In This Starless City

That evening’s show was trouble-free with only one sex joke referring to me because my birthday was that night. I blushed madly because it had come from Jack’s mouth.

He gazed offstage with a vicious smirk and the crowd surged and screamed. He stuck his hand under his chin and wiggled his fingers at me Little Rascals style. I blushed harder and then gawked when he gestured for me to come out on stage.

I planted my feet, determined not to go out there with my cheeks as red as tomatoes, but Oliver and Nathan, in a remarkable and unforeseen ability to think alike, swept me off my feet and carried me out on stage with one of my legs each hooked over one of their shoulders.

Apparently, my bite can be as bad as my bark because once they had set me down, they both walked away massaging their opposite shoulders which I had been grasping with a death grip.

I stood between Jack and Alex, smiling coyly at the screaming, throbbing fans.

“Our dearest Miss Melancholy here will be turning twenty-one tonight at midnight, and though she’s already drinking age in this great nation of yours,” the crowd’s screamed momentarily loudened and Alex paused in his announcement. “She’ll finally be legal to drink in the U S of A!”

“And since she’s friends with us, it’s needless to say that she’ll get a lot of practice in before she comes home again,” Jack interjected, giving me a wild look

“And speaking of drinking,” Alex says as I gave a dramatic bow to the beaming crowd. “You’ve got me poppin’ champagne!”

And the dove into their next song as I exited offstage.

Later, after the show and meet and greets were finished, we returned to our hotel. Upon arriving, my phone rang in my pocket. It was coming from home.

“Happy birthday!” My parents sang in unison, their voices echoing through our house. I smiled.

“Thanks, but we still have three hours,” The boys and I were in the elevator, heading to our floor to get changed for our rambunctious evening to come.

“We know, but we wanted to be the first to tell you since we’re the most important,” I could practically hear their smiles through the speaker.

“Well, if you’re the most important, what does it matter what place you come in at when telling me happy birthday?” They were silent and I had to laugh. “What are you two doing tonight?”

“Well, we were planning on celebrating with you,” my heart skipped. “Going out tonight?”

“Actually, yes. We’re going to be at Cross Keys around eleven.” I failed to mention my hidden agenda with Jack.

But thank goodness my mother is as sharp as I am. Did you catch the sarcasm?

“Why the wait? What are you going to be doing between then and now?” she asked and I could hear she had taken me off of speakerphone. She and I both knew that any boy would have to withstand my dad’s questionnaire before going anywhere alone with me.

“I’m going out with the boys for a little alone time,” I didn’t really want to put up with her worrying. I was turning twenty-one, for crying out loud.

Her silence told me that she didn’t buy my excuse. “Well, call us when you’re at Cross Keys and we’ll be there as soon as we can.” I had to keep myself from sighing in relief. “Oh, and Shawn is home.”

The sigh that I had shoved down bubbled up and was released in the form of an ecstatic squeal, causing everyone in the hall to look at me. I hadn’t seen Shawn, my brother, since I moved to America. Aside from the occasional phone call, but oh so frequent e-mail, I hadn’t talked to him that often either.

“Is he coming out tonight too?” I ask excitedly.

“Of course he is. So hurry up with your date!” And she hung up before I could object.

I went to my room (since, for whatever reason, I had mine to myself) and darted immediately to my suitcase, flipping it open and shuffling through my outfits.

I hadn’t been this giddy for too long. My stomach was aching, but in a good way, my heart was pounding way too fast, and for the life of me I could not get the smile off of my face.

I tried outfits on, looked myself over in the mirror, and gagged in the mirror at least six times by the time I realized how obsessive I was being. I was standing in front of the full height mirror wearing black skinnies, a black and white striped shirt, and black flats, thinking that I looked like an escapee from jail.

That’s when I saw the purple, layered skirt hanging out of the side of my suitcase. I gazed at it for a long moment, and then decided to take a swing for the fences. I stripped my pants off and ran to the bathroom, running the water in the bath and quickly shaving my legs.

I walked back out and pulled the skirt on, adjusting it and then switching into my yellow fitted tee. I pulled on my black and white high-top Chucks and then looked at myself in the mirror.

The girl I saw was not who I expected. I ran my hands under my hair and threw it forward on my shoulders, combing my fingers through it roughly. I felt like a different person looking into that mirror.

I tugged on my hair in indecisive nervousness, pacing around the living area of my hotel room. Finally, I decided that if Jack wasn’t going to come over and get m like I was somewhat anticipating he would, I would go to his room and retrieve him.

I snatched my phone off of the comforter on the bed and then opened the door to my room, stepping straight into Jack who was standing with his fist raised, ready to knock. To my surprise, he didn’t jump away from me and to my even greater shock, neither did I.

I looked up at him and saw his lips twitch upward. “Hey Charlotte,” he purrs, his dark brown eyes piercing but warm.

I could feel his body heat against me and I reluctantly took a half-step back so that I could look at him up and down, trying to act like I wasn’t enjoying every second of doing so. “You sure can dress up,” I comment with a wry smile. I appreciated that he didn’t go out of his way to impress m. He was wearing what he’d wear were it any other day with a few exceptions here and there. For one, he color coordinated, which I wouldn’t have noticed if it hadn’t been so blatantly obvious.

Black was his color that evening. He was wearing black skinnies, a black shirt with blatant, vibrant bold lettering that spelt out JAGK on the front, and over that was a dark gray jacket. He had the collar popped, making me smile. Of course, I would’ve definitely objected if he didn’t have on his signature baseball cap, but he did. It was white though. And it just made his already gorgeous dark eyes stand out even more.

My imagination was getting away from me but I was able to real it back in as Jack’s voice sliced through my thought process like a hot knife through butter.

“You look…” he began but trailed off as his eyes traveled. “You…” he was stepping toward me and his hands were on my hips. “Fucking beautiful. Fucking…gorgeous. Fucking…amazing.” He was applying pressure onto my hips now and I could do nothing, say nothing, but let him push me into my hotel room. By the time we had gotten all the way inside, our mouths ere attached.

“You know, we really should stop doing this,” I managed to breathe while my mouth and his trailed across my jaw.

In a very Jack-like move, he swung me around and backed me against the closing door an the added pressure of both of our bodies against it made a nice loud slamming noise that ricocheted down the hall. I winced at the sound, causing him to grin. “That’s what you get,” I bit my lip and grinned up at him.

He brought his mouth back down o mine but before I could get lost in the moment, I turned my face away from his, laughing quietly. But he didn’t hesitate in connecting his lips to my pulse point, turning my innocent chuckle into a breathy almost-moan.

“Who’s the fucking tease now?” I challenge, turning to him so quickly that he flinched and backed away slightly, laughing. He made to kiss me again, but I put my finger on his mouth. “We can’t do this now. We have a date to go on.”

Jack kissed my fingertips before removing my hand and bringing his face closer to mine again. “I’m quite aware, darling” he tried to mock my accent. “But you should know that I’ll probably be doing a lot of this,” he kissed me again. “all night.”

“Well, thanks for the warning.” I responded.

Again, he pressed his lips to mine, almost cutting me off. “Anytime.” He opened the door for me, gesturing extravagantly to sugarcoat it, and I murmured what a corny gentleman he was.

><><><

We ate at a restaurant of my choice since I knew the area better than Jack, and quite frankly, I thought we’d be kicked out before our food arrived because of how obnoxious we were being. ‘That’s what she said’ jokes and ridiculous but hilarious stories saturated our conversation. After eating and a five-minute argument, Jack managed to slip the waiter his credit card to pay without me noticing. Outraged, he allowed me the courtesy of choosing where we’d go next, explaining that it was “All About Charlotte” night being as it was almost my birthday. I wasn’t buying it, however. If he wanted to me happy, he really only needed to be around.

We walked out of the restaurant, much to the relief of the employees there, and walked across the street to a park that was beautifully lit by old fashion streetlamps. It was almost eleven and the temperature had dropped since Jack and I had first arrived at the restaurant and I could feel goose bumps rising on my skin. A shaky breath escaped me and it didn’t go unheard, much to my chagrin. Jack looked at me, noticed the tremors in my limbs, and wasted no time in slipping his arms out of his jacket.

“You don’t have to…” I tried to interject as he placed it around my shoulders.

“Shut up.” He cuts me off lightly. And shut up I did as I slid my arms into the sleeves of his coat. I immediately warmed up, not to mention the delirium-causing aroma that suddenly enveloped me. He took my hand in his and pulled me forward once more, and I followed, not like a puppy after its master, but more like a girl that would be missed if she didn’t.

“You’re quiet,” he murmurs after a few steps of silence. “Something on your mind?”

I shrugged. “I just have a feeling that this birthday is going to be a great one,” I looked up at him and he was looking at the cobblestone path ahead of us. “Knock on wood.”

“Do you know what your first drink is going to be?” he was grinning excitedly.

“What’s your favorite?” I ask.

He inhaled through clenched teeth, making a hissing tone. “That’s a toughie,” he says thoughtfully, blinking toward the star-strewn sky. “Really any kind of beer. Vodka. Schnapps.” He trailed off as he continued the list under his breath. “I guess I’ll drink anything, really.”

I laughed. “Then you’ll be my designated drink orderer tonight.”

“You got it, baby cakes,” he gave me a cheesy salute and I rolled my eyes at him before I felt my phone go off in my pocket.

“Hello?”

“Where are you?” It was my mom.

“In the park north of downtown. Where are you?” I looked sideways at Jack when I heard his phone go off as well.

“Downtown at Cross Keys. We’re all waiting for you to get here so we can get the party shots ready. And did you even think about your license?”

My breath was knocked out of me. “Shit,” I murmured.

My mom laughed. “Quite the adult you’ve developed into. You can thank your father for taking care of it for you, potty mouth.”

My breath was knocked back into me in the form of a relieved sigh. “I love you guys,” Another thought sprang to my forebrain. “Is Shawn with you?”

I imagined her looking around the club. “Not that I can see,” my anticipation dropped slightly. “I don’t know if he’ll show. You know how your brother is.”

“I thought I did,” I murmured to myself as my hope dropped further, but I faked it as I heard Jack talking on his phone “We’ll be there in ten,” and I hung up.

Jack was still on the phone after I had slid mine back into my pocket, and though I was trying to listen to his side of the conversation he was having, I was also being dragged off against my will to a dark corner of my consciousness. A part that I can successfully smother anytime…expect when my own family lets me down.

“Okay,” Jack says in a low tone at my side, but I barely heard it. “Okay, you got it,” Though he was practically whispering, I could hear the excitement in his voice. There was something he was keeping from me and I knew it by the smile on his face when he hung up his phone.

“Who was that?” I ask distractedly, trying to find my way back to the light, the warmth, which I’ve found surrounds Jack Barakat.

“Alex,” he answers. “They’re all waiting for us downtown.”

“What’s with the secrecy?” I inquire, looking at him and he responded with a perplexed look. “You were whispering that entire phone call.”

He looked forward and I saw him swallow. “Well, you were talking on your phone and I knew it was your mom so I tried to keep my voice down in case she didn’t know you were out with me.” Then it was my turn to swallow. “Who’s Shawn?”

My hope slipped again. “My brother,” I mumbled, kicking a rock. “He’s twenty-three and I haven’t seen him since I moved overseas.”

The hearty mood that had been with u all night up to that point had vanished, only to be replaced with bitterness (on my part, at least).

Jack tried to cheer me up. “But he’ll be at the party, right?”

I gave a weak shrug. “I don’t know,”

I heard Jack murmur something about that being bullshit and were it any other situation concerning my brother, I probably would’ve been outraged and ripped Jack a new one. But I agreed; my brother missing my twenty-first birthday—which was taking place across the fucking Atlantic Ocean for his convenience—was indeed bullshit.

Jack tugged on my hand. “Come on. Let’s get downtown so we can get you shit-faced!” He was determined to get my good mood back.

We got to Cross Keys and I couldn’t describe in words how great it felt not having to get huge purple X’s or circles drawn on the backs of my hands. However, where I had expected a packed room there was nothing and no one. The music was off, the bartenders stood behind the counter just wiping glasses and looking at me curiously, and Jack and I stood at the doorway, both confused.

Hurt crashed over me and I looked at Jack in despair. But he was looking very cool about the situation, and before I could get pissed off, he clapped his hands twice.

The lights shot on and the previously empty room blossomed to life with bodies, balloons, and confetti. “Happy birthday, Charlotte!” The entire congregation yelled together, making my heart skip and my face to break into a painfully huge smile. Jack slid his fingers between mine again.

“I called in a favor,” I said with his mouth pressed to my ear. “And by ‘called in’, I actually mean…”

“Twitter.” I finished for him.

My eyes scanned the room and recognized face after face, names racing across my mind as I made a list of those to torment for making the trip. William Beckett and Gabe Saporta were the first I saw, standing side by side, like always, each holding a beer. Wentz was there and I saw him because I saw Brendon and Spencer beaming at me from his side. Alex Marshall had a glass raised to me from the barstool beside Gaskarth, Rian, and Zack.

And in the very forefront, there were my parents, Nathan, Brandon, and Oliver, and all smiling at me.

I sprinted forward and threw myself into their open arms, my heart pounding and my veins practically burning from the happiness that was surging through them.

“I see you met my boys,” I smiled, looking around at each of them and my parents both gave joking stern faces.

“They had a bit to share with us about you,” My mom says, giving me a teasing glare. My jaw came unhinged and I looked at my guys in a look that screamed ‘treason’.

“You three are backstabbing whores!” I say, appalled.

“But you knew that when you met us,” Oliver winks, and the group laughed together.

My dad’s wounds from his accident were all but completely gone. A few scratches still showed on his face and knuckles, but he was smiling the brightest I’d seen in a long time. “You’re going to be needing this, you drunkard,” he handed me my license and I grinned down at it. “But you’ll have to get another when you go back home.”

I hugged him, thanking him and placing a kiss on his cheek.

My parents insisted on leaving then, mentioning that they’d rather not see their little girl grow up before their eyes. Before the reached the door, however, I reached them. “Where’s Shawn?”

My parents shared a distressed look. “We haven’t heard from him, sweetie,” my dad says.

Hurt boiled in my gut, but I heard the music behind me and I was shocked how it evaporated into giddiness. “That’s fine,” I brush it off shakily. “I’ll text him later.”

My parents waved me a good night before exiting and I bounded to the DJ table, snatching the mic and clearing my throat before it.

“Let’s get this fucking party started!” The entire building erupted in an agreeing cheer.