J.A.C.I.E.'s World (All Time Low Fanfiction | Jack Barakat)

Chapter 22

"I'm going to miss you!" I pouted as I ran into Hazel's arms and hugged her as tightly as I possibly could.

She hugged me back and laughed. "We'll see each other again in two days."

"I know, but I'm going to miss having you a door away."

"You've barely spent any time here recently," she slowly pulled away much to my dismay, "I'm sure you'll be fine."

I continued to give her a sad look. "Well, you're always welcome to come visit us."

Hazel chuckled, her sarcastic humour creeping in. "Oh, great. I can't wait to be the third wheel."

"Third wheel?" I gasped and put a hand on my heart. "You know you're my main bitch. Jack's just a side piece."

Jack appeared from the bathroom and jokingly glared at the two of us. "Excuse me, but you have my last name."

"My name's excruciatingly long already. Why not add another name? I can be an Evans Barakat Lopez."

Hazel looked at me with loving eyes. "Awe, I get the last name?"

"Of course you do!" I grinned.

Jack looked a little sad. "Then I want to be an Evans Barakat Lopez as well."

"Look, now you made him upset," Hazel sighed with a playful glint in her eyes. "Just go move in with each other already."

Jack laughed and started going to the front door. There, he picked up the last moving box that was mine. Over the past week, we had slowly started moving all of my belongings to his. My old bedroom was almost empty by my official move out date. Only my furniture would be staying behind, ready for our friend Emily to move in with Hazel instead.

"You heard her." Jack balanced the box against his hip and used his free hand to open the door.

I pouted dramatically again as I pulled my keys out of my pocket and pried the apartment key off the chain. It was a bittersweet moment now that it was official. I was so excited to move in with Jack. It had been a long time coming, and everything was falling into place now. But leaving my best friend? When we moved to this apartment a year earlier, I expected to share it with her for years to come. I never would have guessed that I would be married now back then.

Hazel gave me a smile as I dropped the key in her hand. "Let me walk you guys out."

And so started the last time I would ever go down to the ground floor in the building's elevator. Well, no, not really. I would be visiting a lot. But it was the last time as a resident. It felt a little nostalgic even though I really hadn't spent much of my time there. I had had fun laughing with Hazel about random things in it, and I also could still remember the horrible feeling I had when I arrived home after bringing Jack to the airport. It was like I had experienced a lifetime there.

We walked out of the building together, the heavy entrance door clicking shut behind us, and stopped just before the sidewalk turned into the parking lot.

"You better take care of her, Jack," Hazel threatened one last time. "She leaves her shoes all over the living room, and sometimes plays music a little too loudly, but she means the world to me."

"She means the world to me too," Jack responded, giving me a loving look.

"Now go before I throw up."

"See you in two days," I said my goodbye.

Jack and I both continued further towards his car while Hazel continued to watch from the sidewalk. I opened the trunk so Jack could slip the last box inside. The car really wasn't that full. Most of my stuff was already at Jack's. We only needed to bring over two boxes with some random things and, most importantly, my electric drum set.

As I closed the trunk, I looked over to Hazel one last time. She waved back at me. I don't know why the goodbye felt so final, but I ran back over to her and wrapped my arms around her as tightly as I possibly could. I wasn't just saying goodbye to my roommate, I was also saying goodbye to the people and best friends we once were.

Hazel hugged me back just as tightly, and for a moment, we clung to each other as if we were afraid to let go. We had grown up together. There were years worth of shared laughter, scandalous secrets, and late-night conversations. It was something we couldn't just let go of. For a second, tears almost threatened to spill from my eyes, and I knew Hazel felt the same. But we weren't saying goodbye forever.

We pulled away slowly and smiled softly at each other.

"Bye," I whispered softly as I took a step back.

"Bye," she responded just as simply as I had done.

I rushed back to Jack, who was waiting at the driver's side of the car. Once he saw me approach, he got in. I hopped on over to the passenger's side and slipped in as well. Before he could put on his seat belt, I leaned over the console and pressed a kiss to his lips.

"What was that for?" He looked amused as he finally got to click the belt into place.

I shrugged, following his actions. "I'm just excited."

He chuckled softly and turned on the engine.

With our future ahead of us, we drove to his– our apartment. Although we had been married for half a year, our married life was only getting its proper start now. It honestly felt like this was the moment we were finally properly married; we were finally building our life together.

We brought all of my belongings up to his apartment before opening the door. It wasn't much, but the drum set really wasn't the easiest to carry. At least it wasn't heavy, and we only needed to make two trips. Once everything was in front of the door, Jack unlocked it.

"Welcome home, Mrs. Evans Barakat Lopez," he showed me in as if I had never been there before.

I snorted as laughter erupted out of me and took hold of some of the drum set's pieces. "You know what? I think my name's long enough already."

"Well, then," he picked up the two boxes and entered the apartment, "welcome home, Mrs. Barakat."

A warm glowing feeling spread through me. I knew it was my last name, but it still felt so surreal. I thought it would have been hard to change my name, but luckily for me, all of our paperwork was in order. Even drunk Jacie knew how to get things done. Getting my new IDs afterwards was much more simple because of it.

We put the pieces of the drum set in the guest bedroom, ready to be set up another day, and put the boxes against the wall in the living room with a few other ones from a few days earlier. It would have been good practice to immediately start unpacking, but, gosh, it was hard when the apartment was already full of stuff.

"So, are you excited to have me as your forever roommate?" I jumped up to Jack after he slightly reorganised the short tower of boxes, wrapping my arms around his waist.

He turned around and grinned at me. "I am absolutely thrilled."

"Yeah?" I looked up at him with big eyes. "Even though I'm fully encroaching on your space?"

"I want you to encroach on all of my space." he smirked.

I raised an eyebrow. "All of it?"

He pulled me closer, his lips brushing against mine. "The more you encroach, the better."

I kissed him and placed my hands on his chest instead. "So... what do you think of some redecorating?"

"Redecorating? What do you have in mind?"

I bit my lower lip, staying so close that our breath continued to mix. "How about we start with the bedroom?"

"Sounds like a perfect plan." He pressed his lips against mine again.