Bastards of Young

The band at the front of the crowded basement pounded away at their instruments as if they were trying to beat them into listenable submission while the veins in the lead singer's neck seemed to be threatening to pop out. I had shoved my way to the back, unable to handle the ferocity of the pit and I now found myself boredly sipping at a Pabst. Ashley had organized the whole shindig to collect cans for the local food bank, so I felt I should probably hang around a bit longer if just to show solidarity to the zine.

“Alright,” breathed the bald singer in between songs, “Thank you, thank you – this next one is called Scabby Toe Fucks.” The crowd cheered as the drummer counted off at lightening speed and suddenly it was if the last seven songs were being played again only at twice the volume. I was ready to bang my head into the wall when I felt some one jabbed my shoulder sharply. For the thousandth that day my heart rocketed into my throat as I looked up at Billie's weakly grinning face as he leaned on the wall. He had only gotten back the night before and I hadn't gotten adjusted to his being here yet. His mouth started to move, but “Scabby Toe Fucks” made it impossible to make out what he was saying, so I leaned in closer.

“Having a good time?” I could tell by his face he already knew what my answer was going to be.

“Oh, a blast,” I shouted back sarcastically. Billie just grinned wider. Suddenly, Jeff and Mike untangled themselves from the crowd and were standing in all their sweaty glory with looks of glee on their faces.

“That pit is intense,” screeched Jeff.

“I got punched in the mouth,” now that he had mentioned it I noticed Mike's lip was bleeding steadily.

“You two are true heroes,” was all I got in before the next song blasted into life and the two boys disappeared back into the swirling pool of fists and bodily fluids. Despite the dark of the basement I could see the boyish excitement on Billie's face as he looked my way. I think he was having trouble believing he was home too. Dropping my now empty Pabst can I wrapped my arms around his waist and rested my head on his chest. He hugged me close as he sighed deeply. “I wish they played music we could dance to,” I shouted as loud as I could.

“What?!” Lifting my head I repeated my shouting into his ear. “What are you talking about this is perfect music to break it down to,” Billie sat up off the wall, pushing me out at arm's length before breaking into a completely moronic dance I hoped was just an attempt to make me laugh.

“Oh, God...,” I covered my face laughing.

“C'mon,” Billie grabbed my hands and moved my arms awkwardly. “Dance with me, beautiful.”

“Did you pick up these moves in Europe?” Billie ignored or just didn't hear my question because all he did was start to circle me doing weird hand gestures with a look in his eye daring me to attempt to out weird him right then. Never one to shy from a challenge I started flailing about as well, never taking my eyes off his as we gave each other those looks you get right before cracking up.

After a while of this, he grabbed me around the wait and pulled me against him once again. “I love you,” he yelled by my ear before pulling back enough to kiss me. It felt like the first time all over again and we just stayed with our lips together for a long time. When we finally pulled back we stayed with our foreheads together, smiling.