57 Hilton Street

May came trundling home from school later that day with Lottie and Alex, the boy holding her hand tight. When they reached the Barakat household, Alex noticed that Jack's window was wide open and the boy inside the room was blasting Blink 182 and singing rather loudly.

Alex looked up to the window, an almost wistful look in his eyes. Lottie elbowed him to bring him back to his senses so he could say goodbye to his girlfriend.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Alex mumbled into her ear, kissing her lightly on the cheek before leaving with his sister.

*

The atmosphere at the Barakat dinner table that night was frosty, to say the least.

"So..." Mrs Barakat started "How was your day?"

"It was... Fun." May replied, pushing her food around her plate with her fork "I hung out with Alex again."

She felt Jack tense up beside her and bit down on her lip.

"What about you, Jack?"

"I nearly broke somebody's face." Jack said bluntly, not looking up from the table.

"... That's pleasant." Mrs Barakat said quietly, trying to ignore how distant her son was being.

A few minutes later, Jack announced he was going to bed.

And he went up to his room, flopped down on his bed and tried his hardest not to cry.

Because Alex was in love with the wrong Barakat.

*

The next day, during lunch break, Jack and Rian were up in the music rooms practising when a senior stumbled in ungracefully.

"Is Miss Williams here?" The newcomer asked nervously.

Jack shook his head.

"She just went for coffee, she'll be back soon." Jack answered.

"Oh, okay. I'll just wait here." The boy wandered inside and sat down on one of the tables.

Jack turned back to Rian and mumbled something about the next song. Rian nodded and laid down a quick drum beat. Jack joined in within a few bars. There would've been singing - namely Alex - if the pair were on speaking terms with the older boy. The senior brushed his mousy brown hair from his eyes and became transfixed by the younger boys’ performance.

Miss Williams appeared in the doorway and it was a few moments before the boy noticed. When he did, he jumped up and grabbed a guitar from the corner and sidled over to her.

"Um... Miss?"

"Yes, Andrew?"

"Can I play my showcase piece for you? I don't know if it sounds okay."

"Sure. Just wait for Jack and Rian to finish. I'm sure they'll let you borrow their amp."

"Okay, awesome."

The last chord on Jack's guitar rang out throughout the room and spattered applause came from Miss Williams and Andrew.

"You guys are good." Andrew whispered quietly as he passed Jack to plug his guitar in.

"Thanks." Jack replied softly. He liked this Andrew kid.

"Okay, fire away. I'm all ears." Miss Williams interjected.

Andrew turned back to face her and hung his guitar in the perfect position around his neck.

Jack and Rian shifted past him and sat down on one of the tables to watch.

As soon as Andrew started playing, Jack was mesmerized. Andrew felt the younger boy’s eyes on him, like bright searchlights, and he tried desperately to concentrate on getting the chords right.

He messed up right at the end. Jack’s stare became too much.

Andrew looked up to Miss Williams’ gleeful face and laughed gently.

“I screwed up the end.” He mumbled, running a hand through his messy brown hair, which stuck up completely on its own when he withdrew his hand.

“You wouldn’t be able to tell if you hadn’t have said.” She smiled reassuringly, flicking her bleach blonde hair from her eyes.

“Jack, Rian, are you and the band still up for performing?” She asked, rounding on the two younger boys.

“Uh, yeah, sure.” Jack said without thinking. ‘And the band’ meant with Alex. And when Alex was involved, nothing would end well.

*

The day of the showcase rolled around a lot faster than Jack, Rian or Zack would’ve liked. They hadn’t had a practice all together since Alex started dating May two months ago. Jack still hadn’t spoken to Alex, nor had he tried to talk to his sister.

Jack had spent most of his time between meeting Andrew and the showcase - almost two weeks - hanging out with him. Jack thought he was pretty cool.

Andrew had moved from Florida up to Maryland at the start of his senior year, which explained why Jack had never seen him before.

Backstage, just before Jack and the guys were meant to hit the stage, Andrew made his move. He tracked down Jack, who was tuning up his guitar at the stage door. Rian was beside him, spinning drumsticks between his fingers.

“Hey, Jack.” Andrew said, tapping the younger on the shoulder, making him jump.

“Oh, hey Andrew.” Jack replied, turning to face him.

“I was wondering, after the show’s over, if you want to come to dinner with me?” Andrew asked nervously. Considering the stage presence he had, this was highly unusual.

“Uhm, yeah, of course.” Jack replied, taken aback. No one had ever asked him out before. It was always the other way around.

“Awesome.” Andrew grinned “I’ll see you soon, and good luck. You’ll be amazing.”

He gave the younger boy a quick hug and vanished from view.

“Ooh!” Rian exclaimed “Jacky’s got a boyfriend!”

“Shut up, Dawson!”

“And now, Dulaney High’s very own All Time Low!”

Jack and Rian exchanged one last reassuring glance and took to the stage.

*

“It was a disaster!” Jack laughed, several hours later, over a pizza he was sharing with Andrew.

“No, it wasn’t.” Andrew smiled “Well, maybe it would’ve been better if whatever-his-name-is remembered the words, but hey…”

“Alex?” Jack replied “I could’ve told you he was useless! He wrote the damn song!”

Alex had forgotten the words to Last Flight Home. Everyone else had been damn-near perfect, though, but Alex was a walking catastrophe.

“You and the guys were amazing, though.” Jack continued, flashing a smile - his first in months.

“Awwh, thanks.” Andrew replied quietly, feeling blush crawl up his cheeks.

“You’re blushing.” Jack stated, catching sight of the pink spread on his companions cheeks “It’s cute.”

Andrew turned an even darker shade of pink.

“Why did you ask me on a date anyway? That is what this is, right?” Jack asked curiously.

“Yeah, that’s right. And I want to do this right.” Andrew replied quietly, biting his lip.

“Do what right?” Jack asked, raising an eyebrow.

“You’re so damn innocent.” Andrew laughed “Don’t you get it?”

“Clearly not.” Jack replied, folding his arms and pouting overdramatically.

“… I really like you, Jack. And I’d probably have asked you this straight away, but you were with Ri, but…” He trailed off, staring down at his thighs.

“What are you trying to say, Goldstein?” Jack asked.

“Will you go out with me? Y’know, be ‘more than friends’.” Andrew asked, looking up and making little inverted commas with his fingers.

It took Jack everything to not throw himself across the table at the older boy, but somehow, he managed it.

“Yeah, I will. You’re cute when you’re nervous, by the way.” Jack smiled. Andrew let out a nervous laugh and caught hold of Jack’s hand over the table.

Sure, he wasn’t Alex, but he was just right to fit the boy-shaped space in Jack’s heart.