Warped Vision

I spent the rest of the day cooped up on the bus, watching old movies on my laptop and wishing everything didn't suck so much. My headache barely subsided, and my entire body ached so bad I could barely move. On top of that, the only person Alex allowed for me to see for the rest of the day was himself, and he was constantly checking up on me to make sure I wasn't dead. Sleeping was a pain in the ass too, because no matter what side I turned on, it hurt like hell.

It was slightly funny to me, though, in an irritating way. I'd been trying to make the situation go away, but all I did was make it worse. That always seemed to happen to me, and I was beginning to believe it was my fault. Yet, I had no clue what I was doing wrong.

The next day, I could finally have “visitors” and of course the first to stop by was Alan. He came in with sad eyes and a cup of something unidentifiable from where I was sitting, making his way to sit beside me on the couch.

“What's that?” I asked once he set it down on the table. He looked at me for a moment before reaching over to grab it again and handing it to me.

“Soup!” He answered excitedly. He pulled a spoon out of his pocket and gave it to me, gesturing toward the cup, “Try it.”

“Alan, I'm injured, not sick,” I smiled up at him, opening the cup anyway. He shrugged beside me and I could feel him watching me as I looked at the soup inside. I was slightly afraid to even try to eat it, my face still swollen and the cut on my lip still fresh. He must have noticed, too, gently taking the cup from my hands.

“Should I feed you, or something?”

“No!” I let out quickly, taking it from him again, “The last thing I need is someone taking a picture of you doing that.”

Alan looked at me as if I was being irrational, which I was. I just didn't want him feeding me and that was the only excuse I could come up with. It's weird enough for a boyfriend to do that for you, let alone someone like Alan. Whatever you could call us. He grabbed the cup from me once again, “Hannah, we are on the bus. No one is going to take a picture.”

Quickly, the cup was back in my own hands, “I can feed myself, Alan.”

But he had to grab it again, of course, “Didn't appear to be that way.”

“ALAN,” I said sternly, raising my voice and snatching it out of his hands for the last time. The only reason he couldn't take it from me again, though, was because I managed to tip the cup and spill it all over my chest.

I glanced over at him and bit my lip, not knowing whether I wanted to laugh or shriek in pain. I winced regardless though, having bit the cut. Alan stood up quickly, laughing as he went to the kitchen area to get napkins.

“Should've just let me feed you, huh?” He sang, dabbing the massive wet spot on my shirt. It wasn't until I heard someone walk onto the bus that I realized where exactly Alan was touching and pushed him away from my chest.

“I knew you'd be here,” Austin's voice rang through the room with a laugh. He stopped in his tracks, seeing what had just happened. I looked up to find him staring at me awkwardly, and my brother standing beside him with the same expression. “Do you want us to leave...or..? Because we can.”

Alan looked at me uncomfortably and I stood. “I'm going to go change my shirt,” I muttered, annoyed, hurriedly walking to the back lounge. I grabbed a random shirt from my suitcase and made sure to get back to where everyone was a fast as possible, wanting to be able to defend myself if anything were to come up between the three. After all, Alan wasn't exactly known for speaking the truth about how I felt about him.

Well, I had <i>planned</i> on making a speedy return. However, when I realized my brother and Alan were whispering to each other, I, like anyone, decided it was best to not make my presence known. I decided listening closely from the bunks was my best bet.

“Were you able to put any money together?” I heard my brother almost clearly. He was always terrible at keeping his voice down.

“No, not much,” Alan answered sadly, and I heard my brother groan in response. Was Alex selling drugs to Alan or something? Dear god, this was so confusing.

“You know, that girl doesn't come cheap. At all,” Alex decided to confuse me even further. What was even going on? A surprise party for me or something? If it was about anybody else, they wouldn't be keeping it a secret. But it still didn't make sense. My birthday was in October...

“Guys, I don't think this is such a good id--” Austin was just beginning to speak up when I decided to return to the room. I cocked my head, pretending to be confused at their sudden silence.

“Where'd you get that shirt?” Alex laughed, distracted. He sounded guilty, even. “Did Alan give it to you?”

I glanced down to see that I had put on the Of Mice & Men shirt, of all shirts I could pick from. I must have put it in my suitcase by mistake, instead of Rian's, being so upset that night. An annoyed breath escaped my lips as I looked back up, “No, I borrowed it from Rian a while ago. I forgot to give it back.”

“Whatever you say, sis,” Alex said in a teasing voice, smirking at me as I returned to my spot beside Alan on the couch, “So, are you two dating yet?”

I rolled my eyes and irritatedly looked over to Austin, who was laughing. Alan seemed to be reacting similarly, chuckling and voiced a, “Workin' on it,” in between his snickers.

Crossing my arms, I turned to him and made sure he knew I was displeased, “Good luck with that. Considering I'm dating Justin, and I don't plan on breaking up with him.”

His smile dropped and he let out a sigh, “So you've seen the video, huh?”

“What?” My angry expression turned confused quickly. With this and the secrets my brother and him were keeping from me, I felt like I was completely out of the loop.

“Fuck,” He wailed, pursing his lips and staring at me for a moment, “I...n-never mind. I was thinking of someone else.”

“Show her the video, Alan. I told you to anyway,” Austin advised, but Alan didn't respond. After sitting in silence, waiting for what felt like ages for him to show me this video, Austin handed me his own phone.

The title of the YouTube video was, “Justin Hills calls some bitches out,” and I was pretty sure where the whole thing was going from just that name. I pressed play anyway, to hear the ending verse of Sleeping with Sirens' last song on their set list. The band was about to leave the stage, when Justin grabbed the mic from Kellin, who seemed to object it.

“Before we go for tonight, I just want to say something. As many of you may have already heard, my girlfriend was assaulted—yes, assaulted—by some bitches who believed that she was cheating on me,” His anger reverberated throughout the venue and everyone was silent as he laughed lightly, “It's really funny though, that they would assume such a thing. I gave her that 'lovebite,' if you must. And she doesn't, nor would ever deserve what happened to her today.”

I bit my lip to keep from smiling so much, but I couldn't help it. I may not have liked Justin when I went out with him at first, but despite his sexual drive, he sure made it hard not to start liking him.

“So, if you're brave enough. I want the ones who did this to her to meet with me at the signing right after this show, and apologize. You don't need a pass, just admit it to the guards too, and they'll let you in. I'm also going to have to get your information, because if I were Hannah, I'd definitely want to press fucking charges.”

The crowd roared at this, clapping and screaming as Justin returned the microphone to the stand in front of him. Even the rest of the band clapped for him. Before he left the stage, he said a final few words, “And if you still feel empowered by what you did to Hannah and don't decide to confess, I don't want to call your self a fan of mine ever again.”

Everyone was screaming once again and Justin walked angrily backstage, and soon whoever was recording turned off their camera. I let out a breathy “wow” and looked up at Austin, handing his phone back to him, “Did they confess?”

Austin simply shrugged and I felt Alan squirm uncomfortably from beside me, “Sounds like a ploy to get into your pants again to me,” He mumbled with a small smile.

I turned to him and squinted, giving him a look that said 'What the fuck is wrong with you?' when Alex spoke, seconding the suggestion, “I still ship Hannalan.”

“You know,” I took in an angry breath, “Contrary to popular belief, I respect my relationship with Justin. And the only person I 'ship' myself with, is him.”

“Really?” Alan asked sarcastically, cocking his head to the side, “Then why did you kiss--”

Thankfully, he stopped before I would have to come up with a response to that one. Before I would have to have more than a passing thought about the boy he was about to refer to. I followed his gaze behind me to see what had stop him from speaking.

“Justin!” I smiled, glaring back at Alan before jumping up to hug him. He hugged back cautiously, as if not to squeeze any of the bruises forming all over my body. For a moment, I even felt at peace as I grinned up at him. That is, until I felt Alan push past me, practically knocking my fragile body to the ground.

“Watch it, princess,” Justin snapped back at Alan as he kept me from falling. Austin followed the red head, confused, and apologized to me with his eyes on his way out. I let out a small giggle to break the tension, and Justin kissed me lightly on my bruised nose, forgetting his anger as I had hoped.

-

After a few awkward minutes, Justin and I ended up cuddling in my bunk (with the curtain open, by Alex's request) and talking about anything and everything. He stroked my hair and kissed the top of my head for probably the twelfth time before I looked up at him tiredly.

“Austin showed me a video of what you said last night,” I yawned, “Did they ever show up?”

Justin nodded and I rested my head on his shoulder with a sigh. He pulled me closer to him and rubbed my arm, “Do you want to press charges?”

“No,” I let out meekly, “I don't think it's worth it.”

“Understandable,” He grinned down at me and I looked back up at him with a smile of my own. He gave me a simple kiss on the lips and lingered centimeters from my face for a few moments, appearing to be thinking before he pulled away again, “You know, it amazes me how you're still beautiful with all of those cuts and bruises.”

“Shut up, Justin,” I felt myself blush and I hid my face in his shoulder, my stomach doing flips for once with him. I heard the camera shutter sound come from his phone and looked up at him, smacking his chest, “Did you just take a picture?”

He was smirking, the answer obvious. He turned over to the other side of the bunk and I heard him typing something, most likely a caption to an instagram photo. I attempted to peer over his shoulder, but he pushed my face away gently with a laugh.

I let out a breath of defeat and returned to my position of lying on my back, but it only took seconds for him to show me the picture. The caption read, “She's hiding her face, but trust me it's still gorgeous,” and there were already 20 or so likes on the picture.

My face grew hot again and I smiled, snuggling up to him again, “You're too cute.” I closed my eyes and he returned his arms around me, and I felt safe. And for the first time, I think I was completely satisfied with the relationship that I was in.