In This Starless City

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I woke up the next day to find more than just my three boys in my hotel room.

Oliver was in the bed next to min, blankets pulled up to his ears and with one leg out of under the covers and dangling off the side of the mattress. Brandon had stolen the comforters from my and Oliver's beds and was wrapped from head to foot in them. I could only tell it was him by the muss of dark brown hair that was visible on one end.

I tossed my blankets aside and stepped to the floor, peering into the other room. Nathan was snoring lightly on the hid-a-bed and that's when I noticed the five other boys scattered about the hotel room.

The first I noticed was Alex Gaskarth who I almost kicked in the head because he had passed out at the foot of my bed. Rian was asleep in the arm chair next to Nathan's bed with his feet resting next to Nathan's pillow. Zack was asleep on the floor and beside him I saw Brendon Urie. I couldn't help but smile.

Then, last but not least, there was Alex Marshall, who after escorting me back here, insisted on staying and being sure that none of my friends brought home disease ridden tramps. Obviously, he had done his job well. Not one slut in sight (with the exception of Gaskarth).

I glanced at the clock on the wall. It was almost one thirty and knowing full well that all of the guys would be awake, hung over, and bitchy within an hour or so, I decided to be the designated coffee fetcher.

I slid a pair of jeans and a hoodie on and grabbed my cell phone and a room key before walking out the door, carefully and quietly shutting it behind me.

As I walked down the hall, I realized with bemusement that Jack wasn't in the hotel room with others. Was he pissed at me for leaving with him and with Alex instead? Maybe he didn't even come back with the guys and instead returned to the hotel he had originally been staying at. Or maybe, just maybe, he didn't stay in our room because he didn't come back alone.

My stomach flopped and I gagged at the thought of him picking up some random chick at that club.

I took the elevator down and realized that the complimentary breakfast service was preparing to close. Hastily, I grabbed nine cups and filled them with the medium blend coffee. There were trays sitting nearby and I snatched one and began placing the filled cups on it. Once they were all filled, I put lids on all of them and then started back toward the elevator.

I then realized just how difficult it was to press a button while balancing and trying not to spill a tray of nine scalding hot cups of coffee.

I knew I would not be able to hold the tray with just one hand and no matter how hard I tried to kick my foot up to press the button that way, I just couldn't risk toppling over and spilling the liquid in my arms.

Frustrated, I blew the strand of my bangs out of my eyes and glared at the up button that so taunted me. Then, I decided to use my hand and just risk spilling everything. I turned my arm around under the tray and out stretched a finger, but the button was higher on the wall than expected. Becoming more frustrated, I got to my tip toes and continued to attempt to press the button.

Then, I felt my weight becoming unbalanced and I had to flatten my feet to keep from falling over. I huffed again and then a hand appeared and pressed the button. I turned to see Jack standing there, an amused grin on his mouth.

"Having some difficulties?" he laughs lightly.

I smiled at him without even having to think about it; despite the anger still bubbling around inside me from the night before. "Nope," I say jokingly.

The elevator doors slid open and Jack looked at me, smiling and waiting for me to step inside before he did. I walked forward, as did Jack, and the doors slid closed and he pressed the button for our floor.

I stood quietly on one side of the elevator, staring down at the lids on the cups of coffee. I could feel an awkward silence crawling into the air between Jack and me. I could also sense him looking at me now and then. I wondered if this elevator was traveling slower than usual just to torture me.

"Gathering coffee for the hung over?" Jack asks with forced ease. I looked sideways at him quickly before nodding and allowing the tense air to return. Jack sighed and I saw him run his hand across the back of his neck and then into his hair, ruffling it nervously. "Look," he breathes and I looked at him, caught off guard by the remorse in his voice. "About last night," he took another breath. "I should've stuck to my word," he finally looked up and his eyes met mine. "I don't really know what I was thinking," he paused and shuffled his feet, averting his eyes only for a millisecond. "I'm sorry."

I was staring him down and his regretful expression tuned to one of fear as I continued to glare unyielding at him. Then, I smiled genuinely. "All is forgive, Jackie boy."

Whether or not I truly meant what I had said didn't matter because the smile that emerged on Jack's face made it impossible to stay mad in that moment. He walked over to me and placed a hand on top of the cup. "Is one of these for me?" he inquires with a hopeful grin and only then did I notice the rings under his eyes.

Curiosity stepped in and seized my vocal cords. "Depends," I say and he looked at me. "Did you bring a hooker home last night?"

He snorted and I couldn't tell if he was going to answer for a moment. "No, I didn't." For some reason, a knot I hadn't noticed in my stomach beforehand loosened and disappeared when he said that and I couldn't help but sigh almost silently in relief.

The elevator lurched to a stop and I stumbled slightly forward, but Jack's hands caught my forearms and he steadied me, grinning faintly.

I tried to hide the goofy smile that I knew was wanting to show on my face, but couldn't and instead blinked at Jack. "In that case," I made to answer his previous question. "Yes, one of these coffees is for you." He beamed and snagged a cup off the tray, sipping it quietly behind me as I stepped off the elevator. "After last night, I'd be a fool not to get one especially for you."

He was walking beside me and I saw him roll his eyes. "Har har," he says.

I walked into the hotel room to see that Oliver, Rian, and Alex Marshall had all stirred awake and were just barely removing themselves from their resting places when they saw me bearing hot drinks.

Oliver was the first to meet me, taking a cup from the tray and placing a thankful kiss on my cheek. I watched him return to his bed to lie down, holding his head which I could only presume was pounding.

Rian also grabbed a coffee as I passed him. "You're my favorite, hands down." He says after thanking me and taking a long swig of the coffee. I smiled and continued to the small kitchen area that was between the bedroom and living room. I set the tray of coffee on the counter before grabbing my purse off the foot of my bed, narrowly missing Gaskarth's ear with my foot. I dug around until I found my handy dandy bottle of Aspirin. Then, I placed it on the counter beside the coffee, pleased to see several more cups gone.

You are a saint," Brendon says with a tired smile as he brought his drink to his lips, smiling wider when I dropped two white painkillers into his palm.

By now, everyone in the room had been woken up y the movement and chatter and all were relieved and thankful to see the coffee and Aspirin sitting conveniently nearby.

Nathan and Brandon both did the same as Oliver and planted thanking kisses on my cheek when they took their caffeinated drinks. I gave a small smile as they walked back to their beds but my smile disappeared when I turned to see Alex Gaskarth standing there, smiling expectantly.

"Do I have the same honor?" he asks, his eyes sparkling mischievously regardless of how tired and bloodshot they were.

I scoffed as I placed two pills in his hand. "Maybe in some other dimension, Alex."

"Fingers crossed," Alex calls as I walked away from him. I rolled my eyes to myself as I walked toward Alex Marshall who was sitting at the table quietly, smiling when he grinned at me.

"Oh the joy of taking care of hung over friends," I Alex says softly, not wishing to antagonize any of the pounding heads in the room.

I sat down in the seat across from him and exhaled, hearing him chuckle quietly. "To be completely honest, I'm surprised I woke up alone in bed," I say ad Alex had to stifle his laughter, again for the sake of the hung over.

It was remarkable how much more quickly the transition between hung over and formidable was when coffee and Aspirin was thrown into the equation.

Within an hour of waking up, everyone in the room was as bright eyed and bushy tailed s anyone that had been shit faced could be. Of course, it was past two o'clock so there were only a handful of things we could do to stay entertained.

"Isn't there a pool there?" Zack asks through a yawn, interrupting the movie we had all been watching for the past hour or so.

The whole room erupted into fervent chatter and I frowned, trying to focus on the movie that was playing, but all the boys were making my task increasingly difficult. Finally, after five minutes of swimming discussion and after missing five minutes of dialogue in the movie, I snatched the remote control from the couch cushions and turned the television off.

"Okay, well let's go," Brandon says, standing from the arm chair and walking toward his suitcase. "No offense, but that movie was getting a little boring anyway."

All of the boys were now mingling about the room, asking about swim wear that was available. I found it amazing that almost all of the boys in the room were around the same size because they all borrowed shorts and swim trunks from Oliver, Brandon, and Nathan.

I stayed seated on the couch, trying not to stare dumbly at all of the amazing and shirtless guys that now stood before me.

"Charlotte, don't even think about staying up here and being a Debbie Downer," Nathan says, crossing his arms and staring at me, causing the rest of the boys to stare too. "There are nine of us and only one of you."

I glared. "You wouldn't dare,"

Wild smirks appeared and in a rare moment of male telepathy, all of the boys darted toward me simultaneously. But before they got too close, I jumped off the couch and turned back to them, holding up my hands and surrendering.

"Okay, okay, give me five minutes to change and I'll meet you down there," I say breathily.

Nathan pumped a fist in the air before sprinting out the door after Gaskarth and Brendon. I turned to my suitcase and fished out my swimming suit. I heard the front door slam closed I took it as the 'all clear' to change. I pulled off my shirt and my pants and my underwear.

As I continued to change, I wondered why I had brought the swimming suit I had: it was a black bikini that had grey and white circular designs sewn into it. And as much as hated to admit it, it as not modest at all.

Now, I wasn't an annoying girl that did nothing but whine about my weight or physique. Quite the contrary actually: I was perfectly content with my body.

I had naturally light tanned skin and was skinny from years of running and exercise in high school and when I was younger. My parents were slight health nuts. Thy loved to help me stay fit when it was what I wanted to do.

However, no matter how pleased I was with my body, I was no slut and I was certainly not looking for a job with Skinamax or Playboy. So, as soon as I had my suit on, I wrapped a towel under my arms and around my torso. No need for an entire hotel of perverse thoughts.

I took the elevator down and walked into the pool area, smirking at Gaskarth when Oliver splashed him in the eyes. Jack swam to the edge and climbed out after I had walked by.

"Get in, Charlotte!" Alex Gaskarth says, his voice reverberating off the walls and I noticed it was only the ten of us in the room. Alex swam to the edge closest to me and wiggled his eye brows.

"Yeah," Oliver cut in before I could berate the lead singer. "We need someone else to play chicken!"

"We are not playing chicken with nine guys and one girl," Rian interrupts with a laugh.

"Regardless," Brendon comments from the hot top. "Get in the water!" he sang, jumping out of the hot water and jumping into the cold.

Now I've said it once before and I'll say it again for emphasis or until everyone in the world knows it: I hate being the center of attention. It's awkward, quiet, and mortifying to me so I'd rather avoid at all costs. However, such was not the case the moment I unraveled that towel from around my body and tossed it onto the chair that was sitting nearby.

The eyes of every boy n the room widened and jaws dropped until chins touched he surface of the pool. I put my hand on my neck and ruffled my hair a little, the uncomfortable silence making me wish I had stayed upstairs.

Then, there were a pair of arms around me and I was being pushed forward hard and then, I was underwater and I could hear muffled laughter above the surface.

I rose to the air and gasped, rubbing the water out of my eyes so that I could peer around, looking for the saboteur. Not far from me, Jack was laughing and looking guilty. Toss my hair off my shoulder, I launched at him, planting my hands firmly on my shoulders and pushing, forcing his head underwater and laughing victoriously along with the others as I released him.

He surfaced and whipped his head around, water flinging out of his hair, glaring playfully at me. But before he could get me back, I splashed him again and turned to the other guys. "So, chicken anyone?"

My company agreed.