Jack glanced at his watch. An hour and a half until his band's concert started. He was really looking forward to performing. It was a charity concert, and there would be several other bands and singers as well, but it would be a great chance to gain popularity. The only problem Jack could foresee was that the blond brat, Jack's rival, was going to be there as well, but Jack decided to ignore it and just have a good time.
He stood up, adjusting his navy blue V-neck and dark gray skinny jeans. He pulled out his phone, using the screen as a mirror to fix a few loose strands of reddish hair before pocketing the device and walking to the table of merchandise to scope out his band's tee's and hoodies.
As he wandered over, his foot came in contact with something, and he looked down to see a tipped cup and a rapidly spreading puddle of coffee.
"Shit!" He cursed and jumped back before the liquid could reach his clean white shoes. He noticed that he had knocked whoever's cup right onto a pile of papers, which were now absorbing the coffee. The writing on the papers looked like a mix between musical notes and words, a song if Jack had a guess. He opened his mouth to apologize when he was abruptly cut off.
"Watch it!" a voice snarled. Jack turned to see none other than Ralph Whatshisname, the singer and guitarist that he hated. "You just ruined several hour of hard work. Way to go, jackass."
Jack no longer wanted to apologize. Clearly it had been an accident. He would never intentionally sabotage someone's work, no matter who they were. The fact that this kid thought he would stoop so low made Jack angry.
"Well, maybe if you and your stupid song weren't right in the middle of the path, I wouldn't have run into them!" he retorted. It was true. Ralph's lyrics and styrofoam cup were inconveniently placed just a bit too close to the walkway, and the boy himself was not far behind, sitting on the grass, guitar in his lap.
"Maybe," Ralph hissed, "if you paid attention to where you put your damn feet instead of staring ahead like a lovestruck schoolgirl we wouldn't be having this conversation."
Oh, Jack was definitely not going to apologize now.
"Last I checked, idiot, it is one of the most stupid ideas to leave a cup without a lid near anything of value. Even you should know that," Jack growled.
"Last I checked, the world was full of far too many self-absorbed pricks like yourself!" Ralph spat, standing up and clenching his fists. His lip was raised obnoxiously, and he tilted his chin up at Jack in arrogance. Jack wanted nothing more than to wipe that look off his face, preferably with an uppercut to the jaw.
Right as he raised a fist to do just that, a figure pushed between the two quarreling males.
He was laughably small, Jack thought, but the stern look he wore on his face was enough to be intimidating, even if the gun at his belt was not.
"Both of you stop right now," he commanded. Jack stole a glance at his badge: Officer Simon. "You are disrupting the peaceful environment, and if you don't quit it this instant, people will start leaving."
Jack and Ralph both looked around and realized he was right. People were staring at them with judgmental looks. Some even looked disdainful.
"You." Simon turned to Jack. "No fighting. If it gets physical, I will have to ask you to leave, and you will not get a chance to perform."
Jack scowled and Ralph sniggered.
"Same goes for you," Simon reprimanded, and it was Jack's turn to smirk as Ralph was instantly cowed.
"But he started it!" Ralph protested. "If he hadn't spilled my coffee, none of this mess would've happened," he whined.
Jack couldn't believe it. How in the world was this his fault? That wasn't even remotely fair.
Apparently Simon agreed, because he raised his hand to silence the boy.
Jack sent Ralph a triumphant grin. He froze, however, upon hearing the officer's next words.
"Listen, I don't normally do something so drastic, but since there seems to be no other way, I need you both to put up you wrists." He waited for them to comply, which they did reluctantly, and snapped a handcuff around Jack's wrist.
For a heart-stopping moment, Jack thought that he was being arrested, but he realized that it wasn't the case when Simon fastened the other cuff around Ralph's wrist.
Jack and Ralph jerked their hands away, belatedly, causing the metal circlets to clash against both of their wrists. Jack let out a hiss of pain, and Ralph rubbed the skin that would surely have a bruise later. Jack met Ralph's glare, and hoped he looked half as murderous.
Simon waved a key in front of their faces with a jingling sound.
"You can take them off when you learn to get along," he said, pocketing the key and walking away.
"Look what you did!" Ralph yelled as soon as he was out of earshot.
Jack looked scandalized. "What I did? If you hadn't had to go and run your mouth, we wouldn't be attached together," he said, pointedly tugging at the handcuffs.
Ralph glowered at Jack for a few seconds longer, before his eyes grew wide as he realized something.
"The concert!" he exclaimed. "How am I going to perform like this?" he asked, raising his cuffed wrist for emphasis.
Jack grudgingly admitted that Ralph was right: they were in no shape to go on stage.
"Well, we have to figure something out," Jack pointed out logically.
"I can't play guitar like this!" Ralph sounded really worried.
"Then I guess you won't be playing guitar, now will you?" Jack retorted sarcastically, causing Ralph to fall silent.
"Do you have a knife?" Ralph asked suddenly.
"No, of course not! Why do you need one, anyway?" Jack asked suspiciously.
"I'll cut my damned hand off if I have to!" Ralph nearly shouted.
"Don't be ridiculous. You can't play guitar with one hand! And I do not want your nasty blood on my clothes. Try not to be stupider than you can help." Jack said scornfully.
"Well, do you have a better idea, Thou Great and Powerful Jack?" Ralph turned on him.
"No, not at the moment, but we only have an hour to figure it out, so we have to agree on something, and fast," Jack insisted.
Ralph thought about it for a while, a look of disgust plastered on his face.
"Fine."
...
Forty-five minutes and a wardrobe change later, Jack and Ralph were almost ready to perform. Musicians from both bands littered the stage, ready to play the songs they had agreed on.
By the time the two stepped onto the platform, dusk had fallen, and spotlights glared into Jack's eyes, temporarily blinding him.
The crowd, mostly made up of teenage girls, was silent, probably wondering why the two attractive rival singers were on stage together, linked with handcuffs, no less. As the first few chords of a familiar song started playing, they quickly warmed up.
Jack gripped the microphone on the stand with his left hand, beginning to sing, slowly and deeply as Ralph stood with his head bowed. The audience began to clap and sway to the music, singing along to the relaxed tune. As the first verse ended, Jack lowered his head as Ralph lifted his, raising his own microphone to his lips.
Jack listened to his voice. It wasn't bad, not at all. In fact, it was rather pleasant, when it wasn't being used to yell hateful things, anyway.
As the final chorus came to a close, the crowd was much more awake and active, waiting impatiently for the next song.
The next song was more upbeat, and Jack, along with Ralph, began to walk across the stage, reaching their cuffed hands into the audience and using their free hands to hold the microphones.
They did this for two more songs, and during the final song, between the movement, the altitude of the stage, and the lights shining on him, Jack began to get hot. Sweat dripped from his forehead, and he pushed his damp bangs out of his face. His sweat-soaked white shirt clung to his body, and he must have looked sexy, because he heard a few screams from the crowd.
Jack decided to have a bit of fun and take things further. His fingers closed around the seam of his shirt, and he pulled his hand up, flashing the audience with his toned abdomen and chest.
Loud whistles and screaming was heard, and Jack winked, licking his lips.
Ralph must have been trying to outdo him, for in the next few seconds he had ripped the shirt from his body, and tossed it somewhere that Jack did not care about.
Deafening shrieks were heard, and camera's flashed, but Jack noticed none of them.
In that moment, time for Jack stopped, and he could not take his eyes away from the sight before him. He hungrily took in the smooth, pale neck and tanned arms of the boy in front of him, a spark of desire igniting in his stomach.
Some animalistic force took over his mind, and before he could stop himself, Jack had lifted his hand to Ralph's collar bones. He slowly trailed his finger tips down his smooth chest, feeling the ripples of his abs.
The crowd was going crazy.
Jack's hand came to a stop at Ralph's waistband, and he was pleased to see goosebumps rising on the boy's heated skin. Jack hooked his fingers though Ralph's belt loops and tugged, looking lustfully down at him as the younger's hands came to rest on his clothed chest.
The spark grew into a blazing fire, and Jack could hold back no longer. He lunged forward, capturing Ralph's lips forcefully with his own.
The audience roared.
A hand fisted in Jack's hair, fingers weaving between the orange strands. Jack smirked, pulling back and running his tongue along Ralph's jaw and up his cheek, earning a soft moan from the younger.
Neither had ever heard louder cheering in their lives.
As the final notes of the song finished, Jack raised his and Ralph's hands, standing proudly before the wildly applauding crowd.
After the show was over, true to his word, Simon released them from their metal confines.
Jack moved to leave, but he stopped when a hand caught at his own. He turned to see Ralph staring up at him.
"Why did you do that?" Ralph whispered, eyes roaming Jack's freckled face as if he would find the answer there. He didn't seem angry, more curious than anything.
"Do what?" Jack asked dumbly, staring brazenly at Ralph's lips, which seemed incredibly appetizing at the moment.
"On stage," Ralph said simply, as if it would explain everything.
Jack smirked naughtily, stepping closer until his lips were beside Ralph's ear.
"I couldn't resist," he breathed, darting his tongue out to flick over the shell of Ralph's ear.
Ralph wrapped his arms around Jack's neck and Jack caught a whiff of his alluring scent; he knew he was addicted.
"It's a good thing, Jack Merridew, that I don't have much patience either." Ralph pressed his chest against Jack's, nibbling his earlobe as the older shivered.
"Because tonight, you're mine."