The Girl At The Rock Show

-Las Vegas, NV.-

“Are you almost done in there? I have to pee and you’re taking forever!” A voice called from the other side of the bathroom door making Tessa sigh. She finished pinning her hair back and took one last glance at her reflection in the mirror before going to the door and unlocking it to see the other girl standing there.

“Jesus Tay, if you’re going to be like this every single time we room together this tour I’m going to smack you.”

She walked past her and into the main part of the room to grab her bag and put the clothes she had changed out of inside and the hyper singer just followed her, plopping on the bed and smiling stupidly to her. Tessa chose to ignore her in favor for finishing getting ready since they were already sort of late.

“I thought you had to pee,”

Tay shrugged, “I was just trying to get you out of the bathroom. Now let’s go! Jack only has one birthday!”

“He has a birthday once a year, and I don’t think we’re really missing much if we’re a few minutes late.”

“A few minutes?” Tay scoffed as she pointed to the time. “Um more like fifteen, now stop fussing and let’s go. You look fine.”

Tessa just rolled her eyes and pulled her shoes on and grabbed her phone while Tay turned off the Disney movie that had been playing while they had been getting ready. The singer was nearly peeing herself as she bounced to the door with Tessa following her down the hall to the elevators.

Because it was Jack’s birthday and all, and no one really wanted a bunch of drunk band people in the main area of the lobby, Matt had booked a hotel suite for the band while the crew had their rooms on the floor below. But it was worth it since that meant that they weren’t going to have to be kicked out of any place if they got to loud and obnoxious that night since everyone who was coming to the party knew that things were going to get a little out of hand.

When they got to the top floor, the girls followed the sound of Blink blasting through a stereo to find the suite. Tessa had texted Matt moments before to tell him to open the door for them since no one was going to hear knocking when the music was that loud, and by the time they got to the suite, Matt as just opening the door.

“Ladies,” He said with a wide smile as he stepped aside to let them in. Tessa couldn’t help but smile as she walked inside and saw what was going on.

She caught glimpses of the rest of We Are The In Crowd inside, along with all the boys from You Me At Six, Mayday Parade, We The Kings, and a bunch of other people. It was pure chaos but a good kind, a kind that Tessa was used to.

“I’m going to go try and find my brother, I’ll be back.” Tessa shouted to Tay, who just shrugged and went to join Travis, Josh, and some of the other guys who were playing beer pong in the kitchen.

The suite was like a mini house. Literally. From what she could tell, it had about three bedrooms in the back with a large main room with a full kitchen, dining room, and living room. The large flat screen TV was surprisingly off in favor of putting all the attention on the music that was playing, which was basically an iPod hooked into a nice speaker system that someone must have brought.

“Tessie!” Cass yelled when she caught sight of the girl. Cass and Rian were standing next to one another and a beer in hand. She smiled as she walked over to them and went to hug the older girl.

“Hey Cass, do you know where the birthday boy is? I’d like to say hi before he gets too drunk, or am I too late?”

Rian laughed as he pointed to the opposite end of the room, “I think he’s over there with Mike and your brother doing shots.”

She nodded and thanked him as she pushed her way through the crowd towards the familiar black sex hair that she could see above everyone’s heads. Thank God the boy she was looking for was so tall that she could see him above everyone else so she didn’t get lost in the crowd.

When she got closer, she saw that Rian had been right. Mike Ferri was standing next to Jack and a few other people chanting while Jack and Alex took shots provided by Vinny, who was once again standing as bar tender. Shaking her head, she pushed her way through towards them and smiled when she caught Jack’s eye.

“Tessa!!!!” He yelled, throwing his arms around her and giggling. Ok maybe the thought of getting to him before he was drunk was a stretch.

She laughed as she hugged him back, wishing him a happy birthday and letting him go. He instantly told her that she had to do a round of shots with him and rolled her eyes but agreed. She could never say no to the boy, especially on his big day. Vinny poured their drinks and she took her glass and giggled before downing it and cheering along with the rest of the guys.

Managing to escape the crazy boys before they demanded she take another, she said a quick hi to her brother before going back through the crowd to find Tay. The two of them usually stuck together when a party happened, she was one of her best friends and hardly ever got to see her. When she found the girl she was looking for, she noticed that she wasn’t alone, and that Alex was standing next to her talking and laughing together. So she turned and went to find someone else to talk to, Tay and Alex needed their time alone.

The two of them obviously had a thing for the other, they were just working out realizing this and acting upon it. But it was only a matter of time, and Tessa prayed to God that they would figure everything out before this tour ended or she was seriously going to smack them until they got it. Everyone but they could see that they were perfect for each other, they just needed a few subtle hints, and maybe if Tessa left them alone, it would make the process a little faster.

“Hey!” a voice called from somewhere behind her. She turned and smiled when she saw Matt making his way over to her with two cups in his hand. “I noticed you were alone and weren’t drinking yet so I figured you could use some company and a drink.”

Shrugging, she took the cup from him and took a sip. “Thanks,”

“Ok that’s it; you’re coming to dance with me!” He told her as he grabbed her arm and dragged her toward where the others were dancing. She barely had enough time to put her cup down as he led her to the others, protesting the whole way. “Just shut up and do something fun for once.”

“I do fun things,” She grumbled as the song changed and she started to move to the beat. “I just don’t consider dancing fun.”

He just ignored her in favor of pulling her closer and continuing to dance. Tessa caught sight of her brother dancing with a cute blonde that she didn’t recognize but gave him props anyway. The poor boy had been single for nearly a year after a particularly bad break up and she was happy that he was finally allowing himself to be happy and find someone new. It was about time he started to date again, Tessa just hoped that if it turned into something more than casual flirting, that she wouldn’t break him like the last one did.

Blink 182’s Josie came on through the speakers and Tessa laughed as she started to sing along loudly and jump up and down. It was kind of a given that they were one of her all time favorite bands, since half of her close friends lived and breathed Blink when they were younger and converted her to love them too.

”Yeah my girlfriend, takes me home when I’m too drunk to drive. And she doesn’t get all jealous when I hang out with the guys…”

Tessa glanced back to Matt when she felt him looking at her and saw that he was really close to her. He glanced down to her lips and back up to make eye contact with her and she began to notice that he was slowly inching closer and closer to her.

”She laughs at my dumb jokes when no one does, and brings me Mexican food from Sombrero’s just because. Yeah just because…”

His face was getting closer and closer to hers and she realized that she was also leaning in towards him. There were so many thoughts going in her head at once that she really couldn’t understand them and didn’t even really know what was going on, all she knew was that she suddenly had an urge to kiss him.

”And my girlfriend likes UL and DHC, and she’s so smart and independent that I don’t think she needs me, quite half as much as I know I need her, and wonder why there’s not another guy that she prefers…”

They were only inches apart by now Tessa’s mind had gone completely blank, not a single thought ran through her head as she felt the first soft press of Matt’s lips against hers.

”And when I feel like giving up and my world is falling down, I show up at 3am and she’s still up watching vacation, and I see her pretty face, it takes me away to a better place…”

By then she was kissing back, with more pressure than before and she felt him pull her impossibly closer as they continued to kiss.

And I know that everything, know that everything, know that everything, everything’s going to be fine…”

Suddenly her brain caught up with what was going on and she gasped as she pulled away from Matt and stared at him for a long moment. What the hell was she doing? Matt had just kissed her and she had just kissed him back. He had a girlfriend for crying out loud and she didn’t even think that she even liked Matt like that. The last time she had checked, she had only thought of him as a friend.

Blink was still blasting in the background and she was just standing there, in the middle of the dance floor, probably looking like a deer in the headlights while she stared at Matt. The one thing that she knew her brain was telling her was that unlike what Tom and Mark were saying about everything being fine, it sure as hell wasn’t. So she did the only thing she could think of, she turned and rushed towards the door, getting as far away as possible.