We All Fall Down

I had spent a whole hour in All Time Low’s touring bus. And I was already suffocating. I had to get out, I couldn’t let Aidan stay in there any longer with the boys. I could see that it was getting to him as well.

“Hey guys,” I said, standing up from the cushioned seat I was sitting on earlier. “I think Aidan and I should get going. You guys have a long way up to San Francisco, don’t ya?”

“Yup,” answered Rian.

Both Alex and Jack turned to glare at him.

“Don’t try to get rid of Mia!” they both shouted in unison.

I let out a soft chuckle. It was typical of the two.

But I began moving towards Aidan now. “Seriously. The two of us have to get early tomorrow. Don’t you have a shoot, Aidan?”

He looked at me, confused.

“How’d you know?” he asked me.

I sighed. “World known model? You’re probably always doing shoots…it’s not hard to guess.”

He smiled at me, also getting up. “I suppose we should take our leave now,” he said, backing towards the door.

Matt, the boys’ manager was standing near the mini fridge, getting out mustard to put on his late night snack.

“Bye Mia. Bye male model.”

“Bye-bye,” I said, moving closer towards the door, hanging onto Aidan’s hand.

And before either Jack or Alex could say anything, we were out the door. I almost banged my head against the door of the tour bus before I got the both of us down the stairs and out of the bus.

“Whoa--whoa, Mia! Slow down!” cried Aidan as I kept on running away from the bus. But I didn’t, couldn’t, slow down. I needed to get away from All Time Low. I had to get away from them.

“Sorry,” I said to Aidan. “I just really want to get to my car.

“Oh yeah,” said Aidan. He stopped and tugged on my arm, bringing me to a stop as well. I tripped over myself and looked back up at him.

I stared at him. “What’re you doing?”

He laughed at me and jutted his thumb in the direction behind him.

“My car’s that way.”

I gave him a weird look as I said, “Okay. Good for you. Mine’s that way.”

He only smiled at me as he grabbed my hand tightly and began dragging me off towards the direction his car was in. Before I could say anything else, he began to say, “Come on, you have to be as hungry as I am. I’m fucking starved.”

And he was right. At that moment, my stomach growled, giving away the hunger that he had accused me of. So there was no point in objecting. Especially if he was paying.

------

“I really like pancakes,” announced Aidan.

“I can tell,” I said as I watched him drown his plate of pancakes in hot syrupy goodness. I already had poured some of it on my own cakes.

As I cut a little triangle out of my pancakes with my fork I looked up at Aidan and asked, “So why did you bring me to Denny’s?”

He laughed as he stuck a good forkful of syrupy pancakes in his mouth.

“Because they have the best breakfast food,” he said with a mouthful of food. He stabbed his fork into his pancakes and looked up at me.

“And I like breakfast food.”

I laughed as he took another mouthful of his food.

------

Aidan’s a really good driver. Probably the best I’ve ever come across. This was surprising. So when I got back into his car, I was in anticipation of a good ride. But it didn’t occur to me that he would drive up just to the next block.

He stopped, pulling the shift into park and then getting out of the car. I unbuckled myself, feeling even more confused than usual.

“Wh-what?”

He gave me a side glance as he came around to open the door for me. Aidan held out his hand for me as I took it, still confused, and climbed out of the car.

“There’s something I want you to see,” he said. “Here we go.”

I followed him out to wherever he was leading me.

And it was to a little ice cream cart.

I looked up at him, looked back at the cart, and then back up at him.

And then I began laughing.

I got a creamsicle. He had one of those rocket ship shaped popsicles. I laughed at him as I took a taste of my own.

As we walked back to his car we talked about the most random things.

“What is your favorite color?” he asked me.

I thought about this for a moment. “Uh--purple.”

He looked at me funny. “Purple?” he asked.

I nodded. “Purple.”

“Okay then.”

“Yours?” I asked him, licking the melting part of the popsicle.

He smiled.

“Coral.”

I stared at him for a really long time.

“Coral?”

“Coral.”

“Like…pinkish orange?”

He laughed. “No, it’s coral.’

“You mean…that sissy color?” I asked him, beginning to taunt him now.

“Shuddup.”

I laughed.

We went through this whole thing until we got into the car and he had driven me back to where I parked my car.

As I got out, I turned back around and stuck my head in the car.

“What’s your last name?”

I had to know before I left tonight. It was getting to me.

He gave me a grin.

“Samuels. It’s Samuels.”

“Aidan Samuels,” I whispered.

“Thanks,” I said as I shut the door and began heading to my car.

So his name was Aidan Samuels.