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

It’s the last day of warped tour and everyone’s a little upset, the packing of the buses for the final time this year feeling like another ending before they all go their separate ways. All Time Low are going straight back on tour, hitting Europe for what’s left of the summer while Sam goes back to her flat in California. Both Sam and Jack are are very aware that this is happening and are yet to bring it up. They’d met up especially early, sitting outside Jack’s bus while the venue was just setting up and they’ve barely left each other’s side since, both of their sets timing perfectly so they’ve been able to stay together throughout the day. It’s getting late now and it’s slowly growing darker, and getting a lot colder which is why, as they sit on the same bit of grass they did this morning, Sam’s got Jack’s hoodie over her shoulders, the sleeves several inches too long and the hood covering her eyes when it’s up. It’s warm and smells distinctly of Jack so Sam’s happy to snuggle back into it and zip it up to her chin.

They’re sat opposite each other and Jack has her song book resting on her knees; it’s open to a page that Sam chose to show him after he spent days trying to persuade her to sing him one of her songs. She bites her lips as she watches him read the words she carefully put together, she just wants him to like it
“What’s it go like?” Jack asks as his eyes scan over the lyrics written in her neat, curly handwriting
“It’s just a tune” she shrugs, unsure how to explain
“Sing it for me” he ushers, looking up to her as she just shakes her head lightly so Jack turns back to the book, tracing the lyrics with his finger as he sings them tunelessly
“And it feels like I haven't seen you in days, and it feels like I'll never see you again. Like that?” he questions with a small smile, looking up at her and she shakes her head. She hums the actual tune to the words and he nods along, following where he thinks the words will go. Jack tries again, singing to what he remembers of the tune she hummed to him and placing the words into it and she giggles because there’s a reason Jack isn't his band’s singer, and it lie’s in the fact he can’t sing in tune to save his life.
“Shut up” he grumbles playfully, smiling fondly at the girl across from him.
“You’re stressing all the wrong parts” she tells him
“Come here and show me then” he instructs, patting the space next to him and she does, clambering over to him and sitting beside him. Jack shuffles closer to her until their thighs are touching and rests the book on both their knees

“Sing it with me” he smiles
“Okay, just like, sing along with me” she murmurs, looking down at the book and Jack just looks at her for a short moment longer before casting his eyes down as well
“And it feels like I haven't seen you in days, and it feels like I'll never see you again” she sings quietly, Jack singing each word just after her, making her giggle softly. His finger follows onto the next line
“And it only goes to show you never really cared, why should I have to pretend you're ever there? It only goes to show you don't know” he tries to catch up and sing it at the same time but he stretches out the words that are supposed to be sung quickly and doesn't hold the long ones for long enough. Sam’s smile is growing as she continues
“But I don't need a cure - this is not a disease, I'm not even sure why I'm down on my knees” Jack doesn't know that the pace increases at that part and was still trying to sing them slowly as she sings them more quickly. Sam starts laughing, causing her to not be singing the song properly which in turn means Jack is getting it even more wrong and making Sam laugh even harder.

“Stop laughing!” Jack exclaims but he’s not really mad, far from it, and Sam curls over as the laughs come out of her chest and she’s now laughing mostly because she’s happy and she just can.
“Stop laughing at me” Jack repeats, grinning and laughing a little himself as he circles his arms around her waist and pulls her back up and into his chest. She eventually manages to calm down to just the odd giggle, resting her head on his chest as the last few laughs escape her lips.
“You have a nice voice” Jack tells her after a short silence. Her voice isn't amazing, she doesn't sound like an angel that’s descended from heaven and she’s never going to get a number one single by belting out a power ballad, but she sounds very much like Sam and Jack thinks that’s more than perfect.

“Thank you, I wish I could say the same to you” she giggles again and Jack’s shocked expression sets her off into another fit of giggles. He falls a little bit more in love with her then. He’s found recently that every time he manages to pull her walls down a little further, she shows him something that makes it all worth it and only makes him want to tear them down quicker, like when she says something cheeky and sarcastic and shows Jack what she can really be like. Those moments are Jack’s favourites, alongside when he does something to make her laugh as hard as she’s laughing now, because he really see her, not the front that she puts up around other people, he sees the real her and, selfish as it sounds, he loves the fact he’s maybe the only person in the world who’s ever truly seen her and the girl he’s finding behind all the walls is the girl he’s falling in love with.

It’s there inside him and he knows deep down, with absolute certainty, that she’s the one for him. He’s going to fall in love with her, and he’s going to remain in love with her for the rest of his life, he’s just not quite there yet. He’s only just beginning to venture into those waters, slowly tiptoeing his way into the deep end. But eventually, and it may take another day, another month, or another ten years, he’s going to realize it; and the floor of the metaphorical swimming pool he’s wading through is going to fall from beneath his feet to make the deepest deep-end there is. Love.

“I’m going to miss you” she says bluntly, pulling him back from the thoughts that had been swirling in his mind and bringing a stupid smile to his face. Then he feels a tug in his chest, smile vanishing.
"I'm going to miss you too"
“I’m no good at long distance things.” she continues and for her, it’s a sort of invitation for him to comfort her; to him, it’s halfway to being dumped
“Please don’t break up with me” he says because he panicked, he now realizes it was the least cool way he could possibly have made the point he wanted to, but now that he’s done it he’s just looking at Sam with wide, hopeful eyes.
“Why would I break up with you?” she asks, just as confused as Jack is scared
“Because long distance relationships suck? and I’m going to be gone all the time and you could easily find someone far better than me who you could see all the time because he’s not going to be in fucking Europe while you’re in Cali” he rambles and this time it’s Sam who initiates a kiss, giggling a little as she pulls Jack into her by his jacket and then wraps her arms around his neck as she falls back and pulls him on top of her

“Not breaking up with you.” she says with a little smile when she pulls away and he can’t even attempt to contain the grin that spreads across his features
“Good” he murmurs “because you're really pretty" Jack says, he'd normally call a girl sexy or hot but Sam's more than that; she's talented and sweet and she's a great kisser and she's intelligent, thoughtful, kind, generous, selfless, funny and she's an amazing cuddler. Sam's quiet but brave and gentle but strong and Jack knows she's all these things and so much more, he thinks she's little short of perfect, but he just doesn't know how to say it.
"And I really, really like you" he finishes.
"I really, really like you too" she says with a blush. Jack blushes as well because up until about four weeks ago he’d never been the sort to wear his heart on his sleeve but he feels the need to assert what they have before they separate, he needs to know that she’s his.

“So you definitely want to do the whole long distance thing? because it’s hard, well, I've never actually done it but I hear it’s hard” he looks down to her with a small smile and he doesn't know why he said it because basically he’s just giving her more reasons to not be with him.
“Definitely.” she says and then she murmurs “I- I think you’re worth it” he gets the fluttering in his stomach that he’s grown accustomed to over the past few weeks
“We can Skype and stuff” he says, pulling her back up to a sitting position
“I don’t have an account” she murmurs, smirking a little at him
“Well make one” he says playfully
“You’re not the boss of me” she laughs and he just shakes his head as he chuckles and grins at her.
“Promise you’ll Skype me though” he says, wanting the confirmation
“I promise” she laughs
“Pinky promise?” she looks down to see his pink pointing towards her
“You’re lame” she murmurs as she links her little finger around his
“For the promise to be real you've got to seal it with a kiss” he adds and she blushes and raises an eyebrow
“Really?”
“I don’t make the rules, Sam, it’s just the way things are” he’s already leaning down toward her and she happily meets him halfway because in just a few hours they’re going to be separated for two months and they've not got any time to waste. She moves her hand up to his cheek as his go to her waist and they both smile into the kiss as they move, Jack pulling her that little bit closer and Sam pressing into him as they forget that there are people around them.

Normally, someone would catcall or shout something at them, in a joking way, because couples on Warped tour aren't all that common and it’s always fun to tease people. But, the thing is, Jack knows everyone, and so there’s a huge amount of people who could say something to them but everyone seems to be a little bit in love with them as a couple, just like they’re a little bit in love with each other, and everyone also knows that it’s their last day together and so don’t disturb them and on the All Time Low bus which is parked nearby, Alex pushes back the curtain to the back window, watches his best friend sit with Sam for a few moments and smiles. He’s known Jack for more than ten years and has never seen him quite so happy, not when they got signed, not when Blink 182 reformed, not ever.

His eyes glow as he listens to her and watches her; just being close to her puts a stupid, goofy grin on his face.
“He’s in love with her,” Rains states from beside Alex
“Never thought I’d see the day,” Alex laughs lightly because Jack is in love. Jack, who nobody had really expected to ever have any sort of serious relationship, especially not before the age of thirty, has fallen in love with the girl who is opposite to him in every way. She swooped in and changed everyone’s expectations of Jack, but she hasn't changed him. All of his elements are still there, his loyalty, his sense of humor, his optimism and his constant smile has grown considerably. He’s got a shine in his eye that’s now not just for his love of the band, but his love of her. The changes aren't really all that obvious, unless you really know him and he hasn't even noticed them himself; though he’s never really been particularly observant and he does have a new person taking up a large chunk of his thinking time.

“I should probably go” Jack says when they pull back, both a little breathless and he presses their foreheads together “but I really don’t want to.”
“I know” she sighs, “but if you don’t they’ll resort to physical force”
“I could totally take Matt in a fight” he laughs because they both know he really couldn't.
“He’d break your nose again, and it only just healed” she says, tapping his nose and he feigns pain, giving her a dirty look
“I like that you have so much faith in me.”
“Be real though, he’d knock you out” she teases
“If you’re going to keep being mean to me, I’m going to go.” he says, as a threat.
“The truth hurts.” she giggles
“That’s it I’m gone.” he’s acting mad but she can see the smile he’s trying to hide “Don’t call me. Don’t even look at me.” he continues in the same dramatic manner as he stands up and walks away. Sam gets up too, watching him go for just a few moments before turning away herself, mentally preparing herself for a month and a half of not seeing Jack. He gets to his bus and Matt is just about to tell him something, probably about being late or something that seems equally stupid to Jack right now. But before the manager can open his mouth to speak, Jack has turned around and dashed back off the bus, he just can’t leave on that note. Even if it’s jokey and funny and sweet and it totally suits them, he just can’t leave it like that.

She’s just a few steps away from her bus when she’s being spun around and an already surprisingly familiar pair of lips are on her own. He’s holding her face in his hands as he leans down to her and she instantly goes up onto her tiptoes so she can better the angle. It’s a little desperate and a little sloppy but it holds more in it than any of their previous kisses
“Okay so I just had to do that, I’m actually going to go now. Call me or text me or whatever soon okay, so, yeah.” he stammers out, blushing “I’m going to go. Bye” he drops his hands and just looks at her for a few more short moments. He seems to mentally slap himself to come out of the daydream he’d entered
“I’ll see you soon” he finishes as he takes a step backwards, still not turning his body away from her
“You too” she smiles back and they both know they’re not going to see each other any time soon but it’s the sentiment that’s nice. Jack finally turns around and goes back to the bus he was really supposed to be on about fifteen minutes ago as Sam gets onto her own.

“I think I understand love songs properly now.” Jack declares as he steps onto the bus, walking through and collapsing into his bunk before anybody can reply. Similarly, Sam goes to her own bunk, song book in hand and, feeling inspired, opens it to the next clean page then starts writing the words that are caught up in her brain. After a short while she reads back over it and smiles a little wider because she thinks she’s just written her first ever love song.