You Leave Me Breathless

[Trinity]

I forced a smile on my face as the door opened, but almost fell over when I saw who walked in. No fucking way. Seriously, no fucking way. What the fuck is going on!! The four familiar men stopped frozen when they saw us, as shocked as we were.

“T-bag?” Jack whispered.

“J-Dog,” I whimpered in reply.

My eyes scanned over everyone. They’d all grown up so much. Gone was Jack’s skunk hair, replaced by complete black. Alex’s blonde highlights were gone. Rian’s hair was slightly less buzz-cut. And Zack...his hair was brunette and curly!

“Do you guys...know each other?” Connor frowned.

“Yeah, senior year,” Zack nodded, not taking his eyes off me.

“Woah, these are the girls from your senior year?!” Connor gasped.

Zack smiled weakly at me. The years had done him good, I’m not going to lie. He’s bulked up, and he looked...incredible. And that nose ring! No, Trinity. Do not think like that! He’s an ass!

“Mmhmm,” Alex smirked, his eyes roving over Peyton.

“Connor, can we speak out the back for a minute?” Peyton said sharply.

Luckily our boss took her tone of voice seriously, and the three of us walked out the back. I immediately spun round at glared at him.

“What. The. Fuck,” I growled.

“Woah, Trinity, I didn’t know about you were the girl from Zack’s senior year. Or that Alex was with Peyton. I only made the link then and there,” Connor protested.

“You don’t even have any idea of how much Alex hurt my sister, do you!” I exasperated.

Connor looked to Peyton. She sighed.

“Alex cheated on me with the school whore at a party I was also at, and then proceeded to pretend like nothing happened while I was humiliated,” Peyton said softly, earning a sad glance from Connor.

“And Zack saw him cheating and lied to me,” I added.

“My cousin lied? He doesn’t lie,” Connor frowned.

“Zack’s your cousin?” Peyton gasped.

“Yeah,” Connor nodded, pulling out a photo from his back pocket.

Zack and Connor were standing side by side, Zack showing off his strength by holding a guy up in the air and Connor mockingly posing like a model. They both had curly brown hair.

“That’s your natural hair?” Peyton sniggered, referring to how different Connor looks with his current straight bleach blonde style.

Well, Zack had the same when we were together, I guess. When he was an ass.

“Well here’s a news flash – Zack fucking lied. I can’t promise that I won’t hurt him. Or Gaskank for that matter,” I growled, snapping out of the amused trance.

“Can you try to be civil? You don’t even have to speak to them! This is a big opportunity for the bar, and we need this! I need this,” Connor said firmly, putting the photo back into his back pocket.

“I don’t like this. Not one bit,” I said angrily.

“You don’t have to. Just don’t kill them. They’re only here for one night. One night,” Connor pleaded.

“Fine. But keep them out of our way,” Peyton said sharply.

“No fights. You can insult and verbally abuse them all you want, but no fights and you’ve got yourself a deal,” Connor countered.

I looked at Peyton, not happy. She didn’t exactly look pleased, but what else can we do? We need this job.

“Fine,” I said reluctantly.

“Fine,” Peyton nodded.

“Great! Let’s get back out there!” Connor said cheerfully.

I grabbed my sister’s hand and pulled her back out after our boss. Tori and Kim looked worriedly at us, those two obviously knowing everything that had happened between us and the guys of All Time Low.

“Let’s get you to the dressing room! And then we can catch up,” Connor grinned at Zack.

“Sounds good,” Zack nodded, smiling.

I couldn’t help but catch eyes with him as he walked past, noticing that he was chewing his lip nervously. Fuck, this was going to mess things up big time.

*

[Peyton]

“Babe, you looked stressed. What’s up?” Frank frowned.

“Get me a beer and we’ll tell you,” I groaned, flopping down onto the sofa.

“Make that two,” Trinity called as Frank walked out the room.

Our shift had ended half an hour ago, and I’d called Frank to come pick us up. Trinity and I had made the decision to tell Frank and Mikey about the All Time Low guys being in town. Especially since Alex had announced at the end of their set that they would be spending until at least Christmas here. That means three fucking weeks!!

“What’s wrong, Trin?” Mikey asked my sister softly.

“Beer first,” Trinity grumbled.

I knew how attracted she was to Zack again. I knew how hard this would be for her. I don’t trust Alex, I think they’re here for another reason. They wouldn’t be staying otherwise. If that reason is something to do with us, then I’ll be furious.

“Here you go,”

Frank reappeared with two beers and handed one to Trinity, before sitting next to me and giving me mine. Trinity and I both took a long drink, before looking at each other.

“Do you want to say or should I?” Trinity muttered.

“I’ll do it,” I sighed.

Trinity just nodded. I looked down at the floor.

“You know we said about that band that were going to play at work? Well, turns out it was All Time Low,” I said softly.

It took a few seconds for Frank to make the connection.

“What the fuck, your ex?!” he said angrily.

“Mmhmm,” I nodded simply.

Mikey looked at Trinity, confused to why this would affect her so much.

“Zack,” was all she said.

“What? No!” Mikey said, hurt.

I lifted my head, sending my sister a confused look. How does Mikey know about Zack, but not All Time Low?

“Mikey asked about the necklace,” Trinity said to me, as if reading my mind.

Oh, Zack’s necklace.

“They’re leaving now though, right? It was only for the show, wasn’t it?” Frank asked.

“Alex announced at the end of their set that the band would be staying in Newark until at least Christmas,” I sighed, looking at him.

“That’s three fucking weeks!” Frank exasperated.

“I know. I don’t trust Alex, and I never will – I think he’s up to something. But that might just be me being paranoid,” I nodded.

“Promise you’ll stay away from them?” Mikey begged.

“Of course I’m going to fucking stay away, how stupid do you think I am?” Trinity spat.

“Well, not away from Jack and Rian – they didn’t do anything wrong,” I pointed out.

“Very true,” Trinity nodded.

Silence fell over us as Trinity and I took another gulp of our beer. Eventually Mikey cleared his throat.

“You don’t still like Zack, do you?” he asked softly.

Trinity scoffed.

“Fuck no,” she replied firmly.

Mikey looked relieved, but I saw something flicker in her eyes. Oh hell no.

“And you Alex?” Frank added.

“He broke my heart and humiliated me. The only thing he’s getting from me is a broken jaw,” I grumbled.

“Good,” Frank nodded.

“I don’t think they’ll give you any trouble, really. It’s been three years,” Mikey smiled.

Trinity and I nodded, but we both knew we were lying. It only took one look between me and Trinity to confirm she was thinking the same as me. Mikey and Frank didn’t know Alex and Zack. They didn’t know the extent of our relationships, and they didn’t know what Alex and Zack were capable of. All I can hope is that our exes will leave without any hassle.

I should’ve known I was wrong.