Life on Tour

It’s been days and I can’t even get the kiss on my cheek to leave my mind. God knows the impression the real thing will leave. All I want is to grab her and kiss her and tell her how much I love her. Of course I can’t. She’s with Alex right now with her sunglasses on outside the Kerrang! office waiting for me. I put on my sunglasses and hopped out of the bus.

“Okay you guys, remember to really let them know how much you guys aren’t together.” Alex said.

“We’ll be fine Alex. Stop babying me.” Libby said.

“I just want you guys to be okay. Maybe I should come in with you.” Alex offered for the billionth time.

“Alex, hand on my heart we’ll be okay. Just enjoy New York. Libby and I will be fine.” I said. Once he escorted us into the offices and made sure we were in there safely, he finally left, then Libby and I were in the room by ourselves as the interviewer had to set up quickly.

“So, after this interview should we do something?” Libby asked me.

“Like what?” I asked.

“Like the empire state building?” She said suggestively. I raised one eyebrow at her.

“Really?” I asked. She nodded her head.

“Yeah. You wanna? Bearing in mind that I’ve never been before.” She said.

“I think that’d just make me want to show you it even more.” I told her just as the interviewer walked in. she didn’t take in anything of what I said though so that was a plus.

“Hi guys. Jack, it’s lovely to see you again, and it’s wonderful to meet you Libby.” Amber, one of the interviewers at Kerrang! greeted.

“Likewise.” Libby said. Amber was a really nice woman so I’m glad Libby seems to be getting along with her.

“Alright, shall we get started?” She asked. Libby nodded her head.

“Absolutely.” Libby said. At every opportunity we could get, Libby and I looked at each other. She occasionally pulled a silly face making me giggle.

“So how long have you known each other?” Amber asked.

“My whole life. Jack met me when I came back from the hospital.” Libby answered.

“Yeah. I thought I would hate her but it turns out it was the complete opposite.” Jack said.

“How so?” Amber asked.

“Well, I thought she was gonna take Alex away from me but she really brought us closer together as friends.” Jack answered.

“So if you’re friends, why do you think people are mistaking it as romance?” Amber asked.

“Maybe because the only girls you hear in relation to the band are girlfriends. Sure we hang out a lot, but we’re not dating. We’re just friends.” Libby said. After loads of questions relating to us and our music, Libby and I were asked to do a photo shoot which Libby was really happy about. She got to have her hair and makeup done. Her hair was in waves and she looked absolutely gorgeous. The backdrop for us were balloons which we would get to play with during the shoot. Once we got there we began straight away. I put a balloon up my shirt to look like I was pregnant and Libby was touching it pretending to feel the bump which we were both laughing like maniacs at. “Who’s the father?” She asked.

“I don’t know.” I answered in a drunk voice making her giggle. Later she popped the balloon and I started crying that I lost the baby which had her in hysterics. At the end of it we were all finished up and told that we could leave. That’s exactly what we did. I could barely contain myself as we climbed up the stairs of the empire state. I held her hand the whole way up there. She looked up at me and smiled.

“This is it then.” She said.

“Are you ready?” I asked. She nodded her head.

“More than anything.” She answered. I smiled and leaned down. Before we knew it our lips collided in a passionate kiss. It was similar to my other kisses in that it was the same sort of thing. It was lips touching lips. But it was different in the fact that it was Libby, and I’ve never felt anything so magical. It went on until we both ran out of breath. We put our foreheads on each other’s and I stroked her face.

“Did you enjoy it?” I asked her. We both giggled.

“It was very wonderful. Thank you.” She said.

“As much as I’d love to do it again, I don’t think right now’s the best time. Later though, I’ll be sure of it.” I said. She nodded her head and we backed away from each other.

“Where should we go?” She asked me.

“To the bus? If there’s any privacy there than maybe we could make out a little?” I suggested.

“Sounds good.” She replied. We went back to the bus but unfortunately we weren’t alone. Alex was there with Zack.

“Hey guys. How was it?” Alex asked.

“It was really fun. We got to play with balloons and everything.” Libby replied, back to her usual self. She just had to be back to her usual self. I do too.

“I was pregnant with one.” I said.

“What are you guys doing here?” Libby asked.

“Debbie forgot to come round the other day so she has to come now. I got the box of stuff ready.” Alex said sounding upset.

“Good. It’s about time we got rid of that stuff.” Libby said.

“Yeah but you’re only saying that because you hated her.” Alex remarked.

“Of course I hated her. She was a complete bitch.” Libby said. All of a sudden I noticed Debbie coming in through the doors.

“Um, hi.” She greeted, obviously just hearing what Libby had said.

“Debbie!” Alex said, shooting up from his seat. He gave her a side hug and walked further into the bus to talk with her.

“Wow. Alex certainly likes her.” Zack said.

“No kidding.” I said, sitting down next to him.

“Then why don’t we try to set them up?” Libby asked. We both looked at her astonished.

“Excuse me?” I asked.

“Listen, she’s one of the only women in our lives that I could actually see Alex with. She’s amazing and beautiful and actually likes us.” She told us. Well if they really like each other we should give them their own time to figure it out. All of a sudden we heart panting coming from the bus doors. Rian was there looking red in the face.

“Jack, I need to talk to you outside. Now.” He demanded. He’s clearly been running for a while, and it was clearly something to do with me. I walked off the bus and he pushed me against the wall of it, making sure I couldn’t move away. He was fuming. “What the hell did I say about trying anything with Libby?” He seethed through his teeth. Oh shit! How the hell did he know?

“What are you on about?” I asked, making it sound like nothing happened.

“I’m on about the kiss on the empire state building. You know? The one that happened a few minutes ago. You selfish idiot!” He whispered angrily. I gulped. I looked down guiltily. There’s no point in playing innocent.

“How…?” I began.

“I was up there, trying to get a nice picture for Cass. You didn’t see me but that’s how easily someone else could’ve seen you. I don’t care how happy you guys make each other. It’s the most selfish thing I think I could possibly think of.” He said, repeating the word selfish.

“How the hell was it selfish?” I asked.

“Because it’s not going to work out, okay? When Alex finds out, not only will it wreck your friendship, but it won’t work between you and Libby anyway. It’s gonna destroy both of them. You have to end it, and you have to end it now.” He said, letting go of me. I shook my head.

“No! I’m not being selfish. I’m being mature about this relationship and I intend on seeing it through. I love her. No, I adore her. I can’t think of anything better than being with her. Sure, maybe Alex won’t understand at first, but we’re best friends. He’ll understand eventually. You know when you first kissed Cass? Do you remember how you couldn’t stop blushing or couldn’t stop talking about it for almost a week? Can you imagine how bad I feel that I don’t get to enjoy that? But I’m doing it because I love her.” I argued. Rian sighed angrily.

“Do you honestly see a future together with her? Be realistic, Jack. She’s 9 years younger than you, she’s got a lot of problems you won’t be able to fix or cope with, and eventually knowing you, you’re going to get bored with her.” He said.

“I’ve been in love with this girl for years. We haven’t even done anything romantic and I’m not bored with her. She’s one of the best friends I have. After all this time I still have butterflies just when I look at her. I know it’ll be hard, but we can manage it. I promise you.” I said. Rian began calming down a bit. It wasn’t until Libby came out to find us that we went back inside, but even then Rian told me the conversation wasn’t over. I took a seat next to Zack and started avoiding being around Libby while Rian was in the room. I was scared of what he would do in all honesty. I love that man like a brother but he doesn’t know a thing about Libby and I.

“What’d Rian want?” Zack asked. I shrugged.

“Nothing.” I said.

“What’s wrong?” He said noticing how sad I was. I shook my head.

“It’s nothing. Honest.” I said.

“You’re lying.” Zack said. I looked up at him.

“Just leave it Zack.” I said before storming to my bunk. It wasn’t too long before Libby hopped in. I wanted nothing more than to give her a hug and kiss her, but I couldn’t. Especially not now.

“What’s the matter? Was I bad at the empire state or something?” She asked, closing the curtain. I shook my head and started stroking her cheek.

“Are you kidding? That was the most amazing thing to ever happen to me.” I whispered back.

“Then what is it?” She asked. I just rested my head on her stomach and she began stroking my hair soothingly and trying to calm me down. I didn’t even realise I was crying. God. I love her so much. How can the one thing I’ve never been so sure about be so hard? I’ve only cried in front of her two times before. Once when my grandpa died and I was told over the phone while I was at Alex’s house, and once when I broke my arm when we were jumping on her bed. Now this is the third. She’s cried in front of me loads of times before, and each and every time it breaks my heart. “Jack, please stop crying? It just makes me wanna cry.” She said softly. I definitely didn’t want that. I took her hand in mine and gave it a kiss.

“I love you so much, Libby.” I said quietly.

“I love you too.” She said back.

“Good. Because there’s no way I’m losing you.” I said. I quickly gave her a peck on the lips that meant the world to me. We may have to sneak around for a while, but at least we’ll be together.

“I’m gonna go see what’s going on with Alex and Debbie. I’ll be back as soon as I can. Maybe we could go back out soon?” She suggested. I nodded my head.

“Sounds great.” I said. By then my tears had dried up and I was feeling slightly better. I put on my jacket and my shoes. We managed to leave without Rian knowing and we legged it to the nearest alleyway. I looked down quickly at her lips and gave her another kiss. I don’t know how something so simple could feel so electric. “So, where do you wanna go?” I asked once we pulled apart.

“Central park?” She asked. I smiled and nodded my head. I took her hand and we walked there. I’ve been to New York many times before so I knew the way. We sat on a bench looking over the park. It was beautiful. Libby was looking hard at everything. “So, are you gonna tell me what was wrong?” She asked while looking over the park. I shrugged.

“I want to. I really do. I just don’t know if I can. It might just upset you and I don’t want that.” He said.

“Listen Jack, you don’t have to tell me right now, but if it’s something I’m going to find out later anyway I’d rather you told me than have to hear it from someone else.” She said, finally looking at me. I sighed and decided I’d tell her the truth.

“Alright. Rian and Zack know that I have a huge crush on you. Bigtime. Zack’s all for it, but Rian isn’t. He thinks that it might be nice, but he’s very protective of you, so he doesn’t think it’s a good idea. Earlier on he was there at the empire state building. Long story short he saw us kiss. He started warning me not to be with you and everything. It just sucks.” He said.

“I’ll have a talk with him.” She said calmly. I shook my head.

“No. Then he’ll know that I told you and that’d just make him angrier. I’m scared of what he might do. He could tell Alex and then we’re gonna be screwed. Plus he was saying all this kinda stuff about how it definitely won’t work out and I’ll get bored. I think he was trying to imply that if we have a relationship Alex would freak out and there wouldn’t be a band anymore.” I said getting down again. Libby grabbed my hand and buried her face in my neck.

“That won’t happen. You know it won’t.” She said.

“Yeah, I know. But what if because of the whole thing Rian quits? I don’t want that to happen. He’s just so angry. I mean what would Alex be like if he found out? Way worse.” I told her.

“Listen to me. I’m so super in love with you. I have been for ages. You know what makes this great?” She asked.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“We’re friends. Best friends. That means that no matter what it can’t end badly for us. I’m gonna have a talk with Rian. I’m gonna make sure he’s okay with it. If he’s as protective as you say he is there’s no way he won’t listen to my side of the story.” She told me.

“I love you, but you really don’t have to do that.” I said.

“I know, but I need to.” She replied, and with that, we enjoyed our day at the park.