Don't Make This Easy, I Want You to Mean It

“I cannot believe you’re making me do this,” Marissa groaned, stepping out of the car in front of Rian’s house and readjusting her outfit. “This thing is skin tight, Jasey.”
“Oh, please. I didn’t even go down the slutty route. I could have had you in a tiny skirt with just a Batman emblem, be thankful.”
“Yeah, because I would have worn that.”
“You would, because I got you that night in bed with Jack,” I winked. Marissa rolled her eyes at me, already sick of the jokes Alex and I had been making at hers and Jack’s expense since Wednesday night. She bit every time we made the joke, so we’d continued on and were actually having quite a bit of fun with it.
“I didn’t sleep with him!”
“What do you mean you didn’t sleep? What were you doing then?”
“Urgh!” I laughed, catching up with her as she made her way to Rian’s door, linking my arm through hers.
“I’m sorry, you just make it too easy!”
“I’m pretty sure I’m not the easy one here right now,” she grumbled, finally reaching Rian’s door and stopping still to glare at me.
“There you go with your anti-Jasey-ism again!”
“Will you stop acting like I’m racist or something? You’re not a suppressed minority, you’re a slutty blonde with attention issues.”
“Marissa! How dare you?” I shrieked, trying my best not to laugh at her. She spent so much time acting like she hated me that it was a long running joke between our friends that she only put up with me because it made her look better in comparison; that she was a secret slut too. “I’m the most respectable eighteen-year-old you’ve ever damn met. I mean, between you and I, I’m the one dressed like an eighteenth century princess, and you’re the one in skin tight fake leather.”
“Yeah, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen so little of your skin since we were fourteen.”
“I’m not interrupting anything, am I, ladies?” Alex asked from the door, an amused smirk playing on his lips while Jack stood behind him. I snorted as I noticed Jack’s costume, noting the red leotard and green tights that left absolutely nothing to the imagination. Alex looked much better, though his grey and black costume was clearly padded out to form chest muscles and a six-pack.
“She was trying to make jokes about me and Jack the other night, then trying to tell me she wasn’t easy.”
“Please, I make nothing easy unless it suits me.”
“You don’t need to tell me twice,” Marissa said, rolling her eyes at me. I stuck my tongue out at her.
“Honestly, I’m not making innuendoes tonight,” Alex shrugged.
“You’re not making innuendo when Jack has a pair of socks down his pants?” I snorted as Alex opened the door wider for the two of us to come in.
“What’s up? You like what you see?” Jack asked, wiggling his eyebrows at me. I pretended the gag at the insinuation while Alex laughed at us.
“Honestly, I’m using that as ammunition for all the innuendoes I’ll make in the morning when I find them naked in Rian’s brother’s bed.”
“Why is everyone so convinced I’m going to sleep with Jack?”
“There’s a lot of tension.”
“Urgh!” Marissa threw her arms in the air, pushing past Alex and grabbing Jack as she went.
“Be safe! Use a condom! I have some spare if you need to borrow any!” Alex shouted at the two of them as they made their way through the crowd of people who had beaten us there. Marissa flipped him off and the pair of us laughed as Alex closed the door. “Well, she hasn’t figured out your master plan yet.”
“And she never will,” I giggled in response. “But we do still need some photographic evidence of Robin and Batgirl.”
“It’s okay, I told Kara the plan. She’s all over that, princess.”
“Don’t be a Gaston, Alex,” I laughed as he smirked at me arrogantly, letting the word ‘princess’ simply ooze from his mouth.
“What are you talking about? You and I have always been Beauty and the Beast,” he told me, snaking his arm around my waist and beginning to lead me to God only knows where. I smiled briefly as I noticed familiar faces in the crowd we were pushing our way through, nodding at those I knew from school or elsewhere. “Of course, if anyone else calls you ‘Beast’, I’ll rip their lungs out.” I snorted softly, remembering the scene from Batman, which Jack had made me watch more times than I could count, despite it being nearly as old as we were.
“Wrong character, Bats.”
“Damn. It’s that pretty blonde hair of yours, it gets me all confused.” I snorted again as Alex finally stopped in the middle of the kitchen, grabbing two cups and a bottle of vodka, beginning to mix the two of us a drink.
“Aren’t you guys playing tonight?” I asked, hopping up onto the small amount of free counter top I could find and adjusting my skirt, pushing my hair back up out of my face.
“We go on in half an hour in the garden,” he nodded, pushing a clichéd red cup into my hands and leaning against the counter next to me. “Rian is finishing setting up now.” I took a sip of the drink, nodding softly. The drink burned as it slid down my throat, bringing back a sense of normalcy to my hectic week. Admittedly, Alex hadn’t allowed me to miss anything this last week, or even realise just how out of the ordinary my week had actually been, but the taste of alcohol on my tongue finally brought me back down to earth and I felt myself relaxing. That’s not to say this last week had been bad, nor was I letting him go just yet; Alex was the best distraction this world had to offer and I wasn’t letting him go without a fight.
“So, have you seen your pretty blonde yet?” I didn’t know why I was asking him this, knowing beyond a fact that he hadn’t seen her at all, or at least not in any way he recognised.
“I’ve seen one of them, but not the one you’re referring to,” he smirked. I raised my eyebrows at him, a smile tugging at my lips as I fought the blush I was positive was beginning on my cheeks. “Right now, I’m just happy to be sat in the kitchen talking to her. My other blonde can wait; you’re far more important.”
“Why are you so god damn adorable?”
“You bring out the best in me.” A smile spread across his face and I laughed at him, knowing it was just another of the sly moves he insisted he wasn’t making. “I’m serious, Hol; you bring out the best person in me.” I lost the fight with the blush, beginning to feel my cheeks burning. “I fucking love it when you blush,” he told me, laughing once again. I looked down at my cup, feeling my cheeks heating even further and cursing myself for having styled my hair appropriately rather than leaving it down as I usually did. At least if it was down, Alex might not catch the scarlet in my cheeks.
“So, what’s the plan?” I asked, finally containing my burning cheeks and facing him again, taking another drink and realising just how little of it I had left already. “Like, are you looking out for your favourite blonde now, or waiting until you’re passed gone?” Alex chuckled at my wording, taking a sip from his own cup.
“Hey, now, I’ve never told you which of you is my favourite. But, I don’t know,” he shrugged. “I mean, I’m going to keep an eye out for her now and later, but I just don’t know if I wanna go hunting for her. I’ll look for her while we’re playing, I guess, because she should be there.” I nodded, beginning to feel like Alex was letting last week’s hook up finally fall from his mind. He was beginning to prioritise me and I couldn’t help the fluttering in my stomach when I realised it.
“You know, this is actually going to be my first time seeing you guys play.”
“You mean, you’ve never seen us before?” He asked. I shook my head, finishing the last of my drink and putting the cup down on the counter next to me.
“Are you saying you think I could have gone and you not noticed me?” I joked, smirking at him.
“So true. I mean, you used to walk by me in the hallways and Jack had to support me so I didn’t fall over, because damn girl.” I laughed loudly at him, hardly expecting such a response from him. I’d expected another arrogant joke about how everyone would have been throwing themselves at him, maybe including a joke about how I’d be part of that too, not that.
“I suppose there is a reason boys don’t walk out on me. They see Alex Gaskarth swooning and think ‘damn, I’ve gotta get me some of that’.”
“I think you’ve had enough to drink,” Alex told me as I reached for the cup in his hand for another quick drink. “You’re hallucinating already, so maybe that’s a bad sign.” I stuck my tongue out at him, stopping my attempt to take his drink from him. “Besides, you need to see this show sober. I only get to make a first impression once, so you need to remember this clearly, not through a drunken haze. I want to make tonight unforgettable for you.”
“Promise?”
“I wouldn’t say anything I didn’t mean to you.”
“Fine,” I responded. “But only because you’re cute, and I know you’re going to get me absolutely shit faced once you finish your set.” Alex laughed, finishing his own drink and grabbing my hand, pulling me down from the countertop and pulling me outside with him. I spotted Marissa with our friends, using my free hand to wave at them as Alex continued to drag me along, noticing the amused looks on all their faces. Honestly, usually it was me dragging some guy along, not the other way around. I guess they weren’t used to this.
“Jasey!” Jack called as he spotted me, when Alex and I finally emerged into the back garden. He was with Zack, Rian and some girl I didn’t recognise. The girl was hand in hand with Rian, however, so I assumed it was Kara. “This is your first show! Tonight you will lose your All Time Low virginity Barakat style,” Jack squealed, pouncing on me as soon as I was close enough. Alex let go of my hand quickly so he didn’t fall with me as Jack and I fell to the floor.
“You wish, Jack. She’s losing it Gaskarth style,” Alex protested, pushing Jack off me and helping me up quickly. Jack pouted at us from the ground as I brushed myself free of the dirt from the floor.
“Ha! Three-way!” Zack responded before either I or Jack could respond to Alex’s remarks.
“Hey, I know I’m the Dulaney school slut and all jokes are fair game, but, fuck no.”
“Fine, then lose it Merrick style,” he winked at me.
“Four-way!” Jack and Alex shouted loudly as I chuckled, causing a few party goers to turn at us and stare.
“I’m definitely more of a one on one girl,” I told the three of them, trying to contain any more laughter.
“What? And we can’t put that theory to the test?” Alex asked, wiggling his eyebrows at me suggestively. I pretended to gag as Jack shoved him.
“That’s my baby sister, Alex,” he scolded. “You can’t have a three-way with her.”
“She’s older than you and far too pretty to be related to your ugly ass.” Jack opened his to respond, trying his best to look angry at Alex for the insinuation, but I interrupted the pair of them.
“I think the two of you should be tuning your guitars,” I pointed out, seeing that Rian had separated himself from Kara and Zack had gone to follow him.
“And I think you should be keeping Kara company,” Alex told me. I glanced quickly at where Kara was stood, feeling a sense of dread at the thought of having to make a girl like me.
“Fine, just get your skinny little ass on stage.” Alex wiggled his behind at me as he jumped up onto the decking that had tonight been designated at the stage. I sighed quickly, making my way over to Kara uneasily. Girls genuinely intimidated me. The only female friends I had I’d either been friends with since elementary school, or had come into my friendship circle as a friend of someone I knew and slowly warmed to me. I could deal with girls hating me, it honestly came as a sacrifice to the party girl lifestyle I’d perfected, but trying to make friends with them? Make a good impression? It scared the shit out of me. Usually I went into these interactions on the wrong foot, usually due to sleeping with a girl’s brother or her current boyfriend (before they were together, but prejudice is a strong factor in this).
I took a quick breath, standing next to Kara, who was sitting on the wooden picnic bench next to the decking.
“Hey, um, Kara, right?” I asked meekly. I was completely unsure of myself here. I usually only made new friends drunk. My circle of friends was small, and I liked it that way.
“Yep,” she nodded. “And you’re Jasey, right?” I nodded, about to respond with some form of inane small talk when she cut me off. “Don’t fuck with my boys.”
“I – uh – what?” My eyes widened at her words, trying my best not to act guilty. God only knows what she hated me for. I had, decidedly, never slept with Rian, nor did I expect I’d slept with her brother. I didn’t even know if she had a brother.
“I know what you’re like,” she told me, her voice still laced with her threat. “You sleep with guys and just leave like they’re nothing. These are my boys, my best friends. I won’t let you do that with them.”
Too late.
“I don’t intend to! Jack is my best friend. I’ve known him for years. Zack and Rian both aren’t my type and I wouldn’t dare to cross that line. And Alex… well, he’s just Alex. I could walk out on just about anyone without a second thought, but I wouldn’t do that to any of them.” Her face softened at my words and I felt a sense of relief wash over me briefly, realising my defensive response had worked on her. The feeling was, however, short lived, as I soon realised she was about to voice another warning, this time for my own sake.
“You like him,” she noted. I bit my lip, choosing not to say anything. Quite frankly, I was acting like a thirteen-year-old about him, so I’m pretty sure everyone in school knew I liked Alex and were waiting on bated breath to see him tear me apart, to bring me down a notch and stick me firmly with everyone else, stripping me of my infamy. “Be careful. He’s not one for sticking around in the morning.”
I nodded, thanking her for seeming like she was taking an interest in my wellbeing. The music within the house cut off and Jack struck the first chord to The Girl’s a Straight Up Hustler, his amp turned up even louder than the music had been playing inside the house. The people within the house flooded outside, pushing their way toward the boys as the song kicked in. I noticed Jodie had pushed herself directly in front of Alex, trying her best to gain his attention though failing miserably. I saw Alex scanning the crowd briefly, before resting his eyes on me to the side and grinning widely as he continued to sing.
“So, this one is for my favourite girl,” Alex said, after having played most of the band’s most recent EP and a couple from the one before. It was exhilarating watching the boys play, seeing them doing something they so clearly had a passion for. Their raw talent was unbelievable and I was proud to call any of them my friends, knowing already just how far they’d go. Alex had been keeping an eye on me throughout most of his set and Kara had actually started warming to me, to the point of even making me dance with her to one of the previous songs, which I’d seen Alex grinning at when I managed to glance over at him.
“And mine!” Jack shouted.
“Yeah, yeah, and Jack’s,” Alex conceded. “This is, sadly, her first ever All Time Low show.” I heard some low booing from the crowd and chuckled to myself, knowing that at least some of it was originating from Jodie. “I know, right? What on earth could keep her from seeing such an absolute beast of a sex god like me from playing live?” Kara nudged me, raising her eyebrows and laughing at Alex’s insinuation. “So, basically, she has her All Time Low virginity to lose tonight, and I’m taking it Gaskarth style.”
“Merrick style!” Zack interrupted, at the same time as Jack called “Barakat style!” Alex chuckled at the pair, though otherwise ignored them.
“This song is to pay homage to our lifestyle: the parties and the stupid hook-ups and all the many more I’ll go through with you. This is The Party Scene, it’s our last song of the night and, Jasey Rae, this is for you.” I squealed excitedly at Kara, who rolled her eyes at me. She’d probably heard these songs a thousand times, and probably also heard Alex dedicate songs to overexcited girls more times than she could count as well. My reaction was probably boring to her by now. I couldn’t help the grin that spread itself across my face as the boys continued to play, especially when I saw the way Alex was smiling as he sang.
“He likes you too,” Kara called as the song ended and the crowd cheered. “Look after him.” She departed before I could say another word, making her way to Rian to say her congratulations. I was shocked to say the least. In her own twisted, confusing way, I was pretty sure she’d just given me her blessing. I shook the thought from my head, and started to make my way over to Alex.
Except, Jodie got there first.

Notes

I've been writing so much of this story now I'm starting to turn it away from the original. It's not taking too huge of plot changes, but I'm adding in so much I never added before and I love it.
Plus, it's beginning to get a tiny bit interesting now and I love making 'anti-Jasey' jokes.
Jodie is going to do her big reveal to Alex. Has anyone spotted the glaring flaw Jasey hasn't noticed yet? oooh.
Sorry, I'll shut up now.