-I deleted So Sad About Us because it didn't turn out the way I wanted, and there was some bug with FanFiction that made a lot of apostrophes into question marks. Anyways, this is a one-shot song fic to Mr. Brightside by the Killers, my favorite modern band. I love their album, Hot Fuss. Their synthesizers remind me of the 80's and Who's Next by The Who. If 80's music and Who's Next had a kid, it would be Hot Fuss. But anyway, here's the story!-

Coming out of my cage
And I've been doing just fine

Zack had been the quiet one in the band ever since Dewey Finn had first come into their lives, but all that changed when he entered ninth grade. High school changed him, making him louder, more confident. At first, he's been the same person, but slowly he starting speaking up.

By the end of the year, he was talking all the time, and his reputation as the smart kid was fading fast. Over the summer, Zack became more and more open, and when August came around, he was ready for school and for a whole new him.

People were surprised with him during the first few weeks of school, surprised that he was talking all the time. Eventually he was invited to parties all the time, and everyone talked to him.

Everyone liked him.

Gotta gotta be down
Because I want it all

But now, he was feeling pressured. People wanted him to be everywhere at once, but there was only one place he wanted to be. He wanted to be with her. But he wanted to be with everyone else too.

He wanted it all, but he couldn't have it all. And he knew that he couldn't be with her, not anymore. He'd heard that she was going out to clubs with Freddy all the time, that she was always with him.

Zack knew that he shouldn't believe a rumor, that he should look into it himself. He didn't want to pry into her life, but it had become an obsession lately. He hid his obsession well, he could even talk to her without choking on his own words.

The obsession had all come from that one night, that one kiss...

It started out with a kiss
How did it end up like this?
It was only a kiss,
It was only a kiss.
He'd been at a party, and she'd been there too.

"Hey Katie."

"Hey Zack."

It had started out like that, so simple. In a few minutes they were sitting on a couch, talking and talking, on and on. They talked until it was late, until most people had left the party.

On impulse, Zack had leaned in, and Katie had done the same. They shared one electric kiss, a kiss that had stayed on his lips ever since, a kiss that he dwelled on every second of every hour. It was that kiss that had started this obsession.

Maybe he wouldn't have obsessed over her if she had acted like she remembered the kiss, and he knew she did, because there were no drinks at the party. It was something she chose to dismiss, but he wasn't going to let go of it. Not ever.

Now I'm falling asleep,
And she's calling a cab
While he's having a smoke,
And she's taking a drag

Zack had found out that Freddy and Katie were going out to a club on this night, and he decided to follow them. He tried to blend in with the crowd, and he made sure they didn't see him. He watched as the couple laughed, and then, just before they left, they kissed.

He felt a rage inside him as they kissed, but he dismissed it and followed them outside, where both of them lit cigarettes. Zack watched them puff away for a few minutes, but then they put their cigarettes out. Katie called a cab and the couple got in.

Zack called a cab, and said to the driver, "Follow the cab in front of us, but do it as inconspicuously as possible." The cab went down the road, following Katie's cab, until both cabs stopped at Katie's house.

Freddy and Katie entered the house, and Zack saw a light come on. He paid the driver and hurried over to the window, which gave him a clear display of everything that was happening in the room.

Then they go into bed
And my stomach is sick
And it's all in my head,
But she's touching his chest now

He takes off her dress now

The couple was in a bedroom, but it still didn't occur to Zack that they might fool around. He started to realize what was happening when Katie touched Freddy's chest tenderly. He took off her short green dress, and Zack's mouth opened in horror.

Were they really going to? The couple started to kiss; they were really going to. Zack felt sick to his stomach, all he could remember was the kiss.

Let me go
I just can't look,
It's killing me
And taking control

He closed his eyes tight; he couldn't watch anymore. If he opened his eyes again, he knew what he's see. And he didn't want to see it. Maybe if he didn't see it, he could pretend it never happened. Maybe...

Jealousy - turning saints into the sea
Swimming through sick lullabies
Choking on your alibi

The jealousy swelled up in him, making him feel murderous. But he knew that he couldn't kill anyone. He wouldn't be able to bring himself to do it, and he'd only regret it later. Maybe Zack wasn't the smartest kid in class anymore, but he had enough common sense to keep his id in check. (a/n for those who don't know, the id is a Freudian theory of three parts of a person, superego-conscience, id-wants to do crazy things, ego-chooses between id and superego impulses)

He would ask Katie what she had done on Friday night, and he knew what her answer would be. She would try to act innocent, say something like, "I went to the club, then I went home." Which was true, but it wasn't the whole truth.

He would give her a glare that told her that he knew what she'd really done, and then she'd choke. She'd choke on her stupid innocent alibi.

But it's just the price I pay
Destiny is calling me
Open up my eager eyes
'Cos I'm Mr. Brightside

Maybe it was all his fault. Maybe this was his price to pay, because he never took action after the kiss. He should've asked her out, he should've talked to her. There were a lot of things he should've done.

But right now, fate was telling him something. And that something was that no matter how much he had loved that kiss, no matter how bad he wanted it now he couldn't have it ever again. Katie wasn't meant for him.

Despite his reasoning about fate, Zack was still jealous. He turned himself around and opened his eyes, which had been shut the whole time. And then he started walking.

He couldn't call a cab in the suburbs, he'd have to walk home or call a cab when he got back into the city. He realized how cold it was outside and wished that he could have her warm, electric kiss to make him toasty. He thought about how Freddy was getting one of those kisses right now. How his obsession with Katie and her kiss had grown and grown, blown out of proportion to the point where he was spying on her. And what had started it all?

He whispered to himself as he walked. "It was only a kiss, it was only a kiss."

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