Two Kids Stupid and Fearless

These past few days, Jack has been extremely protective. Like, he drove me to work and texted me every few hours to make sure I'm not dead. He even made me sleep with my door open.

When he got home from beating the shit out of Eric, I had been curled up on my bed, crying like a pathetic little school girl.

*Flashback*

I heard the door open and shut gently, and then soft footsteps on the wooden floor that stopped in front of my closed bedroom door. I heard it open quietly and I curled tighter into my little ball of self-pity.

"Mia..." Jack started. I felt the other side of my bed sink down with his weight.

"What's going on?" I asked sniffling.

He played with a loose string on his hoodie. "Eric's had a...troubled past. He had this girlfriend, Hanna, who committed suicide the day he planned to propose to her," he explained. I interrupted before he could continue.

"That's awful," I commented, sitting up so I sat next to Jack on my bed.

"Yeah," he went on. "There was a series of murders that month, he thinks she was murdered too. He never got over it, really."

"Were these the February '07 killings in Detroit?" I asked, remembering.

Jack nodded. "Yeah. He blamed her 'murder' on the law firm that solved all of the murders." He turned to me knowingly.

"Jenovic Law," I whispered.

"Exactly. It was clearly a suicide but he refused to believe it," Jack said. "He started taking up...bad habits. All those things he told you I did? They were him. And I payed for most of them. I didn't know what the money was for, and he was my friend. Now I'm over fifteen thousand dollars in debt. That's why I need you. It not much, but its enough."

I nodded with understanding. Whew, it was good to know Jack wasn't a bad guy. He put a comforting arm over my shoulders. "Do you wanna watch some movies to make you feel better?"

I nodded again. "What do you have?" I asked.

"Well, I have Home Alone, Home Alone, and...let's see....Home Alone." He looked down at me and smiled.

I smiled back. "Home Alone sounds good."

We walked to the living room and he put the DVD in the player. I sat on the couch and he pulled me close to him. A shiver went down my spine as he whispered those unforgettable words into my ear.

"I'll never let anything happen to you."

*End of flashback*

I was at work now, it was Wednesday. Nicole and I were preparing the auditorium for a concert tonight. We needed to make sure that everything worked smoothly and that the band had everything they asked for on their rider, which was like a wish list of things they wanted at the venue. It usually included specific foods, or maybe a couch in the dressing room, or alcohol.

"What bands are coming again?" I asked for probably the fifth time today.

"Of Mice and Men, Issues, For All Those Sleeping, and Blessthefall," Nicole answered, shaking her head.

We were currently finishing up checking the lights. Next was the fun part, Nicole told me. Getting the stuff on the rider. Apparently, sometimes the bands asked for weird things, like dildos or stuffed animals. Wow. This would be interesting.

She pulled a piece of printed paper out of the pocket of her skinny jeans. It looked like an email from the band's managers. She read it off to me. "Issues wants a couch in their dressing room, a cookie platter, chocolate milk, and toothbrushes. For All Those Sleeping wants vegan cupcakes, subway, lemon-scented candles and an air hockey table for their dressing room. Of Mice and Men wants a bouquet of roses, a vanilla cake with blue icing, a stuffed kitten, and the new Call of Duty for Xbox. Blessthefall wants a batman costume, a dozen glazed donuts, and a heater in their dressing room."

I nodded. This seemed like a lot of work. I guess we better get going. I followed Nicole to her black SUV and got in the passenger seat. She started the engine beside me. After we got going, there was a silence for a few minutes. I broke it and made small talk.

"You excited for tonight?" I asked looking at her.

She kept her eyes on the road but squealed happily. I guess that's a yes. "Totally," she replied. "My boyfriend's coming! And they have the day off tomorrow so we can spend time together!" She smiled so big I thought her face might explode.

"Oooooo!" I commented. "Who's the lucky guy?" I asked. I was really interested. I didn't know too much about Nicole's personal life.

"Austin from Of Mice and Men. He sings," she explained. "Well, he yells really loud." She giggled to herself.

"Awe! Is he cute?" I asked. She nodded excitedly and then I felt my phone buzz. I clicked it on. Jack. Of course.

Where are you rn? U okay? -Jack

I texted back quickly.

Fine, Nicole and I are getting the rider for the show tonight.

He texted back almost instantly.

Who's playing? -Jack

Of Mice and Men, Issues, Blessthefall, For All Those Sleeping

I love those bands! Can I come see? -Jack

Maybe, I'll ask Nicole.

Okay. Call me if you need anything. -Jack

I put my phone back in my pocket and realized we were at a parking structure in downtown New York. Nicole undid her seatbelt before turning to me. "Have you been downtown yet?" She asked. I shook my head. "Awesome! Let's go!"

We both got out of the car and soon we were off shopping.

***********

When we got back to the car, we had everything but the food. Nicole said that was last so it didn't spoil in the car. We drove back to soho and she parked outside a bakery, and returned with several pink boxes which I guess contained the donuts, cookie platter, cupcakes and cake. We went to subway, bought some subs, then we stopped at a Walgreens in Tribeca where we bought toothbrushes, chocolate milk and the roses.

When we returned to Galaxy House, it was almost one o'clock. We got to work unloading the car and Nicole relayed the plans for tonight to me.

"The bands are getting here at one thirty. They'll probably shower and do some laundry. You'll help them. Be as nice as you can and try not to fangirl. Then they'll set up their stuff. Tables for the signing, merch, amps, everything else. You'll help them out. Then they'll probably practice. The signing is at five, the show is at six. People have already started lining up outside. We have security, but you too have to make sure nobody who doesn't have a pass doesn't get in. Got it?"

"Yeah. I think so," I answered. "Oh, I forgot to ask you earlier, can Jack come?"

She thought about it for a moment, then shook her head. "Not if he's not on the guest list. Sorry, Mia."

I shrugged. I guess there's not much I could do. We brought in the last few bags inside and we were greeted by a buff guy with the same big brown eyes as Nicole.

"Sup, Tris," Nicole greeted him. "Mia, this is my brother Tristan. Aka Phil the astronaut. Tristan, this is Mia. She's my new partner in crime," she introduced.

Tristan stuck out a hand and I shook it. I almost fell over from the force. I guess Nicole saw. "He's also one of our security guys. Sorry bout that," she explained.

Tristan took the bags from us and pointed to the back door. "I think I just saw a bus pull up. Go do your thing," he said.

Nicole jumped with excitement and ran out the door. I was close behind.

Outside, four buses were parked. People were already starting to pile out of them. I saw Nicole run up to a tall, skinny guy with spiked hair and a sleeve tattoo. She jumped into his arms and he spun her around before they kissed. Then she led him over to me.

"Mia, this is Austin," she said, gesturing to the tall guy. "Austin, this is Mia. She works here."

I gave Austin my hand to shake but instead he gave me a huge bear hug. I swear I was lifted two full feet off the ground. He put me down after a few seconds. "I'm a hugger," he explained.

"I can tell," I agreed.

"Babe, go talk to Jeremy," he told Nicole, pointing to who I'm guessing was their manager. "I'll show Mia around."

Nicole nodded and walked off. Austin poked my arm and guided me to a large crowd sitting outside a bus. Most of the guys were skinny and tattooed, but all of them looked happy to be here. They were deep in a conversation when Austin interrupted them.

"Excuse me, everyone, quiet down. Your attention please. Guys? Guys?" He began. None of them noticed him over their conversations.

A brown haired guy with white plugs saw Austin was trying to talk and decided to help out by screaming "SHUT THE HELL UP AUSTIN HAS SOMETHING TO SAY!!!"
They instantly quieted down.

Austin started again. "Thank you Michael." The guy with plugs nodded at him. "Anyways, this is Mia. She works here. She's a friend of my girlfriend so be nice to her. She's here to help."

The boys waved at me and smiled. I gave a shy wave back. Austin turned to me. "Okay, where's my band?" He asked. Four guys stood up. "This is Alan," he pointed to a ginger, "Phil," he pointed to a long haired tan guy who had a huge smile. "Tino," he pointed to a guy with long hair and a beard. "And Aaron." Aaron was adorable. He waved shyly and looked at the ground.

"Blessthefall." Five more guys stood up. "Eric, Beau, Elliott, Matt, and Jared." He introduced. The boys sat down.

"For All Those Sleeping. Mike, David, Jerad, Ethan, and London." They all saluted me.

"Last but not least, Issues." Seven guys stood up this time. They looked like they had a ton of energy. "Michael," he pointed to the one with the plugs. "Tyler, Case, Scout, Aj, Jake and Ben." As he pointed to them, each of the boys spazzed out. "Ben isn't in the band. He's here to support Michael, his boyfriend," Austin explained.

"He's not my boyfriend, holy fuck!" A dirty-blonde haired guy yelled. Michael smacked his butt and came up behind him. "Don't deny it baby," he said sweetly.

All the boys laughed at this and I did too. "I'm not going to remember all of your names. Sorry," I apologized in advance. They all mumbled stuff along the lines of 'its okay' and 'I figured'.

Austin clapped his tattooed hands together. "Let's get to work! Inside!" He punched the air and started toward the back door. The boys all stood up and followed, yelling and fist pumping.

Once I caught up to them inside, I showed them their dressing rooms and riders. Some went off to shower or get dressed, and others went to do laundry or just chill.

I sat on a random couch that sat backstage with a clipboard containing all the documents we would need for tonight. I flipped to the back to the guest list. Who knows, maybe Jack would be on it after all.

Sure enough, almost at the bottom of the page was Jack Barakat. Rian Dawson was on there too. Funny. I didn't know they knew bands.