We're Trouble Bound

July

Oliver had hit a stride when it came to Jaime. She had been quite unsettling to him at first. She hadn’t seemed to care about his existence at all, something about that was a low blow to his ego. It took several weeks for him to realize that she didn’t care about ANYTHING. It wasn’t personal and she didn’t mean to offend him, he finally grasped. She simply did not give a fuck about anything, with the possible exception of her band. But even with that, Oliver couldn’t be sure. She was the queen of apathy.

Once he had realized this, it was easier to be around her without feeling strange. She was very friendly and quite fun, just not interested in him or any other guy, at least not that Oliver noticed. She seemed only to want friends and she made a lot of them. She rarely just disliked someone. Even the girls who hung around after the shows to chat up the boys in the bands didn’t faze Jaime too much. She was pretty neutral to their presence, never rolling her eyes at them like they did at her. Jaime even encouraged the boys when they had their eye on a particular one of these girls; Jaime egged it on. She had a grand moral flexibility about all the rock star-esque things. Oliver appreciated that; he too had a similar disregard. It was just odd to see a girl with this trait.

Jaime bounded over to where Oliver was standing with Lee, smoking a cigarette. Troy was following slowly behind her. “Just the Brit boys I was looking for!” She announced. “I’ve got a question for you.”

“O’reight. I’ve got an answer,” Oliver replied.

“We,” she pointed to herself and then Troy. “Have this idea… well actually it was Matt Nicholls’ idea… But we liked it a lot and we want to do it,” she explained eagerly. “In the middle of ‘Fucking Smile’, we want to do a little piece of ’Chelsea Smile’. Just the repent part. Matt told me to ask you if it was cool.” She spoke rapidly and excitedly.

Oliver looked to Lee, who just shrugged, so Oliver said “S’fine wiff me.”

“Awesome. Cool.” She stated plainly. “I gotta tell the rest of the guys—I’ll be back.” She split off in the direction she had come. Oliver watched her go curiously.

“Tha’ one’s a bit o’ a ‘andful, yeah?” Oliver raised his eyebrows at Troy.

“Yep.” Troy nodded. “You get used to it. All the energy…”

“Yeh known ‘er a while?” Oliver asked.

“About five years. Met her in math class. She used to kick my chair if I was starting to fall asleep.”

“Nice.”

“Yeah, she’s a cool chick.”

“Yeh eva try an’ get wiff ‘er?”

“Jaime?” Troy laughed. “No way, I’m not her type.”

“Wha’s ‘er type?”

“Insane… out of control… Like her.”

Oliver thought about this. A lot of people often accused him of being out of control or mental. He was frequently a bit of a handful himself. If what Troy said was true and what people said about Oli was true, shouldn’t he be exactly Jaime’s type? Shouldn’t Jaime be interested in him?

“Why? You like her or something?” Troy inquisitively questioned.

“Nah,” Oliver shook his head. “She’s fit though.” He tried to be casual, act like he thought she was just any girl.

“Everyone goes through a Jaime phase, bro. She’s cool as hell and hot… but she’s picky.”

“She don’ hook up wiff too many fellas, do she?” Oliver continued. Troy had seemed to catch Oli’s game so there was no point in playing.

“Nope.”

“And she don’t ‘ave a boyfrien?”

“Nope.”

“ ‘Oo’s she always textin’ then?”

“You really do have something for her.” Troy was amused. “She’s texting Nadine.” Troy realized that Oliver had no idea who Nadine was, so he elaborated, “Nadine is Jaime’s best friend. She usually tours with us. But she’s at home this time around… Actually, I think Dine’s flying out for a show in a few days. At least that’s what I heard. Should be pretty cool for Jaime. I think she misses having another girl on tour to talk to and hang out with.”

“Ef she does, it don’ show. She keeps up wiff the lads o’reight.”

--

“How’s it going you sexy motherfuckers?!” Jaime shouted to the crowd as she bounced on stage. They erupted into insane cheers. “I can’t fucking hear you!” The applause and screams only got louder. “That’s right! We’re Keep Your Composure from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and this song is called Mercy Me!”

Oliver watched as the band kicked into action. Two guitarists played dueling lead, a bass thumped in Drop D and the drummer pounded a heavy beat. It was, as usual, on point. They were solid yet wild. Gavin jumped into his growling vocals while Jaime hopped around. She was endless energy, pumping her fists and clapping along until her part came. At this, she stood still with both hands clutching her microphone. When her screams came, the crowd went insane, dissolving into a sea of motion.

Oliver was ceaselessly impressed with them. They tore the stage apart with each ruthless song. The lyrics were harsh, verging on plain evil. He almost forgot that Jaime was just a tiny girl until halfway through the set, when she paused for a second. She took a water bottle from a top an amp. She caught sight of Oliver, smiled big and waved before putting her microphone to her mouth once more. “This next song is for the badass dudes in Bring Me the Horizon. This song is called “Fucking Smile”. Get crazy.” They launched into another pounding song. Midway through, the music changed suddenly and Jaime started “Repent! Repent! The end is night!” It fit quite well in place and sounded flawless. “Repent! Repent! We’re all gonna die!” After the brief interlude featuring the other song, Jaime laughed and seamlessly continued with their song.

Oliver shook his head, amused. He’d just been outdone by a girl, a really gorgeous girl. He’d never been more attracted to someone.

After they were off stage, Oliver immediately spoke to her. “Oy! Jaime!”

“Hey!” She wiped her forehead with her arm.

“Tha’ was right good, lass.”

“Thanks. I was worried that it wouldn’t work out right.”

“It worked.”

“Awesome. Break a leg, Oliver.” She waved and left with another word. She didn’t stick around to mindlessly chatter. They weren’t exactly good friends and she didn’t want to get with him; clearly, Oliver thought, she had no reason to talk to him.

--

Late July

“Oliver!” A voice called, coming up the stairs of the bus. There were more people on the bus than Oliver had ever seen. “Oliver!” She called again.

He turned to see Jaime, who was accompanied by another girl, with bottle black hair and a face full of piercings. “ ‘Ey,” he greeted. He assessed the other girl; she was fit but trying a bit hard.

“This is my best friend in the whole world, Nadine,” Jaime introduced. “Nadine, this is Oliver.”

He scoffed. “Oli.” Jaime had the tendency to call him by his full name; if it had been anyone else doing it, he would not have tolerated it. But it sounded alright coming from her.

“Hi.” Nadine batted her long eyelashes at him.

“She didn’t believe me that you weren’t a total douchebag. She had to meet you,” Jaime stated plainly.

“You drunk bitch,” Nadine laughed, slightly intoxicated herself. “You weren’t supposed to tell him that.”

“I can’t help it if I’m honest,” Jaime said. Jaime rolled her eyes at Nadine and quickly turned to him. “Sorry Oliver,” she frowned. “Didn’t mean to hurt your feelings or anything.”

“S’o’reight. ‘M a bit of a wanker. Not sayin’ anyfing I don’ know.” He winked just as Nadine threw her arms up.

She announced excitedly “I need a drunk! I mean, drink… I’ll be back!”

When she was off the bus once more, Oliver looked to Jaime who had taken a seat next to him. “So tha’s Nadine?”

“Yep, that’s my best friend… She’s had a little crush on you from a far for like months. What is it that you say… she fancies yeh,” Jaime tried to mock his accent.

“Yeh sound proper silly when yeh try an’ talk like me.” Oliver didn’t even care about Nadine liking him.

“That’s because you sound proper silly when you talk,” she teased.

“I won’ ‘ave yeh insultin’ me like yeh is,” he feigned hurt. “S’rude of yeh.”

“It’s not an insult. Not really. Besides, it’s a kinda sexy accent.” She stuck her tongue out at him playfully before she turned to talk to Anthony. Oliver wasn’t sure if this was flirting. He could never tell with Jaime. Sometimes she said overtly sexual things, like the first day they met, suggesting that they do body shots. And sometimes it was like she was restraining herself from saying more.

Oliver kind of hated being hung up on Jaime. He just wasn’t used to girls not being interested in him and he wanted to know why she was different. There had to be a reason. It would drive him crazy if he didn’t find out what it was.

--

Oliver stumbled off the bus, intending to take a piss in a bunch of bushes. It had been a good excuse to get away from an underage hot girl who was practically inviting him to go to prison. Oliver attempted to unzip his jeans with one hand while holding a beer in the other. “Fuckin’ motherfucker…” He mumbled. He managed to pee, only hitting his shoes once. As he was shaking it out, he heard the sounds of vomit hitting pavement. It wouldn’t be a party without that sound.

“Alright, there you go, Dine… Over in the grass, uh huh, let it out.” Jaime’s voice was softer than usual, caring. Oliver looked around, spotting Jaime leaning over a blob. There was another retching sound as Oli walked over. Nadine was on her knees with her palms on the ground. Jaime was rubbing her back tenderly. She saw Oliver approaching and gave him a weak smile.

“She okay?” Oliver asked, pointing at Nadine.

“Who is that?!” Nadine yelled, not looking up from the ground. “Who’s talking?”

Jaime put her finger to her lips, telling Oliver to be quiet. “No one… It’s just me here.”

Nadine sat up a little, now with her eyes closed. “I wanna lay down,” she said softly.

“Okay,” Jaime nodded. “We’ll get you to my bunk.”

“No, I wanna lay in the grass.” Nadine tilted backward.

“Oh no, bad idea,” Jaime tried to hold her up but she shrunk into the grass. “Fuck.” Nadine was out. “At least she’s not in the puke pile,” Jaime looked at Oliver wryly.

“Yeh need ‘help gettin’ ‘er in or summat?” Oliver offered.

“It’s probably better if she’s outside. In case she pukes again.” Jaime sank to the ground where Nadine was passed out beside two cell phones and a bottle of tequila. “Thanks though.”

This was a more somber side of Jaime, Oliver noticed. “Yeh need sum company?”

“No... You don’t have to… She’s a bit of a buzzkill.”

“Yeh shouldn’ be out ‘ere alone though. There sum sketch characters out here.” He took a seat on the ground beside her.

“I think the sketchiest people out here are you and me, Oliver.”

“Yeh know that yeh don’t have ta call me Oliver. You can call me Oli, yeh know.”

“But everyone calls you Oli. I can’t just be like everyone else.”

“I’ve noticed,” he laughed. “Yer sumfin. else, fer sure.”

She pulled the tequila bottle from the ground and twisted the cap off. She glanced at him and raised her brows. “I’m not sure if I should take that as a compliment or not…” She gulped down the Cuervo and offered it to him.

He took the bottle. “S’definitely a compliment.” He sucked down a bit of the liquid as well.

“Well, thanks.” She smiled.

“Yeh act different wif this’un though,” he thumbed towards Nadine.

“Different? What do you mean?”

“Yer nicer to ‘er than yeh are wiff yer other mates. Danny an’ Troy an’ them.”

“They’re big dudes. I couldn’t be lugging them outside to throw up like I can with Dine.”

“Guess tha’s true.”

“But they also more like my older brothers than my friends. She’s my best friend.”

“Troy said she used to tour wiff yeh… Why’s she not anymore?”

“It’s a long story, sort of.”

“I don’ fink she’ll be wakin’ up soon. We got time."

Jaime appreciated that he was clever and she sighed. “She was doing our merch… and she started kicking it with Danny. And we all thought it was cute or whatever…. But then they got into a fight about whatever and she hooked up with Nick from Stripes. It was a bunch of fucking drama. We figured it’d be best if she hung at home for this tour. Just until her and Danny are cool again.”

“Aye, that’d make sense.”

“I swear, this is why I don’t fuck around with tour hook ups and shit… It’s that drama that makes it obvious.”

“No drama if yer not fucking around?”

“Yep.”

“Yeh don’ get lonely?”

“Lonely? Not really. I’m always surrounded by people. Never have time to be lonely. If you’re saying ‘lonely’ and meaning ‘horny’ then the answer is hell yes, I get lonely.”

Oliver quickly took another drink of the tequila so that he didn’t say something completely stupid.

Jaime laughed. “You asked…” She shook her head. “It’s funny. Guys are always talking about wanting to get laid but when girls do it, it sounds scandalous.” She shook her head and swiped the tequila bottle from his lap. He jumped when her hand brushed against his thigh. “Sorry to be all up in your business but I wanted the bottle.” She’d seen him jump. She saw through everything it seemed.

“S’cool,” Oliver mumbled. “And s’cool tha’ yeh jus’ put yerself out there all the time.”

“Put myself out there?”

“Yeh don’ bullshit…”

“No, I don’t.” She sipped her tequila, cringing slightly. “You’re pretty straight forward yourself… except with me.”

“Eh?” Oliver face twisted in confusion.

“You’re different around me. Not as ruthless, I think.”

“Wha’re yeh on about?”

“There are a lot of rumors about you, Oliver.”

“Aye, there are.”

“But I haven’t seen one bit of truth in them. I think you’re trying to be nice to me. I don’t know why, it isn’t like I’m not used to being around guys all the time…”

“ ‘M nicer to lasses.”

“So I’ve heard.”

“Yeh know, I heard ‘bout yeh too.”

“Did you?” Jaime smirked. “From who?”

“Jus’ around.”

“What’d you hear?”

“Yeh gonna be more specific ‘bout the rumors ‘bout me?”

“Sure. You share one, I’ll share one?”

“O’reight.” He nodded. “An’ how bout ef it’s true, we take a drink.”

A wide grin broke across Jaime’s face. “We are two of a kind, Oliver.” She laughed; it was a light, bubbly sound. “You go first…”

“O’reight… ‘Ow bout you spittin’ on a constable? True?”

She took a drink of the tequila immediately. “True. But I didn’t mean to do it and I was super drunk. They didn’t press charges though because I begged and begged. So they just made me sit in the drunk tank all night. It was in Kansas.”

“Yeh begged yer way outta gettin’ arrested?” He was quite impressed.

“They felt real bad after I told them that if I had to stay, no one would be able to bail me out…”

“S’funny.” He shook his head. “Yer turn.”

“Did you really pee on a girl?”

“I figured tha’d be yeh first’un…”

“Obviously.”

“Honestly?” He took the bottle form her. “ ‘S a bit hazy. I was right rat arsed. So, maybe I did…” He shrugged and took a drink.

“Your go…”

“D’yeh really do coke ‘fore yeh go on stage?”

Jaime snorted with laughter. “No… well, I have. Like twice. But it fucked up my breathing so my screaming was terrible.” She admitted honestly. “Does that count as a drink?”

“Nah… I heard that yeh did it e’ery time.”

Jaime honestly hadn’t heard that one. “Were you the reason Curtis left?”

Oliver winced a little. “I don’ fink so. ‘E jus’ wasn’ in it anymore, yeh know?”

“Yeah…”

“Sammy from Stripes said yeh was into some crazy shite. Said ‘e didn’ know from experience but tha’ ‘e ‘eard yeh were.”

“Crazy shit? Like sex stuff? He probably heard that one straight from me. The Stripes guys and I used to talk about the craziest places we’d had sex…” She pulled the bottle from his hands, careful not to brush his leg again. She took a drink. “I guess this one counts.”

“Crazy places? Like where?”

“I beat everyone when I said I’d had sex in the equipment trailer…” She smirked. “I guess I’m a bit crazy… I’d just call it adventurous though.”

“Yeh hooked up with summun in yer trailer?”

“I didn’t hook up. I don’t hook up,” she corrected. “He was my boyfriend at the time.” Oliver wanted to ask her about this boyfriend but he refrained.

“D’you really hook up with as many girls as people say?”

Oliver thought about the best way to answer this question without sounding like a wanker. “How many do people say?”

Jaime rolled her eyes. “Do you have a girl in every city?”

“Every city? No.” He laughed. “Canada is a bit dry fer fit lasses,” he joked.

“Take a drink, asshole.” She pushed the bottle into his hands. It was much less full than it had been minutes before. “Anymore rumors about me?”

“None tha’ I can fink of righ’ now.” Oliver’s bottom lip jutted out, in thought. “People told me yeh could throw a proper piss up but I already know tha’s true.” He took another drink of the tequila, despite the fact that it wasn’t his turn to do so.

“Whatever you just said… I’m sure it is true.” She stifled a laugh. Their language barrier was a frequent point of amusement for her, it seemed. Jaime was beginning to feel this second round of alcohol hitting her bloodstream. She’d sobered up substantially when Nadine had gotten sick but this mini-drinking game was bringing it right back. “Jesus, I’m drunk all of a sudden.”

“I been drunk,” Oliver admitted. “I fink ef I stood up, I’d end up like yer mate.”

“You better not stand up then, I can’t carry both of you to the bus.”

“I don’ know ef you’ll even be able ta carry ‘er.”

“You’re probably right… I might not even be able to carry myself. We might have to have a slumber party out here in the parking lot. I’ll braid your hair and we can tell scary stories.” She giggled a bit, entertaining herself with this idea.

“Tha’ sounds like a right good plan.”

“For sure.” She sighed and rubbed her forehead. “Can I lean on you for a second?” She asked.

“As long as yer not gonna ‘ave a sick all over me lap.”

“Pffft… I never throw up. I am like a tank when it comes to drinking.” She moved over, resting her head against his shoulder. “Thanks.”

Oliver tried to not move was she pressed against him. He really hoped he didn’t smell. He slipped his arm around her shoulder; he was careful to keep his hand above her waist. For whatever reason, he didn’t want to try any game on her. It didn’t seem appropriate. And though he’d shag her in a minute, he was okay with just sitting and talking. “Yeh wanna know wha’ I fink?”

“Hmm?”

“I fink tha yer not as wild as every’un finks.”

She didn’t seem to mind that he had his arm around her or that his other hand was nearly resting on her leg. She just said “Maybe you’re right… but probably not.”