The City That Reads [2/4]
Title: The City That Reads
Author: summerdownturn
Rating: PG-13 [Overall]
Pairing: Alex Gaskarth/Jack Barakat
POV: Jack's then Alex's
Summary: "Baltimore's quiet and cold, and there's no ship in the bay to take me back home in time for the holiday..."
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the people in this story, they rightfully belong to themselves. This is purely fiction and never happened to my knowledge in real life. Please don't sue. I don't own the lyrics or song to The City That Reads by The Graduate.
Warning: Unbeta-ed. Language.
Dedications: redhotshorty because she's still the best BFFL =]
Author Notes: This is based off of a song by The Graduate called The City That Reads. Go check it out. Please enjoy and tell my what you think =] Sorry if it's a little short.
(Previous Chapters)
Jack’s POV
Christmas came and passed, and I returned home on the Saturday after. Tomorrow would be the day that Alex comes back from Essex. And I still couldn’t figure out what I did to make him angry at me. I knew something happened at that party, things were perfectly fine before then, so what the hell did I do? I kept thinking about it as I walked to Rian’s house.
When I reached his house, he and Zack were having a snowball fight in his front yard. They didn’t know I was there until a misfired ball of snow hit me square in the chest.
“Oh, sorry man,” Rian apologized and ducked the incoming snowball that Zack tried to sneak past him. I just blinked and sighed, getting their attention as to why I hadn’t brushed off the snow on my front.
“What’s wrong dude?” Zack asked, dropping all of his ammunition and Rian did the same. I walked to the front porch and sat down on the chair that wasn’t covered in snow. Rian and Zack gathered around as I began to tell my tale of depression.
“Last Sunday, when Alex left… did he seem… mad at me?” I looked up at them, waiting for an answer.
“I don’t know. He seemed normal to me,” Zack shrugged and looked at Rian.
“I guess he seemed a little off. He probably was just sad that he was going away for a week.”
My head lowered in sadness that they couldn’t help me with my situation, but it snapped up when I thought of something.
“What about when he left the party? Was he acting weird then?” They both shifted their eyes off of me for a second, thinking back to last Friday. Zack was the first to answer.
“Yeah, I think he was. Rian and I caught him leaving, but Rian was probably too drunk to remember,” he said, getting a disagreeing statement from Rian. “I think he came up from the basement, he was looking all frazzled, and then quickly left.”
“Oh yeah, I remember asking him if he got some action from Natalie ‘cause he looked like he had just rolled out of bed,” Rian’s face quickly dropped, “Ew, they probably did it on my basement couch.”
That made me feel so much better. Not. I slumped down in the chair, “So what did I do to make him mad at me?”
“I don’t know. You probably called Natalie a slut in front of him,” Zack commented. That was most likely true since I did remember talking to him that night. I sighed, giving up on getting answers. I could just ask him when he gets back tomorrow.
We headed into Rian’s basement after that. Video games should clear all thoughts of Alex out of my head for a while. I sat on the couch next to Zack, and Rian pulled up a bean bag chair in front of us, handing both of us controllers for his gaming system.
A few hours later we were tired of video games and Rian ran up stairs to get us some snacks and sodas. I dropped the controller on the bean bag chair in front of me and groaned as my stomach growled.
“Hungry Jack?” Zack laughed.
“Yes,” I whined. I laughed as he made a funny face at me, but stopped when a lost memory suddenly came rushing back to me. I frowned. Zack waved his hand in front of me.
“You spaced on me buddy. Hello?” He snapped his fingers and I fell back down to Earth. “What planet were you on?”
“Sorry,” I apologized, “I think I remember what I did to make Alex pissed at me.”
“What?” Zack asked, “Hey! What did you do?!” He yelled up the stairs as I rushed out of Rian’s house.
I couldn’t of done that, could I? I mean, yeah, I was wasted and had no control over my actions, but Alex would’ve realized that, right? He would’ve stopped me and forgave me because I was drunk as hell and he would have understood that, right? But he didn’t stop me at first, he let me kiss him and take off his shirt, and then he stopped me. No, he shoved me away.
Now where did that leave our friendship? I had no clue whatsoever.
I stormed into my house and practically ran to my room, not even acknowledging my mom’s shouting. I curled up in a ball on my bed, hugging my knees to my chest. I felt tears pour onto my cheeks and I held back a sob.
I felt like such a pussy for crying over my best friend, but how could I not? He rejected me and shoved me away! He didn’t even care to take in the fact that maybe I did that on purpose! That maybe I got drunk just so I could finally confess my feelings to him the only way that would possibly save our friendship if he rejected me. But no. He just pushed me away, didn’t even say anything, and ran away disgusted. And the only reason he kissed me back was because he was a little drunk as well.
And I felt like such an asshole for trying to find the truth in lies. I didn’t even care, or notice, that I left my jacket at Rian’s house.
The next day, it took both Zack and Rian pulling me out of my bed to make me get up. I didn’t even shower or change out of the clothes that I fell asleep in last night. And then they dragged me to Rian’s brand new (used) car and we drove to the airport to welcome Gaskarth home. I sulked and bitched the whole way there.
Alex’s POV
When I walked out of the gate, I saw my friends waiting for me. I smiled and rushed over to them, happy that I could see them and hug them and talk to them. I dropped my bags when I was close enough to them and embraced them all in a death like grip bear hug.
“Guys you have no idea how happy I am to see you!” I cried and let them go once Rian started making choking noises, too excited to care if he was faking or not.
“Nice to see you too,” Rian coughed, “did you---uh, start lifting weights or something?” He asked while rubbing his throat and I laughed.
“Nope, just happy to see my three best buds!”
I looked my friends over. Rian was still trying to soothe his throat, Zack was smiling and laughing at Rian, and Jack---well, Jack was not smiling. Jack didn’t even look at me. He just stared at the ground, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot.
Zack started to talk to me, but I wasn’t paying much attention to what he was saying. I was looking at Jack the whole time over Zack’s shoulder. But soon we were walking towards the parking lot; I paid enough attention to find out that I could go over Jack’s for band practice. Apparently we had a gig in two days.
The car ride was silent, Zack and Rian finally noticed the tension between Jack and I. I was just glad that my guitar case separated us in the back seat, not that we were going to look at each other anyway.
There was only one reason why he wouldn’t be talking or looking at me. He found out what we did at that party. And instead of confronting it with me, Jack was using the silent treatment, probably meaning that Friday was all a mistake.
I was hoping to come home to a happy Jack, whether he remembered last Friday or not. But nope. I came back to a depressed and snappy Jack, and that really turned me down. I thought over what happened between us over and over again, and I came to a conclusion. I liked Jack. I liked Jack more than a best friend. And Friday had made me think that he had thought the same, but now when I see him trying to avoid me, it makes me think that I was wrong about all of it.
Last Friday, what happened between Jack and I, was probably all one huge accident. Jack just got wasted and horny, taking it out on the first person that gave him a chance. That whole confession before our kiss was probably all a joke. And that kiss meant nothing, because all we were was just best friends. Well, we were just best friends. But what about now? I wasn’t sure, but I know that we weren’t anything more than friends. And that’s the exact opposite of what I wanted to be with Jack.
Author: summerdownturn
Rating: PG-13 [Overall]
Pairing: Alex Gaskarth/Jack Barakat
POV: Jack's then Alex's
Summary: "Baltimore's quiet and cold, and there's no ship in the bay to take me back home in time for the holiday..."
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the people in this story, they rightfully belong to themselves. This is purely fiction and never happened to my knowledge in real life. Please don't sue. I don't own the lyrics or song to The City That Reads by The Graduate.
Warning: Unbeta-ed. Language.
Dedications: redhotshorty because she's still the best BFFL =]
Author Notes: This is based off of a song by The Graduate called The City That Reads. Go check it out. Please enjoy and tell my what you think =] Sorry if it's a little short.
(Previous Chapters)
Jack’s POV
Christmas came and passed, and I returned home on the Saturday after. Tomorrow would be the day that Alex comes back from Essex. And I still couldn’t figure out what I did to make him angry at me. I knew something happened at that party, things were perfectly fine before then, so what the hell did I do? I kept thinking about it as I walked to Rian’s house.
When I reached his house, he and Zack were having a snowball fight in his front yard. They didn’t know I was there until a misfired ball of snow hit me square in the chest.
“Oh, sorry man,” Rian apologized and ducked the incoming snowball that Zack tried to sneak past him. I just blinked and sighed, getting their attention as to why I hadn’t brushed off the snow on my front.
“What’s wrong dude?” Zack asked, dropping all of his ammunition and Rian did the same. I walked to the front porch and sat down on the chair that wasn’t covered in snow. Rian and Zack gathered around as I began to tell my tale of depression.
“Last Sunday, when Alex left… did he seem… mad at me?” I looked up at them, waiting for an answer.
“I don’t know. He seemed normal to me,” Zack shrugged and looked at Rian.
“I guess he seemed a little off. He probably was just sad that he was going away for a week.”
My head lowered in sadness that they couldn’t help me with my situation, but it snapped up when I thought of something.
“What about when he left the party? Was he acting weird then?” They both shifted their eyes off of me for a second, thinking back to last Friday. Zack was the first to answer.
“Yeah, I think he was. Rian and I caught him leaving, but Rian was probably too drunk to remember,” he said, getting a disagreeing statement from Rian. “I think he came up from the basement, he was looking all frazzled, and then quickly left.”
“Oh yeah, I remember asking him if he got some action from Natalie ‘cause he looked like he had just rolled out of bed,” Rian’s face quickly dropped, “Ew, they probably did it on my basement couch.”
That made me feel so much better. Not. I slumped down in the chair, “So what did I do to make him mad at me?”
“I don’t know. You probably called Natalie a slut in front of him,” Zack commented. That was most likely true since I did remember talking to him that night. I sighed, giving up on getting answers. I could just ask him when he gets back tomorrow.
We headed into Rian’s basement after that. Video games should clear all thoughts of Alex out of my head for a while. I sat on the couch next to Zack, and Rian pulled up a bean bag chair in front of us, handing both of us controllers for his gaming system.
A few hours later we were tired of video games and Rian ran up stairs to get us some snacks and sodas. I dropped the controller on the bean bag chair in front of me and groaned as my stomach growled.
“Hungry Jack?” Zack laughed.
“Yes,” I whined. I laughed as he made a funny face at me, but stopped when a lost memory suddenly came rushing back to me. I frowned. Zack waved his hand in front of me.
“You spaced on me buddy. Hello?” He snapped his fingers and I fell back down to Earth. “What planet were you on?”
“Sorry,” I apologized, “I think I remember what I did to make Alex pissed at me.”
“What?” Zack asked, “Hey! What did you do?!” He yelled up the stairs as I rushed out of Rian’s house.
I couldn’t of done that, could I? I mean, yeah, I was wasted and had no control over my actions, but Alex would’ve realized that, right? He would’ve stopped me and forgave me because I was drunk as hell and he would have understood that, right? But he didn’t stop me at first, he let me kiss him and take off his shirt, and then he stopped me. No, he shoved me away.
Now where did that leave our friendship? I had no clue whatsoever.
I stormed into my house and practically ran to my room, not even acknowledging my mom’s shouting. I curled up in a ball on my bed, hugging my knees to my chest. I felt tears pour onto my cheeks and I held back a sob.
I felt like such a pussy for crying over my best friend, but how could I not? He rejected me and shoved me away! He didn’t even care to take in the fact that maybe I did that on purpose! That maybe I got drunk just so I could finally confess my feelings to him the only way that would possibly save our friendship if he rejected me. But no. He just pushed me away, didn’t even say anything, and ran away disgusted. And the only reason he kissed me back was because he was a little drunk as well.
And I felt like such an asshole for trying to find the truth in lies. I didn’t even care, or notice, that I left my jacket at Rian’s house.
The next day, it took both Zack and Rian pulling me out of my bed to make me get up. I didn’t even shower or change out of the clothes that I fell asleep in last night. And then they dragged me to Rian’s brand new (used) car and we drove to the airport to welcome Gaskarth home. I sulked and bitched the whole way there.
Alex’s POV
When I walked out of the gate, I saw my friends waiting for me. I smiled and rushed over to them, happy that I could see them and hug them and talk to them. I dropped my bags when I was close enough to them and embraced them all in a death like grip bear hug.
“Guys you have no idea how happy I am to see you!” I cried and let them go once Rian started making choking noises, too excited to care if he was faking or not.
“Nice to see you too,” Rian coughed, “did you---uh, start lifting weights or something?” He asked while rubbing his throat and I laughed.
“Nope, just happy to see my three best buds!”
I looked my friends over. Rian was still trying to soothe his throat, Zack was smiling and laughing at Rian, and Jack---well, Jack was not smiling. Jack didn’t even look at me. He just stared at the ground, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot.
Zack started to talk to me, but I wasn’t paying much attention to what he was saying. I was looking at Jack the whole time over Zack’s shoulder. But soon we were walking towards the parking lot; I paid enough attention to find out that I could go over Jack’s for band practice. Apparently we had a gig in two days.
The car ride was silent, Zack and Rian finally noticed the tension between Jack and I. I was just glad that my guitar case separated us in the back seat, not that we were going to look at each other anyway.
There was only one reason why he wouldn’t be talking or looking at me. He found out what we did at that party. And instead of confronting it with me, Jack was using the silent treatment, probably meaning that Friday was all a mistake.
I was hoping to come home to a happy Jack, whether he remembered last Friday or not. But nope. I came back to a depressed and snappy Jack, and that really turned me down. I thought over what happened between us over and over again, and I came to a conclusion. I liked Jack. I liked Jack more than a best friend. And Friday had made me think that he had thought the same, but now when I see him trying to avoid me, it makes me think that I was wrong about all of it.
Last Friday, what happened between Jack and I, was probably all one huge accident. Jack just got wasted and horny, taking it out on the first person that gave him a chance. That whole confession before our kiss was probably all a joke. And that kiss meant nothing, because all we were was just best friends. Well, we were just best friends. But what about now? I wasn’t sure, but I know that we weren’t anything more than friends. And that’s the exact opposite of what I wanted to be with Jack.