Hear You Me

Delilah set the sunglasses on the bridge of her nose as she walked out of Joel’s apartment and towards the van waiting outside. She was mentally trying to prepare herself for the summer long tour with the boys as she drug her suitcase behind her. Delilah was excited to spend the summer with four of her favorite boys but she knew within a few weeks the van would start to smell, eating only fast food would become old, and tempers would flare.

“Delilah! You haven’t come to your senses yet and decided that coming with us is actually a good idea?” Sean joked as Delilah made her way towards the boys.

“Call me crazy but, I’m still going,” she smiled.

“We already knew you were crazy,” Ryan laughed.

“Wow, thanks,” Delilah rolled her eyes. “So where’s our first stop?”

“Austin, so we have a little over a 14 hour drive. We played the nose goes game and you lost so you’re diving first,” Alex said.

“Wait, when did we play nose goes?” Delilah asked

“When you weren’t here,” Joel smirked.

“That’s not fair. I hate you all,” Delilah groaned but made her way to the front of the van.

The rest of the day was spent driving throughout the southwest. The boys whined every five minutes at first but soon fell asleep, which was good since Delilah was about ready to kill them all.

After three hours Delilah was relieved of her driving duties as Sean took over for her. Delilah took the opportunity to take a nap, after warning the boys she would chop off their favorite appendage if they even attempted to play any tricks on her while she was sleeping.

They were a little over two hours outside of Austin when it was Joel’s turn to drive. They were a little behind of schedule thanks to the constant bathroom and food trips and it was past midnight when he took over. The rest of the guys were asleep in the back but Delilah was wide awake thanks to her multiple naps throughout the day so she decided to go up front and keep Joel company while he drove.

“You don’t have to stay up here and keep me company if you don’t want to, Lila,” Joel said as he glanced over at her. “I love having you up here with me but I won’t be offended if you want to sleep.”

Delilah shook her head. “I’m fine. I slept a lot during the day. Plus, there is no way I’d be able to sleep anyway thanks to Ryan’s snoring.”

“Isn’t it the worst thing you’ve ever heard?” Joel laughed.

“It really is,” Delilah agreed. “So this really cool guy gave me the new This Century CD to listen to before it’s released in a week and I have to say that I’m impressed.”

“Really? You’re not just saying that to make me feel good?”

“Would I lie to you just to save your feelings from getting hurt?” Delilah smirked.

“Yes, you would because you’re too nice and you hate hurting people’s feelings.”

“Ok, you’re right; I promise I’m not lying though.”

“So you really liked it?”

“It’s awesome. All of your fans are going to love it. I know this is cheesy, but I’m so proud of all of you guys. You four have grown so much since your first EP.”

“Thanks Lila. Honestly, your opinion is one of the ones that matters the most to me. I don’t care if the fans hate it; as long as you like it I’m good.”

Delilah smiled and rolled her eyes. “I think you’re over-exaggerating about not caring if the fans don’t like it.”

“You’re right,” Joel admitted. “I hope they like it.”

“I’m sure they will.”

“It’s just scary, you know? I want to do this music thing as long as I can but I always think what if this is the last tour I go on or what if this is the first and last CD we’ll release?”

“You can’t think like that. I know that’s easier said than done but just think of all you’ve accomplished so far. Anyway, like I said, this CD rocks and your fans are going to love it.”

“This is why I keep you around…you’re good at reassuring me,” Joel smiled.

“That’s the only reason you keep me around?”

“Pretty much…Ow, I was joking,” Joel whined as Delilah leaned over and smacked him.

Delilah rolled her eyes. “You deserved it. So let’s play a game.”

“What game?”

“Guess who that This Century song is about.”

“Lila, I already know who the songs are about.”

“I know that. I’m going to guess who I think they’re about. I’m going to see how well I know you.”

“You’re my best friend,” Joel glanced over at her. “I think you know me pretty well.”

“Shut up and play the game with me.”

“Ok, sassy,” Joel laughed.

Delilah grabbed the CD from her purse so she could see the songs and began guessing. “Ok, I know Young and Useless is about you after Holland’s death. That was an easy one though since you’ve already played it for me. Sound of Fire is about Holland and how she’s so outgoing and vivacious that you can’t help but get consumed by her when she’s around – just like fire. Hopeful Romantic is about your and Holl’s break-up. You guys had been dating all throughout high school and then all of a sudden you had to figure out how to be on your own. That would make it easy to lose faith in love but you didn’t.”

“You are frighteningly good at this,” Joel cut in.

“I know,” Delilah smirked before continuing. “Everywhere Everything is once again about Holland. Money Honey is another song I’ve heard before…I remember you wrote it for Holland in high school. You revamped it a little for the CD but it still has the same meaning. To Love and Back is another old song but it’s about when Sean broke up with that one girl.”

“Carly?”

“Yeah, her. I didn’t like her.”

“No one did,” Joel laughed.

“Do It To Me is Ryan’s song…or the one about his life. It’s about that one girl he was chasing around a couple summers ago – the one who wouldn’t give him a chance but kept him hanging around like a little puppy dog. That brings us to the last song, Loud, which is about you getting out of your depression after Holland’s death and learning to live again. It’s about you fighting for what you want.”

“I’m impressed,” Joel nodded.

“Thank you.”

“You did get one wrong though.”

“What? Which one?”

“Everywhere Everything.”

Delilah opened up the CD booklet and began looking over the lyrics. “Well if it’s not about Holland, who is it about?”

“You.”

“You’re lying.”

“Scout’s honor,” Joel said as he held up the boy scout symbol with his right hand. “I wrote it about you. You’re always there for me and I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“I thought it was a love song.”

Joel shrugged, not wanting to let Delilah know that it might be. Even Joel still wasn’t sure of what it was. He sat down one day to write a song about his best friend but instead that song, which did sound like a love song, came out. The thought that it could be more – which would mean his feelings for Delilah were more than just feelings of friendship – scared him.

Joel was broken out of his thoughts by Delilah leaning over and kissing him on the cheek.

“What was that for?” He asked as he glanced over at her.

“It was to say thank you…for the song, for being here for me, basically for everything.”

“Of course. You know that I’d do anything for you, Lila,” Joel answered.

And it was true; Joel would do anything for her. In fact, it scared Joel just how much he was willing to do for the girl who had always been his best friend yet more at the same time.