Until Tomorrow

As soon as Tonight Alive’s set ended, Cam stomped off stage, off-handed his guitar to a crew member and changed his shirt, looking as though he was about to commit a mass-murder. He wiped his face with a towel and put on some deodorant before heading towards the merch table to find Becca.

As soon as he reached the merch table, he started to get mobbed by fans who wanted autographs and pictures with him. He obliged, not wanting to be rude and come off as an asshole, which he knew he sometimes did. When Jenna arrived, the fans soon forgot about him and moved on to her, and Cam had the chance to talk to Becca. He grabbed her arm and leaned down to whisper in her ear, “drinks on me.”

Becca smiled and nodded, hoping that the crowd would thin out soon so that she could start packing up. Whakaio, Jake and Matty came out to meet fans after they’d finished helping the crew pack up their gear and load it back in the van. By then, there was only about twenty left and they all cleared out pretty quickly. When they’d gone, Cam and Becca started packing up merch together, Matty, Whakaio and Jenna went on the hunt for after-show food and Kelly and Jake disappeared to the bar in the venue.

“Isn’t it funny how fast people disappear when there’s work to be done?” Becca joked, trying to lighten the mood. Cam’s face was still set in that hard, brooding stare of his as he furiously threw shirts into boxes and taped them back up. He simply nodded and grunted, moving onto the next box.

“Cam,” Becca said, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Do you wanna talk about it?” Cam stopped what he was doing and stood upright, staring right into Becca’s eyes.

“Fine, let’s talk about it,” he said, a hint of sarcasm in his tone. “Why didn’t you tell any of us that you had a sister? We’re your friends, Becca.”

“I’m sorry, okay?” Becca replied. “I just never thought she’d actually come back.”

“Come back?” Cam said. “From where?”

“Last summer she just left. No goodbye note, no nothing. Complete silence on her end, for a whole year. My Dad went absolutely crazy trying to find her and I think she just about broke my Mum’s heart. It was hell, if I’m being truthful.”

“So she bails on you for a whole year and then shows up on your doorstep again expecting to be welcomed with open arms?” Cam asked, incredulous.

“Pretty much,” Becca said with a shrug. “It’s all rather fucked, if you ask me.”

“You’ve got that right.”

“What was she like, Cam? When you met her? In Perth?”

“Honestly? She looked wild. She was just a mess, I could tell. Her eyes… I could just tell she needed help and I tried to talk to her, you know? She said her name was Stella and that she was travelling around a bit. She didn’t talk much, but she always held my stare. Man, there was something about her. Anyway, after the show, we kinda hooked up and I guess she thought it was just one of those things but I tried to help her and I offered her a place to stay and everything and told her to stop shutting herself off and let me in and that’s the part where I guess she freaked the fuck out and then bailed on me.”

“Wow,” Becca said. “That’s a lot to process.” She punched her friend in the arm, hard.

“Ow!” he exclaimed. “What was that for?”

“That was for hooking up with my sister.”

“I didn’t know she was your sister!”

Becca sighed and shook her head, sitting down on the table. “What if I hadn’t had exams that month and had gone on that tour with you? Man, things would be so different,” she said.

“Don’t do that to yourself, bro. It’s done. No changin’ that.”

“Still sucks, though,” Becca said.

“Yeah, I know,” Cam said. “Believe me.” He closed the small space between them to wrap an arm around her shoulders and bring her to his chest. She sighed and wrapped her arms around his skinny frame, feeling a little better already.

“Now, how about that vodka?” Cam said. Becca laughed and nodded as Cam pulled her up and tucked her under his arm and into his side as they made their way to the bar.