Do You Know What It Feels Like?

11:24 pm. Saturday

Tour bus.

"I'll be right out, I'll just call Andy."

Everyone was getting ready to leave for the mall so they could grab some lunch before they, the bands, had to go to sound check. Everyone, except Andy; she had slept the whole morning, missing breakfast completely.

Tay went to the back lounge and walked over to a sleeping Andy. She shook her lightly and the brunette's eyes opened.

"Honey, we're going out for lunch, get up," Taylor told her tenderly as she let her eyes get used to the harsh sunlight that shone through the windows.

"What time is it?" Andy asked, rubbing tiredly at her eyes.

"Eleven something. Come on, you look really tired. Let's get some food into that body of yours." Taylor smiled, holding out a hand for her friend.

Andy nodded and took Tay's hand, pulling herself up. Her posture was slumped and her face showed fatigue.

"Are you okay?" Tay asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll just get ready. I'll try and be quick."

With that, she made her way to the bathroom, showered, and changed. Taylor was already outside with everybody when she came out of the bathroom, so she hurriedly grabbed her valuables and made her way out.

"Finally, she lives!" Spencer called out, earning a laugh from their group and a pout from Andy.

"I'm sorry. I just really didn't feel like getting up at the time," she explained.

"Aww, baby," Jon teased, patting her cheek. He frowned immediately after, placing the back of his hand against her neck.

"Jon, what are you doing to my sister?" Pete asked impatiently. His stomach had been growling for the past twenty minutes, and he really, really, really just wanted to eat already.

"Dude, Andy's, like, really hot."

Everyone looked at him weirdly, their eyebrows shooting up.

"Uh, thanks Jon."

"No, not that kind of hot. Like, sick hot," he told them, moving his hand to her forehead.

Everyone frowned, moved forward and placed the back of their hands on Andy.

"Guys, can you, like, not, you know, do that? It's weird." She pushed all of their hands away from her and frowned at them.

"Andy, I think you should stay in the bus," Brendon said.

"What, no way! I want to go!"

"Come on, sweetie. So you'll feel better sooner," Tay frowned, patting Andy's warm head.

"But... please?"

"No, Andy. You're staying," Pete concluded, walking over to his younger sister and wrapping his arms around her.

Everyone was shocked.

Not even.

It was really just so fucking unexpected.

"Besides, while you're sick, I can't annoy you, and I don't want that. Get well, okay?" Pete told her, smiling warmly.

She smiled back, happy to receive some love from her brother despite what had gone down earlier on in the tour, and nodded.

"I'll be really lonely though," she joked, pouting.

"Then it won't be new to you," Pete retaliated, making Andy weakly slap him on the arm.

"Damn, Andy, that didn't even hurt. Get your ass in that bus and sleep."

She did as she was told and went in the bus. Going to the back lounge, she pulled off her pants, threw them on the couch, and lay down in her respective "bed". She curled up under her blanket and immediately felt sleepy. Her eyes closed and she prepared herself for a long and nice nap.

Not long after she had dozed off, someone stepped onto the bus and went to the back lounge. That someone walked over to where Andy slept and sat down on the couch.

Andy turned over and let her eyes open slightly. She started, seeing that there was someone sitting right in front of her.

"What are you doing here?"

Pete shrugged and picked at his nail.

"I made Pat promise that he would bring me something back so I could stay here."

"You didn't have to. I was just planning to sleep anyway." Andy frowned.

Since when was her brother this nice?

"Would you rather that Ryan was here?" Pete asked, smirking at her.

There was the catch. Like always.

Andy's face reddened.

"So you do."

"Please, I don't even know what you're talking about," she tried to cover up, rolling her eyes as convincingly as possible.

Pete slid off the couch and lay down beside her, propping his head up with his hand as he lay on his side to face her.

"You don't have to lie to me, you know. I'm your brother."

"That's exactly why I have to lie to you."

"Ah, so you do want him here."

Andy stared at her brother, still processing their conversation before she groaned and turned over.

"I hate you," she mumbled into the pillow.

"Hey, you're my little sister. I live to torture you about guys you like."

"I'm not little anymore, Pete."

Pete frowned before wrapping his arms around her, pulling her close to him.

"Ew, Pete germs." Andy grimaced as she turned around to face her brother.

She half expected him to laugh but got the surprise of her life when he was looking at her seriously.

"No matter how old you are, or how old you get, you'll always be my little sister. Got that?" he told her, still with that demanding tone in his voice.

A smile graced her features as she pressed her face to his shirt and nodded.

"And you'll always be my Peter Panda."

"Good. Now get off me before I get sick too."

Andy rolled her eyes and pulled away from her brother, who got up from her "bed" and sat back down on the couch.

"So what's with you and Ryan?"

"I was hoping you'd forget."

"Tch, you wish."

"There's nothing to tell. We're... acquaintances," Andy explained, staring up at the ceiling of the room.

"What, not even friends?"

Andy shook her head in reply.

"We hardly talk. I talk mostly to either Spencer or Jon. They're really cool."

"Why don't the two of you talk? I will not have awkward sexual tension in my bus."

Andy grimaced and glanced at Pete with a disgusted look.

"There is no sexual tension, you pervert. We just... I guess we weren't meant to be friends," Andy shrugged, picking at the fabric of the blanket.

"He's got this really pretty girlfriend," Andy pointed out and she immediately remembered that day when she had accidentally seen that photo of Ryan and her making out.

"No shit, he does?"

Andy nodded.

"Well, there goes my chance," Pete voiced out, dramatically throwing the back of his hand to his forehead.

Andy laughed and hit him playfully on the leg. Her laughter stopped and was replaced by violent coughs. She pulled the blanket over her head to keep the germs from flying around.

"Holy canoli, are you okay?" Pete asked, rubbing her back.

"Yeah," she wheezed, pulling the blanket back down to her chest.

"We have to get you medicine, don't we? Let me just go call Pat and ask him to buy you some."

Andy nodded and Pete left the room, fishing out his phone.

x

1:02 pm, Saturday

Back lounge.

Ryan went over to Andy and gently shook her awake.

"Andy."

She curled up even more, ducking her head under the blanket.

"Andy, come on, you have to wake up."

He waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Until the blanket was pulled down slightly, revealing Andy's icy blues.

Ryan wondered why Pete's eyes weren't blue like hers, but maybe he would ask some other time.

"Hmm?" Strands of hair covered her face and Ryan smiled.

"Pete said to make you eat and drink your medicine," he told her, brushing away her hair from her face.

Andy's face reddened, but he couldn't see, and for that she was thankful. She wasn't supposed to be thinking about him, hoping that he could maybe give her a shot at winning his heart, no; he had a girlfriend, and he was happy.

Sucks for her.

She nodded and sat up, causing the blanket to fall down to her lap. She rubbed at her eyes and yawned.

She noticed that he was still in the room and that she could feel his eyes on her. She looked up and sure enough, there he was, just watching her, a smile on his face.

"Uhm... yeah?" she asked, running a hand through her hair.

"Oh, uhm, we're all just outside at the main lounge. Don't take too long," he rushed before heading out of the room.

Andy blinked a few times, yawned, and stood up, grabbing her pants from the couch and pulling them on. She headed out of the room and ran her hand through her hair again in hopes of taming it.

"Good morning!" they all exclaimed, grinning at her.

She winced at the volume of their voices but managed to smile and wave. She sat down with them and began to eat.

A question lingered on her tongue; she debating whether or not she should ask or just leave it alone.

"I'm still coming to your sound check, right?"

Well, it was worth a shot.

"Fuck no. You're staying here in the bus," Pete answered, almost immediately as she finished her question.

"Pete, please? I've had enough rest! I want to see you guys play if I'm not watching you tonight!" she pleaded, defending her reason.

"No, and that's final."

"Please, Pete? I really, really, really want to watch."

"No! Don't even think of trying to ask me again, because my answer will still be no."

Everyone remained quiet, not entirely sure how to handle the situation.

"Pete, just... let her watch us even for a bit-" Patrick began, but he was cut off by the tattooed bassist.

"No." He stood up and went to the bunk area.

Patrick sighed and patted Andy's shoulder.

"Maybe next time, okay?"

She nodded, keeping her gaze on the table.

Slowly, everyone made their way to the bunk area as well, hoping to rest before their appointment with the stage at 3.

Andy expected to be alone in the main lounge so she just lazily tried to finish her food, blinking away the tears that threatened to fall. Her heart jumped to her throat when a hand rested on her shoulder. She whipped her head around to see who it was, but regretted it when her head began pounding. Her eyes blurred for a second before they focused on Ryan.

"Aren't you gonna rest?" she asked, her eyes following him as he sat down in front of her.

"I figured if you were going to be alone the rest of the afternoon, you might as well have company now."

A blush creeped up her face as she mumbled a 'thank you' and rubbed the back of her neck.

"You don't have to, though. You'll probably end up really tired tonight."

Please say you'll stay.

"No, it's okay. I know I'm not exactly obligated to, but I wanna," he smiled, leaning back on the chair.

He wanted to?

What the fuck did that mean?

Andy nodded before finishing up what was left of the oily food on her styrofoam plate.

"So... how'd you get sick anyway?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.

Andy merely shrugged and threw away the plate.

"You don't like talking to me, do you?"

Andy's eyebrows furrowed as she turned around to look at him.

"You never seem to open your mouth when it's just you and me."

"Th-That's not true," Andy defended, leaning back on the counter.

Oddly enough, she felt a weight press down on her head, making it infuriatingly impossible to think and focus.

"Yeah it is. Like, you'd only either nod or shrug."

She shook her head, the weight getting heavier on her head, and the world began to spin. Her vision became blurry but she could still, somehow, make-out Ryan's form.

"Are you, like, scared of me or something? Do you hate me?" he asked, question after question spilling out of his mouth, giving Andy barely enough time to answer all of them.

She held on to the edge of the counter as she felt the world tilt her over.

"Are you- Andy!" she heard him call out, but only in the distance. She couldn't hear or see anything now, just the darkness and the silence that consumed her.