Such a Surreal Place

*The next day*

I received a text from Max (Escape The Fate) saying that I should tune in to a certain talk show at 7pm that night because him and Craig were on it talking about my wedding. I instantly knew that was bad news. Especially when Max mentioned that they had made a video dedication to me. So of course I sat down with the band and Mel and watched it. It was all typical, Max being a cute little punk and Craig being a cocky rocker, promoting their band and then promoting me a bit (because I have a history with ETF). Then they said they had a video for us to watch. Craig had made the first half and Max had made the second half. I gripped Syn’s hand as the host agreed to screen it.

“This should be interesting...” Syn commented, staring at Craig on the TV. I knew he still despised him, and I don’t blame him either. The first half (Craig’s) was cut scenes from the ETF music video for ‘Situations’. The scenes were cut because it wasn’t exactly G Rated... And to make things worse, it was me and Ronnie. What the fuck? ‘Situations’ played in the background as I had a few hot scenes with Ronnie. It was so embarrassing. I was getting married to Brian and Craig has the nerve to publicise one of my past relationships?

“Oh my God...” I muttered as there was a shot of me giving Ronnie a hot kiss, both of us enjoying it and each other. It was so obvious that we were really into each other. And Brian really didn’t need to see that... His hand was almost killing mine with the amount of pressure he was applying to it. I could feel my face burning red with anger and embarrassment. Luckily, Craig’s segment (and last chance at trying to have me) ended quickly and then Max’s part started. This was actually celebrating our engagement/wedding. Max was being a great friend: he’d gathered footage of me and Brian together, being in love and romantic. Lots of pictures (that anyone could find on the internet) were also thrown into the mix, and the song ‘Hearts Burst Into Fire’ by Bullet For My Valentine played in the background, making it even better.

“That’s better...” Mel commented and I smiled. It was. Max deserved a big reward for this. It was such a sweet present to me. The pressure on my hand had been released and Brian’s long fingers fiddled with mine gently as a picture of us kissing came up. It paused on that and the song finished as ‘Congrats!’ came on the screen, written underneath us. Then the TV went back to Craig and Max. The host asked Craig why he highlighted a past relationship of mine instead of my current one. I didn’t even bother listening to his answer, and I have a damn good reason why I wasn’t. Syn had decided it would be a good time to kiss me. And of course I didn’t have a problem with that.

“You’re not angry after that?” Zacky questioned, muting the TV and noticing we were making out.

“No,” Syn answered as he broke away. “Why would I be? He’s her ex.” He shrugged and then went back in for another kiss.

“And in jail,” I noted before he kissed me again. “Besides, you know I’m in love with Brian, not Ronnie, so why does it matter that Craig’s trying to piss me off?” I was amazed by not only Brian being calm, but me being calm. I was super angry before, but now I was peaceful and in love again, just from a few kisses. It was so weird...

“Oh no. What if your Mom watched that?” Brian asked, starting to freak out a bit. He had a point. It appeared that Ronnie was number one to her instead of Brian.

“What if she didn’t?” I said, trying to calm him down a bit. He needed to relax. My mother would eventually accept him. I could see him freaking out though. Behind those brilliant brown eyes, his mind was racing, wondering why my mother didn’t like him. I gave him a kiss on his cheek while squeezing his hand. “Don’t worry about her, okay?”

“Ash? Can I talk to you for a sec?” Matt suddenly asked.

“Sure.” I followed him to the opposite end of the bus (so we were in privacy) and sat down. For some strange reason, I felt awkward... “What’s up?”

“Um, me and some of the other band members are feeling... um, uncomfortable about you and Brian...” he started and I was instantly confused. What was he talking about?

“What do you mean?” I asked slowly and cautiously.

“Just how you guys are always being so ‘in love’ and it annoys other people because their girlfriends aren’t here so they get lonely and depressed about it,” he continued and I nodded. I could see where he was coming from. “Like, I’m not saying leave, we don’t want you as our band manager anymore, ‘cause we definitely do. I’m just suggesting you stop making us feel left out, I guess. Being on tour is hard enough, being so far away from the people you love. But you and Brian are just kinda... rubbing it in and making it worse.”

“So it’s not okay when me and Brian are in love, but it’s okay when Mel and Zacky are?” I questioned.

“I’m talking to them after you,” he answered and I nodded again.

“Okay. I’ll talk to Brian,” I said, remaining professional about it. It was, after all, my job as their band manager to handle these sorts of things. Sure, I might miss out on a few kisses every so now and then, but I have to keep the rest of the band happy too, not just one member.

“And don’t break up with him or anything silly like that okay? I’m definitely not saying that,” he said and we shared a quick laugh. “Congratulations again on your engagement.” I gave him a big grin as I remembered my wedding dress, my wedding ring, and the love of my life. Matt left and soon enough Brian walked in. Matt must’ve told him I wanted to speak to him. I repeated what Matt had said, but instead of taking the criticism positively like I had, he got sad and annoyed about it.

“But I have to love you 24/7 babe, I can’t not hug or kiss you or whatever. I just can’t,” he whined while frowning.

“But you have to. Mel and Zacky are going to too. And if you can tone it down for a while, then you can majorly love me during our wedding and honeymoon,” I told him. He tried to keep his pout on his face to show his disappointment, but at the mention of our wedding, he couldn’t help but turn his frown upside down.

“I’ll be lovin’ you heaps then anyway,” he said with a mischievous grin.

“Oi! Toning it down, remember?” I reminded him and he sighed.

“I’ll try...” he moaned, obviously not happy with the decision we’d reached.

“Good. Thank you,” I said, leaning over to give him a kiss on the top of his head. He quickly moved up so I got his lips. I glared at him. He was horrible at this whole controlling ourselves thing.

“What? Have to enjoy it while I’m allowed to...” he said, poking his tongue out the side of his mouth for a split second.