The Trouble We Could Get Into (Jack Barakat 09)

Finally, Rian turned Nina into a parking lot. They all jumped out of the car, Alex and Jack pushing each other angrily as they did. They noisily made their way into the little caf, which, to Riley's dismay, was painted a pale green on the inside. She rolled her eyes.
"Ah!" A large Italian man in a stained red apron waddled towards the group. "My four favorite customers.. and who's this?" The man gestured towards Riley.
"We've got a new friend with us today, Gino," Zack said nodding.
"My name's Riley," She said. Gino stuck his huge hand in her face, and she uneasily grabbed a few of his thick fingers and shook them. As she did so, he studied her.
"You look so familiar," He said, twirling his busy mustache.
"She's been on the cover of a magazine!" Jack blurted. Riley spun around and gave him a "Shut up, or I kill you" look.
"Oh, really?" Alex chortled. "Did she make the list for People's Fattest Bitches of the year?" Obviously, Alex had not thought up a new tactic to anger Riley.
"You stupid fuck!" Jack lunged for Alex, and this time Zack wasn't able to hold him back.
"Boys! Boys!" Cried Gino, but he was pushed out of the way by Jack. His fist went flying through the air and landed square on Alex's jaw.
Riley hated to admit it, but it was a beautiful punch. Alex reeled backwards from the impact.
So much for being able to dodge things.
Jack leaped onto Alex, his hands quickly going for his throat. Alex managed to throw him off, but Jack was quickly right back on him. He knocked Alex backwards, and both their bodies went skidding across the caf floor and into a wall. Jack quickly regained his strength, crouching over Alex and throwing punches at him. Occasionally Alex would strike back, but Jack seemed to be doing an excellent job of holding him down. He was stronger than he appeared.
Riley stood, dumbstruck, as the caf was thrown into an uproar by the boy's fight. It took Gino, Zack, Rian, and another fully grown man who'd been eating there to pull Jack off Alex, and Riley was shocked to see Alex look scared. She didn't think he was the type to show fear.
Gino took both boys by the backs of their necks and, while muttering angrily in Italian, pushed them out the door. Zack and Rian followed worriedly.
"You can come back when you're not at each other's throats!" Gino cried. He turned back into the store and nearly scared Riley out of her skin by putting a hand on her shoulder.
"You alright, Missy?" He asked.
"Yeah, uh.." Riley looked around at the store. Tables and chairs had been scattered where the two had gone flying into the wall. The customers looked angry, and there was food on the ground.
"I'm fine," She finally said, after surveying the damage. "Do you need some help putting this place back in order?"
"No, Missy, we'll be fine. I think you've got a bigger mess to clean up outside." He nodded towards the door. "I've never seen them fight like that- and over a girl, no less!"
"Oh, they weren't fighting over me," Riley said, knowing she was wrong.
"Like hell they weren't." Gino warmly smiled at her. "I think you need to go try and sort things out with them."
"I suppose," Riley mumbled. She didn't want to face either of them.
"It was good to meet you, Missy." He shook her hand again, then began to pick up his restaurant. Riley took a deep breath and left.
She winced at the sight on the sidewalk. Jack and Alex were still lunging at each other, screaming insults and obscenities as they did so. Rian was inbetween the two, trying unsuccessfully to push them apart. He was catching more than a few of the punches the boys were throwing. Zack, meanwhile, was pulling angrily at Jack, trying to separate him from the mess and calm him down.
"Hey, guys, come on.." Riley was ignored. She tried it a little louder. "Hey! Guys!" Still nothing. Riley spotted a little table nearby where the boys were fighting. She hoisted herself onto it. For a moment, she watched the fighting, then she took a deep breath.
"HEY!!!" Riley's yell was earsplitting. The boys all froze and looked up at her, wide-eyed. Riley let an accomplished grin slip by, then quickly wiped it off her face and replaced it with a stern scowl.
"Stop it. Just stop! You look like idiots. I've been here for a day! Twenty-four hours, and already you two are beating each other's brains out over me. I didnt even do anything to either of you! If you guys keep this up, you'll both be dead in a week over something as trivial as a girl walking into your lives. What happened to the band? What happened to your dreams?" Riley noticed a crowd gathering to hear her little speech. "I don't know if it's something I did, or just part of this long-running feud between the two of you, but you need to cut it the fuck out. Poor Zack and Rian are tiring themselves out trying to keep you two from killing each other. They're sick of it! Hell, I've been here for a day and I'm sick of your bitching already. You guys want to be in a band together? You've got to learn to get the fuck along, or you'll never make it. Then all this work you've put into it will have been for nothing. So stop fighting."
The small crowd that had gathered began to clap, and Riley proudly lowered herself from the table. She didn't know she had it in her to bullshit like that- she didn't care about the band, and she sure didn't care if Jack and Alex got along. The fighting thing was just getting annoying.
"Riley's right," Said Zack once the crowd cleared. "Look, we all just need to cool down. Jack," He let go of Jack and pushed him towards Riley. "Go with Riley. Alex, come with me and Rian. We'll walk a little, let ourselves calm down, then get back into Nina and go home. Deal?"
Jack and Alex nodded. Riley was somewhat relieved to be with Jack, as creepy as he was. It was unnerving to be alone with Alex.
Zack, Rian, and Alex turned and began going down one end of the street. Riley turned and began walking down the other end.
She turned to face Jack. "You coming?"
Jack walked up to her without making any eye contact. "Yeah," He murmured.

Picture in results.

Zack's got him some pecs, y'all. And that hat is sexy.
rate/message/cbox love/banner the fuck outta me