I Think I Spilled Beer on You.

Jack Barakat (@JackAllTimeLow) tweeted: “Man I've been single forever. I think it's time to pick a fair maiden”

May Barakat (@MayBarakat) tweeted: “@JackAllTimeLow About time! My horoscope said this morning things are looking up for someone close to you ;)”

Jack sighed as he checked the Twitter replies on his iPhone. His sister had been pressuring him to find a new lady for a while, but she just couldn’t comprehend that life was so much different on tour. There wasn’t any time to just hang out with anyone other than the band or people at meet and greets. He slipped the phone into the pocket of his black skinny jeans and tried to focus his attention on what his band mates were doing on the six-hour bus ride to the next venue.

“Jack-Jack,” Alex cooed. “Why the long face?”

“What long face?” Jack snarled.

“This one!” Alex pinched one of Jack’s cheeks. Jack quickly slapped Alex’s hairy arm away.

“Good lord, chill out, man,” Rian said, walking over from the couch in back of the bus. “I saw your tweet. You’re not all worked up about that, are you?”

“I’m not worked up,” Jack muttered.

“Doesn’t sound like it form over here,” Zack called from the couch.

“Hey, shut up, Zack. Not all of us are exactly content with our single man status.” Rian patted Jack on the back, trying to pull off a sort of comforting vibe.

“What the hell, Rian?” Jack blurted. “You and Cass have been seeing each other for a couple years now. You two are practically ready to get married and give me nieces and nephews.

“I-”

“He’s got a point, Ri,” Alex chimed in. “Zack and I may be okay with the whole single man thing, but then there’s ickle Jacky here,” Alex stopped to pinch Jack’s other cheek. “and he doesn’t exactly handle the single situation as well as we do.”

“Thanks for rubbing it in, guys,” Jack said, rolling his eyes. He sunk into the chair and silently prayed for the six hours to roll by quickly.

Six hours, too much conversation and not enough caffeine later, the guys arrived in Madison, Wisconsin. Rian was quick to suggest a trip to a café close to where their bus was parked. Jack readily agreed. He was going to need caffeine if he was going to muddle through the rest of the day listening to his band mates giving him grief about his love life.

After a little bit of leg stretching and traffic dodging, the band and a couple crew members made it over to the small corner café. It was called Yola’s Café; Alex was intrigued by the name. “It’s only one letter off of ‘YOLO!’” he proclaimed loudly before stepping foot inside the quiet café. Jack shook his head, but couldn’t help but chuckle at his best friend.

Rian was the first to order a coffee when they got inside. Everyone knew that if Rian didn’t get his coffee, he would end up tearing someone’s face off. Jack was soon to follow though. He didn’t know how much longer he could last with such a low amount of caffeine in his system.

“I’ll have a grande white mocha, skim milk, please,” Jack said to the barista at the cash register. He pulled a five dollar bill out of his wallet and handed it to the cashier, then stood away from the counter to let Zack order something.

Jack looked around the spacious café. He couldn’t quite tell what some of the art on the walls was supposed to resemble, if the art was supposed to resemble anything at all. He caught a glimpse of a few of the patrons, as well. One man in business attire tapped his foot angrily in the pick-up line, anxiously awaiting whatever he had ordered. An older couple sat close to the front door, maybe in their late sixties. They held hands and sipped on black coffee together. Well, that certainly helps me feel better about my relationship situation…at this rate, I’ll never have that.

That’s when he turned his head just slightly to the right to see the girl with her nose in a book. He couldn’t see much more than her eyes from behind her dark bangs. Jack could practically smell the cup of tea she was sipping from across the room. Cliché as it was, there was just something about the girl that drew Jack toward her. Maybe it was the observation that she seemed to have a brain – keeping her eyes focused on a book and not latching onto Jack like so many other girls. Not to say that All Time Low's fanbase didn't have brains. Sometimes they just didn't like to show them off.

As soon as Jack’s coffee was ready, he picked it up from the counter and nodded slightly toward the barista that handed him the hot drink as a sort of thanks. He walked toward the brunette, sipping lightly on the mocha in his left hand. He didn’t get much into his mouth before mentally cursing at the small burn he placed on his tongue, not thinking that the drink would be pretty hot still.

“Mind if I sit here?” Jack asked the girl. A smile tugged at her lips as she nodded. Jack looked at her behind the book she was reading – one of the Dresden Files series. She couldn’t have been any older than him. Maybe a couple years younger than he was at most.

The girl dog-eared the page of her book and set it down on the table before finishing off her cup of tea. Jack got a good look at her face for the first time. She seemed vaguely familiar.

“I’m sorry, this might sound strange,” Jack said as she stood up and started to push her chair toward the table. “but I think we’ve met before.”

She pulled the chair back out from underneath the table and sat down. “You’re right, Jack, we have.” Jack knew right away who she was from her English accent. He said “Nice to meet you” to the wrong girl that night.

“I remember you,” Jack said, half-laughing. “I think I spilled beer on you, right?”

“Yeah, you kind of did,” the girl chuckled.

Jack turned red. “I'm sorry about that, really. Please forgive me, I’m having a tough time remembering your name. I-”

“Don’t worry about it!” She reached across the table and offered her hand. “Charlotte. I’m sure it’s hard to remember every single fan’s name with all the people you meet.”

“Well, yeah, and when you’ve had a couple the night you meet someone it’s a little harder I guess.”

Jack caught Zack’s eye from the pick-up line. Zack didn’t need to shout anything from the line to send Jack a message; Jack knew exactly what Zack was trying to say. You get ‘em, Jacko.

“So uh…” Jack started. He messed with his half-dark, half-blonde hair and he searched for words. “You’re kind of a long ways from England, huh?”

“Yeah. I’m here visiting a friend. We’re actually going to the show tonight.”

“Oh, cool! Uh,” Jack fumbled for something to keep the conversation flowing. “Are you going to the…the Hustler Club…thing?”

Charlotte laughed at Jack’s sudden stumbles. “Yeah, we’ll be there. Just try not to spill anything on me this time ‘round, okay?”

“I’ll try not to.”

The two shared a smile before blinking and breaking eye contact. Charlotte pulled out her phone and started tapping at the touch screen quickly before standing up again.

“I’ve got to go for now, I’ve got to meet up with my friend before the show. Good luck tonight, Jack.” Charlotte turned toward the door of the café.

“Wait,” Jack got out of his chair as well, not willing to let Charlotte out of his sight. “Can I – can I get your number or…something?”

Charlotte smirked at the lanky guitarist. “You’ve already got it. Check your Twitter. But really, I’ve got to run. I’ll see you after the show.” Charlotte’s smile widened as she waved good-bye to Jack.

Jack pulled the iPhone out of his pocket, unlocking it in record time. He wasted no time in getting to the Twitter app on the phone. Immediately, he slid the top of the screen on the interactions page down and scanned the page for a Charlotte – nothing.

He tapped on his profile page and tapped on the direct messages. Jack scrolled through the seemingly endless amount of spam – porn, porn, porn, male enhancement, diet pills, more porn, LOOK WHAT THIS BLOG POSTED ABOUT YOU! – and finally found one of the more recent messages from a Charlotte in England containing what appeared to be a cell phone number.

Jack grinned and tapped the new tweet icon near the top of the page.

Jack Barakat (@JackAllTimeLow) tweeted: “Oi, @AlexAllTimeLow , fancy a trip to see your family in England sometime soon?”