ali time low

"Where is my- you took it!!" he laughs, shaking his head, speaking of his flannel that you were wearing.

"Sorry. do you want it back? My flannel was getting kind of drab," you grin nervously.

"You look better in it than I do," he smiles. He waves you closer, and you walk toward him. He puts one hand on your waist and one on your cheek.

"So much better," he smirks, ghosting your lips with his. 

"Michael, I'm fine with this 'living' thing; kissing, no labels, sleeping over, all of it. But teasing? I dunno Clifford," you shake your head.

"C'mon, Y/N. You know I'd never leave you hangin'," he smiles, pulling your lips to his with the hand he had on your face. His scruff tickles your lips and you giggle. This is what you imagine dating him would be like. 

Well i technically, I am, you think. Just without dates or the label. You both head downstairs and the boys walk in. The trio were all wearing black skinnies and various band shirts; the usual. Calum has a bottle of whiskey in each hand.

"Calum what the hell? it's 8 in the morning," you laugh at the dark haired boy.

"For later!! Not for now! But I thought we could all just hang and then get TOTALLY shitfaced later," he laughs.

"I was thinking of going out tonight..like the 5 of us could go to a club? I mean it is New Year's Eve," Ashton suggests.

"Yeah!" Calum shouts. You roll your eyes and put the bottles in the kitchen. The 5 of you sit down on the couch and some movie plays in the background. You curl into a ball on the arm chair, and Luke comes to cuddle. You sit on the part of the chair he wasn't, your bum touching his thigh. Your legs were thrown over him, and your head rested on his shoulder. You look over to the couch, and Michael's face was almost as red as his hair. 

Was he jealous? You guys were still just friends with benefits, and you and Luke were pals. What was the big deal?

Many fifa matches, a pizza pie, and 2 Camp Rocks later, the boys went home to change, and you were going to give Mike a lift to the club, stopping so you could put clothes on first. 

"Mikey," you knock on the door to his bedroom.

"Come in!" he says back. He's standing by the closet, trying to find a shirt. 

"Dude, were you jealous before? Of me and Luke? Because you know we're-"

"Just friends, yes i know. And I'm not saying I wanna date, I want to stay like this for a while -- if that's okay!" he adds quickly, "But I dunno I just got a little jealous. But I mean we're going out tonight and you'll find some guy to go home with, I'm sure. I'll be fine. sorry,"

"No, I like honesty! And I might find a guy, I don't know yet, but I mean, we're not exclusive, or anything," you mumble.

"Yeah," he says, emerging into your line of view.

"What do you think?" he asks. He stands in front of you in a pair of black skinnies, and a white button down, unbuttoned a bit. He grabs his leather jacket and adds it on.

"Love it. Now can we go!!!" you whine. He nods and you grab your stuff from the kitchen, and head to the car. Michael plugs in his phone and plays a bunch of first verses before switching songs. You shake your head and park the car in your driveway. Michael follows you inside, plopping himself on the couch. You run upstairs and look at a bunch of different outfits and decide on a tight red dress that hugged you in all the right places with 3/4 length sleeves. You put it on with your your open-toed black heels. You put your curlers in your hair and do your makeup. The pro of having a really old fashioned family was curlers. They took 10 minutes to heat up, and curled your hair while you put your makeup on, cutting so much time out of the routine. You walk downstairs, and Michael stares. 

"Damn. I mean- damn," he says, never peeling his eyes from you. You laugh and tell him to hurry up. He holds the door, acting as a gentleman would, but really just wanted an excuse to look at your ass.  You walk ahead of him, giving him something to look at, and he bites his lip as you get into the driver's seat. 

"You look hot as fuck, you know that, don't you?" he asks.

"Teasing goes both way, Clifford," you reply, not so much as glancing his way. 

"Harsh. Fair, but harsh," he says, laughing softly. He knows you know what kind of power you have over him. But if he wants to stay beneficial friends, so be it. 

"Cal's whiskey is still in my kitchen," michael points out. you raise and eyebrow and drive to Michael’s house. He smirks and you walk into the kitchen, grabbing a bottle and taking a swig. Michael follows suit, and you two sit on the counters of his kitchen, drinking and talking.

"So Cliffoconda, why didn't you want to go to the club? Really?"

"Really?"

"Really."

"Well, my darling, Y/N, I thought we'd have more fun here," he offers.

"Michael. I care about you, okay? You’re my best friend in the whole world, and this whole friends with benefits thing is really fun. But you can't be jealous all the time!! Luke, the club, dude you gotta either ask me out or chill," you slur stubbornly.

"But- I don't wanna date yet!! i can't! I'm just not ready and heaven forbid if we break up it'll make everything awkward and horrible. How about exclusive friends with benefits? But we can go back to being just friends. Like we don't have to make out all the time and stuff," he offers.

"Fine. But just tell me next time," you laugh, taking the last sip of whiskey from the bottle. You frown, and Michael snaps a photo. He tweets it saying "whiskey princess is sad the bottle's empty :(" and tagged you. You shake your head and take the second bottle to the couch. 

"Michael," you start.

"yes," he answers.

"Why don't you want to date yet? And why'd you say ‘yet’?"

"Because I want to get used to kissing my best friend. I mean we had that New Year's thing, but that didn't count. I just wanna go slowly. And because I can see us dating sometime. I dunno," he quietly mumbles. 

"Well, it's almost midnight, and I have a new year's resolution for you," you say, scooting toward him.

"What’s that?" he asks quietly, the smell of whiskey coming from his mouth. 

"Fuck me," you whisper, moving your faces closer together, so that your noses are grazing each other's. "Doesn't have to be tonight, but some time this year you better. Because if we're exclusive I'm not getting any more action." his grandfather clock in the hall chimes 12, and you turn to him, fulfilling the year old tradition. You two met at a New Year's Eve party a few years ago, and he was your New Year's kiss. Every year since, it's been a tradition.

"Even thought I don't have to," he says in between sloppy kisses on your neck, "I think I might,"

masterlist

“Y/N,”

“Alex, what the hell do I do? Why did he write it down? Did he want me to know? Do I tell him or should I-”

“Take a deep breath, for starters,” he laughs. “Then sit down and listen to me. Jack told me. I knew. I was on the phone with him, and gave him the address and that’s why he wrote it down, first of all. And why are you freaking out? You guys have lived together for 4 years. You’re practically married already,”

“I know, but-” you try to start.

“Calm down,” he laughs. “I can tell him you know, if you want?” he offers.

“No! Don’t, please! If he finds out I know I want to tell him,” you say. 

“Okay, well-” Alex is cut off because Jack walks into the back room.

“Hey man! Where’d- is that Lisa?” he asks.

“Nah, it- yeah, it’s Lisa,” he tries. 

“I know you’re lying, but I’m too drunk to care,” he answers, stumbling out. Alex sighs and returns his attention to you.

“Listen, Y/N, he was going to-”

“NO DON’T TELL ME!!” you shout. Alex laughs at your eagerness, and an idea forms in your head and you share it with Alex.

“Oh my lord, Y/N. You’re the most evil and amazing woman,” he says in a stunned voice.

“Awesome,” you say, hanging up, and trying to go to sleep, but your idea is keeping you up.☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼11:34: You eagerly check your phone, and a text from Jack inevitably pops up ‘20 minutes. god i miss you.’ you smile and check the time. He should be in the door by 11:54. You start to shake, and try to take deep breaths. You sit on the couch, and start cleaning the already clean apartment. 

11:50: You start pacing and shaking again. You try to shake off the nerves, and it doesn’t work. 

11:52: You feel like vomiting and see a car pull up into the driveway. It was someone turning around.

11:53: You see another car pull up, and this time the skunk-haired man steps out. You fix yourself in the mirror and take your place 10 feet from the door.

11:54: Jack fumbles with his keys to open the door, and is too distracted by his 3 suitcases to see you.

“Baby!! I-” he stops shouting when he sees you. He stands in shock and starts laughing and crying.

“Jack. You have been-”

“Shouldn’t I be the one kneeling?” he asks, getting down on his knee,mirroring you He pulls out a small velvet box, challenging your ring pop. You shake your head no.

“Jack. Our relationship has been anything but ordinary, so why should this be? I love you. Since high school I’ve loved you. I love when you can’t sleep at night and start playing guitar in the living room so you don’t wake me. I love when you try to cook and it fails miserably-”

“Hey I try!!”

“I know. I love when you pick me up when we hug at the airport, when you text me in the middle of the night due to timezones, I love that you’re sweet and kind to me, and I love that you moved in without me even knowing. I will always love you to the sun and stars, so will you do me the honor of marrying me?” you ask, tears brewing in both your’s and Jack’s eyes.

“That depends, will you promise to be mine forever?” he asks, opening the box to reveal the most amazing ring you’d ever seen. “And to put on the present I bought you?” he smirks, pointing to a Victoria’s Secret bag.  You roll your eyes and laugh, causing the tears to stream down your face.

“Yes. Yes to all of those things,” you cry, running into his arms. You two topple onto the floor and you kiss him harder than you’ve ever kissed him before. He pulls the ring out of its box, placing it on your finger. You cry again, and he holds you, sitting up.

“I thought the whole ‘cancelling my lease and subtly moving in’ thing was funny!” he defends.

“It was! I liked that you didn’t tell me for 4 months,” you laugh, burying your face in his neck.

“I mean I was practically living there anyway,” he says, referring to your old apartment.

“I love you,” you whisper.

“I love you,” he answers. He hands you the pink bag, and you laugh, taking it to the bathroom to change. 

“HEY CAN I EAT MY ENGAGEMENT RING NOW??” he shouts. You laugh and remind yourself you get him forever.

requests

“Perfect,” he smiles, bringing your hand to his lips. He then drops it, gripping the wheel. He drives illegally fast to the restaurant where your reservation was being held for the special night. Your stomach feels queasy, but you blame it on his fast driving and brush it aside. Jack walks around the car to help you out, extending his arm, and you link yours in his. 

“Barakat,” he tells the hostess. She leads you to a table toward the back, out of sight from the world; hopefully. Jack orders a bottle of wine, and you ask for just water. Jack furrows his brow and looks adorably confused.

“My tummy hurts. It’s not a big deal,” you smile reassuringly. Jack nods and carries on with dinner. When you look at the menu, everything looks nauseating except the bread. You order a plain salad anyway, and Jack eyes you suspiciously. You pick at your salad while Jack chows down on the meat dinner he’d ordered.

“Are you okay, Y/N?? You look sick,” Jack says, panic woven through his voice.

“Excuse me,” you say, power walking to the bathroom. You get in and hardly make it to the toilet before emptying your stomach all over the bowl. You retch again, and sit on the floor of the restaurant, feeling so sick.

“Babe? I payed for dinner, we can head home. You clearly don’t feel good,” he says, popping his head into the single bathroom. He sees you on the floor and rushes over to help. You turn to vomit again, and he holds back your hair. You feel well enough to stand up, and he puts his hand on your lower waist, carrying most of your weight out of the restaurant. He lays you down in the backseat and mutters to himself.

“No, Jack, it wasn’t your fault! I think I have- oh- Ja-” you try to hold in the food coming back up. He shoves a plastic shopping bag in your face. You’re sick into that and groan.

“I wasn’t feeling good when we left. I should’ve just stayed home,” you say weakly.

“No, my love, it’s okay. We’re going home now and I’ll take care of you and we’ll celebrate another time,” he assures you. You nod and curl up into a ball, holding your stomach. Jack looks back at you through the rear view mirror and frowns. Once back at the house you two now share, he lifts you up easily and carries you to the bedroom. He pulls off your shoes and pull the blankets over you, tossing you a huge sweatshirt of his. He walks out and you get changed quickly, taking of the lingerie you had put on for after dinner, and tossing it on top of your dress on the foot of the bed. 

“I brought you some tea, sweetie,” he says, walking in, sitting beside you on the bed. He had taken off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves and he looked even hotter than before. You pull your knees to your chest and he hands you the mug. He puts a bucket lined with a bag next to the bed, and comes up next to you, crawling under the sheets.

“Jack, I’m so sorry. I think I have food poisoning from the chinese I had yesterday,” you explain.

“It’s okay, baby,” he says, pulling you closer so your head is on his chest, “We still get to cuddle, and I think you look hotter in my sweatshirt than you did that dress,”

“Wha- how?”

“Because it shows you’re mine,” he growls, kissing at your neck. Jack was a horny ball of sex, but he was also very romantic and caring. He would make sure to bring you tums and tea and whenever given the chance, he’d cuddle with you. After barfing your guts out, he cleaned up the bucket with not as much a comment on how gross it is. He comes back in and you insist he cuddles you. He climbs into bed, and you two form your favorite position; he’s sitting nearly upright, but leaning just enough so you can rest your head on his chest. His hand is mindlessly playing with yours, and he’s quietly humming. You’re not sure which it was; the cuddles or medicine and tea, but you feel a lot better. Jack takes off his suit, changing into sweats, dipping below the line of his underpants, exposing his happy trail. You bite your lip out of habit, and he sees. 

“You’re turned on, aren’t you?” he smirks.

“No. I’m sick,” you say, “I was biting my lip to stop from barfing!!”

“Lies,” he growls, grabbing your waist, pulling you in for cuddles. 

“Thank you for taking care of me while I’m so gross and barfy and bleh,” you say, blowing him a kiss, because your breath still stunk.

"Oh there's pizza downstairs!" you say, roughly 10 minutes later. Michael laughs and you both get up and go downstairs. He puts on some music and you two eat and talk until around 4, when you go to the couch and play video games for a bit. You and Michael had a complicated friendship; you both had horrible sleeping habits and somehow have the same nights when you can't sleep. You two usually just cuddle and try to sleep but are never able to. You had liked him for a while, but not enough to do anything about it. The two of you had kissed a couple times, but were NOT dating. It was just..a very intimate friendship. All the fans were spreading dating rumors - that you didn't go out of your way to shut down - and it was a very interesting situation. 

After you whoop his ass at Mario Kart, the sun starts peeking out, and you suggest going out to the patio. Michael had this wonderful patio outside the living room. There was a whole furniture set outside, and you and he curl up on the couch. 

"Do you want coffee?"

"Yes, please," you say. He laughs and comes back with two mugs. As the sun rises in the horizon, you pull out your phone to snapchat it. Michael laughs and tweets a picture of you snapchatting the picture, and you sigh as he sits down.  

"What’s wrong, babe?"

"That,” you say, referring to the pet name, “What are we? I showed up in your room with no pants and it wasn't awkward or anything. We’re obviously not dating, but i mean best friends don't just kiss and move on. I - what are we doing?"

"Living, y/n. We’re being young. Messing around. Hanging out, kissing, fighting. We don't need to label it. Isn’t that okay?"

"Perfect. As long as we're on the same page," you smile. He drops his arm around your shoulder, and you sip your coffee, enjoying the serenity of the moment.

"Had you been thinking about that for a while?" he asks curiously a few moments later.

"Not exactly," you say, crossing your legs and turning to face him, "I mean yes I had been, but I didn't want to bring it up. I want to see where you were at first,"

"So it'd be okay if I kissed you right now?" he asks, leaning in. You’re too shocked to even respond before he presses his lips to yours, causing butterflies in your stomach. 

"You didn't let me answer," you say quietly, pressing your foreheads together.  

"I'm hoping the answer was yes because otherwise I'd be fucked," he laughs. when he laughed his nose scrunched up and his eyes squeezed closed. You loved it when he laughed like that. 

MASTERLIST

Hi darlings! I know I have requests in I’m so so sorry but I wasn’t able to sleep at all last night and I remember Michael tweeting about his insomnia and I just went with it. I’m getting to the requests

Thank god Zack remembered. You think to yourself. You head up to the room and dump your stuff. Zack and the boys were out doing some meet and greet or something. You sign in to the hotel's wifi, and Zack texts you. 'omw to the bridge. see you in 20?' you confirm and apply some makeup. Back to the lobby you go! Into another cab, through another town, down some different streets until you reach the Pont de l'Archeveche. You take a deep breath, pay the driver, and step out. You look at all the locks; all the love. Your heart swells at the idea of all the stories behind the locks. Each one individual an-

"Y/N!!" you hear. You whip around and see a muscular outline running toward you. You run toward the outline and jump into his arms. Your swelling heart simply bursts when your skin meets his. He spins you around and your foreheads meet. You crash your lips onto his and feel complete. You feel absolutely, 100%, fully completed. He puts you down and pulls away. You grab his shirt and pull him closer for another kiss. 

"Hi, darling," he whispers, smiling.

"I've missed you so much. I never want to let go," you say, squeezing your boyfriend tighter.

"Me neither, love, but you gotta. Look what I bought," he says, voice still quiet. You pull away slowly, and in his hand is a lock. It had both of your initials on it, and attached were 2 keys. 

"Too cliché?" he asks, raising an eyebrow. He knows it drives you wild and he smirks.

"Yes. But I like cliché," you smile. You two attach it to the fence, but before locking it Zack stops you. You furrow your brow in confusion.

"Well this would all be a waste if it wasn't forever. So I'm asking you to be mine, leaving me never," he recites, lowering his body toward the ground. 

"Zack?" You ask, your eyes stinging with tears.

"Wow that was cliché. Alex was right," he murmurs.

"Z-"

"Y/N, you are the love of my life. You are the only one that knows all my quirks, my guilty pleasures, my hates and loves. And I couldn't think of a better time. We're in Paris, and the tour is almost over, so I’ll be home to plan, but the album will- god I'm rambling-" he blushes, "Wanna marry me? For, like, ever?" 

"DEAR GOD THAT IS ALL I WANT!!"

"So yes?" he confirms.

"Oui," you nod, tears streaming down your face. He stands up and snakes his arms around your waist and you jump into his arms as the applause of the surrounding strangers rings in your ears.

"I'm completely in love with you," you say into his ear. He replies with a soft kiss on your lips and his eyes are tearing. He puts you down and you wipe the tears.

"Why are you crying?" you laugh.

"I'm spending the rest of my life with my princess. I'm complete," he breaks down. 

"Aw, c'mere," you soothe, giving him a hug. He takes a breath and takes the ring out of it's velvet box and places it on your finger, where you look at it, astonished. For a guy, Zack knew his way around a ring.

"How about we lock on this sucker?" he asks, turning his attention to the lock. You nod and click it into place, picking up on of the keys. Zack holds your waist and you toss it over the edge. 

"Now you're mine, forever! Mwahahaha!" he laughs evilly, tickling you.

"Only if you can catch me!" you yell, running away. You get about 10 feet away when he grabs your hips.

"Are you forgetting I run everyday? For a really long time?" he laughs.

"Shut up, Merrick," you smirk, taking his hand in yours. You two make your way to the Eiffel Tower; walking, of course.

“Y/N!” your best friend calls as soon as you walk into the locker room.

“Hey!! Zack came,” you say quietly.

“HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! ZACK- HERE- HAAHHAHAHAHAHAH!!!” she starts laughing hysterically. She tells the rest of the team and they laugh as well.

“Why is this so funny??” you inquire.

“I don’t know, it just..is,” your best friend replies. You all get changed for the swim meet, and head out. Zack waves enthusistically, and you blush and shake your head.

“Is that him???” Your other friend asks.

“Yeah,” you blush again. She makes a face and you turn away. You’re the first one to swim and when you raise your head from the water you hear shouting. Some from your team, but most from-

“YEAH Y/N!!! YOU SWIM SUPER FAST!! GO YOU!!! YEAH BABE!!! NICE STROKE!!”

Zack.

You swim the lap and get out to find a towel. You wrap yourself in it, and sit by your team. Zack keeps shouting at you and you try to tell him to stop but that only gives him more enthusiasm. One of your teammates runs to the bathroom and  gets sick, so your coach asks you to swim. Oh boy.

“OH YEAH BABY GIRL!! SWIMMING AGAIN NICE JOB!! NICE BREAST STROKE OH YEAH!!! GOOD JOB!!! GO YOU YEAH WOO HOO!!” and others. Your team ends up winning, and you put jeans and your t shirt on and head out to Zack. He lifts you in the air and praises you.

“Zack put me down!! You’re embarassing me!!”

“Good!! You deserve to be, you fantastic swimmer, you!!”

“Zachary Steven Merrick, I swear to god put me DOWN!!!” you laugh. He finally does, and takes your hand and you two walk to the frozen yogurt shop across the street.

“That was great, Y/N. You rocked that pool! You were all like ‘SPLASH SPLASH MOTHER FUCKA!!!’ and theye were all 'AHHHH!’ It was so cool!!”

“Zack. Calm down. It wasn’t that cool,”

“It was!! MY GIRLFRIEND IS THE BEST SWIMMER!!!” Zack yells as you two cross the street.

“Zack shh,” you say, putting your finger to his mouth. He shakes his head and pulls you closer to him.

“I will never stop praising you,” he says, kissing your forehead. You blush and bury your face in his chest.

“I love you, okay?” he says. You nod and turn to give him a kiss. You have to stand on your toes, but you loved kissing him anyway. And it made for some pretty cute pictures.

“So do you really want yogurt, or should we go back to your place?” you ask.

“DADDY!!!!!” Sienna shouts, running into his arms. Jack spins her around.

“You’re almost too big for me to hold you!!” he jokes.

“Silly daddy,” Sienna laughs. Hudson stands up and runs to Jack, who puts down Sienna to pick up Hudson.

“Daddy I missed you!!” he says.

“I missed you too! You’re almost as big as Sienna! Soon you’ll be as big as me!!”

“No not yet!!” he laughs, sticking his thumb in his mouth. Jack puts him down and comes to give you a hug and a kiss and then Alex comes in, and Rian and Zack go to work out. Jack sits on the ground and Hudson climbs into his lap and you all end up playing dolls with the girls. Hudson curls up and falls asleep on Jack’s shoulder, and of course you take a picture.

“You’re going to tweet that, aren’t you?” Jack asks.

“Duh,” you reply, tweeting the photo with the caption ‘you can never get these two’s nap schedules to sync up’ and the sleeping emoji. You put it away and Alex and Sienna get in a fight over which dress Barbie should wear. Savannah sides with Alex, but Sienna was persistent.

“The black one is prettier for the music awards!!” Sienna insists.

“No the blue one!! It’s more like daddy’s hair!!” Savannah laughs, pointing to Alex’s hair.

“But the black one matches daddy’s outfit!!!” Sienna presses. You and Lisa laugh about the argument and the girls collectively decide to put Barbie in a purple dress. They continue to play quietly while you, Jack, Lisa, and Alex talk about adult-y things.

“Can we watch Frozen???” the girls plead. You nod and put it on; you carry the DVD everywhere.

“I fuc-ll heartedly love this movie!!” Jack says. You glare at his almost slip up, and Alex just laughs at him. Sienna and Savannah sit in front of the TV, and Jack is stuck with Hudson on his shoulder, so he remains on the floor with the kids as you, Alex, and Lisa head to the mini-fridge for ‘mommy juice.’

“Babe?” Jack calls, semi-quietly. You walk to him, and squat beside him.

“Yes?”

“May I please have some mommy juice?”

“This stuff?” You ask, waving your wine glass in his face.

“Yes, please,” he grins. You shake your head and hand him your glass and stand up to get another.

❣ ❣ ❣ ❣ ❣ ❣ ❣ ❣ ❣ ❣ ❣ ❣ ❣ ❣

After the movie is done and the boys put the kids to bed, you four sit down to watch some TV. Jack puts his arm around you and Sienna wanders out.

“Daddy, I can’t sleep,” she mumbles, “will you and Mommy come lie down with me?”

Jack smiles and you and he go to lie down with Sienna. She lies in between you two and is soon asleep. You end up drifting off, and awaken to the soft touch of Jack’s lips on your forehead.

“What a pretty sleeper,” he whispers.

“Mmm,” you smile, opening your eyes.

“No, honey, go back to sleep,”