There's Only One Way Down This Road

Jasmine.

“No seriously, Alex. Where did you find her? Because Joe’s not getting any younger and he needs a new girlfriend.” Mr. Barakat said, referring to Jack’s older brother who couldn’t make it tonight. It’s probably for the better, though, because who wants more Jack Barakats running around? Not me. As much as I love the boy, he’s fucking crazy.

“You remember Ben Knaebel? We used to hang out back in high school? Well, he’s her English teacher this year.” Alex shot a smile towards me and kissed my forehead. I took Alex’s place on the couch, so I was now located between Jack and him. Dearest Jack had his head on my lap and his legs dangling over the arm of the chair while my left hand played with his hair.

“So you’re still in High School, dear?” Mrs. Merrick directed her question towards me as a confused look spread across her face.

Feeling uncomfortable, I moved even further into Alex’s chest. My back was pressed against the left side of his chest and his left arm was wrapped around my shoulders. I just nodded and uttered out a ‘yes ma’am. ‘as Alex took my right hand in his.

“Oh sweetheart, I didn’t mean for it to sound like a bad thing. I wasn’t even born yet when Zack’s father was entering Middle School. Love doesn’t care about age.” Mrs. Merrick said, kissing her husband on the cheek.

Conversations started up all around the room, but too many thoughts were running through my head to join in on any of them. Jack, Rian, and Zack’s parents are all fine and they all seem to like me, but they’re nothing compared to the Gaskarths. If Alex’s parents don’t like me, I don’t know how long we’d last together. Obviously, he trust’s them a lot if he brought me to meet them so early on in the relationship. Will they agree with the five years between us? Or the fact that I’m still in school while he’s in a band? Maybe how Alex is my first boyfriend ever and I’m too inexperienced for him? Thousands of reasons why his parents may dislike me ran through my head all at once. This was such a stressful situation.

“Baby, calm down. Don’t psych yourself out over this. My parents will absolutely adore you.” Alex whispered into my ear. He kissed my earlobe and moved to kiss my cheek. “Almost as much as I do.” He turned my head more towards him and pressed our lips together briefly. I could feel a smile cross his lips while his lips were barely touching mine before they were pressed back together again.

A throat cleared from the door way, forcing Alex and I apart. He smiled at me before directing his attention at who I’m assuming was his mother. My cheeks felt like they were on fire as I turned my head towards the woman also.

“I’m guessing you’re Jasmine?” Mrs. Gaskarth said with an undetectable sound in her voice.

“Yeah, Ma. This is Jasmine Davis. Jazz, this is the lovely woman who I get to call my mother and my father behind her.” Alex stood up and pulled me up with him. He moved so his left hand was resting on my back, and he was slightly behind me.

Mrs. Gaskarth eyes scanned over my body judgmentally before turning and whispering something to her husband. Alex grabbed onto my right hand with his and pulled me closer towards his chest.

“I think dessert is ready. It’s all set out in the dining room.” Alex’s mother said, turning and retreating into another room.

I looked at Alex, shaking my head. “I can’t do this Lex. She doesn’t like me, I can tell.”

“You’ll be fine baby girl. If you do this one thing for me, I have something else planned for later.” He whispered, kissing my neck lightly. Alex rested his head there until the room was completely clear aside from us. He moved so I was facing him and gently placed his hands on my cheeks. “Don’t let them bring you down, okay? If you feel like they’re judging you, prove their thoughts wrong. Be the amazing girl I know you are and don’t change to accommodate them. If they don’t love you like I do, fuck them. I know how special you are to me, they can’t change that. Okay?”

My mind completely stopped functioning but somehow allowed my head to nod. Alex smiled and pulled my lips towards his in a passion-filled kiss. He ran his tongue along my bottom lip and let it roam the inside of my mouth as it parted. Our making out was cut short, however, when Mrs. Gaskarth called us into the dining room again.

“This is delicious, Mrs. Gaskarth.” I said when my bowl was almost full, but you can still tell that I’ve eaten. I was completely stuffed from dinner and dessert just wouldn’t be the right thing for me right now, but I needed her to like me. I tried my hardest to eat, but after a few bites I just felt sick. Now, I was just moving around the pie in a bowl.

“How would you know? You haven’t eaten any of it.” Isobel, as Peter told me to call her, snapped back at me. “You’re not going to tell me that my baby is dating one of those anorexic skanks, are you?”

“Mother, stop it. If she can’t eat anymore, don’t force her. You can’t blame Jasmine, we had a big dinner.” Alex said as my eyes filled with tears. I couldn’t help it, honestly. I wanted to eat, I just couldn’t.

“I’m not going to stop, Alex. I don’t think she deserves you.” By now, Mrs. Gaskarth was standing up straight, staring me down.

“I don’t deserve her, mother. You know nothing about her; you have no right to judge her.” Alex said, standing to look his mother straight in the eyes.

“I have a feeling you don’t know much about her either, Alexander. I know exactly who she is, and I want her out of my house. Her and her little problems can go somewhere else.”

“I can’t believe I used to respect you. You don’t know Jasmine, mother. Don’t act like you do. She’s an amazing girl who can still stand here and smile despite all the shit she’s been through. In the span of three weeks, she’s become just as much of my best friend as the guys and I love her. I’m not in love with her, not yet, but damn I’m falling. And if you can’t accept her, then congrats. You just lost another son. I hope you’re happy with yourself.” With that, Alex and I said our goodbyes to everyone in the room, and he pulled me out of the house.

“I’m so fucking sorry, Jazz. I had no idea she would act like that. When we talked on the phone and I told her all about you, she seemed so excited to meet you.” Alex explained as we walked through the local park.

The gorgeous park was only about ten minutes from his teenage home, and about twenty minutes from where Alex lives now. As we were walking, Alex wrapped his arm around my waist and held onto me tightly. It almost seemed like he didn’t want to let me go, which was a refreshing thought after tonight’s events.

“You’re fine, darling. You couldn’t control what your mother did. I don’t blame you at all.” I leaned up and lightly kissed his neck, the only part of him I could reach in the position we were in.

Alex abruptly stopped walking and led me over to a patch of grass. The area was already covered by a blanket with candles surrounding it along with a cooler of drinks in one of the corners. I couldn’t help but smile as Lex sat down and pulled me down onto his lap.

He laid down and looked up at me expectantly until I laid down beside him. Alex wrapped his arms around me and pulled me closer to him, so I was practically on top of him. I wrapped my arm around his waist and laid my head upon his shoulder.

Minutes passed as we sat in the comfortable silence that had fallen upon us, until Alex spoke out.
“Baby, I’ve noticed something and I want to ask you about it, but I don’t want you getting mad or upset over it. Can I ask?”

“Of course, love. You can ask me anything.”

It looked like Alex was debating with himself on how to word the question, but finally muttered something out.
“You have a lot of scars, like all around your wrists and some on your legs. What are they from?”

My stomach dropped as soon as the words left his mouth, along with my head. I refused to make eye contact with the older man as I thought of how to answer his question.

“I can’t tell you everything right now, Alex, because I’m still trying to deal with a lot, but I can try to tell you as much as I possibly can. You just have to promise me that you won’t freak out or anything. Okay?” I could feel my tears building up in my eyes as Alex nodded. I began explaining everything to him. Everything from the playground days with my dad to being sick from stress and losing weight. Of course, I left out almost all of the illnesses that came with my father’s death aside from depression, which Alex deserved to know.

When it came to explaining the suicide attempts, I couldn’t contain the tears that came pouring out of my eyes. Alex wrapped his arms even tighter around me, and held me as my body shook. His cheek rested on the top of my head, and I could feel his tears hitting my scalp.

“Shh, baby. Please don’t finish. I hate seeing you cry and you’re hurting me so bad right now. Just please, shhh.” Alex whispered, stroking my hair with one of his hands.

We laid in silence again as my tears slowly stopped flowing. All I could do was look up at Alex and press our lips together desperately. When I’m kissing him, I don’t think. I need him.

With our lips still attached, Alex moved so I was slightly under him, his elbows supporting him from both sides of my head. Once he was sure he wouldn’t crush me, Alex slowly moved his right arm to rest on my waist. My arms wrapped around his head and my fingers played with the back of his hair.

Alex moved his lips across my cheek and down to my neck. I couldn’t hold back the moan that escaped my mouth when he started sucking on my soft spot. I could practically feel the smirk cross Alex’s lips as he lightly nibbled the area he was just sucking, earning another moan from me. He continues sucking until he was satisfied and pulled away to look me in the eyes.

I pouted at him, upset that he was stopping, but smiled when he reattached our lips. Alex placed a few small pecks on my lips until he pulled away fully.

“I should probably take you home, baby. It’s already past eleven.” He said, sitting up and bringing me with him.

“Nooo, I don’t wanna leave you, Lexy.” I pouted up at him until he sighed.

“Baaabe, don’t pout at me. I need to bring you home, we have a lot of packing to do tomorrow.”

“Can’t I just stay with you then? I don’t want to go back to that house tonight.”

Alex just nodded and stood up, and lifted me up as well. He laid his right hand on my cheek and brought my face towards him before pulling me into another mind blowing kiss. I placed my hands on his chest and leaned forward to deepen the kiss even more. The kiss remained basic but passionate for a few minutes, just Alex’s lips touching mine, before he pulled away.

“Let’s go, baby girl.” He said after picking up the blanket, candles, and unused cooler. Lex picked up the basket that it all came in with one hand and took hold of my hand with the other.

Alex groaned as we pulled up to his house and uttered curses under his breath. Two unfamiliar cars were parked in his driveway and all the lights in the house were on.

“Jack, Zack, and Rian are here. Are you sure you’re up for sleeping over still?” He questioned giving my left hand a squeeze.

“Of course. As long as I’m with you, I’m fine.” I said, smiling up at my boyfriend.

Alex leaned over and kissed my cheek before getting out of the car and moving to open my door.
“If you say so, babe.”

He opened the front door of his house and closed it behind me once I passed the threshold. Almost immediately, Sebastian and another dog who I’ve never seen before ran into the room and excitedly jumped around Alex and I. Alex gasped and grabbed the strange dog, picking him and letting the dog kiss his face.

“Oh Pey, I’ve missed you so much baby. How was the vet?”

I just giggled and picked up Baz, kissing the little dog all over his face and head. Alex looked between me and the dog in his arms before deciding to do a proper introduction.

“Peyton, this is your daddy’s girlfriend. Jasmine, this is my other baby Peyton. He hasn’t been here because he had to go to the vet for a checkup and a bath.” Alex kissed the adorable animal on the head and placed him back down on the ground.

Jack was the first to run into the room, followed by Zack and then Rian. The hairy Lebanese man koala hugged Alex, leading them both to fall to the floor. Jack, who was laying completely on top of my boyfriend, leaned down and kissed Alex straight on the lips. I couldn’t help but gasp as they started making out.

“Jack’s only doing it to bug you, Jasmine. Don’t worry. They’re not usually like this.” Rian said, walking over and hugging me. Zack agreed and hugged me as well before kicking Jack and Alex.

Rian and Zack led me into the living room to sit on the couches while the other boys finished up in the hallway. The drummer sat down on the couch and pulled me down next to him, wrapping an arm around my waist and snuggling me into him. Zack sat down next to me and laid his head on my lap. I just moved closer into Rian and played with Zack’s hair, much like I had been doing earlier with Alex and Jack.

The two guitarists walked into the room holding hands, and Alex gasped when he saw my position on the couch.

“Baabyyy, why are you sitting with them? You’re my girl. Why didn’t you wait for me?” He said, stomping his foot on the ground and pouting.

“You and Jack were busy. I didn’t know you wanted me to stand there and wait for you two to stop making out.” I admit, I was a little jealous. I loved how close Alex was with the guys and how affectionate they all are, but making out? Really? That’s a little bit too much, especially with what went on tonight.

A look of shock spread across Alex’s face as he was clearly not expecting such an answer from me. He just stood there and nodded before moving his hand up to rub his neck.

“Okay then. It won’t happen again.” He said, turning and walking out of the room while shaking his head.

“Jazzy, don’t be mad at him about this. It was all me.” Jack said, kneeling in front of me and taking my hands in his.

“I’m not really mad, Jack. Just a little upset. Major stuff happened tonight, at least for me, and he’s acting like it never happened. It just kind of hurts to see your boyfriend make out with his best friend. I’ll go talk to him, though.”

I stood up off the couch and let Jack take my place before walking in the direction Alex did. I looked through every room before finally finding him in his bedroom. Knocking slightly on the cracked door, I waited until he called for me to enter before opening it all the way.

“Lexy? I’m sorry, baby.” He was sitting on the bed with his head in his hands, eyes bloodshot and puffy. He’d been crying. I moved to sit next to him on the bed and rested my hand on his back.

“I wanted tonight to be amazing for you, the best first Friday night date you will ever go on but I ruined it. I made it awful, which is the last thing you probably wanted. It started fine but dessert was hell, and it ended with you crying in the middle of a park. I just wanted tonight to be special and memorable in a good way. I couldn’t even do that for you. I’m sorry.”

“Alex, look at me.” I lightly pulled his chin so he was staring straight at me with his beautiful brown eyes. “Tonight was amazing because I spent it with you. Yeah, dessert was hell but it made me realize exactly how much I’m falling for you. Not many guys who love their mother so much would stand up for their girlfriend of not even a week to them. Most guys would have left me by now since their mother didn’t approve, but not you. I did cry in the middle of a park, but I would have cried when telling you that no matter what day it was or where we were. It needed to be done, and I’m glad it happened. You don’t know how big of a weight was lifted off my shoulders tonight. Now, you can make this night the most memorable and special by fucking cuddling the shit out of me right here because I’m tired.”

Alex let out a small chuckle and stood up, stripping down to his boxers. He walked over to his drawers and pulled out an old shirt and a pair of basketball shorts and threw them my way.

“Go get changed and I’ll be in bed waiting for you.” Alex kissed my lips lightly and nudged me towards the bathroom.

When I was fully changed, I walked back into the room and was greeted with four boys on the king size bed, Alex in the middle. Alex and Jack just cleared a little bit of space for me between them, which I graciously laid down in. My back was pressed against Jack’s front and my head was on a pillow with Alex.

“Goodnight, baby girl.” Alex said, pulling both me and Jack closer to him, so our fronts were pressed together. He kissed my lips lightly before wrapping an arm around my waist as well.

That night, I fell asleep squashed between two grown men who had two other men cuddling them. It was a strange position, but it was honestly the best sleep I’ve ever gotten. I have no idea what I’d be doing right now if Alex had never been put into my life.