pins and needles in my head.

[[ double post again ]]

@ cinderblock garden.

Rian shrugged his shoulders. "I just figured they were putting on a show for the fans, y'know?" He didn't think they had been serious with the small flirting and lingering touches, but it did kind of seem obvious now that he was thinking about it. How had he not seen it before? Now he felt like an idiot and was out of one hundred bucks, way to go, he cursed himself. "But, you know how those two are. They're going to deny any feelings are there and leave it at that." Rian was pretty sure he needed knew friends because damn they were kind of dense sometimes. Smiling softly, he reached over to grab the wallet he had tossed on the small table by the front door, grabbing enough to pay for the pizza and leave a tip.

--

Charlotte swallowed thickly at the word divorce, feeling a pang in her heart. She was supposed to keep this charade of being married and pretend she had feelings for Alex? Well, it wasn't going to be pretend, she knew that much. The feelings for Alex were there, by god they were, but at the same time she couldn't just outright say it could she? It was better to go along with his plan and get divorced than to keep it going. Exactly why she should have listened to all those damn articles about how sleeping with your friend is a bad idea, because this happened. You grew feelings for them when it was clear they didn't want anything more than to stay friends, and yeah it hurt that Alex wouldn't see last night as anything more than sex, but it was for the best. "Good idea," she said quietly, digging into her food to try and distract herself.

We got drunk, had some hot sex, and now Alex wants a divorce, the details aren't too exciting... she sent Frankie quickly.

I highly doubt that Alex actually wants to get divorced. Any dumbass (save for Rian, of course) could see that Alex loves you...and you love him. Frankie put her phone back in her pocket. She settled back in to the couch and smiled as Rian brought over the pizza box. "Yum, I'm starving." Frankie leaned over and grabbed herself a piece, taking a huge bite. She leaned her head back against Rian's chest and watched tv. It was nice to actually do couple things with Rian aside from screaming at each other.

--

Alex frowned softly when he saw Charlotte's attitude change. "Hey," he whispered, tipping her chin up. "I only suggested divorce because I thought you wanted one." Alex sipped his apple juice. "We can still go through with the plan... just get rid of the getting divorced part." Alex squeezed Charlotte's hand and smiled gently at her. He really did have feelings for Charlotte, and didn't your true thoughts come out when you were drunk? "I mean, what damage could we cause as a married couple." Alex brought Charlotte's hand to his mouth and gently gave it a kiss.

@ cinderblock garden.

Rian licked his lips as the smell of pizza wafted through his nose, sitting down next to Frankie as she grabbed a slice and he followed suit. A smile graced his features as she leaned against his chest, sighing happily as he took a huge bite of his, moaning in appreciation. "That is some damn good pizza," he said quietly before taking another bite.. and another. It was safe to say he skipped out on some meals yesterday so he was pretty fucking hungry, especially after a night of drinking and not eating anything while doing so.

--

Charlotte almost wanted to cry. Did he honestly think a loveless marriage could work out between the two? "That has got to be the most ridiculous idea you've ever had," she snapped, tugging her hand away from his grip. As much as she had wanted to melt in his embrace, she just couldn't. Her heart was telling her yes but her mind was saying hell no! "We're not kids anymore, we can't sit around and play house and expect it to work. We're not in love, and I can't be in a loveless marriage." She said, scooting back in her seat. Suddenly it felt like the room was closing in on her and she couldn't breath, she needed some air. "I'm going outside for a second, this room is suffocating me," she said softly and got out of her chair and headed out the front door.

Alex immediately got up and followed Charlotte outside. "Hey," He spoke, corning her at the entrance. "Who ever said that there wasn't love?" He asked poignantly, looking Charlotte in the eye. Alex swallowed hard, figuring it was now or never. "Charlotte..." Alex mumbled, grabbing her hands. "I'm probably making a huge ass out of myself right now because you don't feel the same way, but I love you. So much that it fucking terrifies me." He ran a hand through his hair. "I never wanted to say anything because I didn't wanna fuck up our friendship and I don't want to lose you but I can't take it anymore." Alex swallowed hard. "There's no way that it would be a loveless marriage. At least, on my end it wouldn't be." He said gently, preparing himself for a kick in the balls.

--

Frankie took another bite. "Maybe if you ate when you went out, you wouldn't be so hungry." She mumbled, quietly sipping her drink. Frankie didn't mean to be a bitch, but she was still hurt. She knew that she and Rian would eventually have to talk about everything that happened. But for now she was content to sit there and watch tv with him. Frankie cuddled under the blanket and continued to look at the television, gently placing Rian's arm around her waist. She missed this feeling.

@ cinderblock garden.

Rian frowned at her words, feeling them cut deep. Yeah they were true, but did she really have to go there? "Hey, I know I have a lot of things to work on Frankie, but so do you. If we're going to try and make this work between us cut the snide comments a bit, okay?" He asked gently, not trying to upset or provoke her anymore than she already was, but sometimes she could be a real pain in the ass when she wanted to be. He hated seeing it when anybody crossed Frankie because, well, it just wasn't pretty.

--

Charlotte stopped in her tracks when she heard Alex call out to her and grab her hand, swallowing thickly. Her heart was pounding in her chest at his declaration, wanting so bad to say those three words back to him. Why couldn't she? What was stopping her from just saying it? "Alex.." she murmured, pursing her lips in thought. "How can we do this? Sure we've been friends for years but.. we're fucking married." She managed to say, looking up at him. "There was no dating, no sweet and overly sappy proposal. There was no cute wedding with our friends, it was all for some strangers in Vegas for crying out loud! I don't even remember the wedding, that's not how I want to look back at this moment. And god, I sound so stupid and selfish but, am I really for wanting that?" She stopped to catch her breath.

Frankie swallowed hard and nodded her head. She knew she wasn't helping the situation any. But it still made her feel a little bit to let her feelings be known. "Okay," she mumbled, sipping her drink. She wanted to say that she was only such a bitch because Rian's actions made her that way, but Frankie knew it wouldn't help at all, it'd probably just exacerbate the situation. She cuddled closer to Rian, just trying to enjoy the closeness. It'd been forever since they cuddled together on the couch.

--

Alex shook his head, still holding Charlotte's hands. "Charlotte, sweetie, you aren't selfish at all!" He said gently. "We can start over from the beginning! It's so simple, honey. Now that we know how we feel, we can start again. Go home, start dating...I can actually propose to you and you can have the weddings of your dream, baby." He squeezed her hands. "I want you to be happy, but I want you to be happy with me. Please... just let me prove we can work." Alex begged, hoping Charlotte wouldn't turn him away. He didn't think he'd be able to handle it if she did.

@ cinderblock garden.

Rian set the plate down with only a half piece of pizza left on it, feeling not so hungry anymore. He leaned back on the couch and wrapped both arms around Frankie, resting his head on top of her own. "I'm not trying to be rude when I say that. But it's not exactly helping when you make those comments of yours," he added softly, sighing. Rian knew how hard it was for his girlfriend to bite her tongue and that was oddly one of the many reasons he loved her. She wasn't afraid to speak her mind and tell people how it was, or if they pissed her off. If she fell down she'd get back up fighting.

--

Charlotte shook her head. "Alex, it isn't that easy. We are already married, going back to the start won't be easy to do." She sighed, removing one of her hands from Alex's and rubbing her head that was now beginning to throb. Why did this have to be so damn difficult? Most of the world and his bandmates knew they were married, it wasn't like they could just flip a switch and be done being married. This was one fucked up situation they were in, that was for sure. "I don't know what to do," she sighed, glancing down at the shiny wedding band that wrapped around her ring finger.

Frankie nodded her head. "I just figure it's easier to be a bitch than to start crying all over the place." She whispered, sipping her drink again. It was true. Frankie would rather put up a tough, bitchy front than show how Rian's actions really effected her. She viewed that as weakness. Frankie swallowed the lump in her throat and just relaxed against against Rian, trying to let her bad mood go. He was home now.

--

Alex looked at Charlotte. "Just because it won;t be easy doesn't mean we shouldn't try." He whispered, squeezing Charlotte's free hand. "Charlotte...I love you. And I want to at least give us a fighting chance." Alex was at a loss for words. He just leaned in and pressed his lips to Charlotte's, hoping his feelings translated well through the kiss. Alex eventually pulled away, still holding Charlotte's face in his hand. "Please," he whispered. "I'm begging you."

@ acid rain;

Rian just nodded his head while he listened to her, wrapping an arm around her and resting his head on hers. He knew he had fucked up, it was obvious in the tone of her voice and the words she spoke along with it. "I understand," was all he said. The situation had to be pretty bad in order for Frankie to cry, it was just how she was. And he had only seen her cry a few times since they had been together, but he wouldn't blame her if she did right now. What he had kept doing to her all this time was horrible, so he knew she had to be feeling like that.

--

Charlotte was a bit taken back by his confession, eyebrows raising in surprise. Was he saying this because of the events that occured last night, or did he really mean it? Charlotte didn't have the greatest experience with men and this type of thing, but then again Alex was completely different than that. "I.. I don't know." She murmured, finding it hard to collect her thoughts. Not only did she still have a headache from the drinking they did last night, but her mind was still reeling over the fact that they were fucking legally married. "Can we just take this really extremely slow, or something? I need some time to gather my thoughts, Alex, I think we both do." She finally said, running a hand through her hair.

Frankie swallowed gently and continued to watch tv, trying to figure out how to change the subject. All she and Rian seemed to do was fight-- she barely remembered how to have a normal conversation. "I love you." She whispered softly, grabbing another piece of pizza out of the box. Frankie handed Rian the remote, a significant gesture. The guys often labeled her as a remote hog, due to her love of tv. "Here baby. You can pick what to watch."

--

Alex swallowed gently. "Yeah, Charlie." He spoke softly, nodding his head. "Slow is good." Alex squeezed Charlotte's hand for a second before putting his hands back in his hoodie pockets. "Let's go back inside and finish our breakfast, yeah? I don't know about you but I'm still hungry." Alex smiled softly before looking down at his shoes, absently kicking the ground. "And if you wanna go out for lunch, we can do that later. I'll buy."

@ acid rain;

"I love you too," he said with a small smile, kissing the side of her face. A look of surprise appeared when she handed him the remote, almost wanting to ask what she did with his real girlfriend. Frankie hardly ever let him have the remote, something he'd had to deal with the day he got together with her. "You sure about that, babe?" He asked, just to make sure this wasn't some kind of trap she set up. Slowly, he plucked the remote out of her hand and held it in his, clicking through the channels.

--

Charlotte hated pushing him away, and that look he was giving her made her feel a thousand times worse. She wasn't trying to hurt him but just needed some time to think, they both did. What happened last night was something they needed to think over and talk over, not rush into something that was going to break their hearts. Feeling a wave of nausea hit her she shook her head, chalking it up to the drinking she had done that previous night and walked behind Alex, feeling all eyes on her. "You just have to be Alex Gaskarth, don't you?" She said with a small chuckle, smiling at one of the fans that was staring. Sometimes it was fun to be close to Alex, she got to rub it in their faces.

Frankie nodded her head. "Yeah," she whispered, smiling slightly. The look on Rian's face causing her to laugh. "Don't look at me like that, Rian." She giggled. "I'm not gonna beat you up, just pick what you want to watch on tv." She smiled and patted Rian's knee, watching as he flicked through the channels. Frankie smiled when Rian landed on a Gilmore Girls marathon. "Ooh! Can we watch this, babe?" She asked, batting her eyelashes.

--

Alex shrugged. "Being Alex is a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it." He spoke, waving at the girl before heading into the hotel. Alex snuck little glances at Charlotte as they made their way back to the table. He sat down across from her and smiled again before taking a bite of his food. "These dashing good looks are a curse, love." He teased, sipping his apple juice.

@ acid rain;

Rian laughed as he came across a Gilmore Girls marathon, shaking his head. "I thought I got to pick what we watched?" He asked in a teasing tone, but set the remote down and left it on that channel anyway. Rian didn't tell anybody in the band this because it would lead to nothing but jokes at his expense, but he happened to love Gilmore Girls and would secretly watch it anytime it was on. That show was a guilty pleasure of his, one he wasn't going to be sharing with the rest of the world. "But I suppose we can watch it, just this once." He said with a small laugh.

--

Charlotte sat down at her original seat, raising a brow at him. "Someone's a little stuck on themselves, huh?" She teased with a laugh, digging back into her eggs that were now, sadly, slightly cold. The twitter-verse had to be blowing up right now with the reveal of their marriage in Las Vegas and the rumor mill was probably going nuts right now. But to avoid the notifications, for now anyway, Charlotte turned off her data plan and rolled her eyes at the messages from Jack, Rian, and Zack. "Tell your boys to stop asking about our 'kinky honeymoon'." As they had so nicely put it.

Frankie rolled her eyes and gently nudged Rian. "Baby, shut up." She laughed. "I know you love Gilmore Girls as much as I do." She rested her head against Rian's chest and just relaxed, enjoying the time they had together. "We should go out for dinner or something tonight. Do something special. it's been awhile since you and I had a date night." Frankie was eager to spend some time with Rian.

--

Alex rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone, sending a mass text to Zack, Jack and Rian. Guys, leave us alone. We'll talk to you all when we get back from vacation. But for now, please shut up and leave us be. He pressed send and made sure the text went through before turning his attention back to Charlotte. "Jesus. I love those boys, but they can be annoying as fuck most of the time."

@ acid rain;

Rian was about to deny it but closed his mouth and decided otherwise. What would be the point in lying to her about this, it wasn't like she was going to tell everyone in the entire world. Well, he didn't know with her sometimes, she could be just as bad as Jack and that was saying something. "A date night sounds fun, we could even see that movie you've been bugging me about." He said with a small smile, kissing the top of her head before resting his on top of hers.

--

Charlotte chuckled, shaking her head. She knew the guys were going to be asking a lot of questions, but she didn't know if they would be able to answer them all. This whole situation was new for her and she didn't have any of the answers. "They're just like children," Charlotte added with a small laugh, finishing off the rest of her breakfast and orange juice. Sitting there in silence, she finally broke it as a question popped into her mind. "What exactly are we going to tell them?" She asked with a slightly raised brow.

Frankie leaned back, sighing contently. "Then it's a date. I should probably get up and start getting ready." She whispered. Frankie sat up and gave Rian a kiss before getting off of the couch and padding upstairs to their bathroom. She yawned softly and bent down, fiddling with the taps. Once Frankie had selected the perfect temperature for her shower, she quickly took off her clothes and jumped in.

--

Alex bit his lip, trying to think of an answer for Charlotte. It definitely was a good question. "I have absolutely no idea." He mumbled, taking a sip of his apple juice. There really was no easy way to explain to the boys what happened. "And for once, I don't have a smart ass answer." Alex drummed his fingers on the table, trying to figure out what to tell the boys when they arrived home. How exactly did you tell your bandmates that you went to Vegas and ended up marrying your best friend, who was also the love of your life?

@ acid rain;

Rian smiled as she left, leaning back in his seat as the Gilmore Girls marathon continued, watching absently. It would be their first date night in awhile, since Rian was always busy with band stuff and other activities. But more often than not, All Time Low took up a good portion of Rian's time whether it was for tour or interviews that they did. Well tonight was going to be the start of new beginnings, right? No more fooling around on Frankie, he had to change.

--

Charlotte raised a brow. "What? All Time Low's frontman, the one and only Alex Gaskarth, doesn't have the answer? I'm surprised," she said with a small chuckle, but that quickly died on her tongue when she realized oh shit Alex was actually being serious about this. He didn't have a clue on what they should tell their friends, because to be honest Charlotte didn't give a damn what the whole world said about their Vegas marriage. No matter if they told the actual truth, they got shit-faced, people would still make up their own versions. "I guess we just.. tell them the truth?" She shrugged a shoulder.

Frankie quickly changed into her outfit once she stepped out of the shower. She dried her hair and threw it up in a ponytail before applying a little bit of makeup. Just enough to make her not look like a total zombie. Once Frankie was sure she looked good, she walked down the steps and looked at Rian. "I think you look handsome in your jammies, Rian, but I think you should change into some jeans or something." Frankie smiled.

--

Alex laughed gently at Charlotte's remarks. He nodded his head at her suggestion, shrugging his shoulders slightly. "Yeah, the truth works, Charlie." He whispered, sipping the remainder of his apple juice. There wasn't a point in lying to their friends. They could see right through Alex and Charlotte anyway. Alex pulled his wallet out of his pocket and left a tip on the table for their server.

@ acid rain;

Rian laughed as he clicked off the tv, pouting lightly. "I was going for the casual look tonight. I don't want my date to think I'm trying too hard y'know?" He teased, but got off the couch anyway and pressed a kiss to her cheek as he walked past her. "Be right back," he promised as he jogged up the steps and into their bedroom before moving to the dresser where he kept his jeans.

--

Charlotte sighed. "I mean, it's not like we could lie to them even if we wanted to. For one, you're a terrible liar," she paused and shot him a small smile. "And second we've all known each other for years and can tell when someone is lying." Rubbing the back of her neck as she collected her bag and tossed it over her shoulder before stretching her legs out for a moment after sitting down like that. So now what, she found herself wondering. Where did her and Alex go from here?