I Settle for Long Distance Calls

Ezra picked a picture from her sister, Parker, and their friend, Genie’s, graduation party from the edges of her mirror in her apartment bedroom. Ezra’s teeth were still crooked before her braces, her bangs falling into her eyes while she laughed from where she was on Alex’s back, Alex with a bright smile next to Genie and Jack, Jack’s arm around her shoulders. Parker was in front of Zack with Zack’s arms around her waist, chin on top her head while Mitch and Rian made funny faces at the other end of the photo. It was one of the last pictures that they had taken with the boys before they were on the fast road to fame. The ones before were Ezra in middle school, the rest of them navigating high school with instruments and laughter.

The ones following, Parker, Mitch and Genie were in college and the boys were home for a couple months in the summer, the eight of them throwing around a football and hanging out in Ezra and Parker Smith’s backyard. Ezra had always been the baby of the group, which meant that she was the last one to graduate, which meant the last picture that had been taken was at her graduation party in late June, the eight of them sitting on a picnic bench in the park, Ezra leaning into Alex’s chest with her shiny, metal braces.

That was also the last time they’d really seen them, unfortunately, since the boys had been getting more and more popular. They had recorded and released two more CDs (which Ezra and Parker owned, of course) since Ezra had graduated and started going to Grand Valley State University in Michigan, the school Mitch also had been going while Parker and Genie were taking Graduate classes there, the four of them living on an apartment off campus. They hadn’t talked to the boys directly in about two years, going on three, though it seemed like a lifetime for Ezra.

She stuck the picture back into the edges of her mirror before turning to look at the poster for the boys’ tour that would be pulling into town in the next few days. The Rule the World Over Tour was written across the top of the flyer, Ezra sighing as she looked at the bands: All Time Low, The Summer Set, The Cab and Cartel. All of them were good bands that Ezra rather liked, she just didn’t know how the boys would react if they saw them after their set.

“Ezra!” Ezra picked up her bag, walking out of her room and finding Parker fighting with the cables in their utensils and impliements drawer. “Where the fuck is the cord for the rice cooker?”

“Did you check in the rice cooker?” Parker shoved the other ones in the drawer before opening the rice cooker. “Is it there?”

“Shut up.” Ezra laughed, shoving her shoes on her feet. “Are Dree and Alice coming over for dinner again?” Ezra shrugged.

“I’ll ask Alice in Scene class. You’re asking Dree.” Parker sighed. Ezra made her way to the door, opening it before shutting it mostly and turning to her older sister. “Hey, Park?”

“Hm?” Parker said, turning to look at her sibling.

“Are you- I mean, do you- The guys? Are you worried about seeing them?” Parker opened her mouth, sighed and then shut it before finally finding the words to respond.

“No, because if I remember those boys, they won’t be any different than they were in high school, maybe a little age sobered,” Ezra smiled. “But, I’m not. You shouldn’t be either. Get to class you’ll be late.” Ezra nodded before headed out of the apartment, Parker leaning against the counter with a sigh before looking at the bullentin board in the living room littered with old pictures, including one from their prom, Zack’s arms around her waist and her smiling into the flash of her parent’s camera.

-

Alex picked through the pictures in the tin Ezra had given him after her graduation party.

“It’s your graduation party, what’re you doing?”

“Shut up and take it, Gaskarth.” Ezra had said, the tin looking like a water color painting, the top decorated with a single duckling. “Sorry it’s so girly, but it has a bunch of pictures and stuff, for when you’re on tour and homesick, not that a big tough man like yourself would get homesick.” Alex laughed, taking the tin from her hands.

“Thanks, Ezra,” He told her, kissing her cheek.

“Alex- whoa, is that prom?” Alex nodded, picking up the picture of Jack and Genie before prom, Jack sitting next to Alex to look at the picture. “These are so damn old. Where did you get these?”

“Ezra gave them to me after her graduation party.” Jack smiled, sifting through them and find one of Mitch with the four of them. “God, Mitch was like our mandatory gay best friend, he was so flamin’.” Alex laughed, nodded, taking the picture from Jack. “I wonder if he ever toned down.”

“Doubt it.” Alex found a couple of Rian and Genie after football games wearing their matching marching band shirts, like the losers they were while there were a few of Ezra in formal dress for her public speech competitions, one in particular where she was holding a plastic trophy with a huge, radiant smile, despite her braces.

“Guys, we’re pulling into Cleveland, you ready?” Matt asked, leaning into the back lounge. Alex sighed and nodded, setting the pictures back and capping the tin. The two men stood up, heading off the bus, Alex’s head swimming with how much Ezra had probably changed in the last few years, her braces probably removed and curves more prominent. He was almost worried about her showing up at the Pyramid Scheme when they hit Grand Rapids, curious as to howshe would react when he saw her, if she saw him.

“Alex, dude, you okay?” Rian asked, resting a hand on the singer’s shoulder. Alex shook his head but smiled.

“Yeah, just thinking about the tour, I’m fine.” Rian didn’t look so sure but he smiled gently anyway, heading into the venue with DeLeon and Marshall, the three of them talking about the crowds in Cleveland while Jack patted Alex twice on the shoulder before picking up Jess and carrying her into the venue amid her shrieks and laughter. Alex smiled and headed inside with the rest of the bands, hoping soundcheck would get him ready for tonight and get his mind off of his old friends.

-

“I’ve never seen All Time Low live,” Alice admitted, Dree slapping a hand over her mouth with wide eyes as Genie and Parker started giggling. “Should I be worried about the crowds or-?”

“Uh... moshing and bras being thrown on stage are your main concerns, otherwise, there’s lots of jumping and screaming. Those boys can be pretty nuts.” Mitch told her, gently patting her shoulder. Alice looked worried but Ezra was wrapping an arm around her fellow performer’s shoulder as the line moved slowly in the venue.

“Just stick close and you should be fine. The boys are crazy, but there’s never been an incident of serious harm at an ATL concert before. I’m sure we’ll all be fine.” Alice nodded, wrapping an arm around Ezra’s waist as they flashed their IDs, both of them getting black Xs on their hands before being shown inside, the other four getting inside marker free. “Fuck you guys and your being of age.”

“Fuck yeah, no more cattle marking!” Genie said, throwing a fist in the air. Ezra rolled her eyes while Alice did the same, the six of them carefully making their way into the back area where the concert was going to be held.

“I’m using the bathroom. Who’s coming!” Dree asked, turning towards the bathrooms just inside the door. All of them went to the respective bathrooms, the girls waiting for the lines to move before they all congregated back inside, all of them immediately getting as close to the stage as crowds and security would allow, the six of them right near the front, all of them talking animatedly as they waited for the first band to come out.

“Do you guys know who’s opening?” Dree asked, looking at the stage as though trying to get a glimpse of the first band’s members.

“Uh... Cartel, I wanna say.” Mitch said, looking at the stage with Dree. Between the two of them, it was definitely an art form of seeing around them, especially with Mitch being as tall and gangly as he was.

He was right as Cartel opened with Honestly, the music really good and they knew most of the words but when The Cab came on stage, they knew quite a few more songs, the six of them jumping to the music. DeLeon was animated as ever, getting the crowd jumping and excited for the rest of the night, leaving them all with an early concert high.

“I’ll be right back!” Ezra said between The Cab and The Summer Set, she and Genie slipping from the crowd to get drinks of water from the bar. They were giving cups of water out for free, Ezra and Genie downing two before slipping back into the crowd with the help of Mitch and Parker tugging them through the smaller gaps that no one was willing to give up without a coercion.

The Summer Set was so loud and upbeat, Alice looked like she was having the time of her life despite the fact that she wasn’t really into music like this, which had Parker in a great mood; she, Dree and Alice nearly dancing to Boomerang, Brian smiling at the three of them as he sang, Stpehen handing Genie one of his picks while he was playing as well. Mitch was jumping and down to their songs as well, Ezra breathing so heavily by the end of their set she wasn’t quite sure how she was going to handle All Time Low’s set following.

She didn’t get long to think about it because the opening to Damned If I Do Ya (Damned If I Don’t) was playing loudly, the crowd screaming loudly for the band as Alex made his way to the microphone. He opened the song before he stopped, the crowd screaming the lyrics, Ezra’s heart pounding with Zack’s bass and Rian’s drums as she shouted them with the rest of the crowd. Alex glanced down at the six of them at the front, Ezra winking up at him as he sang, Alex singing his heart out for the packed crowd of the Pyramid Scheme.

The crowd was screaming their names as the song came to close, the four of them falling into a pattern of vulgar banter, shouting curses at the crowd between songs while a couple of bras were thrown onto the stage, Jack collecting them onto his microphone stand throughout the set. Ezra was vaguely aware of the mosh pit behind her through most of the performance while the boys were performing, the boys ending on their performance on a crowd favorite, Weightless.

The six of them were filtering out before the rest of the crowd was, all of them stumbling out of the venue with smiles, breathing hard and sitting in the parking lot beside the venue that was at an angle above the sidewalk as the crowd cleared out of the venue a bit. Alice had taken to leaning against Dree while Dree leaned against Mitch, Parker lying on her back on the pavement, the ground still cold with the early spring-later winter chill of Michigan.

“Hey, you hooligans!” Parker sat up and turned around Genie turning slightly to see Jack and Rian walking towards them. “Loitering after a concert?” Genie was off the ground and throwing herself in Jack’s arms in a moment, Jack laughing into her hair in a second, squeezing her while Alice and Dree stood up, Mitch hugging Rian in greeting. “Great seeing you too, dude.”

“You guys were awesome tonight,” Mitch told them, Rian hugging Parker and Jack wrapping his arms around Ezra. “These are our friend from college, Alice and Dree.” The girls smiled and waved, the boys nodding at them.

“Come on, Alex has been asking about you guys.” Ezra smiled, all of them walking over towards the buses and vans, Rian shouting for Alex. Alex turned around, as well as Stephen and Zack from where they were loading up the stuff. Alex noticed Ezra next to Jack was immediately walking over to her and sweeping her up in his arms like before, Ezra laughing as he spun her around.

“I fucking missed you,” He sighed next to ear and then setting her down and hugging the rest of them. “God, it’s been way too fucking long.” It wasn’t long before they were all sat around outside the bus, talking about the old times, Dree and Alice laughing at the stories from high school with the guys.

“In my defense, I was a Junior in high school and thought I was too good to hang around a sophomore, I didn’t mean to be a tool!” Jack said, sipping his beer. Genie rolled her eyes while Ezra shook her head.

“Genie, at least you weren’t the baby. No one wanted to hang around a junior high student, especially a few guys that were finally getting popular,” Ezra told her, making a face at the boys. Alex rolled his eyes, sipping his own drink.

“I was never too cool for you, Ezra. Who took you to your Formal?” Ezra shrugged it off, sipping her Diet Coke. “Oh, yeah, that was me.”

“That doesn’t even count, you stood around like a douche waiting for people to approach you asking about your band. You asked me to dance to two songs, Gaskarth!”

“I did not, and if you remember me being that much of a tool, I’m sorry, I was a 18 year old son of bitch who thought he was cool because of his band. I also had buckteeth, a bad haircut and didn’t know how to dress myself.”

“Alex, I hate to break it to you, but you still kind of have an overbite.” Alex slapped a hand over his mouth self-conciously.

“I do not!” He muffled from behind his mouth. “My teeth are just fine now, for your information!”

“Is that why you’re covering your mouth?” Alice asked, giving him a look. Alex narrowed his eyes but Rian was chuckling.

It wasn’t long before Matt was telling the guys to get on the bus, knowing they had quite a drive before they reached Chicago for their next tour date. They were all hesitant to say goodbye after they’d lost touch for so long, but there was an exchange of phone numbers, even for the boys and Alice and Dree (Stephen handing Dree his with wink), as well as lots of hugging and promises of ‘talk soon’s.

Zack and Parker were hugging each other tightly, Parker leaning against his chest with a sigh as Zack kissed her head, telling her that he would call. Ezra knew they had a thing in high school she just didn’t know Parker would miss him so much, although it would explain her short list of relationships since Zack. Genie was the same way with Jack, only Jack was a little less serious, trying to make the blonde girl laugh while promising he’d call.

Alex smiled at Ezra, tucking her hair behind her ear. Ezra batted his hand away.

“This isn’t a movie, Alex.”

“I know, I just feel like I should make it up to you, being so far away for so long.” Ezra wrapped her arms around herself. “You should get a story book, y’know. I know I’m not story book material, none of us are, but you deserve it.”

“Alex, you deserve story book. You’ve had quite the life, in case you forgot.” He smiled sadly and looked at the ground. “Just, call, once in a while. That’s all I ask, to know you’re still alive out there.” Alex looked at her, Ezra looking almost sad. “You worry me, is all.”

“You’re too young to worry this much.” Ezra shrugged. “Go have a life, go to a party, drink until you pass out, don’t be so worried about us.” Ezra laughed.

“I wish I could.” Alex leaned forward and kissed her forehead, her cheek and gently brushed his thumb over her cheek, cradling her face in his hands. “Alex, don’t. There’s no reason for you to get attached to a girl miles away that’s four years younger than you in college.”

“I’ve made plenty of bad decisions in my life, what’s one more.” Ezra tried to frown at him but he was pressing his lips against hers, resting a hand on her waist. Ezra moved her arms to wrap around his neck, sighing against his mouth. She’d waited a long time for this. He pulled away slowly, bumping his nose against hers gently, making her giggle. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too, Gaskarth. Be careful.” He promised and pecked her lips once more before stepping away, heading onto the bus with the rest of the band, Ezra leaning against her sister, their arms around each other, waving their boys off once again.

-

Ezra ducked underneath her blankets, trying to ignore her sister yelling at her to get out of bed. The sun was pouring in the apartment windows, however, which made trying to stay asleep that much harder, but there was also another warm body wrapped around her middle, his face tucked into the slope of her shoulder, nosing at the soft skin there, keeping her comfortably stationary in bed.

“What the fuck is Zack even here for if he can’t keep Parker in bed, I swear to fucking God,” Alex moaned. Ezra giggled, pressing her face against his soft and messy bedhead.

“Sh, it stopped. Maybe Zack dragged her back to bed.” Alex chuckled, Ezra slipping farther down to get a look at her boyfriend in all his sleepy, half naked glory. “You should put a shirt on when you sleep, what if Parker came in here.”

“You should put pants on, but you don’t see me complaining.” Ezra smirked, wiggling around in her stretched-out-too-big All Time Low shirt and purple panties, Alex gving her the same look back.

“I’m not complaining, and this is my bed, in case you forgot. I can wear as few or as many clothes as I like.” Alex moaned, pulling her in by her waist and kissing up her neck.

“You should wear less, I like it when you wear less,” Alex muttered, pressing his lips up her neck and behind her ear, nibbling on her ear after he made his way up, making her squirm.

“Didn’t I just lay down the rules of my bed?” Ezra asked, shifting away a bit but still giggling. “Did Rian stay as Alice’s again?”

“You had to ruin the mood. Y’know, since Rian and Alice started dating, it’s become increasingly less difficult for us to enforce the no sex on the bus rule, but more difficult to enforce the no sex in the hotel rooms rule, especially when we have days off here in Grand Rapids.” Ezra shrugged. “Alice doesn’t like small spaces, does she?”

“No, I don’t think so, then again sex in a tour bus bunk doesn’t exactly scream turn on if you ask me, in any case.” Alex shrugged. “But I swear to God, if I have to bang on Genie’s door one more time in the middle of the night because of Jack, I’m forcing you guys to start staying in hotels more often.” Alex looked appalled.

“You wouldn’t do that. Firstly, because I sleep with you when we don’t stay in hotels.” Ezra rolled her eyes, “Secondly, Parker is less into enforcing class when we stay over.” Ezra nodded, “and Mitch stays out more often while means he gets more time with his boyfriend, so really, everyone is happy when we stay over.” Ezra huffed.

“I hate when you’re right,” Ezra told him, but Alex was smirking and leaning forward to kiss her, carding his fingers through her messy, dark curls.

“You always have,” he muttered, rolling them over to press her into the mattress, deepening the kiss.