Warped Tour Romantics

Our buses had left whichever city we had just played in at the same time, it was getting to that point of tour when everywhere just started to turn into the same place and it all became routine and you did what you had to do please the crowd before you were off to the next place to do the same. However, since the Maine's bus was right behind us John and I had convinced our drivers to stop over for an hour so we could have lunch at the next diner we came across. It was literally in the middle of nowhere, this little place, where a few other buses were already parked, surrounded by a field of half dead grass, it was sort of nice actually. We greeted the Maine and their crew as we headed inside, John instantly falling into step with me, brushing his fingers against my arm as he smiled down at me.
"See that field there?"
"Oh, i'm not sure, there's a few fields around, you mean that one there?" I joked, making him nudge me in the side.
"Shut up, you. So, I was thinking we grab our lunch and have ourselves a picnic."
"That sounds nice." I agreed as we followed the others inside. We said a quick 'hello' to the other bands that were there, people we weren't friends with but who were vaguely familiar. After we ordered and got our food we told the others (who were spread across two tables being loud and generally obnoxious) our plan and of course they all cooed and awed over it.
"The love birds having a picnic."
"Aw, our boys are growing up so fast." Justin commented.
I flipped them all off as we left, John's arm brushing against mine every so often from our close proximity and as we stepped outside I finally grabbed his hand in my own, intertwining our fingers and despite the blush that had now formed on my cheeks it brought a grin to my face when he squeezed my hand. I sort of hoped the others hadn't seen because I knew we would never hear the end of it but I didn't care enough to not let it happen, I liked feeling John's skin against my skin, smooth and a little clammy, although the latter could've just been my own hand.
John pulled me towards the field and we plopped down, sitting close with our knees touching and our fingers still intertwined and urgh, being like this with John felt amazing. We chatted easily as we ate together, just enjoying summer and the company of each other.

A fair few other buses drove past as time went by and we played 'Guess Whose Bus It Is' for the buses that pulled into the diner. Not that we were ever right but we were still having fun and all of them waved over at us with a friendly greeting. That was the one of things I always loved about a huge tour like this, it didn't matter what kind of music you played or who you were, everyone became like a huge family and you knew that if anything ever happened they would all have your back. Which is exactly what happened when we were heading back into the diner. As we were letting go of each others hands as we were about to go inside suddenly a loud 'fags' was yelled behind us. John and I both froze for a second before we both turned to look at who had yelled, seeing some collage kid and a group of his friends all hanging out by their SUV. I didn't know what to do, so I just stood their numbly, staring at them as John's expression turned thunderous.
"Hey, why don't you fuck off?" He yelled, grabbing my hand again in a protective manor and flipping them off with his free one.
"Don't spread your disgusting gay around."
"Are you shitting me?" John said, squeezing my hand when he felt my body stiffen. "This is 2012, you cunt, stop being such a moronic prick." As John said this the guy started to head towards us, the rest of his friends hanging back, obviously not wanting to be apart of their friends idiotic moves. Obviously the commotion had been heard inside because suddenly all our band mates were spilling out into the car park, followed by every band member that had been inside. Suddenly, we were backed by a huge group of guys and I was filled with a sense of pride.
“I think it’s best if you backed the fuck off, right now, got it?” Someone said and I honestly didn’t even know his name but there he was, standing up for us anyway.
“Jesus, no need to bring out a whole army.” The guy said but even as he said it he was backing up and his friends were climbing back into their car.
“Stop being such a bigot, you self righteous pig.” Someone else called as he climbed back into his car, flipping us off from the safety of his car. We all watched them leave before John and I turned to the group gathered behind us, a shy smile gracing both of our faces.
“Thank you.” I said simply.
“Seriously, so much.”
“It’s what the Warped family is for, right?” I smiled wider at this, feeling John wrap his arm around shoulder and pull me into him and kiss my forehead softly as everyone headed back inside, all chatting between themselves and I knew we'd just made a whole group of new friends.