Chasing the Night

Arianna opened her eyes slowly as they adjusted to the light. As she focused, she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion at her surroundings. Directly in front of her she saw a fancy leather couch. She closed her eyes and opened them again, squinting at the couch as if it were one of the strangest things in the world. It was only then that she felt thin arms wrapped around her torso. The body pushed up against hers on the couch was warm and comfortable, and Arianna turned her head slightly, a smile on her face, expecting to see her boyfriend.

At the sight of Travis, who was definitely not her boyfriend, she gasped loudly. Her hand flew to her mouth and she flinched, breaking out of Travis' grip and falling onto the floor. Travis remained asleep, hardly bothered by the sudden movement. Arianna stared at his sleeping form and the slight little smile that played on his lips. She couldn't take her eyes off him, but forced herself to, frantically searching the room for her phone. When she found it under the couch that Travis was sleeping on, there were over twenty missed calls from Jase. It was also past noon.

At this realisation, Arianna gasped again, dropping her phone to the floor. Danny stood at the other side of the room, looking at her curiously, his head cocked to the side. Arianna looked around the room again, and when her eyes landed on Danny, she screamed in fright. Danny crossed the room quickly and put his hand over the blonde's mouth. "Shh," he whispered in her ear. "Travis hardly ever sleeps." Arianna nodded and Danny released her, before sitting beside her on the floor of the bus.

Arianna glanced worriedly at Travis and then back at herself, smoothing down her now crinkled blue dress. "We didn't...did we?" Arianna asked, glancing again between herself and Travis. Danny understood and started laughing. "No!" He said in between gasps, as his body shook with laughter. "No way! Travis would never take advantage of a girl!"

A silence settled over the two as they both looked at Travis, who was curled up on the couch, his hands now tucked up under his head. His thin frame was painfully obvious. "Is he okay?" Arianna whispered after a moment. "Hard to tell," Danny replied. "He's so good at acting." Arianna furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Travis is not okay," Danny stated bluntly. "He hasn't been for weeks. But then you..." Danny trailed off, staring at Arianna, hoping that she'd understand. When he saw the blank look on her face, he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "You can't tell anyone, okay? Travis is my best friend and I don't want him getting hurt." Arianna nodded for Danny to continue.

"Travis recently went through a really bad break-up. His girlfriend of eight years just suddenly called it quits. No one saw it coming. We all really liked her. Travis was gonna marry that girl," Danny said. Arianna's eyes widened and she gasped, looking over at Travis. "That's unbelievable!" She exclaimed, immediately sympathising with Travis. "Hey, you're doing it," Danny complained. "Doing what?"

"You're giving him the look," Danny explained, shaking his head. "What look?" Danny sighed again and raised his eyebrows at the blonde. "What Travis needs right now is a friend. Not sympathy. Just a friend to hang out and have fun with. We've all tried to connect with him, but he's reluctant," the drummer explained.

"He isn't like that with me," Arianna said.
"You're different," Danny said with a nod.
"What do you mean?"
"Ever since she left him, it's like Travis just sort of...died. But you...he's just...I don't know how to explain it."

"Alive."

Arianna and Danny turned to see Hunter in the doorway, a shopping bag in his hand. "Exactly!" Danny exclaimed, nodding at the guitarist in the doorway. "Touching story, Dan," Hunter said sarcastically, ruffling his hair. Danny whined and swatted his hands away. "Hi," Arianna said, feeling left out. Hunter looked her straight in the eyes before tossing the shopping bag at her. "What's this?" She asked, peering inside the bag.

"We can't have you looking dishevelled when you get off our bus. People might get suspicious," Hunter said with a smile. Arianna pulled a pair of bright red skinny jeans from the bag. "I guessed size two," Hunter said with a shrug. Arianna smiled and thanked the guitarist, telling him that they were exactly the right size, and did he know he had great taste? Hunter laughed and nodded, plucking a white tank top from a nearby merch box and tossing it at her. Arianna caught it easily and glanced at the yellow and red design on it, just under the band's name.

"Nice," she commented, standing up and heading for the bathroom. "What do I owe you?" Hunter laughed. "Nothing," he said. "As far as we're concerned, it's free publicity." Arianna laughed and went into the bathroom to change. The jeans and shirt fit perfectly, and she glanced at her reflection in the mirror, taking in the smeared makeup and messy state of her hair. Too tired to even care, she quickly washed her face and piled her hair up into a messy ponytail, allowing a few strands to fall loosely around her face. She pulled her converse sneakers back on her feet and went back out into the main lounge.

Travis was still sound asleep on the couch, and Danny and Hunter were sitting at one of the tables, quietly talking between themselves. Arianna ducked back into the bathroom and craned her neck, struggling to hear what the boys were saying.

"She's so good for him," Danny said.
"But what if she breaks his heart?" Hunter protested.
"She won't. They're just friends, Hunter. She's got a boyfriend."
"Trav doesn't seem to care. It's like he's hell-bent on winning her over," Hunter said, looking over at his sleeping friend. Danny's eyes drifted to the ginger-haired boy on the couch also, and he sighed, turning back to Hunter.
"Just let it be and see how it turns out," Danny said. Hunter shook his head and smiled sadly.
"I've already picked up the broken pieces. I don't want to do it again," he said sadly.
"You won't have to," Danny assured him.
"We'll see," Hunter said before falling silent, leaning back in his chair.

Arianna took in a shaky breath and looked at the small tattoo on her wrist. The blue script said the same thing as Danny: 'let it be'. But Travis was broken, and she was taken, and she didn't know what to say or how to act around him now. She wasn't a savior of any kind. She couldn't be the one to 'fix' Travis as Danny hoped. She was overwhelmed and terrified of what could happen. More than anything, she just wanted to leave. It was what she always did when things got complicated. The bathroom window was certainly wide enough for her to squeeze out. But something in her heart was telling her to stay. And so she did.

______

"Where the fuck were you?" Jase screamed. Arianna flinched and sunk back into her seat in the van. Jase was furious. The second Arianna had climbed back into the van, Jase had started screaming. Arianna knew that he would be mad, but she had never expected this. His face was reddened and he had his hands balled into fists, the viens scarily prominent along his arms.

"I'm sorry, Jase! Okay?" Arianna yelled back at him, biting on her bottom lip to stop herself from crying. "Okay? It's not okay, Arianna!" Jase retorted. "It's not!" He ran his hands through his hair and sighed, looking down at his feet. He felt bad about yelling at her, really, he did, but he had been so worried, and she had been so irresponsible. "I'm sorry, Jase," Arianna whimpered, tears sliding down her cheeks. Jase put an arm around her and pulled her to his side. "I was just so worried about you, Arianna. I didn't know what to do with myself. I thought something terrible had happened to you."

Arianna brought her knees to her chest and hugged them tightly, as Jase brushed her hair back behind her ear and kissed her temple softly. "Please don't cry, baby. I love you," Jase whispered, pulling her closer. The moment those three little words had slipped out of his mouth, Arianna had frozen in his arms. Jase immediately regretted saying them. He knew that Arianna didn't believe in love. He knew that she was scared and fragile and that he had to be careful. But three words had just slipped out and he had meant them.

"Jase..." Arianna trailed off. "Please. Just, don't."
"Don't tell you I love you? I do, Arianna! I have for a long time!"
"Please, Jase. You're just making this harder," Arianna sighed, tugging free of her boyfriend's grip. He reached after her, but she was already climbing out of the van. "Please, Arianna! Don't go!" He called after her, but it was too late. He knew better than to run after her. She would come back and when she did, everything would be okay. But he was naive and he didn't know her as well as he thought he did, and things were unravelling right in front of him. He just couldn't see it yet.

______

Arianna hadn't meant to end up back there, but somehow, she had. Was it instinct for her now, to run to Travis whenever she felt lost? But he was lost, too, wasn't he? And if they were both lost, what hope did they have?

Travis had answered the door on the first knock, of course, and when he saw Arianna standing there, his whole face had lit up. His smile spread across his face and there was a spark in his eye, still visible even behind the sunglasses that he never seemed to be without.

"Hey," Arianna said with a sniffle, trying her best to look okay. But she wasn't as good an actor as Travis, and he could see straight through her. "What's wrong?" He asked her softly. Arianna just shook her head and shoved her hands in her pockets. "Wanna go somewhere?" She asked him. Travis nodded and stepped outside, shutting the door behind him. How could he say no?

"Where to?" He asked, trying his best to pretend that Arianna was okay. She obviously didn't want to talk about it, and he didn't want to intrude. "Anywhere but here," Arianna replied, looking down at her feet as they walked. She pushed her aviator sunglasses further up her nose and brushed the hair out of her face. "This is different for us, you know," Travis said as they walked. "What do you mean?" Travis smiled and shook his head. "It's the middle of the day." Arianna furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "So?" "So, we usually go on our little adventures in the middle of the night," Travis clarified with a smile.

Is that all they shared? Little adventures? Were they real just two people who only spent time together because they couldn't sleep? Was the friendship Arianna thought they shared really that fickle? Did he even need her at all, or was it just convenient?

"So, you don't wanna hang out with me in the middle of the day, then?" Arianna asked, shoving her hands in her pockets. "That's not it at all!" Travis retorted. "I was just saying." Travis was so confused. Arianna was acting so...strange. He'd never seen her like this before. It just wasn't like her. She was usually so happy and carefree. Travis worried that something serious might have happened. When Arianna remained silent, Travis stopped walking. Arianna noticed this quickly and stopped, too, turning to look back at the ginger-haired boy.

"What?" She asked him.
"I'm not moving until you tell me what's up," he replied, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Stars and shit," Arianna dead-panned.
"What?"
"That's what's up."

Travis burst into laughter as Arianna just stood there, a ghost of a smile on her lips. "You comin', Clark?" Arianna said with a raised eyebrow, one hand on her hip. "Don't rush me, Rush," Travis said with a smirk, running to catch up with the girl who had captured his heart.