You Belong With Me

The next morning, as my alarm clock went off, and I could feel the pain in my recently injured areas. I hit the snooze button once, and pushed the heels of my hands into my eyes. I ran a hand through my slightly tangled hair and stretched as best as I could in the small space. My alarm clock went off again, but this time I shut it off. I stumbled out of bed slightly and clamed my eyes shut at the bright light streaming through the bus.

I made my way into the front lounge and plopped on the couch next to a furiously typing Matt. He reached over to the table next to him and produced a bottle of Advil. I took it from him, while thanking him, and shuffled to the fridge to get a water bottle. I popped 2 Advil into my mouth and took a swig of water, praying for them to work fast.

I looked down at my knees and noticed the band-aids had started to peel up at the corners, so I slowly tore them off and threw them into the trashcan, examining my scabs. I did the same to my elbow, and picked the excess goo away before finally turning to Matt.

“What time do the guys have to be at the FUSE interview?” I asked Matt in my semi-raspy voice.

“11:30, so about 3 hours,” he said glancing up from his Macbook.

“Alright, I’ll wake them up in an hour or so. These grounds have showers right?”

“Yeah, if you head towards the back of the bus area, there’s a shower building,” he said nodding to someone behind me, “Danny could show you, I bet that’s where he was heading.”

I turned to face Danny and he nodded in agreement. I held up my finger for him wait while I grabbed some shoes, before we both walked out of the bus, and opened up the storage bays. I grabbed the small duffel that I had specifically made up for showers, and a fresh change of clothes, and waited as Danny did the same.

We walked, almost silently, to the showers, and were thankful that they weren’t crowded. I went into the women’s section, and picked an empty stall before stripping and starting my shower. I quickly scrubbed my hair, face and body, before shutting the water off and drying myself off with my plush towel. I slipped on my bra and underwear, before tugging my black Bermuda’s on, followed by my royal purple Glamour Kills shirt. I slipped my flip-flops back on, before throwing everything into my duffel and walking out of the shower building.

“Geez, finally,” I said once Danny walked out a few minutes later, “I thought girls were supposed to take longer.”

“Yeah yeah,” he said laughing, “I had to shave and actually combed my hair.”

“I’m letting my dry a little first, then I’ll just pull it up,” I said shrugging, “No use in actually doing it when I’ll just be hot and sweaty.”

He gave me a nod and face that said “true” and we were soon back at the bus throwing our stuff into the hold. We both went into the bus, and I dug through my duffle on my bunk for my brush. I quickly brushed through my already wavy hair, and pulled it into a semi messy ponytail. I then slid on my purple vans and clipped my radio and laminate to my belt

I went back to the front lounge, and noticed that Matt had left, leaving Danny, myself and a recently awoken Vinny on the bus with 5 sleeping boys.

“Well, I don’t know about you two, but I’m starved,” I said flopping down next to Danny, “Who wants to head to the catering tent with me?”

“I’d love to Hot Pants, but the booth needs to be set up,” Vinny said standing up to stretch, “Well, finish being set up, Flyzik and Alice headed down to set up a while ago. Bring me some food so I don’t starve?”

“Of course,” I said laughing before he walked off the bus, “What about you Danny boy? Or will I be heading alone?”

“I have a while til I have to actually do anything, so I’ll go,” he said standing up and cracking his back, “Should you wake up the guys first?”

“Yeah, probably,” I said standing up and heading towards the bunk, “Wanna help?”

He agreed, with an evil smirk attached to his lips, and we silently crept back to the bunks. He motioned for me to scream on the count of 3, and I watched in anticipation as he slowly counted on his fingers. As soon as he hit 3, we both started screaming, basically as loud as we could.

We heard a few thuds, followed by cursing, before 5 heads popped out of their bunks. They all had the same look in their eye, so Danny quickly grabbed my wrist and started running off the bus.

“You guys have an interview in 2 hours, make sure you’re ready in an hour and 45 so we get there on time,” I yelled as we ran off the bus and didn’t stop until we made it 7 or so busses away.

We were both still laughing about their faces as we made our way into the catering line, which wasn’t too bad luckily. We both picked out one of the freshly made omelets and a bottle of juice before situating ourselves at one of the many tables.

“So how stoked about tour are you?” Danny asked me after a few minutes of silence.

“Mad stoked,” I said smiling, “I mean, I’ve done a few tours hear and there, but nothing this big. Plus, I get to see my best friends everyday!”

“Who else besides Alice?” he asked taking a swig of his juice.
“Sean from 3OH!3, we practically grew up with each other. I thought I told you,” I said furrowing my brows.

“I don’t think so,” he said shrugging, as a look I couldn’t recognize flashed across his eyes, “But then again, I forget some things. “

“Don’t we all,” I said finishing up my omelet, “Well, I better grab something and take it to Vinny before I go round the guys up. Thanks for coming to breakfast with me.”

“Thanks for inviting me,” he said standing up to give me a quick hug, “I’ll see you at the guys set later.”

I told him I’d see him there, before walking up to the cook, and grabbing another omelet and some juice. I radioed to Vinny, asking about where he was, and quickly found the tent once he told me.

“One ham and cheese omelet with orange juice for Vincent,” I said putting it on the table causing him to laugh.

“Why thank you Addison,” he said smiling widely, “So how was breakfast with your little crush?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Vinny,” I said trying not to blush, “I would have to find someone cute to consider them my crush. And I didn’t go to breakfast with any cute boys.”

“Keep telling yourself that kid,” he said taking a bite of his omelet.

“I’m 2 years older than you bro,” I said causing him to laugh, “But you are like an older brother I never had, so I’ll let it slide!”

He just laughed, and we made small talk for a while, before Matt paged me over the radio reminding me to go get the boys and take them to the interview. I waved goodbye to Vinny, and made my way to the bus to round up the guys.

“Alright boys, lets go,” I said as I walked onto a bus full of talking.

“Alright Hot Pants!” Jack said as he dashed off the bus and slapped my butt.

“Jack Bassam Barakat, you’re dead if you ever do that again,” I said filing out after him, with the boys in tow.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The interview lasted a mere 30 minutes, and once it was done, the boys had to eat and then make their way to the Main Stage’s trailer to warm up.

While they were warming up and stretching, Matt and I were making sure everything was hooked up correctly, and placing their picks on their stands. Once that was done, we uncapped some waters and placed them on the amps, before doing a quick check of the instruments. We gave Evan the signal, and soon the boy’s intro song started rolling.

All 4 boys sprinted on stage, which made the loud crowd, even louder. I stood by Matt at the extra mic, and did random little vocals with him from time to time.

Every now and then I had to run onto the stage to retrieve an item that was thrown on, or fix a mic stand that was about to fall, but I got to stay side stage for the most part. When they were all done performing, they walked off and grabbed some sweat towels, before downing as much water as they could.

I was promptly handed Jack’s guitar, which I took turned the pack off, and took it to Danny so he could store it. I did the same with the rest of the gear, with the help of the rest of the crew, and had the stage free of our stuff in less than 15 minutes. The whole crew, minus Flyzik who took the boys to a signing, packed everything into the main trailer, before dispersing to do whatever we wanted.

Most everyone went to watch the other bands they wanted, but Danny and I both decided that we had been up far to long, and that we just needed to relax. We sauntered off to the bus, and were glad when we found it quiet and cool from the air conditioner.

“Wanna watch a movie?” Danny asked as we plopped down on the back lounge couches.

“Sure, what movies are there?” I said kicking my vans off and pulling my legs up under me.

“Quite a few,” he said opening a drawer, “Any suggestions on genre?”

“How about comedy? I feel like laughing.”

“Me too,” he said rifling around in the drawer a bit, “How about Step Brothers?”

“Oh hell yeah. It’s such a classic,” I said laughing, “Just don’t get mad when I start quoting it out loud.”

“I’ll end up doing the same,” he said smiling and popping it into the player.

We both got comfortable on the couch, and he pressed play as soon as the menu popped up. Right off the bat, we both started quoting it and laughing. This didn’t last long, because before I knew it, I could feel my eyes getting heavy, and sleep soon over took my body.

~*~*~*~*~*~

“Awh, look how cute!” I heard a familiar voice say before a flash went off.

“What the hell?” I asked waking up, and realizing my head was resting on something.

I finally opened my eyes and realized that my head was resting on Danny’s shoulder, and his head leaning on mine. I looked up to see Vinny and Jack standing in the doorway laughing and holding a camera.

“Danny, wake up,” I said shaking his leg.

He stirred a little, before picking his head up and cracking his neck a little. He gave me a sheepish smile, and I just smiled in return.

“Sorry about falling asleep on you,” he said sitting up straighter, “You did fall asleep on my shoulder first.”

“It’s okay, and my bad,” I said laughing, “What time is it anyways Jack?”

“About 5:30,” he said as the two came and joined us in the lounge, “Which means you two have been asleep for quite a while.”

“Shit,” I said running a hand through my hair, “I was supposed to go running today since I didn’t get a chance to workout yesterday. I guess I should go do that, anyone care to join?”

“Do you honestly think I work out?” Jack said laughing, “It’s all about fast metabolism!”

“We all can’t be that lucky Jack,” I said standing up, “Danny? Vinny?”

“Not after our race,” Vinny said laughing.

“I’ll go, as long as it’s not a race,” Danny said standing up as well.

“Just remember we have the kick off party tonight,” Jack said as we started leaving.

We made our way to our bunks, and grabbed our workout clothes, before I made my way to the bathroom to change my clothes. I slipped my black and yellow Nike shorts on, along with a matching black sports bra, before exiting the small space and letting Danny slip in after me. I quickly tied my shocks onto my feet tightly before grabbing two nalgene bottles and filling them up.

“Here’s a water bottle for you,” I said tossing Danny one of the cold bottles, “Ready to go?”

“Yeah, lets go,” he said straightening his shorts and tanktop, “I’m digging the color in the tattoo. Last time I saw it, you only had the outline.”

“Yeah, I finally went back and got color about a month and a half ago,” I said as we limbered up outside of the bus.

Once we were all limbered up, we started to jog towards the exit behind the busses, and were soon on the normal streets. We ran a good mile, before turning around and heading back to the bus.

Once we were back, I decided to go to the showers and take another shower before the party. Alice decided to join me, so we both headed to the showers and talked about our day since we had barely seen each other.