. I still felt like his friends had forced him into being with me to sate their own desires and quench their own guilt. While Jack had admitted I was pretty upon our first meeting, it had been Alex and Lisa who had pushed him into even speaking to me, never mind the rest of our relationship.
“In the car, I just can’t wait to pick you up on our very first date,” Jack sang softly in my ear, in time with Mark and Matt. “Is it cool if I hold your hand? Is it wrong if I think it’s lame to dance? Do you like my stupid hair? Would you guess that I didn’t know what to wear? I’m just scared of what you think. You make me nervous so I really can’t eat.” I felt a blush creeping up my cheeks as how personally he sang it to me, not in the least like every other song where we’d belted it out between us, causing almost everyone else to throw us disgusted looks and move away. Even Tammy had left me, though she had fixed herself to Alex and Zack especially, channelling her inner fan-girl again a little.
“When you smile, I melt inside. I’m not worthy for a minute of your time,” I sang softly, acutely aware of how accurate this verse was with regards to my feelings at the moment. “I really wish it was only me and you; I’m jealous of everybody in the room. Please don’t look at me with those eyes. Please don’t hint that you’re capable of lies. I dread the thought of our very first kiss, a target that I’m probably gonna miss.”
“I’m not capable of lying to you,” he told me. “I wasn’t before, and I don’t intend to start now.” My heart fluttered and I turned my head, pushing a kiss to his cheek while his chin still lingered on my shoulder. I knew he was telling the truth. Alex constantly called me out for lying and I knew he’d do the same to Jack, with no concern for whether he was lying to someone else in the room or not. He’d called him out for it before once or twice, when he’d caught Jack lying about something so pointless in a story he was telling to the guys. I’d never once had Alex call him out for lying to me, so I knew Jack was telling the truth. Even if Alex hadn’t been the type to call us out on it, I still believed every word Jack uttered.
In this moment, I wanted nothing more than to tell Jack I loved him, over and over until I couldn’t breathe. The surge of affection I’d felt when he’d said what he had left me feeling weak. If he’d asked anything of me right then, I would have done it without a moment’s hesitation. I knew I shouldn’t have left myself to vulnerable to him, but I’d admitted long ago that I was committed to Jack for the long haul, even after everything that had happened.
“I promise; no more lies,” I breathed. I’d only ever lied about my feelings to him, but I was more than willing to open up to him about everything. He knew everything I’d lied about in the last few months, but I could see from the smile on his face that he appreciated what I said. “I’m going to tell you everything. Just try not to think too differently of me afterwards.”

Notes

Two chapters in as many days? I hope you all appreciate this.
I'm trying to push out chapters a bit quicker, because even I'm sick of Jack and Clara not being made up yet, so I can only imagine how much you guys hate it.

Comments

I’m back and yes I love it and hope you write more!!

Hopeless13 Hopeless13
8/3/21

I finally figured out my login again. And just reread the entire story. I hope we will get more of it. I love them

Hopeless13 Hopeless13
9/6/20

In love with thissssss. You’re doing amazing.

Larissa Larissa
6/12/19

Damn! That was a drama filled night at the bar! Go jack for standing up for her!

hopeless1313 hopeless1313
1/24/19

You’re back!! I’m so glad!! Aww they are being cute. That’s how it is when I go back home and see my friends there too.

hopeless1313 hopeless1313
1/9/19