Down With Love [15]

Down With Love
Rating: 15
Main Characters: Jimmy Sullivan, OFC, Band, minor fictional characters
Disclaimer: I do not own nor do I have any contact with any of the members of Avenged Sevenfold nor with their friends, family, or employees, and this story is entirely fictional. Any resemblances to any persons, living or dead found in the fictional characters invented for the work is entirely coincidental, except for when I write friends in.
Summary: When Matt Shadows brings his cousin along on tour, tempers fly.

Chapter 1-6: Page 1
Chapter 7-17: Page 2

“So, let me get this straight,” I said, looking my best friend straight in the eye. “Your cousin is visiting?”

“Yes,” he replied. The rest were watching the two of us with bated breath. None of us wanted to see that girl.

“Hollister tank tops, anorexic, blonde hair, miss queen-of-the world?” I asked.

Matt hesitated, and nodded.

“The one who thought I should diet,” I pinched my non-existent stomach fat, “and refused to even make food for Zacky?”

He looked down. “Yeah… her,” He muttered quietly, avoiding eye contact.

“… And you’re asking us to be nice to her?”

“Well, she’s changed…” Matt tried to defend himself. “She’s only staying for the summer…”

“WAIT WHAT?!” I leapt up. “You said a few days!”

“I said she’d be here in a few days…” Matt grumbled. “She’s staying with us for all of Warped, she’s gonna sell merch,” He bit his lip “She’s sweet, don’t worry…”

“Oh yeah, she was real sweet to us,” I drawled sarcastically. “What the hell, Shadows,” I muttered, shuffling out of the bus.

“Sorry dude, but I’m on his side,” I heard Zacky from the bus, and soon he was walking in stride with me. “I can’t believe he’s invited her,” Zacky said angrily. “And he didn’t even run it by us first! It’s just ‘oh by the way, Anna’s coming. She’s going to be here all summer. You know, she’s the one that hates your guts- figuratively and physically’!” Zacky rolled his eyes.

I just nodded silently. “I think I’m gonna need a beer,” I muttered.

“Or five,” Zacky agreed, and we headed down to the tents. “At least we get a few days of Warped without her,” He smiled.

----------

“Hooooly shiiiit!” Synyster Gates exclaimed. It was summer 2004, and he, Jimmy ‘The Rev’ and Johnny Christ were on their way down to the catering tents to get beer.

“Dibs, dude!” Jimmy shouted.

“Fuck no, dude, I saw her first!” Syn protested. Johnny just laughed. The object of their comments was a girl with blonde hair down to her waist, a peach pink tank top which exposed her flat-as-a-board stomach. Her low cut jeans were faced and ripped, and it was obvious that they cost more than all of them made in a year. It’s true. She wasn’t the type of girl you saw on Warped Tour every day.

Jimmy silently slipped a tenner into the third man’s hand, and strode over towards the girl. Synyster Gates tried to follow, but Johnny Christ held him back.

“You bastard!” Syn struggled. But Jimmy had already reached the gorgeous young woman.

“Jimmy,” The Rev held out his hand as a way of introduction. The girl gave him the one-over.

“…Yeah,” she replied coolly. She pulled her sunglasses down from on t op of her head and put them over her eyes, before opening her purse, which even Jimmy could tell cost even more than her designer jeans. She pulled her phone out, and dialed a number. “Hey, I’m here,” she sounded bored, and turned so she was facing away from Jimmy.

----------

“I’m so glad she was a jerk, to be honest,” Synyster Gates was lying with his head in his girlfriend’s lap.

“Who, babe?” She asked, running her fingers through his hair.

“Shads’ cousin…” he muttered. “Can you picture if she weren’t, and she and I hooked up or something?” He shuddered at the thought. “You and I wouldn’t have gotten together when we did, and I’d probably be sitting here, miserable, wondering ‘what the hell’s wrong with me, why don’t I have a girlfriend?!’, and I for sure wouldn’t have met that amazing girl who makes me happier than anything.”

“You know that’s not true,” she said, leaning down to kiss his forehead. “Shads is dating my sister. If we didn’t meet when we did, we would probably have ended up dating sooner or later.”

Syn rolled his eyes. “Okay, fine, forget it,” he muttered. “All I was trying to do was be sweet, I thought that’s what chicks liked.”

“Sometimes,” She replied. “But you know what we hate?”

“What, babe?” Syn asked.

“Being called chicks. It’s stupid, demeaning, and all-around obnoxious,” She pushed him off her lap and got up, walking over to the ‘kitchen’ area of the bus to pour herself a glass of water.

“I’m sorry!” he ran after her. “Don’t hate me?” He asked.

She laughed. “You know I couldn’t ever hate you,” she smiled, and kissed him on the lips.
----------

“Hooooly shiiiit!” It was a week after the great ‘cousin’ fiasco, and Syn, Zacky and I were walking through the Warped grounds, posing for photos with fans, drinking beer, and just chilling. But there was one girl who caught my eye. She had blong straight hair, to her elbows if she put her arms down. The upper layers of her hair were black, but the lower layers were bleached. She had thick eyeliner around her eyes, and was wearing a black Mindless Self Indulgence shirt and bright red pants. She had a nosering on the right, an eyebrow ring on the left. There were lots of girls like that around Warped, but something about this one was different. I noticed that she was dragging a huge suitcase behind her, so I went up to offer to help. But before I could get there, I saw Matt walk up to her from a different direction. I was confused, until I saw Matt grin and hug the girl close, before taking her suitcase. My shock quickly turned to horror. Zacky, Synyster and I exchanged glances.

“That’s… Anna,” Zacky finally let out. I just bit my lip, trying to remember how horrible she had been, and attempting to picture our multitude of arguments, and trying to force out the naked images of her that were flooding my mind.
I was so lost in thought that I didn’t hear Shads calling us until I saw Zacky and Syn walk over. Like a zombie, I followed. Anna. This was Anna. Without a word, I took the handle of the suictcase that Matt was shoving at me, and the five of us walked back to the bus. Matt and Anna were laughing and chatting, with Zacky or Syn cutting in occasionally. But I didn’t trust my voice to work just yet.

more more moorree!!!!!

please? -cute face-

i really like this and i want to know where it goes XD

love love love it

“So, you’re looking good, Jimmy,” Anna told me with a smile that looked far too sincere to be real. We were in the bus now, and all I’d been able to answer anyone with was a grunt since Anna appeared. Once again, I used this as my sole reply. “You all right?” she continued.

“It’s just that Shads forgot to tell people you were coming until a couple days ago,” Val cut in, noticing the sour, choking expression on my face. “The Rev’s just pissed cause he has to give up his bunk.”

“Oh, you do?” There she went again with the far-too-‘genuine’ look. “I don’t mind, I can sleep on the couch if you want…” I shook my head, drawn aback by this. There had to be something she was after.

“No, I’m fine. And nobody else can anyway cause they’re all sharing a bunk with someone and the couch only fits one.” I left the line ‘I’m the only one who’s sleeping alone on this tour’ unsaid.

“That’s fine,” She said. “I’m shorter, I’ll take the bunk.”

I still didn’t trust her. “The couch is long enough.” I said coldly. My tone and the action of reaching to pick up a beer from the table sliced through the tension between us. From that moment on, Anna immediately returned my coldness. Without a word, she hoisted her suitcase onto her designated bunk, picked up her Warped “STAFF CLEARANCE” tag from the table where Matt had left it for her, and exited the bus.

“You didn’t have to be a cunt,” Val told me angrily the second the doors closed behind Anna.

I was startled at Val’s accusation and at her strong use of language, and I ended up almost spitting out my mouthful of beer all over the bus. I kept it in, but some of it spewed out my nose. Let’s just say it was not a pretty sight. Val went pink and doubled over in hysterical laughter. Every time she stood up and tried to look me in the eye, she’d erupt in another fit of giggles. I was annoyed at first, and wiped the beer from my face angrily with my sleeve. But after three of her giggle-takes, I too was laughing. I had to admit, the image of me standing there scowling, beer and foam running from my nose and down my face must have been pretty damn funny. “D’you wanna go trash sets of whatever crappy myspace-made scene kids are on? I asked after nearly ten minutes, and the muscles in our stomachs and faces were sore. “There are so many of them this year, they’re the newest trend…”

“Trend, or plague?” Val asked rhetorically. We both knew the answer. Val had had a bad run-in with one of the clones from that crappy myspace chick band the day before, the Millionaires. The girl had ordered Val to go get her a drink, and it was only after Val refused several times that the Millionaires chick had said in surprise ‘oh, you’re not a roadie! You’re that Ay-Seven-Ex skank, right?’ It was going to take that chick a lot of makeup to hide her black eye. “Will you help me fuck up the Millionaires’ set?” Val asked. “A7X skank. Jesus Christ, what will those kids think up next?” I could see her joy at my beer-face quickly turning to rage.

“If they’re on,” I promised. “Let’s go find a program.” We wandered aimlessly throughout the Warped grounds for a while. I stopped and posed for a few photos with fans, and one or two even wanted a photo with Val. Oh, and some drunken asshole splashed beer at my face, shouting ‘AVENGED SEVENFOLD SUCK!’ I just grabbed the beer and smashed the bottle at his feet, and that was the end of that. Eventually, though, we found a flier on the ground. “The Millionaires are playing in forty-five minutes,” I said, after wiping a footprint-shaped mud spot from it. “Shall we have a beer and sandwich, check on the darling Anna, and then go trash their set?” I asked. Val smirked and nodded.

“Sounds like a plan, mister Tholomew Plague,” she laughed, and the two of us set off for the food tents. “Hey, Jimmy?” she asked me as we approached another region of warped that was thick with drunken fans.

“Yeah?” I turned to face her and realized she’d paused, so I too stopped walking. “What’s up, Val?”

“Can you make an effort, to try and be nice to her? I know how horrible she was to all of you, hell, she was just as bad, if not worse, to me and Michelle. But… can you try?” She was continuously biting her lip between practically every word she said, which anyone who knew her noticed as a sure sign that something was bothering her quite a bit.

“If she was ‘just as bad if not worse’ to you and Michelle, then why do you want me to be nice to her? Wouldn’t you want me to just help you fuck her up?” I didn’t understand girls sometimes, to be honest.

“For Matt,” She replied simply. “It’s really important to him that we get along with her, he was so upset when you and Zacky started talking shit the other day. And I mean, we have to spend three months with her whether we like it or not, why start drama from day one? It’s just going to hurt Matt more than it will her.” A drop of blood spilled from her lower lip and started to trickle down to her chin. I sighed, and dug deep in my pocket to pull out a napkin, but all I could find was some Avenged Sevenfold wristband that a fan had thrown onstage a few days earlier, and that I had pocketed after the set, intending to throw it out at some point. I handed the piece of cloth to Val, who smiled gratefully and proceeded to use it to wipe her face.

“I’ll try.” I muttered, and started walking again.

----------

Half an hour later, we were leaning against the back wall of one of the smaller Warped Tour stages, waiting for the Millionaire chicks to go on and pretend to play music. We’d skipped the merch booth- I didn’t want to accidentally let out some insult at Anna- Val was right, she wasn’t worth it.

The myspace girls came on about fifteen minutes late, their lead singer was limping and holding a pair of ridiculously high-heeled pair of hideous neon pink shoes. I chuckled, and Val rolled her eyes. “Which one’d you beat up?” I asked her from the side of my mouth, trying not to catch the ‘Millionaire’s’ attention- not yet, at least.

“That one,” Val subtly raised her index finger at a girl with a brightly coloured long shirt, denim booty shorts, and black hair. Well, one of them. “She managed to hide it though… doesn’t look any different than how she did before I punched her face in.”

“Makes you wonder how much of that crap they cake on their faces, eh?” I asked, ironically taking a moment to fix my own eyeliner. Val just nodded.

Val and I somehow managed to last through three of their songs before we just got way too sick of it. They kept singing something about alcohol, so we figured this was the perfect time. I grabbed two beer cans from my baggy pockets, and Val picked up the one she’d carried over, that was lying on the ground by her feet. “LET’S GET FUCKED UP!” the three girls shrieked for the hundredth time in what I’m sure was supposed to be a harmony, and we seized our chance. We lunged onto the stage, shaking our chosen weapons. As soon as we were within shooting range, we opened the cans, spraying the myspace girls with white beer foam. From the corner of my eye I saw Val run out of foam and just start pouring the beer over her target’s head, the girl who’d had the nerve to call her a skank. The one with the limp was screaming, running to get away the beer fountain spraying from the can in my hand. She slipped in a pool of alcohol and fell, which just made Val and me laugh even harder.

“We just gave them what they wanted!” I said into the mic, aimed at the horrified crowd. Well, horrified would be a lie. About one-third of the crowd was horrified. The remaining two thirds were obviously the friends who had been dragged there by the first third. Their expressions went from horror- while the girls were singing- to looks of pure glee. “DID THEY WANT ALCOHOL?!” I shouted, and held the mic out. The kids all screamed their approval, even most of the angry ones. “DID THEY WANT TO GET FUCKED UP?!” I noticed the security guards watching me and not doing one damned thing, and I laughed. The crowd again screamed in agreement. “DID WE GIVE THEM THAT, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON?!” A roar broke out. The one with a limp had managed to pull herself up against one of the speakers, and hobbled over to me to try and reclaim her microphone. Being twice the girl’s height, I simply held the mic up above my head.

“DO SOMETHING!” She screamed at the security. Guards and crowd alike started absolutely howling with laughter.

“Oh, oh, not as big as Avenged Sevenfold, are we?” I played with words a bit. She turned fuchsia in anger, and tried jumping up to get the mic using only her good leg. Eventually, the security guard tapped me on the foot, and I bent down. “Yeah?” I asked him.

“I think they’ve had enough,” he said, motioning to the two others, who were sitting at the edge crying. The spiteful injured one grabbed the mic from my hand.

“HAH! I GOT IT NOW!” she shouted, but nobody really cared at this point.

I started to walk off the stage, but paused. I leaned down so my face was at her mic. “You’re gonna want ice for your foot and your ass.” I said. “Also, I don’t think calling my best friend’s fiancée a skank because she won’t get you a drink is a good idea. Just saying.” Back straight, I turned and walked off the stage, loud cheers from the entire crowd as a whole echoing behind me.

YESSS updation!

so this is jimmy's point of veiw right? i get confused sorry

in you face millionaires!

ahah, I try to change it around a bit but i'm careful to never say, i like it better that way ^^


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It wasn’t until three am, after an amazing show and a great night of drinking, that the boys and I stumbled into the bus; Syn and Matt with the twins in tow. All of them had their girlfriends with them, actually, except me, simply for the lack of existence of one. Sure, I drunkenly made out with what I think was one of the Millionaire clones, but I obviously couldn’t be certain. Not only do they all look the same, but all their fans look like them too. Oh well, whoever she was, she wasn’t bad looking, and I was lonely. I was the last onto the bus, and I had barely made it up the top step when I wound up face to face with a scowling Anna.

“Ohhh the little pussycat’s gotten feisty?!” I shouted, simply laughing at her and pushing her aside. I told you I was drunk. She screeched, and grabbed at my arm, her long nails digging into my skin. I shouted and shook my arm, but she didn’t let go. “What the fuck’s your problem, little kitty-cat?!” I demanded angrily, but still laughing. Must be the booze.

“You are!” Anna loosened her grip slightly, but was still holding my arm furiously. “What the fuck do you think you were playing at today, ruining an awesome show?!”

I took advantage of her loosening her hand, and took a slight step backwards, bemused. The dizziness was kicking in a bit. “W-what?” I sputtered. “I didn’t fuck up the drums?” I asked.

“No, not your set,” she told me, aggravated. “The Millionaires!” she sneered at me. “I was watching that show!” I laughed at the fact that anyone could be seriously watching it, and it made her squeeze my arm hard again. “She was brave enough to go onstage despite the fact that she sprained her ankle like five minutes before the show! And then you, you and Val, you were complete assholes to her!” much to my surprise, Anna was actually starting to cry. “For Christ’s sake, I thought you were bad enough this morning, when all I did was say hello and you were awful! But that girl’s in the hospital now, thanks to you and that skank. Shit, if Val weren’t practically my cousin at this point I’d be screaming at her now too,” She pulled me down so my face was level with hers. “I hope she presses charges and kicks your ass in court, you lanky, shit-faced bastard,” Anna spat, before letting me go, kicking me in the groin, and going to her bunk. All I could think was ‘all that over a shitty chick band.’ That is, until the shirt she’d been wearing fell from her bunk onto the floor. Then, a whole new range of thoughts filled my head. Gah. I hate that feeling of hating someone more than anything in the world, but still wanting to screw their brains out. I sighed, and after managing to pull myself up off the floor, I went to the couch and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

----------

I was woken up at nine am sharp the next morning to someone shaking my shoulders. I let out a groan as headache pangs immediately hit. Whoever it was shoved an aspirin into my hand, and I opened my eyes, to see Anna there. “What do you want?” I grumbled, trying not to throw up. I closed my eyes, blinded by the bright sunlight flooding into the bus. I felt a glass of water get put into my other hand. “Thanks,” I said quietly, and took the aspirin, before downing the rest of the water. “What do you want?” I repeated, sitting up against the pillows and opening my eyes a bit again.

“The other merch girl’s sick, food poisoning,” She explained. “I need someone to help me with the booth. Plus, sales quadruple if someone from the band’s there,” she told me.

“Why me?” I asked, holding out the glass. She took it, and went back to the kitchen area of the bus to fill it up once more.

“Matt’s gone out on a date with Val, it’s their anniversary,” Anna called back from the front of the bus. Before I could open my mouth to ask about any of the others, she spoke as if reading my mind. “Brian and Zacky are doing some interview on playing guitar. And before you ask, Johnny didn’t even come in last night. So you were the last resort.” She stormed back over with my water, and I drank it even faster than the first glass, which was a bad idea.
The sound of Anna’s laughing made the immediate headache I got even worse. I lifted my hand to slap her, but missed, and ended up swatting her in the side.

“Come on, Sullivan,” Anna muttered icily. “I need to open half an hour ago.” It took me a while to get my head around that, but when I realized what she meant I finally groaned, and stood up slowly to try and prevent a blood-rush headache. I failed. But I put on a shirt, and followed the obviously-PMSing, bitchy, sexy- NO- asshole! Anna!

----------

We worked at the stand together until noon. We barely talked, and when we did it was in icy tones, glaring: it was obvious to even the passing fans how much tension there was between Anna and I. My thoughts kept drifting around, were so muddled. I tried to keep the rhythm, keep things methodical. Ask what they want, give them the shirt, get the cash, and smile for a photo. Ask what they want, give them the shirt, get the cash, and smile for a photo. Ask what they want, give them the- I think you get the point. But I just couldn’t do it, I couldn’t quite fall into the monotony that is selling t-shirts. Every time I looked up, broke concentration, I saw Anna. And every time I saw Anna, well… as much as I absolutely loathe her, the situation was getting worse by the minute.

“I have to go,” I excused myself, and left before she could even open her mouth to reply. I felt a bit bad, maybe, for leaving her alone with the lunchtime rush of customers. But she deserved it, for waking me up at nine when she knew perfectly well I’d have a hangover. I quickly rushed from the stand, with only one destination in mind: a cold shower.

:O biatch for changing it! ah well,i'll feel clever if i work out who it is XD

but anyway,,, so the jim-ster [hahaa] hates anna guts yet fancies her/wants to 'screw' her at the same time

i really dont like anna, i agree the millionaires got what they diserved

I couldn’t believe myself. I needed to stop thinking about Anna this way. Just the the thought of her, with her tight black shirt, and- No. God, I can’t believe herself. She’s Matt’s cousin. And she’s a bitch. I tried to ignore the order of those two thoughts. It was unimportant anyway. She brought me water and an asprin though. But that was just so that I would help her sell merch, I was her last choice… my thoughts were interrupted by someone calling my name. I snapped to attention when I heard it again:

“Jimmy! Jimmy!” I was repulsed to see the source of the noise hobbling over towards me on crutches, and in a moment of horror, the entirety of last night’s events came flooding back to me. I cringed in disgust as the girl ran her hand down my arm when she reached me. “Last night was really fun,” she said, fluttering her eyelashes at me. I had to hand it to her: I had no idea that one person could have so little dignity. Just yesterday, we embarrassed and even hurt her in front of her fans, and now she was hanging off me like a leech. Every inch of me was yearning to burst out with ‘GET SOME SELF RESPECT, YOU WHORE!’ But I didn’t. I did, however, use my height to my advantage and looked straight down at her, glaring. I was about to say something along the lines of ‘that’s lovely’ in the iciest tone I could muster. But then an idea struck me. That bitch Anna wanted me to be nicer to the Millionaires, I would be nicer to the Millionaires.

So instead, I wrapped my arm around the barely legal little skank. “Oh really?” I asked with a sly smile. “Well what do you say we go back to my tour bus, and continue the ‘fun’?” I asked her with a wink.

“Oooh!” She squealed. “You’re such a bad boy,” she let out a shrill giggle and hit my arm playfully before returning to stroking it.

“I just have to go get something I forgot at the merch stall,” I lied. I had to parade this in front of The Bitch Anna. When we arrived, the shock on Anna’s face made every second I’d spent with the little skanky girl whose name I didn’t know worth it. Anna gawked at us. Her mouth hung open, and her eyes were the size of saucers. It was amazing. But then I realized I had no excuse to come back here. None to tell the clone at least. I slid my hand down the girl’s waist, before grabbing her ass. She squeaked, and Anna glared.

“Alison, right?” Anna spat. I took more pride in the anger in Anna’s voice than I had in the takeover of the Millionaires’ set. Jeez, I thought this summer was going to be terrible, but it was just getting better by the moment. The girl giggled and shook her head, introducing herself as Melisa Marie, but to call her Melisa. I made a mental note so I wouldn’t mess it up. Not that it really mattered, to be honest. I ran my hand up and down the skank’s back, and she smiled, leaning her head against my chest.

“So, yeah…” I started. “I just came here to make sure you could handle the booth all by yourself, I’m gonna be busy this afternoon,” I told Anna with a smirk. She glared, and I could have sworn she even looked a little bit hurt. I shrugged it off, assuming it was just a part of my imagination, though part of me was sure that I’d regret this action later. “If I bump into anyone, I’ll tell them that you need some help at the stall,” I said, feeling a sudden pang of guilt.

“Don’t bother. It’s just the lunchtime crowd, I can manage, why would I be hired otherwise?” She turned away from me, and took a wad of one-dollar-bills from some acne-faced 12-year-old.


----------

What the fuck is this, some sort of sick, karma-based joke life’s decided to play on me? All I’ve heard since I’ve got here have been insults, the only defense being ‘you were horrible before!’ I don’t remember being horrible. All I remember, actually, was them being horrible to me… Jesus Christ, why did you take this job, Anna? I thought to myself as I handed some kid their shirts. Nothing’s fucking changed. Hell, you were even nice to that chick from the band, defended her when she was there and even when she wasn’t and what happens? She thinks I’m a piece of scum and is now fucking the guy who not only embarrassed her, but could have practically killed her yesterday. Jimmy. Jimmy… Jimmy…
No. stupid fucking Anna. Don’t do this. He hates you more than the rest of them for Christ’s sake. At least the rest are trying to be nice, if not for your sake, then for Matt’s… I remembered the conversation I’d overheard between my cousin and Val, and I suddenly realized what I’d gotten myself into, how empty I felt. I was to spend the next two months living on a bus with people who couldn’t stand to even look at me, doing a menial, boring, pointless job for long hours and little pay in hundred-degree weather, with crappy meals and nobody to talk to. Harsh reality dug into me as if someone had tied a noose around my stomach and kept pulling- I almost doubled over with the sudden pain, and I could feel myself going dizzy. I wanted home, I wanted home now.

ooooo, harsh jimmy! you coulve ATLEAST picked someone from a better band! gahh,taste man!XD

see,this reminds me of pride and prejudice in the sence they thie their feelings aware and disguise them with hate XD

aahhhhh bittersweet love

i hope jimmy kicks alison out,,,maisy?no wait,,,erm let me refer,,melisa sorry XD

Hey look who it is, Miss Tholemeu Skank! At the beginning of the story I didn't realise but then things began to look familiar and I was like "Hey I know this story... I subscribe to it on Mibba!" Hehehe.

Great story Katie. I figured just cause I'm already subscribed to it somewhere else doesn't mean I can't comment here too! Yaaaaay. =]

Katie!
I demand an update!
...please?

I just read the part where they fucked with the Millionaires again.
I'm telling you, it's one of the nicest things ever, to read. xD

ahahah for some reason the fanfiction section didn't glow red for me at all, so i didn't check this for responses xD

thanks for the awesome comments, everyone <3

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“Leaving?! You can’t just leave!” Matt protested. “We hired you, you can’t just abandon post halfway through, jobs don’t work like that and you know it.”

“Yeah, cause there aren’t eighteen billion girls here who would do the job for free if they thought it would get them closer to the band,” I rolled my eyes sarcastically. We were sitting on the couch in the Avenged Sevenfold bus; Jimmy’s blanket lay on the ground, where I had kicked it to in anger when I found them earlier- oh yes- in my bunk. I fixed my eyes on Matt’s shirt. Looking at the blanket made me think of Jimmy, Jimmy and that whore. I was starting to tremble in anger again. But before I could repeat my announcement, my cousin interrupted me.

“Yeah, you’re right… and with that attitude you could write a book,” I looked up, waiting for the blow. “How to attract stalkers, psychopaths, and freaks, 101.”

“I think your music does that already, Matt,” I laughed cruelly, knowing it would hurt. “Find me one of your fans who isn’t a freak.”

Shadows’ eyes narrowed angrily. “Say what you will about us, but Jesus Christ, Anna, you have no fucking right to say that about our fans, they’re amazing.”

I stood up. Between Matt’s attitude and what Jimmy did, I had never been angrier in my life. Apparently anger, misery, and loneliness made for a bitter result. I could taste the bile welling up in my throat. “EVERYONE’S SO ‘AMAZING’ TO YOU!” I shrieked, tears streaming down my face. “THE BAND IS AMAZING. VAL’S AMAZING. JIMMY’S AMAZING. BELLA’S AMAZING. THE FANS ARE AMAZING. THE SUMMER’S AMAZING. THE DISGUSTING FUCKING WARPED TOUR MEALS ARE AMAZING. EVERYTHING IN YOUR LIFE IS FUCKING AMAZING. AND WHAT AM I?! SCUM! I HEARD YOU YESTERDAY APOLOGISING TO THE OTHERS FOR HIRING ME. I KNOW VAL’S ONLY NICE TO ME FOR YOUR SAKE- AND THE OTHERS TO. AND HELL, JIMMY DOESN’T EVEN TRY. EVEN YOUR FUCKING DOG HATES ME. OH, AND SO DO THE FANS. YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW LONELY AND MISERABLE I’VE BEEN! AND EVERY TIME- EVERY FUCKING TIME I TRY TO BE NICE TO SOMEONE I GET TREATED LIKE SCUM. I’M FUCKING SICK OF IT AND I WANT TO GO HOME SO FUCKING HIRE SOMEONE ELSE!” I took a long pause to regain my breath and my composure. I sniveled, wiped my tears away with my sleeve, and held onto a table to try to stop myself from shaking. I finally looked up at Matt, who looked as if I’d just slapped him in the face. His dog wandered up to me, laying its head on my foot. This act of kindness- the only real one I’d had all summer- caused me to break down in tears, even if it was from a dog. I shuddered and collapsed into Matt’s arms, and he patted my back.

“Oh Anna,” he muttered. “I’m so sorry,” my cousin pulled me close as I sobbed into his shoulder, shuddering. “I know it’s so hard or you love, but I’ll make an effort, we’ll all make an effort… And I’ll talk to Jimmy especially, I know he’s hurting you,” He patted my head and backed away. I’d finished crying, but I was still trembling violently. “C’mon, you wanna go get a drink?” He asked, and I nodded weakly, before following him out of the bus with Bella at our heels.


“Your face is fucked,” Jimmy announced when Matt and I sat down at the wooden table with the rest of the members of the band. Bella hopped up on my lap just as I gave another shudder as reaction from Jimmy’s comment.

“Jimmy, don’t. Just don’t.” Matt said warningly, putting his hand on my shoulder. I took Matt’s sunglasses off his head to see my reflection- my face really was red, and my eyes swollen to beyond the point of recognition. I bit my lip and looked down.

----------

My eyes met Matt’s- I’d never seen him this angry, not at one of us at least. Maybe at drunken assholes who tried to beat him up. But never at one of us. I took the hint, and put my hand on Anna’s knee. “You been crying, little girl?” I asked, trying to sound caring. She turned to face me slowly, and her eyes were on fire.

“Don’t. Touch. Me.” She spat, and I pulled my hand away nervously.

“You know,” I muttered, chugging down my last mug of beer. “Maybe if you didn’t snap at people twenty-four seven, you’d have a lot more friends.” I felt bad for sounding harsh, and opened my mouth to say something reassuring. But I saw something- or rather someone- from the corner of my eye, “Shit, I gotta go,” I jumped up and raced out of the catering tent. Jesus Christ, why did I sleep with that whore? I watched from the side of the doorway as whatever-her-name-was approached my friends, presumably asking where I was. I felt a stone in the pit of my stomach though, a feeling which I couldn’t place a name on. But then I realized. It was guilt. I bit my lip, thinking of Anna’s face, stained with tears. My fault?

Katie wrote:

My fault?

yes, your ault, you dumb shit!
/headdesk
AND, OMG CAPS!
lol
I loved it, dear, can't wait to read more!

When I went back to the bus that evening, Anna was sitting at the table playing poker against Johnny. “You’d better watch out, Christ,” I said, sitting on the bench next to Anna. “I played this girl when she was at warped a few years back, chick got two hundred bucks off me, ain’t that right, Anna?” I nudged Shadows’ cousin, grinning.

“I wouldn’t remember,” Anna replied in a stony tone, ignoring me otherwise. She lifted a card from the pile.

“Hey, actually, Anna, I was hoping I could talk to you alone for a minute…” I started, putting my hand on her shoulder. She shrugged it away, and shook her head. “Please? Just for a few minutes, Anna? I feel really bad about earlier, I wanted to talk to you.” I looked pointedly at Johnny, who got up. Anna sighed, giving up, and turned to face me.

“What do you want?” She was still annoyed, but between her tone and body language I could sense her starting to warm up. At least a little bit.

“It’s about earlier…” I started uneasily. I was unsure of where to begin, where ‘earlier’ began. “I’m sorry for running away… I was going to talk to you about this at the catering tent, but I had to… y’know… run.”

“Love ‘em and leave ‘em type, eh, Jimmy? Wham, bam, thank you, ma’am?” she chuckled. The words were harsh, but teasing, the same as if I were sitting here talking to one of the guys. It was almost as if Anna and I were… getting along.

“We slept together once-”

“On my bunk!” Anna interjected

“On your bunk,” I added “And she already invited me over to ‘chill’ with her and her friends. She seems to think we’re dating.”

“Now, now, Jimmy,” Anna reprimanded. “Didn’t your mother ever tell you that sex can lead to things like dating?”*

I laughed, and shoved her playfully, then regained composure. “There was one other thing…” I trailed off.

“Shoot.” Anna answered with a smile.

“Was it my fault that you were crying before?” I let out quickly. I was unsure of why I was asking this. Maybe hoping she’d say no, to relieve myself of guilt… well, I got what I wanted, I guess. Anna’s features turned to stone again.

“Jimmy, there is nobody I care about less in the world than you. ‘were your jokes what made me cry’… don’t flatter yourself, Sullivan.” And with that, she stood and went to the couch. For some reason, her negative reaction didn’t make the lump in my stomach’s pit disappear. In fact, it felt as if it had doubled in size. I went to lie on her bunk, which I had ‘claimed’ with the Millionaires whore earlier today in a fit of stupidity.
“Hey Anna?” I whispered about half an hour later. At first there was no reply, and I was worried that she, like everyone else, had either fallen asleep or gone out. But after a long pause, there was a grunt from the couch that I took to be a reply. “I’m sorry.” I said quietly, and shut my eyes to fall asleep. Tomorrow would be a new day, I thought, my grin hidden in the darkness of the bus.

----------

The first thing I remembered that morning was the sharp smell of coffee and pastries. I opened my eyes, surprised- the bus had never smelled like anything other than stale sweat, cigarettes, wet dog, and booze. I rolled off the couch and straightened my XXXL seven-eleven shirt (it was a gag gift) that I was wearing as a night down, so that my first action of the day wouldn’t be flashing my panties at five rockstars and their girlfriends. “Coffee?” I muttered dumbly, shuffling towards the microwave/ mini-fridge/ table/ cupboards compound we called “the kitchen”

“And doughnuts!” Jimmy announced proudly, pouring himself another mug of caffeine.

“Jelly filled, Boston cream, or honey glazed?” Zacky offered, holding out an open carton that said something about ‘Horton’ on it. I rubbed my eyes, still tired, and helped myself to a Boston cream doughnut.

“Who are you and what did you do to Avenged Sevenfold?” I finally croaked, already three bites into my breakfast.

Someone chuckled behind me, and I jumped about a foot in the air before spinning around to see Syn there. “We felt bad for being dicks for the past week or so…” he explained “so we decided to make coffee and give you the day off as a kinda sorry… and we’ll be nicer from now on, we promise.”

“YEAH I AND I GOT DOUGHNUTS!” Zacky shouted, stuffing one into his mouth.

“Dude, is that your… eighth?” Johnny asked, sipping a coffee I was sure was laced with booze.

“No, eleventh!” Zacky announced proudly, spraying crumbs across the bus. Syn flinched, and wiped his arm. Zacky took no notice though, and in fact sounded as proud of a three year old who’d just drawn a picture, or eaten a worm.

I couldn’t help but giggle, and after licking the cream from my doughnut off my fingers, I went to make the bed. Or, well, the couch. “Leopard spotted?” I heard Johnny’s voice from behind me. “Very nice.” I was about to stand up, embarrassed, when I felt him spank me. Suddenly furious, I spun around and shoved him with all my force.

“WHAT THE HELL, CHRIST?!” I shouted. “YOUR GIRLFRIEND’S ON THIS TOUR TOO, ISN’T SHE?! JESUS!”

“Not Jesus, Johnny.” Synyster Gates interrupted. And don’t worry, he’ll learn. He’s lowest on the pecking order of the band and crew, y’see. Even the roadies pick on Christ. He figures just ‘cause you have tits, he’s above you. Next time he’s like that, just kick him in the nuts, he’ll learn.” Syn smiled smugly at he look of protest on Johnny’s face.

I laughed, and looked at my watch 11:37. “Shit!” I exclaimed out loud. “I was meant to start an hour and a half ago!” I pulled some jeans on and ran towards the door of the bus, but was blocked by Jimmy’s arm blocking me. Hmm. Stronger than I would’ve thought, looking at him. Must be the whole drumming thing.

“We told you, we gave you the day off,” he informed me. “Val and Michelle are taking turns filling your shift today.” I opened my mouth to protest, but he continued. “Now, we have two choices. We can go and watch other bands, or we can go to the water park.” I looked around at them, grinning. I could tell from the smiles and smirks I received in return that the vote was unanimous.

oooooo

see,i missed the update above this one [holiday]

and in that update i still have a disliking to anna, a rather large one

im not to sure what i think about her now tho

hmmmm

waterparrrrkkk

I love this story! It's written so well!

Can't wait for the next installment...

“If you don’t change that GODFORSAKEN song RIGHT NOW, Haner, I swear to fucking god, you and Michelle will never have children!” The seven of us (Matt had stayed behind, but the Barry brothers had tagged along) were crammed into a five-person rented car, racing down the highway, blaring the Beach Boys. Good Vibrations, to be exact. Between the music Syn was forcing on us- ‘I’m allowed, I’m the driver!’- and being sat uncomfortably on Zacky’s lap, squished against the window, I was beginning to regret choosing the water park. But almost as soon as the misery kicked in, we were pulling up in the parking lot. We quickly scrambled out, and I inhaled, savouring the fresh air.

I was wearing my swimsuit under my shirt and shorts, so I just grabbed a towel from the back and headed towards the park entrance. It took a while, since there were seven of us, but within half an hour, we were in, had locked our clothes and things in lockers, and showered. Showers! Everyone’s first since Warped Tour started. I take it back; this was totally the right choice.

“CANNON BALL!” I heard someone shout, and seconds later was sprayed in water, thanks to Mr. Jason Berry. I squealed and jumped back, knocking into Jimmy.

“Sorry!” I apologised, before jumping into the pool with plans at getting back at Jason. After a huge splash war, by the end of which everyone was involved, I decided to go for the waterslides.

“Merch, right? Avenged Sevenfold?” A voice behind me asked. I turned around to see a rather attractive, tall, thin boy with brown and blond hair.

“Y-yeah, I… how did you, I mean…” I stuttered.

“Alex.” He replied, holding his hand out to shake mine. I tore my eyes off his chest dripping with water and shook his hand, which was large, and strong. “I’ve seen you around at Warped,” he smiled, and I melted. “My band’s merch stall’s set up across from the A7X one. Move up.” He must have seen the puzzled look on my face because he clarified “The line.”

“Oh, right,” I tried to giggle, but I felt like an idiot as I made my way up the slippery stairs. I didn’t turn around to talk to him once the line stopped again- I didn’t want to make a fool of myself. But it seemed that maybe I hadn’t.

“You didn’t tell me your name,” Alex’s voice came from behind me again. I turned around, trying not to flush.

“Anna,” I said quietly, avoiding eye contact.

“Anna,” he repeated with that smile that I was sure no girl could possibly resist. “That’s a really pretty name.” This time, I’m sure I turned red. “So you like waterslides, Anna?” he asked, and I nodded dumbly. “S’your turn,” he said suddenly. I looked around me, and sure enough I was next for the slide.

“Wish me luck,” I said jokingly with a grin, but he did. I smiled, and launched myself down the slide. The overwhelming adrenaline rush of the slide was cut short by my sharp submersion in the water. I sputtered, smiling widely at the fun, and made my way to the ladder, though obviously not fast enough.

“WATCH OUT!” I heard Alex’s voice from the slide. I tried to lunge out of the way, but he had already crashed into me, causing me to go under. With his strong hands he pulled me up and over to the ladder. We stood there at the edge as I coughed, choking on water, before finally getting out. “You alright?” he asked, once were both standing on concrete. I nodded, my throat still too sore to speak yet. “At least let me make it up to you by buying you lunch,” he offered. I opened my mouth to say I’d had a big breakfast, but shut it again.

“Sure,” I smiled, although I could hear how rough my voice was.

“Great!” he exclaimed. 2I just have to go to the lockers to get my towel and money. Wait here,” he touched my arm before running off. I waited for ten minutes, shivering despite the sun beating down on me.

“Hey, I’m back!” Alex announced, when he finally returned. He must have noticed me shivering, because he draped his towel around me. I blushed again, and we silently walked towards the poolside café. When we went in, it was loud and crowded, but Alex managed to find a more secluded, quiet table in the corner.

“So… tell me more about yourself,” I started lamely. “All I know is that your name is Alex, you’re in a band whose merch stand is a cross from the one I work at, and you have amazing aim when it comes to waterslides.”

Alex laughed. “Well, my name is Alex, I sing in a kinda ‘pop-punk’ or whatever band called All Time Low. I like music, movies, video games, cereal, and dogs. And yourself?”

“I’m Anna. I’m currently unemployed during the rest of the year, but this summer I’m selling merch for my cousin’s band, Avenged Sevenfold.” Alex raised an eyebrow at this. “I used to be into makeup, texting, and shit like that. I still am, but I’m not shallow like I used to be, and I’m also really into music now.” I smiled. “Oh, and I really like bagels and I can’t stand dogs.”

“Oh, damn, you had me up till you said no dogs!” Alex joked.

“You ready to order?” A bored middle-aged woman with frizzy peroxide hair and a notepad appeared next to us as if from thin air. We jumped, and nodded. “I’ll take a burger, coke and fries combo, and…”

“Is it possible to get the tomato-mozzarella sandwich grilled?” I asked, glancing down at my placemat, which doubled as a menu. “Then that…” I said when the waitress nodded. “And… water. No. a chocolate milkshake.” The woman scribbled our order down and left.

“Chocolate milkshake?” Alex echoed, laughing slightly. “No, don’t get embarrassed, I think it’s a good idea, I think I’ll order one when she comes back with the food.” HJe grabbed a handful of toothpicks from the cup in the middle of the table and started making shapes. “So, why no dogs?”

“They’re so annoying!” I squealed. “Follow you everywhere-”

“Loyal.”

“-never leave you alone-”

“Playful.”

“-bark at everyone-”

“Protective.”

“I’m not going to win this, am I?!” I laughed.

“It would appear not,” Alex grinned.

It was at that moment that a group of tattooed men entered the café, in swim trunks and dripping wet, arguing loudly about how desperate they would have to be to perform sexual acts on various farm animals. I ducked my head with shame, avoiding eye contact with Alex, who looked both surprised and amused. My moment of pretending I didn’t know them didn’t last long, though.

“SO THAT’S WHERE SHE IS!” Johnny exclaimed, and put his hands on my shoulders from behind.

“Yes, and I’m eating,” I told him, aggravated.

“Don’t see no food,” he replied simply. “Who’s the dude, then?” He motioned at Alex.

“I’m Alex… Alex Gaskarth.” Alex replied. “And you are…?” I couldn’t help but notice the annoyance in his voice and I smiled slightly, relieved that he, too, didn’t find it funny.

“OOOH! Am I interrupting a lunch daaaate?!” Johnny asked in a girly voice. “I’ll just leave you two kids alone now!” he winked and walked to the table that the rest were at, but not before giving a sharp tug on the strings holding my bikini up. I shrieked loudly, and grabbed my chest to prevent the swimsuit from falling. Alex looked a bit embarrassed to be there, but much to my surprise stood and walked to my side of the table. Slowly, he did the ties back up. Each nanosecond that his fingers brushed the nape of my neck, chills ran down my spine. All too soon, he was done, and returned to his seat.

“I’m going to have to ask you to keep the noise level down,” the waitress demanded as she dropped our plates on the table with a skillful ‘clunk’.

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” I replied. “It’s just my friend undid-”
“I don’t want to hear it. Really. Now keep it down.” She walked away, and as she left, Alex started laughing.

“She was mean!” I protested, furious with her, with Johnny, and now with Alex. Alex, however, shook his head and pointed at the waitress, who, much to my amusement, had toilet paper hanging from her skirt. Alex and I burst into fits of laughter. “You forgot your milkshake.” I said solemn-faced when we’d both calmed down.

There was a pause from Alex. “Shit.” He muttered finally. “Oh well, I’ll just steal some of yours,” he replied, and before I could protest, grabbed it and took a long sip.

“Fine! Two can play at this game!” I shouted, and before he knew it I was gulping down his coke.

“Hey no fair!” he exclaimed, and shoved my milkshake at me with one hand, trying to get his soda back with the other.

The rest of lunch- no, the rest of the day continued like this. Joking and teasing with Alex as if we’d known each other for ever. And it was heaven. We took the bus back to Warped Tour together late in the evening, and he left me at the Avenged Sevenfold bus with a kiss on the cheek and an invitation to come watch All Time Low’s set the next day. Like I said. Perfect.

Katie? You should update the one up on Mibba.

Chapter 8

“I’m back!” Anna announced that evening, her voice dreamy. It was already dark out, which is saying something for the middle of June. The girls, except for Val and Michelle, had gone home; they had work and everything. The others, the guys and the twins, had gone off partying. I hadn’t felt like it though. Well, not that kind of party. But the images of Anna in a bikini had fueled a whole different type of party a few hours earlier. Thank god I was only watching a movie- yes, an actual movie: plot, characters, (almost) no sex, when she came in. “Hey, Jimmy,” she sighed contently and sat beside me on the couch. She was in such a good mood she didn’t even say one thing against me or the fact that I had my feet up on the couch where she had to sleep. For some reason this only pissed me off.

“So how was he?” I asked simply, trying to keep my calm.

“Hmm? Oh, the date?” She sighed again. That sickening sigh. “It was so perfect, Jimmy…”

“Really?” Fuck it. “I wouldn’t have thought that someone that scrawny would be such a good lay.”

“He’s as scrawny as you are,” she replied. “Besides, we didn’t have sex. Unlike you, I’m not a slut. We went out for dinner, played at the pool… it was so much fun.” I hated, hated how… how happy she was.

“I…” I wanted to say something horrible, but decided against it. She was just a girl who met a guy. And I wasn’t going to be the guy who made her cry because of it. “Nevermind,” I turned my attention back to the screen.

----------

The next morning I woke up and groaned in annoyance. I sighed and sat up painfully and made my way to the bathroom to perform the necessary task, hoping that nobody would see me. Why the fuck did I go to the pool yesterday?
My hopes of not being noticed were dashed when Anna herself exited the bathroom. And wow, did she look gorgeous. Her hair was curled at the ends, her shirt was lovely and tight fitting, and she was just… beautiful. “Shouldn’t you be at work?” I asked, trying to keep her from noticing my erection.

“It’s four… my shift finishes at three,” she stated simply.

“Oh… all right. So, uh, you’re…”

“Going to watch All Time Low. And I should go because a) I’m late, and b) you’ll need to take care of that.” She pointed downwards, and I’m sure I blushed before going into the bathroom to perform the inevitable.

----------

“Dude, that set was awesome!” A fan shouted at us from the other side of the fence. We stopped and walked over, causing the dozen or so of them to squeal.

“Aw, thanks, dude,” Matt smiled. They took photos with us, we signed CDs, posters, shirts, arms, shirts, and one girl got us to sign a DVD of Paris Hilton’s sex tape. I love my job.

“So, dude, y’gonna come party t’night?” Johnny asked me as we walked away, and I shook my head.

“I’m really not in the mood, Johnny,” I muttered.

“Dude, you didn’t want to go out yesterday either, man… you all right?”

I nodded, not saying anything. “I guess… I’m probably just tired.” I lied. Johnny shrugged, and I began making my way towards the bus, kicking the cans from my path. I opened the door of the bus, prepared for an evening of movies, myspace, and self-pity. The first thing I saw when I got in, though, was Anna straddling a topless Alex on the couch, her lips locked with his.
They hadn’t noticed me come in, so I cleared my throat loudly. Anna sat up in one sharp movement, “Jimmy!” She jumped off Alex, who looked embarrassed.
“No, no, don’t let me interrupt you.” I said sarcastically, heading towards the bus doors again.

“Jimmy-” Anna started.

“Save it,” I muttered, and I left the bus. Fuck. Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck.

----------

Fuck. Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck. I grabbed Alex’s shirt off the floor and threw it at him. “Maybe you should go.” I wanted to disappear off the face of the planet.

“But he’s gone…” Alex, now wearing his shirt, wrapped his arms around me and kissed my neck.

I shook my head. “Alex, please…” I pushed him, but he kept going. I was sure it would leave a mark. “Alex!” I shouted and shoved him away. “No.” I said firmly. “We can watch a movie or something, but…”

"No, you're right. I should go," he said sharply. "I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?" He asked, and the pang in my stomach that appeared when he used the annoyed tone melted away with his smile.

"Yeah..." I put my arms around his neck and kissed him. He pulled me close and we kissed for a while before he pulled away again.

“I really do have to go… it’s almost one…” He kissed me quickly on the lips. “Bye,” he waved as he left the bus. I sighed, and plopped down on the couch, turning on the TV to finish watching the movie Jimmy and I were watching yesterday.

Chapter 9

“What does she see in that pop-boy jackass?!” I demanded of Val. It was one month later, and ever since the day at the pool Anna had spent every waking moment with Alex. Sure, they’d had their fights, but what couple doesn’t? Every time they did, though, I couldn’t help but be elated. Anna would come back in the evening and greet us with the slam of a door, or suddenly break down into a rant about him. My heart would skip a beat and I would think ‘this is it. This is it, they’re breaking up.’ But every time, they’d make up, and I’d once again have to listen to Anna go on and on about what sweet thing Alex had done this time. I couldn’t make any sense of it. A month ago I would have gladly ripped her head off and mounted it on the wall myself. At first I thought it was just a physical thing, but the night of the ‘pool day,’ we watched a movie, one of my favourites, that she said she loved too. In fact, it seemed that every time we spent more than five minutes together we’d find something else we had in common. “What does she fucking see in him?!” I repeated, smashing my empty beer bottle down on the table so violently it shattered. “She’s gorgeous, she’s amazing, and we have so much in common…”

“Jimmy, she met someone who makes her smile, who makes her melt, who makes her feel special, you can’t blame her for it,” Val was the only person I’d told- the boys would just laugh, and Matt might freak out.

“I would do all that,” I muttered, looking down.

“Oh, I know you would, lovely.” She hugged me. “It’s just that Anna doesn’t,” she sighed. “No!” she shouted sharply, suddenly, obviously anticipating my question. “You can’t tell her. That’s not fair on her. She’s so happy, Jimmy, don’t you want that? Can’t you remember how miserable she was when she got there?” I nodded reluctantly. “You add a break up with a boy she’s obviously head-over-heels for, to that, and, well…” I didn’t trust myself to answer Val, so I kept my mouth shut.
“Oh honey,” she rubbed my back. “And they were fighting yesterday, who knows-”

“Don’t. Don’t say it.” I cut in. “Every fucking time I get my hopes up, every fucking time they fight. Don’t say it, Val. It hurts too much at this point.”

“ALEX IS A FUCKING DICK!” A soaking wet Anna screamed, storming into the bus. I opened my mouth to say something, but she interrupted me. “Yes, I know, I should be at work. But it’s pouring rain and thundering, and only three people have shown up in the past half hour. So, I figured that I could take off and hang out with Alex a bit- I asked Katelyn, she said it was fine. So, I went to the All Time Low bus, and he had a fit, screaming at me that he was too busy, that he didn’t have time to see me, that- and I quote- he’d come see me when he had time, but not to come poking my nose around his fucking bus! All this when I had barely stepped in the door!”

“That was a shitty thing of him to do, huh, but maybe he really was busy…” Val said cautiously.

“He was playing video games,” she retorted icily.

“Maybe he just wanted to hang out with his friends-”

“Alone,” Anna finished, still in the same icy tone.
“Well then I don’t know,” Val sighed. Anna’s face went from fury to tears, and Val immediately grabbed her and pulled her close. “Oh poor Anna.”

I took my cue and left the bus. Hopefully this was it, this was the end. But luck was obviously on my side. “Alex, right?” I asked a soaking wet boy making his way to the bus through the mud.

He nodded. “And you are?” he demanded, wiping his dripping fringe from his face but to no avail.

“Jimmy. I live on that bus,” I jabbed my thumb at the air behind me.

“Oh… d’you know if Anna’s on the bus I took my cue and left the bus. Hopefully this was it, this was the end. But luck was obviously on my side. “Alex, right?” I asked a soaking wet boy making his way to the bus through the mud.

He nodded. “And you are?” he demanded, wiping his dripping fringe from his face but to no avail.

“Jimmy. I live on that bus,” I jabbed my thumb at the air behind me.

“Oh… d’you know if Anna’s on the bus? I kinda fucked up and… yeah. Is she there?” his eyes turned from the mud to meet mine. I had to admit, he looked pretty pitiful.

“She’s fuckin’ pissed at you, dude,” I muttered, avoiding the question. Maybe if I didn’t actually mention that she was there I could keep a reconciliation from happening.

“Yeah, like I said, I fucked up… is she there though?” he asked. Damn.

“Why d’you want to talk to her though? I thought you were busy playing pokemon anyway.” Alex flushed despite the cold temperatures and rain.

“Oh… she told you about that? It was Call of Duty, by the way. Not pokémon. I’m not twelve,” he answered, annoyed.

“Sure look it,” I muttered under my breath. “Well, she doesn’t want to see you. She said something to Val about breaking up.” I lied.

Alex looked alarmed. “Fuck, no!” He darted past me and into the bus before I could blink.

I frowned and slowly followed him. By the time I got back into the bus, the two were making out.

“Wanna go back to my bus?” Alex was asking. “There’s nobody there…”

“Yeah, I’d noticed,” Anna giggled, her face still close to Alex’s. I wanted to pick up the shards of my bear bottle off the table and stab Alex with each and every one of them, to take Anna and- “See you later, Jimmy,” Anna interrupted my fantasies.

They made their way into the rain, hand in hand, and I collapsed onto the couch, holding back tears. Val moved me so I was on my stomach and started to massage my back. “Poor baby. Poor, poor Jimmy.”

“I shouldn’t have told him she said something about breaking up, that’s what had him running in here…” Her massage was definitely calming me down- at least I wasn’t having murder fantasies anymore. Jeez, I love this girl. Platonically, I mean.

“But she didn’t say anything about…” Val trailed off before catching on “Oh. Right.”

“I feel like dying,” I muttered, trying not to cry again. I winced as she hit a knot in my back. “Ey! Watch out!”

“Do you want a massage or not?” she demanded.

“Yes. Please keep going,” I muttered, closing my eyes. “Good night, Val.”

“Night, Jimmy,” she laughed, but didn’t stop the massage.

Chapter 10

“Oh my God, you did not!” Anna squealed. Her, Michelle, Katelyn-the-other-merch-girl and I were having a girls night, which consisted of mixed drinks, oreos, crappy movies, and scandalous stories of boyfriends past and present. Michelle had just finished telling her favourite, about how she’d accidentally gotten into a mild car crash the day she was meant to meet Syn’s parents. Neither car had been badly damaged, but she’d gotten into a screaming match with the owner of the other car and ended up arriving at their house two hours after the agreed-upon time. And, of course, low and behold, the driver of the other car was none other than Mr. Haner himself.

“Have you ever dated anyone other than Shads?” Anna asked me curiously once the laughter following Michelle’s story had died down. “Just wondering, you don’t have to answer, I just know he’s gone on about you for like, ever, and…” she trailed off.

Jesus Christ. If I had a nickel for every time someone asked me that fucking question. I forced a laugh. “Don’t worry, I get asked that a lot,” I answered. Understatement of the century, much? I swear, people must think I either had no social life until I was fifteen, or that I hooked up with Matt when I was in preschool or something. “Yeah, I have, but nothing serious obviously. Matt and I started dating when we were fifteen, but it wasn’t always constant, we dated other people in between.”

“So,” Michelle changed the topic. She knew as well as I did how sick I was of that question. Hell, even she got it sometimes, when people mistook her for me. “Speaking of ‘you did not,’ hilarious boyfriend stories, Anna, I hear you and Alex had a fight over Pokémon?” I couldn’t help but giggle, especially upon seeing the grimace on Anna’s face.

“It was about video games,” she retorted. “And no, not Pokémon!” she shouted before Michelle could speak. “Basically, though, I came to visit, and he freaked out and started screaming that he was busy, but he was just playing video ga- CALL OF DUTY- on his own. But,” she paused. “We had the most amazing makeup sex afterwards,” she finished with a wink. I laughed along with the other girls, but I couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy for Jimmy.

“Why do you say Pokémon, anyway?” Anna asked.

“It was something Jimmy said,” Katelyn interjected. “But he was probably just being retarded and kidding around; what else is new?” she laughed.

Anna shook her head, cutting Katelyn’s laughter short. “Jeez, I hate that guy,” she muttered. “He’s such a jerk. He’ll be really nice and sweet and then two seconds later he’s a prick again. Oh well, fuck it. I guess we’re just two people not meant to get along,” She shrugged. “Oh well, I have you guys,” Anna smiled. I wanted to lash out at her, to scream “ARE YOU BLIND?! HAVE YOU NOT NOTICED THAT HE ONLY DOES THIS WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT ALEX?!” while shaking her by the shoulders vigorously. But, of course, I couldn’t.

“Really?” Katelyn asked, and my heart skipped a beat. “I mean, I know you’re always arguing, but you guys strike me as people who would get along well…”

Michelle nodded. “You have a lot in common, I don’t see why you hate each other.”

Dear God: I love you.

Anna shrugged. “Well, we don’t get along. End of story,” she smiled.

----------

When I lay in bed that evening- or, well, morning- I just couldn’t sleep. I pulled the blanket up… too hot. I pulled it back down again and I was freezing. I opened my eyes and fumbled under the blankets for my phone. Five eighteen. Too late for anyone to be up. Too early for anyone to be up. Fuck. I shook my head and rolled off the couch, landing on my feet. Maybe a glass of water would help. Or a vodka. I tried to stumble through the bus without tripping over anything, the minifridge being my final destination of choice. I opened it and after some hesitation removed a beer from the side rack of the cold glowing box. Damn these boys and their alcoholic influences. What the hell had they meant, “should be friends”, “have a lot in common”?!

“Anna?” A voice asked behind me, and I jumped about a foot into the air. I found myself crashing into Jimmy, causing him to let out a loud “oomph”

“Oh, shit, sorry!” I whispered, pulling back a bit and turning to face him.

He laughed slightly and touched my arm. “No worries,” he grinned. “So, a beer?” he asked. “Strange time of day for that, isn’t it?”

I shrugged. Jesus Christ, for all the times for Jimmy to show up. “Had trouble sleeping.”

“I know the feeling,” Jimmy reached into the minifridge to grab a bottle for himself. “Wanna watch a movie or something?” he asked in an uncharacteristically hesitant voice.

“At five thirty in the morning?” I asked, suppressing a giggle that was partly nervous due to his tone.

“Why not, we’re already drinking!” he joked. “No, but seriously, Ace Ventura or the South Park movie?” he asked.

“Oh, definitely South Park! I haven’t seen it in ages!” I shouted, all tension forgotten.

“SHHH!” Jimmy hissed, putting down his beer next to where I’d placed mine on the table and wrestling me to the couch as we both laughed. “You’ll wake the others up and they’ll crash the party!” he got up and put in the DVD.
When he sat back down next to me, he put his arm across the back of the couch. Surprised but tired, I took advantage of the open gesture to lean my head on his chest, hoping he wouldn’t mind.

----------

My breathing hitched in my throat, but I didn’t- couldn’t- move. In fact, it wasn’t until halfway through the movie, when Anna’s breath had become quiet and regular, and she was letting out the occasional quiet snore that I let my arm slowly drop. I held her figure tightly, afraid to let go, that I would wake up cold and lonely in my bunk if I too fell asleep.

----------

“Anna, wake up!” I opened my eyes to Katelyn rudely shaking me. Jimmy- yes, that Jimmy- had his arm around me. How the hell dide that get there? I groaned, clutching my head.

“Too early. No sleep,” I muttered, leaning against a conveniently placed sleeping Jimmy without thinking.

“Well, you have to help me open the booth!” she protested. “And I am not taking the morning shift! I’m tired too, dude!” Jimmy stirred. I looked back at him- drool was running from the corner of his mouth down his chin. Real classy. I lifted his heavy arm off of me gently, being careful not to wake him. I hadn’t changed into my pyjamas after girls’ night, so there was no need for a clothing stop before we left.

----------

I watched her leave with Katelyn from the corner of my eye, a grin on my face. It wasn’t a dream.

Chapter 11

Fuck, this is the part of my job I hate the most, I thought to myself as I lifted a few boxes from the truck and made my way towards the merch table Katelyn and I had unfolded minutes earlier. I smiled at a group of kids who were pressed against the fence, obviously hoping for a peek at their favourite bands before gates opened.

“Hey, did you hear he’s got a new girlfriend?” I overheard one girl in an all Time Low shirt say to a friend as I passed. I closed my eyes, praying that they weren’t talking about me and Alex. Bad idea. The next thing I knew, I was flying through the air, before I landed roughly, shinning both knees and hitting my stomach against the box of shirts, now dented. That’s going to leave a bruise, I thought. My untied shoe, obviously the culprit of the fall, lay a few feet away. Katelyn continued, not having seen the crash. The kids, on the other hand, including the girls in the All Time Low shirts called out, asking if I was okay. A couple of overly-skinny ‘scene’ girls were giggling. I nodded in response to the others, still unable to breathe. A lanky boy of about seventeen in a Madina Lake shirt looked left and right for security before scaling the fence and landing close to where I’d fallen. He put one arm around me, and with the other on my arm, slowly pulled me up. I felt all eyes on me as he picked up the merch box, handing it to me with an ‘are you all right?’ I nodded. “Y-yeah, thanks.” I stammered, still in shock from the fall.

“Anyway, new girlfriend?” The hall Time Low girl looked at her friend. I stayed, wanting to hear what they had to say.

“Yeah!” the other replied. “Apparently, she like, used to hook up with Shads from Avenged Sevenfold, before he got together with Val. And then she like, came to warped to hook up with him again, but, like, he’s engaged to Val and everything now. But then Alex asked her out, I hear she’s gorgeous. So yeah, she stayed on Warped, with him.”

I wanted to vomit. Seriously, how the fuck did rumors like this even start?

“Anna?!” Katelyn was coming back, having deposited her box. “What the hell’s taking you so long, dude?!”

“Oh, I fell,” I aimed the box to show her one of the dents.

“Wow, no kidding,” she pointed at my knees. “Go to the bus and get cleaned up, I’ll get the rest of the boxes.” She pointed back at the truck.

“You sure?” I asked. “I mean, I can help you get boxes and then…”

Katelyn shook her head. “Getting boxes is the easy part. Just make sure you come back to pin shirts up and stuff!”

I nodded. “Sure thing!” I ran as fast as my skinned knees would permit.

“What the hell happened to you?” Matt asked when I got into the bus, after doing a double take. He and jimmy sat on the couch/my bed, playing video games.

“What are you doing up?” I countered, taking a paper towel from the counter and pouring water on them.

“Y’woke up Jimmy when you guys left. He got bored and woke me up to play video games.” Matt hit pause and turned to watch me wipe the blood and bits of asphalt from my knees. “So, what happened?”

“I got distracted by some girls telling some bullshit rumor and tripped,” I said, taking out the box of oversized bandaids that every bus with drunkards like ours had to be equipped with, and carefully applied one to each knee.

“What rumor?” Matt asked as I smoothed the bandaids out.

“Trust me, you don’t want to know…” I told my cousin truthfully.

“Please?” he whined, pleading and doing puppydog eyes. “I would tell you!”

“That’s the problem,” I muttered. “Apparently, I’m your ex girlfriend, from before Val, and I came to warped to hook up with you again. You turned me down because of Val, but then Alex asked me out and I just couldn’t resist so I stayed on Warped.”

“You what?!” Val asked, emerging from the sleep area.

“Heard a funny rumor,” I answered, which caused her to let out an ‘ah, right.’

“Shouldn’t you be working?” She asked. “Sorry, that came off bitchy… I just meant…”

I couldn’t help laughing at the flustered look on her face. “No problem,” I replied cheerfully, “Nah, when I heard the rumor, it distracted me, and I fell,” I pointed down at my bandaged up knees.

Val laughed, “Ah, right,” she stepped over to the ‘kitchen,’ and I moved out of the way so she could pour herself a glass of water.

“Well, I have to go, Katelyn needs help setting up and then I’ve got morning shift,” I announced, “I’ll see you guys later,” I waved at them and was about to leave but had to stop myself. “Jimmy,” I started, “What the hell are you doing?” I demanded, referring to the fact that the drummer appeared to be attempting to forcefully insert the video game controller into his left nostril.

“Huh? What?” he asked, pulling it away, and feigning ignorance.

I rolled my eyes “See you later, guys…” I chuckled and left the bus.

----------

An hour later, Katelyn and I had finished setting up, and she’d gone off, leaving me to my shift. The gates had just opened, and when I looked up at my first customer, I was surprised to see the young boy in the Madina Lake shirt from earlier.
“Hey,” he smiled, “I just wanted to see if you were okay… and also, my girlfriend wanted an Avenged Sevenfold shirt, but she couldn’t come on Warped…”

I chuckled, touched by how sweet he seemed. “Which one?” I Asked, and took the one he pointed at from a box. “You can have it free,” I informed him with a smile, and handed him the shirt. “For helping me.” He grinned, and thanked me several times, before running off.

“How come I never get anything free?” I heard the next customer whine as I moved some shirts that were in the wrong box. I was about to snap before I looked up and realized it was Alex.

“Because, I’m your girlfriend, and you’re supposed to spoil me, not the other way around!” I joked, and kissed him briefly. “What do you want?” I asked.

“You, “he replied simply, and I had to smile.

“Either you buy a shirt or you get out,” I informed him. Alex climbed onto the table.

“Can’t I just sit back there and watch you?” he asked, pointing to a chair in the corner.

I felt my stomach flip. He was so sweet. “Fine,” I sighed, feigning reluctance. “But no distracting me,” I added as he slipped down on my side of the table.

“Promise,” he answered, kissing my cheek softly.

----------

“So, can I come over later?” Anna asked me once I was sitting on a chair behind her, as she handed a kid a shirt. I racked my brains, looking for an excuse. “I think we have a photoshoot later…” I said off the top of my head. She pouted. I hate it when she does that. “No, don’t pout, baby,” I pleaded, checking my watch. Hours left. “Here, how about we grab dinner tonight, at a restaurant, not just at catering but like, go out for dinner, and then you can come back to my bus, and, uh, we’ll…” I trailed off in what I hoped was a sexy way. It must have worked, because Anna smirked.

“It’s a deal,” she said, and took advantage of the lack of customers to come sit on my lap. “How long can you stay today, baby?” she asked, putting her hand in mine and playing with my fingers, nibbling and kissing the skin. I checked my watch, which was on the other hand. Three o’clock… plus an h our to get ready… plus half an hour to eat- no, better make that an hour, I always get distracted…

“One o’clock,” I said out loud. “So in an hour.”

“Awh,” she whined, letting go of my hand and crawling off my lap despite the lack of clients. “Will you bring lunch to eat with me?” Jeez, she does this whining thing a lot. I groaned.

“No, Anna, I told you!” I snapped, fed up. “I told you!” I repeated. She stood there, glaring at me.
“I think you should go,” Anna said quietly, dangerously.

“Why, because I don’t have twenty-four hours a day to spend with you?! Jesus Christ, Anna, get some friends or something!” I shouted before I could stop myself. Anna’s eyes welled with tears, and she looked as if I had just slapped her in the face. And I felt as guilty as if I had. “Anna, I-”

“She told you to leave,” A deep voice said. I turned around to find myself face to face with a man whose muscular arms were probably bigger than I was altogether. I gulped, and the fear must have shown in my face because he took a menacing step forward.

I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out. Instead, I took off in the direction of the catering tent.

----------

“Shads you ass!” I shrieked, punching his chest but to no avail. In fact, he just grabbed me and hoisted me up, tossing me over his shoulder. This, of course, only made me shout more. We were making quite a scene, attracting a large group of Avenged Sevenfold fankids. “SHADS! PUT ME DOWN!” I shouted at my cousin, squirming.

“Which shirt do you want?” He asked the next kid in line, ignoring my protests. He did this for the next three of them in line, before I decided that a well-timed kick in the stomach was in order. One swift blow to his abdomen later, I was free.

“Why’d you do that?!” I demanded.

“Because you’re hilarious,” my cousin retorted after recovering from the kick. He went over to sit on the chair.

“No, I mean to Alex,” I insisted. “Why’d you chase him off?”

“Oh, right,” he said. “Because, Anna, he’s a prick,” Matt said simply, as if informing me of the weather, or reading the newspaper headlines. I opened up my mouth to protest, but he held up his index finger to stop me. “No, he is,” Shadows continued, “What the hell was that line, ‘you need friends?!’”

I shook my head. “He gets short-tempered sometimes,” I said in Alex’s defense. “Just like I get really whiny and clingy,” I paused. “It’s things we’re both working on,” I finished, but Shads was shaking his head.

At that point I felt a tap on my shoulder, and I spun around to see none other than Alex there. “I really do have to go, honey, I really am busy,” he said quietly in that voice I’m sure he knew perfectly well I couldn’t resist. “I brought you a sandwich,” he said in the same town, holding up the lunch food.

I grinned and threw my arms around him, my mouth latched onto his, and the sandwich fell to the ground, unnoticed.

He looked at h is watch once we broke apart. “I have to go, babe,” he announced. I looked at my own, which read 12:38.

“But you said you could stay till one, that’s another twenty-two minutes,” I complained. I was sick of him always ditching me. I was about to say more when I felt a hand on the small of my back.

“How’s my favourite little merch girl?” a voice asked in my ear.

“Fuck off, Johnny,” I said without batting an eye. I turned to say more to Alex, but he was already gone. “What a prick, I muttered under my breath.

“Who’s a prick?” Jimmy asked behind me. I turned to tell him to fuck off, when I saw Syn and Zacky behind him. Was there a signing I hadn’t been told about?

“Nobody,” I shrugged the matter off. “Why are you guys all here?” I demanded.

“Signing,” Zacky answered, crunching into a strawberry poptart. “Wanna go get us some chairs, love?”

I was confused. “Nobody told me…” I started, but Gates answered:

“It was supposed to be this afternoon, during Katelyn’s shift, but the magazine interview from this morning had to be pushed back to this evening, so we switched them.”

“Oh, okay,” I started unfolding chairs from the stack in one of the corners and putting out five of them for the guys. I was wrong, this was the part of my job I hated the most: signings. I hated all these kids who kept shouting, trying shirts on of sizes, counting handfuls of small change, realizing I’d rung up more than they could actually afford in the end… I mean, I got enough of these during the day, but when there’s a signing, you get fifty at once, all wanting something, quick, for the band to sign.

It was probably better that Alex had left when he did. Katelyn ended up coming to help, and the signing ran over- way over: we were there until the doors finally closed and kids were kicked out, even after the band had long left and finished their set.

“Hey, look on the bright side,” Katelyn said as we were packing up the truck. “We both worked off our shifts, at least we’ll be paid overtime.” I nodded dumbly, too tired to speak, Katelyn giggled. “Just wait, you work morning shift tomorrow…” she laughed, and I rolled my eyes.

“Whore,” I joked, pushing her slightly, and she shoved me back with a “Skank!”

We were still laughing as we climbed into the bus, before collapsing in our respective beds.

----------
Fuck, I loved days like today. Honest to god, best days ever: getting to meet fans for hours, playing an amazing set, a fun interview, and then topping it off with an all-night drinking fest with my friends. Could life get any better? I think not. As we stepped into the bus, and made our ways drunkenly and sleepily to our bunks, my foot hit against something. I leaned down and picked up what turned out to be a phone. But not just any phone, Anna’s phone. Anna’s phone with eighteen missed calls from Alex. Of course. My eyes darted back and forth between the phone and Anna’s sleeping form on the couch. In one swift movement before I changed my mind, I pressed delete, put the phone on the table, and crawled up the ladder and into my bunk. I was positive I wouldn’t regret this tomorrow, even when sober.

----------

Obviously, I was wrong. I woke up at five that afternoon, eleven hours after coming in, to the sound of screaming.

“WELL YOU OBVIOUSLY DIDN’T CALL!” Anna was shrieking.

I poked my head out of the bunk and almost crashed into Alex, who was near tears. What a pussy.

“I swear I called, Anna, I swear!” he pleaded. “Please, please, you can’t end this…”

“I’m so sick of being your last priority,” she said coldly, but you could see her swallowing back her tears.

“You’re not, baby, you’re not,” he sniveled. I swear I called you, a hundred times!”

“Well, I didn’t have any missed calls, and you just took off yesterday!” Anna shouted. “Jesus Christ, Alex, just give up,” she said, no longer trying to hold her tears back.

I felt sick to my stomach. “Anna?”

“Just a minute, Jimmy,” she waved me off.

“Anna, I’m so sorry I took off yesterday,” Alex continued. “I had to go and you were talking to Johnny, and I Didn’t think you’d notice and…” he trailed off miserably.

“Anna?” I tried again.

“Not now, Jimmy, this really doesn’t concern you,” she snapped, neither of them looking around.

“ANNA!” I boomed, leaning half out of my bunk and interrupting whatever it was she was about to say. Both of them looked up, and I cleared my throat. “I accidentally hit the wrong button on your phone last night. I was drunk, you left it on the ground, I picked it up for you, I probably hit delete or something…” What was I doing? “I’m sorry,” I choked.

Both of them were silent. “It’s okay, Jimmy,” Anna said quietly. I pulled back into my bunk, but I could still hear them. “I’m sorry, Alex, Anna whispered. “I should have listened, I should have listened…” she told him quietly. Alex said nothing, but I soon heard the sound of lips against lips. Dreading what I would se, I peeked out from behind the curtain, just in time to see Alex push softly Anna against the wall. I bit my lip, and crawled out of my bunk.

“I’m going out,” I announced quietly, miserably, but obviously, they didn’t notice.

Chapter 12

“Jimmy, you’re the sweetest guy in the entire world,” Val announced, as she and I sat at the table in the bus. I was collapsed with my head on the table, too drunk to grant her with a worded response. I let out a grunt, however even that was muffled by my arm in front of my face and the fact that my left cheek was glued to the table with sweat. “What was that, love?” she asked, taking a sip of her beer.

“You’re married,” I mumbled, still not getting up. “Shouldn’t Matt be the sweetest guy in the entire world?” I’d known Val long enough to recognize hesitation in her voice.

“O-okay. Second sweetest.” Val laughed, but stopped when I let out a groan of agony.

“Too drunk for loud noises,” I informed her in a whisper. “Val, nothing is working,” I sat up slowly, “and, no, I don’t mean with my combined hangover and bender. I mean with Anna… Do you think I should talk to Matt?” I asked.

“No, Jimmy, I know him. That would be the stupidest thing you could ever do!” Val looked annoyed. “He cares about his cousin, and… he’d never trust you around her, he’d be pissed off, and the guys would give you infinite shit over it. Nothing good could come out of it, Jimmy,” she paused. “I think we need to move on to plan B,” she concluded.

“Plan B?” I asked, meeting her eyes with an interested glance.

“Finding someone else for you,” she bit her lip, and interrupted before I could say anything. “I’m sick of watching you pine over her, of seeing you mope and cry and beat yourself up. She’s turning you into something terrible, this… Gollum-creature. In front of my eyes.”

“I’m in love with her, Val!” I protested.

“No.” she snapped, standing up. “No, Jimmy, love is between two people. Love is not one person at another. You don’t love her, Jimmy, you don’t. And I’m sick of watching her kill you. So get the fuck over it, and then come back to me.” Val stormed out of the bus.

My brain hardly had time to react before I felt a hand on my back. Although it was probably only a few seconds, distorted by my alcohol-fucked state of mind. “You all right, dude?” I heard a voice that sounded like Matt’s. “I heard Val yelling, and was stomping angrily… what happened?”

“M-Matt,” I slurred. “I have to tell you something, dude,”

Shads looked alert. “What did you do to her?!” he demanded angrily.

“No, no, no, no, no…” I finally caught ahold of what I was saying again. “I- She- Not Val. I… Matt, I’m in love with Anna. I mean, I really really really like her…” I remembered what Val said. Matt didn’t answer, and I stopped drawling on, realizing that at this point I was only talking to hear myself speak.
Finally, Matt responded. He took a deep breath, not saying anything yet, and sat down. “How much?” He asked after an excruciatingly long pause. Now, sober, I could have understood him, no problem. Obviously, though, I was too drunk for that.

“What do you mean how much?” I slurred. “I had loooooots…” I tried to sit down next to him, but fell on the ground at his feet. “Oh, what an interesting shade of burgundy,” I announced, finding myself face-to-cushion with the couch.

I looked upwards at Matt to see him shaking his head. “I was gonna ask, how much do you like her. But it’s obviously a fuckload if you got drunk- not just tipsy, but drunk- over it. I’ve never known anyone who can hold their drink as well as you, Rev.” He stood so fast it made me dizzy. “You can’t go after her while she’s with Alex though. That’s my only condition. She’s happy, and I won’t have you fucking that up,” He then grinned “But otherwise, do what you want, as long as if you guys eventually do bang, I don’t have to hear about it.” Matt walked out of the bus, and I sat there, dumbfounded. God, I hoped I’d remember this in the morning.

I stayed on the floor for a while, feeling particularly pleased with myself. Well, I mean, that wasn’t why I stayed on the floor- I didn’t trust myself to stand up just yet, not with my head spinning as much as it was. Shapes were still forming and blurring in front of my eyes. But this was it. I’d gotten Matt’s blessing… I could go after Anna. I could go after Anna. I could go after Anna… wait, but he’d said another thing, given a condition… what was it? Psht, couldn’t be important if I couldn’t remember. Probably just something about nailing his cousin. Wait, Matt had just given me the Okay and I was sitting on the floor of the tour bus?! I flailed my arms in the air until my hand latched on to something hard which I could only hope was fixed to the floor. I swung my other arm over comically to grasp the object, which upon further investigation was the table, and by putting all my weight into it as much, somehow managed to swing myself into standing position- almost then falling face-first into the table. I did manage to catch myself before impact, but at the expense of my dignity.

“Jimmy, are you wasted?!” I heard a voice. Anna’s voice. Anna. Anna.

“Anna! Anna! I have to tell you something!” I shouted, taking a couple wobbly steps in her direction.

“You need to go to bed, that’s what you need. Seriously, you’re like an alcoholic camel, how did you of all people manage to get drunk?!”

I shook my head “No, no no no, you see no, Anna, you’re wrong,” I slurred even more strongly than usual. “You see, that’s where you went wrong. Cause camels, they drink water. Seriously, and you’re the one who’s trying to convince me that I’m drunked.” I was making her laugh, good, then she’ll like me more.

“Yeah, you’re going to bed now,” she took a hold of my arm and attempted to lead me to the bunks.

“Only if you’ll come with me,” I said in a tone I hoped was provocative.

Anna rolled her eyes. “Let’s take a rain check on that for now, and wait for a night where you’re more sober, Jimmy.”

“Psht, I’m sober!” Anna rolled her eyes. “No, no, I am, and I have proof, toosies! Now, which one of us was going on about goats?”

“Goats?” Anna echoed- I could tell she was trying not to laugh.

“Yeah,” I confirmed. “No, I mean camels. No, goats. OH MY GOD YOU KNOW WHAT, ANNA?!” I shouted.

“What?” Anna responded, helping me out of my jacket. I would have said something about her undressing me, but I was just too excited about my new discovery.

“IF CAMELS AND GOATS HAD BABIES, YOU COULD CALL THEM COATS.” I shouted, absolutely ecstatic about the idea. I turned to Anna to see if she shared my enthusiasm, but she was just staring at me in shock.

“Bedtime. Now.” She pointed at the bunk I was miraculously standing in front of- when did that happen?!

“Okay okay okay,” I finally gave in as she pushed me into the bed. “Oooh, being a bit forward? But s’okay, baby, cause you can’t rape the willing…” I winked sloppily.

Anna just shook her head. “I’ll talk to you in the morning when you’re a few aspirins and a cup of coffee deep, Jimmy,” she smiled, and turned to walk away.

“Wait, Anna!” I grabbed her arm with surprisingly amazing aim for a drunk man. She turned around, waiting for me to continue. “I love you,” I said quietly with a smile.

Anna chuckled. “I’ll talk to you in the morning, you drunkard,” she said with a smile, prying herself out of my grip.

I was going to think about what this meant for us now, but I could feel the sudden weight of the alcohol on my eyelids, and before I knew it I was fast asleep.

Chapter 13

The next morning, I woke to the sound of the bunk above me creaking. Rhythmically. Well, morning was a bit of a stretch. I checked my watch and immediately wished I hadn’t. Not because it was 4 pm, but mainly because of the searing pain that rushed through my head the second I looked at the glowing numbers. Knowing I wouldn’t even regret it, I mustered every ounce of strength and delivered one swift kick to the bunk.

“OW!” I heard a girl’s voice, who I’d obviously just kicked in the back. Wait, that sounded like Val. But… Val and Matt’s bunk was across the path from mine.

“What the hell?!” I heard the guy’s voice. Brian’s. Ohhh. Michelle was here.

‘Someone’s sleeping down here!’ I attempted to retort, but it came out as a miserable, mumbled groan.

“Hangover?” Michelle poked her head down into my bunk.

I nodded. “Now, thank you very much but I don’t particularly want to see either of you naked, so I’m gonna… try and stand up now…” It took me a few tries and my head was flooded with pain as I did so, but I managed to stand upright. Jesus Christ. I could barely see straight, my headache was so bad, But I didn’t really have time to think about that anyway, because my next and immediate move was a dash for the bathroom. There was a general rule of touring- no vomiting or doing number two in the bathrooms. But this was a necessary exception, I thought, the contents of my stomach flooding the small bus toilet. They just kept going- it was as if there was no end to this bottomless pit of vomit. I was suddenly reminded of a song by The Offspring.

“I’m pretty sure that was at least a gallon, Sullivan,” I heard Anna’s voice. …She’d seen me puke. Lovely. I groaned in response, not even looking around. “No, seriously,” she continued. “That has to be some sort of record.” Was she being nice? Even more so than she had been lately? Fuck, I did something stupid last night, didn’t I? Fuck, fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. “Nice job stinking the place up, I had to go, but I think it would actually be better to find a port-a-potty, thanks a lot, Jimmy,” She rolled her eyes. “Plus, you probably clogged those fucking pipes, too. Just so you know.” I breathed a sigh of relief before emptying more of my stomach into the toilet. Thank god. Things were normal.

“I’m going to the All Time Low bus…” Anna announced, and I groaned inwardly.

“Oh… So… I’ll see you tonight?” I asked, turning to face her. “We’ll do a video game marathon or something, yeah? I should be feeling better by then…”

Anna bit her lip, shifting awkwardly. Oh, crap. “I’m sorry, it’s just, we had this nice date planned for tonight…” There was a long, awkward pause. “But, video games tomorrow?” She tried to sound happy, but it was blatantly obvious to the both of us that it was a load of shit. “I’ll see ya, Jimmy,” she said quietly. “I hope you feel better soon,” and with that, she walked out of the bus.

-----
“Guess whooo!” I exclaimed, sliding my hands over Alex’s eyes- he was sitting at the table playing checkers (checkers?!) against Jack. What a dork.

“Hello, Anna,” Jack said in a bored voice.

“Nooo!” I leaned across the table and playfully shoved him. “Alex was supposed to answer!” Alex just rolled his eyes. “What?” I asked.

“Nah, nothing. I just didn’t realise you would be here so early…”

“Well, you’re the one that invited me over for five, so we could go out for dinner, Alex…” What the fuck was up with him lately, seriously? I bit my lip.

“Oh… shit, that’s right. It’s just, we have a photoshoot or interview or something later, I forgot…”

I wasn’t going to let myself be manipulated by that one, not again. “I’ll wait here while you do it, I have nowhere else to go… I’ll just play video games.” I smiled good-naturedly, hiding my fury.

Alex hesitated, before finally relenting. “Kay,” he leaned in and kissed me on the lips gently, and I willingly wrapped my arms around him, deepening the kiss. He pulled away after a moment. “Why don’t you go to my bunk and, uh… get ready,” he winked. I grinned, and after kissing him once more, I went to his bunk to start getting undressed for a nice little go before dinner.

-----

Panic-stricken and nauseous, I grabbed my phone out of my pocket as quickly as gravity and skinnies combined would allow. Rapidly, I hit the green button, down two names, and then green again. I could hear Anna shuffling around in the bunk, and with each ring, I became more and more terrified. Finally, the voicemail. I frantically called again, and with the same result. Anna would wonder where I was soon. I hung up in frustration, and quickly sent a text, before shoving my phone back into my pocket. I strode over to the bunk, climbing up the ladder and poking my head in to find Anna waiting in only her bra and panties. Scanty ones, I might add. God, this chick was hot. I grinned and pulled my shirt off, tossing it to the floor before attacking her neck with bites and kisses.

God, every moment with this woman was amazing. The way she slid her hands down my back and her fingers into my belt loops… the way she could kiss me in all the right places. Within a few minutes with her, I was always hard. When she was trying, at least. And God, was she trying. As long as my text went through, this would be the best fucking night ever. A moment later, it became dreadfully clear that it hadn’t. Anna paused- she was straddling me right now, but she pulled away from the hickey she was leaving on my neck.

“Did you just hear something?” she asked.

I gulped, my throat suddenly dry. “No…” I tried to dismiss it casually, and attempted to pull her back down.

“No, I swear I heard someone calling you,” she continued, pulling out of my grip.

“It’s probably just one of the guys or something,” I started kissing her hipbone, but it was too late. She’d probably gotten suspicious over my reaction. Fuck, why could I not act nonchalant? Still in her bra and panties, Anna swung one leg over me and climbed from the bunk. I scrambled after her, dressed only in underwear, in vain attempts to prevent the worst from happening. It was too late though, of course. “J-Jackie!” I spluttered, trying to shrug the matter off. Yeah, Alex, way to act nonchalant…

“Alex, who’s this?” Jackie asked. Dressed in her tight purple dress that was as high cut at the thigh as it was low cut at the chest, knee-high black boots, and her hair done in curls, she looked gorgeo- NO. not the time.

“I- I… I…” Lost for words, I trailed off.

“You fucking bastard!” Jackie shrieked. “What, two weeks after we get back together and you’re already so bored you’re cheating on me? You know, I have no fucking clue why I even considered giving you a second chance!”

I turned to Anna, who just stood there, in her underwear, in shock. “I’m sorry,” She said slowly, cautiously. “But Alex and I were dating,” she continued. I winced at the past term, but I knew right at that moment I didn’t deserve any better. “For two months now,” with the right light, I could tell she was choking back tears.

“Anna, I can-“

“Don’t,” she snapped. “If you tell me you can explain, and try to make it all better in the space of thirty seconds, or even a day or a week, I swear to god I will turn one of the jet hoses they use to clean the busses onto your face so hard it’ll rip the skin right off your body. “ she was furious, and with good reason. “You fucking disgust me,” she told me, accompanied by her spitting in my face. She then, with great skill and ease, grabbed an oversized shirt, pulled it on, turned gracefully on one heel, and stormed out of the bus.

-----

“Anna?!” I looked up from my video games when Anna, a flustered and sobbing mess, burst into the bus. “Anna, what’s wrong?” I repeated, when she threw her arms around my shoulder and sat on the sofa next to me.

“Don’t want to talk about it,” was her muffled reply. I figured at this point it was best to let the matter happen, so I held her as close as I dared, stroking her hair and allowing her to sob against my chest for what seemed like an eternity. A wonderful, beautiful, eternity.