Into Your Arms

When the girl with black hair woke, her chest ached from a pain she couldn't describe. It was for a few reasons, though:

One, for cheating on a boy whom she liked very much and he her. She was never one to cheat on boyfriends, but that definitely was changed when she met the four boys from Maryland. It wasn't intentional at all; someone always happened to kiss her instead, but still, cheating it cheating.

Two, for using her best friend as a way of revenge against her former boyfriend. This was definitely not something she ever thought she was going to do; using a boy that she knew was in love with her to get back at a boy who broke her heart, and especially a boy whom she held very dearly.

And three, for the boy she once loved, possibly still loved this very moment. Even she herself didn't know. Her thoughts and actions toward the lead singer were always different. One minute she wanted to forgive him, the next she wanted his head on a silver platter. But, no, this wasn't entirely her fault. Sure, she had little fault in it, but the eighty percent left was solely Alex's Gaskarth's fault. He was the one who had used her for his advantage; he was the one who made her fall in love with him and take something that girls held very special to them; he was the one who ripped her heart in two.

But, unbeknownst to the girl, he was telling the truth the night before. Yes, his intentions were wrong the day he met her, but the next day, everything changed. He needed to be with the girl with blonde and black hair or else he thought he would go mad. Maybe he did. He certainly had lost his mind when he falsely stated that he had never loved the poor girl, and that he only used her for one thing. But, alas, that wasn't the truth. He was in love with the girl that sported the now black and red hair and has been since the second day he knew her.

Ah, on the contrary, there is one more contributing factor: a Mister Jack Bassam Barakat. He too had fallen in love with the baseball star he calls his best friend, maybe harder than his other best friend. Deep down, a little part of him hated the lead singer for what he had done; that same past wanted to beat him down until he screamed bloody murder. But, even though he was mad, Jack Barakat was too much of a softie to beat up his friend.

Maybe this wouldn't have been so complicated if Jasey had given the guitarist a chance at a relationship like he knew they both wanted. But how could she? She had just gotten her heart ripped out by the boy she thought she was eventually going to marry; how could she possibly go out with his best friend? It wouldn't have been right at all. And besides, she had decided that enough was enough with future rock stars and went on with someone normal. And, honestly, she really, really liked Destery; he was such a sweetheart, and didn't know anything about the boys and the history the five of them shared. That was what Jasey needed: for someone to not know about what had happened when she had resided on the east coast, and Destery was the perfect boy for that.

Jasey sighed as she checked her phone. Several messages were left for her to read. A few being from Zack Merrick and Rian Dawson checking up on her to see if she was all right; she ignored those, not wanting to lie to them and say she was okay. A few txt messages and voicemails were left from Jack, telling her that they really needed to talk. And the last txt message was from Alex, begging for the girl to talk to him.

She ignored the messages for right now, not wanting to start her day off with drama. This was her last day and she didn't want to ruin it. Besides, she had to get ready; she was leaving in just a few hours.

After choking down a breakfast that consisted of a single piece of toast, Jasey went to take a shower, then got dressed. Once she was all ready, she knew she had to answer the messages now, not wanting to leave them any longer.

She told the bassist and drummer that she wasn't okay, but she would keep in touch with them and eventually tell them why, but not to tell Jack and Alex. Jack and Alex were the only two people that she decided to lose contact for a while because they seemed to cause the most drama; Zack and Rian didn't do anything to cause the girl drama, so why should she stop talking to them?

Rian and Zack were definitely confused, but went with it anyways, knowing their friend had a good reason for it; they knew she'd tell them eventually, so they vowed never to tell their two best friends what she had said.

Once those two were done, Jasey sighed sadly. The next to boys were definitely going to be harder. But she couldn't do it over the phone; she had to do it in person, much to her dismay. But, nevertheless, she sucked it up and went over to their apartment, telling them she'd be there in a few minutes. Rian and Zack gave one final hug on their way out, each giving her a sad look to which she replied with a small smile. As she walked in, tension was definitely in the room. Jack was in the room she walked in, so Alex must've been in the other room. Jasey decided that Jack was going to be harder to leave, seeing as she was still furious at Alex for what happened, so she went to see Alex first.

He was lying face down on one of the hotel beds, seeming to be sleeping. But once she heard a soft sniffle, Jasey knew he was awake. Knocking softly on the doorframe, she finally spoke up. "A-Alex...?"

The singer was up in a second, knowing exactly whose voice that had filled his ears; it was the voice of the girl he loved very dearly, even if she didn't believe it. "Jasey, I-"

"No, let me talk." The girl said firmly, and the boy sighed, sitting down on the edge of the bed. Jasey rubbed her temples sighed forefingers, trying to figure out how she was going to word this correctly. Finally, something came to mind. She looked at him in his dark brown eyes, the eyes that still to this day made her go weak at the knees. "Alex...looks, there's nothing much really left to say. You know what happened, I know what happened; there's no need to talk about that anymore. I just...it's too hard to be friends right now, okay? I have baseball to worry about and there's just too much stress from that. I can deal with more drama from all of this. I know you're sorry, but that doesn't change anything that's happened. I'm sorry, but I can't do it. Maybe we can try to be friends once the season is over and you're done touring and such."

The singer stared at her sadly, his jaw clenching so as to not cry in front of her. He was losing the girl he loved once again, and that made his heart break. Seeing her leave was the worst. But, deep down, he knew why she felt the way she felt, and he had to respect that. He had hurt her in a way a girl never wants to be hurt, and it hurt her badly. Hell, if she did that to him, he would feel and react the same way. So what could he do? Stamp his foot, scream and shout, cry? No. That wasn't Alex Gaskarth; he had too much honor and pride to act like a child. "I think that's best." He said quietly, standing up. Surprising her, he pulled her quickly into his arms one last time so he could savor the moment he wasn't going to have again for a very long time. Surprising him more, she hugged back. Despite what's happened, she'll always love being in his arms. A few minutes later, the girl collected herself and pulled away, turning around and walking out before she broke down right then and there. She was definitely going to miss him.

Taking a shaky breath, she walked in the next room. One down, one to go. And this was going to be the hardest goodbye out of all of them: Jack Barakat, her best friend. When she walked in, Jack hadn't moved. A sad and confused look was set on his scruffy face as he stared blankly at the television in front of him. He looked like he was thinking hard about something, and Jasey felt bad for interrupting him. "Jack?"

Slowly, his head turned towards the girl with black hair, his face falling a little. That made Jasey's heart break; one of the things she hated most was seeing Jack sad, especially because of her. She sighed, walking over and sitting next to Jack on the couch, turning off the TV. Her heart was going as fast as a hummingbird's wings. "Jacky..."

Instantly, the girl was in the boy's arms securely, his head resting on top of hers. She was sideways in his lap, her back leaning against the arm of the couch and her feet facing the other arm. This made the girl sad; doing this was going to be even harder. But it had to be done. Everything had to be semi-fixed before she left in three hours. "Jack, I'm sorry I kissed you last night; it was for the wrong reasons and I'm sorry."

Jack didn't say anything; he knew what was happening. He knew that she wasn't going to talk to him for a long time; and that broke his broken heart even more. She was his best friend and he loved her to death; how could he go without even speaking to her for the next few months? He clenched his jaw a little, a small tear prickling the corner of his eye, a very rare site indeed.

Jasey sighed slowly, her hand lightly tracing the design on his tee shirt to distract her enough not to start crying. She didn't want people to question her red and puffy face at the airport.

"Am I ever going to get a chance?" Jack whispered, almost inaudibly. It was more to himself, him just thinking out loud. Jack wanted nothing more in his life - other than become a famous rock stars and living his dream - than to just get a chance with his best friend. But everything always seemed to be getting in the way.

Jasey cringed at the sentence no less, though. She didn't want to admit it, but she wanted to give Jack a chance. She couldn't; she just couldn't. He was Alex's best friend; how would that look? And besides, she had a perfectly good boyfriend waiting for her at home. "Jack, I love you."

"Not in the way I want you to, though." He whispered back, making Jasey want to crawl out of her own skin. Hearing the hurt in the boy's voice was painful to hear.

"I do; you know that. It's just not enough." The girl whispered. Then, she pried herself from the boy's grip, saddening him. But she had to get going; she had a flight to catch. She had a dream to catch. Wiping at her cheeks, she smiled softly at the boy. She didn't want to leave on sad terms like this, so she came up with a way to lighten up the situation a little. "Jack, will you promise me something?"

"Anything." The boy answered without a moment's hesitation. This made her smile.

"When you find yourself just sitting alone and thinking, I want you to think of Christmas morning."

"Christmas morning?" He raised his thick eyebrow, confused. Out of all the days they spent together, why that one? Why not the one when they kissed? "Why?"

"Because, when you think of that day, you'll always be happy. That was the best day of my life. Because that day is my favorite memory. Jack, you're my favorite memory. That day was my favorite day because there was no drama, no terrible fathers, no issues or fights, just friends and love. Just...promise me you'll think of that."

Jack stood up, towering over the girl with black hair, looking straight into her bright eyes with his dark ones. "I promise." He whispered, leaning down and kissing her cheek. The girl's heart seemed to skip a beat at the contact, but kept herself composed. Jack put his lips on her ear, keeping them for a second before speaking softly, "Only if you'll promise to think of my now and then. I don't want to be completely forgotten."

"You could never be forgotten." Jasey kissed his ear softly. It was kind of like a tradition: Kiss him in some way, shape, or form, then leave him for a long period of time. A routine basically. "I promise."

"See you later."

"See you." The girl smiled, knowing that her best friend was remembering the day she left Maryland. It's not goodbye; it's a see you later because goodbye means forever.

The girl turned away and walked out the room, shutting the door quietly behind her. Smiling to herself, she walked down the hall. She wasn't depressed that she was leaving behind two of her best friends; sure, she was sad, but she knew she'd see them again.

When they'd meet, Alex and she would be on speaking terms and they'd be civil, their memories of the months they shared in the backs of their minds because they have a significant other. The feelings probably won't surface again, knowing that what Alex did couldn't really be fixed completely.

And when her and Jack meet again, they'll act like old times when there was no drama and just friendship. They'll be crazy and stupid and just having the times of their lives. And, who knows? Maybe feelings will finally surface. Maybe she and Destery will be broken up and Jack won't have a girlfriend; maybe they'll finally have a chance together. But for now, just friends is all they need right now.

She'll see them again; she'll make sure of it.