Smash Into Me

Kayleigh mindlessly flipped through the channels on the TV, trying to find something to watch. She was bored out of her fucking mind just sitting on the bus like she’d been told to do. She wanted to get out there and sell some merch and talk with some fans.

The bus door opened, causing Kayleigh to sit up a bit. Max appeared with a grin on his face, “Hey, Kayleigh.”

“Hey, Max,” She muttered, slumping back down. “What’re you doing here? Don’t you have some interviews to do?”

“No, I got mine over with. Josh still has loads to do,” He said as he popped open a beer and sat on her legs.

She laughed and tried to pull her legs out from under him, “Max, get up!”

“Should’ve moved ‘em before I sat down, love,” He laughed, shaking his head ‘no’. “How can you sit here like this? Aren’t you fucking bored?”

“Of course I’m fucking bored,” She sighed, turning the TV off.

“Want to go watch someone?” Max asked, setting his beer on the floor. He felt bad for Kayleigh because she was obviously going insane on this bus. No one had asked her to do anything. Josh was stuck doing interviews all day, and apparently Kayleigh was still upset with him. So, she was stuck. Max was her savior.

“Who’s playing?” She asked.

“I dunno. We’ve gotta go find that out, now don’t we?” He winked, standing up and stretching a bit.

She smiled and stood, “You’re a fucking saint, Max Helyer.”

*

“Saosin first.”

“Alright, Senses Fail goes on the Smart Punk stage right after them, so we gotta dart there when they’re done,” Kayleigh said, staring up at the giant blow up with the times, bands, and stages all on it. “We watching from side stage or the pit?”

“I was thinking the pit,” Max said, looking over at her. “Unless you don’t want to mess up your arm anymore.”

She grinned, “I think it’ll hold up in the pit. Let’s go.”

They ran from the giant blow up board to the Hurley stage. A large crowd was already there, waiting for Saosin to come out. They shoved their way through the crowd, settling into the middle.

Cheers deafened the two. Wide grins broke out on their faces as Cove’s voice sang those familiar lyrics.

“Taking on seven years, the holy ghost had left alone!” They screamed with Cove and the crowd. The shoving immediately started. Some kid was shoved right into Kayleigh’s bad arm. She yelped, instantly clutching her arm.

Max looked over at her with wide eyes. “You okay, love!?” He shouted over the music and the kids screaming.

Kayleigh bit her lip, sucking up the stinging pain in her arm, “Just fine!”

“Don’t lie to me,” Max said, giving her a look.

“I’m okay, Max!” She laughed, shoving him a bit. “Really.”

“If you get hurt, I’ll get in a shitload of trouble with Mike, Rob, Sierra, Josh,” He started listing the people who would absolutely kill him if Kayleigh got hurt any more. Kayleigh rolled her eyes and punched him in the arm. “Ow! What was that for!?”

“Just shut up and enjoy the show, Maxy,” Kayleigh yelled, turning her attention back to the stage.

He rolled his eyes. She better not get hurt. He grabbed her good arm and pulled her in front of him. He was going to make sure no one slammed into her, fell on her, shoved her, or did anything to hurt her.

Kayleigh smiled back at the boy standing right behind her, “You’re such a good guy, Max.”

“I try my best,” He grinned.

By the end of the set, Max and Kayleigh were absolutely covered in sweat. Kayleigh’s bandage was sliding down her arm, exposing the massive gash. You’re Not Alone wasn’t typically a song that people went fucking nuts to, so Max decided he was going to crowd surf and leave Kayleigh on her own. She said she’d be fine. Which he believed.

Max got up and managed to crowd surf without being dropped. Kayleigh cheered him on, laughing. The song was almost over when someone decided to be a total cunt and start shoving. They shoved some guy into Kayleigh. The guy smashed into Kayleigh’s exposed arm.

“Motherfucker!” She screamed, grabbing her arm. The guy turned around, eyes instantly going wide when he saw blood dripping down the girl’s arm. “Fucking hell, this would happen to me…”

“I’m so sorry, I have no idea how that happened. Serio – ”

Kayleigh cut the guy off, “No, it’s cool. You just hit it, and kinda…split it open again…”

“Damn, I really am sorry,” The guy said, rubbing the back of his neck. “My friend just…is a dick. I’m so, so sorry.”

“It’s cool, dude,” She laughed, pulling the bandage up her arm a bit.

Saosin’s set ended and the crowd broke up a bit. Max came running up to Kayleigh, massive grin on his face, “I was almost dropped, but some girl – holy fuck, what happened!?”

“Nothing, Maximus. We just need to get back to the bus and get me a new bandage…” She muttered, looking from him to her arm, then back up at him again. “Now.”

“Right, let’s go, then,” He said quickly, wrapping an arm around her waist. He pushed through a crowd of people heading to the Hurley stage to watch Sing It Loud. “Move, people!”

“Max, let’s go behind the fence, it’s quicker,” Kayleigh laughed, taking the lead. She shuffled her way through massive amounts of people, stuffing herself through the small gap that a couple girls left her. “Beep beep! Bleeding girl coming through!” She yelled, making people turn around and stare.

“Kayleigh, what the hell did you do?” Someone called out.

“Nothing,” She muttered, rushing right past. She was a girl on a mission. She needed to get back to the buses before anyone from Versa or YMAS noticed she was missing. “Pick up the pace, Max.”

The buses were right within her reach. All she needed to do was get on the bus, fix her arm, and make it look like she’d been there all day. Piece of cake, right?

Wrong.

Her eyes went wide as she noticed Sierra step off bus fifty-three, looking around for, presumably, her. She ducked her head and darted on to the nearest bus. She bounced up the stairs and pushed back the curtain.

“Kayleigh?”

“Sup, John?” She asked, walking over to the couch. She knelt on it as she peered out the large window. Sierra was talking with Mike. “Fuck.”

“Are you okay?” John asked, watching the girl with confused eyes. His eyes finally floated down and noticed she was clutching a bloody arm. “Jesus fucking Christ, Kayleigh. What did you do to it this time?”

Kayleigh turned around with a soft, guilty look on her face, “Um…I – I did nothing. Some kid was shoved into me in the Saosin pit and...yeah. Do you have any bandages or something?”

“You were in the Saosin pit? I thought you were under house arrest,” John shook his head at her, an amused smile lingering on his lips. “You’re something else, you know that?”

“Yeah, yeah, I know that,” She laughed, waving it off. She got up from the couch and went to the little kitchenette. She dug through the cabinets. They had to have a first aid kit around here somewhere. “God dammit, John, where is your first aid kit?!”

John rolled his eyes and brushed past her, going to the tiny bathroom. He dug around for a bit before emerging with a little white box with a red cross on it. He handed it to her and she took it with a smile, “Thank you.”

“Do you need help?”

“I think I got it,” She muttered, setting the box on the little counter. She rummaged through it, only finding a couple large band aids, no gauze. They would have to do. She pulled out three band aids.

Both of their head snapped to the bus door as they heard a knock. John looked out the window. “It’s Sierra,” He noted, turning to Kayleigh.

“Don’t let her in,” Kayleigh said, panic heavily apparent in her voice. If Sierra found her like this, she’d kill her. “She has no idea that this happened.”

John smirked, “Kinda figured that. Go to the bathroom, I’ll hold her off. ”

“You’re a good person, John,” Kayleigh smiled, grabbing the kit and scrambling in to the small bathroom.

John smiled and went to the bus door, opening it a bit. He stood on the steps, bright grin slapped on his face, “Hey, Sierra!” Sierra tried to peer in a bit, but couldn’t because of John’s tall figure being right there. “What brings you to mi casa?”

Max appeared right behind Sierra, staring up at John with wide eyes, mouthing, “Have you seen Kayleigh!?”

John nodded his head at Max. Sierra, confused, turned around and saw Max standing right behind her. She shot him a look before turning back to John, shooting him the same confused as hell look. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing’s going on, Sierra,” John said, shrugging a bit.

“Bullshit,” She rolled her eyes. “Move, John.”

“What? No ‘please’?” He smirked a bit. He enjoyed pushing her buttons. Everyone loved pushing Sierra’s buttons.

“John,” She said firmly.

“Sierra,” He said, that smirk still on his face.

Max stared at John with horrified eyes. Sierra was going to kick him in the nuts at any second, yet he kept pushing her. “Sierra, maybe we should check the All Time Low bus…” Max suggested, tugging on her arm.

“No, Max,” Sierra shook her head, her gaze still locked with John’s. “Seriously, John, move.”

John opened his mouth to say something, but quickly shut it. Shrugging, he walked back into the bus, leaving the door open for Sierra.

Sierra ran up the steps, Max trailing right on her heels. Kayleigh looked from the TV to them. She set down the remote on the counter. “Hey, babes.”

“Kayleigh, what the hell are you doing here?” Sierra asked.

“I was bored,” Kayleigh shrugged, plopping herself down on to the couch. “John was bored. So, I was like ‘let’s be bored together, John’, and that’s how I ended up here.”

John looked over at Sierra and flashed a pearly white smile, “Yep. Is there a problem?”

“No, no problem,” She shook her head, still staring at Kayleigh, who was staring right back at her with an innocent looking smile. “Josh has been looking for you.”

Her smile fell. “Okay,” She muttered, turning her attention to the TV.

“Okay,” Sierra repeated, nodding a bit. From what Kayleigh had told her the night before, Josh was being pissy, so Kayleigh was being pissy right back. The two hadn’t said a single word to each other all day. Josh had wanted to though, only interviews and Kayleigh being, well…her difficult as hell self, made it hard for him to even get to her. “He’s on the bus. I’ve got to go on stage in fifteen minutes. Just…letting you know.”

“Alright, awesome,” Kayleigh waved her off, her eyes still glued to the muted TV.

Sierra muttered something that sounded like bitch under her breath before turning and leaving the bus. Max stared at Kayleigh for a second, waiting for her to say something. When she didn’t, he sighed and left the bus.

John waited until Max was off the bus to turn off the TV and sit right next to Kayleigh. Kayleigh looked at him, instantly knowing what was coming. “What’s up with you?” He asked, his tone soft and concerned. It wasn’t harsh, like Kayleigh had thought it’d be. “Your mood kinda…turned south when she mentioned Josh. Everyone okay with you two?”

“We’re okay, I guess. He was in a shitty mood yesterday and took it all out on me,” She muttered, picking at her fingernails. The red nail polish chipped and sprinkled on to her knee. She brushed it off, then looked up at John. He was staring at her, wanting her to go on. She sighed, “That’s it.”

He nodded softly before wrapping his arm around her shoulders. She leaned her body against his, resting her head on his bare, bony shoulder. "Do I need to beat his ass?" He asked, making her giggle.

"John, you're like...so much scrawnier than he is."

"Hey!" He laughed, looking down at her.

"It's true, though!"

"But you’re like my little sister, Kayleigh, and I don’t like seeing you upset,” He said softly. “I’m always here if you need someone to talk to.”

“Thank you, John. So much.”

“Any time. Wanna go watch Versa’s set? I think Sierra needs her best friend on the side of that stage,” He smiled.

She grinned, “Let’s go.”