She's Dancing Alone

I sat against the off-white sofa Alex and Lisa owned staring at a plant on the window ledge behind the flat screen. I watched as a small spider hung from one of the brightest leaves, dangling from nothing more than the sticky residue it left behind. If anyone or anything came along and snapped it the spider would fall and after it hit the floor it would have to climb back up and begin its quest again.

“No don’t worry about it, okay, bye,” Lisa smiled as she re-entered the room and placed the phone in its cradle beside me.

“Who are you so smiley for?” I asked with a raised brow. She rolled her eyes and sat a coffee mug down on the glass coffee table.

“I’m not smiley I’m just a nice person,” she retorted. “And it was Jack; he was asking if Alex was here. I told him he’d be a few hours,” she nodded answering the questions that were running through my head. I nodded once in understanding as she reached forward and grabbed both the mug and the remote for the TV before sitting back in her seat. She turned the power on, flicking through the channels for a brief moment before finally settling on MTV. After half an episode of cribs had finished it cut to a commercial break. A car could be heard pulling up in the driveway but I thought nothing of it. Lisa took to her feet whilst I kept my eyes on the images flooding my vision. After looking out of the window she walked into another room. I yawned quietly as the door flew open.

“Hey,” I absently greeted the figure in my peripheral vision as I leaned forwards to grab the remote.

“Hey,” I heard a more than familiar male voice. I jumped slightly realising it wasn’t the one I’d been expecting.

“Jack what are you doing here? You nearly gave me a heart attack! And I thought Lisa said Alex wasn’t coming home for a while?” I asked with a hint of frustration to my tone. Jack raised his eyebrow in the direction of the door Lisa had disappeared into and simply shrugged before taking a seat next to me. I rolled my eyes, leaning on my side only to have Jack place his hands on either side of me. I was taken back, trying to move from under him only to have him push me back. “Jack,” I began trying to sound stern through my wavering voice. “What are you doing?” I asked seriously. A small smile broke out on his face and he attempted to push me backwards and hovered over me. “Jack,” I repeated louder.

“You miss having us all around right?” He asked looking me dead in the eyes. I frowned at his odd behaviour to which he tilted his head.

“What’s this got to do with anything?” I asked.

“Answer me,” he commanded to which I let a single eyebrow rise.

“I’m not answering anything until you tell me what you’ve got up your sleeve,” I shook my head firmly. He let out a low sigh before studying my features.

“Trust me. Just answer me,” he replied softly. I hesitated for a small moment before slowly replying.

“Yes. Now answer my question,” I commanded. A grin broke out on his face but he ignored my previous instruction.

“Do you like it that much that you’d take time away from everyone else to spend time with us?” He asked with a serious look to his face. I let out a sigh, shifting from beneath him so we were both sat up in our original positions. I stared down at my fingers entwined in my lap.

“Honestly?” I asked avoiding eye contact with him.

“Yeah,” I heard him reply faintly from beside me before placing a reassuring hand on my shoulder. I let a smile twitch at my lips before looking up at him.

“I guess I would,” I began as I looked at his sparkling dark eyes. “High school was,” I tried before shaking my head and dropping my glance to the space between us. He squeezed a little on my shoulder urging me on. “High school was the best days of our lives,” I mumbled before shrugging as if I was nonchalant.

“They were,” he agreed. I looked back up at him and took in his face. I hadn’t taken a real look at him in years, other than the obvious change in hair nothing much seemed out of place. I could feel his eyes roam my face as I did his. His eyes still held the same shine. He wasn’t as pale as before, obviously from the constant touring in fabulous weather, but this only added to his radiance. I glanced along his nose, noticing the crook in it.

“What happened?” I asked to which he frowned in confusing. I brought my hand to his face, pressing one of my fingertips lightly to where the crook was. His face washed over with a knowing look and he chuckled lightly as he took my hand away and played with it in his own.

“I broke my nose stage diving at a show. Tour’s insane. You never really know what’ll happen,” he explained shaking his head and smiling at the memory. He glided his fingers down the length of my own and I could see him staring off over my shoulder. He eventually let out a low sigh and looked back up so his eyes met mine. “That’s actually what I was going to ask you,” he sighed. His fingers stopped moving over my own and he bit down on his lip gently. “I’ve checked things over with all our managers and,” he started before stopping and smiling weakly.

“Jack come on you’re making me nervous,” I muttered. I wasn’t expecting anything like the question I was about to be asked. It was probably the last thing on my mind. It would be one that would change anything I had in mind for the future, and the outcome would be one that could affect all of the relationships I had developed so far.

“I was wondering if you wanted to come out on tour with us.”