Carpe Diem

“Oh my god that’s the fucking cutest thing ever!” I heard faintly as I winced, feeling a bright flash against my eyelids.

“Stop taking pictures, they’re going to wake up!” A voice I recognised as Hayden’s said.

My eyes fluttered open slowly as I realised Nick still had his arms around my waist and I still had my arm against his chest, the only difference was that I didn’t have my head buried in this shoulder anymore, we were directly facing each other. My eyes flickered over to his face as I smiled a little seeing that he was still completely out of it, how though, was beyond me.

I moved my head up to look at them, considering I couldn’t really move that much. I was met with the sight of Alex and Hayden.

“What are you doing?” I mumbled as I rubbed my eyes.

“Taking pictures, duh.” Alex scoffed as she winked at me.

“This isn’t what it looks like.” I chuckled as I sat up a little, causing Nick to stir.

“Mhm.” Hayden smirked.

“He wouldn’t get out of my bunk!” I complained as I pushed my hair out of my face. It was so hard to keep leaning up to face them, considering it wasn’t like I had the neck of a damn giraffe. I sighed as I attempted to pry Nick’s hands off me just so I could sit up, but he wasn’t having any of it, conscious or unconscious.

“Nick let go of me.” I whined as I pushed him in the chest.

Hayden and Alex began to laugh hysterically at my misfortune.

I glared at his sleeping figure and began to mess his hair up, hoping it’d make him sit up and react as he always did, but it didn’t work.

“Alex help me!” I begged as I tried to wriggle my way out of his arms.

She shrugged in response “I would, but it’s so fucking cute I don’t want to ruin it.”

“Your face won’t be so fucking cute anymore when I get a hold of you!” I exclaimed.

She rolled her eyes and smirked.

“I hate you.” I glared as I suddenly had an idea. I leaned over and pulled the edge of the bunk and moved myself over him, it was so awkward considering I was suddenly on top of him, but I was going to break free and if I had to take him with me, then so be it. I’d manage to half push myself out of the side of the bunk as I glanced down and furrowed my eyebrows, knowing that I was going to end up on the floor one way or another. I looked down at Nick and scoffed, he hadn’t moved an inch, well that was until he suddenly twitched, letting go of me as I fell out of the bunk and landed on the floor face down with a thud.

“I fucking hate my life.” I mumbled, my mouth full of carpet.

“You may hate your life, but you love my brother.” Alex smirked as I got up.

“Yeah of course I do, especially now.” I said sarcastically as I rolled my eyes.

“But he’s so damn cute.” She laughed as she pushed her brothers hair out of his face.

“Yeah, I’ll give you cute.” I said as I walked over to Hayden’s bunk which was opposite mine, pulling open her curtain and grabbed her pillow.

“Don’t kill him!” Hayden laughed.

I looked at her and gripped the pillow. “I’m not going to, that would be too quick.” I scoffed as I began to hit him full pelt with the pillow.

“What the fuck?” He mumbled as he turned around and faced the other way.

“I don’t believe this!” I shrieked, glancing over at Alex.

“Believe me when I say he can sleep through anything.” She laughed.

“What time is it, anyway? Considering if I wanted to get my phone I’d have no chance against that!” I glared.

“It’s just gone nine.” Alex said as she shoved her cell back in her pocket.

“Just gone nine?! You couldn’t at least wake me up at ten when I’m sane?! I can’t go back to sleep now either!” I whined as I began jumping up and down.

“Chill, I’ll make you a Coffee.” Hayden laughed as she spun around, walking towards the spiral staircase.

“I want a donut too!” I shouted after her as I walked over to my suitcase and pulled out my clothes and shoes for the day.

“Please torture your brother for me? I’d really appreciate it.” I said to Alex as I glanced at Nick who was still asleep.

“I think you’d enjoy it more than me.” She smirked as she quickly made her way to the staircase.

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” I called after her as I heard her laugh before she ran down the stairs.

I rolled my eyes. I had to do everything around here.

“Right, I’m taking this into my own hands.” I mumbled as I set my clothes on the floor next to my bunk.

I positioned myself so that I wouldn’t end up hitting my head and knocking myself out as that would be too unfortunate, as I jumped into my bunk, landing on then rolling off Nick. I sat up quickly and began shaking his shoulders.

“For the love of fucking god wake up, Nicholas!” I exclaimed as he slowly opened his eyes.

“Taylor why’re you in my bed?” He mumbled as he began to shut his eyes again.

“Oh no you don’t!” I exclaimed as I grabbed the pillow from next to me and began hitting him in the face.

“Taylor get out of my bed!” He mumbled as he tried to push me away.

“You’re in my bed, asshole! Now wake the fuck up so I can sleep!”

I had no intention of sleeping again, not whilst I had a Coffee and Donut waiting for me downstairs, but I was born to be cruel.

Nick opened his eyes properly and began to rub them.

“You shouldn’t be so angry this early in the morning, you know.” He smirked.

I narrowed my eyes at him as I poked him in the ribs.

“What was that for?!” He exclaimed as he rubbed his ribs.

“For being an annoying fucker who steals my bed.” I huffed as I went to climb out of the bunk, but before I could set one foot on the floor I was being pulled back as Nick wrapped his arms around my waist from behind tightly, pulling me on top of him.

“All I want is some damn Coffee! First you steal my bed, now you’re depriving me! Piss off!” I laughed as I wriggled out of his grasp.

“Fine, go! I’ll just stay here and sleep.” He said as he let go of me, pushing me out of the bunk. I regained my balance just before I hit the floor and stood up quickly, glaring at him.

“If you’re not out of my bed in twenty minutes I’m going to resort to desperate measures.” I warned as I picked my clothes up off of the floor and made my way towards the spiral staircase.

“Love you, Taylor!” He called after me.

“Fucking get out of my bed, then we’ll talk about love!” I shouted back as I ran down the stairs, taking them two at a time.

I laughed to myself as I took the few steps to the bathroom. Closing the door behind me quickly.I can’t express enough how good it was that Hayden and I were on good terms again, I mean, our arguments never lasted longer than a day, but it was strange from how we could go from insulting each other to the grave to just beating each other up again, in a friendly way of course. Not that I was complaining though, I had pretty much everything going right for me at that moment in time. As I got changed and sorted myself out I couldn’t help but think about how Hayden and Alex were right about the whole ‘being on stage’ thing, I mean, it was such an adrenaline rush, and to see the crowd singing along it made it even more incredible in itself, I honestly had no idea what I’d made such a fuss about, but I had to admit, it’d be nice to just watch the show again, ha.
I walked out of the bathroom and ran up the stairs quickly, making my way over to my suitcase before placing my clothes back within it. I spun on my heel and made my way back towards to staircase, glancing in my bunk quickly to see Nick back asleep. I rolled my eyes, I’d guessed five minutes had passed, he still had fifteen left before I’d feel it necessary to resort to something else. I ran down the stairs and made my way over to Hayden and Alex who were stood opposite each other in the ‘kitchen’ section of the bus, conversing. I really wasn‘t interested in what they were talking about, I just wanted my daily dose of Coffee.

They both shut up as the saw me approaching. “Here you go.” Hayden chuckled as she handed me a mug of Coffee and a Donut. I immediately brought the Coffee up to my lips, taking a sip of the Caffeine goodness.

“Now that, that is good.” I mumbled as I took another sip.

“So, what exactly happened last night?” Alex questioned, a smirk making it’s way across her lips.

I rolled my eyes and took a bite out of my Donut, taking my time before I answered. “Nick and I talked, I wanted to sleep, he wouldn’t move, the end.”

“Oh really? Because you two looked awfully comfy.” Hayden grinned mischievously.

I raised an eyebrow. “You two need to invest in lives.”

“We could, but we much prefer to question you senseless.” Alex winked.

“You’re wasting your breath.” I sang as I took another sip of my coffee, cradling it between my hands.

“Are we Taylor? Are we really?” Hayden laughed.

“Yes, Hayden. You really are.” I laughed as I broke off a bit of my Donut, chucking it at her.

“Just because we’re more intact with your love life than you are!” Alex grinned.

“Amen.” Hayden chuckled as Alex stuck her hand up for a high-five, which she accepted.

“What are you? The love police?” I said as I rolled my eyes.

Hayden winked as Alex turned her attention to the stairs before glancing back over in my direction.

“Morning Sunshine!” She laughed as Nick came into view.

“Coffee?! Thanks, Taylor.” Nick winked as he took the mug of Coffee out of my hands.

I covered my face with my hands as I tried to keep calm, I wasn’t a morning person on the best of days, and this kid wasn’t making it any easier on himself. At all.

Needless to say I found it ten times harder to function that morning due to the lack of Caffeine in my system. Yeah, I never got that mug of Coffee back, so I was forced to rely on sheer optimism, yeah it helped, but nothing could help as much as Coffee. I found it so difficult to keep myself sane on the hour and thirty minute journey from Manhattan to Poughkeepsie you wouldn‘t believe. The good news though was that Collin would be able to sing that day as his throat had cleared up enough for him to be able to speak properly without croaking, so he wanted to push himself to sing too. So, considering he hadn’t sung in two days he suggested they did an acoustic set in their tent as well as a signing that day, it was a win-win situation as the fans would be getting an extra set, and he could warm up his voice.

Alex, Logan, Jake, Hayden and I were currently sat at the back of their tent for that day waiting for their acoustic set to begin, along with the other fans who turned up to see them play. I laughed to myself as I glanced over the fans, the majority of them being girls, who knew. Ha. Collin, Nick, Omar, David and Nathan were all huddled together sat next to each other trying to work out a short set list of songs they could perform. Nathan and David couldn’t really do much as it was an acoustic with only guitars as David didn‘t have an acoustic bass and Nathan wasn‘t going to drum, but Collin insisted that they still had to sit with him Nick and Omar as they were still a part of it. I felt a tap on my shoulder as I turned around to be met with the sight of Nick, dressed in a red and white checkered shirt accompanied by a black tie, as well as black skinny jeans with black Chuck Taylor Hi-tops.

“Peace offering.” He grinned, handing me a plastic cup.

I raised an eyebrow as I took the cup hesitantly out of his grasp, the smell of Coffee making it’s way up my nostrils. I bit my lip as I smiled to myself. Words can’t describe how much I relied on Coffee, it was really quite terrible. I turned back around and glanced up at him.

“I guess we’re even.” I laughed as I patted the spot next to me for him to sit down as he did so.

“Hey guys! We’re Hit The Lights, thanks for coming to watch this acoustic set!” Collin cheered as the few rows of fans clapped.

“So, over the last couple of days our singer Collin has been sick, but one of our good friends stepped in for him, so we want to take this opportunity to thank you one more time Taylor, as you don’t known how much we appreciated it” Omar grinned as he glanced at me before beginning to clap as Nick, Collin, Nathan and David did so too as the majority of the fans turned around to look at me before clapping.

I felt my face begin to heat up as I held the Coffee cup in front of my face, hiding it.

“We’ll stop embarrassing you now Taylor! This first song’s called The Call Out.” Collin exclaimed as the crowd began to clap and cheer once more.

Adam’s POV.

“Adam, would you stop being such an ass?! You’ve been driving everyone crazy these last few days with your constant bad mood.” Lidia sighed as she sat down in the chair opposite me, looking at me intently.

I sighed as I began to drum my fingertips against the arm of the chair.

“Is it Taylor?” She asked a few minutes later as I brought my eyes to meet hers.

“No.” I replied shortly.

“Adam, I don’t need to even give you the “I’ve known you for six years, I know when something’s wrong” speech, so just give it up already.” She sighed irritably.

“Lidia, I’m fine.” I mumbled.

Two things; One, of course I wasn’t fine. Two, of course it was Taylor. When was it not Taylor? She was the one person who knew how to push my buttons, the one person who never failed to make me shake with anger, the one person who I constantly asked myself ‘why’ about. I think it was safe to say that the whole ‘Nick and Taylor’ thing bugged me. No, before you think it, I was not jealous. It was just one of those unexplainable things, just go with me on that. Besides, I had nothing to be jealous about, I’d moved on, and I’d made myself believe that it was the best decision I could’ve made, and it turns out it was. I was snapped out of my thoughts by my cell ringing loudly. I muttered to myself as I pulled it out of my pocket, my eyes flickering over the screen to see who was calling me. Charlie.

“Hey.” I said as I raised an eyebrow at Lidia, who was still looking at me intently.

“Hey! Guess what?” She exclaimed from the other end.

“What?” I laughed as I stood up and began to pace, a habit I had whenever I was on the phone.

“Go outside.” She said, a smile evident in her voice.

I stopped pacing as I felt my eyebrows furrow. “Wh-”

“Just go outside.” She laughed.

I turned around, glancing at Lidia who raised an eyebrow before mouthing “what?” I shrugged as I held up one of my fingers, indicating I’d be back in a minute. I walked the few steps over to the door of the bus, running down them quickly. I brought my cell up to my ear, glancing around before speaking again.

“What am I meant to be looking for?” I questioned, utterly confused.

“You tell me.” I heard from behind me, automatically spinning around to be met with Charlie, who threw her arms around me, hugging me tightly.

“What are you doing here?!” I laughed as I hugged her just as tight.

“Well remember I said I couldn’t make the tour because work was going to be extremely hectic? Well they hired another member of staff in order to spread the working shifts out more, so they agreed to let me have some time off as I’m owed some holiday time anyway. So I let Matt know I was coming in order to surprise you.” She grinned as she pulled back slightly before pressing her lips against mine.

“So what’s been going on around here? What have I missed?“ She asked as we broke apart, before entwining her fingers with my own.

“You know, same old tour, nothing too special.” I mumbled, I wasn’t going to mention anything about Taylor being there, not that she knew about Taylor I’s complicated relationship, considering she’d been arounthe rest of the band enough who’d occasionally mention her she knew who she was, but as far as I was concerned she didn’t need to know anything else, Taylor was the past, and I was determined to keep it that way.

“Oh come on, I’m sure that’s not the case. Plus isn’t Taylor here? I saw videos of her on Youtube that people had recorded from the two shows she filled in for Hit The Light’s lead singer? Collin, isn’t it?”

I bit my bottom lip as I cursed to myself in my head. Why she felt the need to mention Taylor was beyond me. I knew it was unintentional but it still bothered me regardless.

“Yeah, Collin. She’s a..uh, great singer, but uh yeah, I’ve not seen her much.” I shrugged coolly.

She nodded in response and pushed her hair out of her face. “So, before I get re-united with everyone later, are you going to show me around or not?" She laughed, pulling me in the direction of the gate.

Things were going to get a hell of a lot more interesting.