Summer Heat

Setting down my half gone White Chocolate Mocha Frappuchino, I straightened up the shirts that I had hung up for display. It wasn’t even twelve and the temperatures felt like they were well over 100 degrees. My hair clung to the sides of my face as I bent down to pull out my small fold-up chair. I plopped down onto said chair and leaned back a bit. I can’t believe I was already so tired. Well, I guess it’s to be expected after mine and Dan’s shower this morning. It shouldn’t even be considered a shower since we didn’t even really take one. I know that it probably seems like sex is the only thing that Dan and I do, but it’s not. We love each other, we really do. It’s just that, as cheesy and cliché as this might sound, we feel more whole when we’re joined together as one. We do have our romantic and loving days, but lately, between Chelsea Grin being announced that they were going to be on the Vans Warped Tour, them practicing all of the time, and the actual tour starting, we haven’t had much time for anything else. Sad as it may sound, but it was the truth. Right now, our relationship seemed to be based purely on sex. Don’t get me wrong when I say this, I love having sex with Dan, but I didn’t want that to be the only thing that kept us together.

“Hello? Earth to Ava! Is there someone in that pretty little head of yours?”

I blinked a couple times, returning from my thoughts, only to see a hand waving in front of my face. I took a closer look to realize that the hand belonged to none other than Austin Carlile, vocalist for Of Mice & Men, and my absolute best friend ever. I loved this guy to death. We’ve been there for each other through everything. I gave him a soft smile, getting up and stretching.

“I know that smile. What’s wrong, dear? And don’t tell me ‘nothing’, because I know you and your facial expressions better than that. So, spill.”

I looked up at his face, concern written all over. “I’m…just starting to think mine and Dan’s relationship is based on just sex…”

“Ohh, honey,” he cooed. “That can’t possibly be true. What you need to do is go talk to him about this. Tell him how you’re feeling and how you two can work on it. But hey, I play first, so just text me later.” He kissed the top of my head. “I love you, Ava. You’ll figure this mess out.”

I couldn’t help but to silently, and sadly, watch him walk away and towards the main stage. Once again, I was drove out of my thoughts, this time from the screaming of fans. I looked over towards Jazzmynn and she was texting someone, with the absolute biggest smile on her face. I made a mental note to ask her about it later as I turned back towards my booth. I sucked in a deep breath and blew it out through my nose. I was starting to turn into a complete wreck just thinking about the conversation I had to have with Dan later. It was definitely not something I was anticipating. I slapped on a fake smile as the first fans of the day started to make their way over to the tent.

~*~*~

I sort of took my time packing up. I was procrastinating. Packing up the last shirt, dread started to consume me. Austin’s words came back to me. I needed to talk to Dan about this. I looked up to ask Jazzmynn if she had any idea on how I could casually get that conversation going, but she was nowhere in sight. And her tent was all packed up. I sighed softly, then realized just how long of time that I took. I finished loading the boxes and turned around when I heard footsteps approaching me. Dan…

“Babe! I was beginning to think that you weren’t coming back!” He chuckled as if he made a little joke. “What took you so long?”

I shrugged, wanting to wait til we were on the safety of the bus to talk to him. “I’m just tired from the day.”

“Jazzmynn didn’t help you?” He snaked his arm around my waist.

“No, she rushed to pack up and left. I don’t know where she is now.”

He wrapped his other arm around me, pulling me closer. “That’s so weird. Just about as weird as Alex running off as soon as we finished our set.”

I let myself put my head on his shoulder. “Dan, can we go back to the bus? I’ve been standing all day and I’m quite tired.”

“Sure thing, baby. Want me to give you a piggy back ride?”

I nodded silently and allowed him to carry me back to our bus. As soon as he stepped onto the bus with me, my nerves started to come back. I wasn’t so sure I wanted to go through with this anymore. But I knew that I had to. There would be no way out once I started though.

“Dan? Do you think we could talk for a minute?”

He set down the blunt that he was about to light up. “Yeah, sure. Let’s talk before I get high.”

I gulped to myself as I took in the deep breath. “Dan, I…I’m starting to think that our relationship is based only on sex right now… That’s all we do when we spend time together. Don’t get me wrong, I love sex with you, but maybe a romantic dinner or cuddles and a movie every now and then would be great. I love you, Dan… You mean so much to me…”

“What the fuck? Are you fucking kidding me? Do you really fucking think that? That’s bullshit and you know it, Ava. I can’t believe you actually fucking think that.”

“Dan…” I felt tears well up in the corners of my eyes. “Dan, I love you… Please don’t be mad at me… I…I… Please don’t leave me…”

He turned back around to me and I could tell that he was pissed. “Should’ve thought about that before you started saying that our relationship is based only on sex. I’m done.” And with that, he stomped back to his bunk. I pulled out my phone as the tears started to pour, and texted the one person who could make me feel better.

Ava; I need you, best friend…
Austin; What happened, Babycakes?
Ava; I think me and Dan broke up… He said that he was done and then he stormed off…
Austin; Ohh, sweetheart… How bout you grab a couple changes of clothes and stay with me on my bus for a couple of days. Then go back and try talking to Dan. It’ll probably blow over by then.

I didn’t bother texting him back. I just quickly got my clothes and other necessities together before running the rows of buses until I got to the one I was looking for. Austin was standing outside of the bus and pulled me into a hug as soon as he saw me. That’s when the waterworks started. Once they started, it would be a while before they stopped. But Austin just held me close, letting me cry into his chest. I can’t believe this was all happening. But I seriously hoped Austin was right. Hopefully all this will blow over and everything will be okay in a couple days.

I missed Dan already…