I Love Your Bubblegum Smile

“Where are we?” A disoriented Harley stumbled out of the All Time Low bus at it screeched to a stop in an unfamiliar parking lot.

It was cold—whatever state they were in now was chillier than normal—and her jean shorts and tank top just were not cutting it anymore.

The sun shone bright in the sky, despite the chill in the air, and Harley flipped the sunglasses that remained perched atop her head onto her eyes to shield herself. Adjusting quickly, Harley smiled as she saw Jack jogging towards her.

“Are you ready?” He asked, looking past her expectantly. She followed his gaze but saw nothing but charcoal colored concrete.

“Ready for what?” Harley asked, frowning slightly.

“To check in.” Jack looked at her as though she was a small child, waiting expectantly. Upon realizing that she had no idea what he was talking about, he broke into his signature grin. “We’re staying here for the night, since the bus has been giving us some aches and pains and our next show isn’t until Thursday. And because they have an overnight bar. “

He laughed happily, and watched as her expression changed. She smiled slowly, realizing that she finally might get a good night’s sleep.

“So?” He prodded, poking her in the side, causing her to flinch.

“So?” She replied, taking in the exterior of the hotel.

It was a tall light grey building that curved in a modern, intricate way. In the parking lot, a few decorated shrubs and palm trees littered the area, as well as a valet man who growled at anybody who walked by.

A small fountain spewing water gurgled in the corner, and a maroon-colored welcome mat lay at the entrance to greet customers.

“Are you ready?”

“Sure.” Harley shrugged and watched as Jack disappeared into the bus.

A few minutes later, he emerged with what appeared to be her suitcase. He hauled it slightly above the ground, grunting about how girls packed way too much. Harley just laughed and led him into the hotel.

At the front desk, Jack met up with the rest of the band as they retrieved key cards for their suites and started making their way to the elevator. The elevator required two trips to get everyone and their luggage upward.

Zack, Rian, Lisa and Alex went in the first trip up, while Kara, Jack and Harley rode up in the second. Their rooms were on the sixth floor, one of the floors that had a good range of ocean views.

Once they found their group of rooms, they split up into different groups.

Zack and Jack would be sharing a room, next to them would be Rian and Kara who would stay next to Alex and Lisa and Harley got her own room next to them.

Flyzik was sharing a room with Vinny, and some of the crew people also stayed In some of the rooms.

“Are you gonna be alright settling in?” Rian asked, eyeing Harley uncertainly. He was still fuming about her kiss with Travis, but his attempts at staying mad at her were slowly wearing off.

“Of course.” Harley said, and Rian nodded slowly before disappearing with Kara. Closing the door of her room, Harley examined the interior carefully.

The floors were a shiny pale wood and the walls a dull beige color. A large king sized bed rested in the middle of the room, taking up more than enough space. It was layered with many different types of sheets, topped off with a hideous floral bedspread that matched the beige of the walls.

The bathroom was normal sized for a hotel, and held a nice claw-foot tub. The closet space was large, and a nice flat screen television sat proudly on top of the small wooden vanity. The room was cozy, and it was good enough for Harley.

The room was quiet, and it finally sunk in that Harley had a room to herself. No boys, no parties, no beer chugging contests, no whores….

Thud, thud, thud.

What the fuck?

thud, thud, thud.

It took Harley a moment to realize that someone was knocking on the door. She glanced at the clock—it was 2 p.m.

Why would someone need her at this time?

Yawning, she made her way to the door and flung it open, not bothering to check through the peephole for possible rapists/serial killers. In front of her was neither a rapist nor serial killer, but instead a rather red looking Travis Clark.

“Hey,” he murmured out breathlessly, taking in her appearance. His smile got wider as Harley opened the door for him to come in.

“What’s up?” She asked, stepping deeper into the room and closing the door behind Travis.

She was extremely surprised that he was in her room, but said nothing in the hopes of appearing to be cool.

“Nothing much,” he shrugged, inspecting her room as he took a seat on her bed. “The guys and I went to stop for Starbucks on the way, and then pulled up here about five minutes ago. ATL is staying for the night, right?”

“Yeah,” Harley nodded, watching him carefully.

“Good, because I think we need to talk.”

Oh shit.

We need to talk[ usually came when a boy was breaking up with a girl. But Travis and Harley hadn’t even gone out, had they?

“Oh-okay…” Harley trailed off, suddenly feeling nervous.

Her palms were clammy and her throat had gone dry. God, it was like high school all over again.

“So…” Travis looked down, awkwardly. It seemed as though he was talking to his bedspread as he mumbled quietly. “I really like you.”

“What?” Harley questioned stupidly, not because she didn’t understand but because she barely could hear him.

“I really like you.” He repeated, though his expression was one of embarrassment, as though admitting this aloud would have him exiled from her life.

She took in his words once again, and realized in a moment of relief that they were not breaking up.

“I really like you too.” She smiled, awkwardly patting his knee. She blushed realizing that she had made the situation more uncomfortable, but Travis just smiled back at her.

“Um…” He trailed off, glancing from the door back towards her. “Would you…like…to um…go out with me?”
“

I…I thought that we were already going out.” Harley mumbled, noticing that Travis was still staring at the bedspread.

A tense silence filled the air, where neither Harley nor Travis knew what to say. Finally Travis opened his mouth to speak.

“I guess we were but it wasn’t really official, you know?” He glanced at her, but Harley sent him an odd look, so he shrugged his shoulders. “You know Rian doesn’t like me too much anymore. We the Kings and All Time Low used to be tight, but not so much anymore. Ever since I started talking to you, Rian’s been on my case, and I really don’t want to get in between you and your brother.”

Harley stared at Travis, not saying anything.

Could he really be that good of a person?

Travis was exactly what she was looking for—sweet, caring, funny and considerate. He bit his lip nervously, the silence become deafening once again, causing Harley to blush.

She quickly realized that Travis was waiting for her to show some sort of reaction, so she managed to blurt out a high pitched agreement. Her words became jumbled, and she managed to blurt out a mess of syllables and incoherent vowels.

“Cool,” Travis smiled widely, and Harley realized that this was why she liked him.

He was a regular human being, and got nervous as well. He realized that she was nervous, which helped her clam down a bit.

“So…we’re going out?” Harley asked finally, waiting for an answer.

“I guess so.” Travis smiled. The two sat in silence, shoulder-to-shoulder on the hotel bed. Travis cleared his throat and turned back to Harley. “Will you be my girlfriend?”

“Just like that?”

“I guess so.” Travis shrugged, “Is there something else?”

“No,” Harley laughed, feeling as though she was in her freshman year in high school all over again and Travis was her first boyfriend.

“No? You’re not going to be my girlfriend?”

“Yes! I mean…no? I mean...god, what do I mean?!” Harley giggled, slowly collapsing into a fit of laughter and Travis’ confused face. “Yes. I’ll be your girlfriend, Travis Clark!”

Travis grinned like a small boy in a candy shop, before swooping down and planting his lips on hers. Her face was flushed and so was his, as she threaded her fingers through his luxurious red hair.

His blue eyes were shut, though Harley’s were half-open, and she smiled into the kiss. A feeling reappeared in her stomach, though it was new and unfamiliar.

Her heart was beating way faster than it should be, her mind was racing and her lips couldn't help but tug upwards in a smile.

It wasn’t nervousness, embarrassment or awkwardness. It was happiness.