It was super weird to be in New York recording our final takes for the album while I knew that Jack wasn’t all too far away. Their new album hadn’t come out yet, but was going to soon. They really benefitted from their excitement since they were already out doing promotion, including interviews. It was just so strange to me to know that Jack was also out here in New York for interviews and radio while I was here as well in a recording studio. You’d think we’d find some time to meet up, especially since we’d only seen each other for two full days--one of them starting off great and ending horribly--and only had limited time before we were both going on tour again. But, let me tell you, things didn’t work that easily.

We were both super busy. I was in the studio non-stop, and Jack was either promoting or traveling to the next place. He was so close yet so far away. I wanted nothing more than to surprise visit him, but I had a deadline. Of course, I was secretly hoping he’d just come walking into the studio one day, but it was an unrealistic dream. I knew that it wasn’t possible.

Also, we also already knew it was going to be impossible to release our album before Warped. Yes, we could record everything, but it still needed to be mixed. The process didn’t go as quick as we had hoped. But then again, our goal was very unrealistic. Of course, it didn’t hurt to try. At least it meant we actually didn’t put it off and constantly found more things to tweak.

I did watch all the live streams Jack was in. He notified me of all of them and I promised to watch them. So, while one of the guys perfected a part of a song, rerecording either the guitar, bass, or drums, I would be sitting in a corner with my laptop, watching Jack answer some questions. It was mainly always about the new album they were releasing in no time--which, yes, I had heard--however, occasionally there were some other questions as well.

My own recording process was going very weirdly. The first day we were here, we had managed to redo seven songs. It was such a productive day. Honestly, even the producer was amazed by the progress. He even joked about us being out of the studio in no time, that we wouldn’t need him as long as we had booked him. Even though it was a very long day that started at six in the morning and ended at four in the morning, it was still way more than physically possible. However, which such great success also came a downfall. It took us two days just to do the next song, and it happened all too similar for the other two still left over. Then, when we thought we had done the last song, we decided to revisit the others only to not like most of the stuff we had done that first day.

It was so hectic. I had spent hours working overtime with the producer, ruining my vocal chords. Some days, I barely had a voice left over. We were pushing ourselves way too hard, but I knew it was going to be worth it.

Of course, I didn’t believe the songs were anywhere near as good as the ones Cam had written, but it was definitely an achievement for me. I had never expected to play an instrument, let alone write songs and perform in a band that he was once in. After recovering, I thought I was going to have to spend ages trying to find a new job. I mainly believed I was going to try and get my dance instructor job back and maybe get back into photography. I even thought there would have been a greater chance that I would try and find out if that one photographer job where I met Abagail was still open.

Yet, here I was, trying my best to make Cam proud by singing my heart out towards a large microphone in a soundproof booth. All I was doing was trying to live out Cam’s dream.

I came out of the booth after finishing my final vocals for the day, hell the final vocals for the entire album. It was a relieving moment. I hadn’t slept enough during the short weeks we were there, I don’t think any of us did. But, still, we couldn’t just go without celebrating that we were done, right?

“Hey, guys,” I said while closing the glass door behind me, my voice hoarse and a little raspy, “we’re done!”

“Fuck yeah!” Carter exclaimed, raising his arms up over his head while he was sitting on the couch. “We need to go out for drinks?”

“Can’t we just go to bed?” John groaned, looking at the digital clock that showed us 01:17. Once again, we had gone on until the morning.

“No,” Carter whined and glared at John, “we need to go out and do something!”

“How about we go back to our hotel room and drink there?” Charlie suggested as he got up from the couch he was sharing with Carter and stretched. “We can probably watch a movie and make rules for when we need to take a shot.”

“I’m cool with that.” I nodded in agreement. “And if one of us passes out either from the alcohol or from exhaustion, we’ll safely be in our hotel room. Where would we even go now?”

“A club,” Carter pointed out, “everybody only goes to a club in the morning.”

“I can barely talk as it is, don’t make me shout over the loud music that will ruin my eardrums.”

“Fine,” he sighed and pushed himself up so he was no longer the only one sitting, “but I get to make the rules.”

“You’re the only one we trust to make the rules, buddy,” Charlie patted him on the back and started pulling him outside.

A few hours later, we were all wasted. Even John was. Despite the fact that he wanted to go to bed so bad, we had managed to convince him to join us on our wonderful adventure. Carter had made rules that basically would have led to us getting alcohol poisoning, so we did modify them a little. However, already halfway through the movie, we were too drunk to even pay attention and remember when to take a shot and how many.

“Hey, Charlie,” I slurred, laying my head in his lap since he was the closest to me, the other two all the way on the floor, “you know you’re my best friend right.”

“You’re my best friend too!” He grinned back at me, awkwardly and sloppily patting my head.

“I like you cause…. cause… cause… you have awesome hair,” I reached out, too afraid to touch what I considered a masterpiece at that moment. “Like, it’s so awesome. It’s so so awesome. I love it so much. It does this awesome thing.”

“Awe, thank you!” He put a hand over his heart, touched by my terribly crafted compliment. “I like you cause you’re the only sane person here,” he raised his voice so John could also hear, “that isn’t so fucking stuck up!”

“I’m a father. Shut up! I need to be responsible, you ass!” John groaned back, close to falling asleep. Carter was already passed out beside him. John didn’t even notice until he tried to move a little, only to find the other man like dead weight on his shoulder. He sighed and shook his head. “Time for this one to sleep.”

John managed to pick up Carter without falling over himself and carried him to one of the bedrooms. I already knew there was no way John was going to come back. It wouldn’t even surprise me if they passed out in the same bed. Honestly, they would have otherwise passed out together on the floor. It was only good for them to be in a bed.

“We should hang out more,” Charlie told me continuing our conversation like nothing had happened in between.

I nodded, changing the subject completely, “can I tell you a secret?”

“I’m the best secrets of keepers ever! Wait, no, best secrets of keepers. Keeper of secrets.”

“Ever since those videos popped up, I’ve been having more nightmares about Cam’s death again,” I confided, picking at my short nails.

He frowned and sat up straighter so I wouldn’t risk rolling off his lap. “What?”

“I didn’t tell anybody,” I continued to confess, “because it’s just unneeded drama at this point.”

“No…” He shook his head as furiously as his drunken stupor would let him. “It’s a serious problem, you shouldn’t just not talk about it.”

I still begged to differ. “But Jack doesn’t have time for it, you guys don’t have time for it, I don’t have time for it. Nobody has time for it! It just takes too much time. Time is important. Time…”

“Hmm,” Charlie still disagreed with me despite my great argument, “I don’t care. I want you to tell me… Cam always listened to my problems, now it’s my turn to listen to yours. I don’t care what it’s about. ”

“Okay…” I whispered and slowly closed my eyes.

Notes

Just when you think Jack and Ireland are actually not drifting apart, you've got Ireland becoming close to another guy! You guys notice the parallel between this and the first time Jack and Ireland got drunk together on Christmas Eve? If not, go back to chapter 6 in the first part of the story.

Also, like I've mentioned in all my other author's notes for all my other stories, I've written another one-shot! It's a Jack one-shot for all you Jack lovers, so go check it out!
http://www.alltimelowfanfiction.com/Story/90666/Here-I-Am-There-You-Are/