I Love Your Bubblegum Smile

“Dude, what the fuck?!” Jack screeched, his abnormally high-pitched tone echoing throughout the bus.

Alex let out an aggravated sigh, rolling his eyes at his best friend’s dramatic voice, before turning his attention back to his computer screen. It was silent for a few sacred minutes, before Jack’s voice was heard once again.

“Of course it’s not true!”

Alex breathed in deeply, realizing that he wouldn’t be able to get anything done with Jack carrying on like he was.

Closing his laptop, Alex swung his legs off the bunk and stood up, narrowly avoiding a head-on collision with the bunk above. Alex ran a hand through his hair, no doubt messing it up, before walking into the front lounge where Rian and Jack were currently arguing.

Jack stopped yelling, noticing Alex approaching, and instead chuckled loudly.

“You look like shit, bro.” Jack sniggered, while Rian rolled his eyes.

Alex touched his jaw absentmindedly. It had been four days since Travis had punched him in the jaw.

Alex knew that he should have hit Travis back, but Alex realized that he was being a dick and kind of deserved it.

His jaw, which he had checked out in the infirmary tent about ten minutes after he had stormed out off the stage, was luckily only bruised. The nurse had said that he would be able to perform and sing the next day, which was a relief to him as he had not wanted to let the fans down just because Travis’ emotions had gotten messed up.

Not that Travis wasn’t important. Travis held a secret that if let out, could ruin his life permanently.

Plus, it was obvious that Harley still cared a lot for Travis.

Alex watched how Harley moped around the bus, sulking quietly to herself. She was no longer outgoing, nor willing to talk to anyone. She spent most of her free time in her bunk, leaving her curtain closed as a reminder not to be bothered.

Alex was definitely annoyed by his feelings, ones which he didn’t even know he had, for the brunette girl. He hadn’t expected to feel bothered by the fact that some of her heart remained with Travis, nor feel concerned for her happiness and well-being.

Alex Gaskarth wasn’t one to show those kind of emotions, especially for Harley. He had Lisa, after all.

Alex’s stroked his jaw lightly. His jaw was covered in a large purple bruise, one about the size of a softball, which continued to turn a multitude of colors as the days passed.

“Thanks, man.” He said finally, taking in Rian’s enraged expression, and remembering why he had approached the duo in the first place. “What’s going on?”

“This bastard fucking slept with my sister!” Rian yelled, pointing his thumb accusingly at Jack, who looked taken aback.

Alex felt his facial expression change from one to confusion to anger to disbelief. His heart leapt into his throat as he continued to stare at Rian’s finger, which remained pointing at Jack.

How could he...? This wasn’t right.

How could Jack do this to him? No, Jack didn’t know about Alex and Harley. How could Harley do this to him?

Alex thought back to Harley, who remained enclosed in her bunk, hidden from the world. It all came into place at the back of his mind, and he felt the sound of his heart beating in his ears as he attempted to swallow.

Harley had been heartbroken, and Alex had continued to spend more time with Lisa, to cover up any suspicions that Lisa may have had. Harley would have been craving affection and be sulking. Jack, being the cheerful guy he was, would probably have seen Harley in her state of sadness, and cheered her up.

One thing would have led to another and...

“I didn’t fucking sleep with her!” Jack disagreed, shaking his head wildly. “And I can’t believe that you don’t believe me! I’m your fucking band member! Your best fucking friend! It’s just a stupid rumour that someone spread to get some shit started.”

“That’s not what I heard.”

“Well, it’s true. I didn’t sleep with her. You know she wouldn’t sleep with any of us. She’s better than that. We’re all better than that!” Alex looked down at the floor guiltily, but attempted to appear unfazed. “You believe me, don’t you, Alex?”

Alex’s mahogany eyes snapped up to meet Jack’s, who was sending him a pleading look. Alex thought back to Harley, and tried to picture her next to gawky Jack.

Knowing Jack for as long as he did, he wouldn’t take advantage of her. He would have probably just cheered her up, nothing more. Slowly, Alex nodded, earning a cheer from Jack.

“See, Rian!” Jack shrieked, taking Rian by the shoulders and shaking him gently. “You’re just getting caught up being overprotective. I assure you none of us have slept with Harley, right Alex?”

“Mhmm,” Alex looked down, shifting his weight from one foot to another.

“Exactly,” Jack stated finally, releasing Rian, who stumbled backwards. “Where did you hear that rumour, anyway?”

“Lisa told me. She also said that she saw Harley making out with Kyle Burns at a party, and apparently he was talking about how he slept with her after.” Rian said, glancing at Alex uncertainly as his eyebrows shot up in surprise.

Was Lisa trying to sabotage his relationship with Harley? No, Alex doubted it. Lisa loved him. She was nice and kind, and would never do something like that.

“Rian, you have to have more faith in us.” Jack said, his opaque eyes projecting a series of serious emotions. “All of us. Not just the band. You need to have faith in Harley too. She’s your sister, but she’s not a little girl anymore. She can do what she wants; she is almost a legal adult. You can’t control her life with an iron fist; otherwise, she’ll never get the real experiences that every normal adult gets. What would you be like, if you had an older brother controlling your life like that, right now? Pretty fucked up, that’s what.” Jack paused, letting his words sink in. “Harley can make her own decisions, and I’m sure they’re good ones. I promise you, you have nothing to worry about.”

Alex’s jaw dropped slightly, surprised the deep words that came out of his best friend’s mouth. A mouth which was infamous for telling dick jokes, for making farting noises and cursing every other word.

Alex didn’t know Jack had it in him to say something inspirational like that.

“I have nothing to worry about,” Rian nodded, repeating it to himself. “Yeah, you’re right. I have nothing to worry about. Nothing to worry about at all.”

____________________________

Harley groaned, flinging the thin sheets off her body. They scratched her skin uncomfortably as she wriggled her legs out of the restricting layers of blanket.

She raised her head off her pillow, hearing the sound of silence in the bunk, and threw back her curtain, before getting out of her bunk. The bus was deserted, something that was of common occurrence in the past week.

After her breakup with Travis, she had stayed to herself, drowning in her own thoughts.

At first, the boys had attempted to get her to do things, questioning why Travis had punched Alex, and attempting to worm their way into her love life. She had shrugged them off, giving them the cold shoulder while responding to their constant questions with one or two word answers.

They had recognized her lack of contentment, and left her to wallow in her thoughts by herself. For this, she was grateful, yet at the same time, wary.

Knowing the band, they would ignore her for a few days, before someone would attempt to make contact with her again. Even Alex had stopped demanding sex after the third day.

The only person who refused to leave her alone was Jack, who tried constantly to cheer her up. Usually, his attempts failed, but on occasion Harley found her lips twitching upwards in delight when he spoke.

The reason Harley had ventured out of her bunk that afternoon, besides oversleeping and the amount of sheer boredom that collected in that confined space, was that she decided she had enough of wallowing.

This was a perfectly good opportunity to do something. It was Warped Tour, after all. Harley slowly completed her routine to get ready, which consisted mostly of her showering, getting dressed in her trademark tank top and shorts, slipping on flip-flops and grabbing her cell-phone.

Soon enough, she was out the door and into the open daylight. It felt odd, walking around after so many hours of sitting down.

The boys were nowhere to be seen, something that Harley was used to by now. The set had ended hours before, something that Harley was only aware of because Flyzik had been rattling on about set times the entire week.

Vinny had taken care of the merch stand that morning, claiming that Harley worked hard and deserved a break.

Harley was grateful that Vinny could read the exhaustion lines in her face, the way her eyes blinked tiredly as he explained things, the manner in which she sluggishly moved her body. She was grateful that he was understanding, and probably realized what she was dealing with through the break up.

But he didn’t understand everything. Nobody did, except Alex.

It wasn’t just that she had lost Travis that made her upset, it was the fact that Alex was still happily basking in the limelight with Lisa at his side, without her, while she remained boyfriendless, lonely and only there for sex.

Harley had tried to voice her opinion, but Alex only kissed her on the lips, claiming that they would talk about it later.

Harley walked around aimlessly, the pavement hot under the thin rubber soles of her flip-flops.

She somehow ended up at the row of merch tents, where she spotted Vinny lazily lounging under the bright yellow All Time Low tent.

Instead of greeting him, Harley snaked through the crowd, camouflaged by the multiple bodies pushing forward, and ended up near a row of merch tents advertising the bands Sing it Loud and Forever the Sickest Kids.

She first when to the Sing It Loud tent, where she bought a t-shirt with the band logo on it. Then, she ventured on, finding the Forever the Sickest Kids tent full of preteen girls.

Confused, but slightly amused at their excited faces, Harley pushed her way inside, the sweat of the bodies packed in the tent radiating onto her skin. She tied her hair up quickly, almost elbowing a smaller fan in the eye, before continuing into the tent.

The merch stand was practically empty, and instead the attention was instead turned on the six young men signing autographs and smiling at the little girls. Harley rolled her eyes at their excessive screaming and excited flailing, and waited patiently as the line diminished.

Slowly, Kyle, the only member who she was familiar with, spotted her, his face lighting up as he gestured for to come towards him.

Soon, she was less than two feet away from him, as he dragged her and introduced her to his band members. There was Jonathan, Caleb, Austin, Kent, Marc and himself.

Harley’s mind flashed back to the time when she was meeting the rest of We The Kings, and her heart ached slightly thinking back to Travis. That was the difference between him and Kyle, while Travis was a relationship, Kyle remained a friendship, if that.

“Wanna take a walk?” Kyle questioned, leaning down so she could hear him better. She glanced at the fans, two bottle-blonde girls who continuously talked with Marc and Jonathan, and nodded.

Kyle smiled, before leading the way out onto the pathway. Many bystanders watched them, as though wondering whether they should approach, but most decided against it. Neither Kyle nor Harley said anything, letting the buzz of the crowd around them fill the air.

Harley turned to stare at Kyle, who was walking casually next to her. He was tall, way taller than her, Travis or even Alex. His platinum blonde hair was sticking up from under a jet black baseball cap, which was hidden under the hood of a blood-red hoodie.

The sleeves of his hoodie were rolled up, revealing chiselled forearms, and he matched the hoodie with cargo pants. His arms swayed back and forth, and after a moment, he turned to look down at her. She smiled, a smile which he was soon to return.

“So, how are you doing?” Kyle spoke finally, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

Harley sighed, looking up at him. He watched her questioningly, flashing her a small smile.

“Honestly?” He nodded, “I feel like shit. My life is so fucked up right now, I’m starting to think it’s one big nightmare.”

“How so?” Kyle questioned, sending her a curious look.

Harley contemplated telling him for a minute.

If she told him, he would probably look down on her, think that she was a horrible person, and if by some miraculous chance that he didn’t believe that, he would know her secret, and probably tell his band mates, which, in turn would cause the whole Warped Tour to know, and then Alex and her lives would be ruined.

Not to mention the fact that he was almost a complete stranger.

However, if she didn’t tell him, she would be dying on the inside, and she would continue to feel crappy with her feelings bottled up. Also, he wouldn’t judge her as much as Rian or the rest of the band was if she told them, because he wasn’t as overprotective as they were.

Maybe, she was over thinking this whole situation. Deciding that her life could not possibly get any worse, she began to speak.

“It all began when I walked into the tour bus and saw these two guys wrestling for a remote...”

_____________________________

“Dude,” Jack yawned, his voice laced with sleep deprivation. “Are we allowed to leave this place yet?” He sat up from his space on the sofa, swinging his leg’s off of Alex’s lap.

“No, we have to do head-count. And then we need to go pick up some dinner on the way to Uniondale.” Flyzik said, changing the channel on the flat screen television, acting as the authority figure. Rian rolled his eyes.

“Wake up my sister, will you?” Rian said, throwing a sock from the floor at Jack, who swatted it away. “Tell her to get her ass out of her bunk so we can do a head count.”

Jack groaned, mumbling something about always being chosen, but got up and clambered over to the bunk area, narrowly avoiding stepping on a McDonald’s cup. Someone really needed to clean this shit.

The bunk curtain across from his, which happened to be Harley’s, was closed, and Jack knew he had to be sensitive about what he said. Harley had been moody lately, and refused to come out to talk to anyone.

“Harley?” Jack asked, speaking through the curtain to the brunette girl. “It’s time to come out.” He felt as though he was talking to a toddler. After receiving no response, he continued. “Flyzik wants to have a head count. We think that he’s on his man period.”

He expected to receive at least a quiet chuckle, but received no response once again. Pulling back the curtain, he felt his heart drop upon realizing that the bunk was empty. Stumbling over a pair of boxers strewn across the floor, Jack returned to the front lounge with a frown on his face.

“What’s wrong, Emo Jesus?” Alex laughed, referring to the name that was used when Jack grew out his beard.

“Harley’s not in her bunk.” Jack stated matter-of-factly.

“What do you mean she’s not in her bunk?”

“Exactly that, retard.” Jack snickered, plopping on the couch. “She must have gone out.”

Rian got up, no doubt going to see for himself. His cursing was heard in the distance, meaning he had stepped on something, before he appeared back in the front lounge.

“The fucker’s right.” He grunted, scratching his head. “She left.”

“Fuck,” Alex groaned, sinking deeper into the sofa. “I want to get out of here.”

“We just have to go find her,” Rian said, advancing towards the door. “Then we can leave.”

“I’ll come!” Jack piped up, followed by Zack. Kara agreed, which left Lisa and Alex the only ones on the bus. Alex reluctantly agreed, noting that he did not want to spend time with Lisa at the moment, and followed after them. Lisa saw that she was left alone, and soon followed after the group.

They wandered around Warped Tour noticing that most of the fans had left at this late hour, and headed towards the merch tent. After seeing Vinny packing up, and claiming that he had not seen Harley since early morning, they walked towards the main stage.

It was empty, and a few techies were packing up. Walking around the merch tent area, their search remained unsuccessful.

It was only when Kara suggested searching the back areas of the merch tents that they saw a brunette girl in the distance, talking to another, much taller, figure.

The two were sitting on a freshly mowed lawn area, their knees and shoulders touching as Harley gestured widely around them. The other figure, let out a deep, manly laugh.

Rian picked up his pace, feeling slightly irate as the rumours from earlier circulated through his ears. As they got nearer, they recognized the figure by his platinum blonde hair, and Rian felt his mouth become dry.

Lisa saw Harley making out with Kyle Burns at a party, and apparently he was talking about how he slept with her after.

Rian chose not to believe it, remembering Jack’s words of wisdom earlier.

“Harley!” Flyzik called from behind Rian, causing Harley’s head to jerk up in surprise.

She eyed the large group warily, and exchanged a look with Kyle. He smirked at her and she bumped him with her shoulder lightly. He barely swayed, his large body planted to the ground, and they laughed in unison.

Flyzik tapped his watch rapidly, and Harley got the message, nodding her head. Kyle got up first, brushing the grass that clung to his pants off, before holding a hand out to Harley.

She grabbed it, standing up. She muttered a thank you, before the two looked at each other a final time.

“Thanks,” She smiled, looking down at the grass, glad to get everything off of her chest. “For everything.”

Astonishingly, Kyle had not judged her, and instead listened to her carefully as she broke down, explaining her journey through Warped Tour. He had laughed at all the right places, cursed at all the bad ones, and comforted her when she needed it the most.

It was safe to say that Kyle had become more than just an acquaintance to her, and was now a good friend, there for her when she needed it. He smiled down at her, his nose ring gleaming in the evening sun.

“No problem,” his brown eyes twinkled as he scooped her up in a hug.

Harley felt a flurry of emotions take over her then, realizing that she would have to return to the bus, return to her crappy life. She couldn’t just keep talking to Kyle. He was an escape to her problems, not a solution.

She felt tears prick the corners of her eyes as she buried her face in Kyle’s warm chest, wishing that they could just disappear together. His arms wrapped around her as he held her close, wishing that he could take her pain away.

“I’ll talk to you again soon, okay?” She murmured, her voice muffled by his hoodie.

“I’ll be waiting,” he whispered in her ear, smiling as she pulled herself together, sniffling and wiping the tears away.

She couldn’t let the guys see her cry. She couldn’t let Lisa see her cry. She was better than that.

The group watched her as she hugged Kyle one last time, as he whispered something in her ear. She smiled at him, and they shared a secret conversation with their eyes, before she began walking towards the group.

“I told you she was sleeping with him.” Lisa whispered triumphantly, quiet enough so that Harley couldn’t hear her.

Rian was worried. Alex was beyond pissed.

Rian and Alex frowned simultaneously, knowing that they couldn’t control what Harley did. They could however, isolate her from the band.

“I can’t believe her,” Rian hissed, watching as she approached. Jack’s words didn’t mean anything to him anymore.

“She slept with Kyle Burns,” Lisa whispered, and Rian believed it even more the second time around. “You can see it all over her face.”

“Hi guys,” Harley smiled, something that hadn’t occurred in a few days, before walking with them towards the bus. “Sorry, I forgot about head count. I was with Kyle.”

Lisa scoffed under her breath, though the action went unnoticed by Harley.

“Guys?” Harley asked, eyeing the now-silent group who exchanged glances. “What’s going on?”

Nobody said anything to her for the rest of the walk to the bus. In fact, nobody said a word to her for the rest of the day.