The J.A.C.I.E. Project (All Time Low Fanfiction | Jack Barakat)

Chapter 8

I'll be honest here and say that I had no idea what was going to happen the next morning. I felt like I had crossed a line, like I had to hide myself forever and cut all contact with Jack. But at the same time, this was my internship. If I couldn't do my job, then I could practically kiss my degree goodbye. And that was a no from me.

So, I put on my smile and pushed my shoulders back to give myself a confidence boost and to make me look like I belonged. Nothing could bring me down when I walked into the studio. I hadn't been fired yet, so things couldn't be that bad. Unfortunately, I felt my facade crack when I actually entered the recording studio. I was fully expecting to be the first there other than Justin. But I was not. Both Alex and Jack were there as well.

II tried to play it off as casually as possible and joked, "am I late or are you early?"

"Uhhh..." Justin shook his head, looking around for his phone and checking the time. "We've been here since late and you're here early."

I sucked in a sharp breath. "Damn, since when have you guys been here?"

"Since four." Alex shrugged, running his hand through his hair what looked like for the hundredth time. "Sleeping schedule's already fucked though."

"I could not," I sighed, getting a little smirk from Jack. Not only did he know I liked my routine, but I had shown up at his apartment at many late hours before.

"By the way, Jacie," Alex took a second to think about his words and exhaled, "I just want to apologise for my outburst yesterday. It was totally uncalled for. I didn't mean to imply what I did and must admit you're very talented."

Part of me wanted to say that it was all okay, that he didn't have to worry. But then again, it was kind of nice to hear an apology. Unfortunately, that wasn't how society worked. You can't be happy with an apology, that's rude. You need to dismiss your own feelings and be humble.

"I did go a little too far with my suggestions," I responded and sat down on my chair.

"No, no," Alex waved his hand, "I just need to get back into the process."

"Okay..." I nodded slowly, "well, I won't slow you down."

And so we got back to workshopping and writing. I still felt like I had to be careful. Alex did still need to warm up a lot. I often got a long silence before a response. But at least there was no snapping. I could tell Jack was being more careful as well since he always waited for Alex to say something first. I just felt like I was constantly waiting for approval. It was a lot more uncomfortable than feeling like I was actually working with someone, but it was better than getting shouted at.

The break we decided to take at lunch was very much deserved and needed. I was really hoping this was going to get better, or else this internship wasn't for me. Or worse, I had chosen the wrong career path. And I had been so excited to start initially.

The first thing I did when we started our break was go to the bathroom. It was just off the main reception-slash-lounge area. Rather than just being a full, normal bathroom, the first room just had the sink and mirror and the toilet was behind another door. It kind of made sense, two people could be using the area at the same time, but it was also a little strange.

When I left to go wash my hands, Jack was waiting in the first room.

"Fancy seeing you here." He grinned and gave me a wink.

"That's not creepy at all," I laughed back as I moved past him and turned on the sink.

He raised an eyebrow, looking at me through the mirror. "It's creepy to bump into you?"

"It's creepy to wait for me in a bathroom," I corrected.

"Who says I'm here for you?"

"The fact that you're still standing here and haven't gone in."

Jack gave me a sad face and put his chin on the top of my head. "I just wanna talk to you for a bit."

I turned around after turning off the water, making him take his head off me. "You can always talk to me, you don't have to wait for both of us to be in the bathroom."

"But not like this." He looked down at me.

"Yeah, you better keep yourself in check," I agreed. "I don't need Alex to dislike me even more."

"He doesn't dislike you."

I gave him the look that could only be described as the are-you-fucking-kidding-me look. "He most definitely does. He might have apologised, but that doesn't mean he likes me."

"Nobody can dislike you..." He gave me a smirk and sneakily leaned down to kiss me.

I kissed him back, but broke away to reply. "That is a huge lie. Sally from third grade would definitely disagree with you."

"Well, Sally is incorrect," he told me matter-of-factly, moving his head to the side with each word, finishing his sentence with yet another kiss.

This time, I just gave in. If Jack got in this horny kind of mood, there was no way of having a proper conversation. He'd have a way of somehow turning it back into what he wanted, or even better, turning it into a sexual innuendo. And while I was a little concerned about Alex not liking me, I didn't really mind having a little moment.

After Jack broke away, he asked me while still just an inch away from my face. "So, we still on for tomorrow?"

"Of course. But you can't touch me like this then." My eyes sneaked a peek at his hand siting dangerously high up my leg.

Jack just pouted back before giving me a little sigh and slowly moving it down, as if testing me to see if I really wouldn't stop him.

"Hey, my little brother will be there," I almost scolded. "He's only six. Gotta keep it to yourself."

"I know, but I'm gonna miss you."

"I'm still gonna be there. You'll just have to store it in your head."

He seemed to like that, smirking as he went in to kiss my neck.

But I did push him off carefully and gave him a stern look. "And you'll have to do the same now before everybody knows what we've been doing in here. I don't need Alex to trust me even less."

"Alright," he breathed out and took a step back. "Back to professionals it is."

I gave him a smile and a quick peck on his lips before leaving the bathroom, leaving him behind. To my surprise, the entire reception area was empty. Then again, we were at a studio, inspiration could hit at any point. But considering Jack was out here, my brain was just set on lunch break. I just skipped over to the fridge where we had multiple different kinds of drinks.

As I was leaned over, deciding which drink I wanted, I heard the studio door open again.

"Hey, where's Jack?" Alex asked, swinging his keys between his hands.

"Bathroom," I shrugged and decided on grabbing a simple bottle of water. "I only just came out. So, unless he does some weird stuff in there, he probably shouldn't be long."

Alex scrunched up his nose. "Eh, it will be a bit then."

I couldn't help but laugh.

He paused and gave me a meaningful look. "I just want to apologise again, I stepped way out of line yesterday. It's just been stressful. This album has to be perfect. I was trying to critically think about all your ideas and how we could use then, build further from them, etcetera. But Jack was just blindly agreeing and I just panicked that he wasn't taking this seriously."

"It's okay, I understand. I can get a bit iffy when I'm stressed about stuff as well." I smiled back. His apology sounded a lot more sincere this time, not like he was just trying to move along.

"No, it's not okay. But I'm really looking forward to working with you." He held out his hand for me.

I shook it. "I'm looking forward to it too."