A Drama Provider

“What time does the party start?” My question was directed toward Matt, but my eyes were on Jack. It was ten p.m. and the boys were already knocking back beers and plastic red cups like it was doomsday. I was worried but every time I mentioned slowing down the boys would wave me off like a protective mother.

“Well, gates don’t close for another hour, but I think everybody that’s coming is packing up early so they’ll show up in a few.” Matt shrugged and took a gulp from his cup.

“And who all is coming?” My tone was laced with worry. I was terrified of a particular someone showing up and saying words that would be dreadfully regretted in the morning.

“Jack didn’t invite Kyle, so don’t worry,” Matt answered my thoughts as if he could read them. I glanced at him briefly and saw his eyes were a bit hazed over as well. “In fact, he didn’t invite any of the Forever boys, thought it’d be too awkward for you.” A sudden wave of relief washed over me. I hadn’t mentioned to any of the boys that I was leaving, except Jonathan and even he didn’t know that my leaving was permanent.

“How thoughtful,” I mumbled as I turned my head to the sound of the bus door opening. It was Alex. He was walking toward me with a smirk on his lips while my eyes narrowed on him. “Excuse me, Matt.” Matt nodded as he glanced at Alex too and then walked over to join Jack in his strange drinking game. “And what do you think you’re doing mister?” I approached Alex with my hands on my hips.

Alex raised both of his eyebrows as he wrapped his arms around my lower back, pulling me into him. He started to sway both of our bodies, as if there was music playing.

“I thought I made it quite clear that you were to stay in your bunk for the night,” I tried to be stern, but his touch had melted my firmness. I needed his comfort to make this less painful.

“Hey! Save me a dance with the lady of the hour, Gaskarth!” I smiled into Alex’s shirt at the sound of Gabe Saporta’s voice. The party had officially arrived.

“Oo! Me too!” Ryland yelled and I turned my head to see him jumping up and down beside the rest of Cobra.

“How are you going to dance when there’s no music? Dumbass,” Alex Suarez walked straight to the alcohol table.

“I guess I did forget to drag out the tunes,” I bit my bottom lip. “I’ll be right back,” I pulled away from Alex and headed for the bus. It took ten minutes of scouting to find the laptop on the messy bus. We were supposed to be leaving tomorrow morning so you’d think that the bus would be clean with the boys things packed away nice and neat. Reality was far from it.

I hoped down the steps and headed for the alcohol table, smiling at the few new guest that had arrived. I placed the laptop on the table and quickly turned it on, opening up the internet as soon as it was all booted up. I was partially bending over so that my face was level with the screen when two hands gripped my hips and a body pushed against my back side. I stood straight up immediately and whipped around with wide eyes.

“Hey there hottie, where you been?” A very drunk Derek Sanders was dry humping my back side. My mouth dropped open as I stared at him.

“Whoa, Sanders!” Zack came to my rescue as he appeared from the crowd. His eyes were blurry as he pulled the boy off of me. “Delly is not a doll to hump,” he shook his head and winked at me before he disappeared in the crowd again with Derek.

I laughed as I turned my attention back to the laptop and typed in ‘playlist.com’ in the search box. The boys and I had been up most of last night putting together the perfect playlist to party to.

“Anberlin brought these over for us to borrow!” Matt yelled a little too loud as he set down a speaker next to the laptop. Rian was on my other side as he set another speaker down. “They connect with this thingy,” Matt pulled a cord out of his pockets and handed it to me.

“You want a drink?” Rian offered as Matt walked off. I shook my head and went about hooking the speakers up to the laptop while the playlist loaded. I scanned over the list with a smug smile before I clicked play and the loud music blared from the speakers. There was a thunderous cheer behind me as the music started and I turned to see the small crowd had suddenly gotten a whole lot bigger, and everyone was staring at me.

“Alright! Alright! Alright!” Jack yelled as he pushed through people and stood by my side, hitting pause on the laptop. “Before we start this party off officially, we all shall have a toast!” My cheeks slowly started to burn as I knew the words that would be coming out of his mouth next. Jack raised his glass high above his head. “This is for the beautiful and talented, Delly Rae!” The group cheered again before their heads tilted back and cups were thrown to their lips.

“Thanks for the attention, Jack,” I muttered sarcastically and patted his chest before my eyes rested on familiar brown ones. A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth as he crept toward me, replacing Jack’s arm around my waist with his own. I hardly noticed the music blaring again and greetings that were shouted as he pulled me toward the edge of the party. “I owe you, major,” I whispered in his ear and kissed his cheek.

Alex squeezed my waist and smiled as he held me against him, gently swaying our bodies together even though the beat was too fast to do so. I slid my arms around his neck and rested my head against his shoulder, gazing out at the dark night. The lights we’d strung up this morning only lit a small area.

Everything felt so nice. Alex’s warm body against mine wasn’t just something I enjoyed anymore; it was as if I needed it. He kept my sanity and serenity in his touch and it was almost painful to go without it. There was no denying that I was putting my feelings for my old friends behind me, and there was also no more denying my feelings for Alex. I wasn’t quite ready to embrace them, but at least I could admit to them at times like these. Times where I wished with every ounce of me that my heart wasn’t still wounded and that there were no complications between Alex and I.

I lifted my head and stared up at him while he gazed down at me. We were still slowly swaying as he mouthed three simple words to me. The words that made my heart swell but hurt me just the same.

“I love you,” the words flowed as I stepped up on tip toes, stopping the swaying so I wouldn't lose my balance and fall over. I didn’t hesitate, like I had before, as I pressed my lips against his. It was a sweet, honest kiss that brought a warm feeling to my gut. I pulled back, resting my feet back on the ground, before it could progress into anything. I saw in his eyes that he wanted more, wanted to kiss me more, but I couldn’t do that. “I’m not ready to be in a relationship.” His eyes darkened with a tint of sadness as he nodded. “But it doesn’t change the fact that I do love you.” He tried smiling, but it was too small to be anything other than an attempt not to frown, and bent down to gently kiss my forehead.

He pulled me against him again, holding me until a stumbling Gabe approached us, demanding his dance. Alex let go of me reluctantly while Gabe steered me through the drunken crowd before he found a spot he liked and started to grind against me. I smiled and laughed, having a good time as I went through dance partner after dance partner. Apparently everyone wanted to dance with ‘the lady of the hour’ as they kept calling me.

Finally, I landed in the arms of some one familiar. “Matty,” I whined as I rested my head on his shoulder and leaned my weight against him. “What time is it?”

“It’s about two,” Matt shrugged while his arms wrapped around me. “Almost time for everybody to pack up and move on.”

“We’re not moving?” I lifted my head to look at him questionably. He was drunk, clearly.

“Nope,” Matt shook his head a little too fast. “We get in a taxi tomorrow morning and ride straight to the airport while our bus drives to the next stop.”

“Do you know who’s getting the bus?” I couldn’t keep myself from yawning as I laid my head back on his chest, closing my eyes.

“Nah, but I hope they don’t mind the smell that is most definitely stuck in that bus,” he chuckled and I felt the smooth action of his hand pulling through my hair. That was sure way to lull me to sleep even if I wasn’t already on the brink.

“I feel awful for the poor kids that have to live with Jack’s stench for the next two weeks,” I giggled and took all the energy I had left to push myself away from Matt’s comfortable chest. “I’m going to head for the bunks; catch a bit of sleep before it’s off to Texas.” I leaned up and placed a soft kiss on his cheek before I turned and headed for the bus.

There was still a loud thumping on the bus, but the thin walls seemed to dull it a little. I sighed as I trudged to the back, slipping out of my shorts and into a pair of Alex’s sleeping pants before I threw myself into his bunk. I knew I’d be up in only a few hours but somehow, it didn’t matter. It felt nice to lie on my back in the small bunk.

I listened to the party noises from outside, smiling here and there at the familiar yells and shouts. The door to the bus suddenly slammed opened and the noises got louder before it shut again. I bit my bottom lip as I heard the passenger take even sounding steps, meaning whoever was on the bus was not drunk. The board in the bunk hallway squeaked under the weight before I couldn’t take it any longer. I rolled over and the corner of my mouth tilted upward.

“Are you all partied out too?” I giggled as Alex nodded, crawling into the bunk with me. It was almost second nature to snuggle into him, to be enveloped in such caring, comfortable arms. There was definitely no denying how strongly I felt for this boy anymore. “Night Alex.”

His simple response was to hug me tighter and kiss my forehead. Only one word seemed to correctly describe how things felt with Alex.

Blissful.