It had been about a month or so since we were on tour with the boys, day after day had been the same thing. A couple shows, switched beds, laundry, hotels, doing a few things on our days off and a bit of drinking. It wasn't that I was bored -- far from it. I was having the best time of my life, and I had pictures to prove it. Every moment was amazing but it took a huge toll on me. I could only imagine what it was doing to the boys, who actually had to perform on top of everything.
Jack and I had gotten closer, getting over the new relationship closeness, and had found a balance between his friends and I. Allison and Alex's relationship had grown stronger, also. They weren't afraid to show people they were together, and that made me happy. I'm glad that we both found someone to make us happy. Especially her. She's had such troubles with boys in her past, and now she had someone who treated her right, and not as selfish.
Our next stop was Maryland. The boy's home town. Jack had told me that he was going to show me all the spots that he use to go when he was a little kid, and I couldn't wait. The bus had dropped us off at certain houses, Jack and I were the third ones off.
It was a nice house. It wasn't big, but it wasn't small either. We had walked in as Jack knocked on the door, and looked around. "Mom?" He asked.
"I'm in the kitchen," she said. She had a slight accent and the house smelt like vanilla with a touch of rosemary and lavender. It was clean, and the colors were a bit ordinary; it seemed to have been a mix of an old person's house and an older adult's house.
"Mom, I brought someone over," Jack said, taking my hand and leading me towards her. We had met halfway between the kitchen and the hallway as she wiped her hands on a patterned towel. Her face was gorgeous and she wore simple pants and a shirt with a button up sweater over it. They had hugged and she smiled, rubbing his back.
"Oh, Jack, I've missed you so much," she said. "How is everything going?"
"It's pretty good," he said parting and turning 90 degrees, so he was between us. "Mom, this is Emily, she's the girl I've been telling you about." Jack had the biggest smile on his face as he held out his hand, a gesture instead of pointing to me.
I let out a nervous chuckle and kept my hand tucked into my body as I waved to her. "Hi," I said.
She held out her hand and I took it, shaking it then giving me a quick hug. It was slightly cold, but I'm sure whatever she was doing prior to us walking in made them that way. Perhaps doing dishes. "Hi, Emily, I'm Joyce," she said. Her voice had a sweet note to it, and she seemed to be the perfect mom.
"What are you doing, mom?" Jack asked, looking into the kitchen.
"Oh, I was making brownies before dinner. Are you staying?"
"Yeah, for sure. You know I love to stay for dinner. It's always nice to have a home-cooked meal instead of fast food or something from the frozen section of the store." She nodded as we walked into the kitchen, sitting down at the table. It was nice, and seemed heavy, but you never knew. "Where's dad?" He asked looking around.
"Golfing," she said.
"When will he be home?"
"Just before dinner," she said.
I had stayed quiet, barely listening to their chit-chatter and just thought about the past few months.
There had been a few happy times, laughing, wrestling (and naked wrestling, as some might say), and of course fights. They weren't ever big, but everyone was starting to get on each others nerves one day and it was just awkward. I guess it was because Alex was trying to be funny about something, but it was just the wrong place at the wrong time.
Jack and I had got into a personal argument, and it wasn't nasty, but it was bad enough to let Allison and Jack switch beds, which made Rian also be even more awkward with me. I had to talk to him -- and soon. It just didn't feel right, having one of Jacks friends not like me as the others did.
It was really interesting to see everyone be connected, but yet on their own, like room mates. Bonding like them, and even fighting like them. Even I knew the best of friends fought, but made up quickly through the same thing -- music. At least them.
"Emily?" Jack asked, nudging me.
"Hmm? Sorry, I thought I'd let you two catch up, I didn't feel right dropping in like that on a personal level.
"Oh, it's okay. We were just catching up. Did you want to talk to my mom? I have to go make a few calls."
Not really, Jack, but I had no choice. "Sure," I said nodding as he got up and walked out.
"So, what do you do for a living?" She asked, her hands crossed on the table.
"Well, I work for a cleaning service. That's how we met actually," I said chuckling. "Despite my first look at him, he's a really nice kid. Mature."
She nodded, "Yes. He grew up fast, but only for certain people. He's still a little kid inside," she said. The oven beeped and she got up, taking out the brownies. They smelled really good and I smiled. My mother use to bake a lot, but it was mainly cakes.
"It smells good," I said, trying to break the silence. It was highly awkward for me, because I wasn't ever good at meeting new people that wasn't for my job. "So does Jack have any siblings?"
"Yeah, but they're all out on their own now. It's crazy how fast they can grow up, you know? What about you, any siblings?" She set the brownies down and placed the oven mitts back in a drawer.
I shook my head, "No, I'm an only child. My parents were far too busy to have a child, but I'm here, and one was already a toll on them. I had to learn a lot of things quickly on my own."
"Oh, why is that?" She sat down again and tilted her head.
"My parents had died when I was a teenager. Well, my father died, and a few years later, my mother had passed. I was lucky, though, because my friend worked where I do now, and she got me in there, so I wouldn't be homeless."
She nodded and made an unsure face. "I am terribly sorry for your losses. But I'm sure things happen for a reason."
I nodded and smiled. "Of course. It took a few years, but if I didn't have my job, and work hard at it, I wouldn't have met Jack," I said just as he had walked in.
"What about Jack?" He said, sitting down.
"Just talking about how you two met," his mom said.
"Ah, that was interesting," he said putting an arm around me.
"My parents would never approve of him, if they saw what I did," I said with a chuckle.
"Well, from what I have heard and seen so far, I approve of you," she said, patting my hand, walking to the fridge and getting out some meat.
Jack and his mom had started talking as he poked the brownies. "Ah," he said, shaking his hand.
"That's hot, Jack," she said. I just chuckled and shook my head.
I had got a call from Allison as everyone looked to me and I looked around. "I'm going to go take this," I said, walking by the front door.
"Hey, Emily. So I met Alex's parents and they are so cute and nice! I didn't expect such a wonderful family!"
"So are you expecting kids in the future then already?"
She laughed, "No, but it'd be cool," she said jokingly. "Hey, I gotta go, I'll see you tonight," she said with a smiling voice.
I came back to see Jack still cooking with him mom. It smelt like pork chops, potatoes and corn. Nothing fancy, but a home made meal sounded lovely to me.
After a while, Jack came to me and rubbed my back. "You okay?"
"Yeah, just a bit tired, is all," I said looking up to him. He kissed the top of my head and smiled. "Want to set the table with me?" I nodded, standing up. We had taken out four plates, forks and knives, placing them on the table.
Not too long after that, The door had opened and in walked a rather tall man, looking like an older version of Jack. "Hey, Joyce--" he stopped and smiled. "Son. Hey, how have you been?"
He gave Jack a hug and patted his back. "I've been okay, dad. This is Emily, she's the girl I've been dating for a few months now," he said, his hand opened up in my direction. I stood up, smiled and said hi, extending my hand as he shook mine. It was warm and firm.
He smiled to me and gave a nod to Jack, then kissing Joyce. Old people kissing was cute, but kind of gross to me. She had placed pans on the table of the corn and potatoes, and then let everyone get their own pork chops. We all sat down at the table and started to eat.
"So, how is the tour going?" His dad said.
"Pretty good. We are just about finished; we're going to do a couple cities up north, then close it with a couple states out west." Jack had finished his potatoes as I mixed mine with my corn.
"What are you going to do after? You coming back here or--?"
"I don't quite know yet. Depends on what everyone is doing, I guess." He picked at his pork chop some, eating about half, as I just finished my vegetable concoction of corn and potatoes.
"So, Emily, is it? How do you like my boy?" His dad asked.
"He's a pretty cool kid. Can be immature at times, but when it's time to be mature, he is." I cut up my pork chop and took a bite, and the flavors blew me out of the water. "Oh, my, Mrs. Barakat, this is really good," I said.
"Thank you, it was just a quick thing." Jack had finished, reaching for more potatoes and nodded in agreement.
"Very good, mom. I really like it," he said.
Jack had placed his hand on my leg and started to stroke it gently. I perked an eyebrow towards him and he just smiled like there was nothing wrong. It was kind of cute, though. It made me feel good about being apart of his life, and that even though we were around his family, he was reassuring me that it was okay without saying anything.
Everyone finished and rinsed off their plates, putting them by the sink. Jack and I still sat at the table while his mom and ad went to the living room. "So what do you think of my parents?" Jack asked.
"They were sweet. Your mother knows how to cook and the house is beautiful," I said smiling.
"Well, I've been thinking, and I really think that you'd love my sister, May. You two could be peas in a pod," he said, placing a hand on my knee.
I shook my head, "I don't think I can go for any more introductions today. It's really awkward for me," I said, putting up a hand.
"Oh, no. Not today. But maybe in the future." I nodded and got up, rinsing off our plates and plugged the sink, filling it with hot water and a splash of dish soap. I started washing the plates as Jack started taking care of dinner. "Why are you doing the dishes?"
"I don't think it's fair that your mom has to do them twice," I said, rinsing off the plate and setting it on the towel on the counter. Jack had nodded and joined me after he took care of everything. "Your family really does seem nice," I said in a low whisper, hoping no one would hear me.
"Yeah, they're really amazing, supportive people. I know a lot of people who had to choose their family or careers, and they chose the career, and had it fall flat. There has to be a compromise of both. If an opportunity knocks, you can't just open the door, you have to take a good look out the window, and if you're unsure, you ask someone. It's a simple thing that a lot of people don't do. But there are those lucky ones who do get through, and those who waited and it worked. It's really how you play your cards and team work. From everyone involed."
I listened to him talk. It made sense, but what if there's no one to ask? What if no one knocks? I didn't bother asking him my questions. He was happy, and I was happy. I'd rather not compromise the situation.
Happy. A simple word that could be easily faked. But this time it wasn't. I was sure, at that moment in time, anyway, that I was happy with Jack. As for the future, I couldn't tell if I wanted to spend all my life with him. Kids and wedding plans -- not really my thing. At least, I don't think so.
We had finished the dishes, and we dried our hands as Jack walked into the living room with the pan of brownies. He had a sad face, looking to his mom. "Fine, Jack. Eat all my brownies that I worked so hard for." Her voice sounded sarcastic as she turned to me and smiled.
He took out a small paring knife and slowly cut them into little squares. It cut clean and smoothly, as he took out two pieces, handing one to me. "I can't, Jack. Those are your mom's. I had a hard time eating a meal she cooked. It just feels like I'm mooching."
"Your loss," he said, eating his piece, putting the other back. "Oh my god," he moaned with a mouth full. "--Emily... Ugh..." From the other room I would imagine that it'd be difficult to think of anything near what was really happening in the kitchen and I just shook my head. "These brownies... They're so good." I swear I heard a sigh of relief from his parents, but I could just be hearing things again.
"So did you want to show me around, then? Or are we leaving to a hotel?"
"I can show you, it's no problem. Might be chilly, though." I nodded and smiled.
"Mom, can I use your car for about an hour or two?"
"Just don't crash it," she said. "Keys are by the door."
We walked out the door and into a blue car. It was nice and cozy, and still smelled new. We backed out of the driveway and drove for about 20 minutes. As the temperature dropped some, I looked to him with a smile, placing a hand on his leg.
Finally, we reached the water. It was beautiful. We had taken our shoes off and placed them in the car. It was starting to be sunset as Jack and I took hands and laced them, walking on the sand that was compacted down by the water, which was barely gracing our feet, our footprints starting to wash away behind us.
"It's beautiful here. Different than California."
"Yeah, but this will always be my home, and I've spent so many summers here. It's still my home."
After about ten minutes of walking, the sun was mostly down, and a few stars have started to peak through. Jack had tugged my hand, going away from the water as we got to the soft sand and sat down. I ran my fingers through it and got chills. It was fairly cold, as I started to shiver. I leaned my head on his shoulder, smiling and staring at the sunset. It was probably the prettiest one I had ever seen.
After the sun had finished setting, it was only Jack and I, illuminated by the streetlights not too far behind us. The wind started to pick up and I started to get really cold. "Jack, do you want to go back?" He nodded as we stood up and walked back, retracing our invisible steps back.
Just before we turned back into the soft sand, Jack had taken me by my waist, and picked me up, acting as if he was going to throw me into the water. I screamed slightly, wrapping my arms around his neck before he brought me in, kissing me and setting me down. I brushed my fingers through his hair and returned his kiss. There was a little meeting of the tongues and then we parted.
"Emily..." Jack said with slight nervousness in his voice. "Can I be honest with you? Be serious for a minute?"
"Sure, what's on your mind?" My fingers were still brushing through his hair as he rubbed my back some.
"I know it might be a little early for this, but..." He had taken a long pause and it got me worried. "I think I love you."
At that exact moment, everything had stopped in it's place. There had been a sound of a car horn that seemed to have gone on forever. The look in his face screamed honesty, but had the look of a vulnerable little kid. The lights seemed to have gotten brighter and my heart sank down into my stomach. I swallowed a lump in my throat and ruffled my brow slightly. "Jack--" I said, taking a deep breath in. Our bodies were pressed together, and even though it was cold, I had felt my body temperature rise. My face was as close as I could get to it as he looked down to me. "I--"
There was a bright light that shone on us. We looked to where the light was coming from as a man walked towards us. "What are you kids doing here?"
"Sorry, sir," Jack said. "I use to live here, and I'm back from my tour for a couple days, and I thought I'd show my girlfriend the sites. She's not from here."
The police man flashed the flashlight in our eyes. I squinted and put my hand over my eyes as he finally took it down. By this time, Jack and I's body had been side by side and shivering. "ID's please?" Jack took out his wallet and showed him, and I took mine out of my purse. He looked at them and then back to us. "Not drinking?"
"No, sir," Jack said. "Actually sober tonight for once,” he said with a chuckle.
"And you, ma'am?"
"I'm sober," I said.
"Drugs?"
"No," we said, shaking our head.
"I'm going to let you guys off with a warning, since you weren't doing anything illegal tonight, as long as you do one thing for me."
I perked my eyebrow as he took out a piece of sticky note paper and a pen. "Can I have your autograph for my daughter? And a picture to show her that it's real?"
Jack chuckled and signed the paper. "Yeah, but we're going to have to go and get into the light." The police man nodded and we walked up to the car. They took a picture as I waited by the car. They talked for a bit, finally shaking hands as the officer slapped Jack on the back. "You two take care, okay?"
"Will do, sir. Sorry for the disturbance," He had walked away and we got into the car.
"That's all you have to do?"
"Usually if they have young girls who like us. If it was someone else, we probably would be on the way to jail right now. I didn't realize it was so late," he said, handing me my ID and driving off.
Jack's phone rang as he picked it up. "Hello? Hey, yeah. Sorry, police talked to us." Jack said as I could hear a high pitched voice. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but I assumed it was his mom. "No, don't worry. We weren't doing anything. We were watching the sunset, then counting the stars. There's a lot of them... I... Yes, I know. I'm sorry. Mo-. Mom. Hey, We're on our way back... No. Just, it's okay. Your car is fine, mom. Trust me... No I didn't get a fine. It's all taken care of. Oh--. Okay. Love you too. Bye." He hung up and drove with his left hand. "She thought I had done something to her car or that we got caught doing something we shouldn't have been." I chuckled and rested my head on the window. Replaying that one moment in my head.
I love you, it said. Over and over. His facial expressions made me die inside. I couldn't tell him; I was still unsure. Well, I wasn't unsure about him. I did like him, but I just wasn't sure if I was in love with him. It was something brought on so quickly and it didn't give me any time to think at all.
The car ride home was filled with the radio playing as he started talking. I could hear him, but I didn't process it at all. I was too busy focusing on those three words. Three commonly used words, but when put together could stop an army. Make someone turn the other way. Bring someone closer. Or even make a hit song out of it. Those three words, though, put me on my toes, and got me thinking.
We had reached his parent's house and everything was dark and quiet. He placed the keys back and we went into the guest room, which was originally his room. We had laid in the bed and cuddled each other until we fell asleep. For some reason, it wasn't awkward. Jack seemed cool with the officer misplacing my thoughts. That, or he totally forgot about it in all the happenings.
"I'm really sorry about what happened," Jack said, kissing my ear. "I didn't plan on getting caught like that."
"It's okay," I said, smiling, even though he couldn't see it. "Night," I had looked back and kissed his lips, then fell asleep.
-----
I woke up to Jack giving me a back rub and I smiled. "Mmm. Good morning."
He smiled and kissed the side of my face. "Morning to you, too," he said.
I rubbed my eyes and turned towards him. Just looking. No words.
We finally got out of bed, had some pancakes and talked about the incident last night. After reassuring his mom, she had seemed relieved that it was true that we were clean, sober, and did not wreck his car. What was up with everyone thinking that he was going to get into accidents? I'm sure it was an inside story.
After a while with his parents and just talking about whatever had come up, the bus came to pick us up for the show. We hugged his parents bye as we headed onto the bus. The first thing I did? Brush my teeth.
Allison had barged in the door and I jumped, almost choking myself with my toothbrush. "Dear cocksucker! You scared me," I said, my hand over my chest.
"I heard you got in trouble with the police," she said, shutting the door.
"Yeah, it's not what you think, though. We were just at the beach really late," I said.
"What happened?"
"We watched the sunset and just enjoyed each others company."
"You did it on the beach?"
I laughed, "No. But he did tell me that he loved me." Her jaw dropped and she shook her head.
"You serious?" Her eyes were as wide as an owl's. I nodded and spit. "What did you say?"
"Nothing, police stopped me mid sentence," I said, wiping my face off. "I'm glad, because I didn't know what to say. What about you an Alex?"
"We went for a walk. It was pretty fun. Had a lot of kisses."
"Do you love him?"
"I love who he is, but I won't jump the gun and say that."
"We're such realists." I smiled and looked to her. "But I think this realist is about to choke on her words."
Allison looked at me and turned her head. "You aren't serious, are you?" I nodded and smiled.
"It's been almost half a year since we started talking. And being with someone all the time, you have no choice except to grow together fast. And I am comfortable with him. Why wouldn't I be? You know?"
She nodded and smiled. "I hope you don't fall back, though, Emily." She had walked out and I followed behind her quickly.
It was nearing the time we had to go to the room in the arena, so I decided to get dressed. And wear only the thing to catch Jack's eyes. I had put on my bra, making sure my boobs looked amazing, as I put on a loose collared graphic tee and pushed it back, so it would be a surprise. Then I put on a flowing skirt that went to my knees. I wore my same pumps that I did the other night, and did my hair and make up the same. Jack knocked on the door. "You ready, Emily? It's time to go," he said.
I had walked out and nodded, taking his hand. Ready as I'll ever be tonight.
We gathered in the room and just shot the shit. Laughed, and had just an amazing time, doing the usual rituals. Before Jack had went on, I tapped him on the shoulder. He bent down, guitar in hand, as I whispered, "Come see me during the acoustic set. And hurry back." He nodded and kissed me as he left to his spot.
By now, I had memorized pretty much all of the songs and started singing along to the songs. They were quite catchy and everyone of every age group had felt that way, or experienced something similar to what they were singing about. I heard the song before the acoustic set and stood in front of the couch, pulling my shirt down to show major boob. Hopefully no one would come in. I straightened up my posture and waited.
Finally, Jack came back, looking back and telling someone something. When he saw me, his eyes got fairly huge and walked up to me. I reached out my hand and we walked into the bathroom. He shut the door and I had kissed him -- hard. He returned the favor as hands went everywhere. From my hips, up my sides, up the sides of my breasts and neck, to my jawline. I had walked back and bumped into the sink, which was combined with a counter, so I had jumped up onto it, unzipping Jack's pants.
It wasn't the best place, but my hormones were going crazy. I couldn't help myself anymore. I ran my fingers through his hair, messing it up on accident and rolled my head back in ecstasy, now digging my nails into his back. It wasn't very quick, but it didn't hold up the entire show. We could hear Alex talking about Jack taking a shit in the background as he had finished and panted, kissing me again.
Cleaning myself up, as Jack zipped up his pants, we had walked out and I had stopped him by grabbing his hand. "Jack," I said. He turned around and looked at me. "I love you, too," I said, nodding. Jack had kissed me again and smiled, walking out to the stage.
"Ah, there he is! Jack, I'm the late one, remember? You can't take that from me."
"Sorry, man. You gotta do, what you gotta do," he said.
Alex had laughed, and by this time I was watching from behind the wall. "Jack has shit hair." The crowd laughed and I looked at his hair. It was sticking up all over the place. Whoops.
"It happens, man," Jack said.
Alex had changed the subject to thanking the audience for being there tonight and I just shook my head. I couldn't help where my hands went. But I had a huge grin on my face anyway.
Allison had came up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder. I quickly turned around as she handed me a drink. "What happened to Jack?"
I just grinned like a fool and chuckled, taking a sip of the fruity, but tart, mixture. Allison pushed her head forward, knowing exactly what happened.
"You're serious?" I just shrugged and continued drinking. Things gotta happen, you know?
"I told him I loved him. What were you thinking?" I said, half lying.
"Yeah, and something else," she said.
"Why do you say that?" I asked over the loud guitars.
"Your hair. You are a dirty girl, Emily."
It was nearing the end of the show and Alex chuckled. "Jack, you need to do that more often during the shows. You play guitar so much better." They continued the banter, entertaining the crowd as I finally got my hair fixed like nothing had happened.
After the show and showers, we headed back to the bus. I could feel eyes pierce me, but I didn't care. I had unfinished business with Jack from the previous night. Hopefully Jack would take a bullet for me in this situation.
Jack and I had crawled into the bed together, since it was our night, and just cuddled and smiled. "Are the boys mad at me?"
"I don't know. They haven't said anything about it."
"I feel terrible, Jack. I didn't think--"
"It's okay, Em. I have this handled. If it comes up, it'll come up tomorrow. And I will handle the situation." I nodded and kissed him softly. He really was a great guy, and I felt like I was starting to ruin his life. I had no idea what I was going to do if they found out it was really my plan, that Jack didn't know about it.