Polaroid Cancer

“Love, can yeh hang with Mitch fer a bit?” Oliver asks before he is quickly swept away with Matt Nicholls and Jona Weinhofen to greet some very excited fans near their tour bus in Dallas, Texas.

Staring longingly in the direction that he had disappeared in, Mitch quietly clears his throat, catching Casey’s attention. She snaps her head to look at him and gives him a half-smile, Mitch grins broadly back. The last time Casey had seen this man was over a year ago on a stage, she couldn’t remember if they had said anything to each other. Right now it felt like it had been a completely different lifetime.

He leans back on the wall behind him, crosses his arms and wriggles his ring finger.

Casey feels herself going red.

“How long have the two of you been married?” Mitch briefly glances down at his own wedding ring and there is a glimmer of contentment in his eyes.

“Engaged actually… for about two months now. Oli proposed to me over a dinner he had made and… it was really sweet. I didn’t expect it all.” Her watery blue eyes drift to the silver ring and she smiles at it.

“Congradulations,” Mitch says, standing at his full height and completely towering over Casey.

She nods and rocks back and forth on her feet, “Thank you. By the way, what time does your band have to play?”

“Very soon, in fact…” Mitch peers around him, suddenly looking very concerned, “I need to go find everyone. Hang tight here, I’m sure Oli will be back shortly. It was nice meeting you, Casey, and I hope for the best for both of you.” They give each other a quick hug and now Casey is left completely by herself.

Glancing nervously around her, she walks over to the nearest wall and sits down, resting her back against it. If there wasn’t anything to make one feel awkward, it was being completely abandoned by everyone in some place you have never been in. Casey perks up when she hears the sound of someone’s shoes hitting the concrete floor. She prayed that it was someone she knew.

“Maudie!” Casey says happily. Only in the past couple of months have they come to know each other, Matt had just recently started dating her and they seemed to get along rather fine. The only thing that worried Casey was how young the girl was, otherwise she was excellent company to have around since Jayde is back home.

“Casey!” Maudie chirps, both of them embrace each other, “I see yeh were ditched by th’boys too… eh, oh well, they play after Suicide Silence. Yeh’re gonna really enjoy this, I promise.”

Casey nods and follows Maudie closely as she babbles on about all the times she has stood on the side of the stage and watched them. And how crazy they could all get, and how sexy Matt is playing the drums and how she loves when he gets all sweaty.

A flood of relief hits Casey when she spies Oliver, who catches her eye and waves excitedly at her. He is grinning from ear to ear for the next four fans that take a photo with him.

“I’m glad yeh here, me love. Sorry if yeh were ditched but I’m glad Maudie found yeh. The girl is like a bloodhound.” He bends down to kiss Casey’s cheek and bats his eyelashes a couple times while he is staring into her eyes. A tender smile is perched on his lips before saying, “Want t’ umm, go somewhere else for a little bit?”

“Sure.” Casey replies.

Oliver grabs her hand and pulls her to an empty room. There is a plush couch sitting up against a wall and he forces her to sit down as he disappears into another room. Casey stares around her, noticing how extremely barren the room is except for a lone painting of a field of colorful flowers in bright shades of red, purple and orange. She starts absently picking at her nails as her eyes wander to the couch, observing every fault and fiber.

Oliver finally comes back, a glass is in hand and it is filled with a brownish liquid. “Drink this.” He gives her a reassuring smile and Casey takes it from him without question. Swigging the drink down, she can already tell from the bitter taste that it has alcohol in it. Probably Grey Goose, which is Oliver’s favorite.

After a half hour, Casey has finished her second glass and is giggling at everything Oliver says.

“Yeh get drunk so easily, Casey,” He says, pressing her face together between his palms. Casey busts out laughing and accidentally smacks Oliver in the chin with her hand.

“Oh God, oh God, I’m sooo~oo sorry!” Casey sings while jumping up on Oliver’s lap and she bites his bottom lip, “Sooo~o sorry again!” She falls back in a giggle fit.

“We better get goin’ before yeh turn me on even more…” Oliver mumbles as he pulls Casey to her feet and escorts her directly to Maudie, who is chattering excitedly with Matt, “She’s all yours.” He grins devilishly and turns to his band mates, “Yeh ready everyone?”