As Long as You're Around, I'll be Safe and Sound

“You’re acting like you’re the only person in this band” Owen yells across the small back lounge of the bus, the signature smirk that everyone slowly grows to hate pulling at his lips
“I did one interview! You need to stop acting like such a fucking prick all the time” Josh shouts back. They’ve been at it for a while now. Everyone’s used to it though; the arguments are coming pretty much every other day and the days in between filled with hostile glares and tense silences. This one is worse than the past ones though, usually after an hour or so of shouting Josh will storm off the bus to cool off or something will interrupt them. But this time Josh has this look in his eyes and it seems like he’s actually getting so pissed off with Owen he’d actually be willing to do some genuine damage. Sam’s seen this look in his eyes before and she hates it; it terrifies her.
“Just calm down” she whimpers, pulling on Josh’s hand lightly to get him to turn away from the argument. He just sort of ignores her grip and continues to snap at Owen.
“Josh please” she continues “he’s not worth it, you need to calm down”
“Shut up, you little bitch. This is between me and Josh” Owen snaps at Sam who recoils back into her seat, hand slipping from Josh's. Multiple things happen in the next few seconds; Josh takes a swing at Owen and catches the side of his nose, knocking him sideways to the ground and Mike, their tour manager, comes in from the kitchen when he hears the commotion. He manages to get Josh off Owen before he breaks his nose and separates the two fo them and while all this is happening there's a knock at the bus door.

Sam dashes away, trying to escape from the fight and all the shouting that’s continuing now and pulls the bus door open to see Jack on the other side, looking concerned
“Hey” he says softly and Sam just gives him a little smile because she knows he can hear all the shouting that’s still going on down the other end of the bus
“Is everything okay?” he asks, peering inside the door of the bus to where he can hear the noise inside coming from
“Um, yeah” she mumbles, following his gaze but when she looks back at Jack he’s looking at her, eyebrows knit together and a small frown on his lips
“Are you okay?” he continues and Sam takes a moment to wipe the tears she hadn’t noticed had formed from her eyes and nods lightly
“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine.” She says and it would sound more convincing if her words didn’t catch in her throat.
“Come here” he murmurs and pulls the smaller girl into a hug. Since Sam is on the first step of the bus stairs she’s taller than she usually would be and it leaves her in a perfect position to bury her face in his neck and she does just that, banishing all nervousness because she really does just need a hug. Her arms circle his waist and he rubs soft circles into her back as he notes that her hair smells of strawberries and that generic shampoo scent that every brand has. It’s the sort of hug that’s comforting and leaves Sam feeling a little stronger because she feels like she has support and a little happier just because it’s Jack. They both pull back at about the same time and just smile softly at each other, both feeling a little warm and not because of the summer sun.

“I just came to see if you wanted to come play dodge ball with my band and a few other people, there’s like a competition thing and we were a person short, so yeah.” Sam thinks it over for a moment because sport has never really been her thing, and neither has meeting new people. Then she hears another shout come from the bus and decides that anywhere is better than here.
“Okay, I’ll come along” she murmurs, biting her lip slightly because It’s really not like her to go somewhere with a guy she doesn’t really know all that well to meet his friends that she doesn’t know at all, but the goofy grin that Jack’s giving her is the sort that nobody with a heart could ever say no to.

He explains to her what the competition is, set up by Glamour Kills, a brand that his band is closely linked with, and then the rules of dodge ball which Sam already mostly knows but she doesn’t mind Jack reminding her. When they approach where all the people are milling around waiting for things to start, Jack subtly and slowly curls his hand around Sam’s and laces their fingers together, partially because he’s wanted to do it for a while now but also because he wants everyone in the vicinity to know that they kind of have a thing, even though he’s not sure if they do, because though he’s only known her for a short span of time he’s sure he wants to have something with Sam, and he doesn’t want any of the other guys here who are all equally if not more attractive, funny and talented as he is to spoil his chances with her. Sam doesn’t pull her hand away as all of her instincts are screaming at her to, because there’s a bit of her that’s smiling at his action and there are nerves bubbling in the pit of her stomach at meeting so many new people that are being somewhat settled by Jack’s hand in hers, though it’s also causing another set to erupt in her chest, but these are nice ones, like the ones in her stomach are moths and the ones near her heart butterflies.

She can see the crowd of people, mostly tall guys with hair a bit like Jack’s, and when they get close one of them notices Jack and calls out to him
“Hey, Jack took your time. We’re starting soon!” a guy calls out in their direction and Jack just smiles in response, leading Sam over to them. The man is about and inch shorter than Jack, has brown hair with a large patch of pink in it and is a bit more well built than Jack who’s ninety percent limbs, though the pink haired one looks tiny in comparison to the guy next to him who is an inch shorter again but quite clearly likes exercise a lot because Sam doubts she could get both hands to go all the way round one of his biceps.
“Guys, this is Sam” Jack smiles, squeezing her hand a little and the group of six stop what they’re doing and look down at her as Jack continues “And Sam, this is Alex, Zack and Rian who are in my band” he begins, motioning to the pink haired guy, then the buff guy and then another with a buzz cut and a smile that automatically makes Sam feel a little more comfortable. They all give her a little one handed wave or a nod in greeting “Then there’s Danny, Flyzik and Grieco who are part of our crew” he says motioning to three others and they’re all tall compared to Sam who can’t help but feel intimidated and she’s fairly sure she’s already forgotten the names she was just told
“Nice to finally meet you” one of the second three smiles from across the small circle they’ve formed and Sam unconsciously moves a bit closer to Jack’s side and smiles at him in response as a blush crawls its way up her neck. All of them are thinking the same thing; Sam isn’t even close to what they’d expected. Over the years Jack has introduced them to several girls, all tall, most blonde and a few wearing very little clothing. They liked some more than others, and there'd been plenty of girls he'd never intriduced them to. Though Sam, with her big brown eyes, grey converse pumps, black leggings, men’s v neck that all but drowns her small frame and dark hair that falls in slight waves down to just past her shoulders looks like the sort of girl Jack would have liked back in high school before he was a rock star and could actually manage to hold a steady relationship. They’ve not seen him with a girl like Sam in a long time and it’s a welcome change, and they know they shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but they like Sam already.
“Yeah, we’ve heard a lot about you. It’s been nothing but Sam this, Sam that from him recently” the pink haired guy Sam now knows as Alex smirks and the rest of the guys all laugh and both Sam and Jack blush this time.
“Shut the fuck up, Alex” he says, hitting his best friend in the shoulder with his free hand and sneaking a glance down at Sam to make sure she’s comfortable around his friends and not creeped out by their teasing, he only gets happier when he sees her smiling. Jack stands and talks to his friends for a minute as Sam just kind of hangs on his arm but she listens because they’re talking and joking about possible tactics for the dodge ball games they’re games and certain ways to defeat each opposing team and she doesn't want to be the only one out of the loop.

Jack only lets go of Sam’s hand when they’re handed the special shirts made for the event and Sam is thankful she’s worn a cami under her shirt because she doesn’t want to simply pull her shirt off and replace it with the new one like all the guys are doing.
“It’s a bit big for you isn’t it” Jack smiles when he sees Sam adjusting her shirt that falls to about mid thigh and is really more of a dress on her than a shirt. The shirts are red with the glamour kills logo in the middle and it reads “Dodgeball Invitational” on top of it and then “All Time Blow” underneath as their team name
“A little,” she smiles back “I’ll tie it up” Jack watches intently because he has no idea what she’s talking about as Sam collects the extra material and ties it at the back with a bobble from her wrist when she looks up she isn’t expecting her eyes to meet Jack’s but they both smile when they do.
“Come on, we play the second game” he says and retakes her hand as they follow the rest of their team to the benches that have been set up around the playing area. Jack didn’t realize that the event had been advertised and so wasn’t expecting there to be fans milling around and watching the games, not that he minds all that much he’s just very conscious of the camera that’s being pointed in the direction of him and Sam. Jack doesn’t mind people knowing about them, he just knows how intense some of their fans can be and only hopes they won’t turn nasty on Sam because there’s really nothing he can do to stop them if they take a disliking to her. Sam hasn’t noticed yet though so he doesn’t mention it.
Sam sits on the end of the bench and Jack next to her and though they’re next to Alex and the rest of the team Jack’s attention is mainly on Sam
“You any good at sport?” he asks and she chuckles
“Not at all, are you?”
“Hopeless. In high school they used to make us do this mile run and me and Alex would walk a bit of it, go to the burger king round the corner from school and buy some chips and then take a short cut and walk the end of it” he grins and Sam lets out a real laugh, her face lighting up in a way that makes Jack want to freeze the moment so he can just take her in.
“Our gym teacher always knew something was up because he could never figure out how we’d get back at the same time as all the guys who’d at least jog around, when he knew we’d walked the whole way. He was so pissed off when he found out, it was actually kinda funny” Sam laughs more and because they’re fitting their whole team on a bench that’s only really meant to hold eight school children when she stops she has to kind of lean her shoulder on Jack’s so she doesn’t fall off. They talk a bit about their high schools, Sam discovering that Jack went to school with his band mates and Jack finding out that Sam only went to school with Josh and that they auditioned Owen in when they wanted to enter a battle of the bands competition. They also found out they both hated their French teachers and neither was very good at any subject that wasn’t music.

When they actually play their first game against a band that Sam doesn’t know, Flyzik is the first to go out, then Danny who goes and sits on the same bench as him, and then Sam gets hit in the leg, and she would go and sit with the other members of her team, but she’s literally right next to another bench and doesn’t want to look stupid walking all the way across to the other one so she just sits down where she is. She watches as Alex and Jack mess around, clearly not taking the game very seriously and trying to do “trick shots” and she laughs as they actually manage to get a few people out while stumbling around with their eyes closed and only throwing the balls from under one leg or after doing a three-sixty spin. They’re doing okay until a member of the opposing team gets them both out with one throw; they both laugh it off and Sam sighs lightly because they're both on the opposite side to her and she’d quite like to not be sat on a bench on her own. She pulls her legs up and crosses them, fiddling a little with the hem of her shirt and only looking up when something hits her in the side. She’s knocked a bit sideways as Jack slides into her after sliding along the length of the bench.
“Are you impressed with my dodge ball skills?” he grins
“Definitely, I’ve never seen anything quite like it” she smiles and he chuckles, nudging her with his shoulder affectionately and she nudges him back. This time there’s no reason for them to be sat so close because there’s a good two metres of bench free, but they want to be and this way Sam can lean her head on Jack’s shoulder and he can play with her fingers where they rest on her knee.
“Who are all these people?” Sam asks, looking up at Jack from under her eyelashes.
“Well, uhh, I honestly don’t know all of them. But I’ll say who I know” he smiles “the team we played are We are the In Crowd, the girl is Tay, the others are Rob, Cameron, Mike and Jordan and they’re really cool, we’ve toured with them a few times so they’re good friends” Jack explains, pointing to each person as he says their name and Sam really tries to remember them, especially if they’re Jack’s friends. He continues to explain who everyone is, telling a funny story about them if one springs to mind.

Alex is watching from the opposite side of the playing bit and he’s smiling
“She’s different, isn’t she?” Matt murmurs beside him and he chuckles
“Definitely not his usual, but I think it’s a good thing.”
“I just hope he’s not just picked her up for Warped Tour” Matt sighs because they both, and everyone else who knows Jack, know that he could do with something more than a fling and Sam is currently fitting that gap perfectly.
“I don’t think so; he’d never have invited her somewhere where they could be seen together if he wasn’t at least a little bit serious about it” Alex reasoned and Matt’s smile grew a bit
“I guess so.”

Team “All Time Blow” lost all but one game, which they only won by cheating horrendously and throughout and between the five games they’d played Sam hadn’t talked much, but when one of Jack’s friend sat on a bench with them, because Jack would make sure they were always sat next to each other, she’d contribute to the conversation and even managed to make some of them laugh once or twice which she thinks is an achievement because they’re all funny people themselves. They leave the playing area in a small crowd and Sam feels strangely comfortable around these strangers and thinks it might be because Jack has an arm slung across her shoulder and they’re all smiling and being so welcoming to her and she really feels like she belongs.
“I want a team photo!” Alex declares when they reach the tent where they left all their shirts and phones.
The eight of the “All Time Blow” team assemble, Jack stood next to Alex with Sam on his other side, arm around her waist to pull her in a bit so she’ll fit in the picture. Jordan who Sam remembers is from We Are the in Crowd snaps a picture on Alex’s phone and smiles
“Now do a stupid one” he says and everyone on the team laughs a little before pulling a face. Jack nudges Sam to get her to look up at him
“Do this” he instructs, sticking his tongue out and going cross eyed and Sam giggles pulling the same face. Jordan takes the second photo and hands the phone back to Alex who quickly sets about uploading them to his instagram.
“@awgaskarth: last place is first place for losers” They stand around for a while longer, most people going to talk to members of other teams they maybe didn’t get to talk to during the games or that they just fancy talking to and some heading back to the buses.

Jack and Sam go into the tent and Jack finds their shirts, handing Sam hers
“Can I have your number? So we can like, text and stuff” Jack suddenly thinks to ask, this way they could actually organize to meet up and not just rely on chance meetings to see each other.
“Sure, that’d be cool” she smiles and pulls her phone from her pocket, passing it to Jack who gives her his own in return. Sam’s is some Blackberry that she doesn’t know the proper name for, she just knows she can use it to text people and listen to music whereas Jack has the new iPhone that’s only been out for a few months and already has several scratches on the back and a small crack on the screen that he keeps promising himself he’ll get fixed soon. Jack types his number in, noting that her background is a picture of a puppy he assumes to be hers which is just cute on every level and types “Jack B x” for his name because he can’t think of anything funny to put at this moment. Sam smiles at Jack’s background which is of the blink bunny and his ridiculous number of apps, which are mostly stupid games. She saves her number as Sam Taylor because every other contact seems to have a nickname and she can’t help but wonder if he’ll give her one. When Jack drops her off at her bus later on they’re both happy because it really feels like the end of a very successful first date.
“I’ll text you tomorrow, yeah?” he smiles as she steps onto the first stair of her bus
“Yeah” she smiles as she turns to him, they hug again and this time neither needs it, but both want it.