Maybe We'll Pretend Right Now

Vic stepped behind me off of the stage, grabbing my ass in the process. I jumped and slapped his hand away playfully. "I have a girlfriend," I teased. Vic rolled his eyes and grabbed my hand.

"You looked hot on stage," he joked.

"You always look hot," I winked.

Vic and I had always been the kind to 'flirt' with each other without feeling weird about it.

Vic, Tony, and I simultaneously tossed our guitars into the hands of our tech guys. Accompanied by Mike, Casey, and the photographer Adam, we headed to the main building for lunch.

"So how was your first show of Warped?" Johnny asked, carrying a tray of food into our dressing room.

I let go of Vic's in order to help myself to a burrito. "Excellent," I said dramatically.

"Crazy fans here in Pomona," Mike stated.

"Yeah, I somehow ended up in the crowd at one point," Tony laughed, "a couple of the guards had to pull me out."

The seven of us chatted throughout lunch, pointing out the pros and cons of Warped Tour. Once everyone had finished eating we raced each other to the showers.

There were only twelve shower stalls, and nine of them were already taken, so we agreed that the first three of us to undress the fastest would get to go first.

I ended up being the slowest, distracted by a text from Jessica. She had just gotten off of work and was letting me know that she stopped by my apartment and everything was going alright.

Tony, Mike, and Vic went to the showers. I decided just to sit in a towel and wait on one of the benches in the shower room.

"You could shower with me," Vic winked as he walked by.

I shook my head at him. "You're too much, Vic. Hurry up and shower so that I can take one."

He stopped walking and stuck out his hand. "Seriously, why don't you just shower with me? It won't be weird or anything, it's nothing we haven't done before."

I shrugged my shoulders and considered for a second. It would be easier just to take him up on his offer, but now that I had a girlfriend, it just seemed a little weird to be playing around with Vic. It was almost like I felt guilty. As if I had betrayed Vic by having a girlfriend, I didn't feel worthy of him anymore.

"Fine," I sighed and stood up. I swear Vic was excited that I decided to shower with him. He tried to hide it, though, just smiling and grabbing my hand.

We went into the last open stall and removed our towels. I began to adjust the water.

Vic just watched, leaning against the tile wall. I got the water to a good temperature and turned around to see Vic's eyes searching my body.

"Something to see here?" I asked, startling Vic. His eyes shot up to meet mine.

"Nope," he said with a smirk, "now let's get to it, that nasty ass hair of yours isn't going to wash itself!"

I rolled my eyes and began to wash myself under the running water.

~

"Tony! Tony! Tony!" The people on our bus cheered as Tony chugged from a beer keg. He was being held upside-down by Vic and Casey, who were helping him perform his keg stand.

Of course things got crazy the first night of Warped tour - which happened to be the first night of touring in over a year. I'd had more than enough to drink by that time, and most of the others weren't too far behind.

Tony released his mouth from the keg and burped loudly. Vic and Casey helped him stand upright while everyone cheered and yelled.

"That was insane!" Adam high-fived him.

Tony grinned and staggered over to the couch, pretty much collapsing right next to me.

"Nice going buddy," I smirked at him.

Blasting music filled the RV along with the sound of everyone yelling and laughing. I just let the sounds fill my ears while I sat outside of it all. I would usually be the life of the party, but I just didn't feel up to it that night.

A bit of time passed and I downed nearly a whole bottle of Jack Daniel's throughout the night before I began to feel it working its way back out the way it came.

I pushed through the crowd of people that filled the main part of the RV before stumbling into the small bathroom and hanging my head over the toilet. Just on queue, I puked up the entire content of my stomach.

Someone must have heard me because I felt a presence standing over me. I turned to see who it was but didn't catch a glimpse of them before another round of vomit made its way out of my mouth.

"You doing okay, man?" the soft hum of Vic's voice rang in my ears. I spat into the toilet before sitting back and frowning.

"No," I mumbled, jutting out my bottom lip.

Vic smiled and kneeled down in front of me. "How about we get to bed? You don't seem up to this tonight."

I raised an eyebrow at Vic. "How come you're almost completely sober? That isn't like you," I slurred.

He grinned. "I had a feeling you'd drink yourself into oblivion tonight, I wanted to be here for you." He stood up and reached out a hand for me. "Now come on, let's get some sleep. It's almost three and everyone's settling down now anyways."

I smiled at the thought of Vic staying sober for me. There were few things he loved more than alcohol, and I knew I wasn't one of them. But the way he wanted to care for me made me feel warm inside.

"Just a second," I said, leaning forward into the toilet. I threw up one last time before wiping my mouth and taking Vic's hand.

I don't remember a lot from that night, but I do remember Vic helping me into bed. He made the bed comfy for me, fluffed up pillows and straightened out the sheets, before holding my hand while I stumbled into it. He covered me with blankets and told me to let him know if I needed anything.

He's always denied it, but I swear to god he kissed me before heading off to his own bed.