Fool Everyone

Another long day of tour came to an end. The guys were all off drinking and partying, but I just wasn't in the mood to have fun anymore. There was no point to me being on this tour. All I wanted to do was go home and fall asleep in my own bed and make plans to go shopping with Deanna and not worry about this stupid band. Of course, that wasn't happening any time soon though. I was stuck here.

I wondered how the guys did this every day for months at a time. I had only been on one tour but I fucking hated it. Why would they volunteer to go through this nonsense?! I guessed it had something to do with the whole "dream job" thing, but I could not see how this was anyone's dream. I probably ruined this tour anyways by causing all this drama. 10 points for you, Al.

Garrett's face entered my mind. He wasn't even on this tour anymore because of me. I ruined a lot of things for him. If he was really into me the way Eric said he was, I probably managed to break his heart. Guilt overpowered me and I found myself dialing his number.

After a number of rings, I finally heard a meek voice pick up. "Hello?"
"Garrett? It's Allie..."
"Yeah I know I can read caller ID I'm not stupid." Ouch. This was not going well.

"I know you aren't...I didn't mean-"
"Why are you calling me? Don't you have Nick to go fuck again or something?"
Damn. The boy can be downright brutal when he wants to be.

"...I wanted to apologize to you...about not telling you about Nick and yelling at you for getting possessive...and maybe taking this fake relationship thing too seriously. I think I might have accidentally led you on and made you forget that we weren't really together and I'm really sorry about that. I never meant to hurt your feelings or yell at you. But I stand by what I said you can't just claim me like a piece of clothing. Especially if we aren't really in a relationship together."

He was quiet for a few minutes. So quiet that I thought he hung up on me mid-rant. Just as I was about to ask if he was still there, he timidly responded.

"It wasn't fake to me. I mean yeah, I knew we were kind of pretending for your brother's sake but everything I said to you...it was real. This is really stupid..especially now because I probably ruined any chance of us being together when I fought with Nick but...I really do like you Allie...you're one of the coolest girls I've ever known and...how could I not like you as more than a friend?"

Aww...Garry...no wait I couldn't aww at him that might give him the wrong idea. I needed to come up with a response fast.

"Aww...Gare..." Dammit. I needed to check the filter between my brain and my mouth. "I...don't know what to say..."
He sighed defeated. "It's ok. I didn't expect you to have feelings back for me. Especially after I screwed everything up.."
"Hey stop that...you didn't screw up anything. You just made me mad at you for the moment. I wouldn't be calling you if I was still angry at you. We were both in the wrong...I shouldn't have asked you to fake a relationship in the first place. Someone always gets hurt..."
"...I guess so..." he sighed. "I guess we should just forget I said anything then..."

I didn't want to forget what he said. It wouldn't be fair. I definitely felt something for him, I just wasn't sure if what I felt was as strong as what he felt for me. ...or as strong as what I felt for Nick but I wasn't about to admit that.

"...I don't wanna ignore it...that'd be ignoring this feeling I have for you...I mean I'm not really sure what it is but there's something here...I just don't think it's as...strong?..as what you feel for me. I don't even know what this feeling is exactly but I just want you to not sound as hurt...and for you to be happy."

I could hear him smiling through the phone. "I'm happy hearing that you haven't given up on me completely. How about this...you stay on tour, try to sort out what you feel for me cuz I have a feeling that Mr. Butthurt is gonna be a problem if we start officially going out. If by the end of tour you still feel like you do now...we can see where these feelings go. Okay?"

Granted that meant I had to stay on tour longer but hey, he was right. I could use some time to get my head straight so he wouldn't get hurt again. I agreed. We stayed on the phone talking about nothing in particular until I had to get back in the van. We said goodbye and for the first time in a while I actually didn't feel horrible about the whole situation.

That of course changed the second I walked over to the van and saw Nick and his lady friend laughing together arm in arm. This was starting to get irritating. I ran over to Justin who was loading up the van.

"Justin...who's the girl that Nick's with?"
"Hi to you too Allie, I'm doing just fine, thanks for asking. I don't need any help with this shit." He was so sarcastic he was damn lucky he was cute.
"Richards don't give me shit. Tell me who it is!"

He laughed. "I'm just messing with you, little Huff!" He laughed harder as I scowled at his new found pet name for me. "Sorry, sorry. Bad Justin. Anyways, that's Debby. Her and Nick have been best friends for...hell for ages. He swears they're just really good friends, but it's so easy to see that she wants more than that."

I nodded. "He probably does too...can't keep it in his pants. I'm calling bullshit on 'just friends' they are totally banging."
Justin chuckled at my bluntness. "Why you so interested in the ladies he hangs out with? Is someone a little bit jealous?"

I was jealous. But I wasn't about to tell Justin that.
"What?! No! Why would I be jealous, he tried to force himself on me and has been a total dick to me, so much that I had to punch him. He can fuck whoever he wants to. I don't care."
"Aww come on Al, you can't tell me that you haven't thought about how good Nick looks without his shirt on!"

I felt my face heat up. I knew how good he looked without a shirt on. I thought back to the morning I woke up next to him. I tried to not grin as I remembered the way his tattoos gleamed in the sun. There was no denying it. Nick Santino was probably the single most attractive man I had ever seen.

Justin stared at me with a shit-eating grin. "Oh, so the innocent Miss Allie HAS thought of it!"
I shook my head. "No but apparently you have! You aren't doing the best job of convincing me that you're straight Justin!"

He howled with laughter and lightly pushed me. "You're a funny one, little Huff!" He dropped the conversation as we finished loading up the van. We all piled in and set off for the next tour stop.

Yes. We all. Including the mysterious Debby girl. Her and Nick were cuddled together in the corner of the van. They looked quite cozy together, refusing to pay attention to the rest of the world.

Just friends? Just friends my ass.