I'm A Walking Travesty (All Time Low Fanfic) [Watty Awards Winner]

I'm A Walking Travesty (All Time Low Fanfic) - Chapter Twenty Nine

Chapter 29

Valarie’s P.O.V

I picked up the last box from beside the couch and juggled it in my arms. Freddy stood by the door grinning widely at me. She took one of the boxes off me before its contents tipped all over the floor and held the door open for me. I walked down the front steps of her house with her right behind me.

Jack was leaning against the hood of his car with his arms folded across his chest and his eyes squinting against the warm, summer sun. I couldn’t believe I was doing it, moving it with Jack, I mean. It seemed like a big step, but I felt like I’d known Jack my whole life. Freddy on the other hand, was thoroughly pushing the idea of me moving in with him. I could tell she really just wanted me off her couch.

My dusty Doc Martins crunched on the stone path as I put my boxes of belongings into the trunk of Jack’s car. Freddy handed me the box she was holding and I put it in before jamming the door down as hard as I could on top of everything. I turned to Freddy, who outstretched her arms and pulled me into a tight hug.

“There’s always a place here for you if you need one,” She whispered before letting me go.

I smiled, “You’d love me taking up all your shower time,” I said sarcastically with a wink.

I pulled the passengers side door open. Jack climbed in beside me before he pulled the car out of the driveway. Freddy waved from her front yard as we pulled out of her street and onto the main road. Jack said that he only lived a few blocks away, and he wasn’t lying. After a short car ride, we pulled into the driveway of a small, red brick house.

I had expected a bachelor pad style flat, but I’d clearly underestimated Jack’s urban style. Before I had even realized he’d climbed out fo the car, he pulled my door open so I could get out. We both grabbed a few boxes and bags each before Jack unlocked the front door and pushed it open with his back.

Inside was bigger than I had anticipated. We walked into a large rumpus style room with two red leather couches against the walls and a large flat screen tv on the wall to my right. Beside the tv was a door that was shut and three or four steps that lead up to the raised level of the house. I followed Jack up the steps to find an eight-person dining table and a large kitchen behind it. Another lounge room jutted out to the left where two French doors lead out to a decking area. Beyond the kitchen was another hallway that had doors coming off it.

“You’re house is huge,” I murmured more to myself than to Jack as we put all my things on the dining table.

“Yeah, it is a little oversized considering I’m the only one who lives here.”

“More importantly, how do you keep it clean?” I asked, knowing my own cleaning skills were non-existent.

“I have a maid.”

I just gave him a look before he led me through the kitchen to show me the rest of the house. The first door on the lead to the laundry, which had a door, that then led out onto the deck. A little further up on the left was a plain guest bedroom with just a double bed, and on the right was what looked like an office style set up. Further up again on the right was the bathroom and toilet. Right at the end of the hall were two doors, one led to a room full of musical instruments and amps, while the other led to the master bedroom, complete with walk–in-robe and an ensuite bathroom.

“You’re happy to sleep with me yeah?” Jack asked, gesturing to his bed.

“Of course,” I said, giving him a sly look.

“Well I better go get some food for dinner and stuff, are you okay to stay here?”

“Sure, I’ll go have a shower and start putting away my stuff.”

“You can put all you’re clothes in that chest of draws. I’ll be back soon.”

Jack gave me a quick kiss before grabbing his car keys and leaving me alone in his empty, oversized house. I pulled open the door to the bathroom, stripped down before jumping into the shower. I covered my body with the vanilla scented soap Jack had left out for me as I made the water hotter and hotter until it was smoldering against my skin.

Eventually I turned the taps off and climbed out, not wanting to rack up Jack’s water bill. I wrapped myself in one of his white towels and made my way back into the dining room where I grabbed my suitcase and wheeled it down to the bedroom. I opened it up and pulled and a black bra and clean pair of underwear before I pulled a large band tee over the top.

Not bothering to put on some pants just yet, I started to put away my clothes into the drawers. I could hear footsteps down the hall, so I just assumed that Jack had gotten home.

“No, no, no!” Someone shouted from behind me.

A short Italian woman wearing a white apron and a hairnet stood in the doorway waving her hands about a shouting words in a thick Italian accent. She came over to me and started pushing me out the doorway, down the hall, down the steps and out the front door.

“You cannot be here, no, no,” she kept saying before the door was slammed shut and locked behind me.

It was freezing outside so I hugged myself as I looked around. A man getting into his car across the street gave me a look before shrugging and driving away. It felt like at least half an hour before Jack pulled into the driveway, his headlights shining onto my body and making me feel exposed like a rabbit in a spotlight.

“What are you doing out here?” He asked as he got out of his car and grabbed a few bags out of the back, “And where are you pants?”

“I just got out of the shower and I was putting my things away when your maid came in and kicked me out!” I said through the chattering of my teeth.

Jack just laughed as he unlocked the door again and let me inside. The kitchen light was on and I could see his maid cleaning the bench tops.

“Greta, I’m home!” Jack shouted.

The maid stopped cleaning and came down the stairs to greet him. She looked at me before she started complaining in Italian that I was an intruder. Jack just shook his head and calmed her down.

“It’s okay Greta, this is my girlfriend, Valarie.”

That was the first time Jack had ever used the term ‘girlfriend’ in reference to me, and it made me feel kind of weird, but it felt kind of nice. Greta started apologizing to me but I just shook her off with a smile. Jack started putting things away in the cupboards while I went back to the bedroom and pulled on a pair of pants before joining him for dinner.

Jack dismissed Greta before he put a frozen pizza in the oven to cook. When it was done, we both sat on the floor in the lounge room and watched tv. MTV was showing behind the scenes of All Time Low’s tour, and I cringed when there were a few shots of me dancing on a table, playing the guitar, and kicking an amp over.

- Later that night -

I woke up panting and sweating. I sat up in bed, pushing my hair back from my sticky forehead, trying to shake away the images of mangled metal and blood. I’d been having the same dream over and over again. It was about the crash I had been in a few months earlier, and I just couldn’t get the images out of my head.

I climbed out of bed and went into the bathroom, splashing water of my face before dabbing my skin dry with a towel. I eventually willed myself to go back to bed, sliding in beside Jack before turning on my side. I felt him shift beside me, pressing his body up against my back and putting a protective arm around me. I couldn’t help but smile as I felt his body breathe in time with mine.