If I Could Change Your Mind

Jack is alone. Alone to pick up the remains of his shattered heart. It’s partly his fault because he left the band but he couldn’t be in it anymore. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t. The band was a constant reminder that he couldn’t have Alex. The one thing he wanted.... the one thing he needed right now. But no, there was Kelsey. Jack has always hated seeing them together and it was the final straw. Alex left him for her and it broke him. “Will I ever be happy?” Jack thought to himself, sighing aloud. Yeah, he knows it sounds way over dramatic, but everything reminds him of Alex. The band, the music, even the car he was in. How could he live without Alex? Alex was his best friend and the guy Jack is completely head over heels for. He can’t stop himself from loving him, but he has to learn how to deal with it. “I just want to be happy again.”

Jack is on his way home when he sees a bar nearby. He knows he can’t drink and drive, I mean his driving is already terrible! He just doesn’t want to be alone. He wants to be with someone, anyone, even if it was only for a few minutes.

Jack walks into the bar, feeling kind of self conscious. He knows he looks a mess, he’s been upset all day and maybe, secretly, he cried a little in the car. Leaving Alex and the rest of the band just hurt so much, it was practically unbearable. Yet at the same time, Alex’s presence kills him, like a thousand knives piercing his heart. It’s a lose lose situation and all Jack wants to do is go home, to a place where he feels truly loved.

Jack sits down at the bar, asking for beer even though he knows he’s not going to drink it. He takes a tiny sip, then swirls it around for awhile while he stares at it, expressionless. He’s too involved in thinking about Alex. He misses him already, even through all the heartache. And goddamn, they’re going to have to finish the tour without him. Sure, they can replace him and that in itself hurts but All Time Low will never be the same without him... “Excuse me, but are you Jack Barakat?”

Jack looks up and sees a woman, about 23ish, batting her eyelashes at him. “Um, yeah...do you uh, want an autograph or something?” Jack asks. He’s surprised how depressed he sounds. “Well, I was hoping for something even more than that...” The girl grins devilishly. Jack’s momentarily confused, but when he comes to the realization...this is exactly what he was looking for. “Yeah, sure, let’s go.” Jack grins at her. “By the way, my name is Adriana.” The girl says, winking at him. He smiles again at her. “Shit, I need a condom...there’s a Rite Aid down the street, let’s head over there.” The girl nods and smiles, following him to his car. They get in, and the girl smiles at him, her eyes telling him exactly what she plans on doing to him. Jack could tell the girl was rather drunk. Jack barely said two sentences to her and she already feeling him all over, kissing his neck and giving him an over the pants hand job, practically. This girl just couldn’t calm her tits. It would be an understatement to say she was just a little distracting.

He pulled up to Rite-Aid and quickly stated “I’ll be right back.” Jack was breathing quite fast as the ride over to the store made him very “excited” to see what kind of things Adriana was into. He was ready to make her scream his name. He scrambled through the condom shelf, quickly picking one and throwing it on the counter and pulling out his wallet. It wasn’t long till he was darting out the store, ripping open the package. Jack pulled the door open with more force than needed, while opening one of the condoms with his teeth. He didn’t jump in quite yet, because he saw a car zoom down the street. Jack wouldn’t of thought anything of it, if the car didn’t look so damn familiar. “Alex?” He thinks, but then quickly shakes the idea of Alex looking for him out of his mind. He fucked their friendship up after declaring his feelings to Alex, he wouldn’t come after him.

“Jaaack” Adriana whines from inside the car, rolling down the window. Her tank top was dangerously low, showing a lot of cleavage. Sure, Jack is gay, but man, no guy could resist that. Maybe Jack was bi, who knew? Jack gives her a side smile and puts one foot in the car, throwing the rest of the condoms on the floor of the front seat. “JACKY!” A familiar voice yells, making Jack jump and look in the direction of the voice. Jack would recognize that voice anywhere, could it be?
On the road, Alex is in that car yelling his name; Jack Daniels in one hand and waving stupidly with the other. Was Alex drinking and driving? “Fuck, Le-” Jack didn’t get to finish yelling his friend’s name when Alex’s car, going at a speed of approximately 80 miles an hour, swerves into the other lane, hitting a car dead on with a loud CRASH and the sound of glass shattering. “ALEX!” Jack screams, his eyes wide with immediate fear and dread of what just happened. He can’t even believe it, it happened so fast. Jack sprints as fast as his legs will carry him into the street, over to Alex’s car. The entire front end is crushed and the airbag went off, so all Jack sees is white. Jack picks up a piece of metal that fell off one of the cars, breaking in the window. It shatters and Jack tries to unlock the door, but it’s jammed shut. With the sharp piece of metal he deflates the passenger seat airbag and in front of him, lying partly across the passenger seat is Alex, his eyes closed. There’s blood trickling down his forehead and out his nose and from other places that he can’t even tell, there’s too many cuts to count, and his white t-shirt is more than halfway stained red. There’s blood matting his hair and all over the seat and it’s everywhere and it just doesn’t look good. “Shit, Alex!!!” Jack cries, chilled to the bone at the sight of his friend, maybe dead, but he can’t look away. The face he’s always known and loved, stopped dead still, its haunting. Jack subconsciously pulled out his phone and dialed 911, talking rapidly to the lady at the police station. Even then, he can’t take his eyes off the horrifying scene of what has become Alex, and Jack doesn’t move an inch, not until he hears the sirens blaring and the ambulance people push him out of the way to save Alex. Thoughts run through Jack’s head, but he can’t seem to focus on anything but one word; Alex.