I'll Ask You If The Rain Still Makes You Smile

"Dude, my sister is... my sister. She's a girl. 'Nough said," I heard J.R. tell someone on the other side of the door. Kelsey and I had just arrived at the studio and were outside the door listening in on the boys' conversation. I slowly opened the door and watched as 5 heads shot our way. JR, Alex, Jack, Rian, and Zack were sitting in a circle on the floor.

"Raegan! Hey!" Jack jumped up from his spot and enveloped me in a tight hug. "I missed you!" Then he leaned his head down to my ear, "Fake sick and head to the bathroom. 'S down the hall, second door on the left. I'll meet you there in 5 minutes." He whipered it so quickly , it took a minute for me to comprehend. I simply nodded as he finally pulled away from me.

"I don't feel good," I said, looking around Jack at the others. Zack began to stand up but I glared at him. He slowly lowered himself back onto the floor. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom."

I walked out of the room and in the direction that Jack pointed me. I sat in one of the stalls for a few minutes before I heard the door open and close. "Jack?"

"Yeah." He stepped into the stall and locked the door behing him. I stood up so we were standing in front of each other. I slowly put my arms around his waist. He wiped a tear from my eye. I hadn't noticed until then that I'd been crying.

"I cry so much these days," I whimpered.

"Shh," Jack pulled me to him and held me. "Alex told me everything. You're better than this. Than all of this." He rested his chin on my head.

"Am I, Jack? Zack doesn't seem to think so."

"He does, Raegan. Zack loves you more than you can ever imagine. You need to talk to him."

I nodded.

"Alex tell you about him and Lisa?"

"No," I answered and looked up at Jack, waiting for him to comtinue.

"They've been fighting a lot. But they've been together for so long that Alex doesn't want to leave. He feels obligated to be with her." He looked away from me before continueing. "He told me that he almost kissed you."

"Yeah."

"He was drunk and he says he's sorry."

I nodded. "Guess I need to talk to him, too."

"Yeah, that would be a good idea."

"well, come on. Let's go back in there so I can iontroduce you to Kelsey," I said, winking at him.

"Haha, yeah." Jack grabbed a hold of my hand as we walked out of the bathroom.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" Zack yelled. "First you go off and sleep around, then you play me like a fucking musical instrument, and now you're hooking up with Jack in the bathroom!" Zack had been standing in the hall; hopefully, waiting for me so we could talk.

"Zack, dude," Jack hesitated. "We were just talking."

"You know what, Jack? It doesn't matter. Just be careful. That whore," he stated, pointing at me," has a way of fucking everything up." The moment those words came out of his mouth, my knees buckled and I hit the ground. I was having another panic attack. I couldn't stop shaking. My breath hitched in my throat. I felt like I was going to vomit. I felt a pair of arms wrap around me. I didn't care who it was, I was just focused on breathing. The last thing I heard before everything black was Jack telling me that everything was going to be okay. But it didn't sound like he was the one holding me.

♥♥♥

"Zack! No! Mercy!" I yelled as Zack pinned me on the ground. We were wrestling and he had obviously just won. He rolled over onto the living room floor beside me, laughing really hard.

"That was not funny! You could've hurt me! I hollared, dramatically faking.

"Nah, I care too much to hurt you," he said.

"Aw, I wish I cared for you too."

"Fine then," he scoffed and stood up.

I followed suit and watched him stomp off to the kitchen. He was obviously kidding because he stepped out a minute later with two bottles of beer and handed me one. "Here's to..." He trailed off, lifting his bottle in the air, "to us. To tonight, to tour, to parties, to fun, and to love." I lifted my bottle as well and tapped it to his. We both chugged the contents.

"Zack?" I asked. He looked my way and I continued. "Let's go to the beach."

"Okay," he said excitedly. He grabbed my hand and pulled me out the back door.

When we got to the beach he released my hand, causing me to frown. Thankfully it went unnoticed by Zack. I sat down on the sand and he sat beside me. "I can't believe I'm leaving for tour again tomorrow. Everytime I come home it's like I'm not here for very long. It feels like it's only been a week or a few days."

"Wow, what's here tthat makes time fly by so fast?"

"A lot of things. But there's this girl. She's crazy, funny, smart, and amazingly beautiful." He looked over at me and winked.

"Oh, well I bet she is something. Is this girl as special to you as I am?"

"Nah, this girl is way more special. In fact, she's my best friend."

"Oh, well then. I seen how it is." I smiled at him and he put his arm around my shoulder.

"And I mean it. I care about you so much."

"I love you, Zack. You're my best friend."

I saw him frown slightly but he quickly smiled again. "Love you, Rae."