The Meaning in the Rhyme

I melted into the couch and sighed quietly. A Rocket To The Moon quietly played in the background. Everyone else had gone out for dinner and I needed awhile alone. The Valencia guys had told me it was cool to hang out in their bus while they were out. This was exactly what I needed. My head had been killing me all day and I was starting to run a fever, not that I was surprised. Every tour I got sick with something. This year would be no different. The door opened letting cool air into the bus. I shivered and curled into a smaller ball. Shane walked onto the bus and sat down at the end of the couch smiling at me.

“Hi!” I said sitting up.

“Heard you were feeling sick?” He asked. I nodded. He picked up the bag he’d walked through the door with and handed it to me. I opened it. Inside there was a zebra Snuggie, cough and pain meds, and some random movie that had a couple on the front. The perfect stay home and be sick kit.

“Aw. Thanks Shane!” I said leaning over and hugging him. He awkwardly hugged back. I offered him the remote.

“Anything for a fellow tour mate. You can keep all that stuff. I don’t have the balls to walk around in a zebra Snuggie.” I laughed, struggling to get the box open. “Here.” He took the box from me and produced a ring of keys from his belt loop and quickly cut that tape off.

“You’re my fucking hero.” I said pulling it out. The soft fleece was warm. I giggled with excitement. I’d always wanted one of these just never had the nerve to buy one. The shit I was going to get later. “How come you’re home so early though?”

“I was bored. And, you were here all alone. That didn’t seem right.” He said offering a comforting smile. You know that ‘I just developed a huge crush on this kid’ feeling? Yeah, I was there.

“That’s so sweet. My crew will be home soon though. Saxon made us sign a no drinking on tour pact again.”

“Again?”

“We had one last tour after we all took off with some random group of fans. They were nice. Free drinks and a fun party. I think the one that pissed Sax off was the free night in jail part though.” Shane laughed, shaking his head.

“And that man keeps coming back as your tour manager? Wow. What a fool.” I shrugged.

“I think he likes the adventure. We can be a handful but we get to go to a lot of cool places and meet a lot of cool people. Plus, he worries. We’ve always been attached at the hip whether we liked to admit it or not. It’s a twin thing.”

“You guys are twins?!” He nearly yelled. I laughed.

“You didn’t know that? I thought everyone had already figured that out!”

“I knew you were related but not twins.” I nodded.

“He’s twelve minutes older and likes to hold it against me. Like a tiny Flyzik.”

“Nice. You’re a lot louder around a group of people.” He said more than asked. I shrugged.

“I don’t know why that is. It probably gets annoying. I can be pretty obnoxious. ‘Specially around the ATL boys.”

“Big fan?”

“Bigger fan of you guys, to be honest.”

“Oh really?” I nodded, not meeting his eyes.

“The first time we saw you guys was with All Time Low actually. You blew us away. Part of the reason we’re even a band.”

“Aw. That’s too fucking awesome. We’ll then in those words; glad I had a small part in making the amazing band you all are now.” I looked away shyly suddenly feeling really self conscious. I’d never thought I’d hear those words come out of Shane Hendersons mouth.

“What movie did you get anyway?” I asked pulling the case out of the bag. What I had originally mistaken for a crowd was in fact that guy from Grey’s Anatomy and some chicks around him.

“It was that or old Fast And The Furious.” I coughed in a sad attempt to laugh.

“Its okay. You wanna watch?” I asked grabbing the hand sanitizer off my key ring and lathering my hands. He shrugged,

“I’m here to keep you entertained.”

“That’s what she said.” I said walking over to the television. The whole case was a mess of DVD’s. Purple Rain was carelessly thrown on top. I was a sucker for Prince and the sweet voice of his.

“Having trouble?”

“Nope. Found something mucho better!” I said slipping Purple Rain into the player and resuming my spot on the couch. He hit a switch that darkened the whole bus. I sighed and laid my head on the back of the couch. We both sang along to the first few songs to ourselves although it quickly turned into a loud sing along.

“Wow. Look at you. I believe you were faking the whole thing. You just wanted to get me alone.” Shane said winking. I laughed, rubbing my now aching throat.

“If only that were true. Ten says I don’t have a voice tomorrow.” There was a loud yell outside followed by Chelsea running past us, JD right behind her judging by both their stumbles they’d been drinking most of the night.

“JD sucks! He got beat up by a girl!” Chelsea yelled standing in the booth making her eye level with JD.

“That chick was a dude! Not the same!” He yelled back. She put her hands on her hips.

“It wore a skirt! That makes it a girl!”

“I think I’m going to go.” I said grabbing the bag of stuff off the floor and waved to Shane.

“I’ll walk you to the van. I have no idea where the others are but I’m sure they’re just as bad off.” I smiled and pushed open the door. The vans light was on and I could hear Saxon yelling from across despite the tint of a slur to his own words.

“This ride should be fun.” I muttered. Shane smiled apologetically.

“If its any consolation I had more fun staying sober with you than I would have had going out.” I smiled and did a little dance in a circle.

“That’s a win. I had fun, Shane. Thanks for the stuff.” I said shifting my stuff and giving him a quick hug. He waved and shoved his hands in his pockets, heading back for the bus. I had a new crush whether I wanted it or not. I’d made a vow a long tome ago not to mess around on tour. I had everything going for me. Why bring a relationship that could potentially ruin everything into this? Exactly. No reason.