Hummingbird

"Dude, where've you been? We're on in like, five minutes." Robert was practically shouting. Escape the Fate was the first to play. and the dazed singer had only shown up.

"Well, I had to run back to our bus and shower, and that took longer than I thought, kay?" Craig said, still dazed and distracted. He was still in awe over what had happened earlier on the NeverShoutNever bus. After he had kissed Niki, and he had gotten over the shock that she had started kissing back, the guys in the front of the bus had started running towards the back, and had almost seen Niki and him. But right before that could happen, Niki had pulled away. "Later", she had said. And later, they did talk. Which is why he had been late to shower, change, and get to the stage.

Bryan came up to him then, guitar in hand. "We're actually on in fifteen. What's up? Did something happen last night?" Bryan never said much, but the singer knew that his guitarist was truly concerned. The truth was gonna come out soon enough, he might as well spill now.

Craig took a deep breath and answered. "I kissed her Bryan."

Bryan's face went into shock. "Really? And?"

"I don't even know. It just.. It felt right, ya know? Like it was meant to happen. But then the other guys on the bus interrupted it, so after we got here, we both went and talked."

"What happened then?"

"Well, she didn't reject me. But we're not together either. Ugh, it's so frustrating. I don't know what to do next, I mean, I don't want to rush this, but I don't want to just let her go either." Craig ran his hand through his already messy hair.

"Well, what exactly did she say?"

"She said, and I quote, 'I like you, and I've always dreamed of this, but I don't know if I can be with you. I've been hurt before, and I don't know if I could handle being hurt again.' And then she had to leave so that she could go set up her tent."

Bryan slid his guitar strap over his body, and grabbed his pick off of a nearby equipment case. "Harsh. But if you want my advice, don't give up. Show her that you won't hurt her. I can tell that you really care about her, otherwise you would look like a lovesick puppy right now."

"Escape the Fate, you're on in thirty seconds," a voice called from near the stage.

"Thanks, Bryan."

"No problem."

-Back to Niki-

"There you are!"

It had been a very long morning, and not everything was selling. Thankfully, none of the guys knew what had happened between Craig and me. Yet. It was only a matter of time before one of them found out and went around telling everyone. Craig had told me that he really liked me, and that he wanted to potentially be with me, but for some reason, I just couldn't say yes. Sure, I've had a crush on the guy since forever, and have always dreamed of being his girlfriend, but I just couldn't agree to it. I would forever worry about him when he's on tour and all of the fan girls. And after getting hurt by him, I just didn't think I could handle being in another relationship. So I had told him that I wasn't sure, and then walked off. He probably hated me right now, and I probably blew every chance that I had with him. All this and more was flying through my head as a voice called out to me. The voice of none other than Alex Gaskarth.

I turned around in my lawn chair to come almost face to face with the singer. His goofy grin, large sunglasses, and fedora only made me smile.

"Alex Gaskarth, now what would you be doing in my tent?" I replied.

He came and sat down in front of my chair, back to the crowd so that he would be even less recognizable, hopefully. "I've been looking for you for days! I haven't seen you in so long, I was wondering if I was going to get to see you again! And since my band doesn't play till way later, I thought I'd go searching for you. Let me tell you, your tent took forever to find!”

“Well, I did tell you that I’d see you later. And my tent is right next to yours.” Which was true. The huge All Time Low tent was next to my tiny NeverShoutNever one. But their tent didn’t say that All Time Low was going to be doing a signing, so I hadn’t expected any of the band members to show up. Still, Alex turned his head, and acted surprised that his tent was there.

“So it is, so it is. So are you having fun on Warped?”

“I guess, it’s a big change from the tiny venues that Chris played back home.”

“Yeah, it really is. It gets more fun towards the middle of the tour though, depending on how you look at it. On the good side, by the time its half way over, you know almost everybody, and the pranks really start going. Last year, on Jack’s birthday, Automatic Loveletter came up and had a mini birthday party going on, cake and everything. It was hilarious. So the pranks are gonna really get going here in a week or so.”

I really laughed at this story. I wonder what kind of crazy pranks were gonna go on this year. I was definitely going to have to find a way to prank Alex and the guys from Escape the Fate. The Shout wouldn’t be that hard to get, but I’d come up with something extra special for them.
Alex and I continued to talk for the next couple of hours. I was surprised that he actually stayed, and that he somehow managed to keep from being too noticed by fans. At around three, everything had sold out. It was a slower day than the last few had been, but I was glad that I had gotten to spend it talking with someone other than fans.

Because Alex didn’t have to be at the main stage until seven, we decided to leave and explore Pittsburgh. The next few hours were spent going up and down the cable cars and eating at a place called Bud’s Sunrise Café. Spending the day with Alex was a huge relief from the crowds at Warped. He did have a few fans come up and ask him for autographs, but since most of then were waiting for him back at the venue, it was a pretty quiet day. By six, we had finished our early dinner and gone through the Carnegie Art Museum, and we were now walking out of a tourist shop wearing shirts that said “My friend went to Pittsburgh and only got me this lousy t-shirt” while eating ice cream. Not once today had he tried to do anything romantic, and I had actually ended up talking to him about what happened between me and Craig, glad to get an outsiders opinion.

“So, Miss Niki eff-emm, did you enjoy our day around town?” Alex asked as the venue came back into sight. I smiled at his nickname for me. I had no idea that he listened to Hawthorne Heights until he called me that.

”Yes, Alexander William, I did.”

“I’m glad,” he said.

“So what time are you guys actually starting?” I asked as we flashed our bracelets at the security guard to let us back in.

“Probably around seven thirty. Are you gonna come watch us?”

“Of course I am. I’m very excited!” Grinning, we made our way through the crowds, being lead and guarded by the security guards. Alex was too famous and would get way too much attention, and we would never make it to the stage in time without the security guards. It was around six thirty when we got to the main stage, and The Devil Wears Prada was playing. So with nothing else to do, we walked over to the side of the stage and watched.