Contorting, Distorting, I Am Undone

"Oh my god! What the fuck is this?!"

My eyes cracked open and I saw Seth standing over us in shock.

Wait, us? Oh yeah... Derek and I were still on the floor.

"Stop being so loud," I muttered, getting up.

"Dude, what's going on?" Seth asked, looking back and forth between us. I straddled Derek.

"What do you think Einstein?"

"You two... You're- You're-"

"They're fucking! Ding ding ding!" Travis yelled. Derek stirred, covering his face.

"Shut up!" I whispered angrily.

"Sorry," He said with a wave. "Dude, you told me you two were over?"

"Yeah, we were, but... I think we're good now," I said, looking back at Derek who'd fallen back asleep with his hands still on his face, covering his eyes from the light.

Cutest-thing-ever.

"What the hell? Broke up? You two were together before?" Seth asked, leaning on a bunk. "I manage you guys! How did I not see this before?"

"Calm down, nobody knew," I hushed.

"Except me," Travis grinned.

"How come you told him but you didn't tell me?"

"I didn't he just saw us – you know what, how about you all stay out of it? You know now, that's all that matters, okay?" I said impatiently.

"Alright, fine," he muttered. "I better get a goddamn explanation later."

"Guys?" asked a sleepy voice.

"You're up," I smiled. He gave a faint smile which disappeared after he looked around. "What the hell are you doing? Get off–"

"We know Derek, no need," Seth muted. Derek raised his eyebrow at me. I smiled and shrugged. He sighed and rested his head on the floor again.

"Whatever." I smiled, typical Derek...

"So Seth, when are we getting out of here?" I asked.

"Well, one more show here at four, you guys will be right before Escape the Fate, and then we're out of here and onto North Dakota."

"Are they following us too?" Derek asked, his eyes closed.

"No, this is where we say goodbye." He frowned. "Who knows, we might tour with them again one day."

"Joy," Derek muttered. I pinched his side. "Oh, sorry..."

"Sonny's going to be devastated," Travis reminded, lying down on the bed. "He's going to want his bed back too..."

"No shit," I laughed. That reminded me... I need to end this with Ronnie. "Well, guys, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go see the guys before the show." I got off of Derek, whose eyes followed me. I gave him a look not to worry and he understood.

He knows why I'm going over.

I quickly got changed and hopped over to their bus. Everyone was still sleeping, Omar answered the door.

"Can you wake Ronnie up and tell him to get out here?" I whispered. He nodded sleepily. A few minutes later, shirtless Ronnie appeared.

"What's up?" he asked, giving me a kiss. I smiled, looking at my shoes.

"Ronnie we need to talk."

"What is it?" he asked, leaning against the bus door.

"I think we should–"

"Mattie!" A voice squealed. Sonny jumped out of the bus and onto me; luckily I'd just caught him.

"Hey Sonny," I said. He wrapped his arms around my midsection and squeezed as tight as he could. I lost my breath for a second before pulling him off me, twisting his arm around so he was prisoner.

"Okay, okay I'm sorry!" He quickly surrendered. I smiled and let him go before clearing my throat.

"I actually have some news to tell both of you," I said.

"What is it?" Sonny asked. I wanted to tell them that this was our final show together, but I just thought Sonny wouldn't want to find out from me. That would also lead to further questioning by Ronnie... Fuck Matt, think before you act. Now what am I supposed to say? Improvise...

"You two are awesome people," I grinned. They gave me questioning looks but were satisfied with the answer anyway.

"Aw Matt," Sonny patted my shoulder. "I know I am." He laughed, "Anyway, I'll see you later."

"Okay, shows at four, by the way!" I called after him.

"What was that about?" Ronnie asked. I opened my mouth to dismiss it but he beat me to the punch. "Come on, what did you really want to say?"

"Nothing that can't wait till after the show," I smiled. "Right now I just want to give the best fucking show we can, we're on next to each other."

"Awesome," he smiled, pecking my lips. "I'm going to go change; I'll meet you in a while." I nodded and watched him climb back on his bus. As soon as the door closed I wiped my mouth out of guilt. Now I'll have to wait after their show at six.

-----

"Guys, I'd like to dedicate this song to Max Green, the greatest fucking guy on this earth," Sonny said into the microphone. "Here's to you Maxie," he cheered. We started playing and the show went great, it was finishing up in no time. I looked to the side of the stage and behind the curtain, there was Ronnie, blowing me a kiss.

I smiled at him right before, I felt a thump on my head. It was a drumstick. I rolled my eyes and turned around, mouthing 'afterwards' to Derek, who was glaring at me. I turned back to see Ronnie had gone and I just continued to play.

Soon after, we said our final goodbye. This show must've topped all of the others so far, and I'm proud. I wanted to leave my mark on Texas. A lot's happened on our tour with those guys, and I don't want to forget it all.

We'd packed up our instruments while Escape the Fate were in the middle of their show. We were waiting for them to finish so we stuck around longer. In the mean time, we took pictures and autographed shit until their show was over. They came over to us eventually. I think everyone by now knew this was it for us together.

Sonny had his death grip on Max and they were whispering to each other. I gave Omar and Bryan a hug.

"Fun touring with you guys, I had an amazing time," I smiled. They said their byes to everyone else, while I walked over to Ronnie standing a few feet away.

"Hey, Ronnie," I smiled, shoving my hands in my pockets. He looked at me and gave me a sad smile. "Ronnie, I wanted to say before... I think it's best we just stay friends," I said, trying to make eye contact with him. He looked up and me and smiled. Good god, charming as it may be, but does he ever not smile?

"Yeah, I kind of guessed," he said, staring at his shoes. "Well, it was a good run... I really liked you." He finally looked at me in the eye. "I'll miss you." I softly stroked his arm.

"I'll miss you too man, I still want to be friends with you," I said hopefully.

"Of course we'll still be friends," he laughed. "Good luck in the future. We can still hang out sometime," he said, pulling me in for a hug. I hugged him back.

"Sure, Max and Sonny don't look like they're going to break up any time soon. I can always call you," I reminded. He nodded.

"Yeah. I better go say bye to everyone else," he said, looking at everybody gathered together.

"Yeah." I looked at Ronnie, staring at his shoes again. "Hey, chin up. You'll get someone better than me one day," I said, putting my arm around his neck. He laughed softly.

"Thanks Matt. You really are something else." I smiled and guided us to everyone else. I grabbed a beer can from the small cooler beside the bus and raised it in the air.

"To an awesome tour!" I yelled over everyone. A few of them grabbed a drink and joined in. "We'll probably hang out again soon guys, till then, have a great fucking time touring while it lasts!" I smiled and started to drink my beer while the others did the same. We sat around and talked for a little while longer, until we really had to get going.

I said bye to everyone one last time and got in the bus after Seth and Derek. Then Travis got in, blowing a kiss and waving. Last of all, a very depressed looking Sonny slowly stepped in, gluing his face to the window, watching Max as we backed out of the parking lot. They waved once again until we were out of view. As soon as we hit the highway and it was official, he curled up in his bed and slept for the next couple of hours.

"I feel bad," I said quietly, watching him. Derek and I were sitting on his bed, talking.

"I know, but he'll have to get over it some time... It's not the end for them, they just have to wait till the tour's over," Derek shrugged, resting his head on my shoulder.

"Imagine us having to wait that long," I said, looking down at him.

"We only went like, a month without sex?" He laughed. I ran my fingers through his hair.

"It's so cool to do this during daytime, isn't it?" I said, half smiling.

"I know... Then again, Travis is knocked out and Seth is doing your driving duty.."

"Don't ruin it, you ass," I laughed, pulling on his hair.

"Hey," he sat up. "Fatty."

I raised my eyebrows. These comments on my weight had been coming up too much, what the fuck.

"Take that back," I said in a dark voice.

"Make me," he smirked. I tackled him and pinned his arms down, my face hovering over his. Our kiss was so intense that we literally had to break apart and gasp for air. I looked him in his eyes and kissed the tip of his nose. He had that familiar look in his eyes, and I knew it wasn't long before we would break our record.

"Der Bear... You know I love you, right?"

"Yeah... I love you too, Matt."

I bit my lip to stop myself grinning from ear to ear. He actually said it back.

"Matt?" I blinked. "Knowing you, you're probably on cloud nine because I said it, right? And you're probably not even listening right now. Hey, Matt... Matt..."

Oh how he knew me well...

"But snap the fuck out of it, my situation isn't going to take care of itself."