Meet Me on Thames Street • All Time Low

Chapter Ten

                                                            *Marianne*

Jack and I walked in silence for a good ten minutes before we ended up at Hyde Park. I wasn’t uncomfortable, really; I was just too worried about what Jack was about to tell me. I knew it seemed silly for me to care so much about a boy I’d barely met, but he needed it. He wasn’t “Jack Barakat from All Time Low” to me. I mean of course I was an ATL fan, but I had never been one to judge a boy by his band. He was just Jack to me.

We made our way to the duck pond and sat down next to the water. I looked up at Jack, only to see him staring at the sky in deep thought.
“Jack?” I whispered, snapping him out of his trance.

He sighed and placed his rather large hand over my small one.

“Where do I begin?” he asked.

“How about from the start?” I suggested, turning my palm up and lacing my fingers through his.

“The start. Right. Well, as a fan I’m sure you already know about my drinking habits, right?”

Jack’s face had already hardened to the point that I thought it was going to freeze like that. I nodded anyway in hopes of him continuing his story, which he did.

“Okay, so a few months ago we were in Berlin and I got drunk as usual on our day off. So drunk that I kept on drinking, even past my usual stopping point. I got alcohol poisoning, Marianne. Do you know what that does to a person? I had to get my stomach pumped and was stuck in the hospital for a few days so they could make sure I wasn’t going to die. It was that bad. And when the doctor told me that I was this close” – he held up his pointer finger and thumb about a half inch apart – “to becoming a full-fledged alcoholic, I got scared. Alex got worried and made me promise him I’d stop drinking all together.”
“Then last night happened,” I tried to put together the pieces.

“Yeah, but that’s not the first time I’ve slipped up since I made the promise. It was just the worst. I just don’t want to disappoint Alex and the others, and I do. And I sure as hell don’t want to disappoint you. I want to stay sober and actually remember this life. I want to make sure I remember you,” Jack’s eyes were filled to the brim with tears.

I squeezed his hand in mine in hopes of reassurance. “I’m proud of you,” I say in all honesty. “You made a mistake and you’re working on fixing it. No one’s perfect, Jack. Believe me, we’ve all got our battle scars. But believe me when I say you could never disappoint me. Just knowing that you’re trying to get yourself better is enough for me. And contrary to what you told Alex earlier, you are not a fuck up.”

Jack’s tears finally spilled down his face and he was staring at me as if I had just told him he won the lottery. “Do you really mean that?”

“Of course I do,” I crossed my heart.

“I want to make you and Alex proud. I want to stay sober for you. But I can’t do it alone.” He was still crying and had moved to sit closer to me.

“Well it’s a good thing you’re not getting rid of me any time soon,” I lifted my free hand and wiped the wetness from his cheeks.

He took that hand in his other free one and looked directly into my eyes. “Thank you, Marianne. I don’t know what brought us both to London or why we met the way we did, but thank you.”
Thinking back on Holly’s words from earlier, I smiled and replied, “Thank fate.”

“Dear fate, whoever or whatever you may be, thank you. I owe you one. Do you accept cash or condoms?” Jack yelled into the open park.

I smacked him on the chest and giggled. “It’s good to see you’re feeling a bit better.”
“I feel like a new man! Now let’s go back to the hotel; I need my cuddle time with Alex. Unless you’d rather volunteer.” He wiggled his eyebrows at me and stuck my tongue out at him immaturely.

“Better luck next time, Barakat.”
“I’m gonna hold you to that, Wixom.”

I popped him in the back of the head and he screeched, “Stop with the violence, woman!”

I had to run to keep up with the newly hyper Jack and by the time we reached the hotel, I was exhausted. I nearly crawled to my door and it took most of my strength to open the door. Man, I was out of shape.

I heard a girly shriek and didn’t have time to cover my eyes before seeing Carly and Alex making out on her bed.

“What the fuck?!” I yelled, laughing.

“Marianne, I can explain!” Carly yelled back, shoving Alex onto the floor.

“What is there to explain? You were making out with Alexander.” I smirked.

“Well, yeah but-”

“No buts. I don’t need an explanation. Carry on, you two. Alex, if Jack even tries to cuddle with me, you’re paying for it.” I glared at Alex playfully.

“Oh, I’m sure I will be. Good luck,” he called before I shut the door.

How cute, Carly and Alex were a thing. I guessed they got closer than I had realized over the past couple of days.

I opened the unlocked door to the boys’ room and found Holly asleep on Zack’s bed with her face buried in his pillow. Jack was laughing and taking a picture of her with his phone.

“What are you going to do with that?” I asked with a knowing smile.

“Welllll, I was going to post it on Instagram, but I have a better idea now. Get your ass over here, Wixom.” Jack tugged playfully at my elbow, causing me to lose my balance. “Say cheese!”

I smiled and Jack snapped the picture. His tongue was sticking out and my eyes were a bit crossed but it was a pretty damn cute picture if I do say so myself.

“Now this is going on Instagram. Wait, what’s your user?” Jack asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
I told him and soon felt the vibration of my phone signalling I had notifications.

@JackAllTimeLow just followed you!

@JackAllTimeLow mentioned you in a comment:

I clicked on the second one and laughed as I read what he had put.

“She won’t cuddle with me. :( Some best friend. Don’t come crying when I twerk on your cat. @Weightless__Dreamer”

“How did you even know I had a cat?!” I chirped, noticing the knowing look on Jack’s face.

“Lucky guess?” he joked. When I held back my laughter and crossed my arms over my chest, he sighed is resignation. “Okay, I may have creeped through your phone while you were sleeping. Passcodes were created for a reason you know.”
“You asshole! That’s my private property. I could sue you for tresspassing.” I fumed. Okay, I wasn’t really mad. But I had a lot of pictures I had saved from Bryan Stars’ tweets and such, and more than a few involved Jack. I mentally crossed my fingers in hopes that he hadn’t seen them.

“Like you’d do that. Is that any way to treat your favorite band member?” he smirked.

“You went through my pictures?!” my face was fiery hot at this point.

“No! I never even went through your phone! But I KNEW IT!” Jack was fucking happy dancing on the middle of his bed. Dickwad.

“You’re a fucking ass,” I muttered out of embarrassment.

“But I’m your favorite asshole.” He sang.

“That still doesn’t explain how you figured out I have a cat,” I changed the subject.

Jack only laughed and said, “I know a lot more about you than you think.”