(4) Out of Control: An All Time Low FanFiction Romance

Chapter 63: Finished

        "That's perfect!" Matt exclaimed, excited smile on his face as he stared at me from a few feet away. He was with us in the studio today, here to listen to the next part of the song. Besides him, there was nobody extra here. Just Maverick, Xavier, Porter, me and him, and I was thankful for that. There was no Jack to hear the song.

        "Thanks," I grinned, feeling a wave of relief wash over my knowing that it wasn't as awful as I'd thought. I'd spent a few short minutes of the walk from the front of the building to the studio, questioning the lyrics, thinking that I should just scrap them and say that I hadn't been able to think of anything else. I ended up singing them anyway, still unsure if they would stick or not.

        "I bet you're glad you didn't give Porter ten bucks," Maverick said to Xavier, smiling triumphantly. "I don't know why you guys don't listen to me that often, I can come up with some pretty damn good ideas."

        "No, it was still fucking stupid," I replied after rolling my eyes.

        "But it helped you with the song!" he exclaimed, sitting in his seat.

        "It was still stupid, you're lucky I didn't kick your fucking ass!" I said loudly, pointing a finger at him. Matt chuckled before me, interrupting the argument.

        "Alright, alright," he laughed. "It's not done yet, obviously. I think there needs to be another verse, something short even. Something like a bridge to fit in between the two choruses? Is that something you could come up with/ We can start working on some music if you can get some words down."

        "I could try, if you guys could just give me some time," I muttered, scratching absentmindedly at my arm. Matt nodded, collecting some papers in front of him.

        "I've got a few calls to make, but it won't take too long. I'll swing back around soon to see how everything's going," he said, standing up from his chair, nodding goodbye at the four of us before heaidng out of the room.

        "Get to work, kiddo," Maverick said, hand ruffling my hair as he walked past me. I reached out to hit him, but he dodged out of the way, sticking his tongue out at me as he passed. I rolled my eyes at him again, settling deeper into the love seat, thankful at how comfortable the studio was.

        There was a large television, where the guys were now playing a video game, seated along the three sections of a couch. I was seated in the love seat to their right, legs curled up against myself. I stared blankly at a wall, piecing together words to try to come up with the last few lines. I started tapping my foot against the cushion, biting my lip, random habits I had when I was trying to think. It wasn't long before I became frustrated at the nothing I was coming up with, groaning loudly as I dropped my head back against the couch.

        "Giving up already?" Zave questioned, but I didn't bother responding. I fixed my eyes on the ceiling, hating this stupid song more and more as the minutes dragged on.

        "Maybe we should get Jack in here," I heard Maverick say, quietly, so maybe he thought I didn't hear, but I did. My head shot up, eyes narrowing at him.

        "If you do, I swear to fucking god, I'll atually fucking kill you this time," I threatened, standing up, heading for the fridge for a water bottle. "The last fucking thing I want is to deal with him." My voice dropped to a mutter, the sentence more of an afterthought to myself, but the guys heard anyway. Maverick huffed out a short laugh as I reached for a bottle, the sound stopping short with the door to the studio opening.

        "Oh shit," I heard Xavier mutter. Normally I would have thought it was a comment directed at the game, but the new voices entering my head told me it was something different.        

        I turned around, heart dropping in my chest. "Speak of the fucking devil," I muttered to myself, clutching the bottle of water in my hands. Jack walked in behind Alex, Rian and Zack, the four of them greeting the boys on the couch before seeing me, still standing, and giving me the same warm, loud greeting. Everybody except Jack, that is. His eyes found mine, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he collapsed onto the love seat, exactly where I'd been sitting. I leaned back against the fridge, the top of it reaching the back of my knees, so I was practically sitting on it.

        I wanted to be angry that he was here again, in a way, but they were also supposed to be here helping us, and staring at Jack had the same affect as always, the jumbled words that had been floating around in my head were starting to come together.

        She can't keep up the fight anymore
        The wall she built up is about to shatter
        Welcome to reality where things don't matter
        But that was the old her
        A person lost in time
        Before she lost her mind
        She only wishes she could leave it all behind

        I couldn't stop smiling to myself as I reached for the nearest piece of paper and something to write with, scrawling the words quickly across the lines, the only thing I was focusing on. I stared at the paper, concentrating as I sang through the words in my head, stopping after the verse. I wanted to add the chorus to the end, but I felt it needed to be altered slightly to fit the new direction of the song. The lyrics were telling a story, my story, one I would never openly admit. I was no longer the girl who ran from relatinships, as much as I wanted to deny it. I had changed, and I didn't know how much longer I coudl fight how much I wanted to be with Jack.

        I gripped the pen in my hand, writing out a few closing lines, mostly parts of the original chorus, beneath the verse.

        He left her mind spinning, spinning around
        She can't face it, she can't face it now
        He left her falling, falling to the ground
        She can't take it, she can't take it now
        He has her going out, out of control
        She can't stop this, she can't stop this now

        I dropped the pen onto the table, feeling the satisfaction swelling inside of me, creating the largest smile on my face. I turned, holding the paper in my hand, folding it in half once.

        "That smile is creepy as fuck, Nat," a voice commented, catching my attention. I looked up to Maverick's eyes, feeling everyone turn to me simultaneously. My grin dwindled slightly, but just barely.

        "I'm being serious," Maverick commented again.

        All seven heads turned barely at the door opening, but traveled back to my face quickly after Matt's eyes also landed on me.

        "Did I miss something huge?" he asked, slipping his phone into his jeans pocket.

        "We don't know," Xavier told him quietly. "We're waiting for Nat to stop creeping Mav out and tell us what's going on."

        "Okay then, let's hear it," Matt said, sitting on the edge of the table, holding papers and a notebook in his hands.

        "It's finished," I said, fingers sliding along the crease in the paper, smile twitching on my mouth at the relief that the lyrics were completed, and I was certain they were okay. "It's done, I finished it."