Resistance Is Useless

CARSON

I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and lifted my head slowly from my twin sister’s shoulders. I must have passed out quicker than I thought last night. I don’t know how it happened, with all of the yelling, but I somehow managed to fall right to sleep. My dreams weren’t exactly the best escape. It was like the scene from last night was stuck on repeat in my head. All I could hear play over and over again were the last words Jack spoke to me.
I just wanted to get in your pants, Carson. Don’t flatter yourself.
All Jack wanted all along from me was sex. He didn’t care, at least, that’s what he said. So every little sweet kiss, and cuddling we did meant nothing to him. It was all just to get me to sleep with him. After I slept with him, he stayed for a little while longer, until he had to go off to tour. Tour, I really freaking hate it. Tour was where Jack and I went wrong. He cheated on me, he even admitted it. How could that happen? Alex is supposed to be the unfaithful one, not Jack. Jack’s the sweetheart telling Alex that what he was doing was wrong. Now where in the hell was Alex to tell Jack that hurting me was wrong? I don’t get it. I know that Alex was occupied with a love-sick Landon, but he seriously couldn’t keep an eye on Jack? I guess that’s why no one did. No one probably watched over him because it was the last thing they expected from him.
“Are you okay, Cars?” Landon asked me after she sat up in the bed beside me. “You went out like a light last night. You were crying hard one minute and then you passed out the next,”
“I’m fine,” I whispered, feeling my raspy voice come to life. It cracked a little bit, making it hurt. “I just...need some water.”
Landon gave me a sad smile, but nodded before leaving my room silently. She was worrying about me, but something told me that something else was on her mind. She didn’t look the same. She had bags under her eyes from where she must have spent most of the night awake. A minute or two after Landon left my room, Alex was slipping in.
“Hey...”
“Hi,” I answered half-heartedly.
“Are you okay?” He asked. “Okay, another dumb question.”
I almost laughed.
“I’m...ugh.”
“I get it,” Alex nodded. “What exactly happened, if you don’t mind me asking. What exactly was said before we got there?”
“Well your best friend pulled me into a room, had sex with me, put his clothes back on in a rush and dumped me.”
“Jack? Jack Barakat did that to you?”
I nodded sadly.
“Yupp,”
“That just doesn’t seem like...him.”
“I know. It sounds like something you would do, no offense,”
“None taken,” Alex smiled back sadly. I could tell that it did offend him somewhat, but he didn’t say anything. “On the plus side, he now has a nasty shiner.”
“You hit him?” I asked, my eyes growing wide.
“What did you expect me to do? Hug him?”
“No...but...”
“No buts about this, Carson. I slugged him. He deserved it after talking to you that way, and in front of people. He couldn’t have explained his actions without yelling and publicly breaking your heart. Jack should’ve gotten worse.”
“Alex...”
“He’s right,” Landon cut in from the door where she was holding a bottle of water. “Jack should be castrated.”
“That’s sort of harsh...” I trailed off.
Landon rolled her eyes before sitting next to her boyfriend.
“No, it’s not.” Alex agreed with her. “He was so mean to you. I don’t understand what would drive him to doing that.”
“Did you...um...Alex....did you know about him...cheating?” I asked, looking up at my step-brother. Shock etched into his gorgeous features. So what if Alex is Landon’s, he is still a handsome human being. I just preferred lanky, Arabic guitar players.
“No, of course not,” Alex replied. “I didn’t think that he would do something like that, so I wasn’t watching him. I thought he would be faithful,”
“That’s what I thought,” I muttered. “It just...came out of nowhere.”
Landon nodded her head in agreement before she passed me the bottle of water. I took a long gulp from it. It made my throat feel less like it was burning.
“Jack’s weird like that,” Alex commented.
“Enough about my boy problems....what happened to our parents?”
“They were arguing about me and Landon,” Alex replied swiftly.
“They can’t go four freaking hours without getting into an argument.” I huffed. “It’s been that way since you guys left for tour,”
“Damn,” Alex mumbled.
“Yeah...”
“They were arguing over why their problems started between them,” Landon answered my un-asked question.
Twin telepathy definitely comes in handy a lot.
“It is still weird how you two do that,” Alex laughed lightly.
“But you got in the argument?” I asked. “I don’t remember what was said, but I know you jumped in,”
“Defending my honor, of couse,” Landon rolled her eyes and nudged Alex with her shoulder. His cheeky grin came out with a small chuckle.
“I just...it was huge. My dad is just...stubborn at times. That’s where I got my hard head from...but it ended up in me coming out of my half-gay closet.”
I giggled at his explanation of his bisexuality.
“So...Peter and my mom know about you and Jack?”
“Oh yeah,” Alex nodded. “And I got a stern talking to from my dad about it this morning.”
Landon’s arms wrapped around his neck, and she kissed his cheek.
“It will be okay, Lex,” She whispered.
When did they become the idea couple with all of their little issues and insecurities?
“Thanks,” He replied slightly. “But I’m more worried about Carson than I am my dad disapproval.”
“Awe...” I smiled slightly.
That was a side that I’ve never had the pleasure of seeing with Alex. From the looks of it, Landon had seen the side plenty of times. It was like it was their own little thing, a personality trait that Alex often reserved for her and only her. They let me into their little bubble, causing me to see a glimpse of what Landon usually gets to see. Her Alex is different from the Alex the world sees. I guess that’s kind of like how Jack was. My Jack was sweet and caring. I guess the world just saw him as a annoying, perverted guitar player who seemed like the classic rock star. What happened to my Jack? Somehow he has lost himself, and allowed his rock star persona to grab hold of the Jack I loved. Something happened on that damn tour, and I want to know what.
“What do you think caused him to do it?” I asked out loud to the couple sitting to the left of me.
“I...I think that it was his insecurity.” Alex admitted. “I’ll be the first to admit that I screwed up our relationship. I made him think that everyone is going to treat him badly and that a good relationship will always go bad. I think...I think that Jack was just...um...I think he was trying to beat you to the punch.”
“Break up with you before you dumped him,” Landon put into easier terms. “Jack thought you were going to realize how bad he is for you, and just kick him to the curb.”
“But I wouldn’t do that to Jack. I love him,” I said. I felt like crying, because in some twisted way, I understood why he did it. Hell, I would’ve done it to, if it were me.
“But you’re also the President’s daughter, Carson.” Alex said softly. “That had to put some strain on the relationship...that and your awful friend Lily. She just screamed ‘No one is good enough.’.”
“Ugh. This is so frustrating.” I admitted, throwing my body back on my bed. “Why does love have to be this hard?”
“Cause it’s such a strong emotion.” Alex shrugged.
Landon shot playful daggers at him.
“No, it’s cause it hurts. When you find someone so perfect for you, and someone who balances you out perfectly, you tend to butt heads.”
“You and Alex are like the same person in two different bodies.”
The couple laughed.
“And in some instances, the couple is so similar that they butt heads a lot. We work at what we have, Carson.” Alex explained. “I think you need to talk to Jack.”
“What happened to the Alex that punched him in the face? I want that Alex back.”
“That Alex is still here, and he did deserve it. I’m not saying to get back together with him. Just talk to the man,”
“I really don’t want to,” I admitted, but I knew that I had too.

♥

I sat down in a Starbucks, waiting for Jack to arrive. I had sent him a text message last night, asking him to come meet me here today. He eventually agreed to come, but with hesitation. I took Alex’s advice. I needed closure. I needed to know why Jack acted the way that he did. Landon and Alex explaining it helped, but I needed the words to flow from his mouth, not theirs. No matter how much they had helped shed light on the subject, it still wasn’t enough.
I took a deep breath and another sip of my coffee as a familiar head of blonde and black hair came toward my table. I wasn’t entirely ready for this, but I just wanted to know. I wanted to know so bad that it hurt. He owed it to me. We’ve been together for four months. He can tell me the truth to the scene he pulled three nights ago.
Jack sat down across from me with dark sunglasses on his face. I raised an eyebrow at him.
“What’s with the shades?” I spoke in a monotone voice.
“My best friend decked me,”
“Seems like you deserved it,” I shrugged back.
“Okay...let’s get this over with. I’ve got things to do.”
I rolled my eyes, putting on my cold exterior.
If he wanted to play hard ball, I was getting on my gear.
“I have a cab to catch,” I shrugged. “So...who is more on a time frame, me or you?”
“A cab?” He asked, furrowing his brows. “To where?”
“Washington DC,” I shrugged. “My dad does live there,”
“You’re going back?”
“I see no reason to stay. Landon understands,” I replied. “So...back to business...”
“Okay,” He muttered.
“Why did you do it?”
“Cheat or yell at you?”
“Both,”
“Well I guess I better start from the beginning.”
“That would be a good idea.” I retorted.
“The cheating started when I realized that I would just fuck it up anyway. I knew that you were out of my league, so why not go ahead and get a head start?”
“That’s the dumbest reason I’ve ever heard.” I shook my head.
“Maybe, but it was true. All that went through my head was how much more you deserved. I can’t give you something that a prep-school boy can, Carson. I want you to be able to buy the expensive things that you do now for the rest of your life. I want you to be able not to work and stay home and do whatever the fuck you want to, but I can’t. I’m gone ten months out of a year, and rarely get to come home for vacations. I didn’t go to college. This was doomed from the start.”
“Jack...you know that I didn’t care about those things,”
“But you did at one point, Carson. They were the things that were most important to you,”
“I’ve changed from that, Jack. Surely you’ve noticed.”
“I have, but I’ve also changed. Suddenly I care about those things. You deserve the world, which I can’t give you,”
“You couldn’t just tell me that? You had to cheat on me to get the point across?” I asked, crossing my arms. “In what world does that make sense?”
“At the time...it did make sense to me.” He huffed. “I can’t really explain it, but it did.”
“If you truly loved me, you wouldn’t want to give me up so easily.”
“But it’s what we should do. Face it, our worlds aren’t meant to cross paths.”
“What about Alex and Landon.”
Jack shook his head, and I assumed he was rolling his eyes.
“They’re destined to explode too. It’s all a matter of time,”
“What makes you say that?”
“Because Alex has a dark past, and Landon is selfish. They both are.” He shook his head. “I’m done living in a fantasy world. It’s time to actually grow up,”
I huffed.
“You, Jack Bassam Barakat, are the biggest idiot I know,” I stated, standing up. I kissed his lips lightly, to which he didn’t pull away, but slightly kissed back. “One day, you’re going to regret letting me go,”
Then I walked out of Starbucks feeling a hundred pounds lighter and ten times sadder. I got my closure, but it still hurt my head. I slid into the awaiting black cab, sent by my father, and closed the door behind me.
“Back to the Gaskarth home?” He asked, looking at me through the review mirror.
I shook my head.
“No, back to the White House...where I belong,”