We'll Tell The Saddest Story Of How We Made It Through This Past Year.

Three months later

“And we’re All Time Low, thank you for having us! This is our last song. It’s called Dear Maria. Sing it if you know it, Chicago, we want to hear you scream!” Alex himself screamed as we got ready to play our first ever gold single, Dear Maria.

The fans went crazy. The entire Congress Theatre was filled, and I’m pretty sure we’d surpassed the legal amount of people allowed inside the building, but it was crazy. This was the start of our fall tour, and we were going to be taking the winter season off to be with our families. Everyone was determined to enjoy these last few weeks, us included.

Zack and I started the song with random, unimportant chords that hummed through the crowd and vibrated the souls of the 5000+ people spread out in front of us. Rian joined in with a slow but steady drum beat, and Alex simply stood there, looking like the God he was.

Matt Flyzik, from somewhere in the back, counted down a ONE, TWO, ONE TWO THREE.

And with that, the familiar noise of Dear Maria burst into my in-ear monitors as Alex, Zack, Rian and I commenced the start of the end of this show. Zack and I danced crazily around Alex as he made love to the crowd with his eyes, and Rian beat his heart out on his drums.

The lights dimmed as Alex got ready to sing his first line.

“I’ve got your picture, I’m coming with you, dear Maria count me in.” He turned his microphone to the crowd and their loudness almost deafened us as they finished the first lines for us.

“There’s a story at the bottom of this bottle and I’m the pen.”

The lights began their crazy flashing as Jeff Maker, our lights guy, really went above and beyond, turning the crowd all sorts of colors and then all but plunging them in the dark, the spotlight trained on Alex as he began to move back and forth, singing the first verse.

The rest of the song went as good as ever, and there was nearly 10 minutes of deafening screams after we got off the stage. We could hear fans screaming our names and begging for more, and despite the fact that we’d played 15 minutes longer than normal and should be exhausted, I found myself wishing that we could go out and play just one more.

Alex collapsed onto me as I sat on the couch. “What a fucking show.”

I laughed and readjusted myself so that his weight was spread out more evenly on me. “You say that every time we play a show,” I chided him gently, but then grinned. “But for once, I agree with you. Those kids sure knew how to party!”

Alex nodded his agreement. And then his phone buzzed, and his attention focused on the phone. His eyes went wide as he read the message, and then he bounced up excitedly, kneeing me in the balls in the process.

“Argh, Alex, watch the ball sack if you don’t mind,” I said, rubbing it.

His eyes went devilish and he pushed my hand out of the way, dropping to his knees at the same time. “Want me to kiss them better?” he whispered, his hands massaging the length of me through my pants. I could feel myself starting to respond already.

Someone cleared their throat just then and I was spared from embarrassing myself.

“No sex when we’re around, please. Do you want to give me nightmares?” The voice was that of our friend and tour manager, Matthew Flyzik. He was standing in the doorway with Zack and Rian, who’d disappeared shortly after we left the stage.

I smiled at the boys and pulled Alex down into my lap. “We weren’t going to have sex, Alex was going to kiss my balls better,” I said innocently.

Matt and Rian rolled their eyes and Zack pretended to gag as the three of them took various seats around us.

“So, guys, did either of you get a text from Caleb or Kyle yet?” Matt inquired casually.

“From Forever The Sickest Kids?” I asked, surprised. Matt nodded and I was about to say no when I caught Alex’s eye.

“Actually, yeah, I just did. Jack, check your phone, you probably have a message too.” Alex said, pulling his phone back out.

“I don’t know where my phone is,” I said sheepishly.

This statement was met with laughter and Alex and the guys all rolled their eyes at me. This was typical Jack behavior; I must go through at least a phone every month.

“Never mind, I’ll just read my message out loud,” Alex said. “It says: Hey broskies, what up? We heard about your recent touring dilemma and thought we might be able to help. We talked to your sexy ass tour manager, and he’s down. Talk to him and then let us know! Love you guy! – Kyle.”

This message was typical Kyle Burns. I smiled as I pictured the blond in my head. We went way back, we did. Old friends.

We all looked up at Matt, waiting for an explanation of this random text message.

“Well, boys, it seems that FTSK got word of how Every Avenue had to cancel as our bigger support band this tour, and they’re interested in replacing them. They were planning on taking a break from touring until after Christmas, but they’re quite interested in the shows you have planned – and they miss you, of course.” Matt explained all of this in one breath and smiled winningly at us.

I was, in fact, quite down for the idea of hanging out with the guys from FTSK again. I was closest to Kyle, but Caleb and I had some good laughs, and they were all pretty fun dudes. We’d toured with them once before, and had spent almost all of Bamboozle with them two years ago. It’d bring back some memories, for sure.

Alex didn’t seem too sure though.

“I’m not sure this is the best time for them to tour with us,” he said uncertainly. “They’re quite the partiers, and right about now with the process for Gabby, we can’t tour with people who are going to want to get drunk and get laid every night.”

Gabby. A beautiful, spontaneous, lovable, hopefully soon to be ours, child of two years old. We had a month left with her on a trial basis before the judge decided if we were going to get to add her to our little family.

Alex had a point about the guy’s behavior. We were touring with We Are The In Crowd and Mayday Parade because they were more mature bands, and we wouldn’t have to worry about their behavior affecting our time with Gabby.

The judge had been very adamant about us taking Gabby on tour. “It’s where you two spend the most of your time. It’s your natural habitat. Its there that we’re most likely to be able to judge you accurately.” He had therefore decreed that we had to spend at least a month on tour while we had Gabby. Our fall tour had worked out perfectly.

Matt looked at us. “They know the circumstances and have assured me that they can deal with it. I mean, let’s face it. They’re kind of in a predicament here, and touring with you might do them some good.”

That much was true. They’d gotten some bad publicity in the last few months. While it was nothing that could hurt our fight for Gabby, it had cost them some fans and some of their self esteem. Touring with trusted friends who were also a well respected band couldn’t hurt them any.

I turned my liquid brown eyes on Alex. “Please, Lex? Let’s give it a try.”

He still seemed uncertain, but he nodded anyway. “Okay. Let’s do this!”