A/N: Ughh, ew. Stupid new stuff on this site pisses me off. Now I have only like... 28 days to post a chapter for everything, or actually save them on wordpad where they disappear. Ew. Ihatenewrules. I can never be happy, huh?


Alex squeezed his eyes shut, taking in a deep breath as he tried his hardest to clear his mind. He allowed his hair to freely fall in his face as he continued to blindly walk out of the movie theatre. There was no way he would be able to stay there. Not with Jackie there, and certainly not with his entire mind paranoid about Chris. He blocked out the voices of other people that he passed, as well as the odd stares he felt hovering over him. Pushing the door open, he rubbed his temples, opening his eyes to stare at the passing concrete. Where would he go though? He was pretty sure he knew his way back home, but did he really want to go there? With a tiny shake of his head, he frowned, thinking over his possible choices. He was getting pretty sick of Jeff's, the locker rooms were probably all locked, and it wasn't like anyone would welcome him willingly into their own homes. He sighed in defeat, stopping to lean against a nearby building, his frown still planted firmly on his face.

He huffed suddenly with a roll of his eyes. He crossed his arms stiffly across his chest, watching people pass by, none sparing him a passing glance. He had a feeling in his gut that he should've seen this coming. He narrowed his eyes at the ground, anger over-coming him. He would never be feeling like this if Chris hadn't forgotten about his promise. Alex groaned, pushing all of those thoughts into the back of his mind. He really wasn't in the mood to deal with Chris. All he really wanted was for things to go back to normal. Back to when Chris was too busy soaking in all of the glory of being a serious competitor to notice that Alex was stuck in the shadows of everybody else.

"You okay?" Alex almost ignored the tiny whisper, and even when he glanced over towards the voice, he barely believed that the person was talking to him. He shrugged lightly and stared into the concerned brown eyes of Jackie uneasily. The blonde woman took a step towards him, letting her hand gently fall onto his shoulder. Alex shrugged her away, turning his body from her. "Alex, I'm here to help you, I swear." She stated quietly, pleading him mentally.

"If you want to help, just leave." He spat, his anger still clearly visible. Someone had been hanging out with Chris for far too long. Jackie sighed, pushing her hair behind her ear and letting her hands fall to her sides. She bit down on her bottom lip, sighing deeply.

"I know you don't exactly favor me, and I'm fine with that, I don't even really know you. I'm just worried about you, alright? Don't you even want to talk about anything?" She pleaded, her eyes wide with concern. Alex sent her a tiny glance out of curiosity. He jammed his hands into his pockets after studying her for a while before opening his mouth.

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly one of the best people to talk to, alright? I'm the joke of the locker room, so I'll spare you the humiliation. Just walk away and we'll both pretend this never happened, deal?" He stared into her eyes once again and he almost regretted it. Her eyes filled up with hot tears at his words. She felt her heart lunge and she only wanted to reach out and pull him into a tight hug. With a tiny shake of her head and a hopeful smile, she blinked back the tears, even if both of them could tell they were still there.

"Alex, don't listen to those assholes. You have Chris, Austin, Kevin and me and that's all you really need. We're here for you, trust me. You just have to believe in what we're saying. None of us would purposely hurt you, ever." She explained, resisting the urge to place her hand on his shoulder and act as if she were talking to Chris again. Alex bowed his head to the ground, letting her words sink into his mind. A moment of silence lingered in the air between the two and after what seemed like hours, the silence was instantly killed by a sharp laugh coming from Alex. Jackie snapped her head back in his direction, having been staring at the concrete beneath her heeled feet. He continued laughing as a smile that looked almost along the lines of crazy adorned his face. Even Jackie had to admit he looked pretty cute when he smiled, even if it wasn't a true smile. She stopped herself from saying anything as her thoughts backtracked in her head. Did she just say Alex was cute? No. She couldn't be thinking like this. But it really wasn't that bad, right? She was only saying he was cute, not that she liked him or anything... She mentally groaned. Who was she fooling? She practically admitted it to him hours ago, even if no one was really sure whether she meant it or not. She just happened to be at the right place at the right time with the right words. Plus, there was always Chris. He wanted Alex and Jackie knew that no matter what happened, Alex wouldn't give a damn about her and her feelings for him. Chris had worked so hard to get to where he was and she wasn't about to let herself ruin it. Taking in a deep breath, she allowed her puzzeled expression to finally direct itself towards Alex and his insane laughter.

"What?" She asked uneasily, watching him grin at her, almost as if he was losing all of his stable mentality. She frowned deeply, staring at him unsurely, not entirely certain on what she should be doing while he was acting like this.

"You're such a liar. Really. You actually think Kevin and Austin and Chris and you all care about me!? Ha. Give me a break, Jessica." He waved her off with a roll of his lit-up brown eyes. Jackie went to correct him on her name, but remained silent, pretty sure it would be better if she let him continue on with his rant. "Kevin, he's always too drunk to care whether I'm alive or not while Austin's constantly wrapped up in that Christy chick. Chris' just... ugh. He's just himself and just confuses the hell out of me. And then you... you shun me and sit there with that Christy whore all the time and then out of the blue, you act like you care. What? Did you and Chris get together and decide that you'll both play with my mind and pretend to care? Or is something in the water?" Alex continued grinning, staring down at her while the lights reflected in his shining eyes. Jackie stared at herself through her reflection in his chocolate-brown eyes, or at least what she could see through his hair. She honestly had no idea what to do or say anymore.

"I really don't know anything about Kevin or Austin to be honest with you, but I do know for a fact that me and Chris do care. Alex, I wouldn't lie to you, especially about something this serious. We barely know each other, and yet, I'm standing here in the middle of the dark on some lonely sidewalk begging you to tell me what's wrong. Please. Neither me nor Chris want to see you like this." Jackie averted her eyes back to the ground as Alex's grin dissolved into an expressionless form. Another silence filled the air. Instead of insane laughter, Alex's calm voice broke it this time.

"You're just like Chris, only less annoying." He admitted, letting a tiny sigh escape his lips. Jackie blinked, unsure whether to take that as a compliment or not. "All I really want right now is to be left alone so I can think, alright? Because all you and Chris have been doing to me lately is making me more and more stressed out." Jackie felt her throat tighten up at his words, though she couldn't really explain why. Alex stiffly crossed his arms across his chest, glaring at the ground in front of him.

"I'm sorry..." The blonde admitted, her shoulders slumping. She bit down on her lip, regret building up inside of her. Now she could tell why Chris wanted to quit so easily and got so worked up everyday. Pushing her hair out of her face, she continued on, "It's just that Chris really does care for you and I only want him to be happy. He wants you to be the Alex he remembers. The one from way back before all of this. He knows you remember how you two were and he knows that you're trying your hardest to shove him away, but both of us have a feeling that you want him to be there for you. So why is it so hard? You're always complaining that no one cares and this man goes out of his way for you and all you do is scream at him and put him down. Why won't you let him in?" Jackie asked, allowing her eyes to look at Alex's. The Michigan native felt his eyes tear up at her words, but he ignored it and tried blinking them back to no avail. It was just too hard. The tiny blonde had a point and he knew it. He reluctantly looked into her brown eyes that begged him to open up. He was out of come backs and explanations and insults. With a small shrug, he thought over what she was asking him.

"I... I... I guess I'm scared of loving him." Even his words confused him. He swallowed the lump in his throat and stared at Jackie expectantly, wondering if she would say anything. When she remained quiet, he pushed his hair back and opened his mouth, "I don't even know why. I hate everything about that guy. Everything he says or does, what he wears, how he looks, even his voice I hate. So why do I love him?" He continued staring at her through glossy eyes, silently praying she would use some of her wisdom on him. He couldn't even begin to explain why he was expressing himself to her. Knowing her, she would probably go and tell Christy, who would tell the entire locker room. Stupid whore, Alex thought bitterly as memories of the red head came rushing back. Jackie felt tears spring to her own eyes. It wasn't like she was disappointed in the fact that she stood no chance against Chris, it was that she actually felt more proud than hurt. She was proud of Alex for willingly opening up to practically a complete stranger, who's name just happened to be her's.

"Alex, you can't help who you fall in love with, I out of all people should know that. But I think that you're falling for Chris because he's one of the only people who's truly determined to help you. He's been there for you since you two were in school. Yeah, you guys had a huge rough patch, but you're over that. And I understand that you're scared of loving him, who isn't scared of falling in love? I remember I was terrified on my first date with my first boyfriend. Love scares people and it's alright, it's what makes it interesting. You just need to open up to him and let your friendship rekindle. Take it slow, alright?" Jackie could barely suppress the grin beginning to tug at the corners of her lips. Right now she felt like jumping up and down, squeezing Alex until his adorable brown eyes popped out of his adorable head, and kissing him as passionately as she could muster before running off to excitedly tell Chris about what she had discovered. Alex nodded along to her words, watching a lone person walk across the street.

"Thanks, really. Just... don't tell anybody about this. I still need time to think, and I don't want more people bugging me, okay?" He mumbled, his eyes pleading as he studied her face. Jackie licked her lips and bit down fiercely on her bottom lip, hoping her grin was still unreadable.

"Yeah, no problem. You can trust me." Jackie placed her hand on his shoulder subconsciously, sincerity clearly in her eyes. Alex let a tiny smile form on his face and Jackie felt her heat melt. At realizing her hand was still on his shoulder, she removed it before she could let it trail his arm. "So... is there anything else you want to talk about?" She questioned curiously, studying him. Alex frowned as he remembered a few more things, not entirely sure if he wanted to share them or not. He closed his eyes briefly before opening them and stuffing his hands into his pockets, deciding it was now or never.

"Uhm... What you said the other day... about you... loving me... was that true?" He asked, watching her hold her breath as he spoke. Jackie's heart beat picked up speed and it began to deafen her. She rubbed her head irritably and let out the breath she was holding in.

"Eh..." What could she say? If she told him now, would it ruin everything Chris had built up with him? And what would happen to what Alex had just admitted to her? But if she didn't say anything, it meant that she would never have a chance with him, ever. Would she really choose the man that she assumed she loved or the man that considered one of her best friends? But if she said no, would her and Chris' excuse need a reason as to why they said it? Jackie felt a huge headache come on. This was all too confusing and frustrating for her to think about right now. Finally, she settled on her decision. "I don't know anymore. I just have a lot of stuff to think about, y'know?" She shrugged emptily and felt his gaze on her, which sent shivers up her spine. Alex nodded curtly, not really caring whether or not she did or didn't. He just really wanted to know the truth about this whole confusing situation.

"Yeah, I'm gonna go. Tell Austin I'll talk to him later." With a tiny wave, he turned on his heel and headed off down the sidewalk. Jackie muttered a 'bye' and watched him leave, her heart wanting to reach out to him. He didn't seem too hurt by her answer, which she considered to be a good thing, even if it had hurt her. With a tiny sigh, she turned back towards the movie theatre after she could no longer see his retreating figure. Things were so much easier before she had noticed Alex.


Chris jumped at the sudden knock on his door. He rubbed his tired eyes and glanced at the clock under the TV. He sighed at seeing it was eleven P.M. He wasn't exactly in the mood to deal with anybody right now, but when the knocking continued on, he stood up. Placing his book on the coffee table in front of him, he trudge to the door, hoping it wasn't anybody expecting a chat. He unlocked the door and opened it, his jaw nearly dropping at the person before him.

"Uhm... Hi?" He felt his stomach drop and his heart picked up speed. Kevin smirked at seeing Chris' expression and offered a taunting wave of hello.

"Hey, Chris." He grinned slyly, making himself welcome by walking through the door past Chris and plopping on his couch. Chris barely had time to blink before Kevin had his feet up on the coffee table and was leaning back in the couch.

"Uhm... Kevin, is there a problem?" The dirty-blonde man raised an eyebrow uneasily as he closed the door, slowly making his way to Kevin. He sat on the side farthest away from the bigger man, not sure whether or not he would randomly attack him or not.

"Actually, yeah, there is a problem." Kevin eyed Chris for a few moments, a frown planted on his face. Chris furrowed his eyebrows together, his mouth running dry as he anticipated what was to come from Kevin's mouth next. "You know our little friend Alex, right?" Chris opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out. Instead, he only nodded. "Yeah, there's a bit of situation that needs attention before things get out of hand." Kevin continued on, sitting up straight with both feet firmly planted on the ground. Chris continued staring at Kevin, dreading each word that was spilling from his mouth. "Y'see, I've been noticing a bit of an odd behavior of Alex's as of lately. Ever since you've been hanging around him, he's been more... quiet, upset, reluctant to go places, moody, and more tired. Don't deny it either, me and Austin already have all the facts needed against you. You think you're helping Alex? You're not. So if you back off now, we'll all pretend this never happened and you can go off to win more championships without having to worry about a suicidal guy by your side. Yeah, I know about the whole thing, so close your mouth, buddy. However, if you don't back off, you'll have to learn to get used to seeing me a lot more often. You know why? Because as Alex's best friend, I have a right to know what's best for him and what's not, got it?" Chris's eyes widened and his throat tightened as Kevin watched him, clearly amused. "Hopefully I won't be seeing you around, kiddo." With a wink, he stood up and strode to the door, leaving Chris to think over what he had said.


Austin cleared his throat uneasily as he looked around himself. He bit down on his lip before fixing his cap, eyeing Christy out of the corner of his eye. The spunky red-head was glowering at the giant screen, impatiently waiting for Jackie to return. Austin could've sworn that Alex and his supposed girlfriend were off sticking their tongues down each other's throat somewhere. Poor Christy... He thought, something resembling a sincere look appearing on his face as he continued to study the woman beside him. She's missing her comfort blanket of a friend too much to notice that-

"I know you're watching me." Christy snapped harshly, causing Austin to leave his thoughts alone. He blinked blankly, frowning. "It doesn't take a brain surgeon to realize some horny bastard is staring at them, especially when they look like this." She pointed at her body, glaring into Austin's blue eyes. The man clenched his jaw at her words, but kept his thoughts to himself. The two went back to watching the movie, neither sure what to say next. Austin was out of pick-up lines and compliments while Christy had plenty more insults to hurl at him and his huge ego. They both sat in silence, each trying to get into the movie, even if they had no idea what was going on. Austin let out a tiny yawn and stretched out his arms, letting his right one land comfortably around Christy's shoulders. She barely turned to glance at his hand before rolling her eyes and groaning.

"Something wrong?" Austin asked innocently, trying to strike up a conversation. Christy took in a deep breath before narrowing her blue eyes at him and drawing her hand back and slapping him as hard as she could across the face. Austin gasped, clutching his face in pain. "What was that for!?" He exclaimed, his face contorting into a pained expression. Christy huffed, snatching her purse and standing up.

"Jackass." She growled before stomping off and out of the theatre, leaving Austin alone. Only the people around him continued staring. He glared at a few of them before pushing himself up and numbly following in her footsteps, hoping to catch her before she had left.


"Chris!" Jackie called, pounding on Chris' door hurriedly. "Chris, it's me, Jackie!" She chewed on her lip nervously, hoping she wasn't being too loud. She had sent a text to Christy to tell her she had a headache and was heading home, so that took care of one problem. As soon as she was about to open her mouth again, the door opened and Chris stood there, his eyes red and his hair disheveled. "Are you okay?" She asked, worry overcoming her as she made herself welcomed by rushing inside. Chris shrugged, slamming the door behind himself and following her to the couch. "Tell me what happened." She sat next to him on the couch, her hand falling onto his knee as she stared at him, awaiting his explanation.

"Nothing's wrong, honestly." He shook his head, deciding he would sleep on Kevin's words before talking to Jackie about it. "But... what's wrong with you? It's a little late to come dropping by my place just to say hi..." He pointed out, trying to put on his best smile. Jackie sighed, pushing her hair back. She didn't really know why she wanted to come here anyway. Was it really fair to Alex is she spilled his secret to Chris? The last person he wanted to know? And it wouldn't actually be fair if she told Chris how she felt for Alex. So there was no point in her random visit.

"Uhm... Christy has my key and she's out with Austin, so I'm locked out and I need a place to crash, at least for a bit." She lied, hoping it was believable enough. Chris nodded as he yawned tiredly. He wasn't exactly used to staying up this late and talking.

"Yeah, you can stay here. Jay and Sonjay are out clubbing tonight, they won't be back until way later. You can take Jay's bed if you want. If not, the couch is pretty comfortable too." He shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck as another yawn escaped his lips. Jackie smiled, grateful at his offer.

"Thanks, really." The blonde's eyelids felt heavy and her lips parted for a small yawn. "You're the best." She gave him a quick hug before taking off her heels, which were killing her feet, and plopping onto Jay's bed. She ran her hand through her hair and quickly crawled under the blankets, not caring whether or not she was comfortable in the clothes she was wearing. Chris wouldn't care, either. The man turned off the light and blindly made his way to his bed, no words emitting from him. When she heard him get in his bed and finally stop moving, Jackie closed her eyes, trying to push all of her thoughts to the back of her mind. Meanwhile, Chris kept his thoughts in the front of his mind, thinking them over and trying to comprehend them.


A/N: Yay, another chapter down! Poor Chris... Poor Jackie? Kinda poor Austin. Haha. Please R&R!