This Is What Happens When Love Meets Destruction

Shivering slightly, I crossed my arms in front of my chest and leaned in toward Jack. Jack took the hint and laughed to himself before he wrapped his arms around my shoulders, hugging me to him. I silently thanked the warmth that his body was emitting, and then rested my head against his chest, wishing that I had remembered to bring a coat.

"I guess your pops had a right to be worried about that dress of yours." Jack said, rubbing his hands up and down my back to help me warm up. "It doesn't provide much warmth." He teased.

"You didn't seem to have a problem with it when you first saw me five minutes ago." I grinned.

"Hey, I'm not complaining or anything, simply pointing out the one set back." He replied with a soft laugh.

"It's actually not that bad." I lied as I pulled away from him.

"Yeah," he smirked, "that's why your have Goose bumps galore on your arms." He said, pinching a little bit of my arm.

"Hey, no touching." I said, karate chopping his arm away from me.

Jack laughed loudly in response as he gave me an amused look. "What the fuck was that?" He grinned.

"My ninja skills." I joked. "Watch this one." I added when I went to do another move, but at that moment, the float we were on started to move, sending me crashing into Jack, and my fist crashing into his nose. I stared at Jack in shock for a few seconds, my mouth hanging open before I regained my senses and quickly helped Jack up. "Oh shit, Jack, I'm so sorry." I said hurriedly as I examined his nose. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Jack said slowly. "Is it bleeding?"

"No," I mumbled, "it's just a little red. Fuck, I'm so sorry." I repeated as I helped him to his feet.

Across the way, I heard someone snickering, and I looked up, spotting Amy and Alex sitting comfortably on one of the chairs. I scowled at Amy, who in turn gave me a disgusted look, whereas Alex gave me a cute smile and got up, carefully crossing the float to help me dust off Jack's tuxedo jacket.

"Looks like Vinnie really put the hurts on you, Jack." Alex laughed.

"Shit, I guess so." Jack replied, rubbing his nose while he gave me one of his crooked smiles.

"Well, they could have at least warned us to take a seat before they started moving." I said defensively.

"They did." Alex said. "You were too busy trying to hurt each other, that you didn't even hear them."

"I didn't do anything on purpose." I huffed.

"Yeah, okay, don't get so defensive." Alex laughed. "Come on you two; sit down and look pretty for the fans." He instructed.

Giving Jack on last look to make sure that he was alright, I took his hand and mine and followed Alex across the float, taking a seat on the other side of him, while Jack took the empty seat on the other side of me. The ride around the track of the football field seemed to take forever, and my hands felt like they were on the verge of frostbite before we finally made it to the little stage that had been set up in front of the home crowd seats.

One by one, the announcer introduced us and our escorts. First Sarah was called down, then Nessie, and then Amy, which meant that I was the last one to be introduced.

"If I trip in these heels, Jack, you'd better make damn sure you catch me before I fall." I insisted.

Jack merely smiled, and then nodded his head before the announcer spoke up once again.

"And last but not least, our final candidate for Homecoming Queen this year, Victoria Nava and her escort, the one and only, Jack Barakat."

"Smile and look pretty for the cameras babe." Jack encouraged me with a reassuring smile and then held his arm out for me.

Looking back up at him with a small smile in return, I slid my arm through his and let him lead me carefully from the float to the stage where we stood next to Alex and Amy. I glanced around nervously, seeing that the king candidates had already been introduced, as their float had been in front of ours. Clutching tightly to Jack's arm, I watched at the ASB and Senior Class presidents made their way to the stage, packing the crown and tiara with them.

"And now the moment you've all been waiting for ladies and gentlemen, this years Homecoming Kind and Queen are," the announcer paused for dramatic effect, "Jaden Cole and Victoria Nava."

I felt my cheeks start to flush deeply as the crowd cheered happily for us, and Jack nudged me forward so that our Senior Class president could crown me. After that, Jaden and I were swept off in a blur, posing for pictures everywhere we looked; I barely had time to remember to smile for all of them. Finally, after the camera owners were satisfied with their pictures, we were released, and allowed to go back to our business.

Jaden hugged me one last time, and told me congratulations before he disappeared into the crowd. I received other congratulations from many of my friends before I was able to find my way back to Jack.

"Well, well, well, Ms. I'm-not-gonna-win." He teased as he pulled me into a tight hug. "Congratulations, Vinnie."

"Thanks." I whispered. "I think it was the posters." I added with a soft laugh as I pulled away from him.

"Oh, definitely." He agreed. He opened his mouth to say something else, but stopped himself short when we heard someone else calling my name. Tearing my eyes from Jack, I looked over and saw Alex and Amy at the far end of the stage. Alex leaned over, exchanging a few words with Amy before he released her hand, and hurried over to us.

"Vinnie, congrats." He smiled as he pulled me out of Jack's grasp, and hugged me. "You look beautiful tonight, by the way." He added before he pulled away. He stared at me, a mischievous look in his eyes and a sly smile on his face before he turned to Jack. "See you guys at the dance?"

"Yup." Jack confirmed. "See you there."

"Alright." Alex grinned. "Later guys."

I watched as Alex made his way back to Amy, who once again had a sour look on her face. I couldn't help but frown slightly as she started to yell indistinguishable words at him as he got closer, and then did my best to fight the urge to go over there, and punch her in her face. Alex didn't deserve to be yelled at like that, no matter what he did.

"Uh oh, Amy's not happy about something." Jack mumbled as he slipped his hand in mine.

"Amy is rarely happy about anything." I sighed, looking up at him.

Jack wrinkled his nose slightly before his eyes lit up, and a smile once again pulled across his lips. "Ready for the dance?" He asked.

I nodded my head as I squeezed his hand tightly. "I think my mom and pops will most likely want some pictures before we go, though." I said.

"Okay." He said. He glanced around slightly before he turned back to me, and then leaned over, kissing me softly. I felt shy at first, having this been the first time that Jack has kissed me in public, apart from the time he had kissed me after we had dinner, but that was different; we weren't standing in front of the bleachers, where many of our friends had a clear view of us. After a while, though, I got over myself and kissed him back, not caring who saw until someone whistled at us.

"Yeah! Go Jack!" A voice I recognized to belong to Rian yelled out from somewhere in the crowd, which sparked some more cheers and cat calls.

Jack laughed nervously as he pulled away, and then tugged on my hand. "Come on," he said, "lets go find the parents."

With that, Jack escorted me through the crowd, either one of us keeping an eye out for our parents. I crossed my fingers, and hoped that by some miracle, my dad hadn't seen me kissing Jack. Not that my dad had anything against Jack, my dad was just one of those dads. Way too overprotective. It didn't really matter if he did see us, though, it didn't matter what he said to keep me away from boys. I was going to the dance tonight with Jack, regardless of whatever my dad may say.

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Laughing wildly as Jack spun me around, I found a grip on his arms just before I tripped over my own feet, and hung on long enough to steady myself.

"Jack!" I laughed, hitting his arm playfully. "No more of those spins! I almost landed on my ass that time!"

Jack laughed cutely and then nodded his head as he placed his hands on my hips, pulling me closer into a dance that wasn't exactly inappropriate, but was probably a bit more 'friendly' than the administration would like. I bit my lip, unable to deny that I preferred this kind of dance, to the spins Jack had just been putting me through. After about a minute, though, the dance ended, and Jack pulled me off toward the tables, explaining that he needed to grab something to drink. Before we got to the edge of the dance floor, though, a familiar hand found its way on top of my free hand, causing me to stop short.

"Jack, do you mind if I steal Vinnie for just one dance?" Alex asked shyly.

Jack glanced over his shoulder just long enough to make sure it was Alex before he nodded his head and released my hand. "Sure." He said, and then disappeared through the crowd, heading for the refreshments table

Hesitantly, Alex tightened his hand around mine and gently pulled me off to an empty spot on the dance floor. Shyly, he placed a hand on my hip and then used the other to hold my hand up, seeing as how it was a slow song. I looked up at Alex just long enough to see the sad and longing look in his eyes, and then felt my heart drop, knowing that he was feeling that way because of me.

"Alex," I whispered as I wrapped an arm around his shoulders, "what's wrong?"

Alex gave me a soft smile and shook his head as he started to lead me in the dance. "Nothing, just a little fight between me and Amy." He said nonchalantly.

"I saw her yelling at you earlier." I admitted.

"She's just being pissy because she didn't win, and because I didn't vote for her." Alex sighed.

"Alex," I sighed.

"Shh," was all he said in response.

I bit my lip, preventing myself from speaking my mind against my cousin, and instead rested my head on Alex's shoulder as we continued to dance. After a couple of minutes of silence, just as the song was coming to a close, Alex leaned over and whispered into my ear.

"You're amazing, Vinnie." He told me. "And no matter what happens, I'll always be here for you; I'll always love you."

He didn't give me a chance to reply, and pulled away just before the song ended, leaving me in the middle of the dance floor as I stared after him. I didn't know how to explain it, but with his words, it felt to me that Alex was telling me goodbye. Maybe not an actual goodbye, as in I'll never see you again, but the type of goodbye that said he was giving my heart back to me once and for all.

I'm a stubborn girl, but Alex is an even more stubborn boy. Alex would never accept my heart, no matter how many times I tried to give it to him. He was determined that I'd give it over to someone else.

Taking a deep breath, I let it out slowly and then made my way from the dance floor, where I found Jack to be holding two cups of punch, that was most likely spiked with some sort of alcoholic substance. Jack gave me a cute smile and held one of the cups out to me.

"Thirsty?" He asked.

Smiling, I quietly thanked him and took the cup, drinking the entire share, and made a little face when the alcohol in it nipped lightly at my tongue and throat.

"I swear, I didn't spike it." Jack said as he took the empty cup from me, and set it on an empty table. He finished what he had in his own cup, and then set it beside mine as he licked his lips, and glanced around nervously.

Watching him, I knew that Alex was right about Jack. He was nice, he was funny, he was one of the biggest sweethearts I knew. And here he was, standing before me, waiting patiently for me while I got over Alex. But ... now that Alex had given my heart back to me, didn't that mean I was free to hand it over to someone else? That someone being Jack?

Gently, I reached over and took Jack's hand in mine, bringing his attention back to me.

"Lets get out of here." I suggested.

"Where do you wanna go?" He asked. "I think it might be kinda early to head over to Rian's."

I shook my head as I stood up on my tip toes, and kissed his lips softly. "I don’t wanna go to Rian's." I said. "I wanna go home, and I want you to spend the night with me."

"But ... your parents." He said hesitantly.

"They left for New York after we took pictures." I said.

"Your brothers?"

"Cade is working the graveyard shift tonight, Casey is spending the night with his girlfriend, and I think you can take Jamie." I teased.

"I ... don’t know, Vinnie." Jack said shyly. "I'll probably get in trouble with my mom."

"Jack," I laughed, "come on, babe. Spend the night with me." I repeated with a smile that reflected how brave I was being just then.

"Well, okay." Jack grinned.

Unable to contain my excitement, I reached up and kissed him one more time before I let him lead me across the room and to the exit.