FOR NOW; jra ✓

021 | with all due respect..

"Zach do you mind just stepping out of the room, maybe go to one of the other boys rooms for a moment while I talk with Jack?" Dan asked the boy after he had answered the door for him.

"uh.." Zach glanced over his shoulder to empty room, "Jack's just gone to have a shower.. so maybe come back in half hour."

"Right," he sent him a singular nod. "You tell him that he's not allowed to go out anywhere until I've spoken with him."

"Yeah, okay," the younger agreed.

Dan let out a sigh before he wandered back to his own hotel room while Zach shut the door to his and Jack's, then going back to his phone which was on charge in as he sat on the edge of the bed. 

Jack came out of the bathroom only seconds later after using the toilet, not showering like Zach had told their manager. "Who came by before?" he furrowed.

"Dan.." Zach turned his phone off and moved his attention to the other. "He wants to talk with you about this morning and his said that you're not allowed to go out till he does.."

"I told him you were about to have a shower and got you half hour before he comes back," he continued to explain. "I wasn't sure about your anxiety and that, so I just thought to give you time to prepare.."

"oh.. okay, thank you," Jack send him a smile.

"He was just really mad this morning so he might yell at you," he replied.

"Yeah, Valentina mentioned something this morning about him wanting to talk to me," he softly nodded as he got up from the bed again. "Well I'm going to go have a quick shower so it actually looks like I was in there.."

"Alright, I'm gonna head to Jonah and Daniel's room.." he followed the elders actions while pulling his phone off the charging cord. "Give you some space and also Dan doesn't want me here when he talks to you."

"Okay, I'll meet up with you all as soon as Dan's done talking with me."

While Zach made his way out of the room, Jack grabbed an outfit from his suitcase before heading back into the bathroom then locking the door and this time turning on the shower, placing his clean clothes on the counter top and then getting undress.

After the quick shower to make it look like the youngest didn't lie, the boy come back into the main area of the hotel room and laid down on his bed with his phone, scrolling through social media and texting a few friends and family back as he waited for their tour manager to come to talk with him.

And with a knock on the door, Jack took a deep breath following by letting out a sigh as he got up and walked over to the door. Greeting the man with a smile, while trying to be as nice as possible with him to avoid anymore bad blood.

"Do you mind if I just come in and shut the door?" Dan asked. "By-passers don't necessarily need to listen in."

"uh yeah, that's fine," Jack nodded, making his own way back over to his bed and taking a seat on the edge as he watched the other.

"Now.." he spoke as he walked over closer to the band member. "We almost missed our flight this morning because of you.."

"I believe it was Corbyn being on the phone to his girlfriend while getting food across the airport from out gate but okay-"

"If you were on time like everyone else, he would of have had time to do that," Dan interrupted him.

"You could have just went through and I meet you all the gate.." Jack mentioned, furrowed as he looked at him.

"That's not the fucking point Jack!" He raised his voice, causing Jack to instantly go silent. "Ever since I've meet band, you've been late to almost every rehearsal, you've been disobeying everything you've been asked to do, you don't listen to me. And simply you don't take this, the tour, seriously."

"If you don't want to be here, leave the band, stop dragging the four of them away from what they want just because you don't want it," Dan continued, making Jack even more confused. "I was told to worry about Zach because he's supposedly late to everything but it's clear to me that he actually wants to be here."

"And after being told that I thought that having you two room together would be a bad idea but I thought on the flight over that just maybe he might teach you something. Teach you to enjoy the privilege you have to be here right now, teach you to have the band be first priority not your girlfriend."

"Dan, with all due respect.." Jack finally spoke up now he was giving the chance to. "I'm a twenty-two year old who can make my own decisions, and you are not my father nor are you our actual manager. You're only here to keep us on schedule and make sure we get places on time.."

"And sure I was a little late to the airport this morning but we still made it for the flight without a rush to the gate," he kept speaking in a softer tone compared to the elders previous one. "Also my girlfriend isn't my fucking first priority and neither is my band, my daughter is."

"My daughter who I haven't seen since fucking January and not going to see again till the end of April because I choose to be here because I do want to be here. I'm sacrificing so much to be here right now so maybe stop trying to feed words into my mouth."

"Also we didn't even have anything for the band on today so even if I did miss it I would have just got the next flight and still been here in time for all the interviews and press we have on tomorrow," Jack concluded, flashing a forced smile at Dan.

"If your girlfriend is thinking of meeting up with you at any point during the tour, she better not make you late to anything or she won't be allowed to visit again!" Dan replied.

"I don't think that's something you can control..?" the younger furrowed. "If my girlfriend wants to visit me, she can. And if she wants to spend five minutes extra together at times, she can, because really it's not the end of the world so maybe get over it."

"Now can you leave my fucking room or I will fly back to LA and put up a fight with Randy to get him to fire you because you trigger my anxiety," Jack added. "And so I can go out drinking with my friends and actually enjoy the first night on tour."

"You're a disaster Jack," Dan said as he walked over towards the door. "No wonder you have seen your daughter in so long, I'd keep kids away from you too with all the shit coming out of your mouth."

Jack didn't respond and instead took a deep breath in and out to calm himself down as their manager left the room, shutting the door behind himself. He picked up his phone, trying to call Adalyn but had it ring through. Letting out a sigh as he got up to put his shoes on and go out with his friends despite how much he now didn't want to.

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A/N

so .. how we feeling?