I Don't Mind If You're Overrated

I awoke the next morning to Austin and Shayley still yelling. It made me wonder if they even went to bed last night. I'm sure they did at some point.

"Both of you shut the fuck up!" Alan yelled. "Some of us want sleep!"

"Alan, babe, calm down," I heard Drew murmur.

Everything went quiet for a bit. I decided to get out of bed and shower.

I went through my normal shower routine and got dressed in a pair of black skinny jeans with large Ben Bruce-esque holes in the knees, my all black Vans, and an Anthem Made tank top that Kellin gave me last night while we were looking through our clothes. It was a bit loose on my thin frame, but it looked fine. I dried my hair and decided to leave it all curled except for my bangs to cover the scar on my forehead. I applied some mascara and my winged eyeliner and called it good. I walked out to the front lounge to see quite the scene.

Alan and Drew were cuddled on the couch together under a fuzzy blanket. Phil was sitting on the couch with wide, blood-shot eyes, not blinking and staring at the TV. Tino was in the kitchen, drinking from a water bottle. Shayley and Austin were sitting on couches across from each other, shooting death glares to one another.

"Are we still moving?" I asked.

"No, we arrived about twenty minutes ago. We're in Seattle," Tino said.

"What's up with Phil?" I asked out loud.

"Couldn't sleep. Was up all night listening to those two twats arguing," Phil mumbled, finally blinking.

"This is completely ridiculous," I sighed in frustration.

"What is?" Drew asked.

"I got in a fight with some fan girls last night. I have some bruised ribs and busted my nose pretty badly," I explained. "And now Austin and Shay are arguing about it and won't shut the fuck up."

"i thought your nose looked a bit off. Why are you even fighting?" Drew asked, sighing.

"Austin should've taken better care of her," Shay shouted, pointing at Austin accusingly.

"Shay needs to calm down and realize that she can take care of herself!" Austin yelled back.

"OH MY GOD!" I yelled in my best imitation of Danny Worsnop's screaming voice in The Final Episode, even breathing in between each word. THAT got everyone's attention. "I'm sick of you two fighting. All you've done for the past 12 hours is insult each other and it's not solving anything! I can't be around this right now. I'm going to Kellin's bus."

Austin and Shay shouted in protest as I left, until I finally heard Drew yell, "YOU WANKERS ALL DESERVE IT! Now shut up and let her find her peace of mind."

I smiled, silently thanking my best friend and continued walking to the SWS bus. I knocked on the door gently, realizing it was only 11 am and that they might still be asleep. To my surprise, though, a very chipper looking Jesse answered the door. He smiled at me, but then it turned into a frown when he saw my crooked and bruised nose.

"Wake up on the wrong side of the literal bed, Des? You look terrible," he asked, laughing slightly. It would have normally offended most girls, but I didn't care. I needed the jokes and laughter, so I laughed right back.

"Nah, got into a fight last night. Some fan girls pushed me too far," I said, shooting him a reassuring smile as he let me onto the bus.

"Hey Des, how are you feeling?" Kellin asked, walking over to me and pulling me into a gentle hug.

"My ribs ache a bit and my nose looks and feels like hell. I'm worried that I broke it," I sighed, gently running my fingers over it.

"Look, I'll get ready and take you to the hospital," Kellin said, frowning at the sight of my nose.

"Yoi don't have to," I said, smiling slightly.

"No, let him do it. It could be broken and it won't heal properly if you don't get it fixed," Jesse interjected.

I nodded reluctantly, and sat on the couch with Jesse. I groaned and face planted into his chest, feeling like crying from frustration. Kellin had gone off to shower.

"What's wrong?" Jesse asked softly, rubbing my back.

"Austin and Shay, that's what's wrong," I mumbled into his chest.

"Sit up and tell me what happened," he said gently but firmly.

I sat up and turned to face him completely, crossing my legs on the couch. He did the same to face me, as well. I let out a huge breath.

"When we got back last night, Austin and Shay got in a huge argument. Shay was saying that Austin needs to watch over me better when he's not around. Austin's insisting I can take care of myself. All they've been doing for the past 12 hours is screaming insults at each other and fighting about me. I feel so awful. I shouldn't have lost my cool like that, and it's all my fault they're fighting. But now I'm sick of it. I don't feel as bad anymore, because they kept Phil up all night with their yelling. And I woke up to it this morning, as did Alan and Drew. It's getting upsetting and it just makes me want to cry because I've already had a bad enough home life. I just want one thing to be normal," I explained, pouring out my heart to him, on the verge of tears.

"That's rough. I have to somewhat agree with both sides. They both make valid points," Jesse shrugged, pulling my hands into his lap to mess with my fingers.

"How so?" I asked.

"You are 18, so Austin is right when he says you can take care of yourself. But that's to a certain extent. You're still somewhat dependent. You're an adult under the eyes of the law, but a teenager mentally and you can't completely take care of yourself. That's where Shay's point comes in. He's right that Austin should have tried harder to keep you from fighting, but he can't expect him to be breathing down your neck 24/7. That's his job. He just has to get used to taking care of another person besides himself. And he can hardly take care of himself as it is..." Jesse explained, trailing off at the end with a sad look.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked nervously.

"Alright, ready to go?" Kellin asked, walking out of the bathroom. He was wearing almost the same thing as me. Black skinny jeans, black Vans, and an Anthem Made tank top. We laughed at the coincidence.

"You coming with, Jess?" I asked Jesse as I stood up.

"Nah, someone's gotta babysit the other three when they wake up with hangovers," he said, grinning as he winked. "Let me know how it goes!"

We nodded and Kellin and I walked out of the bus. We quickly got permission to borrow a crew member's car to drive to the hospital. The drive was silent and short, and we were now in the waiting room, obviously waiting for a nurse to come examine the damage.

"So what were you and Jesse talking about?" Kellin asked.

"Austin and Shay," I sighed. I explained everything I told Jesse, and Kellin looked truly sorry.

"What did Jesse say?" he asked.

"They both make valid points. I may be able to take care of myself in someways, but not in every way as Austin was suggesting. And it's Shay's job to be watching me 24/7, not Austin's, but Austin should have tried harder to watch over me last night. Shay just has to get used to it. But then he said something that confused me," I explained, recalling earlier.

"I agree with Jesse. And what was it?" Kellin asked.

"He was saying that Shay needs to take care of me, but it'll be hard considering he can hardly take care of himself. Then he looked all sad and depressed," I sighed, questioning Kellin for information.

"Well it looks like Shay's not gonna tell you what it is, then," Kellin murmured, bringing his hand to his mouth sadly.

"Tell me what?" I asked, feeling nervous again.

"Shay has a problem," Kellin stated shortly, blushing.

"Can we fix it?" I asked.

"Probably not," he sighed, rubbing his face.

"What is it?" I demanded.

"Well it looks like right now, I'm being more of an older brother to you than Shay has been, considering you got so upset you left the bus. So I guess I can tell you,," he contemplated.

"Kells, you're one of my best friends and you've been a brother to me. Now tell me," I whined.

"Shay's an alcoholic," he blurted out, blushing harder and wincing.

I froze.

"Destrey Bourget?" a nurse called.

"Want me to go with you?" Kellin whispered.

I nodded, too shocked to speak. I grabbed Kellin's hand gently and we walked with the nurse together.

"You two make a cute couple," the nurse commented, smiling as we entered the room.

"Oh we're not dating. We're just best friends," Kellin explained.

The nurse nodded disbelievingly.

"I'm gay, I'm dating a boy. She's dating a guy too," he sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Oh. Well the doctor will be in shortly," she said curtly.

Kellin and I sat in silence. The doctor came in and looked me over. I did break my nose pretty bad, so he had to set it. Oh god, it hurt so bad. I think I almost squeezed Kellin's hand off when he set my nose. But it was fixed and healing, I just had to keep the bandages on the bridge of my nose for about two weeks. I had a hairline fracture in three ribs, so he bandaged me up and gave me some pain medication.

Kellin and I walked back out hand in hand still. We drove to the site in silence.

"I'm sorry I told you like that," Kellin finally said.

"It's fine. I had to find out eventually, right?" I asked, smiling slightly.

"I guess," he sighed.

"Thanks for taking me to the hospital, Kells," I smiled as we got out of the car and walked up to the site. Just then, Vic came racing up to us.

"I was so worried about you two, where'd you go?" he asked frantically.

"The hospital. i must have left my phone on the bus. I figured Jesse would have told you," Kellin said, cocking his head slightly, confused.

"He was asleep and the other three guys were too hungover to even stand," Vic laughed. "But are you two OK?"

"I'm perfectly fine. Destrey on the other hand..." Kellin sighed. "Broken nose. He had to set her nose back into place, so she's in a lot of pain. She squeezed my hand so hard I lost circulation."

We laughed at that.

"She also has hairline fractures in three of her ribs. She'll be OK in a couple of weeks," Kellin assured.

"Good, I'm glad mi hermanita will be better soon. Sorry I couldn't go with you," Vic frowned.

"You didn't know, Vic," I assured, still feeling like crying.

"Are you feeling OK, emotions wise?" he asked nervously, placing his hands on my shoulders and looking me in the eyes.

"I told her about Shay, since it was clear that he wasn't going to," Kellin stated, sounding sorry at the first part but his voice growing colder with each word.

"Oh Des, I'm so sorry," Vic sighed, pulling me into a gentle hug, being cautious of my ribs.

"I'll deal," I muttered. "I guess I better go back to my bus. Thanks for everything, Kells. See you later Vic."

I gave each of them a hug and a kiss on the cheek and walked back to my bus. Austin was standing outside anxiously. He spotted me, and ran over to me. He smiled. I smiled back sadly.

"Can we make up, darling?" he asked hopefully.

"Of course," I smiled, wrapping my arms around his waist and pulling him against me.

He looked down at me into my eyes and smiled softly. I leaned up into him, and he met me halfway, touching our lips together. His lips were still so soft and sweet. He tasted minty, must have just brushed his teeth. I smiled, and licked his bottom lip, asking permission for entrance. He gladly let me in, and I slowly and gently explored his mouth, savouring how he felt and tasted. He smiled into the kiss, making me smile back and finally feel okay. His tongue started battling mine for dominance, to which I gladly gave in. I didn't want anymore fighting. I was too happy.

In that moment, I forgot everything. I forgot about my nose. My ribs. My past. My uncle. My scars. I forgot about my tattoo itching, my hair looking weird, and my slightly smudged makeup from what few tears I had shed in the car over Shay. But most importantly?

I forgot about Shay.