We Knew That Time Would Kill Us

“Make sure the door is always locked, and don't open it for anyone except me and the guys and maybe room service as long as they don't look too sketchy, and—”

“Matt, dad, I got this. Okay? I'll be fine. Just calm down.” I said slowly, actually scared with how serious he was being about this.

For the past half an hour, all he'd been doing was going over the ground rules of me being by myself in the hotel suite. In my mind though, it was more like a house with a complete kitchen, living room and several bedrooms. I hadn't had much time to look at it though, because as soon as we got in Matt began lecturing me in advance, 'just in case' I decided to sneak out so I knew what I'd be in for when I got back.

“And don't leave Payton, you have no idea how much trouble you can get yourself into in a place like this, especially by yourself—”

“I'll. Be. Fine.” I said, stressing each word in hopes that he would actually believe it. I would be more than fine, actually. I was going to have fun for once. At least that was what I was hoping for.

Finally, he seemed to buy into and sighed, bringing me into a short hug before staring at me for another moment. “You've been doing so well over the past few months,” He mumbled, checking his pockets for his cell phone and wallet. “I just wish you'd talk to me a little more.”

In fear of where this conversation was going to go, I began pushing him, ushering him toward the door and ignoring whatever he said after that. “Just go have fun okay? The guys are gonna scatter soon if you don't get down there.”

They'd left about a half an hour ago, and I was willing to bet they had already lost quite a bit of money in the short time they were down there. Matt had stayed up to be paranoid over me for just a little longer. “One more thing,”

“No, no more things Matt. Just get out already!” I huffed, but smiled so he knew I wasn't that frustrated with him. It wasn't like I was a kid and needed to be constantly looked after. Hell, just a year earlier I'd spent an entire two weeks without parental supervision, so I was sure I could handle a few hours.

It was only when he was halfway through the door that he stopped and look back at me. I sighed in mock frustration. “Are you sure you want me to go?”

Simultaneously, I let out a groan. “No, dad. I want you to stay here so you can coddle me for the rest of my life. Jesus. Just get going!”

“I don't like that attitude, Patey,” He said, still standing in the doorway with his jaw set as he stared down at me. “I just want the best for you.”

That was not part of the plan. If he got parental on me then he'd stay back for another while, and I was rushing him to get him out, not for him to stay. I held up my hands defensively and smiled. “Calm down, Matt. I just want you to have some fun for once.”

For another moment or so, he regarded me as if he knew that something was up. “Okay,” He sighed, finally. “I won't be too late. And get some homework done alright?”

I nodded and waved, and as soon as the door shut with him on the other side of it, my shoulders drooped in relief. Normally, I would have been mortified to spend time alone, time where all I had to do was think, but I had other plans tonight and they didn't have anything to do with my growing pile of schoolwork. To keep me busy.

When I could no longer hear his heavy footsteps retreating down the hallway, I took off to the room I'd taken up residence in, whipping my phone out as I dived onto the bed. It was odd; I'd been waiting all night for this but when I successfully located Noah's number in my contacts, it was as if I'd been frozen.

No. I couldn't back out then. Whether I liked it or not, I was going to need friends on this tour and Noah seemed like a good applicant. And what a better time to test this new found friendship in a place like Las Vegas? This was the perfect opportunity, as I knew that while the guys were my friends, they more than likely all thought themselves as some sort of parental figure to me, and there was always going to be some things I just couldn't tell them.

After another few moments of hesitation, I sent him a text.

Hey.

During the few minutes it took for him to respond, I began thinking about how stupid that had been for me to send such a stupid text, and I was even beginning to get seconds thoughts on whether he even wanted to be my friend or not. Noah was just so hyper, so out of his mind, he probably didn't even remember giving me his number. Or he gave it to me just to be friendly.

Bitch, where are u?! We're in Vegas. Let's fuck some shit up!

I laughed out loud at his response. That had been so much easier than I'd been anticipating. Noah was almost as crazy as Jimmy, and that proved it. Quickly, I texted back and told him the hotel and room number I was staying at. Since they were on the same tour and more than likely following our bus, I kind of figured that he'd be in the same area.

K. Be there a-fucking-sap!

Luckily I did not have to spend too much time alone, as no more than ten minutes later, a loud banging sounded on the door. I was almost too scared to answer it. It was so similar to Jimmy's, what if he'd come up to get something he'd forgotten and then he caught Noah, the kid from that band he and the guys had been talking so lowly of knocking on our door?

“Payton!” A high-pitched voice sang through the door, immediately shrinking my worries. “Wretched Remorse is here to make your night a little brighter!”

My breath caught. The entire band was there? Including Evan, the super good-looking dude who always managed to make me nervous as hell? I should have known they would be coming What had I been expecting, that they would just stay back in their van as Noah went on an escapade with a rock star's daughter? I felt like slapping myself for being so slow.

Upon opening the door, Noah took me into his arms and swung me around. “Girlfriend, I'm so happy you texted me!” He squealed, fluttered his eyelashes when he put me down.

Aside us, the rest of the guys filed in, the last being Evan. And he looked like he didn't want to be there even more than Oliver. They all sat in the living room on the sofas, and I found that their intimidating presence almost overwhelmed me. I really should have thought all of this through a little more.

I forced myself to think that they were like the guys, that as intimidating as they all looked, they would go all they way around the world and back for you. I smiled timidly at them, but with Noah at my side; sweet, happy, uncaring Noah, it was a little easier to be around everyone. “So, what're we gonna do?”

Brett suddenly stood, grinning. “I wanted to do this since I met you,” He said, just before picking me up by my shoulders, shaking me a little as if to see if I had any change in my pocket. With a gasp, I stared up at him wide-eyed. “I never noticed how tiny you were,” He laughed, ignoring my stricken expression as he unceremoniously dropped me onto the sofa. Next to Evan.

“Nice digs,” Evan commented, almost begrudgingly as he messed with his blonde, bed head hair.

Just as suddenly as Brett had picked me up, Noah plopped down next to me, interrupting me from my awkward attempt of saying 'thanks' to Evan. “I'm bored! We're in Vegas, and we're just gonna stay in a hotel room?” He asked incredulously, looking around for an agreeable expression on one of the guys.

I was surprised by how at ease these guys seemed to be (well, expect for Evan), as if they'd known me for years, and I found myself wishing I could do the same. I merely shrugged in Noah's direction, being perfectly okay with staying in the hotel room. After all, Matt had specifically told me not to leave. “We're underage,” I shrugged again. “There's not much else we can do, I guess.”

Abruptly, Evan looked a whole lot happier, a sinister smirk gracing his features as his hazel eyes sparkled with mischief. “You know Noah, I read somewhere online that if you get married, all you gotta do is flash your marriage license and you can gamble.”

Within seconds Noah was heading for the door, dragging me along with him. “Wait,” I began hurriedly, clutching the frame of the door Noah had just opened. “I'm not—I'm not supposed to leave the suite, guys. I don't think this is—”

“What, I never would have guessed you were the type of chick that always does what her father says,” Evan remarked, standing with the rest of the guys behind us.

“I'm not.” I stated, glaring back at him with every ounce of courage I could muster. What was his problem and why was he doing this to me? None of this seemed like a good idea anymore.

Although it was obvious then that there was no way I could possibly get out of this without looking like a pansy or worse, a daddy's girl. Trust me, that title did not roll of my tongue well at all.

Several hours later, we were down in the casino. Noah was off asking random old ladies at the slot machines to marry him, and the rest of the guys were off simply observing all the gambling that was going down. I was constantly on the look-out for Matt, and I subsequently noticed all of the security who just happened to be closely monitoring the little group I happened to be with.

By then I'd grown tired of roaming the huge gaming grounds and had settled for just leaning against the wall and watching things from a distance. “Will you marry me?” Noah asked a middle aged lady sincerely, his chocolate brown orbs seemingly glistening with unshed tears of happiness. The lady looked utterly appalled by his proposal and shot up from her seat. Her short fire-engine red bob flicking every which way.

This was going down only about a few meters away from me, so I had a perfect view of everything that was happening. As soon as she got her footing, she bitch slapped Noah across the face and power walked away. I would have laughed, had the security not been heading straight for him.

“Where are your parents?” The balding, middle-aged man demanded when he was a few feet away from Noah. All Noah had to do was take one look at him before he bolted, heading straight toward me.

“Payton, run!” He screamed at the top of his lungs, lunging for my hand before hauling me off through the casino.

“What the fuck, Noah?” I asked, struggling to keep up with him. As short as he was, he was a fast runner. “Why'd you have to drag me into this?”

“Because. I need a wingma—er, wingwoman. And you're perfect girlfriend!” He sang, seemingly unfazed by the two security guards who were hot on our trail. I couldn't even force myself to think about what would happen if they caught us.

Normally I would have retaliated, saying that this was hardly something he should have help with, but what he called me was something Tyler had countless times, and vice-versa. It felt nice to be thought of as that again, so I went along with it for as long as I could.

Not even two minutes later though, Noah split, separating from me with only telling me to hide behind a just recently vacated poker table. By the looks of it, it was the only unused one in the entire casino. To say it was busy would be an understatement, and successfully weaving through the crowd was not an easy task.

I squished myself behind the table as much as I could, my breathing erratic. The security guards were still looking for us, and it didn't look like I would be able to leave any time soon. I was thankful Noah had chosen a decent hiding place for me. Just when I thought the coast was clear and I was going to make a run for it, I was harshly pulled back down, a hand clamped over a mouth and another wound tightly around my waist.

“Your dad is directly behind us,” Evan said slowly, his voice barely above a whisper as he carefully let go of me. “Don't move.”

Once again, my breath caught and a lump formed in my throat as I tensed even more beside him because his hand still tightly held onto mine. I know I should have been thinking about how much trouble I would have been in if Matt caught me, but all I could seem to focus on was the way Evan's hand felt clasped onto mine and how his lips felt brushing against my ear as he spoke.

A good thirty seconds later, Matt finally walked passed the table we were hiding behind, walking leisurely past us with Jimmy at his side. “Just one more round of craps, Matt! Please!” Jimmy begged, getting down onto his knees as he stared up at Matt pleadingly. Several passerby's glared at them for the traffic jam they were causing.

Matt laughed, a little tipsy as he stared down at his best friend. I was just glad they couldn't see us from where we were hiding. “I just gotta check on Payton Jim, then I'll be back down. I promise!”

Involuntarily, I let out a loud gasp. How in sweet fuck was I supposed to avoid security and the guys, and get all the way up to the suite before Matt did? I was screwed.

“Holy—holy shit,” I said once they were out of sight, nearly hyperventilating as I stared up at Evan. “This is your fault! You talked me into this!”

Evan frowned, staring down at me as if he didn't hate my guts for no apparent reason for once. “Well, if I got you into this, I'm gonna get you out of it 'kay?” He hastily stood after he uttered that, his hand still around mine as he led me through the thickening crowd.

We found an elevator fairly quickly, but we knew Matt was either a few seconds ahead of us or a few seconds behind us. Neither of them were good, so we were tense on the long elevator ride up to my floor. It seemed stupid, just standing around waiting for something to happen. “Why are you doing this?” I asked suddenly, my voice cutting through the silence.

It was odd, for the majority of the night he had acted as if being around me was the last thing he wanted to do, yet there he was, helping me get out of trouble from my over-protective father. The kid was like a yo-yo. One minute he wanted to know if I was single, the next he seemed to hate me with every fibre in his being, and the next he was doing this.

Unsurprisingly, he didn't answer the entire way up, only giving me a shrug and a sigh when the elevator dinged before we once again took off.

He grabbed my hand again when I reached for the door, having already inserted my card I was anxious to just get into the room and act as if nothing had happened. Matt was no where to be seen in the hallway, but I still did not like taking chances. “Hang out with me, at the next show?” He asked, pulling me a little closer.

His distance away from me, nearly nonexistent, was unbearable. For the life of me I could not form a coherent answer; his closeness was affecting me way too much. All I could do was mutter an “I don't know”.

Almost instantly, his eyes seemed to harden over to the look he had been wearing for most of the night as he let go of my hand. “Yeah, well in that case I don't know why I helped you, either.”

Just like that, he walked away and left me reeling. The only thing I could seem to wonder was what the hell just happened?