Expect Anything Less

The show was perfect. I got to dance with the crowd and could go backstage whenever I wanted cause the security guards were awesome. They didn't even check for my backstage pass which I actually remembered to have Jack get for me.

Now I am sitting in the back of the van with my Pirates of the Caribbean blanket wrapped around me and watching as Alex talks to the crowd that has gathered outside. One of the fans asks him to sing something and, of course, he grabs his guitar. He sits/leans against the open side of the van and begins a cord, but not a pacific song. He looks around the crowd and says, "I'm trying to think of what to play."

Song titles are tossed around everywhere, but I know that to him it all just sounds like a bunch of gibberish. I move a little closer to him so that the crowd still can't see me, but Alex can hear me. Then I say, "Umbrella." He slightly nods.

He hushes the crowd and begins the song:

"You have my heart
And we'll never be worlds apart
May be in magazines
But you'll still be my star
Baby cause in the dark
You can't see shiny cars
And that's when you need me there
With you I'll always share
Because. . .

"When the sun shines, we'll shine together
Told you I'll be here forever
Said I'll always be a friend
“Took an oath I'ma stick it out till the end
Now that it's raining more than ever
Know that we'll still have each other
You can stand under my umbrella
You can stand under my umbrella
(Ella ella eh eh eh)
Under my umbrella
(Ella ella eh eh eh)
Under my umbrella
(Ella ella eh eh eh)
Under my umbrella
(Ella ella eh eh eh eh eh eh)

"These fancy things, will never come in between
You're part of my entity, here for Infinity
When the war has took it's part
When the world has dealt it's cards. . ."

He stops singing and kind of confused asks the crowd, "What's the next line?" They all start to say it, but he obviously can't understand a word they're saying.

I say it just loud enough for him to hear and he continues with the song.

"If the hand is hard, together we'll. . ." He forgets the rest of the line (again) and just starts to hum the song till he remembers the lyrics.

"Because. . .

"When the sun shines, we'll shine together
Told you I'll be here forever
Said I'll always be a friend
Took an oath I'ma stick it out till the end
Now that it's raining more than ever
Know that we'll still have each other
You can stand under my umbrella
You can stand under my umbrella
(Ella ella eh eh eh)
Under my umbrella
(Ella ella eh eh eh)
Under my umbrella
(Ella ella eh eh eh)
Under my umbrella
(Ella ella eh eh eh eh eh eh)

"You can run into my arms
It's okay don't be alarmed
Come here to me
There's no distance in between our love
So you can let the rain pour
I'll be all you need and more
Because. . .

"When the sun shines, we'll shine together
Told you I'll be here forever
Said I'll always be a friend
Took an oath I'ma stick it out till the end
Now that it's. . ." He finishes the song without any more problems and then starts doing All Time Low songs cause obviously he knows them better.

Once we're back on the road, I fall asleep again and only wake up in the middle of the ride to see Zack has moved into my row of seats. He's asleep with his head against the window and I guess at some point I moved my head into his lap.

I sit up and notice that Matt, the All Time Low manager, is driving. Rian is sitting the closest to the front and behind him are the seats that we completely trashed while driving yesterday. Behind that Alex is sleeping and Jack is half on top of him, half on the ground. Of course. Then it's me and Zack.

I'm actually not that tired anymore so I grab my sketchpad, book light, and start to draw. I don't like to brag, but I actually am pretty good at stuff that has to do with art. I can draw, paint, make pottery, take/edit picture, etc. Who do you think designs the ATL covers and comes up with the ideas for the t-shirts?

Um, yeah, that would be me.

Right now I'm actually working on a pretty basic pattern, but I can picture people wearing it if it was put on a shirt. It just says All Time Low in bubble letters with diagonal lines under the words and light star pattern under that.

I'll put it on a shirt soon and wear it to a concert, see how the girls like it.

It's always kind of funny when I see people my age running around and they're wearing a shirt I designed. It happens rarely since All Time Low isn't super popular yet, but that only makes it more special.

Zack starts to move and I look up from my sketch. I quickly look at my phone and see that an hour has passed. Sheesh. Time flew by so fast, I swear, I thought I'd been working for maybe twenty minutes. "What're you doing?" I look up at Zack and move closer to show him the sketch. "Nice."

I slightly smile, "Thanks."

Slowly, everyone wakes up and Jack starts to complain about needing to take a shit. Matt says we're just about to the city of our next venue-Poughkeepsie, New York. It's a little after three in the morning so we're going to get a motel.

Twenty minutes later I'm standing in our motel room, if you can call it that. The walls are a dirty white, the floor is grimy, and I'm too scared to even think about the beds. There's only two of course. There are six of us in this room.

Every Avenue, Mayday Parade, Just Surrender, and a few other crew members are sharing a few other rooms. I still need to meet the people in the other bands, but I'm just far too lazy and antisocial.

I decide to take a shower while the guys figure out the bed situation. The bathtub is kind of rusted, but the water is clear and warm. I step out and slide into my flip-flops cause the bathroom floor is yellowish and the tile is cracking. The mirror is streaky, but not too bad.

I get dressed in my ATL shorts and a tank top and walk out.

Wow. Rian is asleep on the couch, Zack and Matt are in a bed, Jack and Alex are in a bed. Since Jack and Alex don't take up too much room, I walk over to Jack and make him move. He's dead asleep. Matt and Alex (the only other people awake) quietly laugh at me as I try to push Jack.

Eventually Jack gets tired of me hitting him and he uses one of his arms to grab me by the side and fling me over him. I land on the bed squished between Jack and Alex. Of course I'd be stuck in the middle.

Whatever.

I get under the sheets and don't even touch the quilt. That thing has been flung on the ground. At least, by law, the motel has to wash the sheets between every stay in a room. I've heard that motel usually only wash the quilt every few weeks. Eww.

We have to be out of the room by eleven so I waste no time with falling asleep. I barely even need the covers with all the heat I'm getting from being stuck between Jack and Alex. It's actually really comfortable.

The next time I open my eyes, it's completely black. My eyes slowly adjust as I notice how warm it is. I reach my hand up to lower the blankets, but that's when I notice someone has their arm loosely wrapped around my stomach. Alex?

I turn around in the bed and my face is inches away from his bare chest. Awkward. Well, at least it would be awkward if anyone else were to wake up.

"Carter? Are you awake?" My eyes widen at the hushed voice, but I relax when I realize it was Alex that talked.

I look up at his face and quietly reply, "Yeah."

"We need to talk about Christmas and everything that happened. Wanna go out to the hall?"

I knew this was gonna happen eventually, I just didn't think it was going to be so soon. But hey, why not just get it over with?

Alex and I quietly get out of the bed and go out to the hall. At this hotel, the hall is actually outside so it's a little cold in the early January New York weather. I put my jacket on and Alex puts his on as we walk a few yards away from our room.

He stops in front of me, leans onto the rail, and asks, "What happened to you?"

I shrug my shoulders and reply, "Life."

He has a tight frown as he says, "Just last summer you were bubbly, could start a conversation with someone you'd known for two minutes, you were happy, and fun to be around. I know you're trying to hide your new self from Jack. Today, when you were back stage and nobody was paying attention to you, I saw the real you. Carter, you just had the most pained expression. I knew you were different now, but I hadn't realized till then that you’re a completely different person."

I wait a few seconds and then reply, "Are you done?"

He starts to nod, but the second his head starts to go up, I wrap my arms around his neck and bring his head to mine. He's shocked for a moment, but quickly puts his arms around me and pushes me against the wall. It starts to get a little more heated.

I know what you all must be thinking, Where did this come from? Right? All is explained in good time, my friends.

We're still outside, but we've moved into a little sheltered area where they keep the ice machine. It's like an open closet. My hand has just barely started to slip into his pants when he pulls away, "Carter, wait. We can't do this again."

Sigh.