Love Is Hell

“Nice of you guys to join us.” Tim said as we walked into the dressing room. His arms were crossed and he didn’t look too happy.

“Sorry,” Garrett said sheepishly and he let go of my hand and walked over to grab his bass from his case, “We got lost.”

Tim looked up at me, waiting for me to confirm what Garrett said and I simply nodded, “Yeah.”

Truth was we just lost track of time. After the tattoo we were planning on going right back to the venue, but on the way there we got a bit sidetracked and ended up going into various stores along the way. We were having fun and goofing off and totally forgot that we were on a time limit.

Tim sighed, “Whatever. Garrett, the guys already went to sound check so you should probably get up there.”

Garrett nodded, “I’ll see you up there.” He said as he walked by me. He smiled at me before he exited the room with his bass.

I watched him go and then turned back to Tim who was now smiling at me.

“What?” I asked.

He just shook his head and smirked, “You two are sickeningly cute.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked, trying to play dumb, but I couldn’t help blushing. He must have noticed my face turning red because he started laughing. I turned around quickly, trying to cover my face.

“I’m going to watch the sound check…” I mumbled before I walked out of the dressing room. I could hear Tim’s laughter echo behind me as I walked up the stairs and towards the stage.

The guys were playing a song as John was messing around on the microphone. When he noticed me, he called out my name and waved. I chuckled and waved back.

I watched the sound check for another five minutes before I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. I took it out and saw Amy's name flash across the screen. I sighed, not wanting to answer the call. Not because I didn't want to speak to Amy, but because I was afraid of what the conversation might be about.

I walked away from the stage and back towards the dressing room. I quickly opened the door and made sure no one was inside before closing the door behind me and answering my phone.

"Hey." I said in a lowered voice.

"Hey, how are you?" she asked.

"I'm ok..." I highly doubted that she called just to see how I was.

I heard her sigh on the other end, "How long are you going to do this Lorraine?" she asked.

"Do what?" I asked, not exactly sure what she was talking about.

"Torture your parents. How long are you going to torture them?"

I rolled my eyes, "I'm sure I'm hardly torturing them. I'm giving them a break from their burden of a daughter."

"Is that how you see it?" she asked, "Because that's not how it looks."

"What are you talking about Amy?" I sighed, "Trust me when I say that they honestly don't care where I am. When my mom called me she didn't even sound the least bit worried. She was definitely pissed at me, but not worried."

"Lorraine," Amy said in a stern voice, "Your parents invited me to your house. Me. Your mom hates me and constantly tries to avoid me. She would never invite me to your house and ask me if I knew where you were if she didn't care."

Unfortunately, she had a point. My mother constantly went out of her way to avoid Amy. She would have killed me if she knew that I let Amy set foot in our house. She just never approved of my friendship with her. I always knew she thought less of me because I was friends with Amy.

So why now? Why did she decide to care about me now?

"You know I'm always on your side," Amy said after I didn't speak for a while. "But seriously Lorraine, have you even thought about what's going to happen when you come home? Or did you competely forget that you are going to have to come home sometime? They're not going to be on tour forever."

I knew she was right. She was competely right. I just didn't want to think about what was going to happen when tours over and I'm forced to go home. I just wanted to enjoy my freedom now, but I knew that eventually it was going to end.

"And," she continued, "I can't keep covering for you. Your mom definitely knows that I know where you are."

I groaned, "You're right. And I'm sorry for dragging you into the middle of this."

"Don't worry about it," she waved it off, "I'm just worried about you. Look, just make sure you have a plan for when you come back. And be prepared because there's still a lot of media surrounding all of this. I'm sure both you and the guys are going to be bombarded by all of this. At least they'll be prepared for it, right?"

I froze. The guys. I completely forgot about how this was going to affect them. Kennedy was the only one who knew that I ran away from home, but he didn't know that him and the guys were involved in a huge "missing" investigation. Would they get in trouble somehow?

"Lorraine? You did tell them everything right?" she asked.

"I..." I hesitated, afraid to tell her that I didn't in fact inform them about anything.

"Hey, there you are."

I jumped and turned around. I must have been to wrapped up in my conversation to hear the door open and Garrett walk in. He smiled at me and I gave him a quick smile before turning back around.

"I have to go Amy," I whispered into the phone.

"Lorraine!" she exclaimed, "You have to tell them! They deserve to know that they could possibly get in trouble for knowing where a "Missing" person was and not saying anything. Not to mention that they'll probably be pissed of to know that you've hid something this huge from them!"

"Yeah, ok, I've gotta go." I said. I turned around, making sure that Garrett wasn't listening in on the conversation, not that he could hear Amy though. He was sitting on the couch typing on his phone.

"Lorraine, tell them!" Amy said.

"Ok, I will, promise. Bye." I said quickly before hanging up.

I sighed loudly before walking over to Garrett and sitting next to him.

He looked up from his phone, "You alright?" he asked.

I forced a smile, "Yeah, I'm good."

He smiled in return and put his phone away. "So, are you going to watch the show tonight?" he asked.

"I've only ever missed one and that was because you guys didn't wake me up before, so yes, of course I'm going to watch." I smiled.

He laughed, "Ok, just making sure."

"Why?" I asked.

He smirked at shook his head, "That is for me to know and for you to find out."

I pouted and he just laughed at me.

I couldn't help but feel guilty as I watched his eyes sparkle with happiness. He didn't deserve to part of this mess that I made. It was because of me that him and the rest of the guys could potentially get in trouble. I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I should just tell him. Right now. But as I looked up at him and he smiled at me I just couldn't do it.

&&

The crowd screamed loudly as the guys finished playing I Must Be Dreaming.

"Thank you guys" John said into the mic as he smiled at the crowd.

The fans screamed out in return. I smiled as I stood side stage and watched them. It was obvious that when they were on stage there was no other place they'd rather be. They really did love performing for their fans every night.

"So, how are you guys feeling tonight?" Garrett's voice sounded loudly, breaking me out of my thoughts.

The fans all shouted out and screamed in excitement. Garrett and John both laughed.

"That's awesome," Garrett said, "You guys have been amazing so far. You're all very energetic, you must all be tired. So, we're going to slow it down for a bit."

John walked over to the side of the stage to grab his acoustic guitar. When he noticed me he smirked at me and wiggled his eyebrows. I gave him a questioning look, but he just smirked and walked back out on stage.

He grabbed a stool and set it up in front of the mic stand.

"So, we have a little dedication here," he said smiling, "Garrett?"

Garrett, who was taking off his bass, walked back over to his mic.

"So, I have this new friend. I met her not too long ago, but she's awesome." He said. He looked over at me and smiled.

I blushed and smiled in return.

"She's a really great girl and I just want her to know that I'm really happy that she came on tour with us."

The crowd screamed and I heard some people 'awwing'.

Garrett laughed at the crowd's reaction and turned to me, "I can't sing for shit, so John's going to have to do that, but just know that this one's for you." he smiled.

I'm sure my face was beet red as I smiled in return.

John began to strum the guitar and I recognized the tune instantly as Whoever She Is. The guys haven't been playing it on tour, but I remember sitting in the back of the bus with Garrett and going through all their songs. I remember hearing this song and telling Garrett that it was a cute song and my new favorite. I smiled at the memory and the fact that Garrett remembered.

The crowd went wild after John finished the song. Garrett smiled over at me and they continued their set. Not too long after they were playing their last song and running off stage.

Garrett jogged over to me and when he reached me I quickly grabbed him and hugged him. I felt his own arms wrap around my torso in return. He was probably getting sweat all over me, but I didn't care.

I pulled away and smiled at him, "Thank you."

He smiled in return and squeezed my hand, "So I have a follow up question to that dedication." he said.

"Ok, what?"

"Will you go out with me? Tomorrow?" he asked. He bit his lip nervously as he waited for my response.

I looked at him surprised, but smiled.

"Yes."

He grinned and hugged me again.

I willingly hugged him back. I was so happy that he felt the same way about me as I felt about him. I felt giddy as butterflies erupted in my stomach. I couldn't keep the smile off my face. However, I couldn't help but wonder if Garrett would still feel the same way about me if he knew that I was keeping this huge secret from him.

I tried to push the thought out of my head and be happy, but there was still a guilty feeling nagging me in the back of my mind. I needed to make sure to tell him soon before he found out for himself. Who knows what would happen, but I'm sure it would ruin everything.