Bad Enough for You

I looked up into the ceiling, checking my appearance. At first I thought it was flashy, but I could see the point in this whole mirror-on-the-ceiling thing, I reflected as I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to adjust it. I looked around for Matt as I wandered to the front of the bus but it seemed as if he had vanished into thin air. A nervous sigh escaped me as I unlocked the door onto the bus. Before I could even open it, I was shoved as three bodies fought their way past me. I watched in amazement as three grown men fought to get through the tiny door to the bunk room.

"I'm sorry about them," said a soft voice, bringing my focus to the brown haired, muscular guy infront of me. He held his hand out to me, which I nervously accepted, allowing him to help pull me out from the driver's seat that I had fallen into.

I smiled, looking up into his beautiful hazel eyes. "No worries."

"I'm Zach."

"I know. I'm Riley."

"I know."

I blushed, breaking our eye contact. We both seemed to notice our hands still held each other and quickly let go. I bit my lip anxiously.

"I hope you already chose your bunk," he said nodding towards the three still fighting to get through the small door.

I nodded, "Um, yeah. I did. Why aren't you trying to stake your claim?"

"I always take the middle, they're just fighting for the top. Plus, I think it's quite rude to push pretty girls out of my way just so I can get a good bed," he smiled nonchalantly.

"Well it is the bed you'll have for the next eight and a half months." I deliberately ignored his comment and did a relatively well job of controlling the blush that threatened to rise in my cheeks.

"Nah, at one point or another someone will make a dumb bet or piss someone off and have to trade bunks. Besides, we hardly ever actually sleep in them. Most of the time we just pass out on the couches. Or the floor in Jack's case."

I raised my eyebrows, "The floor?"

"I'm gonna fucking kill you in your sleep, Barakat!" came a loud shout from the bunk room.

The bald drummer, slightly shorter than the others walked out of the room shaking his head. "Jack got the top bunk."

"Who got the bottom?" asked Zach, indicating for me to sit next to him on the couch.

"I did. The middle is not worth dealing with an Alex temper-tantrum," he held his hand out to me, "Riley, right? I'm Rian. Sorry about earlier. I kind of forgot my manners in the quest for the top bunk."

We briefly shook hands, "No worries. It's nice to meet you."

"Do you ever worry?" Zach asked. I cocked my head at him in confusion. "That's the second time you said that."

I blushed and opened my mouth but was interrupted by a loud crash and a yelp of pain. We all turned and looked towards the bunks.

"Riiiiiileyyyy," a voice whined, "Alex pushed me onto the floor."

I looked back and forth between Rian and Zach before pointing to myself, "Me?"

"How could I have pushed you? I had pushed you, you'd hit the wall of the bunk," sulked the singer, sliding into the booth and dropping his head onto the table.

"Fine, then you pulled me," pouted the tall and lanky guitarist, walking out of the room rubbing the side of his head. He stopped in front of me and leaned down until his face was level with mine.

"Is there a bump? Does it look like it's going to bruise?" he questioned restlessly, turning his head so I could inspect the side that presumably hit the floor.

I glanced at Zach for help but he was busy with his phone and Rian just smiled at me. Tentatively, I brushed my finger tips over the red area that he had been rubbing. I felt bad as I saw Jack flinch a bit.

"There's a bit of a bump."

Jack frowned still bent in front of me, "Do we have any ice?"

"No, Matt just turned on the fridge a little while ago. I'm sorry," I said quietly, feeling guilty.

"Kiss it better?" Jack asked hopefully after a long sigh.

I looked around nervously for help again but still found none.

"Please?" he begged.

I nodded, leaning forward and lightly letting my lips graze the bump for a split second.

Jack popped back up, his face lighting up like a kid in a candy store. "Thank you!" he called before trotting off for the back of the bus.

"Is it always that easy to keep him happy?" I asked nobody in particular.

"Yep," said Rian, pulling out his phone.

"Give him kisses when he's hurt and make sure he has a full stomach and he's fine," Zach commented, putting his phone away. "Alex, on the other hand....."

"Fuck you," came Alex's muffled voice, his head resting in his hands.

"Just name the time and place, Mr. Gaskarth."

Alex flick him the middle finger, which Zach only laughed at.

Jack returned a few minutes later and began messing with the television, tapping his foot impatiently. Finally, reaching the main menu screen of the DVD, which I caught to be some volume of Family Guy. He gave a small squeal of delight and pressed play.

He came and sat unusually close to me, so I scooted closer to Zach, but now it felt as if I was invading his personal space. He didn't seem to mind though, as he stretched his legs out in front of him and tossed his arm on the back of the couch. I jumped slightly when Jack suddenly snaked his arms around my waist, pulled me close, and rest his head on my shoulder.

My eyes went wide as I looked around the room. Rian and Zach watched the TV as if nothing was unusual about this and Alex still had his head in his hands. I tried to relax as I stared absentmindedly at the glowing screen. What the hell had I gotten myself into.

A few minutes later there was a warm deep laugh that was quite different from the chuckles the guys gave at the TV show. I turned my head, surprised to see that it came from Alex.

"Jack," he turned his head towards the singer, but still kept it on my shoulder. "Get off of her; you're going to scare her away. First kissing your boo-boo and now using her like a personal teddy bear? She's gonna think you're a freak."

I felt bad for him as I saw the look of guilt and pain cross Jack's features as he moved to pull away from me. Really, I was quite grateful for Alex having said something seeing as I hated human contact, especially with a stranger clinging to me like a life raft, but I couldn't stand to see that look on his face. Quickly, I put my arm around his shoulder and pulled him back into me.

"Thanks, Alex," I said giving him a genuine smile, "but really, it's ok. You're fine, Jack."

I felt Jack release a content sigh as his he returned to my shoulder, though now it felt like he held me even closer this time. Alex looked at me; it was clear he could see through the picture of relaxation I tried to exude. It was pointless to even try, but I forced as close to a comfortable, calm smile as I could for him.

Three episodes later the door flew open.

"Why the hell are your suitcases outside?" snapped Matt, stepping onto the bus. He caught sight of Jack and me and his features softened. He gave me a small apologetic smile. "You might want to move him; he has a tendency to drool in his sleep."

I looked down at the mop of dark hair that obscured his face; I hadn't even noticed he had fallen asleep. Zach grabbed a throw pillow, and reaching around me, whacked the sleeping boy over the head with it.

"What the hell?" shrieked Jack, bolting straight up. I couldn't help but join the others in laughing at his confused face.

"You fell asleep when you're supposed to be unpacking!" snapped Matt, annoyance back in his voice.

Jack blushed sheepishly and shuffled off the bus muttering his apologies.

"And the rest of you?" Matt said, crossing his arms in displeasure at the other band member's lack of action.

Zach and Rian groaned and grumbled but squeezed past Jack, who had returned lugging two large suitcases. Either he had a lot of shit he didn't need, he didn't know how to pack or I didn't have nearly enough stuff crammed into my large duffel bag.

"What the fuck, man?" Alex laughed, echoing my thoughts. "You got a body or something stuffed in one of those?"

"No but I can throw a pair of jeans out and stick you in," Jack groaned, dropping the bags to the floor with a loud thud.

Matt looked up from the Netbook he placed on his lap. "That is not where your shit belongs, Barakat. Put. It. Away."

"But it's heavy," he whined.

"I don't give a flying fuck. I'll give you until the count of three," Matt warned.

Jack chuckled, "Flying. Flyzik. Get it?"

"One."

"I can't even pick it up in three seconds," Jack pouted stamping his feet.

"Two."

Jack crossed his arms.

Rian shoved his way past the guitarist, carrying only a small duffle bag. "Don't fuck with him, man. Tour hasn't even started yet. You want this trip to be hell?"

Jack quickly dropped the two-year-old act and started acting his twenty-two years. He struggled to pick up one of the bags while he pushed the other towards the bunks with his foot.

"Two and a half," Matt said, the corners of his lips twitching.

"I'm going. I'm going," Jack grunted.

I heard the door open and Zach get on with a very large suitcase. He broke into a laugh watching his bandmate struggle.

"Grow some muscles," Zach teased, easily lifting the bag Jack was struggling to carry, pulling his own behind him.

"Show off," Jack muttered, picking up his other suitcase and rolling it into the bunks behind Zach.

"And your shit?" Matt glared over the tops of his sunglasses at Alex, sprawled out on the couch opposite of me.

"Rian," Alex said, batting his lashes at the boy walking back to the front of the bus.

The drummer eyed the other suspiciously, "What?"

"Will you be a doll and get my bags for me?"

"What? Hell no," Rian answered, plopping onto the couch.

"Fine," Alex snapped before his voice turned sickly sweet again. "Riley, babe-"

"Everyone else got their shit themselves, you can get yours," Matt interjected.

"Blah, blah, blah," Alex mocked, giving the tour manager his middle finger before getting off the bus.

"Did you guys even unpack?" Matt sighed, glancing between Jack, Rian, and Zach, ignorring Alex as he lugged a large suitcase and medium size dufflebag towards the bunks.

"We'll do it later," Rian shrugged, inserting another Family Guy disc.

Matt pinched the bridge of his nose, "Guys..."

"Dude, chill," Jack said, wrapping himself around me again. "We have all of today and tomorrow before we even have a show or anything to do. We'll get it done."

"Whatever. Do whatever you want. I'm going to go check on the crew," Matt growled, slamming the door on his way out.

"Is he ok?" I wondered aloud.

Zach squeezed my shoulder reassuringly, "Don't worry, he's always like this the first week of tour. It's best to just ignore the attitude and do what he says."

"You ok?" Jack asked quietly as the credits rolled.

"Yeah, I'm good," I whispered back with a forced smile.

Jack obviously didn't believe me. "You sure? You're all tense and stuff."

"Just excited about the tour," I lied. In an attempt to distract him I said, "Oh! I love this episode."

Jack nodded slowly before returning his head to my shoulder. Next to me Alex and Zach gave me challenging looks, probably because of the anxiety clear in my voice

What was I suppose to do? Shove Jack to the floor and tell him to never touch me again? People in my person space freaked me out but he was technically my boss. If I had to deal with being Jack's personal teddy bear to have my dream job, so be it.