Title: My Only One by All Time Low

"Jack, I can't go back," I say. I back away from the door. He turns and closes the door. "No- I can't go ba-back-" My back hits the wall.

He steps over to me. "Baby, listen to me." He grabs my hands. "Listen, shhh," he pulls me into his chest. "I'll tell principal Wentz, but... You can't hide forever." He rubs my back. "You're going to have to face them someday. I doubt any of them care."

"You don't get it." 

"Trace is gone. Mrs. Wick is gone. No one can hurt you now," Jack says. 

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND," I shout. He pulls away. "You don't understand how embarrassing it is for me."

"I know. God, I know." He grips my hands. "But you're going to be strong. And you're going to get through this."

"I don't th-think I can," I mumble. He holds me. "Jack- I can't."

"You can, Alex. I know you can, please." He presses his face against my shoulder. "Just try. We can get out of it's too much."

I nod slowly. "O-okay," I let out a sigh. He pulls away and leads me out the door. Rian and Tay stand on the driveway, staring at us. 

"Busy doing each other?" Tay winks. "I'm kidding. How are you holding up?" 

I lean against Jack. "About as good as I could be."

"We fought anyone who said shit," Rian says. "I mean, it was just one guy. And Justin was kind of suspended for the rest of that day... But that's not the point."

"Wh-what did he do?" I ask. Jack shrugs.

"Uh well, one of Trace's friends started talking shit about you, and Justin went over in front of the entire courtyard and beat the shit out of him," Tay starts. "And let's just say the other guy is in the hospital and Justin got suspended for a day- well, more like 5 hours."

Jack knits his eyebrows together. "Only the rest of the day?"

Rian shrugs. "Principal Wentz let him off easy because he knew what happened. Besides, the other guy's parents agreed to it."

"Oh," I glance at Jack.

Tay lets out a soft sigh. "And then Vic slapped someone in the locker room for talking about it. Luckily Kellin was there to stop him from killing the guy."

"Talking about it?"

"I dunno just whispering about the picture. What I'm saying is, we're all ready to kill whoever as much as looks at you the wrong way. And our teachers went through our phones to make sure no one shared it or saved it."

"How did the get the right to do that?" I ask.

"Well, your boyfriend called principal Wentz," Rian starts. "And principal Wentz sent an email explaining to the parents what happened, he didn't put your name in it and got permission from everyone to go through phones. Any absent people will be checked today or whenever they get back."

"Woah," I turn to Jack. "You weren't kidding."

He shakes his head. "Not at all."

"They got the entire thing taken down. Don't worry too much, Alex," Tay says. 

We get to the school and Lisa runs over. Jack jumps away before Lisa tackles me to the ground. "Oh damn, Lis-" I groan.

"Sorry, I was just so worried," she mumbles. "You're lucky Jack texted us say you're fine. Otherwise, I would have gone to your house and never left."

"Oh, thanks, but uh- I can't breathe-"

"Oh god, I'm sorry." She jumps off me. Jack helps me up. 

"ALEX," Awsten shouts, running over. He tackles me too but doesn't knock me down. "I yelled at a guy for you, and now he's scared of me."

"To be fair, you yelled at a scared freshman," Vic says. Kellin nods and lays his head on Vic's shoulder. 

"Glad you're back," Kellin says. "It was very sad without watching you and Jack being cute together."

"Hey," Vic mumbles. "I thought we were still cute." He pecks Kellin's lips. 

"Yeah, especially when Kellin stopped you from killing a guy," Lisa rolls her eyes. "That was romantic."

~~~

"Hey, Alex, right?" A voice says. I turn and see Andy with his hands in his pockets. "I'm Andy."

"Uh, yeah. I know," I mumble. 

"I wanted to say uh... I talked to Trace's friends. They're going to shut up about you... And they're sorry about what he's done. If you uh- ever need someone to shut someone up, I'll be here." He hands me a slip of paper.

"Oh uh- thanks," I stutter. I send him a slight smile. "Really, it means a lot."

He smiles. "I just feel bad because I never really helped you. So... If I can ever make it up to you somehow... Call me- or text- it's up to you-"

"Hey, it's fine. And yeah, I'll text you if something happens."

He nods and walks away. I turn and see Rian with an eyebrow raised. "He just might be gay," he says. 

"Nah. He's- well." I glance back at Andy. "He might be a little gay."

"Takes one to know one." He links our arms together. "Now let's get to lunch," he says. "And get you to your dear-old boyfriend."

I give him a look as he smirks. 

We walk over and see Lisa, Tay, and Jenna already there, laughing. "What's so funny?" Rian asks and sits next to Lisa. 

Tay glances at him. "We're talking about stuff."

I sigh. "What nice descriptions you have."

"Of what?" A voice asks, and an arm wraps around me. I turn and peck Jack's lips. We sit down. Jack pulls me against him.

"Huh, guess you'll never know." Jenna shrugs. Tay stares at Jenna and smiles. 

"I love you," Tay mumbles and kisses Jenna. Kellin and Vic walk over and Justin manages to wiggle between them.

"What the f- Justin?" Kellin groans. Vic just laughs and ducks away. 

I sigh and kiss Jack's cheek. "You guys are insane," Jack laughs. "I see why this works."

"What?" Justin asks.

"You guys match each others' insanity levels. Of course the friendship works."

Awsten nods. "It's how it's done. Also why I love it here. Sure, a lot of it sucks, but..." He links his arm over Rian's neck. "I love it."

"Why are we so sappy today?" Justin groans. "DICKS."

I roll my eyes and Lisa throws a grape at him. He catches it with his mouth. "Ew-" he spits it into a napkin. "Sour."

"Just like me on Mondays," Awsten says. "A sour grape."

"Yeah, yeah, shut up grape boy," Rian grumbles. 

~~~

Jack hands me a glass of water before sitting next to me. I open the blanket to cover the two of us. "Thanks baby," he mumbles and kisses my cheek. 

"Hey, Jack?" I ask. He turns slightly. "Thank you... For dealing with me."

He blinks. "Lex, what are you talking about?"

"I'm kind of... I'm a mess. I'm just thankful that you haven't left me-"

"Hold up, shush." He pulls me onto his lap. "I'm never leaving you again. And I'm not 'dealing' with you. I'm just making sure you're alright. Remember that, Lex, I love you."

I pause. His eyes widen. "No- Alex I didn't mean- I mean, I did mean it, but I- no- that was too soon- forget I said-"

"I love you too," I blurt out. He physically relaxes. 

"God, I've wanted to say that for so long. I just- I wanted it to be really special," he mumbles and presses his forehead against mine. "I love you so much. I've loved you for so long," he sighs and kisses me. 

"I've wanted to say it too, I just didn't know if you felt the same way- and then-" I sigh. "Point is, we both could have said it sooner."

He smiles and pecks my lips. "I could get used to that," he mumbles. "Saying I love you."

I wrap my arms around his neck. He kisses my nose. "You know." I rest against him. "I-"

"What the hell?"

Both of us jump and see my mom staring at us. "Mom, uh-"

She looks between the two of us. "Alex, I need a word," she says and walks into the kitchen. Jack gives me a look.

"It'll be okay," he whispers, gently squeezing my hand before letting go.

I get up and walk to the kitchen. She sighs and looks at me. "Alex, I don't-" she rubs her face with her hands. "When did it start?"

"Uh, we started dating a uh- few weeks ago."

She sighs and slowly sinks down into her seat. "God, Alex."

"Mom, I'm sorry- I never told you I was gay-"

"ALEX," she snaps. I flinch and cover my face with my arms without even thinking. I look down and feel my arms shake.

"Oh no, Alex, no I didn't mean to scare-"

"Alex?" I look up and see Jack staring at me. "What happened?" He asks softly, glancing at my mom. 

"J-Jack, I'm fine," I mumble. "Can you go?" He nods and closes the door. 

"Alex, I didn't mean to snap at you, I just- I'm fine with you being gay, I just- I've been away from home all the time because of my stupid job, and I'm- I'm missing out of your life. I hate that, Alex. I want to know when you meet a cute guy. I wanna know when you start dating. Granted, I don't need details-"

"MOM," I groan.

"I'm sorry, but still... I want to know about you. And I heard about the picture and everything going on and-" she sighs. "I don't want to miss anything else. I'm going to ask if I can make a deal with my boss." 

"Mom, you don't have to-"

"Alex, no, I just want to know my baby more before he goes off and marries his best friend."

"We aren't getting married," I say slowly. "We're just dating."

She nods. "Yeah, but you've been in love with him for so long. It's fine if it doesn't happen, but I think it will."

"Don't jinx it."

She laughs and hugs me. "Alright. Just know, I'm fine with you being gay or pan or whatever the heck is out there. As long as you're safe."

"Thanks mom."

"Now, do you love him?" She asks. I nod. "And you're sure he won't hurt you?" I nod again. "Then it's fine. Just try not to have sex all the t-"

"MOM," I shout. "Jesus, I need holy water now."

"I need to talk to Jack now," she says and gently shoves me out the kitchen. "Jack," she says and drags him inside. 

I awkwardly stand by the door, listening in.

"So, you think you're worthy of my boy, huh?" She says.

"Uh- Mrs. Gaskarth, what-"

"I'm playing the dad role, now answer my question."

"Um... Yes, I do."

"Will you hurt him?"

Pause. "Mrs. Gaskarth, I love your son, and I know I've hurt him before in the past, but I swear I'll never hurt him again. I'm in for the long run."

"That's good enough for me. Just promise you'll keep him safe. There are a lot of bad things out there in the world."

"Of course."

The two of them walk out and my mom shoots me a wink before walking upstairs. Jack wraps his arms around me. "I think I got your mother's blessing to date you."

"A little late is it?" I ask. He laughs and presses his lips against mine. "I mean," I whisper. "We're already at the 'I love you' stage."

"Well, I love you too," he mumbles and presses his forehead against mine. 

"People always say that it loses its meaning after a while. I don't think it ever will... Not for us at least."

He smiles. "That's because I plan on loving you forever."

I roll my eyes. "Feels like a proposal."

"Do you want me to?"

"Jack, no-"

He laughs. "Maybe someday?"

I smile. "Yeah, someday."