Come Around

"I need to see her," Alex said, pounding his fist on the table.

It was a day off, a few days after Cassie had officially ended things with him and they were getting ready to do an interview. Alex had been fairly quiet most of the day so his outburst came as a shock to his friends. They all jumped when his fist hit the table.

"You're gonna have to wait, bro," Jack said.

"I can't. I need to see her today. I have to be able to talk to her."

Jack sighed, "We're about to do an interview," he said, watching Alex play with his phone.

"I was so stupid. I never should've gotten so mad. She was right. She's always right. Fuck, you guys, I miss her," he said, hanging his head.

The other three boys looked at each other and Rian reached over and rubbed Alex's back. None of them really knew what to say. It was worse for Jack and Zack because they didn't know why Alex and Cassie had been fighting in the first place. Alex sighed loudly and looked at his phone.

"She's not going to answer if you call her," Rian said, "Trust me."

He sighed again, "I just want to know if she's okay," he mumbled.

"She's fine. She and Angie are hanging out with the Sing It Loud Boys today and going to their show tonight," Rian said.

"So that's it? She's fine and having a good time. She's not even upset?" he asked glumly.

Rian sighed, "Of course she's upset. Shit, Alex, how could she not be? The six months you guys were together seems more like six years. You two just kinda fit," he said.

"Maybe if we had been together for six years, she would've actually wanted to have a baby with me," he mumbled.

Jack and Zack's heads snapped in Alex's direction, "What?" they shouted at the same time.

Alex was saved from having to explain when Matt walked in the room with the person who was interviewing them. She was a pretty girl, dark blonde hair and big brown eyes. And while Jack and Zack couldn't help but stare at her, Alex didn't even give her a second look.

The interview seemed to drag. She asked mostly the same boring questions everyone else asked. Every so often, something different would come up, but Alex didn't feel the need to put much effort into it. Throughout most of it, he was lost in his own sad thoughts.

"Earth to Alex," Jack said, waving his hand in front of his face.

Alex snapped back to reality, "Hmm? What?" he asked.

"She was asking all of us about our proms. What was yours like?" Jack asked.

"Oh, um, it was," he paused, "Shit, I'm really sorry," he apologized, pushing his chair away from the table and standing up, "I have to go. I need to see if I can catch a plane to Los Angeles," he said, practically sprinting out of the room.

Everyone stared after him. Rian was the first to really comprehend what was going on and pulled his phone out of his pocket.

"Dude, what the fuck are you doing?" he said when Alex answered.

"If I can catch a plane within the hour, I can make it to LA before Sing It Loud finishes their set," he replied.

"You're not making sense."

"I have to see her, Rian. I don't think you understand," Alex said.

"You're right. I don't. But I guess do what you gotta do. Call us when the plane lands so we know you're okay," he said and hung up after he got a positive response from his friend.

Everyone was staring at him, waiting for an explanation, but he just shook his head and made another call.

"Hello?"

"Ang, heads up, Alex may make an appearance at the show tonight," he said.

The line was silent for a minute before everything suddenly became muffled. He could hear Angie saying something, but it wasn't to him. It seemed like forever before the line was clear again.

"What? Rian, what the fuck are you talking about?" she said finally.

"He's been really upset and I don't know what's going through his head, but he had some kind of epiphany or something today. He was saying that he messed up and Cassie's right and he has to see her. And he just up and left in the middle of an interview," he explained.

"To come here?"

"Yes, to catch a plane to LA and do God only knows what. I have no idea if it would be better to tell Cassie or not to tell her, so I'll leave that decision up to you. I just figured someone should know."

"Thanks, I guess. I gotta go. Call me later," she said and hung up as everyone made their way over to her.

"Who was that?" Nate asked.

"My cousin," she said, quickly making up a story, "Drunk in Vegas in the middle of the afternoon."

"Color me jealous," Pat said, earning a laugh and agreement from everyone present.

The afternoon passed all too quickly and before anyone knew it, the boys had to leave to go get things set up and do a sound check at the venue. The girls went home to change their clothes. When Angie had finished getting ready, she wandered into Cassie's room, finding that they were wearing almost identical outfits.

"It fucking figures," Cassie said with a quiet laugh. "I'll change," she said, walking over to her closet.

After trading in her polo for a plain v neck, her eyes fell on the hat Alex had bought her before they started dating. She sighed quietly and picked it up, walking into her bathroom and placing it on her head. She stared in the mirror for a minute before removing the hat once again and throwing it into her bedroom.

"Are you sure you want to go?" Angie questioned when the hat came flying toward her, "We can always just hang out here and watch a movie or whatever. The boys would understand."

Cassie emerged from the bathroom and looked at her friend like she was crazy, "What? Of course I want to go. Why wouldn't I?" she asked.

For a split second, Angie considered telling her that Alex might show up, but quickly decided against it, "The way you threw the hat, it seemed like you were upset. And I didn't know if you still wanted to go. That's all," she said.

Cassie raised an eyebrow, "I'm okay. Let's roll, sister," she said, grabbing her purse and walking out of the room.

Backstage antics had already begun when the girls arrived at the venue and carried on throughout all the bands that played. The girls joined in and were kept well entertained. When it was time for Sing It Loud to go on, the girls followed them out and watched their friends take the stage.

Just before Justin Pierre's part in We're Not Afraid, Pat began to talk to the crowd, "This next part of the song was sung on the CD by a great guy by the name of Justin Pierre. Unfortunately, he's unable to be here tonight, but we have a really good friend who has an amazing voice who just so happens to be standing on the side of the stage. What do you say you guys make some noise and see if you can get out girl Angie to come out here and sing with us," he said.

The crowd screamed and it didn't take long for Angie to run out to the middle of the stage. Pat handed her the microphone and she sang the part flawlessly. When she finished, she gave the mic back to Pat and he leaned down and kissed her cheek.

"Everyone give it up for Angie. That girl can out sing anyone," he said.

Angie grinned from ear to ear as she ran back to the side of the stage, returning to her spot next to Cassie. They watched as the boys played the rest of their set and then make their way to the side of the stage, leaving the crowd standing there in the dark, shouting for an encore.

Ben was getting ready to lead the band out onto the stage when they realized Pat had disappeared. They all looked at each other and everyone shrugged. He hadn't said anything to anyone and no one had seen him leave. And then he came jogging back, motioning for the guys to go back out. He winked as he ran past Cassie and grabbed his guitar, tossing the strap over his shoulder as he returned to the middle of the stage.

"Alright you guys," he said to the crowd, "I've got a little surprise for everyone, my band included. Our friend recorded a song with us that we sang earlier without him because he wasn't here. Well, he just showed up, completely unexpected and wants to know if he can make it up to everyone by singing this last song with us. Is that okay with you guys?" he asked and the crowed cheered loudly.

"I'm all tied up and I'm trying my best to get down. Come on girl, Come around, come around. I'll wait up all night just to see you moved. And for the past few days I've been doing my best to move on. Baby, baby shake it up and come along. Let's take a ride and forget this town tonight."

Cassie heard him before she saw him walking out onto the stage from the side opposite her. His hair was a mess and he looked like he hadn't slept in days. Her heart pounded as the crowd caught sight of him and erupted into excited screams and cheers.

"Late night, bring back the heat some more. What's right, I don't know what I'm waiting for. It takes all that I have just to move along. It takes all that I have, it takes all that I have," Pat sang and nodded at Alex, who then took over.

"Last call, that's what I said tonight. Passed out, lose control in the fading light," he sang and looked straight at Cassie for the next part, "So many nights spent with you in the beginning, it takes awhile getting used to having nothing. I would give all I have just to be what you need until the end. I'd give myself to be me and to hold you close again."

Both boys launched into the chorus and Alex's eyes left her. He turned his attention to the crowd and smiled as they continued. Anyone close enough to him could see that it wasn't a real smile, but he faked it well for the kids.

"Exposed and you're my weakness, I'll take this day by day," Pat sang.

"Exposed and you're my weakness, there's nothing left for me," Alex continued.

"Exposed and you're my weakness, I'll take this day by day."

"Exposed and you're my weakness, for loss of words to say," Alex sang, his eyes finding Cassie's for a brief moment before she turned them to the floor.

As they finished up the song, Cassie turned and walked quickly off the stage, hoping she could find some place to hide. Some place that Alex wouldn't find her. But as usual, luck was not on her side. She hadn't gotten far when she felt a hand wrap around her arm, pulling her back in the direction she was running from.

She spun around and tears immediately filled her eyes. Being so close to him was harder than being away from him. As mad and hurt as she was, she missed him. She wanted to throw her arms around him and have everything be okay. But she wasn't a little girl and she knew that life didn't work that way.

"I'm sorry, Cassandra," he said after what seemed like hours of standing there, "You were right. And I know I messed up. But please forgive me. Please take me back."

"Apologizing doesn't fix everything, Alex. It doesn't fix anything," she said, tears falling down her face.

"I know! I'm asking for a chance to try to fix things though. I never meant for any of this to happen. I just wanted to make you happy," he said, desperation creeping into his voice.

"I didn't need you to make me happy! I made myself happy. All I wanted was for you to share that with me."

He sighed, letting go of her arm and running his hand over his face, "I can't even put into words how shitty I feel and how much I miss you, how much I miss us. Can we give this another shot?" he asked.

Before she could answer, he grabbed her arms and pulled her toward him, leaning down and pressing his lips to hers. When her brain registered what he was doing, she responded, but then pulled away quickly. He looked at her and watched fresh tears fell from her eyes and stared into them as she broke both of their hearts.

"I can't," she said, "I'm sorry, but I can't do this, Alex."