Caught in the Middle

A few weeks later, all pre-orders were packed and posted, the album was set to be released and the tour started in a week. However, the day before the album was released, all hell broke loose.

The boys had all agreed to celebrate before the release at Kennedy's place so Garrett and I arrived first, my legs tucked up on Kennedy's couch and Garrett's arm sitting comfortably around my shoulders as John and Rachel arrived, followed by Halvo, Jared and Tessa. Pat had sent Kennedy a message saying that he was going to be slightly late, so we decided to start drinking while we waited.

We were halfway through our second round when Pat walked in the door, hand in hand with Alecia. I nearly squealed when I saw them, but Halvo beat me with his own reaction.

"What. The. Fuck." He was furious. Pat dropped her hand, not seeing her disappointed expression before she crossed her arms and gave Halvo a flat glare.

"Eric, mind your own business," she snapped, flopping down on the seat next to me.

"No, you're my cousin, that's not allowed," Halvo argued. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, pipe down Halvo, they're in love, just let them be," I said, exasperated by his actions. Since I found out about what he did with Rachel behind John's back, everything little thing he did irritated me. Pat and Alecia were cute together and although Pat was still scared by Halvo, I knew he'd do anything for Alecia.

"Stay out of it Jessy. Pat, she's my cousin, what the fuck do you think you're doing? She's my family, why would you do that?" Halvo stood up, getting more and more angry. I saw red. He was attacking Pat for dating a girl who happened to be related him and it made me angry that he was trying to tear apart all my friends relationships. I stood up as well, ready to give him a piece of my mind.

"Who cares if she's your cousin? Rachel dating John doesn't stop you from fucking her does it?" I shouted at him, my eyes widening and hands flying to my mouth as the words left them. The entire room went silent and I was frozen, Halvo staring at me with wide eyes as I unveiled his secret. Rachel had gone pale and John began to turn red.

"John, baby, I swear she's lying," Rachel stuttered, taking a hold of John's wrist. John shook it off, looking down on her in disgust.

"Get your filthy fucking hands off me you whore. How long has this been going on?" John demanded. Rachel just looked down at her hands, not answering him. John scoffed, standing up from the couch and heading for the front door. I went to follow him but Rachel's voice stopped me.

"Haven't you done enough, homewrecker?" she spat at me. I turned and glared at her.

"Rachel it's your own fucking fault John's walking out on you. You promised him you'd quit weed countless times yet here you are, still blazing up every weekend at Halvo's, don't think I didn't know because every single time I see you I can smell it on you. Not only that but you cheated on him, and the fact that it was with his best friend makes it even worse. You're a lowlife piece of scum, the John I know would never associate himself with trash like you," I snarled, letting out all of my frustration from since I knew she existed.

Rachel's mouth opened and closed like a fish before she stood up and started walking towards the door after John. "John, please come back, I love you."

John turned towards her, a blank stare on his face as he looked at her. "I don't love you. To be honest, I never loved you. I pretended I did so I could try and convince myself that I wasn't still in love with my best friend from high school." John's eyes looked over towards me and I stiffened, feeling everyone's eyes on me. My chest grew tight as his eyes locked on mine, not leaving them. He turned and walked out the door and I rushed after him, ignoring Garrett calling my name.

"John wait," I called out to him. He turned around to me with a pained look on his face, on the verge of tears.

"How long did you know Jessy?" he asked me quietly, his voice breaking.

"A while. I didn't want to tell you because I thought you'd be able to work things out with Rachel and I didn't want to ruin it for you."

John scoffed. "Well, she went and fucked it up on her own. I can't believe either of them. Halvo is supposed to be my best fucking friend and he's been fucking my girlfriend since I don't know when."

"Since tour last year," I said quietly. John looked at me. "Tessa knows too. She's the one who told me. When you and Rachel broke up last year she started screwing around with Halvo, but didn't stop when you got back together. I'm sorry John.

"Jesus Christ, Jessy. Why didn't you tell me? Things would have been so much easier if you had told me."

"I thought you were happy, I didn't want you to get hurt." I could feel John's anger growing.

"How could you not see that I was never happy with Rachel? The only reason why started dating her was so I could get over losing you and since you came back I don't know what to feel anymore. I just think I need some time alone, away from everyone to think and get myself sorted out before this tour starts."

I nodded, my lower lip trembling as he was walked away angrily, running his hand through his hair. Garrett came out as I stood and watched John walk away. A tear slipped from my eye and I wiped it away before Garrett could see it.

"Are you okay Jessy? I swear to god, if he was an asshole to you-"

"Garrett it's fine, I should have told him earlier. He's just upset about the whole situation. But I do have to talk to you now, about us."

Garrett stared at me blankly, then looked away. "I should have known this was coming. I was so stupid to think it wouldn't."

"What wouldn't happen?"

"You know what? Just do it. Go ahead and hurt another person, you've already hurt one today so you might as well keep going."

"Garrett what the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about us, Jessy. I shouldn't have agreed to this thing in the first place, because all it's done is set me up for disappointment when you finally ditch me."

"Garrett, you knew this would happen all along, that was the whole point of this fake relationship."

"Maybe if you'd have made it seem more like it was fake instead of stringing me along then it would have worked better."

"Wait, what the hell are you talking about?"

"It doesn't matter. We're done. I don't care if we weren't even a real couple but we're over as whatever we were and probably as friends too."

Garrett turned and walked towards his car as my lower lip trembled and I went to walk after him.

"Garrett, wait."

He turned and looked me coldly in my eyes. "Leave me alone Jessy. I don't want to talk to you."

He got in his car and sped off as I burst into tears, getting into my own car and driving home as quick as I could, not caring about if there were any police cars looking to catch me for speeding. I was thankful that my parents were both at work as I burst through the door and went upstairs to my room, grabbing my duffel bag and stuffing it with various clothing items.

I had been packing my bag for about ten minutes when Kennedy burst into my room, taking the bag from my hands and throwing it down on the floor.

"Don't you fucking dare leave again. You can't just cut everyone off when things start to turn shitty, that's what happened last time and if you do it again I don't think I'd be able to forgive you as easy as I did."

"Kennedy, I just need to get out of here. Even if it's only for a few days, I just need to go away and think things through and I can't do that here with everyone breathing down my back. Please, Ken. Just let me go."

He was silent for a moment, still looking angry, but he then wordlessly picked my bag back up and put it on my bed.

"You tell me exactly where you are as soon as you arrive there. I don't care if you get there at 3am, you tell me straight away. I care about you Jessy and I need to know that you're safe. Make sure you're back by Thursday because we leave for tour on Sunday and you need to be prepared for that."

Fuck. I had forgotten that I'd be facing both Garrett and John everyday for several weeks on this tour. A pit of dread grew in my stomach as I realised that I'd have to iron things out with them both at some point.

"I'll keep you updated. Thanks Kennedy."

He closed the gap between us and pulled me into a hug. "Just don't disappear like you did last time. I've missed you too much to lose you again."

I didn't respond, only held Kennedy tighter as I felt tears begin again and we stood in each other's embrace for a few minutes until he released me and wiped the few escaped tears from my eyes.

"You'll be okay, I'll make sure of it. I'll tell everyone not to bother you while you're away and we can talk when you get back, okay?"

I just nodded and he hugged me again, kissing the top of my head.

"I'll see you later, Jessy." He left my room and I looked at my half-packed bag before continuing to pack, finishing up not ten minutes later.

I wrote out a note to my parents, telling them I was going away for a few days and I'd be back soon, and tossed my duffel bag into the back seat of my car. I pulled out of the driveway and headed towards the freeway, destination California.

* * * * *

It was dark when I reached San Diego and I messaged Kennedy before finding a cheap hotel to check in to. I dropped my bag off in my single room and walked down to the beach, the cool night air causing goose bumps to rise on my skin while I walked along the sand, salty water lapping at my feet as the waves washed in to the shore.

The silence and sense of being alone allowed me to think straight. I didn't have to concentrate on road signs or traffic or anything and I started to think about what I was going to do about this whole mess.

It was obvious that I had begun to develop feelings for Garrett over the last month, but I had been in love with John since I was in high school, seven years apart not changing any of those feelings. And I now knew that John still liked me, making us being together that much easier.

I kept walking along the beach until I couldn't see where I had come from and I turned and began to quickly walk back up the beach towards my hotel, not bothering to eat of shower once I got inside, only getting into the small bed and curling up on my side as I fell into a deep and peaceful sleep.