Original Love

Jack’s POV:

Jack woke to feel his girlfriend moving slightly in his arms. He grinned as he slowly opened his eyes and looked down to see her still sleeping peacefully next to him. Pressing a kiss to her hair, he stretched slightly and let his eyes close again. He was still in that peaceful state between sleep and just waking up and pulled Erica close to him as he relaxed, allowing himself to just soak up the moment and not think about anything that needed to be done that day. There was only about a week left before they went on tour again and it was the week that everything needed to get done before they left. Zack was flying in later that day and they had to have band practice and get everything packed.

“You’re thinking too hard,” a sleepy voice said as Jack opened his eyes to see Erica looking up at him with a lazy smile.

He pressed his lips to her head again and sighed, “I know. And I told myself I wouldn’t worry about anything until Zack came later today.”

“Then don’t!”

And with that she was suddenly pulling out of his arms and getting out of bed instantly making Jack pull the blankets around him more because of the cold air. Jack was about to complain but one look at his girlfriend and he was instantly forgetting about what he was going to say and smile as she reached her hand out to pull him from bed. Getting up, she lead him out of his room and into the main part of his apartment, heading towards the kitchen.

“What are you up to?” He asked, pulling her close and wrapping his arms around her and kissing her cheek.

Scrunching up her nose, she dodged his lips as he tried to kiss her making him pout. “I have nasty morning breath and look gross.”

“You’re beautiful,” he said as she just frown and shook her head. Why she always thought that she was gross in the morning was beyond him. He always thought she was beautiful. Her dark hair was in a messy pony tail and she was in a pair of shorts and one of Jack’s shirts and couldn’t look cuter. He loved it when she wore his stuff; there was just something cute and adorable seeing her small frame in his shirt making it look huge on her.

She just laughed as he continued to try and kiss her and finally pushed him away making him pout even more. “Anyway, how about breakfast, and then after I brush my teeth I’ll let you kiss me?”

“Can we make out?”

Erica rolled her eyes, “what do you want to eat?” She must have seen the look on his face when she asked him because she grabbed a wooden spoon and whacked him lightly. “And if you say me I’m going to smack you harder!”

“Oh! Kinky!”

“You’re ridiculous,”

He just smirked as he went to grab a package of eggs and some bacon, setting it out while she went to get the pans. It was funny to see that she was so at ease and knew his apartment when they had only been dating a few weeks. They had known each other for a few months now and after he had come back from the UK, they had gotten closer and about two weeks after he had gotten back and they had spent nearly every day together, he had finally asked her to be his girlfriend. It was really amazing that he was actually able to take things slow. He had never been one to do that, but things were different with her, he was willing to take his time and go at her pace since she was still trying to allow herself to open up fully after what had happened that made her move to Baltimore in the first place.

Once they were finished making breakfast, well, Erica really made breakfast while Jack kept trying to kiss her and convince her that he didn’t care about how ‘gross’ she was. But it was finally done and they were in the living room with the TV on low and not even paying attention to it while they talked about anything and everything. They were cuddling on the couch watching Breakfast Club after they had finished eating when Jack’s phone rang.

Erica reached over to the coffee table and typed in his password, unlocking it, making Jack frown. Was it that easy to figure out? Sure Ben figured it out when they were in the UK and they didn’t know each other as well as Zack but seriously? It was that easy?

“Who’s Charlie?” She asked, pulling him from his thoughts and looked down to the phone to the open text message.

From: Charlie
Hey, will you be here on time?

“Um, Alex’s girlfriend,” Jack replied as he took his phone, frowning more at the text. He exited out of the text and then began dialing in the keypad and then put the phone up to his ear waiting for the person on the other end to pick up.

“Hey bro,” his best friend said on the other line. “What’s up?”

“Hey dude, I was wondering why your girlfriend was texting me asking me if I’m going to be on time. I had no knowledge that we were supposed to be in Wisconsin any time soon.”

Alex laughed, “no we’re not. She’s actually flying here.”

“Charlie’s coming? When?”

“Um,” Alex replied and Jack could hear rustling coming from the other end as Baz barked in the background. Jack could just imagine Alex in his and Rian’s kitchen, going through the stack of papers they always had on their island from all the mail and crap they had to sort through after tour, trying to find one paper in particular. “Oh! Here it is! Um, her plane is landing in two hours.”

Jack sighed, “And what does this have to do with me?”

“I was meaning to ask you if you could pick her up. I have press around the same time then am going to pick Zack up after so I was going to ask you if you would be willing to.”

“Dude, why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“Because I wanted it to be a surprise, you haven’t seen the girl in forever and she decided to come telling me not to tell you. We had a better way of surprising you but I completely forgot about this interview until the chick from the magazine called me today to confirm that we were still on. So will you?”

He rolled his eyes even though he knew his best friend couldn’t see him. “Of course I will you moron. This is Charlie we’re talking about! I miss her!”

Alex just laughed and told him the details before they hung up. As soon as they did, Jack smiled as he threw his fist into the air and Erica just laughed at him.

“What was that all about?” She asked with a amused smile playing on her lips.

Jack just grinned even more, making his cheeks hurt. “Charlie’s coming!”

“Charlie as in Alex’s girlfriend who I’ve heard so much about? That Charlie?” Jack nodded happily making Erica smile more. “When does she get in?”

Jack glanced at the wall where the clock hung, “In about a hour and a half. So we need to get ready.”

And with that he was bouncing off the couch running to his room. Erica came in also at much more slow normal pace as he scurried around his room, finding clothes and then heading towards the bathroom. He got done as quickly as he could and once he was cleaned, dressed, and hair done, they had about a half hour before they needed to pick up Charlie.

When Jack went back to his bedroom he found Erica just pulling a shirt over her head and then proceeding to the mirror to fix her hair. Meeting her eye through the mirrors reflection, he smiled to her, holding her gaze before his phone buzzed and he forced himself to look away to find it and see that it was a new text.

From: Alex
Hey dude, I forgot to mention this before but we’ll all meet at my place once you pick her up. I should be back with Zack about a hour or so after you get back so I’ll see you soon. Thanks again for this man! Tell Char I love her!

Jack opened a new text and typed out a quick message saying ok just as Erica announced she was ready. He grabbed a pair of shoes and put them on quickly before grabbing his keys and wallet and checking the time again. Ok, so they needed to leave right then in order to be on time. Going out the door and getting into his car in record time, Jack couldn’t wipe the grin off his face as it fully sunk in that Charlie was coming. She was seriously one of his best friend ever and he had gone to her along with Alex when the whole Erica thing had first started out.

He had been really nervous having the potential to start a new relationship after the disaster his last one had turned out to be. But Charlie and Alex convinced him that it was ok to start a new one and get over his old girlfriend and everything that happened and meet someone new. Erica and he had agreed to start off slow and any time Jack wondered if things were going too fast he would call Charlie and ask her advice. She was amazing and wonderful and Alex and she were almost as cute as he and Erica were.

The signs for BWI started to show up a while later as Jack drove closer and began to slow once he got to the pickup area right outside the baggage claim. Finding a place to park on the side by the area the Delta people came out from, he got out of the car and Erica climbed over the center console of the car to get in the driver’s seat since the airport security would tow his car if it was left unattended. Besides she had no idea what Charlie looked like so it was better for her to stay while he went to go find her in the crowds of people.

Stepping away from his car, he began to scan the faces, looking for the all too familiar face even though he had known her for five months and barely saw her. He would never forget her though. Charlie was just that important to him. Pushing through the crowd, he couldn’t find her anywhere and wondered if she even had her bag yet. Alex mentioned that her plane landed at two and in was only quarter after so she was probably just getting down to the baggage claim at about that time.

Turning, he walked through the glass sliding doors and found that inside the airport was even crazier than outside. Trying to make his way to the large sign that had all the baggage information on it, he finally found the number her carousel was for their flight and headed toward it. When he got there, he stood their awkwardly, scanning the faces like a creeper trying to find the right one.

Then he found her, the familiar small cute face with the pretty blue eyes and light almost blonde hair. His feet seemed like they weren’t even connected to his brain as he began walking even before he thought about it, calling her name loudly. The girl looked up from the phone she had been looking at and smiled when she saw him, leaving her spot at the side of the carousel and rushing towards him and throwing her arms around him.

“Hey Jacko!” She said as he pulled her closer, not wanting to let her go. “I missed you!”

Jack smiled as he finally let her go as a loud buzz came and bags started to fall from the chute at the top of the carousel. “I missed you too Charlie! I can’t believe you’re here!”

“I can’t believe it either! My first time in Baltimore!”

He laughed and welcomed her there as they walked to the edge of the conveyor belt and waited until her bag came, talking nonstop, and catching up on everything they had missed since seeing each other four months before. The last time he had seen her in person was when they had been in Wisconsin for Rock Show at the End of the World Tour. Alex had flown out after they had gotten back from the UK but this was the first time he would see her. And Jack had even thought that he wouldn’t see her until they were in Milwaukee for the upcoming tour, but he wasn’t going to complain about that.

When she had her bag, Jack grabbed most of the things she had and lead her outside toward his black car. He put the things in the trunk of his car as she got in the backseat and he made his way inside also, allowing Erica to drive since he was going to be too distracted to drive at the moment.

“God, it’s so good to see you again! I missed you way too much!” Jack said as he turned slightly in his seat to face Charlie. “Oh, Charlie, this is Erica by the way, my girlfriend.”

The shocked slightly before she smirked, “Oh so this is the girl that stole your heart Jackary!”

Both him and Erica blushed at that and he saw Erica glance in the rearview mirror to smile and nod at Charlie. “Yeah, I am. And you’re the Charlie Jack and Alex can’t stop talking about. I think I’ve heard about every story about you from the boys. Jack was nearly peeing himself this morning when he heard that you were coming and he got to pick you up.”

Charlie laughed as Jack just blushed more and shot a teasing glare at his girlfriend and she just laughed also as she continued to drive. They were soon pulling into the long driveway of Alex and Rian’s house and Jack glanced in the backseat to see Charlie staring in awe at the place. The three of them got out and Jack went to grab her bags as the girls headed for the door and Erica unlocked it and headed inside.

Just as Jack was walking in also, he found Charlie kneeling on the floor petting Sebastian and the small dog soaking up all her attention. He just rolled his eyes at the love sick dog and headed to the staircase to go put her bags in Alex’s room. He knew for a fact that she wasn’t going to stay in the guest room since Alex would throw a bitch fit at that. The couple hardly ever got to see each other due to the long distance and they were just like Rian and Cass wanting to soak up as much time together as possible, even when they were sleeping.

“Uh Jack,” Charlie called from downstairs. “Who owns a white car?”

Jack laughed as he headed out of Alex’s room and toward the stairs. “Your boyfriend, why?”

When he heard the barking and the sound of the front door opening that was all Jack needed as an answer as he jogged down the stairs. When he got to the main room, he saw Charlie and Baz rushing towards the door where Alex and Zack were just walking in from. As soon as Alex looked up and saw his girlfriend rushing towards him, he opened his arms and caught her as she launched herself at him and wrapped her arms around him tightly and pressing their lips together in a kiss.

Zack and Jack shared a look as they finally let go of each other just for Alex to wrap his arms around Charlie’s waist. “Why didn’t we get greetings like that?”

“Why didn’t I get a greeting at all?” Zack asked making Charlie blush more as she pulled away from her boyfriend to hug the muscular boy. “Geez, I had to ask and everything.”

Charlie just rolled her eyes, “Oh shut up Zack. It’s not like you’re not going to do the exact same thing with Emma when you get back to LA.”

“You’re together now?” Alex asked with wide eyes and Jack knew he was wearing the exact same expression. And by the blush on Zack’s face, that was all they needed as a response. The bassist had never even told anyone that they were dating. All he had told them that they were getting closer.

“Wait, how does Charlie know and we don’t?” Jack asked, realizing that Charlie was the only one in the room who didn’t look shocked. Well, her and Baz. The dog was currently sitting on the floor in the middle of the little circle they formed looking back and forth between the five of them wagging his tail like this was the most interesting thing in the world even though he had no clue what any of them were saying. He was probably just waiting to see who was going to give him some love next since he was such a attention hog.

Zack shrugged, “she asked.”

“Really?” Alex deadpanned as Zack blushed more and shrugged. Then Alex glanced down to his girlfriend with a sigh as he pulled her close again. “And you didn’t tell me this, why?”

It was her turn to shrug, “you didn’t ask?”

“Anyway,” Zack said as he turned to Erica with a small smile and Jack knew he just wanted the focus of the conversation off of him again. “You’re Erica aren’t you? Jack’s girl?”

Jack couldn’t help but grin as she blushed and nodded slightly, “yeah that’s me! It’s nice to meet you Zack.”

Zack just nodded in reply, not really needing to say anything more. “So what’s the plan today? Alex really didn’t tell me anything since he was freaking out about coming home to see his girl.”

“Shut up,” the oldest boy mumbled with a blush and Charlie laughed and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“From what I heard Ri and Matt are going to meet us here to talk about the tour and then we’re going to practice.” Jack replied as he looked to his best friend who nodded.

Erica sighed as she pulled away from Jack slightly making him frown. “Well, that’s our cue to leave Charlie.” She said as she reached up to ruffle Jack’s hair, being the only one allowed to do so without being chewed out for ‘screwing up my perfect sex hair’ as he liked to say. “You boys are going to be so absorbed in your music that you’ll have no time for us until you’re done and it’s super loud. So might as well show Charlie around a little.”

“Really? You don’t mind do you?” Charlie asked as Erica smiled and shook her head.

“Not at all, gives us a little girl time to get to know one another since our boyfriends are best friends. Besides, we can swap embarrassing stories about the boys while we crack open a bottle of wine and watch movies.”

“I’m game!”

With that, they said bye to their boyfriends, and then headed out the door leaving the boys alone. Just as Jack's car was pulling out of the drive, Matt’s car was pulling in with a honk to the other car. When Rian and Matt came inside, they all greeted each other quickly before getting down to business and beginning to plan everything for tour in a week.