Take Your Time

Tucson, AZ
January 15th 2012

It was just another show and everyone was busy. All kinds of people was on stage; the sound engineer, the tour manager, Dan, other sound engineer, Sam Miller of Paradise Fears, Marshall, Joey, and Addie had no idea what the last three were doing up there if she had to be honest, they were just talking, wasting time.

She was watching them from the tribune, her hands holding her camera. She had nothing to do, to be quite honest, and she was bored as hell. She’d gladly take pictures but she was saving her battery for later, and wasn’t exactly interested in playing Temple Run remembering how Josh mocked her because she wasn’t good at it.

She leaned her body against the railing and rested her elbow on it, singing Parachute’s Forever and Always softly. Yeah, sure, her voice sucked, but she was alone anyway so who cares? Besides, it’s one of her favorite songs, everything about that song’s beautiful.

“And the lady sings.” She heard. She then saw Stephen as she turned her head. He had that stupid crooked grin on with his hands in his pockets. “What are you doing up here?”

“What are you doing up here?” She asked back, looking at the stage again. She could see Marshall smiling at her and Deleon’s voice was heard through the sound system. Obviously, the soundcheck was going pretty well.

“I’m taking care of the lights for Days Difference, want to join me?” He offered, stucking his hands in his pockets.

She eyed him closely. Sure, she had gotten more comfortable with them, but Stephen’s still so...bipolar? Weird? She wasn’t sure, but when he’s around she wasn’t as comfortable as she was with Brian, Marshall, or anyone else. “I can’t.”

“Just watch. Would you rather see them down there singing Britney Spears or would you rather do the lights for Days Difference with me?” He impatiently tapped his feet as he waited for her response.

She finally nodded. “Yeah, sure.” She straightened up. Without another word, he walked away and she followed him until they arrive in front of a series of panels full of buttons. She frowned when she saw them.

“Confused?” He grinned at her as he started messing with the buttons. “It’s not really that hard.” He glanced at her before looking at the panels again.

She scoffed. “Yeah, because you’re good at it,” she said as she rested her back against the wall. He didn’t say anything in response, and she didn’t have anything to say either, so the next ten minutes were silent. Maybe she should’ve known, it was just like the first time they were alone together.

Well unfortunately, he didn’t have the same thought as her.

“Adds, do you want to try?” He offered, turning his head to see her. He had that kind look on his face, something she had never seen before.

She shook her head. “I will only mess things up,” she replied quietly as she checked the time on her phone. Maybe she shouldn’t have left her copy of Game of Thrones with John, she could be reading it if she had it.

“I will show you how.” He reasoned. He had already turned his body so was completely facing her. “Come on, it’s pretty easy,” he motioned to the panels.

“No.”

“The last time you refuse to do something I want you too, I lifted you off the ground and threw you at Dan, do you want that to happen again? Because it’s a long way down to Dan, Miss Shirley.” He smirked at her.

She really didn’t get him. One second he was nice and the next he was scaring the shit out of her. She reluctantly moved in front of the panels and looked at the confusing buttons. “How do I do this?” She asked without looking at him.

“You control that, that, and that, we only need to control the movements so...” He pressed a button. “We just do those kinds of things, but I’m going to do that during the set.”

“Seems easy.” She commented.

“Only because everything’s done, try doing it from the beginning. First, you change color filters, determine colors, the position of the lights, everything,” He looked over to the stage from above where lights were hanging. “I thought you’d know about this, you’re a photographer after all.”

The young woman only shrugged her shoulders before pushing a few buttons, then looking at the lights move with amusement on her face. She didn’t realize the faces she was making until she heard Stephen laugh, though. “What?”

“You looked like a little kid in a candy store and the fact that you look like you’re fourteen doesn’t help.” She rolled her eyes at his answer, but there was a small smile on her lips. “And since you’re twenty I guess you’re going to stay this short forever, yeah?”

She looked up at him. Yeah, she hated to admit it but he was tall and she was short. She opened her mouth to say something, but she decided against it. After a few seconds, she finally said something. “I really really don’t like you.”

“Mature,” he teased her.

“Oh, like you are.” She muttered, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

“So, any confirmation about Baltimore yet?” Stephen changed the topic, already messing with the lighting again. Addie just watched him, her arms still crossed in front of her chest childishly.

“Confirm what?” She frowned when she heard the question. What was there to confirm in Baltimore? She really had no idea what he was talking about.

“Meeting your family.” Her expression fell as soon as he said that, and he noticed. “Oh come on, what’s so wrong with meeting them? My mother embarrassed me in front of you, why can’t your mom embarrass you in front of me?”

She sighed. “The first time I got here, you all scared me, because you’re rock stars, mom hates rock stars.”

“I’m not a rock star.”

“Well she doesn’t know that, does she?”

He looked disappointed, and she couldn’t blame him. “Fine, be that way,” he said. And the two were silent again; him messing with lighting for the stage and her leaning against the wall quietly. She’d come down, but she was a little too lazy to do so.

He finally stepped away from the panels before leaning beside her. “What’your brother like?” He tried to start a conversation, looking at her.

She bit her bottom lip, contemplating whether or not she should sugarcoat it. She never liked it when people pity her, she was strong enough to withstand her family since she was a child, no amount ‘I’m sorry’s and concern would change that. “Well...he’s...,” she sighed. “I guess he’s not that bad.” She shrugged her shoulders.

“He’s not that bad...” The bassist trailed off, “but he kind of is?” He sent her a questioning look.

“No.” She immediately said. But then she added, “I mean... he’s cool, you know. He obeys mom all the time.” She tried to find another good thing about her brother.

He raised an eyebrow at her, “Like a trained dog of some sort?” He didn’t really mean to offend her, but he had trouble phrasing it right.

“...ish,” she said, a little unsure if it was the right thing to say. Was she ashamed? Yes. Because unlike his mother, Stephen wouldn’t seem to understand it when a family’s not as warm and welcoming as his, Jean’s older and clearly wiser. She knew Stephen wasn’t a child, he was older than her by three years after all, but his family was so perfect and nice. Besides, his brother’s one of the nicest people she had ever met, John’s a good person.

It was true, though. Her brother’s like a trained dog. If her mother was Joffrey than her brother Carter would be the Hound. Not to mention, he was a bully. The only thing they shared was the fact that they hate their Dad, that was it.

“Really?” He turned his head again so he was looking straight at the panels. “He must be so boring.”

“He sucks.” She mumbled.

He chuckled. “I feel you, Adds, I feel you.”

She scoffed. “You know nothing, Stephen Gomez,” she said even though she was pretty sure he wouldn’t get the A Song of Ice and Fire reference.

“And why do you think that? How would you know if John’s not really all that he seems?” He glanced at her for a second. “When we were younger, he’s a fucking asshole. I was scared of elevators as a child because of him.”

She raised an eyebrow at him without another word, a small smile was playing on her lips. She was really questioning his words, what kind of person would be scared of elevators?

He rolled his eyes. “Very funny, Addie, very funny.” He crossed his arms in front of her chest. “It wasn’t my fault he hit the emergency button when we were in the elevator and scared the shit out of me. I was only nine.”

She couldn’t help but laugh a little at that. “I sure wish I was there.” She shook her head, still chuckling a little. She found it hilarious, a nine year old Stephen scared of the elevator. When she was nine, she was scared of her Dad.

“No, you don’t.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Okay, you do.” He gave up because judging from that look on her face and their previous arguments, she wasn’t going to give up. Just another stubborn person aside from Godsey that he had to put up with. Nice.

It took Addie a few minutes to think of another topic. “Why are you so judgmental?” She looked at the bassist with a frown.

“Oh the irony,” said the 23 year old as he checked his phone. If he paid attention he would’ve noticed she put up her middle finger at him, something she doesn’t do everyday. “Great people have great taste in music, you don’t.”

“Why?”

“You like mainstream shit.”

“Why?”

“Mainstream shit is bad for your health.”

“Why?”

“Fucking hell, Addie, you’re just like Brian except for the attractive part. You even use a Blackberry.” He shook his head with an expression of pity.

She scratched the back of her head uneasily. “Attractive?” She decided to ask, there was a faint blush on her cheeks.

“Compared to Brian, yes.” He easily replied as he put his phone into his pocket. “There are a lot of things more attractive than Brian, except for Nicki Minaj, I’d choose Brian over her any day.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’d choose Brian over you any given day.” At least Brian can last in a five minute conversation with her without giving her an insult at least once.

“Really? Because I’d choose Nicki Minaj over you.”

“I’d choose Bieber over you.”

He faked a gasp. “Deep.”

“It is known.”