Everything Clicks - An AJR Music Video Fic

I - Come Hang Out (Jack)

It began with the house party. That much I remember. So much from this hellish, traumatic chain of events is only recently coming back to me. I haven't been able to think about it without relapsing into fear. It's taken a lot to gather my thoughts and be stable enough to put everything into words, but now I can at least tell you how this whole ordeal started.

We had just come home from touring only days before; we were all exhausted. We planned on spending the coming days watching Netflix, getting takeout, and generally recovering from life cooped up in a van. Contrary to popular belief, the life of a touring music group isn't all glitz and glamour all the time. It's long hours, little sleep, and having no one place to stay for longer than a few days. Not to mention, just starting out is unpredictable. Shows can have a turnout of five people or two hundred, and you never know until you walk out onstage. Anytime we came home, it was like a complete reset to the system.

All we wanted to do for the next few weeks was unwind and get some much-needed R&R before diving headfirst into a new project. That was something we could all agree on. But that was all to be going out the window soon enough. I should've figured as much. That evening was really no different than any other...as far as I can remember, that is. As I said, it's still coming back to me.

I can clearly remember Ryan calling in a pizza from one of our favorite pizza places in downtown Manhattan. I was sitting on the couch half-listening to him in the living room, flipping through channels on TV. It all seemed to be the same programs as usual. News, infomercials, a sitcom, more news, local news, another sitcom, national news. Did we really pick up this many news stations? I gave up on trying to find anything interesting and just turned the TV off. Instead, I strolled over to the window overlooking the street. It was just barely summer now; people would be flooding in, vacationing and visiting from all over. But tonight seemed like a relatively quiet night, especially for a Friday. A few cars rumbled by, and now and then the occasional pedestrians passed through, but overall it seemed mostly peaceful. Something not often seen in New York.

A sudden knock at the door brought me away from the window and back into the apartment. I had a feeling I knew who it was. I jogged to the front door and swung it open to find none other than Adam hovering in the hallway. He visited us rather frequently, especially for business-related ventures. But tonight wasn't a tour planning night or a recording night. It was just a chill night, we would make it so if we had to. I let Adam inside right as Ryan hung up with the pizza order, and we wandered back to the couch in the living room.

"So, what do you guys wanna do?" Ryan asked, leaning forward and looking back and forth between Adam and myself, almost impatiently.

I thought for a minute, then shrugged. "Wii Tennis?"

There was a mix of "Yeah"s and "Sure"s before I stood up and began booting up the game. Adam and Ryan said some reminiscent things about the tour, but I didn't pay that much attention to it. The TV flashed to a bright white, and I met the other two back on the couch. Adam and Ryan were talking about starting on a new album now, but I was too tired to even consider any of that.

"What are you thinking?" Adam asked Ryan as I rejoined the party and handed out controllers. "More songs like 'Pitchfork Kids'?"

"Mm, something like that," Ryan agreed, "People responded well to it, they like that it's unique...I think we should keep it up."

"We've got time yet," I interrupted, "I agree with you both, but we just got back. We can take it easy for a little while, don't you think?"

"No, yeah," Ryan replied. "We're just tossing ideas around. I know I'm not ready yet, at least."