I'll Make You Feel Beautiful Once Again.

I was at 7/11 getting gas. I went inside to pay and grab some cigarettes when I stumbled and bumped into someone. "Sorry, I didn't see you there... Connor," he smiled. It was Mike.

"Jesus. San Diego isn't even small," I said.

"Getting sick of me?"

"No," I answered. Although it was odd running into Mike less than a week after meeting him.

"You should have texted me," he said, making a ridiculous pouty face. From the time I'd spent with him, I knew it was his nature to joke around and make people laugh.

"I didn't want to bother you. I gave you my number too, you know." I told him.

"I gave you my number so you could bother me. I didn't text because I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable," he said, as another tattooed guy appeared next to him.

"I'm Tony," he said. His hair brushed just past his shoulders with a small braided section that was longer than the rest. He had stretched ears and a dermal piercing near the corner of his left eye.

"This is my friend, Connor," Mike informed him.

"Hi," I said, awkwardly waving at Tony.

"Wanna come hang with us?" Mike asked as I paid. "We were just getting ready to go practice."

I thought for a moment. "Sure, why not? I don't have anything better to do, anyway," I shook my head, shrugging. I followed the guys outside. "I'll just follow you guys there."

"We rode our bikes," Tony said.

"I'll give you the address and we'll meet you there," Mike said.

"You guys can just throw your bikes in the back and ride with me, if you want," I offered, pointing to my truck, a black 2004 Ford Explorer.

Tony loaded up the bikes and we left, driving for about ten blocks, stopping in a neighborhood near the one I grew up in. "Stop here," Mike said, pointing to a pale brown house, a bit larger than the other houses on the block.

The boys got out of the truck and unloaded the bikes from the back, then showed me to the door. "HONEY, I'M HOOOOME!" Mike shouted as we stepped inside.

"You're late," a man with messy, spiky hair said, sitting on the couch tuning a bass guitar.

"Sorry Jaime, I ran into someone," Mike replied, motioning towards me.

"Is this someone a girlfriend?" Jaime asked, looking at me and narrowing his eyes curiously.

"Oh, no." Mike shook his head as Tony finally came inside. "This is my friend Connor," he said, introducing us. "Connor, this is Jaime."

"In case you hadn't caught that earlier," Jaime laughed. "Oh, Mike. You may want to check on your brother. He's been fucking with your drum kit for the last half hour."

"YOU DIPSHIT! I'm going to kick your ass!" Mike yelled, taking off and running down a set of stairs.

"So, how'd you and Mike meet?" Jaime asked, ignoring the chaos in the basement.

"It's a long story," I said, leaving it at that, short and simple. I wasn't a huge fan of small-talk, and it really was a long story.

He nodded. "You gonna watch us practice?"

"Yeah, Mike's trying to prove that your band doesn't suck." I said, sarcastically.

"You think our band sucks? It doesn't suck," Tony argued.

"I didn't say it did... I just don't have an opinion on your music. I haven't heard enough of it," I explained.

"Oh," they said, as a third guy, who I assumed was Mike's brother, came dashing up the stairs.

"FUCK!" he shouted as he was hit in the back by a flying drumstick.

"Watch your language! There's a lady in the room," Jaime scolded.

"Oops," he said quietly, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink. "I'm Vic." He looked nothing like Mike. He was about half a foot shorter and had longer, curlier hair that was also a lighter shade of brown, and had no tattoos. He was just as attractive as Mike, if not more.

I caught myself staring at him and blushed too. "Oh. Um, I'm Connor."

"It's nice to meet you," he smiled.

"Well," Jaime said. "Now that everyone's here, shall we get started?"

The boys nodded and started towards the basement. I followed and flopped down on the couch as they set up. Tony grabbed two guitars from the guitar rack, a green one and a white one, and plugged them into their amps. Jaime was done setting up, standing with the black bass he'd been tuning earlier. Vic was adjusting his mic stand. When he finished, Tony handed him his guitar.

"You guys ready?" Vic asked.

The boys nodded and started playing. They practiced about ten songs before finishing. The entire time, Vic stared at me. I didn't know whether it was on accident or on purpose, or because I was the only audience they had.

When they finished, Jaime, Tony and Vic put away their guitars, and Mike went outside to smoke a cigarette. The guys sat down with me on the couch, Jaime on my left, and Tony on my right. When Mike came back inside, he sat down on Tony's lap. "Ow, fatass. Your butt is really bony." Tony groaned. Mike shifted so he was sitting spread out on both Vic and Tony's laps.

"So, how were we?" He asked, playing with Vic's hair.

"Stop it. Don't touch my hair," Vic said, shoving Mike off his lap.

"You didn't suck as much as much as I expected," I joked, answering Mike's question.

"Thanks," he rolled his eyes. "Go make me a sammich."

"What?!"

"Looks like I'm going to go make sandwiches," Jaime said, getting up. I followed him upstairs to the kitchen and pulled myself up to sit on the counter whiled he prepared the sandwiches. "So, tell me. How did you and Mike meet?"

I knew he was just curious, but I felt like it might be a bit hard to explain. "Why does it matter?"

"He wasn't drunk when you met?" He said, grabbing turkey and mustard from the fridge.

"No?" I replied.

"You aren't his... girlfriend, right?"

"Ew, no. I already told you. I barely know him and he isn't even my type," I told him.

"So you're just a female friend."

"Something like that."

"I'm so confused! How did you meet?"

"He just helped me out of a sticky situation," I said, not really knowing how to answer.

"I see," he replied, finishing the turkey sandwich and making another. "Do you want anything?" he asked.

"I'm good, thanks," I replied, not wanting to be a bother.

"'kay," he said, turning and yelling downstairs. "SANDWICHES ARE READY!"

Mike came racing up the stairs, immediately grabbing a sandwich and a Coke from the fridge. Vic and Tony followed behind, taking their food and sitting down at the table. "Come sit with me, Connor!" Mike begged, pulling at my arm like a child. I hopped down from the counter and took a seat next to him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." I stopped him when he was reaching for his drink, grabbing his hand and turning it palm-up. "I didn't even notice that before," I said, tracing a tattoo on his palm. It was the Deathly Hallows symbol from Harry Potter. "This is so cool."

"You a fan?"

"My cat's name is Dobby," I told him.

"Are you serious?" Mike asked, his eyes lighting up.

"Yeah, he's a siamese. Maybe I'll let you meet him sometime."

He smiled. "I have a Harry tattoo also."

"WHAT? Let me see it!"

"Mike, you may have found yourself a girlfriend," Tony said.

Mike laughed. "I'm taking a break from dating. I'm allowed to have female friends." He rolled up the edge of his shorts and pointed at the tattoo on his thigh. "This is my Harry."

"It's perfect. I don't even have words for it. I love it."

"Thanks," Mike smiled. "Do you have any tattoos?"

"No, not yet."

"Why not? Are you scaaaared?" Mike asked playfully and poked my arm.

"No, I'm just waiting for the right time," I said.

Mike shoved the rest of his sandwich in his mouth and nodded.

"What are you going to get?" Vic asked.

"I don't know yet. I have a few ideas, but I haven't decided on one yet. I want my first tattoo to be special." I said.

"I get that," Tony said.

The boys finished their food and migrated to the back yard. I was sitting on the patio when Mike and Jaime started fistfighting, over nothing in particular. Jaime pushed Mike into the pool, jumping in after him. After a moment of thought, Tony tore his shirt off and jumped in with them.

"You're not going to push me in, are you?" I asked Vic. Mike was swimming around in circles, and Tony and Jaime appeared to be choreographing a synchronized swimming routine.

"No."

"Connor, come dance with me!" Jaime laughed, twirling in a circle.

"But I don't want to get wet," I said.

"Come on, please?" Mike begged.

"No." I refused.
"You're no fun," Jaime whined.

"Sorry guys."

Mike emerged from the pool, soaking wet, and ran at me. "WHAT THE FUCK! MIKE DON'T!" I ran away from him, but he chased me, coming from the other side of the pool. I quickly ran in the opposite direction, hiding behind Vic. "Don't let him get me." I kicked off my shoes, in case he caught me.

"Ahhhhhh!" I screamed as Vic picked me up, bridal-style, and ran into the house to save me from getting wet. He locked the door behind him, making faces at Mike through the glass.

"Sorry if that freaked you out," he said, awkwardly. "Mike hasn't taken his nap today," he smiled.

Mike was now sitting outside the door, pretzel legged, making a pouty face.

I laughed. "Are they like this all the time?"

"No. I think they're having withdrawals from touring. When we're on the road we get so tired out, so when we're home, we have a ton of extra energy to burn off. At least, they do."

- - -

"I'm gonna go get some food," Jaime announced. "What do you guys want?"

"Tacos!" Mike answered excitedly. "Eight of them."

"Burritos," Tony said.

"Chipotle." Vic suggested. "You know what I want."

"Connor?" Jaime asked. "Do you want anything?"

"Can you get me a black bean burrito with salsa and guacamole?" I asked, handing him a ten dollar bill.

"Yeah, but only if you let me pay for it." He insisted.

"Because he's paying for the rest of us," Tony said.

"Fine," I said, shoving the bill back into my pocket.

Around twenty minutes later, Jaime returned with eighteen tacos, three burritos, and two orders of chips and salsa.

"Jesus." I stared at the insane amount of food he'd brought.

"Mike, I got your fucking tacos," he said, tossing the bag to Mike.

"You're going to break them." Mike complained.

"Shut up and eat your tacos," Jaime rolled his eyes, handing me my food. "Here ya go."

"Thanks."

Mike was busy devouring his tacos, shoving one in his mouth, almost whole.

"Ew. Mike, slow down," Vic scolded, unwrapping a taco of his own. "It's not polite to eat like that."

"Unless you're Beau Bokan," Tony smiled.

"Mmh, yeah," Mike agreed. "Hey, Connor. You should come party with us tonight."

"I'm flattered that you're inviting me to join you, but unlike some people, I have to work in the morning," I said. "Sorry I'm a party pooper."

"Maybe Friday then?" Tony suggested.

"Yeah, sure," I said, finishing my burrito and looking at my phone. "Shit, it's ten. I should probably get going."

"PARRRRTY POOOPER," Jaime called.

"Text me tomorrow," I told Mike, giving him a hug.

"See ya," Tony said, giving me a high five.

"Come back soon!" Vic grinned.

Jaime ruffled my hair and handed me my bag. "See ya, kid."