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

Thanks to the wonderful technology that is the mobile phone and therefore the ability to text each other, Sam and Jack have been in almost constant contact with each other. The texts only stop when one of them is performing or doing an interview, or when they're together in the flesh. Even when Jack is hanging out with the guys, he’ll sneak his phone out to reply to her, hoping nobody can see, but despite Jack’s best efforts they all know what he's doing because why else would he keep smiling down at his phone? Two weeks have passed since the dodge ball game and Josh and Owen have argued everyday on Sam’s bus, so she’s been spending as little time on there as possible, either spending some time alone elsewhere or being with Jack. They’ve managed to meet up pretty much every other day since the dodge ball competition, sometimes spending just an hour or so together but mostly spending most of the day in each other’s company. They got pizza again and watched a few films on Jack’s bus but they seem to spend most of their time watching other band’s sets and Sam was quite surprised to see just how many of the people playing Jack seemed to know quite well.

One thing that had come of them spending increasing amounts of time together was a lot of photos, and maybe Jack hadn’t been exactly secretive about being with Sam, holding her hand a lot and standing side stage for most of her shows. He should have known that rumours would circulate and deep down he did, he just didn’t really mind. So now Jack’s twitter mentions are full of questions about who the mystery girl is, some have figured it out and have dubbed them “Taykat” as a mixture of their surnames. He smiles as he scrolls through them, occasionally looking at attached photos that are kind of creepy because people have been taking photos of him while he didn’t notice but he’s not too bothered, firstly because he’s used to it but also because there seems to be almost universal good will toward Sam and that’s kind of really important to Jack. The fans generally seem to prefer her to his past love interests, though he’s still not sure if he could be considered her “love interest” though she’s definitely his. He’s not very experienced with the whole starting a relationship thing because the vast majority of his stemmed from sex, so this is new territory for him, though he’s finding it exciting rather than scary. His phone vibrates with a text, pulling him from his thoughts
To: Jack B x
From: AAAAAAAASam Taylor
You around? x
He’d put that many “A”s in front of her name so she’ll always be at the top of his contacts list. He’s proud of himself for that. Jack climbs out of his bunk straight away and quickly changes his shirt to one that’s slightly less dirty; Warped Tour isn’t really the place for clean clothes, he types back a quick reply and says he’ll meet her at her bus.

He’s pulling a beanie on over his unstyled hair as he moves through the bus, heading for the door
“Where’re you going?” Matt questions, eyes moving over his laptop screen to look at Jack where he's sat pulling his shoes on
“Where do you think he’s going?” Alex teases somewhere from the bunks and Jack just gives him the finger even though he can’t see it because he can't think of a remotely good comeback.
“Whatever, you’ve got an interview at like twelve and you’re on at one so just be back in time, okay?” Matt continues
“When am I ever not on time?” Jack smirks but is out of the door before Matt can answer.

There’s no real method to finding another band’s bus in the maze that is the warped tour car park, or if there is Jack doesn’t know it, he sticks with wandering round in between all the buses and just keeping his eye out for the blue one that Sam lives on. He’s so accustomed to looking for it by now that it barely takes him two minutes and he’s outside her bus just as she steps out
“Good timing” she smiles at him and he instinctively reaches out and twines their fingers. They just seem to fit together comfortably.
“I don’t have long, I’ve got some interview at twelve and I play at one so we’ve got like an hour and a half” he explained with a half smile
“Okay, I’m playing at three” Sam tells him and he nods
“Let’s go see if we can catch a band playing” Jack suggests and they set off, walking in a comfortable quiet as Jack leads the way to the stage where he’s fairly sure Yellowcard will be playing, and he knows Sam likes them.

Jack’s telling Sam all about the interview he did yesterday, and how the guy who was supposed to be interviewing them didn’t know that Zack was in the band, seemed to not know anything about their newest album and thought they’d formed in 2006. They’re both laughing lightly and joking around a bit when Jack hears his name, he looks up to the excited voice and sees two girls in All Time Low shirts approaching
“Can we have a photo?” one asks, looking as if all her dreams have come true.
“Of course you can” Jack smiles, only now letting go of Sam’s hand to stand next to the first girl as the second takes the photo and then vice-versa as Sam watches on.
“Is this your girlfriend?” one of them asks, glancing over at Sam who just blushes, it takes Jack a second to respond, during which he swears his head nearly implodes because is she his girlfriend? Should he say she is? Will she be upset if he does? Or if he doesn’t? his eyes lock with Sam’s and he decides that he’d probably know if she considered them officially together.
“This is Sam, from Aftershock” he explains, proud of himself for dodging the question with such grace and the two girls seem barely satisfied but not brave enough to dig deeper.
“You two enjoying yourselves?” he continues, trying to get them to stop looking Sam up and down out of the corner of their eyes
“Yes! I love it here!” the first excitedly answers and Jack chuckles
“Well make sure you keep it up, it was nice to meet you” he smiles and then gives each of them a hug before they head their separate ways, the girls getting about ten feet before exploding into a fit of giggles and screams because they just met Jack Barakat.

“Sorry about that” Jack murmurs sheepishly as he retakes Sam’s hand and she just does that thing she does quite a lot where she nudges his shoulder with her own as they start walking again
“No need, you were really sweet with them.”
“They are paying my bills, it’s the least I can do” he shrugs but smiles at the sort-of compliment
“You know, for a rock star you’re not that much of an asshole” she jokes
“Well, for a rock star, you’re awfully quiet” he retorts
“I’m not much of a rock star though, people aren’t stopping me asking for photos” she continues to tease and Jack laughs and squeezes her hand a little
“And you’ve been in a band half as long as I have and you have one album and we have four. You’ve got a long way to go yet” he says, ruffling her hair with his free hand and she bats it away, running her fingers through her hair to get it to sit right again. He chuckles at her pout and she tries to reach up to mess Jack’s hair, but only succeeds in pulling his beanie off as he flails his long arms around in an attempt to keep her away.

“Hey!” he exclaims when she pulls the hat over her own hair because he’d only worn the beanie because he hadn’t had time to do anything with his hair so it’s flat and not straightened and just generally bad as far as Jack is concerned.
“Give me my hat back!” he laughs out because Sam’s gripping it at the sides and pulling it down and she’s grinning and laughing and her eyes are sparkling with the cheeky glint he’s only seen a handful of times. She looks so content and goddamn happy and Jack thinks this is the prettiest he’s ever seen her. He just grins back at her and dives for the hat but she’s too quick, dodging out of his way and running for the stage, giggling the whole way as Jack chases after her. She only stops when she’s side stage for Yellowcard, behind an amp and Jack jogs up behind her, plucking the hat from her head and just getting a pout and big puppy eyes in return.
“I would let you keep it if my hair didn’t look so bad” he tells her, slinging an arm over her shoulder and she giggles again, leaning into him a bit before they both turn their attention to the band playing. Sam starts laughing again when she notices Jack dancing behind her, and when he sees her watching him he takes her hands and starts making her move like he is, just kind of bouncing on the spot going from leg to leg and putting their arms in the air in the sort of dance kids do. Sam isn’t half as enthusiastic as he is, partly because she’s not used to doing stupid things in public but mostly because she’s laughing too hard at the faces Jack’s pulling and how he’s dramatically miming along to the song and dancing off beat.

They have to separate not too long later and their stages are pretty much opposite ends of the venue so Jack leaves her with a long, tight hug, a cheeky grin, a compliment on her dancing skills and a promise to meet up again later. Sam’s smiling as she walks onto her bus, going straight to the fridge to get a bottle of water and then walking through into the back lounge where Josh and some of the crew are sitting around quietly. It’s oddly quiet, usually when there’s not an argument there’ll be music playing or loud conversation or just some noise but there isn’t now. It’s completely silent, bar the tapping of fingers on phones and the occasional deep breath. Josh looks up to her as she just sort of stands in the doorway
“Hey,” he says “where’d you go this morning?”
“I went to watch Yellowcard with Jack, he’s got press now” she smiles a little and Josh returns it, he has no clue where this Jack guy came from but he likes the effect he’s having on Sam, she seems happier all round.
“Do you want to go grab some food? There’s a McDonalds just across the way” he asks almost nervously and Sam’s eyebrows furrow a little because it’s really not like Josh to be at all nervous around her
“Of course” she says and he gets up, pocketing his phone and they leave the bus together.

“Why was it so quiet on there?” Sam asks when the door shuts behind them, her curiosity getting the best of her
“We kicked Owen out. Matt told him that he wasn’t allowed on the bus if he was just going to cause fights and I guess it just got tense really quickly.” Josh explains meekly and Sam nods
“Some of the crew are on his side, I guess, they thought it was unfair but I just can’t deal with him for much longer” when Sam looks to her best friend, the sight saddens her, pulling her smile down at the corners. He looks tired, dark bags hanging below his eyes that aren’t sparkling as much as they used to, they look dull and there’s far too much effort in his smile. There’s also a weight to his words that Sam doesn’t want to even think about.
“I’m on your side” she murmurs and he offers her a more genuine smile, their eyes connecting as they walk
“I thought you might be” he says and then his eyes turn back ahead as he continues “Lets go get us some food”.

It feels like it’s been ages since Sam’s properly hung out with Josh. The days they’d spend messing about their local shopping mall and the nights spent watching films till the early hours of the morning were like a distant memory now. Over the past few years their lives had become tours and albums and constant meetings and there were always so many people around them that they just kind of got lost in it. She feels like she’s found it again as they sit in McDonalds, purposely using the other’s ketchup pot just to be annoying and talking about anything and everything that’s not the band.
“So, what’s with you and this Jack guy anyway?” Josh asks, wiggling his eyebrows as he eats another chip
“Nothing, it’s nothing” she mumbles, the inevitable blush already clawing it’s way up her neck as she avoids eye contact with her friend
“Well it’s clearly not since you’ve spent pretty much the whole tour so far with him” he smirks and the pink claims another inch of her skin as she just kind of squirms under his gaze
“So are you two together or am I being replaced” he pushes and she gives him a look that says he’s never going to be replaced.
“We’re not together” she murmurs
“But you want to be?” he raises an eyebrow at her silence “I’ll take that as a yes”
“Can we talk about something else?” she asks, her cheeks now burning red
“Nope.” Josh grins cheekily “when do I get to meet him?”
“I don’t know Josh; we’re not even a thing. I just like him, he’s funny and sweet and he’s just really, really nice” she says and just the thought of him is bringing a smile to her lips, Josh doesn’t miss that.

As they continue to eat it feels like they’ve talked about everything and of course they haven’t but Sam feels a bit like she’s got her best friend back though she never really realised she’d lost him. Josh’s good mood falls a little bit when they play the show, because Owen keeps saying things that Josh has to pass of as jokes for the benefit of the crowd and Sam can see just how annoyed he’s getting. So, when the show ends and before Josh gets the chance to stomp away Sam hugs him, it worked when Jack hugged her so hopefully it’ll work in the same way now. She can feel him relaxing into her hold, shoulders dropping and arms slowly moving up to curl around her waist as they just stand there for a minute or so before Sam pulls back and looks up to him. He doesn’t mention the hug because it doesn’t need to be mentioned, he just gives her a little smile of thanks and speaks
“Do you want to watch a film on the bus, I need to wind down a bit and I think most of the others are off to some barbecue thing”
“Only if I can pick the film” she smiles and he chuckles.

Josh and Sam are on the sofa in the back lounge, laying top and tail but there’s a screen in both corners of the room so neither have any trouble watching as Batman and Bane fight. They’re underneath Josh’s duvet which they pulled from his bunk and there are two tubes of half empty Pringles nestled between their legs. Sam’s phone vibrating is the only thing that can drag her attention from the film.
To: AAAAAAAASam Taylor
From: Jack B x
You finished playing yet? I want to haaannnngggg xxx
Sam bites her lip because she has and usually she’d already be with Jack, but she’s really enjoying the time with Josh
To: Jack B x
From: AAAAAAAASam Taylor
I’m hanging out with Josh, sorry :( see you tomorrow? Xxx
She’d mentioned to him how she never spent much time with Josh so she knows he’ll probably understand, though it doesn’t stop her biting her lip to the point where she nearly draws blood, only stopping when she gets a reply from him
To: AAAAAAAASam Taylor
From: Jack B x
Don’t worry bout it have fun! I’ll text you as soon as I know when I play :) xxx
Josh smirks as Sam releases her lip, trying to stop the smile that’s spreading across her features and failing. Josh decides to say nothing because he can see everything he wants to know, how she’s contentedly snuggling back into the sofa, holding her phone like it’s the key to her happiness and smiling in a way that somewhat resembles a kid on Christmas.