‹ Prequel: A Single Moment of Sincerity
Status: updates when inspiration and free time collide.
Out of the Wreckage
I Think We Are Superstars.
We live half in the daytime,
And we live half at night.
Sure, the boys loved to screw around and make Matt’s job a living hell, but at the end of the day they couldn’t ask for a better band manager. Matt put up with a lot of their shit, but if there was one thing he couldn’t tolerate, it was excessive phone calls.
Rian skyped Kara once a month for hours on end, but at least it was only once a month. Alex face timed Lisa once a week because they watched The Mentalist together every Sunday night at ten. Jack didn’t have a significant other, unless Jordan counted, and his contact with her was sporadic, not scheduled. And then there was Zack, who called Bailey on a daily basis.
Matt wasn’t bothered by it too much, until it got to the point where Zack was so distracted by his conversations with Bailey that he wasn’t paying attention to much of anything else…
Zack sighed and shoved his phone back under his pillow. He couldn’t deny that he was hoping for a text from anyone other than Bailey.
Zack dragged his palm down his face and rolled over onto his stomach, rubbing his eyes and yawning in the darkness of his bunk bed. I haven’t texted you back…what the hell do you think? Zack thought to himself as he slipped out of bed.
All Time Low was getting more and more popular. Ever since they got signed to Hopeless, things were really looking up for their band. They toured with a bus now and they were playing a lot more shows, even getting some airtime on radio stations here and there.
The only reason Zack called Bailey every night was because he ignored her texts every day. He appreciated her concern the first few days of tour, but after two weeks her excessive texts just got irritating. Every night, Zack had to call and make up some stupid excuse as to why he didn’t text her that day, as well as to reassure Bailey that he loved her.
Zack fell back to sleep, but only momentarily. Matt woke them all up for lunch and sound check. Zack joined his fellow band members in their dressing room for some kind of sandwich from Subway and French fries. Not exactly the healthiest of meals, but Zack would work it all off later.
“…because sound check is in two hours! That’s plenty of time for us to explore and come back!” Jack whined to Matt.
“Just…don’t be late,” Matt conceded with a sigh.
Alex and Jack hi-fived before getting up from the table to trash their empty drinks and head out. “Wanna come with, Zack?” Alex asked before he left the room. “Rian already said no…”
“Not done eating,” Zack said with a shrug, gesturing to his half eaten sandwich.
“Fine,” Alex huffed. “Jack, c’mon, let’s go!” The duo left in quite a hurry, and Zack couldn’t blame them for being so excited. The band was currently in the UK, supporting The Plain White T’s. The UK. Even Zack couldn’t believe it sometimes.
“You’re really not going out?” Rian asked with a shocked look on his face.
“Oh, I am,” Zack guaranteed, dipping another fry into his mixture of ketchup and mayonnaise. “I just wanted to take some pictures and people watch by myself somewhere, though. That’s all.”
“Ever the quiet one, aren’t you, Zack,” Rian remarked absentmindedly, preoccupied with his phone.
“You know it,” Zack replied, just as distracted. He was thinking of the little coffee shop that they passed on the way to the venue, hoping it wasn’t too full. “Alright, well, see you at sound check, man.” With that, Zack left the concert venue and walked down to the coffee shop he had in mind.
Zack ordered coffee just so he could sit at one of the wire tables outside and watch people pass by. He brought his camera with him as well. It wasn’t half as nice as the one he had bought for Jordan a year ago, but it was nice enough.
Zack liked to take pictures of the places they toured. He turned them into postcards and he would send back home every now and then, whenever he got the chance.
He was glad that he went mostly unnoticed at the coffee shop. Jack and Alex were the only ones who had real problems with over enthusiastic fans because they were the most easily recognized.
Zack was taking a picture of the building across the street – a beautiful, crumbling two-story structure of red bricks and exposed, rusting steel beams that people were trying to renovate (which, in Zack’s opinion, was ruining the beauty of the abandoned building) –when Matt gave him a call.
“Where are you?”
“On the way back to the venue,” Zack said quickly, slapping some money down on the table and putting the camera strap around his neck. Matt didn’t sound very happy at all.
“Are Jack and Alex with you?”
“No, why would they be?”
Matt swore under his breath and told Zack to get back to the venue as soon as possible before he hung up.
Zack grinned to himself and pocketed his phone before beginning to walk back to the venue. He was surprised that he actually beat Jack and Alex there. Once Matt was satisfied that everyone was present and accounted for, they set up on the stage and practiced their set.
Alex and Jack goofed off a bit for the first few songs, but it didn’t even really matter – they were just supporting on this tour, just opening for another band. They just had to loosen up the crowd and get the psyched for the main attraction.
Besides, as soon as they were done with sound check, Zack had to answer his phone. Bailey had called him three times already, trying to make sure he wasn’t cheating on her with some pretty European girl or whatever, and he had to call her back while the sun was still up on the east coast or Bailey wouldn't get any sleep that night, which was ridiculous. He never cheated on Bailey with any of these girls.
In his head, Zack defined cheating on Bailey as feeling romantic attachment to a girl other than Bailey. The drunken kisses and blowjobs in sleazy bathroom stalls that he got every now and then didn’t count because all of that was purely physical attraction.
There was only one girl with whom he had ever really cheated on Bailey. That girl didn’t matter, because he would never cheat again. That girl would never give him another chance.
But even now, Zack didn’t know how to feel about that.
And we live half at night.
Sure, the boys loved to screw around and make Matt’s job a living hell, but at the end of the day they couldn’t ask for a better band manager. Matt put up with a lot of their shit, but if there was one thing he couldn’t tolerate, it was excessive phone calls.
Rian skyped Kara once a month for hours on end, but at least it was only once a month. Alex face timed Lisa once a week because they watched The Mentalist together every Sunday night at ten. Jack didn’t have a significant other, unless Jordan counted, and his contact with her was sporadic, not scheduled. And then there was Zack, who called Bailey on a daily basis.
Matt wasn’t bothered by it too much, until it got to the point where Zack was so distracted by his conversations with Bailey that he wasn’t paying attention to much of anything else…
[g’morning ☺]
Zack sighed and shoved his phone back under his pillow. He couldn’t deny that he was hoping for a text from anyone other than Bailey.
[zackyyy are you awake yet?]
Zack dragged his palm down his face and rolled over onto his stomach, rubbing his eyes and yawning in the darkness of his bunk bed. I haven’t texted you back…what the hell do you think? Zack thought to himself as he slipped out of bed.
All Time Low was getting more and more popular. Ever since they got signed to Hopeless, things were really looking up for their band. They toured with a bus now and they were playing a lot more shows, even getting some airtime on radio stations here and there.
[text me when you get these; i’m off to class now. love you! bye]
The only reason Zack called Bailey every night was because he ignored her texts every day. He appreciated her concern the first few days of tour, but after two weeks her excessive texts just got irritating. Every night, Zack had to call and make up some stupid excuse as to why he didn’t text her that day, as well as to reassure Bailey that he loved her.
Zack fell back to sleep, but only momentarily. Matt woke them all up for lunch and sound check. Zack joined his fellow band members in their dressing room for some kind of sandwich from Subway and French fries. Not exactly the healthiest of meals, but Zack would work it all off later.
“…because sound check is in two hours! That’s plenty of time for us to explore and come back!” Jack whined to Matt.
“Just…don’t be late,” Matt conceded with a sigh.
Alex and Jack hi-fived before getting up from the table to trash their empty drinks and head out. “Wanna come with, Zack?” Alex asked before he left the room. “Rian already said no…”
“Not done eating,” Zack said with a shrug, gesturing to his half eaten sandwich.
“Fine,” Alex huffed. “Jack, c’mon, let’s go!” The duo left in quite a hurry, and Zack couldn’t blame them for being so excited. The band was currently in the UK, supporting The Plain White T’s. The UK. Even Zack couldn’t believe it sometimes.
“You’re really not going out?” Rian asked with a shocked look on his face.
“Oh, I am,” Zack guaranteed, dipping another fry into his mixture of ketchup and mayonnaise. “I just wanted to take some pictures and people watch by myself somewhere, though. That’s all.”
“Ever the quiet one, aren’t you, Zack,” Rian remarked absentmindedly, preoccupied with his phone.
“You know it,” Zack replied, just as distracted. He was thinking of the little coffee shop that they passed on the way to the venue, hoping it wasn’t too full. “Alright, well, see you at sound check, man.” With that, Zack left the concert venue and walked down to the coffee shop he had in mind.
Zack ordered coffee just so he could sit at one of the wire tables outside and watch people pass by. He brought his camera with him as well. It wasn’t half as nice as the one he had bought for Jordan a year ago, but it was nice enough.
Zack liked to take pictures of the places they toured. He turned them into postcards and he would send back home every now and then, whenever he got the chance.
He was glad that he went mostly unnoticed at the coffee shop. Jack and Alex were the only ones who had real problems with over enthusiastic fans because they were the most easily recognized.
Zack was taking a picture of the building across the street – a beautiful, crumbling two-story structure of red bricks and exposed, rusting steel beams that people were trying to renovate (which, in Zack’s opinion, was ruining the beauty of the abandoned building) –when Matt gave him a call.
“Where are you?”
“On the way back to the venue,” Zack said quickly, slapping some money down on the table and putting the camera strap around his neck. Matt didn’t sound very happy at all.
“Are Jack and Alex with you?”
“No, why would they be?”
Matt swore under his breath and told Zack to get back to the venue as soon as possible before he hung up.
Zack grinned to himself and pocketed his phone before beginning to walk back to the venue. He was surprised that he actually beat Jack and Alex there. Once Matt was satisfied that everyone was present and accounted for, they set up on the stage and practiced their set.
Alex and Jack goofed off a bit for the first few songs, but it didn’t even really matter – they were just supporting on this tour, just opening for another band. They just had to loosen up the crowd and get the psyched for the main attraction.
Besides, as soon as they were done with sound check, Zack had to answer his phone. Bailey had called him three times already, trying to make sure he wasn’t cheating on her with some pretty European girl or whatever, and he had to call her back while the sun was still up on the east coast or Bailey wouldn't get any sleep that night, which was ridiculous. He never cheated on Bailey with any of these girls.
In his head, Zack defined cheating on Bailey as feeling romantic attachment to a girl other than Bailey. The drunken kisses and blowjobs in sleazy bathroom stalls that he got every now and then didn’t count because all of that was purely physical attraction.
There was only one girl with whom he had ever really cheated on Bailey. That girl didn’t matter, because he would never cheat again. That girl would never give him another chance.
But even now, Zack didn’t know how to feel about that.
♠ ♠ ♠
thanks for reading; hope you liked it!i've decided - every 3rd chapter will be in the present.
all these other chapters occurred 1-2 years prior to the present.
anyways, feedback would be lovely and greatly appreciated!
Swampy
Sophia Rayne
Lipstick Lullabies
FlyingBirdd.
Beccathecookie
hachie
thank you guys so much for the recommendations!