Please Pick Up

“Hey wait up!” Gabe called to William as he was walking toward the buses.

Their bands were touring together on Warped and their friendship was no secret to everyone else. Every day on stage William would join Gabe and his band to sing his part of “Snakes on a Plane” and every day the crowd went wild seeing the two. Gabe would stand behind William with his arm around his shoulder or waist as he sang. William played into it as well, placing his hand over top of Gabe’s. They'd even shared a chaste kiss or two on stage going along with 'everything from the waist up is fair game'. It was those moments on stage that truly showed the extent of their friendship. Then there were those moments no one else shared, no one else knew about. The girls in crowd could speculate, some of them even got pretty close in their presumptions. They read the stories about themselves and sometimes it even gave them ideas. Of course they would never admit to it if asked.

Gabe finally caught up to William and wrapped his arm around his shoulders. William wrapped his around Gabe’s waist. They continued to where the buses were parked in a comfortable silence, enjoying the feeling of the other’s arms.

“So, what’s up babe?” Gabe asked cheerily.

“Nothing much. Just going to take a nap before I go on later tonight.” William said, emphasizing with a yawn.

“Aw, Bilvy tired?” Gabe mocked in a baby tone. William feigned a hurt expression.

“Bilvy? Tired? No way! William Beckett is tired,” William kidded with a fleeting laugh. Gabe joined in.

They stepped up into the bus and made their way to the back lounge to the oversized couch. Gabe laid down first and pulled William down in front of him. He tightly wrapped his arms around William and held him close so he wouldn’t fall off the couch. It only took a couple minutes for William’s breath to even out, signaling he was asleep. Gabe watched him briefly before slipping away himself.

Other members of The Academy Is… came on and off the bus but kept quiet at Sisky mentioning that the two were sleeping in the back. They didn’t expect to sleep that long, but before either knew it Sisky was in the back lounge waking William which woke Gabe. They had a half hour before it was their turn to be on stage.

Jumping up and going to the bunks, William quickly grabbed some clothes and changed right there in the hallway. He had his clothes on quickly and ran off the bus with the others so they were at the stage in time and ready to play. Gabe casually walked up to their stage and stood to the side of the stage to watch them play.

“You did good babe,” Gabe whispered into William’s ear as he hugged the sweaty singer after their set was finished. William smiled into Gabe’s shoulder. He absolutely loved it when his boyfriend complimented him on his performance. They were each other’s biggest critics and told the other if something wasn’t working right on stage.

Gabe’s bus was leaving for the next city with the first batch of buses. William took the opportunity to follow him onto his bus, kissing him lovingly after saying their goodbyes. They would see each other in the next city, and even if it wasn't too far away it still seemed like a long time. They wished they left together, but they couldn’t. William's last glance lingered before he got off the bus and headed to his to change out of his sweaty clothes.

Gabe’s bus left and headed on to the next city. He fell asleep quickly. He'd been up too early. He never slept as well when William wasn’t next to him. It was always fitful, lonely and it just didn’t feel right not having him there beside him.

In the early morning he was awaken by a bunch of talking. He looked at his cell and noticed it was only 5am. He couldn’t figure out why anyone on his bus was up already. But then he heard mentions of his name, the others discussing if they should wake him up and tell him or wait until he woke up. His ears burned, his curiosity piqued. He figured he’d save them the trouble of deciding what to do and got up. He was already awake, and there was no chance he was going back to sleep after hearing that they were whispering --albeit loudly-- about him.

Gabe made his way to the kitchenette of the bus and they all fell silent seeing him standing there groggily. His body swayed with the bus to easily. His body was still filled with sleep and telling him to go lay back down, but his mind wouldn’t allow it.

“What aren’t you telling me?” Gabe demanded, his voice steady as he was suddenly overcome with apprehension. His band wasn't the quiet type.

They all looked at each other trying to figure out who was going to talk. Silent arguing only made Gabe more anxious. They could see the jitteriness building in his body as he stood there.

“Last night The Academy Is… bus was in an accident,” Alex finally said, slowly and quietly. Everyone watched Gabe’s face go pale and could see his breath quicken as he was about to panic.

“How bad? Was anyone hurt? What happened?” Gabe was starting to ramble off questions as quick as they came to his mind.

“No one knows anything besides what I just said.” Alex’s voice was filled with empathy; he truly wished he knew more than he did. No one knew what to say to Gabe, no one knew how to comfort him.

Gabe quickly went back to his bunk and grabbed his phone and dialed William’s number. It went straight to voicemail no matter how many times he dialed. “Fuck!” was heard echoing throughout the bus. Everyone heard him ravaging through his stuff. He didn’t know what to do.

When they saw him again several minutes later everyone looked at him again, silent.

“He’s not answering.” Gabe’s voice was small and he didn’t need to say who wasn’t answering, they already knew. He started to pace, up and down the bus. He didn’t know what he should do, didn’t know how he should feel.

The bus was eerily quiet for the rest of the right, a fact which comforted no one. They finally arrived at the new venue a couple hours later. Gabe got off the bus and just started walking, trying to find himself. He felt lost. No one knew what had happened to the one person he loved. He'd asked nearly everyone on tour if they had heard anything, but they were all kept in the dark.

He continued to try William’s phone, hoping it was just off. Everyone who saw Gabe felt bad for him, because even though their relationship wasn’t made public they all secretly knew of it. He was met with sad eyes and somber smiles, no one knowing what to say to him.

The schedule was announced and the time they were to go on stage was texted to him, they didn’t know where he was but knew he’d be back in time for their slotted time. Somehow they were to perform at 2:30. He had no idea why so early, nor did he really want to play that early but he didn’t have a choice. He liked playing the night shows better, the crowds seemed better and more into the music and there were just a lot more people there by then.

At 2 he showed up backstage with the rest of his band. They could tell he was a mess before saying anything to him. They all clapped a hand on his back for reassurance, trying to let him know it will be fine. But they didn't know that for sure.

By the time they finally went on stage, Gabe was only pretending to have gotten himself together. Everyone could surely tell, his performance lacked its usual high energy and they even cut out “Snakes on a Plane” because William wasn’t there to sing his part. Gabe couldn't bear to sing it without him. At the meet and greet afterwards Gabe put on a fake smile for his fans. He did what he had to do and nothing more. Afterwards he went straight to his bus and lied down, calling William’s phone one last time before taking a nap. Still no answer.
By the time Gabe woke again it was dark outside. He'd slept for six hours, which surprised him though he knew he had been completely exhausted. He still felt exhausted. Looking at his phone, he checked to see if there were any missed calls. There were none. He tried William's number again, but no luck. His heart sank. He was beyond worried. He got up and found Ryland outside the bus on his phone. He stopped his conversation upon seeing Gabe.

“Have you heard anything about Bill or his bus yet?” Gabe’s voice was small, like he was afraid to ask.
Ryland shook his head. “I’m sorry. I haven’t. I don’t think anyone knows anything yet for some reason.” Ryland frowned at seeing the hurt and sorrow in Gabe’s face. He felt really bad he couldn’t help him and tell him that William and the others were all fine. But he didn’t want to be lying when he said that either. Gabe got back on the bus and holed up in his bunk the rest of the night.

A whole day had passed with no word from anyone about anything dealing with The Academy Is… and Gabe was no longer the only one worried about them.

The following morning after a sleepless night Gabe got up in a zombie state and sat at the table drinking a cup of coffee. He looked at his phone again and willed it to ring. It was like if he thought it hard enough that William’s number would magically show up and he’d be on the other end of the phone. Wishful thinking was all it was. He knew that.

Somehow Gabe made it through another early performance that day. The toll of the stress was showing though, and he didn’t even do the meet and greet. He apologized to the fans as he headed to the bus to wait for his phone to ring. He put his iPod on shuffle and as soon as the sweet sound of William’s voice filled his ears the tears fell. He didn’t even try to stop them nor did he try to change the song.

Darkness was creeping up on the day now and there was still no word. They went to a hotel for the night because they had the day off next. They usually laughed at the faces of the people working at the particular hotels they stayed at upon seeing their shocked faces as the parking lot filled with tour buses and people came in by the dozen. Gabe didn’t join in the laughter this time. He was sitting in a couch in the lobby waiting for him along with everyone else to get checked in. Everyone was too busy talking and laughing with each other to see the door to the lobby open.

At that moment Gabe happened to look up and saw a tall lean man come walking in slowly. He knew that body anywhere. Jumping up, he ran over to him. Everyone who saw this reaction turned to see what had him so excited. Upon turning around they saw Gabe embrace William in a hug and grab his face and kiss him deeply, passionately, overwhelmed with relief he was all right.