Caught Like A Fly

I didn't see Andy watching us from the side of the stage like she normally did, and I knew I should be concerned. She was pretty reliable that way and she said she was going to talk to Connor today. I didn't even wait to wave to the crowd and tossed my guitar to my tech the moment my hands played the last chord and checked every single room she could have possibly been in. She wasn't inside. No one had seen her for close to an hour. My concern turned into worry. I started searching outside next.

"Hey! Ally!" I shouted, spotting her rainbow hair as she came outside.

"Hi," she said, caught off guard. "What's up, Jacky?"

"Andy. I can't find her," I said, and of all things, she smiled. "Ally?"

"She finally took a hint," she said smugly before turning to exchange smiles with Connor. "Nobody wants her egotistic ass around anymore." I held up a hand and I wanted to smack that little bitch so bad.

"God help me, if you say one more fucking word..." I looked up and Connor and let my arm rest back at my side. "You're a pathetic piece of shit, I hope you know that. This is your fault and you should be ashamed of yourself." I spat at his feet and surprisingly, he had the decency to hang his head and blush. "And I know you've been banging Rainbow Bright for a whole lot longer than I've been showing your girlfriend what a real man feels like." Fuck yes, I've wanted to say that for so long. I let myself feel good for a few seconds before going to their gear trailer.

"What do you think you're doing?" Connor asked, his voice meek. He knew I was right. Maybe he wasn't that bad of a guy and he only had bad influences. Then again maybe not.

"I'm going to go find Andy," I said, wheeling her motorcycle out into the freezing weather. "Unlike you, I kind of like her." Have I ridden a motorcycle before? Sure.

* * *

Jacky was so wet there was rain dripping from his nose and chin like it did when he would sweat on stage. His clothes clung to him in a really sexy way and he was shaking. I wasn't sure if he was angry or cold. Probably both.

"My middle name is Cherie," I said curtly, feeling the cold sink into my bones. He wobbled towards me and held me so tightly it hurt.

"Please don't leave like that again," he mumbled, his voice shaking as much as his body was. "You don't understand, you don't mean something to me. You mean everything to me."

"That's the cold talking," I said, shivering. "Where's your bus?"

"Gassing up," he said, and forced a smile onto his face. "You really think I was going to let you get away that easy? Give me some credit, Adelaine."

"Well, let's hurry up, I want to be warm in that bus," I said, and led him by the hand. I stopped in the middle of the parking lot during a downpour and turned to glare at Jacky. "My motorcycle? Really?"

"Desperate times," he said, shrugging and laughing.

"Get on the back," I snapped, but it was in an affectionate tone. He held onto me like I was going to leap off of my bike and abandon him, and continued to have at least one hand on me at all times as their merch guys loaded my motorcycle into their gear trailer.

"Ronnie," I whined, grabbing the lapels of his leather jacket. "Is there fresh coffee in there?"

"I'm pretty sure," he said, and stopped me when I let go of him to head inside. "Why don't you and Jacky, uh, go inside and...warm up." He winked and gave me a knowing smile. "And I'll have your coffee ready for you whenever you're done."

"You are well on your way to being one of the best friends I've ever had," I said, grinning from ear to ear. He shooed me away and disappeared inside the mini mart. I hopped onto the bus and Jacky was already shirtless and in the middle of taking off his jeans. Lovely sight, by the way.

"I didn't know it was possible to be so cold," he shivered, taking his wet clothes and hanging them up anywhere that could hold them. I started peeling off my shirt and pants as well, and he wasn't hiding the fact he was looking.

"Hurry up, get under your blankets," I said, and he obeyed with a small smile on his face. "This would be incredibly awkward if we weren't already messing around." I quickly slid under the blankets and wrapped my side of them tight over my shoulders.

"This sort of thing only happens in your American films," he said, and I could feel him shifting so he could be closer. I could feel my toes and fingertips burning as they began to heat up and when my skin was warm I could feel the deep, achy cold in my bones more precisely. Coffee would be perfect. At least I thought so until Jacky started planting kisses across my shoulders and running a hand from the middle of my thigh up to my shoulder and back again. I could feel his hot breath on the back of my neck and that was it for me. I could always microwave the coffee.

* * *

Jacky had clothes that fit me well enough so they wouldn't fall off, and Mika somehow produced a bra that was in my size. I balked at putting it on at first, but he swore that they washed all the random trophies left behind, and that it was pretty old since they all had significant others now. So I came out of Jacky's room on the bus with his Adidas shirt, pajama pants and some random band whore's bra.

Ronnie handed me my coffee that was still warm (he said he kept it in the microwave and that it was scalding hot to begin with) and we all settled down to watch a movie. We were on our way home, well, on our way to Vegas, and we would all be busy with Ronnie and Viv's wedding. She asked me to be her bridesmaid, which was weird since we'd only been texting lately, but I figured it was because she didn't have anybody else.

I was snuggled up next to Jacky with my coffee, and Ronnie was on my other side. Derek put in Leap Year, which was not a movie I would have thought any of them would watch, and I felt like I did before anything went wrong with Connor. Before I was even dating Connor and it was just our band watching a movie together like a fucked up family that was even closer than a real one.