I Have Been Right All Along

SARA’S POV

I watch Paramore plays three songs from the side of the stage before heading to the dressing room.

I tried texting Brendon, but he won’t reply. I get up from the couch and check the fridge for something to drink. I spot a whole pack of Red Bulls and it reminds me of Brendon’s obsession with them.

I let out a sigh and stare at the box. Would he forgive me if I brought him Red Bulls? There’s no way he could be mad when he sees them. Red Bull and mad-Brendon don’t exist together.

I grab the box and quickly leave the dressing room. I head outside the venue to where the buses are all lined up. The cool night air blows across my face. The lights of the city light up the sky around me and I stop to look up at the buildings, which are very different from those in Franklin.

I don’t stop for long, remembering where I’m heading: Panic’s bus.

I reach the door and knock, looking down the bus at the window positioned above the couch inside. I see Jon peek out and I wave at him. I can hear him yell to Brendon to get the door.

I take a deep breath right before he opens the door. He freezes on the steps of the bus, looking down at me. His lips are parted slightly and I can tell he’s holding his breath.

I lift up the box of drinks, “I brought you Red Bull,” I say quietly, sounding more like I was asking, rather than stating.

He looks down at them, “Not gonna work.”

“How is this not going to work?!” I shriek, holding them up higher.

I can see his face falter a little bit. He almost smiles, but a long blink holds it back.

“I don’t want you to me mad at me anymore, okay? I brought you Red Bull. How is that not going to work?”

His face softens and he grins at me, “I’m just kiddin’ ya, it totally worked.”

“I knew it!” I yell, pointing at him.

He hops down the steps and embraces me in a tight hug, the bus door slamming behind him.

“You stood me up today!” he says, letting go of me.

“Not on purpose! I fell asleep on the bus. I totally didn’t mean to. Jet lag – come on! You know!”

“I guess so,” he laughs, scratching the back of his head.

“So do you want to talk now?” I ask, lightly punching his stomach.

“Oohf, yeah,” he replies, grabbing my wrist.

“First you stand me up, now you’re beating me up,” he says playfully.

I smile up at him as we hold hands and walk to Paramore’s bus. I love the feeling of his warm hand in mine. I don’t think it will ever get old.

“Sorry I was mad,” he says while squeezing my hand.

I grab onto his upper arm with my other hand and rest my head on his shoulder, “You don’t have to be sorry. I’ve been avoiding you for a while so I get where you’re coming from.”

“Eh, I guess.”

We reach the bus and go inside, not letting go of each other’s hand. I set the drinks down on the counter and begin to lead him to the back lounge, but he pulls my arm lightly and I turn around. He immediately leans in, placing his warm hands on either side of my head and kisses me with his plump lips.

He holds the kiss for a few seconds before pulling away with a toothy smile.

“I’ve been wanting to do that all week,” he says quietly, dropping his hands to his sides.

“Well you should have done it,” I say back, matter-of-factly.

Throwing his hands in the air, he proclaims, “You were avoiding me! I couldn’t even get within a ten foot radius of you!”

“Well maybe you should have got all up in my business and done it anyway!” I say back, mocking his gestures.

“Maybe I should have! But I didn’t! Sometimes people just need their space, figured you needed yours.”

I purse my lips at him then crack a smile, “Why are you so…”

“Awesome?” he interrupts with a smile.

I laugh and turn around, heading toward the back lounge. I throw up my hands as we pass through the bunks and sigh, “Ugh, no! You’re just…”

“Incredible?”

“Ha! No! And besides, those are basically the same thing.”

“Whatever, Sara. You don’t know me.”

I stop in my tracks, catching him off guard causing him to run straight into my back. I turn quickly and poke his sides where I know he’s most ticklish. He immediately begins laughing.

“Oh, I don’t know you, huh?”

“Stop! Stop!” he laughs, trying to block me with his arms, legs, hands, whatever body part he can.

“Please! Stop! It hurts! It hurts!” he utters through laughter.

“Fine, I’ll stop! Anyway, the word I was trying to say was considerate, which isn’t close at all to awesome or incredible.”

We take a seat on the couch in the back lounge. Brendon sits to my right facing me, one arm leaning on the back of the couch holding his head up, the other resting on his lap.

“But you have to admit I am both of those things,” he remarks conceitedly and I can’t help but laugh.

“If it charms you that much for me to agree then, sure, you are both awesome and incredible. “

Grinning and nodding, he says, “Thanks.”

“Let’s have our conversation now,” I suggest.

“Let’s make out,” he counters.

“Brendon,” I complain, rolling my eyes.

“Sorry,” he grins.

“You look quite amused with yourself,” I say dully.

“No, I just think it’s funny how quickly you got annoyed.”

I sigh, rolling my eyes once again. Only Brendon would be entertained by the fact that he is annoying.

“What was it that you wanted to talk to me about?” I urge, hoping he’d get serious.

He sighs before speaking, “Well I just wanted to apologize for what happened and how long I waited to bring it up to you. I really thought you remembered at first, but then couldn’t tell. Like, at times I really thought you knew. I didn’t know if I should mention it, or if you were just pretending it didn’t even happen.”

“I don’t think you should feel sorry about it. I was the one who came onto you, that was my bad. That’s not even your fault. And to be sorry about how long you waited to say something is stupid. I wasn’t mad about that. I just thought it was best that I stayed away from you because it was my fault for what happened. And quite honestly, I was a little embarrassed about it. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“You were thinking I was smokin’ hot and you couldn’t keep your hands off me.”

Yep. That didn’t take long. I close my eyes and shake my head.

“Please just get serious for five minutes,” I laugh.

“I am being serious.”

I stare at him to see how long he can keep a straight face. Which, knowing him, isn’t long. He stares back at me, not even cracking a smile. I inadvertently glance down at his lips and find myself imagining kissing him right now.

“Quit staring at my mouth,” he says after a few moments.

Immediately I look back up at his eyes, embarrassed. I can feel my cheeks start to burn red.

Brendon begins cracking up, causing my cheeks to feel even hotter. I cover my eyes with my hands, letting out a short laugh.

“Why do you have to embarrass me?” I mumble into my hands.

“You’re the one who wants to kiss me!”

“And what of it? So what? What if I want to kiss you? I can stare at your mouth and imagine kissing you all I want. Who is going to stop me? I don’t think--”

“Shut up and kiss me already,” he interrupts.

“What?” I ask, totally caught off guard.

“I said shut up and kiss me,” he repeats slowly.

“You want me to kiss you?”

“Yes!”

I just sit there and continue to stare at him, so taken aback that I can’t even respond.

“Or don’t, whatever,” he snorts.

Somehow that takes me out of my daze and I quickly lean towards him, slamming my lips into his. He lets out a groan, but doesn’t pull away.

His hands find their way to the sides of my head, his right snaking up into my hair. I rest my hands on his knees and continue to kiss him, quickly intensifying the kiss.

Brendon pulls away seconds later to touch his lower lip.

“Damn, girl!” he laughs.

“Sorry,” I frown.

“Is it bleeding?”

“No, but it’s a little swollen,” I say, still frowning. I rub his lip lightly with my thumb.

He grabs my wrist and pulls my hand down, leaning in to kiss me again, but it doesn’t last long.

“It hurts to kiss,” he says, pouting.

“I’m sorry, Brendon!” I say, leaning to kiss his swollen lip lightly.

He smiles at me when I pull away, “It’s okay, I’m sure it’s not that bad.”

I scrunch my nose up, looking at his lip again, “Actually, it’s getting bigger. Let me go get some ice.”

I leave the room, Brendon following me, and head to the freezer. I grab the ice tray and find a baggie to put the ice into. As I’m zipping the bag up, the door to the bus opens and in walks Pete.

“There you two are, we’ve been looking for you. We’re going to do a – wait, what happened?” he asks as Brendon puts the ice on his lip.

“Oh, you know…” I sigh, waving my hand around.

A smile spreads across his face instantaneously, “You guys were making out!”

“So?” Brendon says, his voice muffled by the bag of ice.

“Anyway,” Pete continues, shaking his head in amusement. “We’re getting ready to do a meet-and-greet.”

“Ah, shit,” Brendon utters, handing me the bag of ice.

“I’m going to stay here,” I say.

Brendon gives me an apologetic look, “You sure? You can sit in there with us.”

“No, that’s okay. I’ll probably just head to bed.”

He stares at me for a few seconds before saying, “Okay. Alright. Well I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

I smile up at him, nodding.

He gives me a quick hug before heading out with Pete.

-------

I get woken up at 3am by my phone buzzing. I grab the phone, feeling really grumpy. It’s a text message from Brendon.

“Lots of people asked about my lip. How embarrassing! :(“

I blink at the phone, laughing after a few moments.

“Sorry about that. What did you tell them?” I reply.

I drop my phone on my stomach and close my eyes waiting for a reply.

“I said I got hit in the mouth. No one questioned it. Did I wake you up?”

“Yes, but it’s fine.”

“No! Go back to sleep.”

“I’m awake now! What are you up to?”

“Laying in my bunk. Want to come over? ;)”

“Oh, yes, of course. I’ll just walk out of this moving bus and hope I can grab onto your bus in time before it drives off. I’ll see you in a minute…”

“Smart ass!”

“You know me! :D”

I drop my phone on my stomach again. I can feel myself start to drift off to dreamland, but am brought back once again by a text.

I pick up my phone and stare at the blinding screen.

“Maybe tomorrow we can make out longer…oops! I mean hang out longer :)”

“Yes,” is all I can manage to type out and send before I feel myself drifting off to sleep.