Take This To Heart

Jack.

"SHOTS IN DA BUS!"

I laughed and ran over to the counter, taking one of the shots Vinny had set out. Annie was in tow and she took one as well, squealing as she did, making me roll my eyes. I had been more and more annoyed with her lately.

Yet it did feel like there was a huge weight lifted off my chest. I felt better. Plus, Juliet and I had kissed.

Yeah. We had kissed. Me and Jules. I still hadn't really wrapped my mind around that. I hadn't even told anyone. Not that I had the chance. Not that I was even sure that I could.

Alex seemed to be in a better mood lately too. That worried me.

But this party was fun and loose. It was what we needed. Shit had been tense lately.

I turned to the couch where Jules's legs were put over Alex's lap, his hands holding her body closer. I gulped and turned to Annie, letting out a fake smile.

"You good babe?" She asked me, kissing my cheek.

I nodded and took another shot. "You kidding? I'm fantastic!"

"I think I know what's wrong."

My mind froze. Annie still didn't know about me and Jules, and was still under the impression that Alex and Jules were a thing. If she hadn't figured it out by now, I doubted she ever would. But there was still a fuse in my brain telling me that was so fucking naive of me to think.

"Oh, really?" I laughed nervously. "What?"

"You're just a little sad that I'm leaving tomorrow!" Annie sat on the bar and hugged me as a sigh of relief flew over me. "Baby!"

"You guessed it." I nodded, another fake smile stretching across. "I'm just gonna miss you so much."

Annie smiled and kissed me on the forehead. "Well I had a lot of fun and the tour is almost over. I'll see you soon Jackie."

I kissed her and nodded, a rock forming in my chest. I couldn't tell if I was playing her or Jules or myself. Or all of the above.

Suddenly I heard a knock on the bus. It was probably someone from another band. More to the party.

I watched as Alex got up from the couch, looking out the window and freezing for a second before turning and grabbing my arm, pulling me into the back lounge.

Everyone immediately ran to the window. I could practically hear the laughs. Who the fuck was it, his mom?

"Alex, what the fuck-"

"Shut the hell up!" Alex paced, turning to me. "SHE'S FUCKING HERE."

I let out a laugh and grabbed his shoulders. "Dude, calm down. Who is here?"

"COLLEEN."

We stared at each other for a second, my eyes bulging. Then I was pacing too, my hands on my head and my heart racing. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. There were so many things that could go wrong in this situation. So many things.

"What the fuck are we gonna do?" I shouted. "This will mess up everything! Annie is going to fucking kill me!"

Alex held up his hand and shook his head. "No, no, no, we'll be fine. I'll just say she's an ex. Jules will be fine with it and we just have to keep Annie away from Colleen."

"Okay, this might work. What about Jules?"

Alex shrugged. "Well she has to listen to us."

"We're fucked."

"Oh shit you're right." Alex nodded. "Just keep them apart."

I nodded for a second, my hand on my hip. "Someone should probably get the door."

"Can you?"

I sighed. "I'll take one for the team."

"Thanks bro."

Turning back for a second, I shot Alex a smile. There was a certain level of competition that had formed between us. It was nice to see that shot, if even for a little while.

As I walked back into the main part of the bus, the guys were still huddled on the couch by Jules, all peeking their heads out the window and laughing. Colleen had a bad rep around here. She fucking deserved it, but still.

Annie was sitting next to Jules in a bit of a daze, staring into space and smiling. I was thankful for that now.

Jules shot me a laugh as I went to answer the door and I responded with a smirk. This was going to be so fucking interesting.

I opened the door and threw my arms in the air. "COLLEEN!"

Colleen threw me her best fake smile but if faded as fast as it came. "Hey Jack. Where is Alex?"

"It's nice to see you too," I laughed, trying to ease the tension. "And he wasn't expecting you."

"Surprise visit."

I nodded. "Yeah, we're just big fans of those."

"Well, surprise."

Colleen smirked and pushed her way past me, walking onto the bus with me in tow. The guys all smiled and waved, Alex slowly walking out of the bunk area and embracing his bitch of a girlfriend.

She went up for a kiss as he hugged her again. "Hey, Colleen. What's up?"

The look on Jules face made me a bit scared.

She stood up and walked over to Alex and Colleen. "Hey girl, wassup?"

Jules hugged a very thrown off Colleen, who smiled slightly. Jules then leaned into Alex, who responded by laughing nervously and throwing an arm softly around her.

"Why are you being weird?" Colleen asked, her face looking like a lemon.

Annie stood up from the couch and walked over, immediately grabbing Colleen's attention.

"Hey there, I'm Annie, Jack's girlfriend!" She said happily.

Colleen's eyes widened as she looked from Jules to me. "Oh my, I didn't know Jack had a new girlfriend! Hell, I don't think he's had a girlfriend since-"

"High school." I butted in. "Sure has been a while."

Annie nodded and hugged me as I joined the intense circle that had formed. Colleen looked a tad confused as she nodded.

"Is it awkward?" Colleen asked. "Ya know, because of-"

"Because of the tour situation? No, not really. Annie here is practically a natural." Juliet stopped her. Thank the lord.

I nodded in her direction, a smile plastered on my face.

"No, that's not what I was about to say."

Annie picked the exact right moment to add her two cents, aka changing the subject completely.

"So how do you know Alex?"

Colleen let out a little laugh and looked at Alex. "Is she serious?"

Alex paused. "Um, no. She's not."

"Well yeah-"

"I'm his girlfriend, of course."

And in only five words, Colleen ruined nearly everything. Annie turned to me, a very confused look on her face.

"But I thought he and Juliet were together, no?"

And there went another chunk of everything.

Colleen's eyes widened. "WHAT."

"Look, it's nothing, really-" Alex tried.

"WHAT did the blonde just say?" Colleen stormed as she turned to Jules. "I KNEW you liked him. I KNEW it. You have some fucking nerve-"

"Calm the fuck down," Juliet laughed, calm as ever, "you don't even know the full story."

Colleen laughed back, though not nearly as calm. "You are such a bitch, you know that? And I know Jack has a girlfriend, but after you two had a past, one would assume that you would have the sense to stay off his best friend! But of course not."

And there went everything.

Annie turned to me again. "Wait, you and Jules had a past?"

"No, it's not really-"

"NO!?" Colleen stormed, turning her back to Juliet. "You guys were a huge fucking deal. What are you guys even doing? Can someone please explain cause I am so confused."

"Colleen would you SHUT UP." Alex shouted.

Suddenly the entire bus went silent. Everyone was sitting there watching this scene unfold as I stood there wishing I could get out of it.

Colleen pointed a finger at Alex. "If you want to keep this relationship, you will explain what is happening to me right now."

My heart skipped a beat. This was Alex's chance to just be with Jules. I knew Juliet was thinking the same thing. I knew she was keeping a calm exterior, but inside, she knew this was his chance. To show her that he chose her. And I was scared to death that he was going to take it.

"Okay. Come on." Alex nodded, not looking at Juliet as he took Colleen's hand and took her to his bunk.

And Juliet's head dropped and her eyes looked out the window. She was upset.

"You have some explaining to do."

But I couldn't fix Juliet now. I wasn't given a choice. I was stuck.

I turned to Annie and nodded. "Yeah, let's go."