Had Me From Hello

From: Samuel Young
To: Annie Madison
Wish I could come see you perform tonight, but you're too far away from Rhode Island. :( Hope you come out here someday. I sure do miss you a lot. Good luck out there tonight, Annie. I know you'll do great, like always. :)

Annie couldn't help the ear to ear, toothy grin that became quite evident across her face. She knew that talking to Sam as much as she had, and in the fashion that she was, probably wasn't very safe or very practical, but she didn't care for the time being. He was back in her life, even for just a little while, and that what she had pined for for years.

"What are you smiling at over there, Madison?" Zack's voice resonated from his seat on the leather couch that sat against the wall in All Time Low's dressing room in the large, Indianapolis venue.

"Is it a boy?" Jack Barakat ran a hand through his already messy, black and blonde, hair, winking playfully at his new friend; a part of him had hoped it was, in fact, a boy, and that the boy was Alex.

"Something like that," Annie smirked jokingly at the two men seated across from her. The blonde tapped out a reply on the screen.

Wish you could be here too! I miss you so much, Sam; it's not even funny. :( Hope to see you at the Rhode Island date. 2 weeks. :)

Rian stretched his arms over his body, yawning, while glancing at the silver watch banded across his wrist. "We have, like, an hour until soundcheck. Where the hell is Alex?"

Almost as if his entrance was staged and rehearsed multiple times, Alex bursted through the door of the small room. "She's here," he breathed heavily. "She's in this state... this city. And she's coming here tonight and oh, God, why did I even get involved with her in the first place? I'm so stupid!" Alex began talking at what seemed like 200 miles per hour, not showing any signs of slowing down.

Annie's eyebrows knitted together in confused. Who was "she" and why was Alex so worried about her? Glancing over at the other three men in the room, Annie noted that they all looked just as confused as she did.

"Alex, what are you talking about? Who's here?" Jack asked, his voice becoming concerned for his best friend.

Alex let out a bitter laugh, louder than intended. "Emily Shay is in Indianapolis and she called me. And she is coming to this show," a bitter smile rested on Alex's face.

Annie saw the expression of the other three band members falter almost instantly. Who was Emily Shay? And why was it such a bad thing that she was coming to the show?

"Wh-who is Emily?" Annie dared to ask, the room falling completely silent; you could barely hear any of the friends breathing.

"Emily is-" Rian began speaking, just as Alex cut him off abrupting, shooting him a glare.

"Emily is nobody, okay?" the singer spoke, directing his response towards his band mates rather than Annie. Looking over at Annie, Alex felt a pang in his heart. "If you see anyone tonight with... with dark hair and 'mediumly' tanned skin... and.. and, uh... she has, like, this weird mole thing on her cheek or something... fuck, I don't know. Just... Annie, if you meet anyone and they say their name is Emily, please, please, stay away. Come find me or something. Just... don't talk to her and don't listen to anything she says. She'll tell you a bunch of lies and just... mess stuff up with our... friendship. Okay?"

"Alex, I think you're overreacting," Annie protested, noticing a change in the glint of Alex's brown eyes.

"I am not fucking overreacting, Annie," Alex's voice raised, causing the small woman to jump in her seat. "Just stay away from her."

Annie detected the serious tone in Alex's voice and felt chills run up her spine. "O-okay..."

Before anyone else could comment on Alex's request, he bolted out of the room and went God-knows-where.

Annie lowered her head, staring intently at the floor, feeling the rest of her friends staring at her, almost as if they had something to say - something to clear up Alex's weird, demanding request.

"Annie... he's just, he's looking out for you," Jack finally spoke, breaking the thick silence that had fallen in the room once more.

"Jack's right," Rian nodded, agreeing with the guitarist. "Emily is... she was this really complicated part of Alex's life and she messed him up pretty bad. And now she occasionally comes back to fuck with Alex's emotions again. If you want the specifics as to who she is and what she did, you just have to wait for Alex to open up about her."

"Yeah," Zack nodded, leaning forward on his knees. "Just listen to him and don't talk to her, okay? Just promise that, at least to us."

Annie shrugged, as if she didn't really have a choice. "It doesn't matter; does it? I'm sure Alex will have a watch on me all night."

***

Annie felt her nerves pinching her insides. This crowd was much bigger than the ones she had played on the tour so far. Who knew Indiana, of all places, held such a big pop punk fanbase?

Alex walked up silently behind Annie, feeling more guilt sit on his shoulders. He knew he shouldn't have snapped at her; she didn't know anything about Emily. It was natural for her to think he was overreacting.

Glancing over Annie's shoulder, Alex silently laughed at the enormous screen on the girl's new Galaxy phone. You could read that thing from the third floor, he thought to himself, laughing at his own joke.

Opening his mouth to speak, something on the larger-than-necessary screen caught his eye.

From: Samuel Young
Counting down the days until I see you, beautiful. :)

Alex felt a weird rush of jealously settle in his stomach. Annie was talking to Sam again? Since when? Alex furrowed his bushy eyebrows; on one hand, he felt extremely guilting for reading her private messages. On the other hand, though, he felt overwhelmed with jealousy.

He wasn't even with this girl; why did it matter who she was talking to? He had met Annie barely a month ago. She could talk to whomever she wanted to; she was a grown woman.

Deciding to apologize later, Alex sauntered off the other direction, desperately trying to sort out his feelings for the younger girl.

***

Annie was taking the stage for her performance when she felt someone come up next to her on sidestage. Glancing over and seeing Jack, she smiled at the taller man. "Hey."

"Hey, kid," Jack smiled, showing all his teeth. "I just wanted to come tell you that I know this is a really big crowd compared to the rest of the shows we've played, but you'll kill it out there like you do every night. I promise," he nodded, as if agreeing with himself.

"Thanks, Barakat. You're getting good at this best friend thing," the girl teased, turning towards the guitarist and wrapping her skinny arms around his torso, as he returned the gesture.

"It's all in the job description, my lady," Jack smirked down at the shorter girl. "Now get out there before you're late for your own show."

"It's more of your show, asshole. I'm just a little support," Annie threw her blonde waves behind her shoulders and straightened our her black shorts and tank top. "But, if you will excuse me, I do have a show to go 'kill,'" she winked, grabbing the acoustic guitar from the guitar tech and racing out on stage.

"Hello, Indianapolis!" Annie yelled into the mic, grinning wildly at the sea of people in front of her. "You guys look fucking gorgeous tonight. I'm gonna play a few songs for you beautiful, beautiful people and I hope you all enjoy them! This first one is called 'Heart On The Floor,'" without any further explanation like she had done with most songs, Annie had just glanced over at Alex, who was standing side stage with his arms crossed over his chest. And she smiled at him.

"I was at an all time low the night you walked in. You were just close enough to smell the whiskey on my breath. I didn't know why you were alone, but you ain't leaving that way," Annie grinned widely as she noticed the look of complete awe on the crowd members' faces. They liked it! she thought to herself.

Glancing over at Alex, Annie noted the deep in thought expression painted across his face.

"I don't wanna leave this house until I get your number. If I'm being honest, I can't wait to get you home. Unlike all the others, I won't jet the morning after. I won't go dropping your heart on floor," Annie closed her eyes shut, tight, feeling the music and the words and the emotions.

Opening her eyes quickly, her green orbs flickered over to a certain area of the crowd. A woman, who looked, give or take, a few years older than Annie, standing off into a secluded area of the venue.

Annie studied the woman. Dark hair. Tanned skin. Was that the mystery Emily woman Alex had been so anxious over?

"You didn't laugh; you brought up the past. You said, 'I've been hurt before. Just enough to know that I can't take it no more,'" Annie sang softly into the mic, noticing the stone cold expression permanently etched into the mysterious woman's face. What was her problem?

"You've got the right to move on from this house to my door. Come on, let my dress hit the floor," Annie blushed at the innuendo in the song she had written for Alex.

Finishing the song, Annie beamed as the crowd burst into loud screams and hollers. But the mysterious woman had not budged.

Over on side stage, Jack had also taken note of the woman standing off by herself, secluded from the large crowd.

It was, in fact, Emily Shay. Jack had thought Alex was overreacting - there was no way Emily could be here. Not in Indiana.

Yet, there she was. In the flesh.

Jack nudged Alex in the ribs, gaining a loud "Ow!" from the singer. "Dude, Emily is here," Jack muttered, loud enough for only Alex to hear.

His eyes widened at the sound of her name. "No."

Jack pointed discretely over at the tall figure in the corner of the venue. "Looking as cold and mean as before."

"No, no, no, fuck," Alex's brained racked for an idea. Something to piss Emily. Something that would make her leave. Something that would make her get the idea that he wanted her gone and that she couldn't keep coming back like this.

"Alex, it's okay, calm down. Breathe, it's okay," Jack did his best to soothe his best friend, but he knew it would be no help.

"I need something to piss her off, Jack."

"Dude, you know that will just make her more bitter and ang-"

"I know; I'll sing something with Annie and I'll be fucking obnoxiously cute and romantic about it!" Alex exclaimed, grabbing his own acoustic guitar from the stands that was standing up right next to Jack and himself.

"Alex, this isn't a good idea."

"Sure, it is. What could go wrong?" Alex shrugged, obviously not thinking of the many, many repercussions that could follow this situation. Calling Annie's name several times before she finally looked over, Alex spoke, rather loudly, too, "Come here!"

Annie furrowed her thin eyebrows, "Um, I'll be right back. I have to go talk to my friend, Alex, real quick?"

At the sound of the front man's name, the crowd erupted into more cheers, causing the singer to blush.

"Yes?" Annie cocked a brow at the older man.

"I want to sing with you."

"Wha- Why?" Annie inqueried, even more confused than before.

"I just... Emily's here. I need to piss her off or something. I need her to leave," Alex explained, smiling at his "genius" idea.

"Oh.." Annie's heart dropped. Stop being so dumb and naive, she thought to herself. He doesn't like you. He wouldn't want to sing with you.

Alex had brushed off the disappointed tone in the girl's voice, but Jack had caught it, and he was going to make sure he brought it up to the smaller girl later.

"Uh, what do you want to sing?"

"How about that new song you were working on a few days ago? Shit, what was it called... Wrecking Ball!" Alex exclaimed, snapping his fingers for affect. "I think that'd be fucking sick as a duet."

"Oh, yeah, sure," Annie forced a smile, taking hold of Alex's hand, and leading him to the stage.

Grabbing the mic and pulling it to her face, Annie began speaking. "So, I'm sure all of you know my friend, Alex Gaskarth. Well, he wanted to sing a new song I've been working on with me tonight, called 'Wrecking Ball'. I hope you guys like it," Annie smiled sweetly, adjusting her guitar.

A microphone was placed in front of Alex, as well as an in-ear monitor handed to him. "It's a honor to be singing with the beautiful Annie Madison tonight," Alex grinned, winking at the girl next to him.

If this had been any other time or if Annie didn't know the circumstances as to why Alex was so set on singing with her, she would have been blushing like crazy. But she was hurt. Alex didn't really want to sing with her. Alex just really wanted to piss off what she assumed was a bitchy ex.

"So, this is called Wrecking Ball," Annie began, pushing herself up on the stool, tuning her guitar to fit the song. "It's basically about giving up a lot for someone you love dearly. And you're constantly trying to break down their walls and trying to get inside of their head, but somewhere along the way, you forgot to let them in. And you end up getting really hurt... I hope you guys like it."

Alex thanked the man who had brought him a stool, perching himself upon it, tuning his guitar likewise to Annie's. "It's a pretty rad song. You guys will love it."

Annie smiled tightly, noticing Alex's fixated glare on Emily, rolling her green eyes. "We clawed. We chained our hearts in vain. We jumped, never asking why."

Alex's voice echoed off of every nook and cranny in the room. "We kissed, I fell under your spell. A love no one could deny."

"Don't you ever say I just walked away. I will always want you," Annie sang, her eyes looking towards her fingers working across the strings.

In reality, she had written this song about Sam. It was as if after Sam had left Maryland to attend college, he had built 10,000 foot walls around his heart and his mind, refusing to let anyone, even Annie, in. And during her senior year of high school, she had become so tied down in stress and busy schedules, she just didn't have time to break down the walls, but she apparently had time to build some of her own. There was no doubt in Annie's mind that Sam loved her with his whole heart, but she was almost certain that towards the end of their seemingly epic love story, the love was fading. Even though the pair were talking again, it was still such a fresh wound. Someone she had given up almost everything for had turned around and thrown it back at her.

"I can't live a lie. I'm running for my life. I will always want you," Alex sang, this time looking over at Annie. Alex had looked at Annie plenty of times since tour had started. Plenty of times. He hadn't ever really looked at her, though. He never noticed how her blonde waves had just the slightest hint of auburn in the ends. He never noticed how pink her lips were and how much he really wanted to kiss her. He never noticed how much emotion she had put into singing. In all reality, Alex hadn't noticed a lot of things about Annie. And now that he had, she was even more beautiful.

Strumming a few more chords, the pair belted out the chorus together. "I came in like a wrecking ball. I never hit so hard in love. All I wanted was to break your walls. All you ever did was wreck me. Yeah, you wrecked me."

The words had hit home with Alex. It was almost as if Annie had read his mind about Emily. It was almost as if Annie saw the pain he had went through as well.

"I came in like a wrecking ball. I just closed my eyes and strung. You let me crash in with a blazing force. All you ever did was wreck me," the pair sang the lines together, both filled with as much emotion as the other.

"I never meant to start a war. I just wanted you to let me in. Instead of using force, I guess I should have let you in. I never meant to start a war..." Annie's voice cracked as a tear rolled down her face.

"I came in like a wrecking ball," Alex sang, taking off his guitar and letting Annie continue to play. Wrapping his arm tightly around her shoulders, he sang the following line.

As the duo finished the song, Annie stood up, standing beside Alex, smiling, while wiping the stray tears away. "That was pretty sick," she giggled, taking her own guitar off and wrapping her arms around the man's skinny torso.

In that moment, Alex forgot about the thousands of screaming people surrounding them. He forgot that he had sang this song to piss off Emily. He forgot that Emily was even in the same room as them. He forgot about the people in the crowd who were most likely taking pictures of the longer-than-necessary hug. He forgot that Sam was "counting down the days" until he saw Annie again.

All Alex could think about how the girl that was in his arms at that moment had made him feel so many things in one month that he hadn't felt in almost six months.

Alex pulled away from the hug, grinning like a child on Halloween night. Annie smiled back, "What?" she asked, giggling.

Alex pulled his hands back from the girl's body, cupped her small face and placed his lips on hers and kissed her. He kissed her like he hadn't kissed anybody else. The crowd behind them went insane: screaming, hollering, chanting and a few thousand camera flashes went off, causing Alex to smile.

It ended all too soon, though. Annie pushed Alex off of her, staring at him incredulously. "You've got to be kidding me," her eyes welling up with tears and her voice cracking, Annie backed away from Alex cautiously.

"What? What happened?" Alex asked, already missing the taste of the singer's lips.

Annie's voice was just barely over a whisper, only loud enough for Alex to hear. "I know you wanted to piss off Emily... And I got that when you were singing with me... but you didn't have to kiss me to piss her off, Alex."

Alex was confused. He kissed Annie because he wanted to, not to piss off Emily. He had forgotten Emily was even a person in his life when he decided to kiss Annie. "Annie, no. It wasn't like that. I kissed you because-"

"Because you wanted Emily to leave. Alex, I get that. Just because some bitch is messing with your emotions, doesn't mean you have to mess with mine."

"Annie-" Alex stopped himself, looking awkwardly over at the crowd before the two adults. "Annie, I think we should have this conversation later."

"There isn't going to be a later, Alex," Annie rolled her eyes. "Now get off the stage, I have a set to finish, please," she forced the "please" off the tip of her tongue, venom seeping through her words.

"Annie-"

Walking closer to the man in front of her, Annie whispered, "I guess you don't have to worry about Emily messing our friendship up, huh? You did it all on your own," the girl forced a bitter smile on her face, strumming the opening chords to her next song, pretending as if the last 5 or so minutes didn't just happen.

Alex was left at his spot on the stage - confused and heartbroken. After a few more angry glares from Annie, Alex finally forced himself off the stage.

There was no doubt in his mind that he had unintentionally fucked up.