Through All These Cities...

We had a six hour drive from Edinburgh to London, and normally it would have been done during the night, straight after a show, but seeing as we had two spare days between gigs, our drivers decided to do it from ten in the morning until four in the afternoon, because the traffic would be quiet and they could maybe shorten the trip a little.
I was one of the few who weren’t happy about travelling while awake.
I didn’t mind long journeys, I actually preferred them to short ones, but sitting in a smelly bus just didn’t make it enjoyable.
There was tension thanks to Brooke and Nate having a massive row in the back lounge the night before, and everyone was just in a foul mood.
I’d taken to sitting in the small kitchen area, back pressed against one of the cupboard, earphones wedged in tightly, a mix from ‘Lady Gaga’ to ‘The Used’ swimming through my senses, my head thrown back to face the ceiling, trying to see how much time I could waste before I checked my phone for the time again.
My record was four minutes.

As I open my eyes as I sense someone presence in the room with me, and peek open one eye to see a smiling Tyler, motioning for me to remove the racket from my ears.

“What’re you doing now, you complete loner?” He smirks, sliding down next to me with a bump.

“Avoiding all the friction back there.” I gesture to the other half of the bus, “Brooke’s still on her phone by the sound of things.”

Tyler listens for a second, shaking his head and Brooke can clearly be heard, still ranting away to the poor person on the other end, who probably didn’t expect to get their ear chewed off today.

“Just be happy it’s not you that being moaned at, A.” He nudges me, "So what's happening with you and Alex?"

I shrug, "I'm just thinking everything over. Scared about starting anything up if it's not going to last."

"All you can do is risk things, Amy." He squeezes my shoulder, “Anyway, I’ll leave you to your thoughts, gonna play some Tekken with Alice.”

I’ve transferred myself from the kitchen to the upstairs lounge by the time we have our first stop, only two hours into the tedious and honestly, dull journey.
I have my face squished into a cushion, arms blocking out any other light, cutting off yet another sense, alongside my hearing.

“Amy!” I jump, falling of the side of slim leather sofa, as my earphone is pulled from my ear and Alex is bellowing in my ear, “Hi!”

“Ow, you dumb fuck! Thanks for trying to kill me.”

“Any time, love.” He smirks, “You going to stay here and hug the floor or come and get something to eat?”

“I don’t like service station food. It’s all greasy.”

“This service station is more like a shopping centre. You can’t deny that McDonalds sounds good right about now.”

“You’re trying to make me fat, I’m sure of it.” I groan, “Help me up then, seeing as you’re meant to be a gentleman.”

“Me? Alex Davies? A gentleman, I think not.” He chuckles, “But I will be polite and offer you a hand.”

“Actually,” I stand up, unaided, “I don’t want help off a pompous git.”

“Aaw, come on Amy.” He snorts, “I’ll buy you a happy meal?”

“Oh, you sure know how to win a girl’s heart.” I roll my eyes, slipping on my shoes and grabbing a cardigan from inside my bunk, Alex pushing past and jogging down the stairs, obviously knowing I’m going to follow, “Don’t wait for me then!”

“I won’t!”

“So, Amy... I know it’s kind of late now, and you’re probably shattered, but how about that date?” Alex’s hand rubs the back of his neck nervously as he approaches me.

“Where’re we going?” I hum, wiping the smudged make-up away from under my eyes, “Won’t be many restaurants still open…”

“This is gonna sound really shit, but how about we just go for a drink somewhere quiet? Get to know each other better.”

“Let me just go change my top and I’ll be with you. I’ll meet you near the buses.”

I quickly hurry back to my bus to refresh myself, changing my shirt and then my jeans before I tell Tyler where I’m going and to alert the police if he doesn’t hear from me by 3am.
Before I can leave, I’m tickled mercilessly until I’m on the floor.

“Get off of me, you utter lump of a man.” I growl at Ali, who’s sat on my stomach, holding me in place on my back on the cold floor of the bus, “Fucking hell you weigh a lot.”

“Just wait until I get Ed to join in, then lanky Dan. You’ll die, I promise.”

I scoff, “Lovely, Alistair! If you’re planning on staying there, would you please get me some Haribo from the cupboard on the left?”

“Nope. You can suffer.”

I give in with my struggles to get up, letting my head fall back onto the floor, only for a pair of feet to come into view. I follow my eyes up the rest of the body, until I meet the quirky look on Alex’s face.

“Hey. This is why I’m late.” I laugh, rolling my eyes as he questions me silently on what Ali is doing, “You know him more than I do, you explain it to me.”

“Ali was dropped on his head a lot? I don’t know do I? He’s always been a little bit special.” He mock whispers the last line, and in response Ali lowers his eyebrows until he’s glaring.

“Charmed, I’m sure. Though you’re not helping Amy at all by being a complete douche.”

“Haul your ass up so we can go out, yeah? Otherwise I you’ll just end up hurt.” Alex crosses his arms, nudging Ali with his foot, which does absolutely nothing.

“I don’t wanna go anywhere.” Ali laughs, poking his tongue out.

“I wasn’t meaning you, I meant Amy and myself. Just move, fatty.”

Ali scoffs, but stands anyway, “Where are you going then?”

Alex shrugs, “Around. Nothing planned.”

“Oh, sounds like heaps of fun! You have a good time doing ‘nothing’ Amy! I’ll be here, wrecking your bus!”

“Not if Tyler beats yo’ ass up.” I retort in some form of mock gangster talk, grabbing my jacket from where it is on the side board.

Alex and I ignore Ali calls about Tyler not being able to beat up a fly, which is proved wrong when we hear Ali shout about being major pain, and I can only guess that Tyler has some how proved how tough he actually is.