A. Gaskarth

"You're nothing. You should kill yourself the way you tried to all those years ago, you fag," my father screams at me from his hospital bed. "You ruin everything. Jack is only there because he's afraid you'll die and people will turn to him. You mean nothing!"  He screams to my face. Then I hear a crowd behind me, repeating his words like a robot. I turn and see Jack, Ryan, Tyler- all my friends- my mom- Tom. I cover my ears and scream. 

I gasp and open my eyes. Jack sits up and stares at me. I breathe shakily and stare at him, tears rolling down my cheeks. He silently puts his arms around me and pats my back. "Shhh, it's okay, I'm here," he whispers. "Do you want to tell me what happened?" 

"My dad- he was saying hurtful things- but then I turned around and everyone I know was saying it to me- even you." 

"Lex- I would never-"

"I know! But something about the thought-" I sigh and close my eyes. "I'm sorry for waking you up."

"Alex, you can wake me up whenever. I'd much rather go with no sleep and help you than get sleep and have you suffer alone." 

"I love you so much," I mumble, pressing my head to the crook of his neck. 

"I love you too, Lex," he answers and pulls away. "Do you want to try and get some sleep?" He whispers, tracing mindless circles on my cheek with his thumb. I nod and lay down. He lays down, facing me. "Goodnight, I hope you get better dreams this time," he whispers. 

~~~

I wake up and find my arms around my boyfriend, and my head resting on his chest. His eyes flutter open and he smiles. Suddenly, the alarm goes off. Jack groans and slams his hand on it. 

"Come on, we have to go to school. It's that karaoke-singing thing today."

"Right, I wrote songs for some of our friends," I smile. He kisses my cheek and gets out of bed. I go straight to the bathroom as he changes. I wash my face and comb down my mess of hair. I start brushing my teeth and he comes in, wrapping his arms around my torso. He gently kisses my neck before leaving. I walk out of the bathroom to change. He smiles and walks into the bathroom. 

~~~

"Are any of you singing today?" Tyler asks when everyone arrives. Everyone nods in reply. "Maybe we should try doing all original songs. Since other people might do popular shit." 

"We're already doing an original song," Jack says, putting his arm around me. I grin and nod. 

"Same," Brendon says, grabbing his boyfriend's hand. 

"Wait- are we all doing original songs? Damn- this wasn't even planned!" Dallon exclaims. "Also, I have a... friend that might come- so like... try to tame yourselves." 

"First of all, it is planned because of the author-" Awsten blinks. Everyone stares at him. He just shrugs. "Secondly, you have other friends? Thirdly, are you the one that always causes trouble?" 

"True," everyone nods in agreement. 

"Y'all are mean," Dallon pouts. 

"EVERYONE TO THE GYM FOR KARAOKE-SONG DAY!" An announcement booms over the speaker, scaring half of our squad to death. Everyone cheers. 

"PEPE AND PATRICIA SQUAD- GO!" 

We all walk to the gym at a fast pace. I swear, we probably look like a gang. We stop and push ahead to the front. 

"Alright, alright, alright! Welcome to the third school karaoke get together! Today multiple students will come up and sing for you!" Mr. Perry says, he claps and the students follow his lead. "Alright, first up, Brendon Urie!" He says. Brendon grins and *yeets* up to the stage. He grabs a mic and walks over to plug his phone into the speaker. 

"Hello ya lil donut holes! I'm Urie, Brendon Urie and I'm here to fill your ears with soothing notes and high-notes! Enjoy! This song is called Golden Days!" 

After he performs, after dropping the mic twice, everyone bursts out into cheering. He laughs and jumps off the stage. Ryan kisses him and watches as Kellin and Vic walk up. 

"We'll be back later, but we wanted to hype the fuck outta everyone, this song is called King for a Day!" A group of people hop onto the stage with them, I spot Vic's brother, I see another guy, and... Mr. Perry?

They start with a soft tune from the guitar. I turn at Jack. And then suddenly... BOOM. Kellin and Vic start screaming lyrics while everyone behind him violently plays their instruments. Jack smirks. 

"WOOOO!" 

After they stop, the crowd goes crazy. I'm pretty sure a mosh pit started. Awsten rolls onto the stage and stares at everyone. Silently. He just stares. Then he smiles. "Hi! I'm Awsten Knight. This is Otto Wood, and our friend that doesn't even go to our school, Geoff Wigington. This kick-ass song is called Stupid for You!!!" He shouts. 

Everyone starts dancing, bumping into each other. They finish the song and Awsten falls off the stage. Andy laughs and picks his... boyfriend up??? Are they dating? Can't really tell yet. 

Then another group walks up. A group of three. "Hi, if none of you know us, it's because we're new. But fuck that. I'm Remington Kropp, this is Emerson Kropp, and my older bro, Sebastian Kropp. This is Mr. Doctor Man." 

They start playing and everyone in the squad makes eye contact. 

"Duuude, they should join us!"

"Bitch, they too cool for us," Awsten shouts at Dallon. Andy leans down and whispers something to Awsten. Awsten's cheeks turn pink. 

The Kropp brothers finish and walk off stage. I turn to Jack and he grabs my hand. We both jump upstage. 

"Hi," I say, grabbing the mic. Jack grabs the guitar and starts tunning it. "I'm Alex Gaskarth, this is Jack Barakat. We're going to sing to you a song- duh. We'll both come back up later- yeah, anyway- this song is called Dear Maria, Count Me In." I clear my throat and start the song. 

The rush of energy that I get from the crowd keeps me going. I finish the song and grin, looking at Jack. He's also grinning like an idiot. We both jump down and the squad claps again. 

Brendon and Ryan jump up. "Hi! I'm Brendon, this is Ryan. If ya don't know us, then fuck you. I was the first one on stage. Anyway, this song is called Northern Downpour, and we're about the change the fucking mood of this entire gym- be prepared to shed tears. Alright, yeah!" Brendon babbles before Ryan starts playing an acoustic guitar. 

After the song, Jack and I just hug. That song was beautiful. Ryan and Brendon walk off stage. "Damn, you two- fuckin power couples hurt my heart," I mumble. Jack nods. The entire squad bombards them with questions. 

"Wait- I'm next," Kellin says. Vic raises an eyebrow while Kellin jumps up. "So... I'm kinda glad my friends ruined the energy and turned it into a quiet-ass gym because so am I. I wrote this song for my boyfriend, and... yeah. There isn't really a title, but I'll just call it James Dean and Audrey Hepburn," he says. I spot a guy in the back playing the acoustic guitar. 

After the song, Kellin jumps down and Vic crashes into him, pulling him into a kiss. All of us fawn over how cute they are until I realize Andy walking up to the stage. 

"I'm Andy Biersack. I dedicate this song to anyone who's ever felt lost or anyone who feels like they don't belong. I call it We Don't Belong." 

By the end of the song, the gym had gone crazy. We look around to see who's going next. 

By the time we're all the last performance, we've seen practically everyone. Dallon got up with his friend from another school, Ryan Seaman or something. Tyler and Josh played Car Radio, Gerard and Frank went up and played a song called I'm Not Okay. And the whole time, Sarah and Jenna danced like idiots. 

I walk up to the stage, leaving a very confused Jack Barakat behind. "Hi... Uhm, Mr. Perry let me take the last slot. I wrote this song a while ago. It's called Drugs and Candy." 

~~~

"I love you. I love you so fucking much," Jack says as soon as I get off the stage. He picks me up and follows everyone out to the field. He finally sits me down on a bench. "I can't believe you made me have so many feelings." 

"Yeah, that was really good," Kellin says. 

"Thanks," I answer shyly. Jack slings his arm around my shoulders and kisses my cheek. 

"Hi everyone. I'm Ryan Seaman-"

"Squad, this is my friend from another school. His school is off today, so he agreed to play a song with me!" Dallon shoots us a warning glare before sitting down.

"Nice to meet you, Ryan," Tyler says. Everyone murmurs similar words. 

"Uhm- Dallon, I have to go... I'll see you at ba-"

"UH! Yes, I will see you later at the... Get together," Dallon nearly shouts. He pushes Ryan to the side and walks him to his car. 

"Uh- guys?" I stare up at the sky. Jack looks up and looks at me. "Guys? Girls? Anyone?" I say, staring back down at them, as they talk about god knows what. 

"VROS! It looks like it's about to rain!" Brendon suddenly shouts. I roll my eyes and pushes my head against Jack's arm. He shakes his head. 

"Attention all student, please get inside, a thunderstorm is about to start, I repeat, get back inside to the gym. A thunderstorm is about to start. Thank you," the lady on the announcements says. All of us jump up and run inside. 

I look over and see Kellin, Vic, and Andy share a glance. I furrow my eyebrows and turn to Jack. Jack looks over at them and then they run. Andy stops, spins around and grabs Sarah. All of them run away. 

"The fuck?" Jack scoffs. I shrug. 

"I'd like to know what's going on. Should we follow them?" 

"Hell yes," Jack answers. 

A/N

A lighthearted-ish chapter for once. Uhm... ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) 

I think we're at rising action atm. *shrug* 

~Lunar