Take My Hand

“Hey, Brit, you down with the BBQ party tonight?” some guy Zack introduced me to asked me shooing all my senseless thoughts away.

“Oh, um, yeah sure,” I said with a smile.

“Awesome,” One guy said. “Everyone’s gonna be there and it’s gonna be so much fun,” he was more than excited to say the least.

“Okay so we’ll catch you guys later?” Zack said before the conversation ended up in an awkward silence.

They all mumbled their ‘yes’ and then we turned the other way towards the buses. We didn’t really talk much since there wasn’t much to talk about. Once we got to the bus, I saw Jack and Alex at the mini living room at the back of the bus. I didn’t really feel like playing or watching them play so I walked to my bunk and turned on my laptop so that I could screen all my pictures.

Once I connected my camera to the laptop, a window opened and it showed everything I took pictures of today. It wasn’t much really but I didn’t have anything to do so I just edited some of them.

“Scoot over, will ya?” Jack said getting inside my bunk.

I moved over to the side so that there was enough space for him to sit beside me. “I thought you were playing and having fun with Alex.” I said still keeping my eyes on the screen as I increased the contrast on one photo.

“It’s not fun when you win all the time. I mean I’d want to play with someone who’d make me play with more effort.” He said boastfully as I smirked.

“Hey! I heard that!” Alex called from the back of the bus.

“Good! I said it loudly so that you could hear!” Jack yelled back. I laughed at the argument they were getting into as I saved the changes I made to some of the pictures. “You’re really good,” Jack said looking at the screen.

“Shut up,” I said rolling my eyes and shaking my head. “They’re not that good,” I told him and he poked me in the rib.

“Don’t say that,” he said as I rubbed my side. His poke actually hurt.

“Whatever,” I said shutting my laptop and keeping everything away.

“I’m serious, Brit.” He told me acutely. “I mean it,”

I looked at him and soon our faces were only centimetres away from each other. I held my breath and he closed his eyes as he leaned in for a kiss. I shut my eyes and expected our lips to touch again so I could feel that spark that I was longing for when suddenly, I heard a loud thud.

“What the fuck, man?!” Jack exclaimed as I opened my eyes and regained composure.

Alex was laughing at Jack who was on the floor. I bit my lip in so much embarrassment as I walked past them and into the bathroom to get ready for the barbeque.

Well this is stupid, I’m in the bathroom and I was going to get ready but all my necessities are out there in my bag under my bunk. I was about to walk right back out when I heard Alex and Jack talking. I turned on the faucet so that they wouldn’t notice anything weird.

“Dude, you totally ruined the moment,” Jack scolded as he stomped his way into the back of the bus.

“Jack, don’t lie to yourself. You’re clearly not ready yet.” Alex said knowingly.

“How would you know that?” Jack asked in aggravation.

“With the way you look at her,” Alex started, “it would seem like you wanted to kiss her not because you liked her but because you just wanted to get into her pants.” He continued and my eyes opened up wide in shock.

“Shut up,” Jack said and I could just imagine him throwing his arms up in frustration. “You don’t know that,” he said but something in his voice said otherwise.

“Whatever you say,” Alex said walking away.

The bus went quiet for a while as I turned off the faucet. Something in me wanted to just break down there knowing that Jack might not ever be able to look at me with love in his eyes but another part of me was thankful that Alex pulled him out of my bunk. I didn’t want to commit to anything that was going to end up into something that was going to hurt me in the end. I didn’t need the drama. It was so not my scene.

I got out of the bathroom hoping he didn’t think I was eavesdropping and grabbed an outfit that I thought would fit the BBQ. I didn’t really go overboard with everything. I didn’t have to impress anyone so I might as well dress casually. And casually would mean a white camisole with a plaid button up over it, denim shorts and a pair of Converse.

“Hey, did you hear anything while you were in the bathroom?” Jack asked coming up to me sitting on my bunk so that our eyes met.

“Nope,” I lied as I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. “Why? Was I supposed to?” I just hoped he didn’t see right through me.

“N-no,” he stumbled. “Um, are you wearing that to the barbeque tonight?” he asked me as he changed the subject.

“Yeah,” I said with a smile as I got up. “Is there something wrong with what I’m going to wear?” I asked him and he shook his head vigorously not wanting to argue.

“No, I think it will look perfect on you,” he told me with a gloomy vibe in his tone and I smirked.

“Thanks,” I said. “Jack is there something you wanted to tell me?” I asked him.

“Oh, um, yeah but never mind,” he said looking anywhere else but in my eyes. “Um, I’ll, uh, go ahead and catch up with some, uh, friends, okay?” he said somewhat nervously. I nodded my head slowly as he ran straight out the bus.

I didn’t really understand why he acted that way and I was sure he was hiding something but I knew that there really was no way I could get it out of him so instead of thinking about it, I walked into the bathroom and started changing for the barbeque that was going to start probably an hour from now.

It didn’t really take that long for me to change into the clothes I picked out so I was actually prepared within minutes. I let the curls in my hair hang naturally down my shoulders as I walked over to put a little perfume on me. I might not be impressing anyone but I always made sure I smelled good even if I was just hanging out with some friends.

I walked out of the bus with my phone in hand as I checked it for probably the first time today. I wasn’t really expecting anything and fortunately enough, that’s what I got. I placed my phone back in my pocket and noticed that the grounds were starting to get emptier. I walked over to Rian who was talking to Cobra and asked him where Jack was.

“Oh, um, I don’t really know, Brit.” He told me leaning against Cobra’s bus.

“Oooh, who’s this fine lady?” Vicky asked Rian and I smiled brightly.

“This is Brittany. She’s supposed to be here to photograph us but she’s doing more than that now I guess,” Rian introduced and I smirked.

“Hmm, I think we’ll be the best of friends then,” Vicky said placing her arm around my shoulders.

“Sounds awesome,” I said and she pinched my cheek as she placed her arms back on her sides.

“Brit, I know you might already know these people but let’s just formally introduce each other, okay?” Rian suggested as I laughed. “The girl who placed an arm around your shoulder is Victoria but we all her call her Vicky, the one right in front of you is Ryland and the one beside him is Alex but we call him Suarez so that no one will confuse him with Gaskarth. Nate already left since he was really hungry.” He informed me and I nodded.

“I’m Brittany,” I said with my hand held out and they all shook it one by one.

We started conversing about the most random things and made the time go by faster. All of a sudden, someone came out from the bus before us.

“Girl, are you stalking me?” Gabe said and I scoffed.

“No,” I said rolling my eyes as Vicky raised an eyebrow at me. “I’m here because I have new friends,” I informed him and they all laughed.

“I see,” Gabe said, “well, I never really got your name,”

“Are you asking for it?” I asked the obvious as I toyed with him.

“Are you going to give it to me?” he countered as he played along.

“I might,” I said prolonging his agony.

“So what’s your name, senorita?” he asked showing off some of his Spanglish charm.

“Brittany,” I told him sweetly and showed him the best smile I could give.

“Wow, a pretty name for a pretty girl,” he said making Vicky snort.

“Thank you,” I said rolling my eyes as I continued our conversation with Vicky.

We started talking about how I ended up with the guys of All Time Low and I told her about Jack and how he became my new neighbor. We were stuck on that subject for a while because she was whining about how lucky I was to have him live right next to me. I laughed at her reaction but knew that what she had said was true. I was pretty lucky to have him live right next door.

“Brittany!” Alex called in a sing-song voice from one end of the grounds. Everyone looked his way and then waltzed right back into their conversation as if nothing happened.

“What’s up?” I asked him as soon as he was near enough to hear me.

“Come with me,” he said taking me by the hand and dragging me to a certain direction. I didn’t even get to say goodbye to my new friends but we were all going to be at the barbeque so I guess it would seem sorta pointless.

“Alex, where are you taking me?” I asked him as he continued to drag me.

“I’m bringing you to a secret dungeon where I’m going to rip your guts out and eat them raw like sushi for dinner,” he said and finished it off with an evil laugh. I shook my head and waited until we stopped walking because I knew he wasn’t going to give me a serious answer.

We ended up walking right to where the barbeque was. It was right between the buses of The Maine and Forever The Sickest Kids. I walked right up to Jack as soon as I saw him. He was just about to munch on a burger when he saw me walk towards him.

“Hey, you want anything?” he asked me as he grabbed the burger from his plate and took a big bite.

“I’ll get something later,” I told him as I watched him chew his food messily. Alex started talking to some other people that were already there so I guess maybe Jack asked him to look for me? I don’t really know.

“Okay, cool, let’s go sit down,” he said spitting out some bread crumbs but luckily nothing landed on me. Or at least that’s what I thought.

The space in between buses was filled with tables and chairs. We took an empty table and I got a soda on the way.

“So…?” he said after taking another bite and swallowing. He as looking for something to start a conversation and luckily, I had something in mind.

“Oh, I just met the people from Cobra Starship,” I told him excitedly and he smiled that cute smile that looked good on him. Well ‘good’ is an understatement but I couldn’t find the right words that could fit the description well so let’s just leave it at that.

“Cool,” he said observing me as he narrowed his eyebrows. “Gabe hit on you, didn’t he?” he asked making me laugh.

“I’m not really sure,” I said sipping my soda.

“What do you mean by that?” he asked me taking another bite. This boy was definitely hungry and he looked like he was enjoying his meal.

“Well it seemed like he did but I don’t know. Maybe he was just being nice,” I said not really thinking about what I was saying because Jack had that kind of effect on me. He made me think that everything was okay and I didn’t have to think about anything that much as long as I was with him because nothing else really mattered as much.

“That’s nice,” he said. “But maybe if you continue making more friends, you wouldn’t want to spend time with me anymore,” Jack said pouting as he swallowed another bite.

“Don’t say that,” I told him casually sipping my soda. “I’m always going to want to spend time with you,” I told him and he smiled from ear to ear.

“Really?” he said wiggling his eyebrows and making me laugh.

“Yes, Jack,” I said after composing myself. “You’ll always be the one I’d want to spend my time with,” I said and then wished I never said it because it sounded so serious and not friend-like. God, I hope he didn’t get the wrong idea. All of a sudden, I felt conscious about myself. Jack smiled sheepishly but I swear I saw his cheeks go red.

“Well, I could say the same for you,” he said devouring the last of his burger and I smiled at him.

The place was starting to get filled up so Jack and I got up and he got another burger from the grill while I got my first. He brought a beer along with him as we walked back to our table.

I started eating my burger as he started munching on his second.

“Wow, this is really good,” I told him with my mouth full. Like I said, nothing else mattered so everything was pushed aside just like my table manners.

“I know,” he said drinking his beer. “They’re really addicting. One day when I grow really old, I’ll be eating these burgers every single day of my life and never get tired of it because they taste so damn good,” he told me making me laugh.

“Don’t you think that would be bad for your health?” I asked him and he rolled his eyes at me.

“That’s why I’ll have you to take care of me,” he said and that sorta made me blush but luckily he couldn’t see since it was getting darker. Did he really mean it like I thought he did or was he just saying that to be nice?

“Yeah? Then who’ll be taking care of me?” I asked making him stop and think.

“Maybe we’ll have to take turns then,” he said making me laugh even more. Silly, silly boy.

“What? It could happen,” he stated and I just shook my head at him.

“Yeah, I guess it could,” I said bringing silence into our table. We just ate in silence but it wasn’t awkward or anything. It felt comfortable and it seemed like it was something I grew familiar to. I guess this is what I get for spending too much time with him.

I thought about what he said and pictured us growing old together. But I couldn’t see us as some kind of couple or anything like that. It was something right along the lines of being just friends. It disappointed me that not even my thoughts could picture us as a couple but I guess only time can tell, really.

Jack excused himself and told me that he was going to the bathroom. I was just about to get a bottle of water when suddenly, I ran into Chris.

“Oh, hey Brit,” he started. “I didn’t really expect to see you here,”

“Well I sorta thought otherwise,” I said grabbing the bottle of water I came here for.

“What do you mean?” Man, was he slow.

“Well everyone was coming so yeah, I did actually expect to run into you at some point,” I said bluntly as he nodded.

“So you and Barakat, huh?” he said changing the subject as he grabbed a bottle of beer for himself.

“We’re just friends, Chris,” I told him and he nodded again.

“Oh cool,” he said with some kind of hope in his tone.

“Anyway, I have to go,” I told him and walked away from him but this time, he didn’t just let me walk away.

“You look really beautiful tonight,” he told me making me stop in my tracks and turn back at him.

“Thanks,” I said feeling awkward before walking back towards my table.

I looked back and saw him still staring at me as he took a big drink from his beer. Something told me that something bad was about to happen tonight but I didn’t want to dwell on that subject but once I got to the table, I saw Jack already there with a look on his face that was anything but happy.

“What’d he want?” he queried as soon as I sat down.

“Nothing,” I told him and he sighed heavily.

“I didn’t think he’d actually be here,” he told me and I just shook my head.

“Don’t worry about him, Jack. He’s not your problem,” I told him twisting the cap off of the bottle of water I grabbed from the cooler filled with drinks and drank its content.

“I hope he won’t become my problem,” he said with all the bitterness his voice could muster.

I just stared at him and prayed hard that this night wouldn’t be filled with any kind of drama. I didn’t want this day to end up just like a TV episode.