And I'll Be The Greatest Fan Of Your Life (1/1)

[lindsey2278]

Jack blinked and looked around trying to take in his surroundings. He was in the middle of a white room with no furniture, no people, and nothing on the walls.

“Hello?” He called out, hoping for a response.

“Hello, Jack.” A voice called from behind him, causing him to jump.

He turned to come face to face with a teenage girl he didn’t recognize. She wasn’t horrible looking but she wasn’t what you would call attractive either. She was a little on the plump side and she had bright red hair. She had an incredibly sweet smile that somehow made Jack feel a bit comforted.

“W-where am I?” He stuttered.

“Right now, you’re in the “in between”. What’s the last thing you remember before you woke up here?” She asked him.

“Well…I was at dinner with Alex…we were celebrating our anniversary…fuck…I don’t know what happened after that…” He pulled his hair out of frustration and tried desperately to remember more.

“Think Jack…what happened after you left the restaurant?”

Then everything snapped back into place. He and Alex were holding hands on the way home when out of nowhere, an 18-wheeler flipped over the median from the other side of the road and smacked right into them before everything went black.

“Holy shit! There was an accident! I remember now! Where’s Alex?! Is he okay?” Jack practically screamed in a full-fledged state of panic.

“Shhhh Jack, calm down. Alex is fine. You on the other hand are not. That’s why I’m here. My name is Marley.” She explained to him as he started to relax a bit.

“So…I’m dead?”

“Not yet. You’re in a coma and the odds are not in your favor as of right now. Like I said before, there has been no decision made on your life as of yet.”

Marley motioned for him to follow her and he stayed close behind until they approached a large door. She pushed the door open to reveal a hospital on the other side of it. They were inside the waiting room of the ICU and Jack looked around until my eyes landed on Alex and Rian. Alex had his head buried in his hands and Rian had an expression of hurt and worry that I had never seen on his face before this night. Rian was rubbing Alex’s back, trying to soothe him.

“Alex! I’m here! It’s okay!” I shouted as I ran over to him.

“Don’t waste your breath, Jack. No one can see you or hear you expect me.” She explained to me.

My heart broke as I watched Alex falling apart in front of me. I had never been so powerless to help the boy I loved.

“Come with me, Jack.” Marley stated in her calm tone and I finally gathered my strength and stood up to follow her down the long, white halls of the hospital. She stopped in front of a room and I gazed in the window to see my body lying on an operating table. Nurses and doctors were swarming all around me and I was covered in cuts and bruises and my leg was suspended above the bed and wrapped heavily. I looked awful.

“Wow…” Was all I could manage to say.

“Talk about an out-of-body experience, huh?” Marley teased.

Jack playfully rolled his eyes at her. He could already tell that he liked Marley a lot. In many ways, she reminded him a lot of himself. He looked back at his battered body before glacing over to see that Marley was already a good distance away from him and walking towards the elevators.

“Hey! Wait up!” Jack called as he ran after the girl.

“Time is not a luxury we have, Jack.” She replied before stepping on the elevator with Jack following close behind. She leaned forward and pressed a button labeled, “PAST”, causing it to light up before she turned to face Jack once again.

“Let me ask you something, Jack…if you had never been born, what do you think would’ve been different?”

“Uhh…what do you mean?” Jack asked skeptically. I mean it’s not everyday someone asks you to erase yourself from the Earth.

“I mean if there was never a Jack Barakat, what do you think the world would have been like?”

“Well…I mean the world is fucking huge and I’m just one person so…probably not very much. Like I know my family and friends care about me but if I never existed then they wouldn’t miss me or anything, right? All Time Low would have a different guitarist I guess? N0 one would really know the difference.” Jack tried to reason.

Marley smiled and shook her head, “That’s what I thought. You really have no idea the impact you have on the world, do you? Jack…you bring so much light to the world and you don’t even realize it.”

Before Jack could respond, the elevator doors opened to reveal a blinding light that caused Jack to squint his eyes.

“Let’s take a closer look at that world. What would life really been like without Jack Barakat?” She asked with a knowing smirk and reached out to grab Jack’s hand as she stepped off the elevator and he eventually followed behind.

Once the light subsided, Jack immediately recognized his surroundings.  He was in the hallways of his old high school and he remembered it like it was yesterday. Marley motioned for Jack to follow behind her and he did as he took in the familiar scene of his adolescence. She stopped in front of a large group of people who he somewhat recognized. He knew they were the “popular kids” and he had no business hanging out with them back when he was a student here. Suddenly, his eyes landed on a very familiar face.

“Rian?? What?! RIAN was popular! What the fuck!” Jack said as he let out a hearty laugh in disbelief.

Marley clearly did not find the scene humorous and she rested her hand on Jack’s shoulder to calm him down. The crowd started to head for the door and Marley instructed Jack to follow them. The pair followed the group out past the fields and into the woods where they were certainly hidden from any authority at the school. One of the boys pulled out a small syringe and flicked it a few times before using a rubber band to cut off the circulation in his arm, causing his veins to bulge.  Once he was satisfied with the protruding blue line near his elbow, he pushed the needle into his skin and emptied the contents into his blood stream.

“What the fuck! HEROIN?! Rian hangs out with people who do HEROIN?!” Jack screamed in shock as his jaw fell open. Marley looked over at him with sad eyes before directing his attention back to the scene before them.

“Hey man, I got next.” Rian stated as he reached for the supplies the previous boy had used.

“Oh my God…no…” Jack barely managed to breath out as he realized everything was much, much worse than he thought. Right as Rian pressed the needle to his own skin, Marley quickly grabbed Jack’s hand and pulled him back towards the school, hoping to save him a bit of heartache.

They stopped outside the door to the school and Marley gave Jack a moment to collect himself.

“I don’t believe it…not…not RIan…I just…how?” A heart-broken Jack questioned as he tried to make sense of the horrific events he had just witnessed.

“I don’t have time to explain this to you, Jack. Come with me.” She stated coolly as she led Jack inside and to the auditorium. They entered the room that seemed to be deserted except for one small figure in the corner, eating lunch completely alone.

“Who is that?”

Marley didn’t respond, she simply led Jack over to the boy so he could see for himself. Jack quickly recognized the figure and was once again taken aback by the scene in front of him.

“Alex?! No fucking way. I don’t believe you! Alex was the most popular out of all of us! How could he have ended up eating lunch in a fucking dark room by himse-“

Jack stopped his rant and dropped to his knees when Alex reached over to grab his notebook, causing his sleeve to lift up his arm and reveal countless angry red cut marks over his wrists. Jack put his hand over his mouth and tears streamed heavily down his cheeks.

“Baby…what have you been doing to yourself? Oh my God…” Jack whispered to the person he loved more than they world. Alex stood up and threw away his untouched lunch and looked at the notebook he had been writing before angrily throwing it in the trashcan and walking right through Jack and out of the auditorium.

Jack moved over to the trash can and saw that the notebook was facing open and facing up and he quickly began reading what Alex had been working on.

“These…these are the lyrics for Dear Maria…” Jack stated in disbelief of the fact that Alex had just thrown away the makings of their most famous song.

“Come, Jack.” Marley whispered to him.

Jack hardly noticed the auditorium door had changed form and was now the elevator they arrived on. They stepped on the elevator and Marley moved forward once more, this time pressing the button that read “PRESENT”.

“How? How did that happen to them?” Jack begged for answers.

“Well…it’s pretty easy if you think about it. Rian was well on his way to becoming a sports superstar but he quit playing to dedicate his time to the band. Anyone who’s seen a cheesy high-school TV show knows that with sports comes popularity and with popularity comes a very dangerous lifestyle. Alex didn’t have anyone to encourage or support him. You know better than anyone else that he may as well have been a fly on the wall at home and he hardly spoke at school either until you came along. You brought him out of his shell, you told him he was a talented writer and you BELIEVED in him, Jack. Without you, he didn’t have the confidence to believe in his art.”

Jack rubbed his temples and tried to process everything. How could everything be so fucked up without him in the picture? Could he really have made THAT much of a difference?

“And if you are wondering about Zack, well, there is no Zack. I mean you were the one who practically stalked him and made him joined the band. Without you, Alex and Rian would’ve never even heard of a Zack Merrick.”

The elevator came to a hault and Marley grabbed Jack’s hands once again and made her look at him.

“I know this is hard…but we still have a lot to do. I showed you what life in the past would’ve been like without you. Now, I’m going to show you the ACTUAL present. This is going to be our shortest stop but someone has something they want to say to you…”

The elevator door opened when she finished instructing Jack and they were once again in Jack’s hospital room. Only this time, there were no doctors or surgeons or nurses, only Alex, Rian, Zack and May.

Rian gestured for Zack and May to head out with him and he put a hand on Alex’s shoulder before telling him they would give him some alone time. Alex nodded and sniffled through his runny nose before trying to wipe his red, puffy eyes.

Jack sat in a chair across the room and watched helplessly as Alex grabbed the hand of his lifeless body and press a kiss to his palm.

“Hi baby…” Alex spoke in the most broken tone Jack had ever heard him use. Marley rubbed Jack’s back soothingly, knowing this would be extremely hard for him.

“The um…the doctors said it might help for you to hear my voice…they did everything they could for you baby…it’s all up to you now. All up to you.” Alex tried to keep from crying but his voice was getting shakier by the second.

“I just…I-I need you to open your eyes, J-Jacky. I d-don’t wanna know what life is l-like without you.” Alex squeezed Jack’s hand impossibly tighter as the tears began to fall more and more rapidly down his cheeks.

“C-can you hear m-me? D-do y-you have any idea h-how much I l-love y-you?” Alex choked out before finally losing it and collapsing onto Jack’s chest as he sobbed. He squeezed Jack’s lifeless body with everything he had in him and finally sat up after a couple minutes. He wiped his eyes and reached into his pocket and pulled out his iPhone and earbuds. He scrolled through and selected Blink-182’s, Enema of the State album and put one earphone in his ear and one into Jack’s.

“If this doesn’t wake you up then I don’t know what will.” Alex stated with a distant smile before leaning his head on Jack’s chest and holding his hand once again.

“Come back to me…” He whispered and pressed another kiss to Jack’s knuckles.

“Jack we have to go…” Marley told the broken boy.

“No. I want to stay here. I-I can’t leave him.” Jack exclaimed, eyes never leaving Alex.

“I can’t let you stay, Jack. Come on. We only have one more stop to make.” Marley told him stubbornly but still delicately due to his current state. After a few moments he regrettably slid off his chair and followed her back to the elevator for the last time.

The doors closed and she pressed the only button remaining, “FUTURE”.

“What’s next?” An emotionally exhausted Jack asked his guide.

“Only thing left for you to see, the future. This is just a glimpse of what would happen if you were to die right now, on that operating table.” She told him with the most serious tone she had used since they had met.

“Okay.”

The doors opened to reveal a beautiful spring day. Marley guided Jack through a field of beautiful flowers and over a bridge that stretched over a crystal-clear pond filled with lilies and ducks swimming by. She stopped once they crossed the bridge and held Jack’s hands for the millionth time that day. He found the simple touch to be extremely calming and he was more and more thankful for her incredible kindness that she had shown him every step of the way.

“I don’t have time to show you all your loved ones so I’ve once again chosen what I think you need to see the most. Just so you know, after you died, All Time Low never played another show. No one felt right going on without you. The rest of the band and crew went separate ways and some stayed in contact with one another and some just wanted to leave the painful memories in the past. Rian ended up marrying Cassadee and they gave a beautiful dedication to you at their wedding. They are now living in Seattle with their two children, Jesse and Jack. Zack is living on a beach in Florida and spends his days surfing and mostly keeping to himself. Flyzik works a 9-5 desk job somewhere in Colorado and the rest of the crew hasn’t really been heard from or spotted in a long, long time.”

Marley continued walking until they reached a cemetery at the very top of the largest hill in sight. She stopped them when they came upon the grave she had been waiting for. Jack really didn’t want to see where he was buried but he forced his eyes to shift downward and gaze upon the headstone.

MARLEY ROBINSON

Beloved daughter and friend

June 19th, 1995-December 2nd, 2012

Jack whipped his head around in shock.

“You? W-what!? Marley that’s 4 months from now! What happens to you?!” He asked out of shock and genuine concern.

“Shh…Jack calm down. They didn’t just pick some random teenage girl to be your guide through all of this. I’ve shown you how the lives of everyone around you were affected but the reason I am here is to show you the incredible impact you have on your fans, some of which you have never even met. You guys have been there for me when no one else would give me the time of day. Without the four of you, well…” She simply gestured to the grave sitting next to them.

“I-I had no idea…” Jack was once again speechless.

“I told you, Jack. You bring so much light to the world. You are just as important to a girl who listens to your music to drown out her alcoholic mother and the abuse of her bastard of a father as you are to the people standing up on that stage with you.” She said with a smile as her own tears formed for the first time that day.

“Oh my God…please tell me that girl isn’t you…please…” Jack asked though he already knew the reply.

“Shhhh Jack. I’m not here to have a pity party for myself. Just promise me that the next time you think that what you do doesn’t matter, you’ll remember this and you’ll remember that on any given day you are reaching out to countless lost souls.”

He nodded and smiled, “I promise.”

“Alright then. You didn’t ask before but I’m guessing you’d like to know what became of Alex.”

Jack nodded and Marley gestured towards another grave in the distance. Jack walked toward it and saw a man that had to be in his late eighties place a large bouquet of roses at the foot of his grave. Jack didn’t recognize him at first but the man’s eyes were a dead giveaway. His face was covered in wrinkles and he was slightly hunched over due to his old age but those caramel eyes still sparkled the same way they did when Alex was thirteen years old.

The man’s hand shook as he sat down two wine glasses on top of the headstone and he poured Jack’s favorite red wine into them. he picked one of the glasses up and took a long sip out of it before resting his hand on the stone and whispering, “Happy Anniversary, my dear.”

“He lived a good life, Jack. But he never let go of you.” Marley said with a sad smile.

Jack was in awe. He couldn’t believe that sixty years later, Alex was standing right here.

“Oh Alex…I love you…”

“I have to go, Jack.” Marley told the boy and he averted his eyes from Alex to look at her.

“W-will I ever see you again?”

“I think it’s safe to say our paths will cross again someday.” She said with a smile as she pulled him in for a hug. He held her tightly with his eyes closed and she leaned in to whisper in his ear, “You can wake up now.”

Jack opened his eyes and she was gone. The cemetery was gone. Alex was gone. He blinked a few times before realizing he was in a bed. He sat up and looked around and holy shit. It was HIS bed. Not a hospital bed! He jumped up and examined his body and couldn’t find a scratch or bruise anywhere on his body. He heard the front door to his apartment open and he ran out of his bedroom to see who it was.

“Zack!!!” Jack screamed as he ran up to his friend and jumped on him.

“What the fuck?” Zack asked but Jack only squeezed him tighter.

“YOU EXIST!!” Jack practically squealed.

“Um…yeah dude…I have for about twenty four years now…”

Jack let him go and continued to bounce up and down with excitement.

“Okay I don’t know what the fuck kind of drugs you are on but is Rian here? I have to take him to the doctor.”

“I don’t wanna…” A sleepy Rian replied as he sat up from the couch and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

“RIAN!!!” Jack screamed just as enthusiastically as before as he jumped over the couch and hugged the drummer.

“I don’t know what his deal is. Ignore him. Now get your fat ass up! You HAVE to go to the doctor and get your tetanus shot before we go overseas.”

“Zaccckkkkkkk! You know how much I hate needles!” Rian groaned.

Jack’s head popped up and he smiled widely at his friend. “Y-you hate needles?” Jack asked as though he was extremely touched.

“Are you okay, bro?” Rian asked Jack as he looked at him like he had six heads.

“Yes! I’m more than okay!”

“Did someone give him coffee again?” Rian asked in Zack’s direction and the bassist shrugged his shoulders in response. Rian pried his way out of Jack’s grip and put on a clean shirt before joining Zack by the door.

“WAIT! Where’s Alex?!” Jack asked in sudden realization of his boyfriend’s absence.

“He went to get you lunch. He should be back soon. Try not to tear the place down, before he gets back okay?”

Jack couldn’t sit still as he waited for Alex to return home. He decided to get in the shower to hopefully pass a bit of time. He got out and dried off and slipped on a clean pair of boxers before FINALLY hearing the lock click on the door and the love of the life walking inside. Jack felt butterflies bubble up in his stomach and he practically sprinted out of the bedroom.

“Hey babe are you oka-“

Alex was cut off by Jack practically ripping him in half with a death hug and planting kisses all over his neck, cheeks and lips. Alex was giggling and squirming away from Jack’s sloppy kisses but Jack only held him tighter.

“Babe! You’re acting like you haven’t seen me in weeks!” Alex choked out through his laughter.

Jack just smiled and picked Alex up and wrapped his legs around his own waist, earning a squeak from Alex as he started to walk them backwards to their bedroom. He threw Alex onto the bed and crawled on top of him and started sucking on his neck.

“Ah! Mmm J-Jack…” Alex moaned breathily.

“Not that this isn’t great but OH! W-what’s gotten into you?” Alex asked, pausing to moan when Jack started rubbing his quickly hardening dick through his jeans.

“I love you.” Was Jack’s only reply and Alex smiled at his boyfriend and nodded, accepting his response for the time being because oh look he was now horny as hell.

Alex pulled Jack’s boxers down and he kicked them off hastily and practically ripped Alex’s shirt off body and his jeans and boxers followed soon after. Alex rolled them over so he was straddling Jack’s waist and Jack spit on three of his fingers before inserting two into his boyfriend. Alex moaned and began pressing back on Jack’s fingers.

“Jack. Get in me. Now.” Alex demanded as his breathing increased and his eyes rolled back in his head.

Jack removed his fingers and pushed into his boyfriend immediately. He would usually take time to tease him and work him up but he was far beyond coherency and he just needed to feel Alex.

Five orgasms, four positions and two hours later, the boys were finally too exhausted to continue and collapsed onto the bed next to each other. Both of their naked bodies were drenched in sweat and quickly rising up and down as they panted, trying to regain their breath.

“Jack…baby…wow…” Alex said between deep breaths causing Jack to look over at him and smile.

“That was the best ever…” He continued.

Jack nodded and rolled over slightly to press a kiss to Alex’s cheek.

“Mind telling me what’s up with you now?”

Jack told Alex his dream to Alex in extreme detail for the next half hour and Alex just listened politely and didn’t interrupt his boyfriend. Once Jack had finally finished, he looked over at his boyfriend to see a tear drip from his eye.

“Alex? No baby. Why are you crying?” Jack asked sincerely as he wiped the tear from Alex’s eye.

“M’sorry. Just…thinking about losing you got to me for a second there.” Alex said with a slight chuckle as he shook his head at how much of a girl he was. Jack leaned over to press his lips to his boyfriend’s. It still amazed him that after all this time, Alex still managed to give him butterflies.

“You won’t ever have to worry about that, baby. I’m not going anywhere.”

Alex nodded and snuggled into Jack’s side.

“The end part is true ya know. The part about me still loving you all those years from now? I’m going to love you until the day I die, Jack Bassam Barakat.”

Jack held his boyfriend closer to him and whispered, “I love you so much.”

3 Months Later

“Atlanta, Georgia! How are you guys feeling tonight?!” Alex screamed into his microphone as the crowd shrieked in excitement.

Jack opened his mouth to most likely make a dick joke or a suggestive comment to Alex but completely froze when he looked into the crowd and saw a familiar face.

“M-Marley?” He asked in shock.

The girl looked at his with eyes as wide as saucers when he called her name.

“Holy shit! Is that really you?? Matt bring her up here!”

The tour manager granted Jack’s request and brought the star-struck girl out of the crowd and over to watch the show from side stage. The band finished their set and Jack ran off-stage as fast as he could to envelop the girl in a tight hug.

“H-how do you know who I am?” She asked him out of pure confusion and shock.

“Don’t you remember?? You showed me life if I didn’t exist! We went everywhere together! You told me that I mattered and you just…you changed my life!”

Marley’s face turned a ghostly white at Jack’s words and she barely whispered, “It’s not possible…That…that was a dream I had…it’s not possible…”

“It was real, Marley. It happened. I swear you changed my life. Thank you so much.” Jack said to the girl as he moved in to hug her again. When he pulled away he noticed the bruises on her arms.

“Are these from your father?” He asked her with genuine concern. She simply nodded as the tears started staining her cheeks. The pair talked for a few more minutes before Jack took her back to meet the rest of the guys.

“Everyone, I’d like you to meet our new merch girl. This is Marley. She’s going to be touring with us from now on.” Jack said as he smiled at his friend.

The boys were all more than welcoming to her and showered her in hugs and for the first time in a long time, she smiled.

As everyone swarmed her, Alex remained in the back with his jaw hanging open. Jack moved back to talk to him as he shook his head in disbelief.

“Jack…that’s the girl…you told me about her…you described her perfectly…you knew her name…” Alex tried to reason but was cut off by his boyfriend’s lips pressing against his own.

“I love you.”

Alex smiled and decided to stop trying to reason with the miracle that played out before his eyes and returned the kiss to his boyfriend’s lips.

“And I love you.”