Meet Me on Thames Street • All Time Low

Chapter Six

                                    *Marianne*

I woke up with a start because I rolled onto the floor. What a lovely way to start my day! I stood up before looking around to see that Michaela, Holly, and Carly were all still asleep. Grabbing my phone, I noticed that it was only 9:00 am.

I stood there for a second before recalling the night before. After we had all gone to our separate rooms, it didn’t take long for Jack to notice that there was a conjoining door. After much discussion between both groups, we decided to keep it unlocked because if we were going to be “friends”, we had to have some form of trust. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t the best idea in the world but we were tired and curious.

An idea formed in my head and I went to the bathroom and filled a plastic cup with tap water before tiptoeing to the unlocked door. Gently opening it, I mentally cursed at it when I heard a creaking noise. This would never work out if anyone woke up!

I walked slowly and easily into the boys’ room and made my way to Jack’s bed. Lucky bastards, they had four single beds whereas we only had two queen sized. Once I was safely standing over Jack like a creep, I raised the cup of water and was just about to dump it on his face when his hand shot up.

“Marianne?” he asked in a sleepy voice.

“Yes,” I whispered back as his hand took hold of my wrist and slowly lowered it toward him.

“What were you doing?”

“Nothing,” I replied as my cheeks heated up.
I used my free hand to set the cup of water on his night stand and Jack continued to pull me closer to him.

“Come here,” he whispered softly with a yawn. I obliged, sitting on the edge of his bed. He moved over a bit and patted the pillow next to him. My eyes grew big as I realized what he was implying.

“Jack, I can’t.”
“Please, just lay here. That’s all I want.” He interjected pleadingly.

I sighed and took his previous spot on the bed. He sighed in contentment before turning his back to me and emitting a soft snore.

I barely knew this guy, and here I was in his bed. Although it was in the most innocent way possible, I still felt weary about it. What if someone woke up to find me in here? What if it turned out to be some kind of joke? I yawned and gave up; I was still tired and Jack’s pillow was softer than mine and it had the sweet scent of his cologne. Before I could even think about it, I was asleep.

When I woke up a couple of hours later, my legs were entangled with Jacks and he had his arms wrapped tightly around me. My heart was racing as I also noticed that his face was buried in the crook of my neck. I smiled to myself before noticing that none of the other boys were in their beds. Surely they noticed me helping to occupy Jack’s bed.

Wow, I probably just fucked up.

Jack’s arms tightened around me even more, which I hadn’t thought to be possible. I silently inhaled the scent of his pillow and contemplated whether or not to give into sleep once again.

“Good morning,” he whispered into my ear, causing me to shiver. My mind was screaming at me that I needed to get out of there fast.

“Hi,” I answered shyly as Jack took his arms from around me and moved his legs away from my own. Relief flooded over me as there was a lack of contact between us.

“I’m sorry about that; I don’t know what came over me,” he said while running his hands through his hair, making his already messy bed hair even worse.

“It’s alright, it was my fault for coming in here.”
“Thank you for that, and for staying.” He muttered in a quiet voice.

“Are you alright?” I asked, getting worried. Why had he needed me to stay?

“I’m fine, just a bit homesick. I’m only always around the band and crew, you know? It gets hard to not have any normalcy.” Jack tried to explain.

“And having a random girl in your bed is considered normal?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“You’re not random, you’re a friend.” He answered with a small smile.

I had barely known the boy for twenty-four hours and here I was in his bed because he suddenly decided we were good enough friends. He didn’t know the first thing about me!

“Right, well I’m going to go get ready to go out and find the others,” I said awkwardly. It was the truth of what I was planning to do, but I was also using it as an excuse to leave the room. I felt dirty at that moment, sleeping with a near stranger; even if it was just sleeping.

After showering I put on a pair of black skinny jeans and a Bring Me The Horizon vest top along with my converse. I then called Carly and discovered they were back at Starbucks, so I went on my merry way to meet up with them.

After I had successfully made it to the cafe on my own and without any injuries, I walked in to find my group of friends and three members of my favorite band sitting at a couple of tables, laughing loudly.

“Good morning, you lazy bum!” Alex shouted. I rolled my eyes and took the seat next to him.

“Thanks for waking me up,” I said in fake annoyance.

“You looked so comfortable cuddled up with Jack that we didn’t want to bother you,” Rian replied with a smirk.

“We didn’t even do anything,” I replied in anger. I knew it had been a bad idea!

“I know; we all know. Don’t worry, its fine. Honestly, he gets tired of only seeing us day in and day out. And being on tour all the time never gives him a chance to really make friends, so this is an accomplishment for him. I know he can come on a bit strong and be annoying, but at least give him a chance.” Rian said in a rush.

“I am, don’t worry. I just feel weird because of the whole situation, you know? I mean, I only met you guys yesterday.” I admitted. All three boys nodded their heads and let the subject drop. Maybe Rian was right; maybe I was just overthinking things.

I didn’t have too much longer to sort through my thoughts before Jack appeared at our tables.

“Gee, thanks for leaving me alone. I could’ve been killed before I found you!” he said with a pout.

“I left a sticky note next to your bed, telling you were we would all be.” I replied defensively.

“I could’ve gotten lost! What if someone kidnapped me? What if I didn’t have any food?” he started ranting.

“We’re literally just down the street from the hotel. I highly doubt even you could’ve gotten lost. Plus I’m sure if someone even attempted to kidnap you, they’d let you go within the first hour. And like you need any more food.” Alex answered with a hearty laugh.

“Fuck you, Alex.” Jack said, crossing his arms over his chest.

I just sat there and laughed, wondering how I could have thought so much over what had happened. Jack was acting like a five year old at the moment and showed absolutely no awkwardness or hostility toward me.
“So what are we doing today?” Holly asked, speaking for the first time that day.

“Does anyone have any ideas?” I added, scanning my eyes over our rather large group.

“I do!” Zack said with a smile, surprising me.

Little did I know, his idea was about to lead to so much more than any of us were prepared for.