All Time Trouble

“Where the fuck did everyone go?!” I shouted as I walked around the hotel room.

“We’re all right here,” I heard Matt laugh from the living room. I looked in and saw almost everyone sitting down, or lying on the floor.

“Where’s Jayde and Alex?”

“Who missed me? Aw who am I kidding? I know you all missed me dearly!” I jumped as Alex shouted when he and Jayde walked through the door.

“I honestly think you guys plan out when to scare me,” I said turning around to face him.

“Nah. You’re just super jumpy.” He said poking my sides and I squeaked a bit and everyone laughed.

“Screw you guys, I’m getting a shower.” I said stomping my way to the bathroom as everyone laughed and said how dramatic I was being. Once I was undressed and started the water, I realized I didn’t bring any clothes in with me. I hit my head against the wall a couple times before just sighing and continuing with my shower. When I was done I quickly dried off and wrapped the towel around my body and wrapped another one around my head. I opened the door a bit so my face was barely visible.

“Can everyone turn around for a second?”

“Uhhh, why?” I heard Rian call.

“Cause I kinda forgot to grab clothes before I got in the shower, and I don’t anyone to see me in a towel,” I said and it stayed quiet.

“But we’re watching something,”

“Alex, you can pause whatever you’re watching and let me walk out of the bathroom to the bedroom in peace,”

“Actually, we can’t pause this-“

“Alex, just have you and the others close your fucking eyes so I can walk out of the god damned bathroom!” I said stomping my foot.

“Okay, okay, fine. Hurry up, we’re all covering our eyes.” He sighed. I poked my head out the door and lone and behold, he was telling the truth, and everyone had their hands over their eyes. I held the towel against my chest and held onto the towel on my head and ran across the hotel room. As I opened the door I bumped into someone.

“What the fuck?!” I screamed as I tried to regain my breath when I saw I bumped into Zack. And when I screamed everyone separated their fingers and looked over at us.

“Why where you in mine and Jayde’s room?”

“I was talking with Jayde, but I was also l-looking for you,” Zack stammered.

“Weren’t you in the living room with everyone when I said I was going to get a shower?” I asked and he shook his head.

“I was down at the ice machine.”

“Then why didn’t you ask the others where I was when you came back if you didn’t see me with them?” I asked.

“I did ask, and they didn’t answer me, so I went to go ask Jayde, she said you were in the shower, and then we talked for a bit.” he said and I just nodded.

“Okay... Well, if you’ll excuse me, the air is cold on my legs and arms, and I would like to get dressed, and have time to do my hair and makeup before we have to set out for the next venue in a little bit.” I said.

“Oh yeah, sorry.” He said and we both moved to the left.

“Okay,” I said with a small laugh and we both stepped to the right. I sighed as we both stepped to the left again.

“I hate when this happens,” he mumbled and I mumbled back in agreement. We both stepped to the right again and I let out a disgruntled sigh before Zack put his hands on my shoulders and spun me around to where I had my back to the door and he had his back to the guys.

“Thanks, I guess...,” I said leaning my arm back to put reach for the handle.

“Uh-hu,” he said softly before we did an awkward nod and I opened the door and quickly slipped inside, and closed it behind me. I leaned my head back on the door and breathed slowly. I looked up and jumped when I saw Jayde sitting on her bed smiling at me.

“Jesus Christ you scared me,” I said putting my hand on my chest.

“I tend to do that, and you tend to jump a lot, but anyways,” she said jumping off the bed.

“Anyways what?” I asked staring at her.

“Did you talk with Zack?”

“Barely,”

“Why barely?”

“It was really awkward?”

“Why is everything awkward between you two?! You gotta stop being awkward with each other!” she shouted at me and I just kept staring.

“Jayde, I was standing out there with a goddamned towel wrapped around my head and body, and if you ask me, that’s not casual ‘let’s have a conversation’ apparel,” I said and she just laughed.

“Just get dressed so we can leave soon. We’ll probably take a little stroll around the hotel before we leave, so yeah...” She said patting me on the shoulder.

“...Alright?” I said a bit confused and she just rolled her eyes.

“Hurry up is what I’m trying to say, geez, sometimes you’re slower than Jack, which concerns me because we’ve had him tested,” she said and I just laughed as I opened the door and pushed her out.

“Go.” I said still laughing, then closed the door and picked out a random outfit. When I was dressed, I joined everyone in the living room, and flopped on the couch, which meant flopping on Jack, Rian, and Matt’s laps, and I also ignored their groans of pain when my body landed on theirs.

“What’s with the pirate-y get up today baby sister?” Alex laughed gesturing to my Pirates of the Caribbean shirt and medallion, and I just shrugged.

“I don’t know, I guess I’m just in a pirate-y kinda mood today.” I said stretching and putting my arms behind my head as I closed my eyes.

“You’re so funny,” he said and then all of a sudden I felt him poke my nose. I jumped and fell off the guys’ laps and onto the floor as they laughed at me. But when I fell I didn’t feel the floor.

“Um, ow?!” he said and everyone’s laughter just grew louder.

“Sorry Zack,” I said with a nervous laugh.

“It’s okay.” he said with a small laugh too.

“I didn’t even know you were down here, why are you dow- why aren’t you wearing a shirt?" I said softly.

“I haven’t been wearing one?” he said.

“What?” I asked completely dazed.

“I haven’t been wearing a shirt since I got out of the shower earlier,”

“Oh, okay.” I said I just shook my head a bit trying not to stare or be caught staring at his bare chest. But for a quick second I did a double take.

“When the fuck did you get a tattoo?!” I said, and by now I was straddled around his waist pinning his arms down as I stared at the colorful ink on the left side of his chest.

“...I've had it?”

“Since when?! I’ve seen you shirtless before and you didn’t have a tattoo then,- oh don’t give me that look Alex we were all hanging by the pool, calm yourself,” I said holding a hand up at him when he gave me a skeptical look, then I looked back down at Zack and a bit of hair fell in front of my face and almost on instinct Zack moved it behind my ear.

“But when did you get the tattoo?” I asked and before he could answer the door opened and everyone looked up.

“You can never get enough damned ice in this pla- WELL, WELL, WELL, WHAT’S GOING ON HERE???” Jayde said with a wide grin then looked towards Alex.

“Did you say yes?!” she asked.

“Say yes about what?” Zack and I asked but Jayde ignored us and looked at Alex.

“Did you say yes?” she repeated as she put the ice box down on the counter.

“....No,” Alex said looking away from Jayde.

“Say yes.” she growled.

“Not now.” he said still avoiding her eyes.

“Alex,” she said keeping her eyes locked on him.

“Not now!”

“Alex?” I asked.

“Jesus Christ Jayde, I said-!”

“Alex that was me that time, not Jayde,” I said looking up at him.

“I’m sorry Kayden, what do you want?” he said more gently.

“I wanna know what you and Jayde are arguing about. I’ve never seen you two argue this much. You two are fighting more than you and I ever fought, and everyone in this room knows how much we used to fight,” I said.

“You two still fight just as bad though,” Zack chuckled and I looked down, seeing as I was still straddled around his waist I playfully slapped him across the face.

“Ow!!” he laughed looking up at me.

“Quiet you,” I laughed as I pointed at him and he just rolled his eyes at me. I looked back at Alex waiting for his answer.

“Well?” I asked raising an eyebrow at him and he just sighed.

“I don’t wanna talk about it right now. Maybe later, but most definitely not now.” he said after a while and I nodded, but Jayde wasn’t as content as I was at the moment. She let out a grunt and stomped her foot.

“Alex, say yes now or I’m breaking up with you.”

“What?! You’re kidding me right?!” Alex half shouted and Jayde crossed her arms as she shook her head and turned around, not facing him.

“Jayde, don’t you think that’s a little uncalled for? I said I’ll say yes in time, just not now, you brought enough attention to the situation for now, I don’t think it needs anymore right now," Alex said about to get up but Jayde stopped him.

“Fine. But you better have said yes by midnight tonight, alright?” she said and Alex looked a little hesitant before nodding.

“Fine.” he said letting out a deep sigh.

“Good.” she said and went to sit on Jack’s lap, and he started to bounce her up and down like someone would if they had a baby on their lap. By now I was sitting next to Zack on the floor while everyone else inhabited the sofas and chairs.

“What time is it?” I asked attempting to break the awkward silence all about.

“Noon,” Jayde mumbled with her eyes closed.

“And when are we leaving for the next show again?”

“Soon,” Jayde said lifting her head and picked up Matt’s arm to look at his watch.

“Real soon actually, we should probably go pack our stuff up in the van” she said and threw Matt’s arm back on his lap and got up to get her bags from the room. I followed as the boys shuffled around to look for and pick up anything they might’ve forgotten to pack up. Jayde and I walked out of the bedroom with all our stuff as the guys were putting their bags on their backs and slinging some over their shoulders.

“What happened to the blanket?” I asked and they looked at me like a deer caught in headlights.

“What?” they asked all at once.

“The blanket for the pull out bed, where is it?” Jayde asked again and they looked around nonchalantly and whistled.

“You guys didn’t,” Jayde and I said.

“What? It was comfy as hell,” Alex shrugged and Jayde and I just laughed.

“Let's just go before they notice it’s gone,” Jayde said and we all nodded and turned to leave. Alex grabbed Jayde’s hand as we walked down the hallway and I awed aloud. Everyone started to walk ahead, leaving Zack and I behind because we were ‘being slow’ but it was mainly because we had the most bags.

“You’d think Jayde and Jack would be the ones at the back because you’d think they would have the most bags,” I said with a laugh.

“Yeah,” Zack said with a small laugh too.

“...I have a question,” Zack said after a little bit.

“I will most likely have an answer,” I laughed.

“Ha ha,” he said nudging me and I just continued to laugh.

“But seriously, I have a question for you.”

“Shoot.” I said and he hesitated.

“You’d never consider, dating... Matt... would you?” he asked and I just stared at him.

“Flyzik?” I asked and he nodded.

“Matt Flyzik?” I repeated and he nodded again.

“Why would you ever think I’d go out with Flyzik?? Yeah he’s hot, but- ow! Why did you just pinch me?! I was trying to answer your question!” I said rubbing the spot on my underarm which was probably already bruising.

“I don’t need any details, I just want to know if you like him or not and if you’d ever go out with him.” Zack said sharply, and I was slightly taken aback by his tone.

“N- wait, what made you think of that anyway?” I asked.

“Jayde and I were talking before,-”

“I’m just gonna stop you there,” I said with a laugh and he chuckled a bit.

“But to answer your question, no, I wouldn’t go out with Matt. Yes he’s attractive, but I have no intention of dating him. I like him like a brother, and nothing more.” I said and squinted at him a bit as I answered him, and he noticed.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked.

“Do I detect some jealousy from you when I said that Matt was hot?” I asked with a playful smile hanging loosely from my lips and Zack snorted before he gave his response.

“No,”

“Alright,” I said with the smile still on my face.

“I’m not jealous!” he said a little louder when he saw I was still smiling.

“I said alright! Geez, why are you so snappy?” I chuckled as we started to catch up with the others, whom were already in the elevator.

“I’m not being snappy, I’m just getting annoyed that you still had that stupid smile on your face.”

“As I recall, you said you loved my smile,” I said stopping in my tracks and put my hands on my hips.

“That’s not what I meant, but yes, I do love your smile, I just don’t like when you use that sly grin a lot.” he said turning to face me when I stopped.

“Okay.” I said walking past him and trying not to blush as I did so because I just got him to admit to something he never really said. He followed me the rest of the way to the elevator, and stood next to me when we finally got there.

“Took you two long enough, I thought we were gonna have to wait all damn day,” Alex huffed as he pushed the button to the lobby.

“Sorry,” Zack and I mumbled and I saw Jayde grin.

“Why do you look so guilty?” she whispered into my ear.

“I don’t look guilty,” I whispered back.

“You kinda do Kay,” Jayde whispered again.

“Do I really?” I whispered back and she nodded.

“Care to tell why?” she said smiling a wicked grin.

“Later, when no one’s within earshot,” I said before we got interrupted.

“Secrets, secrets are no fun, secrets are for everyone!” Jack hollered when he noticed our silent conversation.

“God forbid someone wants to go up or downstairs, and they get stuck in an elevator with us,” I said and everyone laughed in agreement. When we finally reached the lobby, Jayde and I took our stuff out to the van as the guys checked out. When we got all our stuff in, we sat in the back and waited for the boys.

“So, it’s later, and no one is within ear shot,” she smiled and I rolled my eyes before telling her what happened.

“Wait, so he never said he loved your smile before?” Jayde asked when I got to that part.

“He’s said I have a nice smile before, but he never really said he loved it.” I said and she awed.

“And am I ever going to know what you and Alex are arguing about this whole ‘him saying yes’ thing??” I asked and Jayde just shrugged.

“Maybe, maybe not. It all depends on if he says yes by midnight. If he says yes, you’ll find out... Actually even if he says no you’ll find out... Either way you’ll find out.” she said and I let out a loud sigh because of how complex she just made that sound, and flopped back on the mattress and closed my eyes.

“I'm driving!” I heard Rian shout and everyone threw their shit in the van and piled in. I fell asleep on the way, which meant I missed out on all the fun things that happened during the ride, but I was woken up when we got to the venue.

“Are we doing the same thing we did last night? Check out the venue then go check into the hotel?” I asked rubbing my eyes and yawning.

“No, we already checked into the hotel.” Jayde said helping me out of the van.

“Who-”

“We didn’t wanna wake you because you seemed really tired, so Zack helped carry your things in.” she said.

“Aw, that was sweet. Where are the guys anyway?” I asked looking around.

“Sound check.”

“Oh wow.” I mumbled rubbing my eyes again.

“Yeah, they’re going on a bit earlier tonight, we gotta set up the merch booth fast,” she said pulling me along. When we got to the booth we got half of everything set up by the time the boys were finished sound check, and when they came out they helped set everything else up.

“We have about, and hour and a half to kill before you guys go onstage,” Matt said looking at his watch.

“What do you wanna do?” he asked and we all shrugged.

“Wanna get some lunch? I’m kinda in the mood for some Olive Garden,” I said and everyone agreed, mainly because it was right down the street. We walked there and got seated right away.

“Just think you guys, once you get famous, you won’t be able to do this again, sit down in a restaurant or a movie or something with friends or family without being bombarded by fans.” I said and they all stared into space.

“You know I never really thought about that.” Rian said and I nodded, and we all started a small conversation on that subject. But our food and drinks came as quickly as we had ordered them, and we laughed and joked around as we ate. And when we were done, we paid and started heading back to the venue with thirty minutes to spare.

“Well that was fun. We really need to do that again sometime soon,” Jayde said swinging hers and Alex’s hands.

“It was. And most definitely.” I said ignoring the feeling to hold Zack’s hand as I walked next to him.

“Well let’s rehearse each song a little bit once more, then it’s show time," Matt said using jazz hands and everyone laughed then the boys nodded, and started heading inside. We followed shortly after, and they were in the middle of a song. Jayde and I stood near the back until they were done, then we went up and stood onstage, and as we did last night, we’d stay off to the sides of the stage when they would play. Jayde went off to find a vending machine, and I saw Alex walk over and whisper something to Zack and he just looked really confused. Then Alex came over to me and must’ve whispered the same thing to me because I was very confused.

“What do you mean-?”

“Don’t ask questions, just go tell Jayde I say yes before I change my mind.” he sighed and walked away, and I walked over to Zack.

“Did he just tell you-?” I started then Zack cut me off.

“To tell Jayde he says yes-?

“Before he changes his mind?” I finished and he just nodded.

“Do you have any-?”

“I have no fucking clue what that means, at all.” he said and I just nodded.

“Well, let's go find Jayde.” I said and he nodded as he put his bass down and we started walking around. When we finally found her, we found her beating the shit out of a vending machine.

“You tell her." Zack said pushing me in front of him as we walked.

“Wha-? Why me?”

“Because she looks pissed,” he said keeping his hands on my shoulders as we kept walking forward.

“The machine probably just ate her quarters,”

“I don't care, you're telling her,”

“Alright, fine. Jayde!” I hollered as we walked over to her.

“Huh? Oh hi guys, what’s up?” she said turning around.

“For the record, we have no idea what this means,” Zack started.

“Okay?” Jayde asked confused.

“But Alex told us to tell you, he says yes? Whatever that means,” I said and her face dropped.

“Really?” she asked and we nodded.“What else did he say?” she asked probably to make sure we weren’t lying.

“That he wanted us to tell you before he changed his mind,” Zack said and Jayde squealed and we covered our ears.

“I WIN! I WIN, I WIN, I WIN, I WIN, I WIN!!!!!" she shouted over and over.

“WHAT DID YOU WIN?!?!” Zack and I yelled trying to shout over her, which was no use because she was like a bullhorn.

“I’LL TELL YOU LATER, RIGHT NOW I JUST GOTTA GO FIND ALEX!!” she hollered and started to run away from us.

“What the fuck-?”

“I don’t know.” Zack said cutting me off. We stood there for a moment, then he turned to look at me.

“Want a piggy back ride back to the stage?” he asked.

“Please and thank you,” I laughed as I jumped on his back and he started to walk back to the stage where everyone else was.