I'd Kiss You Goodbye If I Thought It Would Make You Stay

“How I wish you could see the potential, the potential of you and me. It's like a book elegantly bound but in a language that you can't read just yet. You gotta spend some time, love. You gotta spend some time with me. And I know that you'll find, love, I will possess your heart.” – Death Cab for Cutie

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“Ow! What the hell?” I demand, sitting up in my bunk to see Butcher’s grinning face just outside my bunk, interrupting my peaceful sleep. “Why are you poking me?” I frown, pushing his hands away.

“I was trying to wake you up,” he states matter-of-factly.

“Why?” I moan in annoyance. “We have the day off.”

“Yeah, and we’re all going to the mall, so hurry up!” he exclaims, jumping up and down a little in excitement.

“Fine,” I yawn, hopping out of the bunk and realizing that everyone else is awake and waiting.

Half an hour later, we’re all inside the mall, arguing about where we want to go.

“Come on, Mike. I want to get my lip pierced,” Suzie announces suddenly, grabbing his arm and dragging him along. The arguing subsides as we divide into smaller groups, agreeing to meet at the food court in a few hours.

William, Jack, and Jude head in the opposite direction of Suzie and Mike to wander around, I guess. Meanwhile, Seb and Butcher go searching for an art store, and the rest of the crew splits up as well.

‘Conveniently’ being left together, Michael and I wander the mall aimlessly. We pass a tattoo shop first, and I find myself wondering if it’s really been a whole year since Michael and I had gotten our matching ones.

Maybe it hadn’t been the smartest idea, but we’d been a little tipsy that night. I don’t mind it or really try to hide it anymore; I care about him whether we’re together or not, so why should it matter?

Suddenly, he grabs my hand, dragging me off in the direction of some store he’s seen.

I wordlessly follow, and we find ourselves in a music store.

We mess around with the drum kits for a little while, then move on to the guitars before heading down the aisle with the keyboards and synthesizers.

“Shit!” I hear, and I immediately spin around to see him picking up the keyboard he just knocked over.

“Michael!” I exclaim, trying not to laugh as he grins sheepishly, seeing an employee nearby, who had turned to glare at the noise and is now heading our way.

“Come on,” he laughs, grabbing my hand again and dragging me out of there before the salesperson can scold us.

We’re out of breath and a few stores down before we stop, collapsing side by side on a bench. I glance at him before starting to laugh. He glances at me curiously.

“Klutz,” I tease, still laughing at him as he pouts, pretending to be offended.

I turn around, feeling a soft tap on my shoulder once I calm down enough to stop laughing. Two teenage girls are shyly standing there.

“Can we take pictures with you?” the braver of the two smiles eagerly.

“Sure,” I smile, standing up, along with Michael. We each take pictures with the two girls and then talk with them for a few minutes.

I’m not sure if I’m more surprised or flattered to be recognized. It’s happened multiple times before, and obviously increasingly more often since we signed to FBR and Decaydance, but it still catches me off guard sometimes. It’s a nice feeling either way as we say goodbye and head for the food court to meet up with everyone.