Rumours Ruin Reputations (All Time Low FanFiction | Jack Barakat)

Reunited After Such a Long Time

I was waiting in my living room, staring at my phone and anxious to hear a notification popping up. Multiple times it had already buzzed, only for me to jump up in excitement and check what it said. But the message I was waiting for hadn't come yet. It was always one of my 'friends' tagging me in something they posted online or they commented on something I had posted. I was waiting for Jack to send me a text message, and I knew it had to come any moment soon. It was already November and he was finally coming back home.

It was the first time in months that I would actually seem him face to face again. They did have a little over a week off tour at the beginning of October, but I couldn't see him at the time. I was way too busy with the movie I was going to be in, which was also why I didn't even manage to come see him during their LA show, or any California show for that matter. The readthroughs were done and the filming had started. We hadn't gotten far yet at all and my main parts hadn't even started yet. I only had a couple of scenes, but that didn't mean that I wasn't needed there almost every single day.

Once again, I sighed deeply as I checked the time on the large black-and-white clock I had on the wall in my living room. Jack's flight should have landed about ten minutes prior to that. I knew I was getting nervous for no reason. There was the possibility of him being delayed, his phone taking a little while to find service, or maybe he first wanted to fetch his luggage before texting me. I wasn't his main priority, which I also understood. I knew how difficult it was to keep up a personal life when having such hectic work. Never would I ever get mad about that.

Yet I was still anxious, and nobody could blame me for that. I couldn't wait to see him. He was going to come visit me directly. As soon as I got his text, I was going to tell my security to let him in.

Of course, I would have personally gone to pick him up if it weren't for my situation. After having been on a plane for a while, the last thing you wanted was to be surrounded by a shitload of flashing cameras and perverted people calling out your name. I, unfortunately, had no way to get out of it. Paparazzi always found out even if I tried to do it all discretely. So, the least I could do was spare Jack the problem, but something told me he was going to have a larger audience than he was used to. My public announcement had already spiked his social media following quite a bit.

"Honestly, I've never seen you this excited and nervous since you were given that role to make a guest appearance in a [i[My Little Pony TV show." Judy laughed as she joined me in the living room. I looked up at her, biting my lip and letting my legs bounce up and down in a fast constant pace.

I tried to focus on my TV that was turned off, placed just above my fireplace. Although nothing was on, I hoped it would distract me for a little while. "Of course I'm excited, because it's the first time I'm seeing him in over two months. And of course I'm nervous, because it's the first time I'm seeing him in over two months!"

"I understand, but this is starting to reach near mental-patient crazy." She told me honestly while sitting beside me and putting her hands on my knees to stop me from shaking. I, however, took that as a queue to start fidgeting with my hands.

"But what if he changed his mind, it has been over two months after all, maybe having such a long break in the beginning wasn't a good idea at all." I thought out loud, making sure to repeat the time period. For some reason, saying it over and over again only made it more real to me. It had been over two months!

"Oh my god, I know you really like him. But really? Do you really think he'd wait all this time to tell you. If he wasn't into it, he would have told you ages ago. He was traveling around the country, if he didn't want this he would have ended it and fooled around with random girls."

"But maybe he still did." I pointed out with an innocent face, knowing that Judy would talk me out of it no matter what my negative thoughts were. She'd always tell me to go for it, while David would only have agreed with me and told me to stay away from him.

This was why Judy was my best friend and manager, and not David. She knew what was right for me and would always push me into the right direction. Even if the decision turned out not to be the best one, it always taught me a valuable lesson. Jack was her next project for me to follow.

My phone buzzed before she could try to convince me again. I nearly jumped up in excitement and actually let out a squeal. Even though I knew there was a chance it wasn't going to be him again, my heart skipped a beat. I was so excited as I reached out for the device and turned on the lock screen. And there it was, a message from Jack.

Jack-o: Guess who's back in LA, baby!
Me: Woooooooo!!!!!!!!!!
Jack-o: Not me...
Me: What! No, why? :(
Jack-o: I'm just kidding, I'm here
Jack-o: As in I'm outside your house right now

My eyes widened dramatically at the information he threw at me. Although he could have been joking again, I threw my phone at Judy and started rushing to the front doors where Jack had picked me up for our first date. I saw a dark figure on the other side of the opaque glass and nearly squealed out again. But I couldn't let Jack think I was overexcited to see him again. That could possibly scare him away.

So, I took a deep breath, using a trick I usually used when I couldn't stop laughing on set. Acting like I was completely composed, I reached out for the handle and opened the door. Just as he had said, Jack was standing there staring right back at me. And then I couldn't hide how happy I was anymore. I rushed the last couple of steps and hugged him tightly, even pulling up my legs to wrap them around his waist.

He hugged me back and held me up, pressing his nose into my hair. All my doubts washed away in no time as I was back in his arms. I completely forgot about my worries from just minutes before. This was all the reassurance needed.

"Are you really here?" I giggled as I looked at him and briefly kissed him. "Weren't you just supposed to arrive now? What the hell are you doing here?"

"Yes and yes." He nodded and waited for me to kiss him again before going to continue his answer. "But I managed to get an earlier flight and decided to surprise you."

"Well, I definitely like this surprise." I smirked seductively and planted my lips on his again, only this time making it less short and sweet, and more passionate and forceful.

Jack didn't seem to mind at all and actually deepened the kiss, contemplating whether or not to add tongue. His hands that were on my ass started to squeeze a little, making his intentions very clear. And I would have been lying if I didn't have to same exact intentions. But could you really blame us? It had been over two months! We deserved this.

"Oh, shit!" Judy shrieked as she was planning on leaving my house again, only wanting to actually leave after I had gotten a text from Jack so she could help calm my nerves. "Is this going to be a regular occurrence? Am I going to have to start going out of the backdoor instead?"

"I'm afraid so, Judy." I chuckled while still suspended in the air. It might have been a good thing that she interrupted, because I could tell Jack's arms were starting to get tired. I didn't want to risk him getting hurt and me falling onto the floor.

"Well, I'm going to let you get to it. I'll see you in a week." She bid her farewells to both me and Jack before disappearing to her car parked close to the gate.

"She thinks we're going to have sex for a week?" Jack raised his eyebrows in shock while I unwrapped my legs and forced him to put me back on the floor. "Not that I would mind, but I believe she's overestimating us."

I shook my head and pulled him inside, dragging his suitcase in the hand that wasn't holding his hand. Soon after, I slammed the front door shut, not wanting to take much more time. "She's going to visit family for a week. But that does mean that I most probably will be home all alone the entire time. It can get quite lonely..."

I pulled him close to me by grabbing a fistful of his t-shirt and let his suitcase go. While his body was pressed up against mine completely, he kept his face a couple of inches away from mine and let his hot breath tickle my skin.

"I guess I'm going to have to come check up on you a couple of times, then," he whispered back and made the last move, pushing me up against the wall and connecting our lips in a fiery kiss that wasn't going to end soon.

----

I stretched out as I threw the covers off myself and into Jack's direction. His arm had been acting as a pillow for me and the separation of our skin was quite a painful peeling. We were both hot and sticky, the sweat on our bodies having started to dry up. I looked around as I tried to brush the knots in my hair out with my fingers, trying to locate where my panties had been discarded to. When I saw them somewhere in a corner almost on the opposite end of the room, I scurried over and quickly put them on. How they had landed there, I didn't know either.

"No," Jack whined as he made grabby hands for me, his own hair laying flat except for some strands that stood up weirdly, "come back."

"One week of sex does not mean one week of continuous sex." I rolled my eyes in a playful manner, reaching down to grab the shirt he had been wearing despite the fact that he had it on in the plane as well.

"You're torturing me if you bend over like that!" He groaned and pointed at my ass that was barely cover by the thin fabric.

"I just wanna get some food, physical activity makes me hungry." I smirked as I raised the shirt over my head and started to pull it down my torso so I was covered up a little more. However, just before I had pulled it all the way down, I got a sharp pain through my stomach, making me hiss out.

"Everything ok?" Jack asked, his demeanor changing completely as he pushed himself up onto his elbows to look at me a little better.

I nodded despite the pain still being there. As if it were to help, I pushed my hand right where it hurt and grit my teeth. This wasn't the first time I had gotten the pain. It had been happening for a while now.

"You don't look fine." Jack urged and sat up completely, the duvet once again just barely covering him.

"No, really, I am fine," I promised as I walked up to him, the pain actually not having subsided yet, smiling to make it believable. "It's been happening the past three days. Maybe it's just my body telling me I'm getting my period soon. Nothing to worry about."

That was actually a lie. I knew it wasn't my period. It was practically impossible. I was still completely faithful to my birth control, not having stopped the round I was on, and even if it had been that it still didn't make sense. My period rarely came, and if it did, it didn't feel like this at all. I actually felt a lot more dizzy and uncomfortable then, while now I felt more nauseous and an actual stabbing pain was soaring through me.

"Not during this amazing week we were going to have!" Jack gasped and grabbed me by the hips, making me stand between his legs, meaning he was completely naked in front of me and nothing was covering him anymore.

"Hey, we'll just have to wait and see, maybe nothing will happen." I contradicted my previous statement. I didn't want him to get discouraged, because I knew it wasn't going to happen and that would just leave us both frustrated.

He placed one kiss on my stomach and glared at it. "Listen up here. You're going to wait one week more. Don't leave me hanging here, ok?"

I ran my fingers through his messy hair, making a half-arsed attempt at fixing it. My mind was some place elsewhere, thinking about my future. Jack didn't know yet about my problem and I was honestly afraid to tell him about it. I knew it wasn't anything I could do something about and that there were always some solutions, but still. Maybe it was too early about thinking of having kids with Jack, but I didn't want to trap him. I'd rather have him end it early on because of me not being able to give him a child than have him do it when I was madly in love. It was easier on everyone that way.

"Hey, Stevie?" Jack said out of nowhere, breaking me out of my deep thoughts. He thought we were just having a moment, a quiet one at that, and not that I was worrying myself about something.

"Yeah?" I mumbled in reply, trying to stay at the level of noise the room already was.

It was like his question was the most ironic thing to happen at that time. "I'm not sure how you feel about people asking this, but I watched you on The Ellen Show and you said we weren't exclusive. So, I wanted to ask you if you'd be my official girlfriend."

My eyes widened in size as my heart picked up speed. I couldn't believe he was already this serious about it. Sure, I knew I didn't want to be seeing anybody else but him, but I wasn't expecting him to be so onboard with it. For some reason, I actually believed he was ok with all the dates, but that this was more fun to him than anything else. Maybe the title 'girlfriend' still included that, but it did sound a lot more steady.

"We can still take it very slow and keep it from the public until your divorce is finalized." Jack suggested when I started taking too long with my answer. "I don't know if that would change anything, but it's fine by me. I just thought that since I'm not seeing anybody else and don't want to see anybody else, we could just go for the full package deal."

"Hmm... ok." I smiled, not really thinking much about my choice. To me it was obvious. If this was what he wanted as well, then I was more than happy to make it take that next step. Even my hesitations due to my infertility had completely disappeared.