A Daydream Away

Jack's POV

"Hey, Jack," I heard, right before a dirty wash cloth was thrown at my face, "Why don't you stop day dreaming and start wiping down the bar." Zack, one of my faithful employees and long time best friend, ordered me.

All I did was sigh and begin the task.

"Ya know, it's funny how I own the place, yet I'm being treated like an employee."

He flashed me a mock-apologetic look and let out a laugh before his face turned slightly serious.

"You know," he startes, "You look more out of it than normal. In fact, you have been for the past few days. I mean, you seem a whole lot happier, just not... mentally here, I guess."

"Huh," was all I said. He was probably right. Ever since my first encounter with Alex, he's all that's been on my mind. Since our initial meeting three days ago, I'd anticipated waking up in the morning, only to see his face and hear his music. He was absolutely mesmerizing. There was just something about him, something that I couldn't put my finger on.

"So," Zack continued, after realizing that I wasn't going to add on to my answer, "What were you thinking about?"

Alex's face immediately popped up, causing me to force it away.

"No one- I-I mean nothing." Shit.

"Oh, does wittle Jackary got a girl on his mind?" he teased.

"Fuck off. No, it's not a girl." I retorted.

"Well, I didn't know you swung that way," he joked.

"Dude, it's not like that either," I sighed. He may not seem like it, but Zack's really childish sometimes, "I met a guy the other day, not in a sexual way, and guess what? He plays guitar and," I emphasized the and, "He sings. Very fucking well, actually."

Zack's face seemed to grow a bit in surprise, noticeably understanding where I was getting at.

"Are we going to try again? To start a band? Is he good? How good is he? Have you told Rian yet? What about-" he began bombarding me with questions.

I put up a finger to silence him.

"I just met the guy in the park, young Zackary. Let me get to know him more. We don't want an ass hole to join us, now do we?"

He mulled over that for a moment, before saying, "Yeah.. I guess you're right. Keep me updated, though." And, at that, he left me to go tend to a customer, quietly singing to himself, "We're gonna form a baand, we're gonna form a baand."

I let out a soft chuckle and returned to my previous task, Alex's voice still floating in the background of my head.

-

I woke up again, all too eager to get ready and begin my morning journey to work. These past few of days have put a spring in my step, all because of that chestnut haired boy. After Alex would finish singing his songs every morning, I would strike up a conversation with him. It was all research. I needed to know if he was right for the band idea.

It turns out that he was really pretty cool. His favorite bands consisted of blink-182 and Green Day, letting me know his taste in music wasn't shit; he was roughly around mine, Rian, and Zack's age; he pretty much had the same sense of humor as me, which was mostly laughing at dick jokes; and his overall personality read "chill yet slightly responsible".

I decided that today was the day I was going to ask him the question. He's got to say yes.

I went through my daily routine: shower, hair, teeth, coffee. With two travel mugs in hand (I had an extra mug and thought that Alex might like some coffee also), I stepped outside of my door and started making my way to the park.

As soon as I started nearing the space where he normally played, my ears were filled with a familiar acoustic and an even more familiar voice.

"Make it a sweet, sweet goodbye,

it could be for the last time and it's not right.

'Don't let yourself get in over your head,' he said.

Alone and far from home we'll find you..."

I took my normal spot within the crowd, swaying along with the lyrics as I allowed my eyes to close. My eyes stayed closed through most of his set, allowing his voice to flow around me as if the lyrics were for me.

Once Alex was finished and began thanking the few who stayed to listen, I approached him and gave my usual morning greeting.

"Hey, I thought you might like some coffee this morning." I said, nodding my head towards the hand with the extra mug.

He flashed me a smile, taking the mug from my hand. "Thanks Jack, you are a kind soul. How are you this morning?" he asked as he took a cautious sip of the hot liquid.

I took this chance to study him a bit closer. Normally, I would just glance glance him over while he played and while we talked, but this time I actually looked. Splattered across his face were cuts and scratches, the ghost of a black eye forming on the left of his face. What happened? I couldn't see under his oversized coat, which I just realized looked way out-of-date, and I couldn't tell if the scrapes on his fingers were due to guitar playing or something else. I needed to ask him.

"Good, good." I spoke. Clearing my throat, I continued, "I've, uh, got a question for you.."

"Wait, me first," he interrupted. I could hint the enthusiasm in his voice, "Do you play guitar?"

Slighty taken aback, I uttered what sounded like a "yes", his question taking me back to what I was going to originally ask him, "That's actually what I was going to talk to you about."

"What, about me playing guitar?" Alex joked as he took a swig of coffee, "I think you already know the answer to that."

"No, smart ass, not that. I wanted to know... have you ever been interested in starting a band?"

His eyes grew wide, almost like Zack's reaction, and his overall aura seemed to burst with energy. "Holy shit! Yes! I've always wanted to start a band. I mean, yeah I can play an instrument and sing in a relatively good tone, but that doesn't get you too far. Trust me, I've tried. But, there's only two of us. How are we going to start a band with two people? Will we be, like, a duet, or are we going to find more people? And what music would we play? What about-"

"Okay Zack," I cut him off. He gave me a strange look, to which I shook my head, "I've got two friends who play instruments. We've been wanting to start a band for years, but we could never find someone with a good set of pipes. Well," I glanced over at him, "Until you, that is."

I swear his smile grew bigger than before, if that was even possible, and his eyes were shining like drops of gold. "I'm honored," he nodded his head and began gathering his stuff together, right before he pulled me into a hug, "Really, thank you."

I stood slightly frozen from the sudden contact, but I wrapped my arms around his rather small frame. Wow, he's skinny.

He seemed so grateful, despite the fact that all I asked was if he wanted to make cohesive noises with some of my friends. Either way, I whispered a "you're welcome" and released him. Before I could say anything else, he quickly turned on his heal, guitar and cup in hand, and shuffled off.