Take My Hand

I woke up to the sound of something sizzling in a pan and the sweet smell of bacon. Something told me that today would be a good day and I wanted believe that it would truly be a day without having to deal with any of my problems because right now, that’s really all I need, some time to get everything straightened out so that I can get my life back together again. But it seemed like everyone didn’t want me to feel better outside The Maine’s bus. It was like the whole world was somehow against me and I just had to deal with it.

After getting some breakfast with the guys, I headed outside with my camera and started to roam around for interesting subjects. The guys had band practice for their show tonight so I was free until after they stopped practicing.

I saw Gabe and Suarez by their merch stand and thought about going over there and saying hi but it looked like they were too busy or something. I wasn’t really watching where I was going and suddenly, I bumped into someone.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” I said in a panicked voice.

“Watch where you’re-” she was about to say but then she paused to take a good look at my face. “Hey, I know you,” she said but there was this mischievous tone in her voice that seemed to get me a little worried.

“You do?” I asked hoping that she wasn’t about to mistake me for someone else.

“Yeah, you’re the girl that broke Jack’s heart. Everyone’s been talking about you these days,” she said and my eyes opened up wide. “Your name’s Brittany, right?”

“Uh, yea, how do people me? And just to clear up the air, I wasn’t the heartbreaker in the relationship,” I said feeling even angrier that even their fans hated me. What in the world is up with these people? Don’t they have eyes to see?

“Well, once you’re associated with band members, people start to now who you are. There’s no escaping that.” She smirked. “I can’t believe you dumped Jack for Garrett,” she said condescendingly.

“I didn’t dump Jack,” I defended myself, “he was with Kristy for crying out loud and they got back together once she jumped in the scene.” I said but that didn’t surprise her. It was weird how people actually knew about these really personal things.

“Yeah, well we all know that Kristy never stays. I mean that hoe bag always finds herself in trouble. Although, you were supposed to keep Jack happy! No one ever sees him smile anymore because of what you did and now, he’s not even his normal jolly self anymore,” she said.

“Why the hell are you blaming me about all this?” I asked her. “It’s none of your business, you know.”

“We’re only trying to make him feel better since you tend to make him feel ten times worse,” she said and she was starting to get me frustrated. I just wanted to punch her in the face right now but I knew that that would be a really bad addition to my reputation. I didn’t want to be the so-called heartbreaker and the fist-fighter.

“You don’t know half the things I’ve been through so you have right to judge me like this,” I told her but she just rolled her eyes.

“Well you have no idea what Jack has been through,” she said crossing her arms over her chest.

“And you do?” I asked smirking at her and suddenly her confidence seemed to falter a bit.

“You know what, being a bitch won’t get you anywhere in life,” she said all of a sudden.

“How is that even relevant to anything we’re talking about? I’m not the bitch here,” I said looking around and watching as some people stopped to look at us.

The girl seemed to be at a loss of words. “Well maybe you’re not a bitch but you are a total slut.” Okay that just crossed the line. I can’t believe I let this go too far.

“She’s not a slut and you shouldn’t be talking to her about those things because frankly, that’s none of your business.” I turned to see Jack looking at her in disgust. He didn’t avert his eyes to me until the girl went away. “I’m sorry you had to go through all that,”

“Um, thanks I guess,” I said. I was about to leave when all of a sudden, he held my wrist loosely and held me in place. His touch made me feel so alive and there was this thing in me that seemed to jolt back into life when he laid his hand on my wrist. I felt goosebumps rise on my skin and I was glad to feel so alive again.

“We need to talk,” he said and I nodded.

“Okay, what about?” I asked him as he let go of my wrist. I didn’t really want him to let go but I knew that people were looking and Jack probably noticed that too.

“Can we talk somewhere else? You know where there are less people around?” he asked and I nodded.

“Sure,” I said and we started walking towards the exit.

The walk to the coffee shop down the street was silent. He kept his hands in his pocket and I couldn’t help but steal a glance when we were walking on the sidewalk.

We went inside the coffee shop and immediately sat ourselves down at a booth. He seemed to have a lot on his mind and I know that I was supposed to be really angry at him but I don’t know. It seemed like he really didn’t do anything wrong and that maybe I was overacting this whole time. But problem is that he really did something. He blamed me for everything and it got people doing the same.

“Look, Alex told me what happened on the bus and I just want you to know that he’s sorry about his outburst. He didn’t really mean to talk to you in that manner,” he said.

“You don’t have to apologize for him. If he wants to apologize, he can do it himself,” I told him remembering everything that happened.

“But that’s not the only thing I wanted to talk to you about,” he told me. I watched him intently and searched his eyes for some kind of clue that might make it easier for me to decode his thoughts. “Brit, no matter how hard I try to deny it, everything he said to you was true.”

I was pretty surprised to hear him say that. I didn’t think he’d actually have the guts to get that out of him.

“So you did blame me for everything that’s been happening to you?” I asked him raising an eyebrow.

“I don’t blame you,” he said defensively. “I’ve never blamed you for anything. I’ve always placed the blame on myself.” He seemed so sincere in the way he spoke.

“So why did Alex say-”

“I don’t know, things just find their ways out of his big mouth – both true and false,” he said looking out the window clearly showing a wave of disappointment.

“Oh,” that was all I could really say.

He brought his attention to me and looked me in the eyes. I didn’t really know what he was doing until he got up and leaned in and closed the space between us. He kissed me and I let him. This was how it was supposed to be, right?