We Can't Forget Last Summer

I really didn't know what I was thinking exactly. It was all sort of impulsive; the adrenaline in my veins pumped to a steady beat, pulsating within me.

I kicked off my heels aggressively and took off. I sprinted towards the house, my bare fee pounding on the cold concrete street. I shouted back to Rod, "Get those!" Although I really didn't care about my shoes anymore. I had plenty of other pairs. There was really only one thing that mattered now.

I continued running, not even tired which was extremely surprising. I wasn't quite the runner. Either way, I felt like I was flying.

I knew that van. It was the van. Their van.

And as I got closer, I could make out a skinny figure in the darkness. My cheek bones hurt from the wide smile across my face. I pushed harder, knowing I was almost there.

I jumped up onto the figure, wrapping my legs around him and hugging him tightly. "Holy fuck!" I screamed loudly as he hugged me back tightly.

Kennedy set me down with a grin. "Did we surprise you?"

I raised my eyebrows. "Of course you surprised me! I almost pissed my pants!"

He laughed, pulling me into yet another hug. From behind the van, three other familiar faces appeared. I nearly attacked all of them. I fell into Jared's arms first and he shook me back and forth. He ruffled my hair and smiled down at me. "Miss us?"

As I pulled away I chuckled softly. "Is that even a question?"

Next, I was hugging Pat desperately. I wished his scrawny, tiny body. He started to screech my name at one point, forming into his alter ego, but I shushed him, reminding him that there were people sleeping. "Whoops." He laughed.

Garrett wrapped an arm around my shoulders and I fell into his chest. "I missed you guys so much."

He gently and quickly pecked me with his lips on my forehead. "We missed you too."

I glanced at the van and sucked in a breath. "I thought you guys were on a bus for this tour?"

Jared shook his head, "That was the tour we finished up about two weeks ago. We're now just taking a small one around the west coast area."

I nodded my head, my eyes lighting up as Rod approached us, my heels in his hands. "Well, it's nice to finally see you guys in real life." He smirked.

The guys greeted him enthusiastically, remembering him from the times we video chatted. I continued glancing back at the van, noticing someone in particular absence. I tired to ignore it, but I couldn't. And I knew sooner or later the guys were to notice.

"Jesus Christ Carson, this house is fucking huge." Garrett commented, gazing up at it.

I shrugged, "It is, isn't it?" I laughed. "How did you find it anyway?"

"You'd be surprised what you can find on the internet." Kennedy raised his eyebrows.

I shook my head. "Jeez. I don't even wanna know. Did you guys have a show tonight or something? Are you staying at a hotel."

"Yep," Pat chimed in. "Well no, we didn't have a show. That's tomorrow night. But we're staying at a hotel tonight."

My eyes lit up. "So you'll be here all day tomorrow?"

Garrett nodded his head. "Pretty much. You guys should come to our show tomorrow!"

I made a face and glanced over at Rod. He let out a breath. "I would really love to you guys, but I got a work. Next time."

"It's alright." Pat waved him off, his eyes them meeting mine. "What about you Carson?"

I sucked in a deep breath and pushed out a smile. "I think I can. I have work, but what time is it?"

"We should probably be getting on stage around eight."

I swallowed hard, knowing it was a tight fit. "I'll be there. I might be running a bit late, but I'll be there."

Pat charged at me, wrapping me into another hug. I hugged him back tightly. I really missed this kid.

"Whoa, you have to work that late?" Garrett asked, making a face.

"Yeah," I nodded my head. "Well, not usually. But my Mom has this event planned and I have to go. I can leave after an hour or so."

"Okay. Sounds good. We'll see you tomorrow." Kennedy smiled and then told me what venue the guys would be playing at.

I hugged him along with the rest of the guys goodbye as they piled back into the van. Before Jared left though, he turned to me and offered me a sympathetic smile.

"He drove all day," Jared nodded his head, almost reassuring himself. Despite this, I already knew who he was talking about. "We got to the hotel room and he passed out with a beer in his hand." he chuckled softly.

"Oh," I breathed out and nodded my head sheepishly. I really didn't have anything to say. Either way, the fact John was close by gave me the chills.

"I'm not even sure he realizes it," Jared glanced down at the ground and then back up at me, shaking his head. "Who am I kidding? He knows."

"Oh well, I mean, I'll have to see him tomorrow, won't I?"

Jared nodded his head. "Of course."

An wiry silence strung between us and I sucked in a breath, looking up at Jared with sympathetic eyes. My voice lowered an octave and you could barely hear it in the wind. "How is he? Truthfully."

Jared paused and swallowed. He sucked in a breath and shrugged. "He was really bad at first. After he found out what happened at the party he just felt plain old bad about it. He was really upset. Then, he sort of entered the angry stage again. Then the love sick. Then the upset stage. And now he's just in a weird funk."

I swallowed hard, sucking in a deep breath. Words wanted to come out of my mouth, but they didn't.

"And you? How have you been? Truthfully." Jared pressed his lips together, preparing himself for my answer.

"I'm a mess. But I'm okay," I paused for a minute. "At least I think I'm okay."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I tapped my fingers against the white cloth covering the table in front of me anxiously. I needed to get out of here, but of course, had to construct some sort of plan. I glanced around the room eagerly, then looked at the time on my phone.

I had about twenty minutes to get out of here and drive to the venue. I wouldn't have any time to change whatsoever. I looked at my attire and groaned. I looked like you're typical business woman- a black shirt, along with black heels and a tight, long, white skirt. This was definitively not the type of thing you wear to a concert. Either way, I had no other options. Plus, the guys gave me a backstage pass so at least I wouldn't be stuck in the crowd.

I stood up abruptly and rushed over to my mother who stood across the room. Before I could get to her a familiar face popped in front of me.

I jumped lightly. "Fuck Marcus. You scared the shit out of me."

"You think that you can just leave me at some restaurant and go fuck my brother?"

I put my hands up in front of me and raised my eyebrows. "Whoa there. What?"

He shook his head. "You are a fucking skank. I know you too have been doing it. He's a loser. Don't you want someone who is successful?"

I rolled my eyes. "First off, I'm not fucking your brother. And second, my parents want me to marry someone successful. Me? I don't really give a shit."

"You're making a huge mistake." He fumed.

I groaned. "I have better things to be doing right now." I began to walk away, but Marcus's hand slid down my arm, gripping onto my wrist.

I nearly flipped a shit. My eyes averted to where his hand was holding. I pulled my arm out aggressively. "Don't grab my wrist." I seethed, my eyes narrowing in at him.

He simply rolled his eyes, grabbing my wrist again and started to pull me across the room.

"Are you deaf?" I stopped in my tracks, causing him to stop as well. "I said not to grab my wrist." With that, I pushed Marcus away from me, causing him to fall onto the ground.

The entire room looked our way, but I simply ignored everyone, marching out of the room cheerfully. I didn't care about my mother calling after me or those who rushed over to help Marcus.

There was only one thing I cared about right now and god, I hated to admit it even if it was in my head. I hated that I was going back on everything I said. But I was lying to myself back then. And I was lying to him.

And I'm really done with lying.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I rushed into the venue, my heels clicking on the floor obnoxiously. I noticed the crowd getting rowdy and the lights dimming. I had just made it.

I went towards backstage, showed them my pass and was able to enter. As I walked in, I noticed all the guys had entered the stage excluding one.

An enormous knot tied in my throat, making it not only hard for me to say anything, but simply hard to breathe in general. My stomach flipped inside out and I seriously felt like I was about to vomit my brains out. I stood wobbly on the floor, my knees about to buckle and my palms sweating excessively.

His back was towards me and I watched him as he took a swig of his beer. He set down the bottle and jumped several times, yelling loudly to warm out his voice. I licked my lips anxiously. I had to say something- the only problem was that I couldn't.

I stared at his lanky back and skinny, damn long legs. My emotions were running wild and I was pretty sure I was about to cry. See? He made me like this. With his stupid presence I got way to emotional about shit.

I did the only thing I could do right there. Well, I could have walked away. But instead I did something stupid. Well, at least in my mind I did something stupid.

I cleared my throat.