Status: COMPLETE!
This Papercut Doesn't Hurt
Chapter 20: Epilogue (Sort of?)
“Nelliee,” John O’Callaghan sang, walking into the main area of their bus.
I groaned from my napping spot on the couch. I felt a weight on top of me and peeped over my blanket to see John O seated on top of me, "What the actual fuck.”
He chuckled lightly, “Get you’re ass up, birthday girl.”
I eyed him skeptically, “Today is definitely not my birthday.”
“Hmm…” John hummed, pulling out his phone and clicking to view the calendar, “February 11th?”
Immediately, I shot up, pushing John off of me.
“Today’s my birthday!” I jumped up and down around John.
He laughed, regaining his balance, “I told you.”
I gave him a rather large hug.
Everything was finally back to normal and all it took was a few weeks. Garrett and I have been together for a week shy of a month since the incident with John and that Tiff bitch.
“Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you,” I heard coming from the champagne room.
John pulled me in and I was met by the rest of the band, LB, Vito and Peter, “Happy birthday dear Nellie, Happy birthday to you.”
Garrett beamed as he stood up and walked over to me, “Happy 19th, Nell Bell.”
I smiled back and kissed him hard on the lips, “Thanks G,” I pulled away.
“Yaaaay!” The guys cheered.
I laughed at them, “Is this just a Maine party?” I asked, referring to the non-presence of the rest of the other bands.
Garrett replied, “We didn’t think you’d care if each band did something separately,” He seemed apologetic which confused me.
“No no,” I shook my head, “It’s perfectly okay. It’s easier this way, I guess,” I chuckled.
Garrett and the rest of the guys looked relieved, “Awesome,” Garrett pecked my cheek.
“Time for presents!” Pat cheered.
I laughed and John O replied, “After we eat your birthday breakfast.”
I nodded and looked to the box on the table, then back to the boys questioningly.
“Is that what I think it is?”
Kennedy smiled at me before opening the box, revealing an assortment of bagels from Panera Bread.
Instantly, I lit up, “Oh my goodness! Thank you guys so much, I haven’t had these in forever!”
I went around and hugged them all quickly before grabbing a French Toast bagel out of the box and applying some cream cheese.
→
“Now time for presents?” Pat pouted, looking at John O.
He laughed, “Of course.”
Everyone had eaten at least one bagel and we were all pretty content.
“Nellieeeee,” Pat squealed, reaching under his seat, pulling out a medium sized box.
I chuckled, “Here we go,” I ripped the colored paper off of the box and lifted it open.
A smile adorned my lips, “Thank you soooooo much, Pat, I love them.”
Inside the box was a pair of dark purple corduroy jeans that were just like my dark green ones.
“I liked the green ones you wore, so I went and found purple ones,” Pat smiled, proud of himself.
“Come here, boo,” I pulled him ontop of me and squeezed him tightly.
Garrett cleared his throat and I smiled at his jealousy, “Oh, chill out Garrett,” Pat hopped off of me.
“My turn!” Kennedy pulled out a blue bag with tissue paper in it.
I pulled the tissue paper out and revealed some Burt’s Bee’s Chapstick and some body spray from Bath & Body Works, “Aw, thank you so much, Kenny!”
He gave me a hug as well.
The gifts continued on. I received an American Apparel gift card from Vito, LB and Peter, a Starbucks gift card from Jared, and an iTunes gift card from John, including multiple hugs.
The only one left was Garrett.
“No gift?” I pouted.
Garrett grinned, “Not today, you’ll have to wait til tomorrow.”
I faked hurt, “How could you, Mr. Nickelsen?”
The grin never left his face as he squeezed on to the smaller couch with me and held me in his arms, “Because I love you,” He whispered, kissing the top of my head.
Even after all this time, even since before the incident, he still gave me butterflies. I definitely loved him, there was no doubt about that.
→
“Happy birthday, Nellie!” Jess screamed, running up and hugging me in the parking lot of an Italian restaurant near the venue. Tonight, we graced San Francisco, my favorite town.
I laughed, “Thank you, Jessica!”
She left the embrace and I proceeded to get hugs from the rest of the band.
“Happy birthday, best friend,” John was the last and longest hug.
“Love you, Johnny,” and that was good enough for him.
“We’re taking you for Italian food!” Brian cheered, pulling us to the doors of the restaurant.
“Don’t worry, we got you presents,” Stephen winked as we sat down at our big table.
After ordering and eating our meals, the waiters brought out a bowl of Ice Cream and sang Happy Birthday to me. The whole time, I couldn’t stop laughing.
While I snacked on my ice cream, my friends gave me their gifts. I collected a bunch of CDs from Josh, a ‘tour’ journal from Stephen, a Cold Stone gift card from Jess, A new tote bag, scarf, and more chapstick from Brian, and orange Vans from John, much like my yellow and pink ones.
“I love you guys so damn much,” I said for the twentieth time after leaving the restaurant.
“We love you too,” Stephen slipped an arm around my waist.
“Definitely,” John’s arm fell around my shoulders, “We wouldn’t have it any other way.”
And just like that, with John on one side and Stephen on the other, we walked back to their van and drove off to the venue for sound checks.
→
“Oh my god,” I gasped at the music playing through the venue’s speakers.
“Just stay right where I can see you
When you go away I get so low
Like temperatures when they're at their coldest
When you go away I get so lonely
And I'm stranded by the side of the bed.”
Nick Santino smiled at my reaction, “We put The Starting Line as the music for tonight.”
I jumped up and gave him a hug, “I love you, Santino.”
He chuckled, “You too, Happy Birthday, Nellie.”
I kissed his cheek lightly and hopped down and pulled him along with me to find Halvo.
“Eric Halvorsen!” I saw him on stage, putting his shoes on?
His head shot up, “Nellie Bennettson!” He smiled widely.
I hopped on the stage and ventured over to stand over him, “What are you doing?”
“Shhh,” He put his finger to his lips and stood up slowly.
This was when I realized he hadn’t been putting on his shoes; he was fixing something in a bag.
“It’s a secret,” He said once he was completely standing, now towering over me with a serious look on his face.
I gave him an annoyed look and he broke down into a smile, “Just kidding! Here,” He held the bag out towards me.
The bag was quite small compared to the ones I had received throughout the day, yet it was green, which none of the others were.
I reached into the little bag and pulled out a small box.
Inside the box was a silver bracelet with a bird charm on it.
“HALVO!” I squealed, nearly dropping the present and jumping up into his arms.
He chuckled, “It’s from all of Rocket.”
I hopped down and gave Nick yet another hug, “Where’s J.Rich and A.Cook?”
They shrugged and Nick was about to speak when he was interrupted by two boys running onto the stage, “Nellie Bellie!”
I laughed at Justin and Andrew as they nearly tackled me. Luckily, Halvo caught the bracelet as I fell onto the floor under the two boys.
Andrew kissed my check while Justin tickled me to no end.
“W-w-what a-are you d-d-doing,” I said in between laughing.
They both smiled and cheered, “Birthday tickles!”
I squirmed out of their grasp and ran over to Bam who had just joined us.
He held his arms out to me and I ran into them, “They are scary, get them away.”
I hid my face in his chest and he laughed, “Happy Birthday, Nellie.”
→
After hanging out for a bit with Rocket and putting on my new charm bracelet, I went back to the table with Taylor.
“So, how’s your birthday been so far?” Taylor asked me, placing an arm around my shoulders.
I smiled, “Great! I missed you though.”
He shook his head, laughing lightly, “I got you a present.”
My face lit up, “Aw, Juwig, you didn’t have to.”
He shook his head once more, “Of course I did!”
He went over to his backpack in search of the gift.
He pulled out what looked like a box wrapped in HAPPY BIRTHDAY paper.
While I unwrapped it carefully, he said, “I heard you’ve been saving up for this, now you can save up for something else.”
My heart lifted as I realized what he was talking about. I began opening it more rapidly. There had to be at least three layers of paper.
Finally, I unwrapped eight CDs staked on top of each other. Taylor bought me part of Ryan Adam’s discography. I had already owned Love Is Hell, Cold Roses and Gold. Now, the other eight of his discography lay in my hands before me. I don’t think words could express how happy I was.
I put the CDs down on the chair and looked back up to Taylor.
“Well?” He asked, waiting for my reaction.
I didn’t bother responding, Instead, I ambushed him with a hug, nearly knocking him off of his feet.
A laugh escaped his lips, “Love you too, Nellie.”
→
“Garrett,” I whined.
I was actually blindfolded in the passenger seat of some car or van, I wasn’t sure to be honest.
Garrett squeezed my hand before kissing it lightly, “We’re almost there.”
I sighed.
We had been driving for about 10 minutes through San Francisco.
“Just give me a hint,” I whimpered.
He groaned, “You’ll love it. That’s all the hint you’re getting.”
I stopped asking and let him drive and hold my hand, rubbing it lightly with his thumb.
Five minutes later, the car stopped.
“We’re hereee,” Garrett said in a sing-song voice.
He reached behind my head to untie John O’s bandana.
I opened my eyes and looked around.
The breath I had been holding since we arrived, fled my lungs, “I love you!”
I threw my arms around him.
Ever since I went to Marble Slab with Joel, and the time before that at the mall with Cold Stone, I’ve had a thing for ice cream. Ever where we’ve gone since then, I’ve looked for a Cold Stone, however we’ve never been close enough to one. Now, though, here we were, parked in front of a Cold Stone.
“I love you too,” He kissed my cheek.
I hopped out of the car excitedly and jumped up and down while I waited for Garrett to meet me on the sidewalk.
“Calm down,” He chuckled and winked before taking my hand and leading me into Cold Stone.
→
I was enjoying my Cake Batter and Oreo cup when Garrett spoke, “Ready to go?”
I pouted, “Back to the bus?”
He shook his head, “No. Come with me,” He took my free hand and lead me back out of the store, past what I realized was Rocket’s van.
“Where are we-“ I cut myself off when I noticed we were on Fisherman’s Wharf.
He tossed his empty ice cream cup and placed his arm around my shoulders and whispered, “Let’s go see the Bush Man.”
I laughed as we skipped over to the opposite side of the street to watch the famed Bush Man scare all of the passersby.
I watched Garrett as we stood their together, wrapped up in the scene. As cheesy as it sounds, I was feeling so happy. I watched Garrett genuinely laughing and that made me smile. He made me smile.
“What are you looking at?” Garrett smiled widely, poking my cheek.
I blushed, “You.”
He gave me a questioning look.
“I love you,” I kissed his nose.
“I love you, too,” He replied as he kissed my lips softly, “So much.”
He held me in his arms while we stayed and watched the Bush Man until the sidewalks were almost empty.
“Let’s get back to the bus,” Garrett kissed my cheek as he opened my door, allowing me to slide in.
The whole ride back, I sat, holding Garrett’s hand and singing along to Sweet Illusions by Ryan Adams.
“Happy ending to a shit situation, right?” Garrett asked.
“What do you mean?”
He shrugged, “Just that whole thing that happened. We’re so happy now. This is good, right?”
I nodded, “Of course! It’s fantastic,” I gave his hand a slight squeeze.
He smiled, “Good.”
→
I couldn’t sleep. I left Garrett’s bunk noiselessly, walking into the main area.
I noticed John Gomez on the couch.
“What are you doing here?” I plopped down next to him.
He smiled at me, “I was bored and Jess kicked me out, I kept talking while they were trying to sleep.”
I chuckled, “What are you watching?”
“SpongeBob of course!” He nudged me.
“Mind if I join you?” I asked, laying my head on his chest.
“Join away,” He put his arm around me.
We stayed just like that for hours until we finally fell asleep.
At last, I was content. I had my best friend back and my boyfriend too.
I hope things would stay this way for a while.
I groaned from my napping spot on the couch. I felt a weight on top of me and peeped over my blanket to see John O seated on top of me, "What the actual fuck.”
He chuckled lightly, “Get you’re ass up, birthday girl.”
I eyed him skeptically, “Today is definitely not my birthday.”
“Hmm…” John hummed, pulling out his phone and clicking to view the calendar, “February 11th?”
Immediately, I shot up, pushing John off of me.
“Today’s my birthday!” I jumped up and down around John.
He laughed, regaining his balance, “I told you.”
I gave him a rather large hug.
Everything was finally back to normal and all it took was a few weeks. Garrett and I have been together for a week shy of a month since the incident with John and that Tiff bitch.
“Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you,” I heard coming from the champagne room.
John pulled me in and I was met by the rest of the band, LB, Vito and Peter, “Happy birthday dear Nellie, Happy birthday to you.”
Garrett beamed as he stood up and walked over to me, “Happy 19th, Nell Bell.”
I smiled back and kissed him hard on the lips, “Thanks G,” I pulled away.
“Yaaaay!” The guys cheered.
I laughed at them, “Is this just a Maine party?” I asked, referring to the non-presence of the rest of the other bands.
Garrett replied, “We didn’t think you’d care if each band did something separately,” He seemed apologetic which confused me.
“No no,” I shook my head, “It’s perfectly okay. It’s easier this way, I guess,” I chuckled.
Garrett and the rest of the guys looked relieved, “Awesome,” Garrett pecked my cheek.
“Time for presents!” Pat cheered.
I laughed and John O replied, “After we eat your birthday breakfast.”
I nodded and looked to the box on the table, then back to the boys questioningly.
“Is that what I think it is?”
Kennedy smiled at me before opening the box, revealing an assortment of bagels from Panera Bread.
Instantly, I lit up, “Oh my goodness! Thank you guys so much, I haven’t had these in forever!”
I went around and hugged them all quickly before grabbing a French Toast bagel out of the box and applying some cream cheese.
→
“Now time for presents?” Pat pouted, looking at John O.
He laughed, “Of course.”
Everyone had eaten at least one bagel and we were all pretty content.
“Nellieeeee,” Pat squealed, reaching under his seat, pulling out a medium sized box.
I chuckled, “Here we go,” I ripped the colored paper off of the box and lifted it open.
A smile adorned my lips, “Thank you soooooo much, Pat, I love them.”
Inside the box was a pair of dark purple corduroy jeans that were just like my dark green ones.
“I liked the green ones you wore, so I went and found purple ones,” Pat smiled, proud of himself.
“Come here, boo,” I pulled him ontop of me and squeezed him tightly.
Garrett cleared his throat and I smiled at his jealousy, “Oh, chill out Garrett,” Pat hopped off of me.
“My turn!” Kennedy pulled out a blue bag with tissue paper in it.
I pulled the tissue paper out and revealed some Burt’s Bee’s Chapstick and some body spray from Bath & Body Works, “Aw, thank you so much, Kenny!”
He gave me a hug as well.
The gifts continued on. I received an American Apparel gift card from Vito, LB and Peter, a Starbucks gift card from Jared, and an iTunes gift card from John, including multiple hugs.
The only one left was Garrett.
“No gift?” I pouted.
Garrett grinned, “Not today, you’ll have to wait til tomorrow.”
I faked hurt, “How could you, Mr. Nickelsen?”
The grin never left his face as he squeezed on to the smaller couch with me and held me in his arms, “Because I love you,” He whispered, kissing the top of my head.
Even after all this time, even since before the incident, he still gave me butterflies. I definitely loved him, there was no doubt about that.
→
“Happy birthday, Nellie!” Jess screamed, running up and hugging me in the parking lot of an Italian restaurant near the venue. Tonight, we graced San Francisco, my favorite town.
I laughed, “Thank you, Jessica!”
She left the embrace and I proceeded to get hugs from the rest of the band.
“Happy birthday, best friend,” John was the last and longest hug.
“Love you, Johnny,” and that was good enough for him.
“We’re taking you for Italian food!” Brian cheered, pulling us to the doors of the restaurant.
“Don’t worry, we got you presents,” Stephen winked as we sat down at our big table.
After ordering and eating our meals, the waiters brought out a bowl of Ice Cream and sang Happy Birthday to me. The whole time, I couldn’t stop laughing.
While I snacked on my ice cream, my friends gave me their gifts. I collected a bunch of CDs from Josh, a ‘tour’ journal from Stephen, a Cold Stone gift card from Jess, A new tote bag, scarf, and more chapstick from Brian, and orange Vans from John, much like my yellow and pink ones.
“I love you guys so damn much,” I said for the twentieth time after leaving the restaurant.
“We love you too,” Stephen slipped an arm around my waist.
“Definitely,” John’s arm fell around my shoulders, “We wouldn’t have it any other way.”
And just like that, with John on one side and Stephen on the other, we walked back to their van and drove off to the venue for sound checks.
→
“Oh my god,” I gasped at the music playing through the venue’s speakers.
“Just stay right where I can see you
When you go away I get so low
Like temperatures when they're at their coldest
When you go away I get so lonely
And I'm stranded by the side of the bed.”
Nick Santino smiled at my reaction, “We put The Starting Line as the music for tonight.”
I jumped up and gave him a hug, “I love you, Santino.”
He chuckled, “You too, Happy Birthday, Nellie.”
I kissed his cheek lightly and hopped down and pulled him along with me to find Halvo.
“Eric Halvorsen!” I saw him on stage, putting his shoes on?
His head shot up, “Nellie Bennettson!” He smiled widely.
I hopped on the stage and ventured over to stand over him, “What are you doing?”
“Shhh,” He put his finger to his lips and stood up slowly.
This was when I realized he hadn’t been putting on his shoes; he was fixing something in a bag.
“It’s a secret,” He said once he was completely standing, now towering over me with a serious look on his face.
I gave him an annoyed look and he broke down into a smile, “Just kidding! Here,” He held the bag out towards me.
The bag was quite small compared to the ones I had received throughout the day, yet it was green, which none of the others were.
I reached into the little bag and pulled out a small box.
Inside the box was a silver bracelet with a bird charm on it.
“HALVO!” I squealed, nearly dropping the present and jumping up into his arms.
He chuckled, “It’s from all of Rocket.”
I hopped down and gave Nick yet another hug, “Where’s J.Rich and A.Cook?”
They shrugged and Nick was about to speak when he was interrupted by two boys running onto the stage, “Nellie Bellie!”
I laughed at Justin and Andrew as they nearly tackled me. Luckily, Halvo caught the bracelet as I fell onto the floor under the two boys.
Andrew kissed my check while Justin tickled me to no end.
“W-w-what a-are you d-d-doing,” I said in between laughing.
They both smiled and cheered, “Birthday tickles!”
I squirmed out of their grasp and ran over to Bam who had just joined us.
He held his arms out to me and I ran into them, “They are scary, get them away.”
I hid my face in his chest and he laughed, “Happy Birthday, Nellie.”
→
After hanging out for a bit with Rocket and putting on my new charm bracelet, I went back to the table with Taylor.
“So, how’s your birthday been so far?” Taylor asked me, placing an arm around my shoulders.
I smiled, “Great! I missed you though.”
He shook his head, laughing lightly, “I got you a present.”
My face lit up, “Aw, Juwig, you didn’t have to.”
He shook his head once more, “Of course I did!”
He went over to his backpack in search of the gift.
He pulled out what looked like a box wrapped in HAPPY BIRTHDAY paper.
While I unwrapped it carefully, he said, “I heard you’ve been saving up for this, now you can save up for something else.”
My heart lifted as I realized what he was talking about. I began opening it more rapidly. There had to be at least three layers of paper.
Finally, I unwrapped eight CDs staked on top of each other. Taylor bought me part of Ryan Adam’s discography. I had already owned Love Is Hell, Cold Roses and Gold. Now, the other eight of his discography lay in my hands before me. I don’t think words could express how happy I was.
I put the CDs down on the chair and looked back up to Taylor.
“Well?” He asked, waiting for my reaction.
I didn’t bother responding, Instead, I ambushed him with a hug, nearly knocking him off of his feet.
A laugh escaped his lips, “Love you too, Nellie.”
→
“Garrett,” I whined.
I was actually blindfolded in the passenger seat of some car or van, I wasn’t sure to be honest.
Garrett squeezed my hand before kissing it lightly, “We’re almost there.”
I sighed.
We had been driving for about 10 minutes through San Francisco.
“Just give me a hint,” I whimpered.
He groaned, “You’ll love it. That’s all the hint you’re getting.”
I stopped asking and let him drive and hold my hand, rubbing it lightly with his thumb.
Five minutes later, the car stopped.
“We’re hereee,” Garrett said in a sing-song voice.
He reached behind my head to untie John O’s bandana.
I opened my eyes and looked around.
The breath I had been holding since we arrived, fled my lungs, “I love you!”
I threw my arms around him.
Ever since I went to Marble Slab with Joel, and the time before that at the mall with Cold Stone, I’ve had a thing for ice cream. Ever where we’ve gone since then, I’ve looked for a Cold Stone, however we’ve never been close enough to one. Now, though, here we were, parked in front of a Cold Stone.
“I love you too,” He kissed my cheek.
I hopped out of the car excitedly and jumped up and down while I waited for Garrett to meet me on the sidewalk.
“Calm down,” He chuckled and winked before taking my hand and leading me into Cold Stone.
→
I was enjoying my Cake Batter and Oreo cup when Garrett spoke, “Ready to go?”
I pouted, “Back to the bus?”
He shook his head, “No. Come with me,” He took my free hand and lead me back out of the store, past what I realized was Rocket’s van.
“Where are we-“ I cut myself off when I noticed we were on Fisherman’s Wharf.
He tossed his empty ice cream cup and placed his arm around my shoulders and whispered, “Let’s go see the Bush Man.”
I laughed as we skipped over to the opposite side of the street to watch the famed Bush Man scare all of the passersby.
I watched Garrett as we stood their together, wrapped up in the scene. As cheesy as it sounds, I was feeling so happy. I watched Garrett genuinely laughing and that made me smile. He made me smile.
“What are you looking at?” Garrett smiled widely, poking my cheek.
I blushed, “You.”
He gave me a questioning look.
“I love you,” I kissed his nose.
“I love you, too,” He replied as he kissed my lips softly, “So much.”
He held me in his arms while we stayed and watched the Bush Man until the sidewalks were almost empty.
“Let’s get back to the bus,” Garrett kissed my cheek as he opened my door, allowing me to slide in.
The whole ride back, I sat, holding Garrett’s hand and singing along to Sweet Illusions by Ryan Adams.
“Happy ending to a shit situation, right?” Garrett asked.
“What do you mean?”
He shrugged, “Just that whole thing that happened. We’re so happy now. This is good, right?”
I nodded, “Of course! It’s fantastic,” I gave his hand a slight squeeze.
He smiled, “Good.”
→
I couldn’t sleep. I left Garrett’s bunk noiselessly, walking into the main area.
I noticed John Gomez on the couch.
“What are you doing here?” I plopped down next to him.
He smiled at me, “I was bored and Jess kicked me out, I kept talking while they were trying to sleep.”
I chuckled, “What are you watching?”
“SpongeBob of course!” He nudged me.
“Mind if I join you?” I asked, laying my head on his chest.
“Join away,” He put his arm around me.
We stayed just like that for hours until we finally fell asleep.
At last, I was content. I had my best friend back and my boyfriend too.
I hope things would stay this way for a while.
♠ ♠ ♠
THE END. OKAY? I'm not too happy with this ending. I waited to post it because I thought it sounded cheesy and like shit, and I wanted to change it a bit, but nothing came to mind so I decided that it was over :DFinal comments? Read my new Summer Set story... it's going slowly so far, I'm in the process of writing the 2nd chapter as I type this.
&&&&& I'm going to the Emptiness Tour tonight! (Alesana, The Word Alive, Of Mice & Men, We Came As Romans & A Skylit Drive) I love harder shows because there aren't as many annoying girls who complain when you touch then ;) which ultimately means there are more guys....but that's not why I love shows. I'm soo excited. I hope everyone goes out to this tour!