It's Really Happening

I've always enjoyed spending a few days on tour with the guys, but I'm the first to admit that waiting around the venue for everyone to leave gets very old. Mostly because we're all so starving by the time we leave, the guys usually choose some ridiculous place to go because it's the first thing they see.

At least that night we had planned everything out before the show had even started, so we at least knew where we were going. Although the fact that we even had a plan made waiting around that much more annoying.

"Can we get the fuck out of here already?" Eris groaned.

"That excited for karaoke?" Rian asked as he and Flyzik passed by.

"Don't even pretend you're not, Dawson. I still remember what happened the last time we all went out to a karaoke bar."

"What happened the-"

"Nothing." Rian interrupted Flyzik as his cheeks turned bright red and started walking towards the van.

"I expect the full story later," Flyzik told Eris before he jogged after Rian. I snickered as we watched the two of them leave before I said,

"Wait…what did happen?" Eris laughed.

"Nothing. It's just hilarious to tease Rian about it because he got so drunk that night he doesn't remember a thing. So Alex and Jack convinced him he did some really stupid things."

"Oh…right. That sounds like them." I laughed.

No tour stop was ever complete without a stop at Taco Bell, because no one on this tour could ever go anywhere without having tacos. As much as Eris and I enjoyed our fair share of tacos, we couldn't help but wonder how the guys survived with the way they ate. By now they should've had at least 3 heart attacks apiece.

By the time we all reached the karaoke bar, it was only about a third of the way full but that made no matter to us, considering our group was enough to fill the place. A couple of the guys went to the bar to get the first round of drinks, while the rest of us fanned out across the bar to tables until someone decided it was time to begin the karaoke madness.

Luckily there were booklets of available songs at every table, and Eris and I waited no time to start picking out songs that we wanted to hear. Obviously some of the guys were going to have to have a few drinks to loosen up before they'd be willing to get up and sing, but when they were ready, Eris and I would have every song picked out.

The token karaoke songs included Journey, Queen, David Bowie, and a whole array of cheesy love songs that we just couldn't resist. Alex and Jack volunteered to go first, after they downed 3 or 4 shots apiece at the bar. Once they got up to the microphone, they asked us what we had chosen for them to sing, and our answer was "Fat-Bottomed Girls."

The look on their faces was priceless, but they didn't step down and although Jack's singing voice was on par with a dog howling, it sure as hell didn't stop anyone from enjoying their rendition.

After Jack and Alex left the stage, Flyzik, Vinny, and Timmy got up next and we had them sing Jefferson Airplane's "Somebody to Love" which got a rousing round of applause from the whole place. Eris and I were particularly impressed with Timmy's ability to stay in tune despite Flyzik and Vinny doing their damnedest to mess him up.

Once they were finished, a couple people who weren't with us got up to sing, and while they weren't necessarily bad, they weren't particularly good. But then again, who were we to judge? Besides, it gave the rest of us more time to get a few drinks under our belts.

While I was finishing my third drink, Josh and Matt decided they would give "Don't Stop Believing" a shot. Keeping in mind that they had already drank twice as much as we had, Eris and I wished them luck and did our best to keep a straight face. As soon as they hit the final chorus, Danny, Jimmie, and Alex rushed on to join them and everyone burst into laughter. The applause and cheering from the whole bar was nearly deafening after that song.

"Who's next?! Danny shouted as he pulled a chair up to our table. Josh sat back down next to me and kissed my cheek before picking up his drink and downing the rest.

"Abby!" Josh volunteered me and I froze.

"Wha?" Eris chuckled as she finished her drink and clapped me on the shoulder.

"Yes! Let's go!" I whipped my head around to her and stared.

"Wha??" She laughed again and pulled me out of my chair.

"Don't worry. I've got the best song for us."

Cheers and catcalls rang out in the bar, mostly from our group but good god were they loud. As if I wasn't nervous enough already, that most certainly didn't help. I definitely wasn't drunk enough for this.

"Hold on," I said as we passed by the table Alex and Jack were sitting at. I swiped a couple of shots from their table and downed them before I allowed Eris to drag me to the microphone.

"Ready?" She chuckled.

"As I'll ever be." Eris smiled and nudged me.

"You'll enjoy this." She motioned to the screen and I saw the song she had picked was The Beatles' version of "Twist and Shout," which made me extremely happy. The only question was, who would take the lead? Eris and I had argued time and again over who had the better voice, both of us always saying the other was better, and we never got anywhere. When the music kicked in, I motioned for her to take the lead. She rolled her eyes, but thankfully didn't argue. We didn't really have the time, and she knew I had a soft spot for George Harrison, anyway.

"Well shake it up baby now!" Eris belted out and everyone began to cheer. As I sang the backup to Eris' lead, I couldn't help but grin as I became more and more comfortable. For once, I think I was able to understand why the guys felt so at home onstage. Once the music started and everyone cheered, all I could think about was how there was no better feeling than this.

Once Eris and I finished and returned to the table, the guys had another round waiting for us. Zack immediately wrapped his arms around Eris and Josh pulled me into his arms, kissed me repeatedly and began saying how great we were.

"You guys aren't the only performers around!" Eris laughed as she saluted them before taking a drink. Someone we didn't know took the stage next and began singing Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On," and we deemed the rest of the night to be "Ridiculously Cheesy Love Songs Night."

A few drinks and tequila shots later, it was pretty clear that everyone was having a great time. A couple people were floating in-between tables, taking opportunities for shots and group pictures of a completely ridiculous but decidedly hilarious time.

At one point, Timmy joined our table (which now consisted of myself, Josh, Eris, Zack, Flyzik, and Jack – although Alex also had the habit of popping over now and again) and listened to whatever ridiculous story was being told at the time. With a group like ours, there was no end to tales of mischief and seriously bad ideas.

"You know what I've- shut up! Shut up!" Timmy interrupted himself to make Jack be quiet, although it was futile so he simply continued, "I've been wondering how you two actually got together." He pointed back and forth between Josh and me and I couldn't help but start laughing.

By that point, Josh was definitely more than three sheets to the wind, although I had been surprised again and again with his ability to remain somewhat coherent even after drinking half the bar's alcohol. But this didn't mean that he had heard a word Timmy had said.

"What?" he said when I nudged him. I pointed at Timmy and he spoke again.

"How did you two…you know, hook up?" Fits of laughter broke out across the table and Timmy started chuckling when he realized what he'd said. "I meant, okay, uh, I know how you two met-"

"Fuckin' everyone knows that story," Eris interrupted with a laugh.

"Yeah, yeah, shut up," I chided, trying to ignore the fact that I was starting to blush. I hoped the fact that I'd had quite a bit to drink had already made my cheeks rosy so no one would notice.

"But…I don't think I've ever heard the story of how you two actually decided to…well, you know!" Timmy waved his hands around, apparently fed up with trying to say what he wanted to without sounding like an idiot.

"Hey, I don't think I've heard it either," Flyzik spoke up. "How the hell did you two get together?"

The whole table turned to look at us and I turned to look at Josh, who was only half-paying attention to what was going on. I looked at Eris and she shrugged her shoulders.

"Looks like it's all on you, kid." She took another sip of her drink and I let out a breath before I set mine down.

"All right. I wish you'd have asked before we got this drunk, Tim. Then I wouldn't have to think so damn hard."

While the story of how Josh and I met (and the rest of Every Avenue, for that matter) seemed to be common knowledge around all of our friends, I often found that the story of how we started dating was considerably less known. It wasn't necessarily embarrassing or any less of a "what the fuck" encounter than how we met, but perhaps it was because it was more of a personal story than the other.

In order to fully explain the events of the night Josh and I got together, first I had to tell (and re-tell, for some) the story of the famed game of Bullshit that Josh and I played. Although I'd told it to Eris many times, somehow I always left out the actual ending, where I was royally shafted by my roommate coming home at the exact wrong time.

So instead of getting what I wanted out of that night, Josh and I said goodbye shortly after my roommate returned and I spent the rest of the night in my room, cursing both her and myself for idiocy.

However, I was given a second chance a month or so later when I was invited to a house party on Long Island by a friend from school over break. Normally, I stayed the hell away from New York City and Long Island because it wasn't really my scene, but my friend insisted I had to come visit her and go to this party.

When I arrived at her house the night before, the first thing she did was tear through my bag looking for my "party outfit." Apparently, nothing I'd brought sufficed in her mind.

"What the hell do you mean, I have nothing?"

"You have nothing." She sighed. "No matter, though. I'll find something."

As she tore apart her own closet for something I could wear, I asked why she had insisted that I come all the way out there for some stupid party. It was then that she finally let me in on her big secret of why the hell she wanted me there so badly: the guy having the party had gotten a band to play, and that band was Every Avenue.

Back then, as I'd been somewhat shamed to admit, I told a lot of people about their band. I introduced many of my friends to their music and became known as the "number one fan" to many of them. I tended to shy away from the label because who really wants to be known as that? I was simply a fan who enjoyed spreading the word around.

In any case, I was pretty sure that no one outside of my friend knew I was going to be at that party. By the time we had arrived, it seemed as though the party was in full swing and the band had just started playing.

I stuck to the wall as my friend disappeared into the cluster of people packed into the house, fairly confident that I had found where I was going to spend the rest of the night.

As I watched them perform, I suddenly became overwhelmed with fear as to what would happen when Josh and I saw each other. As awkwardness goes, the last time I'd seen him had been the epitome of our relationship up to that point. It occurred to me that I really hadn't thought about what he had thought of that night.

As always, I had let my mind run amok and it did nothing but make me seriously nervous and dread the time when the band finished playing.

It turned out that they had been asked to play by a friend of a friend of theirs, and in return they'd be put up for the night and given all the alcohol they could drink. Which, especially in those days, was a hell of a lot.

Once they finished playing, I left the room and tried to figure out a spot where I wouldn't be found too easily. But as the night played out, every spot I picked had a member of Every Avenue wandering around.

In the kitchen, Jimmie spotted me and found it hilarious that I was there. At the time, Mike was still with them and I found him in a corner of the living room. I bumped into Dave (literally) in one of the hallways of the house, and he held onto me for a good five minutes while saying,

"I was just talking about you! With Josh! Where the hell did he go?!"

In the end I told him "you go that way and I'll go this way," just to get him to let me go. Although what I didn't expect was to find Josh in the last place I thought of to hide: outside on the back deck.

"Abby!" I paused in my retreat inside as Josh called my name, and I turned around to him and smiled.

"Hey, Josh." He smiled back and rested back against the railing he'd been leaning on and motioned for me to come over. Hesitantly, I came forward and put my arms on the railing as I stood next to him.

"What brings you here?" he asked.

"Visiting a friend over break, and she said I just had to come to this party with her."

"Crazy coincidence, huh?" Josh chuckled and I bit my lip as I turned away from him.

"Yeah," I answered. "How've you been?" I cringed at my feeble attempt to change the subject.

"Good, you?"

"Same." I tapped my fingers on the railing, waiting for Josh to say something else. However, I definitely wasn't expecting what he said next.

"I saw you when you came in, you know." I let out a nervous chuckle before responding.

"Really?"

"Yeah." He chuckled. "You're easy to spot." Josh looked at me with a smile and it was then that I remembered that my friend had put me in a silver sequined top, which wasn't exactly subtle.

"Thank you?" I laughed softly. "I feel ridiculous in this thing."

"Oh, no, don't get me wrong, it looks great on you, but-" Josh paused when he saw that I had raised an eyebrow and he chuckled.

"But?" I prompted with a slight smirk. He shrugged.

"I like the way you dress." Josh moved a bit closer to me and I did my best to keep from shaking, despite how nervous I was. He turned to face me and I hesitantly did the same, but just as he was about to say something else, a group of people came out onto the deck and filled the air with drunken laughter.

I chuckled nervously as Josh turned back to the railing and tapped his fingers on it a few times. I put my chin in the palm of my hand as I rested my elbow on the railing and stared at the scenery ahead, which just happened to be a beach.

Next thing I knew, I heard Josh's voice in my ear, "Wanna go for a walk?"

"Sure," I replied with a nod of my head as I followed him down the stairs of the deck and onto the beach.

The beach was far quieter than the deck, and we walked in silence for a while as I admired our surroundings. After walking for some time, Josh decided to sit down in the sand and I followed suit. I ended up lying down on my back so I could stare up at the sky, while Josh remained sitting up.

"I miss the stars," I remarked softly.

"What do you mean?" Josh said as he glanced up. "They're all there."

"Well, here they are. I miss living somewhere I can actually see the stars at night."

"Oh," Josh answered as he lay down beside me. "Wow."

"Right?" I chuckled. "I could stare for hours."

Josh rolled over onto his side and faced me, and I turned my head to look at him but we both stayed silent. I wanted to bring up the subject of the last time we had been together, but I was too much of a chicken to do it. Then an idea popped into my head, and I forced myself to muster up the courage to say it.

"So if you saw me when I came in, why didn't you say hi?" Josh looked down for a minute before he looked at me again.

"I was going to, but you disappeared." He chuckled lightly. "I hoped-err, figured I'd see you eventually."

"Always do," I replied with a laugh. Inside, my mind was reeling with Josh's comment while trying extremely hard not to appear frazzled.

But with that having been said, and with my mind filled with ideas from before, the next word that came out of my mouth wasn't exactly what I had hoped to say.

"Bullshit."

"…I didn't say anything." When I realized what I'd said, I sat up and buried my face in my hands as I tried to hold back laughter.

Josh sat up and I could feel his presence next to me as I couldn't help but laugh. He chuckled a few times as he leaned on the arm he stretched out behind me, making the space between us that much smaller.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"Nothing," I said through a snicker, completely voiding my comment. Josh chuckled again as he reached up and gently pulled my hands away from my face.

"Bullshit," he replied softly before he leaned in and kissed me.

Throughout the story, our whole group had gathered around the table and listened while they drank. By the end, they were all so drunk that every single one of them went "aww" when I finished speaking. The only one who didn't, to prove her sobriety, was Eris.

"You two are so cheesy."

"I'll drink to that!" Josh said with a grin before clinking his glass with mine and gulping down the contents. The rest of the table cheered and followed suit, while Eris and I shared a look of amusement.

The amusement soon doubled when two extremely intoxicated individuals took the stage: Dave and Danny.

"We're dedicating thish next shong to-" Danny paused to laugh and Dave grabbed the microphone from him.

"To some of the best fuckin' people we know!"

"Josh-" The whole group cheered. "-and Abby," Danny continued through the multitude of voices, "this one's for you!"

Danny began singing – or really, mumbling and trying very hard not to laugh the whole time – a song that none of us recognized until the chorus hit, and Dave joined in.

"AND IIIIIIIIIII-EEE-IIIIIIIII WILL ALWAYS LOOOOOVE YOUUUU-OOOO-IIIII WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOUUUU!"

The entire bar erupted in laughter and it was all we could do while we watched the drunken pair stumble through every verse and belt out the chorus as loudly and drunkenly as they could.

If there were ever a time anyone really regretted not having a real video camera, this was it. Dave and Danny singing Whitney Houston is something none of us would ever forget, but we would always regret not getting all of it on something better than a cell phone camera.