Take a Sad Song and Make It Better

Jade's POV

The warmth surrounded my body, pooling through every pore and sinking into the very depths of my inner being, spreading throughout every organ until all I could do was smile till my cheeks hurt. Though my eyes remained closed and all I could see was the darkness behind my eyelids, I knew exactly what was the cause of this sudden burst of joy and fulfillment. And it could be spelled out in three words.

Alexander William Gaskarth.

His arms securely wrapped around my waist like they had been ever since the night of the rain storm. From that night forward, Alex had crawled through my window just to lay with me and hold me in his arms as we slept. It was the most cliché of clichés, but I couldn't help but fall a little harder for him every time I saw his tousled, coffee-colored hair outside my window.

Last night was no exception.

I pulled on a pair of sweatpants, tugging my head through a New Found Glory t-shirt as I let my hair fall freely around my shoulders, crawling into bed. Music flowed through the speakers of my stereo, my eyes falling to the seven records now congregating together on the shelf over on the other side of my room; Alex and I had returned a few more times to search through what we liked to call 'lost gems'. I smiled, closing my eyes as I thought about actually listening to the old vinyl sound of the music the records themselves possessed; Aunt Clara had her old record player somewhere in her attic along with other memorabilia from her teenage years.

A rapping sound clashed against the music of Ryan Adams that floated in my room, my eyes automatically fell on the glass leading to the outside. There, with his hands propping himself up on the window pane, was Alex, a struggling look on his face as he motioned with his head to open the window itself. I sighed, a small smile still on my face as I got up from my bed, opening the window and grabbing Alex's arms, helping to pull him through the opening.

“Thanks, Jay Bird,” Alex whispered, pulling me into a brief kiss before closing the window behind him.

“You know, you could always text and tell me you were coming over and I would open the front door for you,” I offered, grasping my hand in his as he kissed me once more.

He shrugged, “But where would the fun be in that? I wouldn't get to show off my awesome Spidey skills.”

“I just don't want you to fall one day when you're scaling our wall.”

“Two things,” Alex began, pulling us toward the bed as he kicked off his shoes, letting us fall next to each other under the blankets, “One, aw you don't want me to get hurt. Adorable.”

“I just don't want to pay the insurance.”

“Bitch,” I laughed, motioning Alex to continue, “And two; you're wall has like a fucking brick wall pattern to it and its impossible not to be able to climb it without not falling, so don't worry about it, babe.”

“Fine, Spiderman,” I whispered, laying down with Alex following suit, wrapping his around my middle, pulling me as close as humanly possible to the point where I didn't know where I ended and he began.

“Anything for you,Mary Jane,” Alex kissed my forehead before closing his eyes, both of us falling asleep to the others breathing.

But the next morning was anything but lovely in comparison to the night before.

In fact, it was down right frightening. Mainly because I wasn't one for loud noises to be the ones to wake me up. Usually, it was Bailey screaming for me to wake up and get ready for school. I knew that Bailey wouldn't be the one running around downstairs and of course my sister was talented but I wasn't sure she was so incredibly gifted that she could throw her voice into different pitches of gender and sound.

No, the voices and loud footsteps I heard could only mean that more uninvited guests were present in the household so early in the morning.

I didn't expect to hear the shouting of a male voice filling the silence of my room from the living room, or what I assumed to be the location of the owner of the yelling.

I didn't expect to hear doors slamming and feet pounding on the staircase as the yelling ensued.

I didn't expect for my bedroom door to be thrown open and the hallway light to spill across my carpet.

But after Alex and I lifted our heads up off the pillow to look at our intruder, the mutual realization of what had just been discovered was summed up in two words.

“Oh, shit.”

Matt's eyes widened as he looked between Alex and I laying on the bed, our hair a mess, the window slightly ajar from Alex not shutting it all the way, his shoes on the ground along with his hoodie and t-shirt. I looked at Alex's face, guessing my facial expression matched his; mouth hung open and eyes wide. That's what it felt like my face was doing.

“Um,” Matt began, scratching the back of his neck, “I was looking for Melanie.”

“She isn't here,” Alex's voice had a slight bite to it, obviously angry at the fact that someone had one, disturbed our slumber and two, had found Alex and I asleep together. In my bed. His body shirtless. I'm sure it didn't look as innocent as it actually was.

“Well...I just...she ran over here because we were fighting and I saw her dart upstairs, but I assumed...she had..run,” Matt scrounged for the right words, a blush creeping up the back of his neck as he continued to mumble incomplete phrases in order to try and fix what he had walked into.

“Again, she's not here, Matt, so why don't you-”

“Ha Matt I beat you!” A voice proclaimed, jumping next to Matt. I hid my face, not wanting to see the wide, surprised eyes of Melanie Flyzik, “What the fuck nuggets?” She yelled; I cringed upon hearing these words.

“Oh, come on guys. What, I can't sleep with my girlfriend now?”

“You did what?!” Melanie screeched. I could felt Alex lift his arm up, the sound of his hand hitting his forehead filling my ears.

“I meant that in the most literal sense of the phrase.”

“Well, I mean...Where's your fucking shirt?” Melanie asked, her tone softening slightly and carrying a more curious tone to it.

“What's going on here?” My sister's voice filled my ears and I pulled my face away from Alex's shoulder, my eyes meeting hers as she took in the sight of the boy sitting next to me under the blankets on my bed, “Oh, um, when did you get here Alex?”

“Better question,” Matt asked, a slight smirk on his face, “how long have you been sneaking into the window at night, Alex?”

Alex sighed, wrapping a comforting arm around my waist as he rubbed circles through my t-shirt, “How'd you know?”

“One,” Matt taunted, walking a little further into the room, “the window is slightly open and your trail of clothes starts from the window to the bed, and two, your car is still parked in my driveway even after you left last night around midnight,” Matt concluded, the smirk still on his face.

“Fuck,” Alex groaned, falling back slightly on the mattress. The sound of a door opening and closing sounded from downstairs and the five of us exchanged looks hurriedly.

“Alright, you guys get dressed and we'll go downstairs and distract whoever it is for a while just in case its Aunt Clara,” Bailey whispered, looking between the four remaining members of the surrounding people. We all nodded, Alex and I jumping up from the bed.

“And....BREAK!” Melanie whisper-yelled, pulling her brother from the room and shutting the door behind her as Alex ran to pick up his shirt from off the floor, tugging the fabric over his head before moving onto his shoes.

“You can't go downstairs in that!” I whispered, walking over to my dresser and pulling out a pair of jeans, a gray tank top, and a blue plaid flannel, quickly changing out of my sleep attire and into the new set of clothes.

“Do you really think anyone will notice?” Alex laughed, tying up his left sneaker, “They aren't really the brightest bulbs of the bunch.”

“Still,” I muttered, pulling out my eyeliner only to have my hand be caught in Alex's calloused one, “What?”

“Don't do that.”

“What? Make myself actually look nice?”

Alex smiled, pulling me closer to him and kissing my lips quickly, “You look nice no matter what.”

“Doubt that but, your life, your choices,” I muttered, releasing my hand from his and pulling the black pencil back to my eye again.

“Yes, and I choose not to let you put on this...goop.”

“Goop?” I laughed, quickly lining my eyes in the black liner and some mascara, looking back over at Alex and sticking my tongue out at him slightly.

“Hate you,” He replied, sticking his tongue out at me as well.

“Liar.”

“I know, I'm a terrible liar.”

“You shouldn't do that. You'll...die or something and that would totally suck,” I smiled, kissing his cheek and walking into the bathroom, Alex following close behind.

“Definitely. I don't wanna die from lying. Something completely awesome would suffice,” He said, reaching in the cabinet for the toothbrush he had claimed as his own since he had started sleeping over, pulling it out along with mine and the toothpaste, handing them over to me.

“Or how about dying peacefully in your sleep?”

“Have you been watching The Notebook?” He asked, starting to brush his teeth, looking over at me with a smirk on his face.

“Have you?” I countered, his smirk dropping.

“No.”

“Liar,” Alex's stomped his foot, muttering a 'Dammit' under his breath, “What did we just go over about lying?”

“I don't wanna die.”

“And I don't want you to either so...knock it off, mister,” I said, fighting through the globs of toothpaste in my mouth before spitting it out in the sink, Alex following suit before we took turns rinsing out the remainders of the minty foam.

“Ready?” Alex asked. I nodded, letting him link our fingers together and beginning the long walk to the living room.

Upon entering into the room, all eyes fell on the two of us, our hands interlocked. The three people who had walked into my room this morning seemed to divert their eyes in awkwardness and I watched as Alex messed his hair; one of his many nervous habits. Jack smiled from across the room, his arm casually draped over Melanie's shoulder, Rian and Kara sitting on the same couch as Matt with Zack and Bailey on the floor together, his arm around my sister's waist. It seemed so natural for him to do that to her; a regular occurrence, nowadays.

“Alex, didn't you learn anything? You can't wear the same outfit twice in a two day pattern,” Jack joked as Melanie's eyes widened slightly along with my own. Upon looking at my sister and Matt's faces as well, we all had the same expression: fear.

“Uh,” Alex stammered, gripping my hand tighter in his as Rian and Kara looked us over as well.

“Hey, yeah, you did wear that yesterday, dude,” Rian commented, his girlfriend nodding along with a quizzical look on her face.

“What did you sleep here or something?” Zack joked, Rian, Kara, and Jack joining with him as the rest of us remained silent, Alex trying to force a laugh but it was anything but convincing.

“Oh my fucking God, motherfucking bitch of all things holy, you spent the night here last night!” Jack yelled, jumping up from the couch and pointing his finger at Alex and I, both of us blushing as Rian and Kara's mouths dropped.

“Uh,” Alex stumbled over is words again, scratching the back of his neck and messing up his hair some more.

“How long has that been going on?” Kara asked, a small smile on her face, “And why didn't you tell me, Miss Jade?”

“Um, it didn't seem...important?” I asked more than stated, shrugging my shoulders slightly.

“Uh, this is motherfucking important!” Jack flailed his arms about, looking between his best guy friend and myself.

“Jack,” Melanie started, gaining the guitarist's attention almost immediately, “Stop swearing so much. It's completely unnecessary.”

“Motherfucking make me-OW!” Melanie delivered a swift kick to the skunk-haired boy's shin, causing him to stumble over in pain, clutching onto his leg.

“Now will you shut up?”

“Yes,” Jack mumbled, sitting back down on the couch, his head now resting in the crook of the dark brunette's neck and shoulder.

“So, how long have you been...” Zack trailed off, looking up at his friend expectantly.

Alex sighed, pulling me over to the small reclining chair and sitting down, placing me softly on his lap, “About...three weeks now?” He looked up at me as I nodded in agreement. The group nodded and I looked over at Kara, a grin plastered onto her face as she winked at me.

“Where's Kaylie?” I asked, continuing to look at the brunette across the room.

“With Adam, where else would she be?” Kara giggled, rolling her eyes slightly at me, “I swear, those two are fucking adorable.” Everyone agreed, nodding their heads or voicing their opinions about the couple.

“If we're talking about cute couple, Rian and Kara take the prize!” I exclaimed, looking over at the grinning drummer. He mouthed a small and quick 'thanks' before looking down at his blushing girlfriend.

“Oh, on the contrary, my dear Jade,” Melanie began, a small smirk creeping up her lips, “Though Rian and Kara are adorable, I'd have to say you and Alex are one of the cutest and more perfectist couples I've ever seen...besides Rian and Kara,” Melanie added on the last part after catching Kara's playful glare, the two of them laughing afterwards.

“I'd have to agree with Mel,” Kara stated, shrugged after looking up at the raised eyebrow her boyfriend gave her, “What? Don't act like you don't agree.”

“No, I do,” Rian smiled, looking between Alex and I as we groaned.

“Fuck. Being cuter than Rian and Kara is like...” Alex started trailing off as he looked up at me.

“The best compliment ever?” Kara offered.

“Amazing?” Melanie threw in.

“I think he was going for the death sentence approach,” I laughed, looking down at Alex as he nodded in agreement.

“We're just being ourselves,” Alex offered, shrugging his shoulders and wrapping his arms around my waist, pulling me closer to his chest.

“Well, being yourselves has made you one of the cutest couples ever,” Kara gushed, grinning over at us.

“Death sentence,” I mumbled under my breath causing Alex to chuckle softly.