It's Really Happening

After what was to be called the Great Prank War of '09, the guys became somewhat suspicious of each other, but even more suspicious of Eris and myself. Especially when we weren't together. Probably because most of the time when we were in separate vehicles, we were texting one another.

"For the last time, stop looking over my shoulder!"

"I saw my name in that text!"

"David Ryan, you're hallucinating! Now sit down!"

"Fine! Tell your fiancé to stop being mean!" The last comment was directed at Josh, who was leaning his head against the side of the van while I leaned against him.

"Abby's never mean," he replied as he kissed the top of my head. I smiled as I went back to texting Eris.

Dave's so paranoid. Anyway, next choice?

Haha yes, yes he is. And…how about Huey Lewis?

You would suggest him.

What?! You come up with one!

Fine! I will! As I sent that text, I thought about what song I would really want to dance to with Josh. Apparently, choosing the "first dance" song for a couple was actually important.

I was so awful at choosing songs, partially because most of the ones I thought of were about heartbreak, not love. Well it's not my fault most musicians are bitter people!

I've got one! "I've Got A Dark Alley And A Bad Idea That Says You Should Shut Your Mouth."

You mean the one by FOB that goes "I'm hopelessly hopeful, you're just hopeless enough?

Yeah, that's the one. Why? Josh loves Fall Out Boy!

It's depressing! Just because your fiancée has a boner for Pete Wentz doesn't make the song a good choice for the occasion. I burst out laughing as I read her text, causing everyone in the van (minus Jimmie, who was driving) to stare at me.

"What'd she say?" Josh asked as he snatched the phone out of my hands before I could stop him. When he finished reading it, he gave my phone back and immediately pulled out his own. I glanced at his screen as he furiously wrote a text to Eris:

I DO NOT HAVE A BONER FOR PETE WENTZ!

"That'll show her," he huffed. I laughed softly and kissed him on the cheek. A moment later, a reply appeared.

Fine. Patrick Stump, my mistake.

I began to snicker again and Josh frowned. I looped my arm through his and laid my head on his shoulder.

"It's Eris. You know she's just kidding." Josh rolled his eyes and put his phone away.

"What are you guys talking about, anyway?" he asked.

"Wedding songs."

"Oh. You mean like first dance shit?" I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, that."

"I thought you picked that already."

"When?" I asked, confused.

"Like, years ago." Josh chuckled. "Don't you remember?" I stared at him and he laughed again. "When we watched Moulin Rouge together, you said you were going to use that one song…" Josh snapped his fingers as he tried to remember the name.

"Come What May?" I asked.

"Yeah! That one!" He smiled.

"How do you remember that? I don't even remember that." Josh pressed a kiss to my forehead as he pulled me closer to him.

"I have a good memory for the important stuff." I smiled as I wrote a text to Eris.

Josh says 'Come What May'.

Moulin Rouge? Good choice! The stab at his sexuality still stands, though.

The rest of the drive throughout the desert was quiet. Or, at least, as quiet as it could be with a van-ful of bored twenty-somethings who like to talk and point out the obvious. The number of times Dave and Matt has pointed out cacti was about as equal as the number of times I had wanted to stab myself in the eye.

Once I put my headphones in and turned up the music loud enough to drown them out, the scenery passing by outside became much more soothing. Although I ended up putting my entire library on shuffle, which wasn't entirely…well, not all of my music choices made sense. From The Rolling Stones to Set Your Goals and then Coldplay, I was about to suffer through picking just one artist when 'Bad Romance' came on.

Now, I'll admit. I was a Gaga skeptic until I heard 'Bad Romance', from which point I gave up the skepticism because let's face it; it's a fucking great song.

So, as I normally do when I really enjoy a song, I immediately put it on repeat. Unfortunately once I became used to the song repeating in my ears, I nodded off while it kept playing. This only meant that it became stuck in my head for the rest of the night.

When the van finally came to a stop in front of our hotel in Vegas, I still had my headphones in. I kept them in as I stepped out into the dry heat and slipped my sunglasses on while I waited for Eris to appear. And when she did, she looked at me strangely and motioned to her ears.

"Whatcha listening to?" I grinned before I started to sing,

"Rah ra ah ah ah, roma ro ma ma, gaga ooh la la, want your bad romance!"

Instead of replying with some snarky comment, Eris simply rolled her eyes and shook her head and wrapped her arm around my neck as she pulled me into the hotel lobby.

"So…what exactly are we doing in Vegas?" she asked as we walked to our rooms with Josh, Dave, Zack, and Danny.

"What do you mean, what are we doing?" I replied, considering I figured it should be obvious since we were on tour.

"Well I don't know! It's not like I've ever been here!"

"YOU'VE NEVER BEEN TO VEGAS?!" Danny, Dave, and Josh all yelled at exactly the same time. Eris and I stared at them as Zack chuckled.

"…Did you guys…practice that?" Eris asked.

"I'm not gonna lie…I'm scared." I moved closer to Eris as we inched down the hallway.

Once we were all settled in, the guys became restless. To be honest, I wasn't really that surprised since we were in Vegas and everyone on this tour loved to get trashed. The fact that they'd managed to go this long without running for the bar surprised me.

So when Jimmie proposed that they "go find food," I rolled my eyes because I knew exactly what they meant.

"By 'find food,' you mean 'get drunk,' don't you?"

"Maybe I do!" Jimmie replied. "We're in Vegas!"

"Well why don't we take it easy for a while, seeing as how it's only 3 o'clock." I laughed. The group of us headed for the door, surprised to find Eris on the other side.

"Where are you all off to?"

"Find food!"

"And drinks!" Matt added.

"Oh. I see. Well!" Eris snatched my arm and pulled me away from the guys. "We're going shopping!"

"We are?" I asked.

"Hello? Vegas? Boutiques galore?"

"…you're being girly." Dave raised an eyebrow. "This can't be good."

"It happens. My genetic makeup does get the better of me on occasion." Eris rolled her eyes. "Anyway! See you gents later."

Once we eluded all of our male companions and found some interesting boutiques on the strip, I wondered about Eris' ulterior motive.

"Why do you always have to question my being girly?"

"Because it's rare and scary! I don't do well with scary!" I replied as I took a hat off of a mannequin and put it on my head. As I looked at myself, I realized it looked ridiculous so I quickly put it back. "Besides, the last time we went shopping like this, we ended up at the wedding dress shop."

"True." Eris chuckled. "But we're in Vegas. And we already vetoed a shotgun wedding so we have to settle for shiny dresses and lots of booze."

"I'll drink to that!" I laughed.

A few hours and many boutiques later, Eris and I were headed back to the hotel with fantastic new outfits. Luckily for us, all of the boys were out doing god knows what (we were in Vegas after all) which gave us ample time to get all gussied up.

"Why is it," I began as I stepped out of the bathroom to find Eris, "that every time we're all together, I end up getting dressed like a hooker?"

"You don't look like a hooker," Eris replied with a smile. "That's Tiffany's job." I rolled my eyes but then pouted.

"I miss her. She should be here with us."

"Yes, but she's in Canada where she belongs. Sort of." I laughed as I turned towards the mirror to look at myself.

The dresses Eris and I had picked out weren't normal for either of us, but the fact that we were in Vegas had definitely altered our definition of what was normal. Although to be honest, neither of us were what anyone would call normal to begin with.

Eris had found a dress that was bright red with a v-neck and a hem that reached the middle of her thigh. Definitely something that would fit in around Vegas, not to mention it would drive Zack crazy.

I was wearing a dress that was slightly less slutty, but it was definitely not something I would see myself wearing on a regular basis. The bodice and top layer of the skirt was navy blue while the bottom layer was a far lighter blue. The hem was jagged but the neckline resembled Eris' dress with a v.

Both of us had also found new heels to wear also; Eris chose pumps that matched her dress while I wore black heels with lace covers over the tops of my feet. Once we had styled our hair and brushed on some makeup, the 'Vegas' look was complete.

And not to sound too vain, but we looked hot.

"So where do you think everyone is?"

"Getting drunk, obviously." Eris chuckled as she pressed the elevator button. I looked at the pair of us in the reflection of the elevator doors and smiled.

"I think now's a good a time as any to join them."

"I like the way you think!" Eris grinned as she glanced at her iPhone. Her smile grew bigger as the elevator reached the lobby and she put her phone away.

"What?"

"Good thing our friends are Twitter addicts." I rolled my eyes and tried to ignore the number of stares we were getting as we crossed the lobby.

"What'd Alex say?"

"And I quote, 'Twenty minutes in and already losing money at Caesar's. Good to be in Vegas!'" Eris laughed.

"Caesar's it is!"

It took considerably longer to find anyone we knew than I expected it to, although I was surprised that we found anyone after a while. Everything started to look the same and I swore we passed by the same tables at least four times. They really do create casinos with one thought in mind: keep people in them.

"Normally I'd say 'look for the swarm of fangirls,' but since we're in a casino…" Eris trailed off.

"None of them are old enough to be in here?" I offered. Eris laughed and nodded.

"My thoughts exactly." A moment later, she spotted two familiar mops of hair and took a hold of my arm before leading me over. It appeared that Alex and Jack had just lost another round of poker as we reached them.

"That's it! I'm done!" Alex stood up from the table and turned around just in time to become face to face with Eris, and I snickered quietly as his eyes quickly wandered.

"So soon? That's so unlike you, Alexander. Oh wait…" Eris smirked and Alex shook his head. At the sound of Eris' voice, Jack turned around as well and his eyes immediately widened at the sight of the two of us.

"Have I won the jackpot?" Jack asked as he stood up from the table and stared at us, grinning.

"Looks more like you lost it," I remarked. Alex and Jack both chuckled nervously and gestured for us to move away from the table.

"The dealer was against us from the start."

"I'm sure, Alexander." Eris chuckled. "Still have enough money for a round of drinks?"

"Of course! To the bar!"

Alex and Jack led us through the casino towards the bar, both holding us relatively close although it did very little against the number of looks we were receiving. The only time they left us alone was to order drinks, although just before he followed Alex, Jack took the opportunity to whisper something in my ear that made me blush instantly. My eyes fell to the floor as he left and Eris nudged me, looking at me strangely as I struggled to make eye contact.

"What did he say?" I chuckled lightly and nervously played with a strand of my hair.

"Ask me again when I've had a bit to drink."

Not long after a few rounds of drinks we found the rest of the tour, all of them drinking and gambling as they pleased. Josh promised he wouldn't spend too much money, although I suspected he had been playing the slots and losing quite badly.

I sat down at a poker table with Seth and Dave while the rest spread out at other tables and Eris wandered around. Josh gave me a kiss on the cheek for luck before leaving my side to get another round of drinks.

I hadn't played poker in ages, let alone real poker at a real casino, but I figured I might as well give it a shot. After all, my family had given up playing poker against me when I was ten since I couldn't seem to lose.

With the first few rounds, I started out slow with betting just in case I had lost my luck. Seth and Dave, however, didn't seem to know how betting worked and within four or five rounds, they had lost all of their chips.

"How do I keep losing?!" Dave huffed as he lost his last poker chip to the dealer. I chuckled softly as I counted the chips I had and passed two to him. Seth had already given up and left the table by this point.

"You need to learn how to bet, David. Don't bet everything you have on a crappy hand."

"Easy for you to say, Miss Bet-two-win-two."

"Fine," I replied as I rolled my eyes. "I'll bet more."

"Okay! Let's play!"

A few rounds later, Dave hadn't managed to win much, but he hadn't lost as much as before. I, on the other hand, couldn't lose. Eris wandered over for a while and I hit an incredible streak of amazing hands.

"I think I should stop playing," I remarked as I counted the chips. I had over $500 worth.

"Quit while you're ahead?" Eris asked as the three of us left the poker table and I nodded.

"Damn good game, though!"

"Says you! I lost about as much as you won!" Dave pouted. I looped my arm through his and chuckled.

"I seriously hope not, David. But to make you feel better, I'll buy you a drink."

Eris left our side and began to wander from table to table again while Dave and I headed for the bar. There, we met up with Danny and Jack who were currently taking shots one after another.

"Join!" Danny grinned as he eagerly downed a shot of whiskey. I looked at Dave and he shrugged before signaling the bartender for another round. Jack passed me one after they were poured and I clinked my glass with his, trying to ignore the fact that he was blatantly staring at me.

"To Vegas!" Dave toasted.

"To Vegas!" The rest of us cheered and drank. I nearly choked on mine, considering I usually didn't drink whiskey.

"Drinking whiskey without me?" I heard Josh's voice in my ear as he wrapped his arms around my waist and I smiled.

"Only once." Josh smiled and kissed me, licking his lips afterwards.

"Hmm, maybe you should drink whiskey more often." I rolled my eyes and elbowed him in the chest.

A cheer echoed throughout the casino and we all turned to see where the commotion was coming from. Turns out that Eris had begun playing blackjack and was doing extremely well for herself. By the time we reached her, she had won $1,500.

"Are you cheating?" Danny asked.

"Of course not!" Eris chided.

"She's just a statistical genius." I laughed.

"Doesn't matter!" Eris tipped the dealer and stood up. "I just won myself a new tattoo!"

After Eris and I (and a few of the guys) collected our winnings, we all elected that it was time to get dinner. But since none of us could decide on anything at that point, eventually Jimmie took out his phone and googled restaurants in Vegas. At least, that's what I thought he was doing until I looked at his screen.

"Tacos in Vegas? Really?"

"What? I want tacos." I rolled my eyes and suddenly Jimmie cheered. "Fuck yeah! I found where we're going."

"Where?" Eris asked as everyone turned to look at him.

"Tacos & Tequila!"

When we arrived, everyone immediately spread out around the place, and marveled at the fact that this was exactly what we needed. Not to mention since it was Wednesday (as we figured out when someone checked the date on their phone since no one ever keeps track of days on tour), there was a contest going on for the most mischievous photo of the night. Obviously, with our group, there was no way we weren't going to enter.

About ten minutes after the photo was taken, it was announced that we had won unanimously and now had a $100 bar tab. Although regarding the photo itself, I'll say this: what they did for the photo was definitely not something any other city would accept, nor was it acceptable for polite company.

That being said, it certainly set the tone of the rest of the night.

After a few hours, Eris and I decided that if we were going to continue to roam about Vegas with the guys then we definitely needed more comfortable shoes. Four hours of heels were enough for us, it was time to switch to slip-ons.

Of course, once we got back to our hotel rooms, we both changed out of our dresses as well. Personally, I was tired of being leered at by men I knew and those I didn't.

After changing into jeans and t-shirts with phones and a flask of rum in hand, we were ready to go back out onto the strip. The only problem was, now we had lost everyone again and it was going to be hell trying to find them. Considering everyone had been drinking for a good six hours, none of them would be in decent shape to tell us where they were. This was going to be a problem.

"Where's your boyfriend?"

"I don't fucking know. What am I, his mother?" I laughed at Eris and she took a swig from the flask. We had snagged the flask out of her suitcase and filled it with the rum that Alex kept in his suitcase. Knowing him, he'd think that he drank half the bottle and we'd get away with what we took.

"So what are we going to do?" I asked as we wandered down the street, both of us walking in the strangest lines since neither of us was sober. To be fair, we were probably the least intoxicated people on the sidewalk at that point.

"Wander into the desert?" Eris proposed. "It's pretty and neither of us have been."

"I like your thinking!" Eris and I hooked arms and continued walking down the sidewalk, this time with a purpose other than trying and failing to find our companions.

Half an hour later, we found ourselves out in the middle of fuckin' nowhere. Well, not entirely nowhere since we could still see the strip, but we were far enough away that it would take a considerable amount of time to find our way back to the hotel.

Eris sat down and crossed her legs while I continued to stand and stared up at the starry sky. Moving from one city to the next with far too many lights never sat well with me since deep down I really loved being in the middle of nowhere.

All of a sudden, a song popped into my head and I couldn't help but start to sing.

"I want your love and I want your revenge, you and me could write a bad romance…"

Eris chuckled and took out her iPhone, quickly flipping to her music and turning the volume up as loud as it went. Lady Gaga's voice filled the air and the two of us began singing along and dancing around. If anyone else had been around at that moment, they would've thought we were mildly insane.

Any of the guys would've looked at us in curiosity for a moment and then shrug it off as another odd quirk of ours. Over the years, they had learned that we had quite a few.

By the end of the song, the two of us had collapsed onto the sand in laughter. Eris put her iPhone away and took a swig out of the flask before passing it to me. I took a drink and let out a sigh as the two of us now stared up at the sky.

"So, now that you've had a bit to drink…" Eris began and I shut my eyes for a moment, as I knew exactly where this was going. "What did Jack say to you?"

"He said," I started, pausing for a moment to take a deep breath, "that the only time I looked hotter was when I was wearing absolutely nothing." I cringed as I waited for Eris' response.

"Hold up," she said as she sat up suddenly. "Jack's seen you naked? When?"

"Bamboozle, last year." I groaned as I sat up and faced Eris, who had a look of extreme confusion on her face.

"Okay. Story. Now."

"Hang on." I took another swig out of the flask before I began. "Okay."

The fact of the matter was, I had made a mistake at Bamboozle the year before. Although to level the playing field, Josh had been the first to make a mistake.

I didn't mind wandering around a festival by myself, considering it seemed as though I was never truly alone since I kept running into musicians I knew. But I did mind wandering around and running into everyone except the one person I was looking for.

But the most recent person I had run into was one Alex Suarez, who seemed happy to see me but at the same time it seemed as though he was trying to hide from me. After a good five minutes of "hello, how are you," Suarez snapped back to his senses and told me what was on his mind.

"Okay, I didn't want to be the one to tell you this but…"

"But what?" I asked. Suarez finally pulled me away from the crowd and sighed heavily.

"I might've heard incorrectly, but I think Juliet Simms might've…"

"Suarez, just spit it out!"

"I think she and your boyfriend might be closer than you think."

I blinked and demanded that he tell me everything he knew, although there wasn't much more for him to say. The fact remained that as pure as I believed Josh to be, not all of the people we knew were. The one in question was a girl I particularly despised, Juliet Simms.

Unfortunately the rest of the day's events began with a shouting match that I still cringe at when I think about it. It was not my finest moment. The fact that it was in front of Every Avenue's van, while it was parked in the midst of a number of other vans and buses belonging to other musicians at Bamboozle, also did not help.

"Hate to interrupt, love, but-" I stopped speaking and stared at Eris. "Get to the fuckin' point."

"Sorry," I laughed.

After a very public outburst, I couldn't think of anything else to do but run away. The first person I thought to run to was Eris, who happened to be here with All Time Low, so I headed towards their bus. Sadly, when I got there, Eris was nowhere to be found.

The only friendly face around was Jack, who immediately pulled me onto the bus and held me when I burst into tears. I began to tell him everything that had happened, although I don't think he actually understood anything amidst the sobs.

When the time came for the bus to go back to the hotel, which also meant everyone else would return to the bus, Jack and I hid in his bunk because I was in no shape at all to deal with other people. To further our hiding spot, Jack texted Alex saying that he was with another band so the bus wouldn't wait around for him.

The remainder of the night was spent in that same bunk, although once everyone left the bus things changed. I didn't mean for it to happen, but that night I saw Jack as someone other than everyone saw him to be. Sure, he was the goofy joker everyone knew, but he showed me that all the comments he'd made over the years weren't just comments, but there were actual feelings behind them.

I just wish I hadn't let him act on them. Because the next morning, I woke up in that same bunk with one thought in my mind: "Fuck."

"So…you slept with Jack?"

"Yes," I groaned. "I didn't mean to, it just happened."

"You slept with Jack because…Josh fooled around with Juliet Whatserslut?"

"Payback is a bitch?" I offered. Eris shook her head and I shrugged. "I was upset! It j-"

"Just happened, I know." Eris moved closer to me and put her arm around me. "Shit happens."

"Yeah well, I wish Jack would stop bringing it up."

"This does explain a lot though." Eris sighed and the two of us laid back onto the sand. "Why the fuck would Josh screw around on you?"

"I don't know. He hasn't since, but then again, we haven't spoken of it since either." I buried my face in Eris' shoulder and closed my eyes.

"It'll be okay," Eris whispered. I nodded, realizing I was falling asleep a bit too late. Falling asleep in the desert was not the best idea, but neither of us could do anything about it until we woke up.