57 Hilton Street

Fast forward four years.

Jack is twenty-one, and nursing a broken heart.

Alex is twenty-two and currently hating himself.

May is twenty and trying desperately to avoid an ‘I told you so’ moment.

Rian is twenty-two and newly married.

Zack is twenty-one and hasn’t been heard from in three years.

Lottie is nineteen and is still refusing to speak to her brother.

Andrew is twenty-three and has returned to his home state of Florida.

Jack is sat in his car on a highway in southern Maryland, tears flowing down his cheeks in a constant stream. He wishes more than anything that he’d listened to May when she warned him about Alex back in high school. He’s trying so hard to think of someone he can call who won’t tell him they told him so.

His first thought is Rian or Cassadee - but they’re on their honeymoon, and he doesn’t want to upset them or make them worry during their time of happiness.

He can’t call May either - she’d tell him that she’d tried to tell him that this would happen all along.

He could try Zack - but then, no one’s heard from him in years, he could be dead for all anyone knows.

Jack pulls out his cell at the next set of stop lights and searches his contacts.

Alex Gaskarth
Alex Suarez
Andrew Goldstein
Cassadee Dawson-Pope
Chris Barrett
Gabe Saporta
Lottie Gaskarth
May
Mike Toohey
Momma
Nate Novarro
Rian Dawson
Robby Reider
Ry Blackinton
Victoria Asher
William Beckett
Zack Merrick

Most of those are out of the question - they probably don’t even remember who he is.

His eyes linger on the third name, Andrew Goldstein.

With barely a second passing for thought, Jack presses the ‘call’ button and the ringing tone begins.

He’s worried - what if he doesn’t pick up?

And if he does, will he even remember him?

Jack shouldn’t worry; Andrew picks up the phone within a few seconds and there’s a hint of surprise in his voice.

“Jack?”

Jack ends up breaking down on the phone to the older, and without even realizing, he starts to fall in love all over again.

And within sixteen hours, Jack is on Andrew’s doorstep in downtown Tampa, his shaking fist hitting the wood of the front door.

Andrew barely has the door open before Jack’s falling against him, tears streaming down his face. Andrew pulls him inside and sits him down on the sofa in the sitting room.

Jack spares a second to look around, and he decides that the place is very Andrew. It’s homely in the sense that it’s a complete mess and it looks lived in to the point of no return and there’s family photos littering the windowsills and the fireplace. But then there are moments in the middle of all of this where the real Andrew is visible. There’s a guitar by the fireplace, and there’s photos from high school and what Jack presumes to be university.

There’s a sense of resignation in Andrew’s voice when he asks Jack what’s wrong. It’s as if he already knows what the answer will be.

“What did he do?”

Andrew already knows it will be Alex who’s caused this.

It takes Jack a long time to spit out his next sentence; he thinks saying it aloud just confirms it, and right now he doesn’t ever want it to be true.

Andrew looks at the younger boy and brushes his dark brown hair from his eyes. Jack looks up at him and realizes that if there’s one person on this godforsaken planet he can trust, it’s Andrew.

“He… He cheated.” Jack’s voice wavers terribly and cracks, the tears on his cheeks suddenly multiplying faster and faster.

Andrew’s blue-gray eyes soften, and he pulls Jack into a hug as he cries.

He pets the younger’s hair flat; it’s going crazy after the sixteen hour drive, and Jack buries his face in Andrew’s chest, just thankful that he has someone who’ll be here for him, even though he probably still hates him for what happened in high school.

*

“Gaskarth!” May screams as she comes careering through Alex’s front door “Where’s Jack and what the fuck have you done to him?”

Alex, who’s moved to sit on the stairs by now, hangs his head and lets soft sobs shake his frame.

“I… I don’t know where he is. He left this morning and I haven’t seen him since.”

“It’s nearly midnight, Gaskarth, and you haven’t tried to call him?” May is irate now, the mere sight of the man before her makes her want to scream at the top of her voice.

“He won’t want to talk to me.” Alex says bluntly, burying his face in his hands.

“Well he’s not answering me, either! Where the fuck is he?”

May pulls out her cell and searches quickly through her contacts for her younger brother.

“Come on Jack, where are you. You’re scaring me now, bro.”

When she doesn’t get an answer, she furiously closes her phone and looks at Alex.

He’s a wreck, and as much as she doesn’t like the guy, part of her feels sorry for him. But then she remembers that he’s the reason no one knows where her brother is, and the feeling’s gone as soon as it came.

“Who would he have gone to?” May wonders aloud.

“Rian or Cass. Or Zack.”

“No, Rian and Cass are honeymooning and Jack wouldn’t want to disturb them. And no one’s heard from Zack in years.”

Alex gets up and disappears into the sitting room, searching for something. May rises a few moments later and enters, seeing Alex perched on the sofa, a phonebook resting on his knees, staring down at one entry.

“I know who Jack’s gone to.”

May walks over to him and looks at the entry Alex’s gaze is fixed on.

Andrew Goldstein
742 Bayshore Boulevard
Tampa
FL

May punches in the Floridian’s phone number and is ringing him within seconds.

Andrew’s lying down on the couch, Jack lying on his chest with his arms around his waist. Jack’s finally stopped crying, and is still breathing raggedly from all the tears. Andrew’s playing absently with the tufts of Jack’s hair without even realizing.

And Andrew too, starts to fall in love all over again without even realizing.

Andrew’s phone rings and he picks it up, not looking at the caller ID.

“Hello?”

“Is Jack with you?”

“Who the hell is this?”

“May, Jack’s sister! Now is he with you?”

Jack looks up at Andrew, a look of fear in his eyes.

“Are you with Alex?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Don’t let him near Jack. Not now, not ever, okay?”

“Okay. I didn’t plan on letting him anyway.”

“Yes, I’m with Jack. He’s been here for an hour or so.”

May holds back a sigh of relief and joy at knowing her brother is safe. She disappears back into the hallway and exhales.

“Oh thank God.”

“He’s fine. A little shaken and still a bit of a mess, but he’s fine.” Andrew informs her, rubbing Jack’s back as he buries his face in the elder’s chest.

May smiles to herself, fiddling with the hem of her t shirt with her free hand.

“Tell him he has no idea how scared I was.”

Andrew pulls the phone away from his ear and looks at the guy nearly asleep on his chest.

“May says you have no idea how scared she was.”

Jack immediately looks guilty and sticks out his hand.

Andrew obliges and hands him his phone.

“May?”

“Jack! Oh thank God you’re okay, I was so scared! I thought you were dead! Never, ever do this again!”

“I’m sorry.” He mumbles, staring down at Andrew.

“It’s okay. Now am I coming to get you, or are you coming back yourself?”

A look of alarm and fear is immediately visible in Jack’s eyes, which is something Andrew picks up on very quickly.

“I don’t think I want to come back.”