Props and Mayhem

“You said I love you, didn’t you?” Jayne accused, her hazel eyes dancing. “I heard you, so don’t—” she continued.
Emme nodded. “It popped out, and I knew he wasn’t ready—it’s only been official a few days. But he was nice enough to kind of say it back.” She played with the paper umbrella in her Shirley Temple.
“In time, grasshopper.” Jayne took a sip of her iced tea.
At that moment, Jaime bounded over and threw his arm over Emme’s shoulders. Jack did the same to Jayne. “Where’ve you ladies been?” he drawled, leading them over to the cozy corner booth the bands were sharing. They were trying to be incognito or something.
Emme noticed Jayne shoot a look of distaste at the foaming cup in Jack’s hand. “We’ve been being good girls over here,” answered the redhead devilishly. “Non-alcoholic drinks for the win.”
The bands had wanted to go out to the bar as a celebration of sorts after the concert. Though she and Jayne weren’t even old enough to drink, and didn’t want to, Jaime wouldn’t allow them to go back to the hotel. He’d feel like a jerk, he’d said. Emme wouldn’t have minded if the guys went without them. Their hotel room was much preferable to the dimly lit, stale room that they stood in now.
As they sat around and talked leisurely, Emme noticed that the guys were getting a lot flirtier—with the waitresses, with her, with Jayne. It was vaguely uncomfortable, and she could tell that Jayne felt it, too. This must be what being drunk looks like, she noted.
Jayne smiled tightly at her from across the table, edging away from Justin on the booth a bit more. The look in her eyes read clearly, “let’s go.”
Emme didn’t particularly want to leave Jaime, but she was getting weird vibes from the guys. She felt as if this was something she wasn’t supposed to see, similar to walking in on someone in their underwear. “We’re going back to the hotel,” she announced, leaning in to kiss him. She thought better of it when she smelled his breath, and kissed his cheek instead. Gross.
“Aw, come on, let us walk you there. You don’t know where you’re going,” pleaded Kellin. His eyes were filled with sober concern.
Becoming a father had probably made him more sensitive, Emme reflected. “We’ll be fine,” she insisted, still not trusting them completely. She’d seen a drink in his hand earlier. She pulled Jayne, who now had Justin’s arm around her, out of her seat. “See you in the morning.”
The girls stood under the streetlamp for a moment to adjust to the dark. “That was so uncomfortable,” spoke up Jayne at last.
“It really puts into perspective the age gap, mourned Emme, already willing to forgive. They had so little time together left—was it really worth it to get angry over the little things?

“I’m leaving tonight,” Emme said softly, not wanting to believe it. She spoke quietly because the time had passed so quickly, but also because Justin was still hung over from the previous night. It was clear that some of the guys could hold their liquor better than others. Or maybe some had just had more of it.
Jaime and most of the others frowned, or at least made it clear that they’d miss her. “We’ll have to do something special today, then.”
She perked up. “Ice cream?”
“I was thinking something more along the lines of a movie or a ‘cultural experience’.” He made air quotes with his fingers.
“Oh, right.”
Tony smirked at their exchange.
Jayne wrapped Jesse’s jacket around her shoulders. “Why don’t we check out the local music scene? Who knows what we’ll find.”
“A fight,” interjected Mike. “That’s what we’ll find. But hey, I’m all for it.”
“I took karate. We can take ‘em.” Jayne was a pacifist, though, so Emme wasn’t sure how helpful she’d be if it actually came down to a fight.
Emme waited for Jaime to decide. She thought it sounded fun, but she wasn’t sure if he had been suggesting more time alone for the two of them.
He nodded enthusiastically. “Perfect.”
Most of the bands they found were kind of indie, acoustic bands, and the majority were playing in coffee shops. At every coffee shop they stopped in, everybody bought a different hot drink and passed it around. By the end of the outing, they were probably going to have sampled every English coffee and tea offered in the entire city of London. Emme had to hand it to Jayne—she’d had a brilliant idea.
At the last café they stopped at, Jaime’s and Emme’s eyes met silently over the rims of their Styrofoam cups. Emme could feel the cliché zing of electricity between them. He came around the table and pulled her up out of her chair, leading her closer to the performers and swaying to the music.
Jayne and Jesse paired up, laughing together—those two always seemed to be having fun. Vic grabbed their waitress, and, not to be outdone, Kellin and Justin took the hands of the two old women at the table beside their group’s.
They all danced together, linking arms, twirling, swaying, and doing whatever other ridiculous moves came to mind. The elderly women seemed to be enjoying the attention from such attractive young men such as Kellin and Justin. By the end of it, Emme was smiling so hard that her cheeks hurt, and laughing so much that she was getting stomach cramps.
It was probably the most fun that she’d had her entire time in London.

Jaime and Tony were watching something on the laptop when Emme and Jayne brought their bags upstairs to Pierce the Veil’s suite. They’d already said their goodbyes to Sleeping with Sirens, though Jesse did promise to accompany his “little sister” to the airport.
“Jaime,” Emme cut in, beginning to feel anxious. They had been waiting for close to ten minutes already, whereas they should have left by now. “Can that wait?”
Jayne craned her neck to see the screen.
“We’re going to miss our flight.”
“No, you won’t.” Jaime seemed to sense her exasperation, and he pointed at the screen. “Look.”
“An air strike?” said Emme hollowly, her eyes following the reporter’s hand gestures. “That means there’s no flight to miss…”
Jayne’s eyes grew wide. “Emme, our parents. They’re going to flip.”