Chasing the Night

“Yeah, Luke?” Embry said casually, as if nothing had happened. Zack leant back against the side of the bus as Lukas approached them. “What the hell was that?” Lukas said, looking between the two bassists. He surprised himself by feeling...jealous. What was happening to him? He and Embry had been friends for a long time, he just didn’t want anybody to take him away.

“Luke, you know I’m bi,” Embry stated obviously, finding it hard to get mad at him for interrupting. He was much too cute for that. Embry found it impossible to stay mad at him. “I know, I know...” Lukas trailed off. “I just thought that we were hanging out tonight.” Embry thought he caught a hint of hurt in Lukas’ voice. He shook his head to clear his jumbled thoughts. “I wanted to, but the second we got here you just took off,” Embry protested, looking down at his feet.

“Whatever, Em. I guess I’ll find my own way,” Lukas said, turning on his heel and leaving. Tears stung his eyes. Why the hell was he even crying? Why did he even care if Embry ran off with some guy? The feeling of rejection coursed through his veins as he made his way back to the bus. “Hey man, where’d you go?” Alex asked him. “Nowhere,” Lukas replied. “Now, let’s get monumentally fucked up!” Alex laughed and passed Lukas a beer, which he downed quickly, reaching for another.

Back behind the bus, Embry ran his hands through his hair in frustration. What was up with Lukas? Had they just had a fight? Embry didn’t understand. Nothing like this had ever happened between them before. “You okay?” Zack asked him, pushing off the bus to wrap Embry in a tight hug. “I’m fine,” Embry said into Zack’s chest. “You’re a liar,” Zack said. “Go talk to him.”

“But why?” Embry asked, pulling away from him slightly to look up at his face. “Because he’s your best friend,” Zack replied easily, brushing Embry’s hair out of his face gently with his hand. Embry blushed slightly and glanced up at Zack. “How did you know?” Zack smiled and cupped the side of Embry’s face. “I can tell.” Embry looked down at his shoes again before turning to leave. Zack tugged on his hand and pulled him back, planting a small kiss on his lips. Embry smiled and left, in search of Lukas, the taste of Zack still on his lips.

Embry searched the bus, but couldn’t find Lukas anywhere. He asked Alex if he’d seen him and the singer said that Lukas had taken off. Embry looked around worriedly, spotting Arianna and Jase dancing together. He approached them and tapped Jase on the shoulder. “What’s up, bro?” Jase asked him with a lopsided smile. “I can’t find Lukas,” Embry said, knitting his eyebrows together in worry. Arianna glanced at the time on her phone. “It’s past midnight,” she said. “He probably went back to the van.” Embry nodded and thanked them before leaving.

When he made it back to the van, he slid the door open quietly, not wanting to wake Lukas if he was asleep. What he saw immediately shocked him, and made his heart ache in jealousy. Lukas was making out with a girl with bright blue hair. He had her pushed up against the side of the van and was kissing her roughly, his hand wandering up and underneath her shirt. He pulled the shirt up and over her head, tossing it aside and unclasping her bra quickly. She moaned and arched her back as Lukas continued to kiss her. Embry grimaced and decided that he’d seen enough. Tears stung in his eyes as he turned and ran away, back to the party.

Back at the party, Arianna had completely lost sight of Jase. It was just past 3am, and people were either passed out, asleep in strange places or stumbling back to their own buses and vans. A few partiers were gathered around the fire, talking quietly amongst themselves. Arianna dialled Jase’s number on her iPhone, but he didn’t pick up. She guessed that he must have fallen asleep or passed out somewhere. He’d had way too much to drink. She was about to go back to the van when she spotted Travis slumped in a camping chair beside the fire on his own.

Arianna walked over to him and sat down in the empty chair next to his. “Hey,” she said, glancing over at him. He had dark circles under his eyes, evident even in the flickering light provided by the fire, and his hair was a mess, his clothes crumpled. “Hello,” he said with a little burp, causing Arianna to giggle. Travis smiled a lopsided smile at her and tilted his head to the side to look at the blonde. She looked back at him curiously, wondering just how many drinks he’d had. “What number’s that?” She asked him, gesturing to the bottle he held. He knitted his eyebrows together, confused, and looked down at the bottle in his hand as if it were the strangest thing in the world. “I don’t fucking know!” He exclaimed.

“I think it’s time for you to sober up,” Arianna said with a laugh, reaching for the bottle. Travis held it away from her and frowned. “You’re not my real Mum!” He hollered, waving the bottle around in the air in defiance. Arianna laughed and leant back in her chair, deciding that it would be better to just let it go. Travis finished the bottle before tossing it aside. The two lead singers stared into the flames of the fire, neither one of them knowing just what to say.

Travis wanted to tell Arianna how he felt about her. Because not only did he like her, he liked the person he became when he was with her. She made him feel alive and happy. When Travis was with Arianna, he felt like everything would be okay. That everything would work out. But how could it? Arianna had a boyfriend, and the last thing Travis wanted to do was to get in the way, especially if it would make her unhappy.

“Arianna?” He near-whispered, turning his head to glance at her. “Yeah, Trav?” She replied, looking back at him with the hint of a smile playing on her lips. “Do you believe in God?” Arianna was taken aback by the question. She didn’t know what she’d been expecting Travis to say, but that wasn’t it. “I don’t know,” she replied honestly. “I guess there’s got to be something out there. Life’s too complicated for it to be a mistake.”

Travis stared at her in wonder. He’d always been sceptical about the existence of God – seeing is believing and all that – but what Arianna had said was true. Life was so complex and difficult. How could all of that been a mistake? Travis chuckled to himself, causing Arianna to look at him, confused. “What?” She asked him, raising her eyebrows. “We must be really fucking entertaining to the big guy upstairs,” Travis said, breaking out into a fit of laughter. Arianna laughed along with him, noticing the way his light blue eyes sparkled when he smiled.

“You should get back to your bus,” Arianna said after they’d quietened down. “It’s past three in the morning.” Travis sighed and looked over at Arianna, raising his eyebrows at her. “No adventures tonight?” He asked her, a small smile playing on his lips. “Afraid not,” Arianna replied. “Not with you like this.” Travis tried not to look disappointed, but ended up jutting his bottom lip out anyway. Arianna laughed and wrapped her arm around Travis’ waist to support him. He leant on her heavily, draping his arm over her shoulders as they walked.

Arianna didn’t know where she was going. She could barely find her way around the place in the daylight. It was almost pitch black now, the only light coming from the half-moon that hung in the clear night sky. Travis had told her that he knew exactly where they were and exactly which way they had to go to get back to the We The Kings bus. He was wrong, of course. He was way too drunk to remember anything, and the darkness didn’t help.

Arianna and Travis stumbled around together for at least an hour before they ended up in front of the We The Kings bus. “Home sweet home!” Travis yelled at the top of his lungs. Arianna put her hand over his mouth and told him to be quiet. He stared down at her for a moment before removing her hand with his own. “Sorry,” he whispered with an apologetic smile. Arianna rolled her eyes and smiled back at him, turning on her heel to leave.

“Hey!” Travis called after her. Arianna stopped and turned to look at the ginger-haired boy. He was standing by the door of his bus, holding his arms out. “Don’t I get a hug goodbye?” He asked her, a smile spreading across his face. He knew he was being much too ambitious, but what did he care? He’d had a few drinks, and he felt invincible. If this backfired, he wouldn’t remember it.

Arianna rolled her eyes and ran towards the ginger-haired boy, jumping into his arms and wrapping her legs around his waist. Travis laughed and held her close to him, his arms wrapped securely around her small torso. He buried his face in her shoulder and caught the smell of her hair – an amazing coconut scent. Dammit, Travis! He scorned himself. Never smell the hair of a girl that you can’t have!

With that thought in mind, he set her on her feet again and chuckled to himself. “What?” Arianna said, eyeing him suspiciously. “That was a very sexual hug,” Travis said, waggling his eyebrows at her suggestively. Arianna rolled her eyes and punched him in the arm playfully. “Blame it on the alcohol,” she said, before turning and leaving. Travis stared after her until he lost sight of the blonde, a goofy smile displayed on his features. He ran a hand through his long hair and shook his head, turning and climbing up the steps to the bus. He collapsed into his bunk and closed his eyes, seeing Arianna’s face immediately. He smiled again, before falling asleep.

Arianna walked back to her van with a weird smile on her face. She felt weird. Her stomach felt as though it was all tied in knots and her thoughts were all jumbled. What was happening to her? And why had she hugged Travis the way she had? Arianna didn’t have an explanation. She was just making things up as she went along.