I'll Be Fine (All Time Low Fanfic)

Chapter 1

January 2003:

“Everybody loves themselves some Barakat!” Jack said hugging me from the side. I rolled my eyes as he kissed my hair. “Come on, I promise, this dude is awesome!” I raised my eyebrows at my best friend and sighed.
“If you weren’t my best friend, I wouldn’t come along,” I pouted.
“Exactly, if you weren’t my best friend, there wouldn’t be any need for you to come meet my new friend. I just want my best girl and guy to be friends so we can all hang out together!”
“Ew, people,” I wrinkled my nose. Jack threw back his head laughing.
“Hey, I’m a person too!” he protested.
“Haha! You, my friend, are not human. It’s the only reason I love you.”
“Only?” he did a fake puppy pout. I couldn’t help but giggle, he was so adorable.
“Let’s go then asshole,” I grabbed his skinny wrist and dragged him along.
“Thank you, Izzy, really. You won’t regret this,” he was blocking my pathway, holding me by the shoulders. He was tall, lanky and hovered over me, as always. He reached down and kissed my forehead before pulling me into a hug, which almost suffocated me, but it felt so right. I missed time with Jack, he never seemed to be around anymore. Maybe if I did end up liking his new friend, we could all hang around together, and I’d get to see Jack more. Maybe things could work pretty well.

I sat nervously on the wall next to Jack, biting my nails. I did that when I was nervous. It was a bad habit and I knew it, but I did it subconsciously.
“Stop that!” Jack pulled my hand away from my mouth. I frowned at him and he smiled smugly back at me. I stuck my tongue out at him. He laughed and grabbed it.
“Ew, Jack fuck off!” I squealed standing up off the low wall “I don’t even want to imagine what you do with them hands when I’m not around!”
“Calm down Iz, fuck sake I’m not that bad! I know that for a fact, otherwise you wouldn’t be my friend.” I rolled my eyes and sat back down next to him, he wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him and I rested my head on his shoulder. To anyone passing, we’d look like a couple. Boyfriend and girlfriend, but no, just best friends. Jack had started going out with a friend of mine from school, we became closer because of Jack and became best friends. I decided to text her as I sat in misery, waiting to meet this guy that Jack claimed to be the moon and the stars.
“Heather, help me! For fuck sake, I really don’t want to meet this guy. Call me, get me out of this! Remember, I love you ;)”
“Hahaha! Fuck off, Jack’s warned me you’d do this and I knew it! Sorry babe, he’s a cool guy, go along with it! He’s cute too.”
“Did my girlfriend just call him cute?” Jack asked.
“Bitch! Why were you reading my texts?”
“Because I love you,” he winked. I slid over the wall, away from Jack and started to give out to Heather.
“Where the fuck is this-”
“Hey motherfucker!” a new voice came. Alex.
“Hey bro, the fuck you been? Kept us waiting!” the two guys hugged. This did not seem like Jack.
“Hey, I’m Alex,” the blonde boy smiled. Okay, he had the most adorable smile, but that did not take away the fact that he hogged Jack from me.
“Isabel, feel free to shorten it,”
“I call her shithead,” Jack looked pleased with himself. I rolled my eyes at him as I shook Alex’s sweaty hand, it was soft but he seemed as nervous as me.
“I know, trust me I’ve heard lots about you. I like you’re shirt,” he pointed at my blink shirt and I blushed. Why was I blushing? He seemed like a cool guy though, I hated to admit. He was kind of cute too. He had the world’s biggest eyebrows to be seen on a dude, and he needed a haircut. He had dark, dark brown eyes, which were nearly covered by his hair, but it made him look quite cute.
“Thanks, I guess,” I giggled. Fuck. I needed to stop this. He was trying to make me like him because he was afraid that Jack wouldn’t be friends with him anymore if I didn’t like him. But maybe, he’d get rid of me. That was a chance I was not willing to take.

“No way!” I protested.
“It was so obvious!” he laughed.
“Really?”
“Yes!”
“Liar,” I grinned and walked off ahead.
“What!? No way, you couldn’t be that stupid!”
“Hey!” I stopped, raising my eyebrows. I saw a smile play on his lips. I put my hands on my hips and waited for him to speak.
“I’m sorry Izzy, you are my life and I love you more than Home Alone.” Jack rolled his eyes, walking towards me, draping his arm around my shoulder as we walked down the street.
“Better,” I pouted “but was it really noticeable?”
“To me, yes. I’ve known you for ten years, I can tell anything about you. To him, I don’t know but he looked pretty intressted in you so he probably did.”
“Fuck off Jack, the guy is just being nice to me for you, as I am to him!”
“You expect me to believe that? The two of you couldn’t take your eyes off each other! I think it’d be so cool if you got together,” he smiled.
“Jack!” I moaned “ I don’t like the guy, he just seems nice, nothing else.” Jack started to stare me in the eyes. I tried my best to keep a straight face.
“I know you Isabel, too well. You have a crush on that dude, and he has one on you and you know it. You just can’t admit it to me after all you’re complaining and being so pessimistic about meeting him. I win, I am amazing, I am the king.” He looked genuinely pleased with himself, so I let it go.
“Jack, please. He doesn’t like me, nobody could, he’d be stupid too,” I sighed, falling into step beside him.
“Hey, fuck off! We are not starting this again. You are beautiful, you are not fat, you need to stop worrying about body images and if you even think about going near a blade, I will never speak to you again.” He had a serious look on his face, his eyes steadily on mine.
“Jack-”
“Shut up Isabel, you are beautiful and you know it, now stop and promise me. Please, don’t leave me worrying!” a look of sadness filled his eyes. I couldn’t help it. I nodded once, to comfort him. He relaxed a little and wrapped his arms around me, holding me close. Knowing that he was always there kept me alive. He was the reason I was still alive, I owed my life to him. I couldn’t break my promise.
“Love you,” I called after him as he ran across the road.
“Love you too, I’ll be over tomorrow,” I heard him call. I walked into my house, leaving the darkness behind. I walked into the kitchen, greeted by smiling faces and heated up my food, discussing my day with my family. My phone lit up on the table. I picked it up, read the message and grinned like a fool.
“Hey Isabel, it’s Alex! I wanted to say thanks for being nice to me, I know that it was pretty weird for you but haha I hope I wasn’t too bad J I hope we can hang out soon, you’re a pretty cool girl. x”
Jack was right, I did like him but there was no way I could tell Jack that.