Baby Steps

Feeling things for your best friend that you’re not supposed to feel is the worst. Having those same feelings when you’re forced to spend every day for five months with them is even worse. And that’s where I find myself, sitting on our tour bus watching him strum carelessly on his guitar.
It’s been about a year since I realized that I was in love with Tony, but something kept me from telling him. To be honest, I really couldn’t tell you what it was, but I was scared. I had talked to Vic about it when I realized what was going on and he told me to test the waters and see what happens. The problem with that was at the time, Tony had just gotten out of a really shitty relationship and I didn’t want to seem desperate or anything.
Don’t get me wrong, everyone in the band knows that I’m Bi, but actually admitting that I was in love with one of them might change the dynamic of the band, and I wasn’t ready to risk that. So I did the only thing that I thought I could get away with, staring and joking around with him. As far as I knew, Tony was none the wiser, but there was always this nagging feeling in the back of my mind. Could there possibly be anything more than what I thought.
Probably not…
“-ike… Mike!” I was drawn from my thoughts by Tony’s voice.
“Huh? Oh, what Tony?” he chuckled at my confusion.
“We’ve stopped. Do you want to get something to eat? Jaime and Vic have already gone out.” He set his guitar down in its stand before making his way towards the front of the bus.
“Oh, yeah, let’s go.” I stood and followed him out of the bus. We had stopped in some random part of California. (Santa Maria I think it’s called.) We were right by an In N Out and I was surprised to see a Toys R Us here.
“Yo, we should go check out the toy store after food.” Tony said happily. I was sure he wanted to check out the Star Wars stuff, but who was I to complain. If he was happy then so was I. We decided on In N Out since it beat the hell out of McDonalds and Taco Bell, and after that we headed into the toy store.
The clerk up front greeted us hesitantly. Apparently people like us were uncommon around here. We asked her to point us towards the Star Wars stuff and thanked her. We were passing the electronics department when I spotted something that seemed interesting.
“Hey, Tone, I’ll meet up with you in a sec. I’m going to check out some games.”
“Alright man.” He smiled and went off to indulge in his obsession. I walked into the department and wandered over to the Xbox games. I could hear keys jingling and I noticed a girl walking with a stack of games in her hand.
“I’ll be with you in a minute sir. Just let me set this stuff down.” I couldn’t see her face past the enormous stack she had managed to carry without dropping a single game. It was like she was floating instead of walking. I turned my attention back to the game case and heard the jingling of her keys as she approached.
“So… what are you looking for Mike?” Had I misheard her?
“Excuse me?” I turned towards her, slightly flabbergasted.
“Mike, as in Mike Fuentes, right?” She gave me a wide grin. Any normal person would have been completely freaked out by some random girl knowing their name, but I was in a band so this was not necessarily the case, albeit I was a little thrown off to say the least.
“How did you know? You didn’t even look up from your task.”
“Well you’re just lucky enough to have me, probably the biggest Pierce The Veil fan in the entire county, at you assistance.” She chuckled lightly. The way she laughed made me a little more at ease.
“Well that’s pretty cool. It’s nice to meet you... Taylor” I read her name badge and held out my hand and she took it firmly and shook. I was beginning to like this girl. She wasn’t all fan-girly and it was a nice change of things.
“You too. Actually it’s amazing meeting you. You guys have helped me a lot.” She had an admiring look in her eyes. “I doubt I would be sane if it weren’t for music.” I knew exactly what she meant, music had become my anchor.
“Mike!” I turned to see Tony walking towards me with a huge grin on his face.
“Oh I see Tony found our glass replica light sabers.” She chuckled again. He then realized that there was someone next to me.
“Oh, hello there… um?” He asked me.
“She’s a fan.”
“Oh, nice to meet you.” He smiled happily and shook her hand. “So we should txt Vic ‘cause I’m buying this.”
“You’re buying what?” I turned to see Jaime and my brother walking up to us. “Mike, you did not let Tony go off alone to the Star Wars section again did you?”
“Uh…”
“No, I called him over because I recognized him.” Taylor came to my rescue. “I’m a huge fan.”
“Oh how cool. I didn’t think people in this area listened to good music.” Vic laughed.
“Well yeah, not many do. We’re far and few between.” She explained.
“We should sign something for her, she’s cool.” Jaime suggested.
“Um… I go to break in five minutes and I have all of your CDs in my car right now.”
“Sure sounds good.” I smiled and headed to the front with Tony so he could buy his toy. True to her word, Taylor met us outside five minutes later. We walked to her car and signed her CDs for her then hung out until she had to go back. As I was getting ready to walk away, she stopped me.
“Mike?” she whispered so that the guys couldn’t hear.
“What’s up?” I was slightly confused as to why she stopped me.
“Good luck.” She smiled and I gave her a confused look. She sighed and chuckled. “With Tony.”
“Oh… how did…” I trailed off.
“It’s a gift.” She took a piece of paper from her name badge and scribbled something down on it. “I’m one heck of a good listener. Text me if you ever need to talk to someone who isn’t involved… if that’s not too creepy.” She grinned up at me. I was again flabbergasted. This girl who I barely knew was more willing to support me that probably people that I’ve known my whole life. I quickly wrapped her in a hug.
“Thanks. I will definitely remember that.” I gave her a quick kiss on the forehead before running to catch up with the guys. I caught up to Tony and he gave me a weird look and then noticed the paper in my hand.
“You talked to her for all of five minutes and you got her digits?” He chuckled and I shoved the paper in my pocket.
“No, it’s a good luck charm.” I smiled and he gave me a look that clearly stated that he was not convinced.
“Good luck for what?”
“You’ll just have to find out.” He shrugged his shoulders and walked onto the bus.
This was definitely ending up being a fantastic day. We come off of a fantastic break, leave for another tour, meet a really awesome fan, and I get to spend the next five months with someone I was madly in love with. I went back to my bunk and programmed Taylor’s number into my phone, sending her a quick text.
*Thanks for the good luck wish =) –Mike*
A few moments later, my phone vibrated.
*My pleasure ; ) Just stay positive, I’m sure everything will work out. –Taylor*
Oh how I hoped that would be true.