Maybe We'll Pretend Right Now

About a week into tour, everybody's girlfriends came to see us play in Texas. Jessica, Tony's girlfriend Stephanie, and Mike's girlfriend Frenchi all stayed in a hotel the night before and then surprised us at the show in Dallas. We finished playing and got off stage to find them sitting on the couch waiting for us.

"Jess!" I gasped, scooping her up in my arms. She wrapped her legs around my waist and I held her there, kissing her with a huge smile on my face.

Tony sat on the couch and pulled Stephanie onto his lap, kissing her. Mike and Frenchi went into the dressing room, locking the door behind them. I laughed at how obvious they were being.

I put Jessica back down on the floor. I leaned my forehead against hers, still kissing her.

She pulled her lips away and began playing with my fingers. "I missed you baby," she said quietly.

"I missed you too," I said back, still grinning.

Vic sat down on the couch and let out an annoyed groan. "Get over it, he's been away for a fucking week," he complained.

Jessica turned and made eye contact with him to make sure he was looking, and then turned back to face me. She crashed our lips together and purposely gave me the sloppiest kiss that she could.

She then kissed down the side of my face, behind my ear, and began sucking on my neck, all while rubbing her hands around under my shirt.

I just played along, throwing my head back and moaning dramatically. Vic threw a couch pillow at us which caused Jessica to step back.

I looked over at Vic. He was sitting with his arms crossed and a frown on his face. I laughed and wrapped my arm around Jessica's shoulders.

Tony and Stephanie began laughing too. Jessica and Vic kept straight faces, staring at each other angrily.

Vic finally got up and stomped out of the room and into an empty dressing room. He slammed the door behind him.

"What a brat!" Jessica yelled.

I shrugged my shoulders, "I think he's just jealous because he's the only one without a girlfriend."

"Why does he only pick on you and Jess, though?" Stephanie pointed out.

"Good point. I really don't know," I said, "but I should probably go talk to him. Jess, you wait here. After I get him calmed down we'll go get something to eat."

Jessica sat down on the couch and I walked into the room that Vic had stormed off to.

He was sitting in the corner, knees pulled to his chest and his face buried in them. He had his arms wrapped around his legs and I quickly realized that he was crying.

"What the hell, Vic?" I asked as I walked over to where he was sitting.

He didn't respond, nor did he move a muscle. I sat down in front of him and frowned.

"Why do you have such a problem with Jessica and I dating? What did she ever do to you?"

He still didn't respond and I began to get annoyed at him.

"God damn it Vic, you're impossible. I find someone who makes me happy and all you do is bitch and moan about it. You don't treat any of the other guys this way! You like Stephanie, you like Frenchi, so what's the problem with Jessica? Don't you want me to be happy? Don't you want me to be with someone that I love?"

Vic lifted his head and met his bloodshot eyes with mine.

"It's not that, Jaime. You don't get it," he mumbled.

"What don't I get? You're a fucking asshole to my girlfriend for no reason!"

"I have a reason."

"What is it? Are you jealous because you don't have a girlfriend?"

"No, I don't want a girlfriend."

"Then what, are you still broken up because of Cara? You said you were fucking over her months ago. You're really making this whole thing difficult for me."

Vic shook his head and stood up, walking toward the door.

"Fine, asshole! You obviously don't give a shit about my happiness! What happened to 'best friends'?" I yelled at him. I felt my blood boiling, I was getting extremely angry at this point.

He stopped walking, and turned toward me. His eyes were angry and there were tears on his cheeks again.

"What do you want from me Vic? I spend every waking moment with you, I tell you everything, I help you when you need it, what more can you expect?" My voice cracked and I began crying too. "I do so god damn much for you, and all I ask is that you accept who I'm dating. That's all I want! And you won't even tell me why you have such a problem with Jessica. Why the hell don't you like her?"

Vic kneeled in front of me and grabbed my shoulders.

"Can't you see it, Jaime? Don't you realize it?" He whispered calmly.

I ruffled my eyebrows in confusion. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Vic closed his eyes and shook his head in disappointment.

"It's not Jessica that I have a problem with."

"Then what is it?"

He opened his eyes again and looked up at me.

"It's myself."

"What are you talking about," I asked in confusion.

Vic tightened his grip on my shoulders and leaned in closer to me, close enough that I could feel his breath on my nose.

"I love you, Jaime. I don't mean it like best friends. I love the way you smile, the way you laugh, the way I feel when I'm around you. I love when you innocently hold my hand, I love when you talk for hours and hours without stopping. I love the way you look when you play bass. I love talking to you, I love sleeping next to you, I love being around you. I love how you love kid movies and the way you could play the loudest show ever but still jump out of your skin when someone slams the door. I love the way you shake your legs and the way you get excited over stupid things. I just love everything about you, Jaime. I don't care if you feel the same way. It hurts to see you love someone else, and I'm sorry for being so stubborn about it. I'm sorry for not telling you this before. But I'm telling you now. I love you."

He planted a small kiss on my nose before standing up and walking to the door. I just remained sitting, in complete shock, watching him leave the room and close the door behind him.

~

"Jaime," Jessica shook my arm, "food's here."

"Oh, sorry," I said. I must have spaced out again while everyone else was talking.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

I just nodded, reaching over and taking my plate from the waitress.

I was at a restaurant with Jessica, Stephanie, Frenchi, and the guys. I was still confused about what happened with Vic earlier. I kept spacing out, remembering the event in my mind.

We finished up eating, and everyone was deep in conversation. "Jaime, what's going on with you?" Mike placed a hand on my back as we walked out of the restaurant.

"Nothing, why?" I pretended like I had no idea what he was talking about.

"You're usually talking everyone's ear off but you've barely put in a word all evening."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said with a smirk before wandering off to where Jessica was walking.

When we got to the hotel, our tour manager Kevin assigned us rooms. He was allowing Tony, Mike, and I to each have a room alone with our girlfriends for the night.

Vic looked unhappy. I stepped away from Jessica to go and talk to him.

"Hey man, who're you rooming with tonight?"

"Casey," he sighed.

I nodded my head and placed an arm around his shoulder while we walked.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I don't want you to feel threatened by Jessica. I understand, really. But just please try not to be so upset. I promise that when she leaves we can cuddle as much as you want."

Vic smiled, hanging his head, but looking a little happier. "Thanks," he mumbled.

"Love you," I said, patting his back.

"Love you too," he said as I walked back over to Jessica.

Jessica and I got settled into our rooms, took a shower together, got dressed, and finally curled up in bed. I was spooning her under the covers, pressing my lips to the back of her head.

"So what was wrong with you at dinner?" Jessica asked casually.

My breath caught in my throat. I didn't think I'd have to have this conversation with her.

"Nothing," I said, and continued to kiss her. I hoped that she would just leave it at that.

"Don't lie to me baby," she said, "I know something's wrong."

"No, it's nothing."

Jessica rolled over so that she was facing me and stared into my eyes. She was making the whole thing more hard on me than it already was.

Jessica just frowned and stared at me for a couple of minutes.

"Why are you lying to me?" She finally said.

"I'm not!" I whined.

She shook her head and kicked the blanket off of herself.

"I'm sleeping on the floor if you don't tell me."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, have fun trying to stay warm."

Jessica sat up and frowned. She looked at me and crossed her arms.

"Tell me, Jaime!"

"No."

She stood up and whipped a pillow out from under me. "Fine," she said, stomping over to the corner.

"Baby, don't do this to yourself," I pleaded. I sat up in the bed and watched as she curled up on the floor, using her robe as a blanket.

"Jess, come on," I whined.

She ignored me, closing her eyes and facing the wall with a frown on her face.

I layed back down and shifted uncomfortably for a few minutes before throwing the blankets off of myself and getting out of the bed.

"Well I guess there's only one way to get you to come keep me warm," I teased.

She turned and looked at me with an expecting look on her face. I kneeled next to her, leaning in as if I was going to whisper it in her ear. But to her surprise, I reached out my hands and began to tickle her.

She kicked and squealed, trying to push my hands away. I just kept tickling her until I got her to crack a smile.

"I hate you," she said, placing her hands on the back of my neck.

"No you don't," I teased.

She pulled me down and kissed me before asking the dreaded question again. "Why won't you tell me?"

I sighed and intertwined our fingers together. "I can't."

"Why not?"

"I just can't, I'm sorry. Come back to bed with me please? I'm cold and alone and this is our only night together."

Jessica sighed and got up, following me back into the bed.

"Whatever it is, I love you, okay?" she said as she climbed into the bed and under the covers.

I climbed in next to her and rested my arm around her. "I love you too," I said. I kissed her forehead softly before we simultaneously drifted off to sleep.