Behind My Mask

Waking up felt like a nightmare; not only did my head hurt from a hungover, my whole body was stiff from being twisted in unusual angles. Though, it didn't seem that I was the only one having this problem. I watched Jaime groan while getting up; I took a look at his face to see random scribbles on it. It made me smile, nearly laugh, but the pain prevented me.

I myself stretched, hearing all of my joints pop; it eased the pain in my bones a little bit, but the stiffness in my back and neck didn't leave me, and they probably wont for a while.

"My back kills, and so does my head"
He leaned forwards, cradling his head in his hands, trying to soothe the pounding. I wouldn't be surprised if his headache was worse than mine, he had, after all, drunk a whole vodka bottle, and then slept on cold wood the whole night. It probably wasn't the best decision he has made in his life.

Movement caught my attention; Tony and Mike were trying to make sense of who's body part belonged to who, groaning all the while and even shouting at each other.
When they had broken free they slowly looked up, and I bursted out laughing. They had done the same, but if they were laughing at me, that meant that my face probably looked just as bad. It had made me stop in an instant; I had to see what was done to my face.

I quickly found a mirror, bursting out in another uncontrollable laughing fit. If my markings hadn't been done so neatly I would have been pissed beyond belief, but it was just done so well, I couldn't not laugh. It looked like everyone in the room agreed with me, since they themselves were laughing to the point of tears, despite the pain that was poking us from all sides.

"Alright, which little shit did this?" Tony was the first to stop laughing, but he would still chuckle every time he looked at either one of our faces; he obviously isn't going to be happy about his own, but at least he can laugh at us.

"Don't know, but their drawing skills are epic" Mike himself had looked in the mirror, and even he had to admit he looked remotely like Hitler.

"Oh, that was me" Kellin had strolled in the room with a cup of coffee; he looked proud of his work, and pain free. Guess he didn't drink as much as we did last night.

"If it weren't your birthday, your sorry ass would be in hell by now" Jaime had commented while leaving the room.

Minutes later shouting could be heard.
"Shit, Kellin! What did you use?!"

"Why do you ask?" His uncontrollable smiling gave it away that he knew perfectly well what Jaime was talking about, and it just made me all the more worried.

"This shit isn't coming off"

"Well of course it wouldn't, it's sharpie after all"

"That's it, you're dead"
Jaime stormed in the room, but Kellin had already fled; He had chased him for about twenty minutes until he gave up. Kellin was just too fast, and he knew the house too well.

"Do you know how to get this fucking shit off?"

"It will come off eventually"

More light hearted argument went over this matter, but they had all ended up going home; they had borrowed sunglasses from me and Kellin, and they had their hoodies on, in hopes to make the black lines less apparent.

"I guess we're gonna spend the day inside then"

"I guess"

"We can go to my house, it's too much of a mess here to do anything"

I had somewhat tried to cover my face while crossing the lawn; there were quite a few people outside who gave me strange looks, but hiding behind Kellin had prevented from anyone mocking me.
Since we couldn't spend all day inside doing nothing, I set up a few movies that we can procrastinate our day away with.

The dark red curtains were shut closed; some sunlight shone through the material and it created a warm, red illusion in the room. We were both sitting comfortably on the sofa with a blanket wrapped around us. Before the set up we had changed into more comfortable clothes.

Pillows were set all around us, and some snacks left over from the party were set in an arms reach.
One of the movies that Kellin had chosen was a horror, and just like those five years ago, or should I say six, I clutched on to him for my dear life; horror's didn't affect me as much anymore, but they still gave me an excuse to be closer to him.

Being together with him alone gave me an excuse to hug him and have close contact with him, so really, I didn't need to find any other excuses, but it was still nice, and he didn't seem to mind either.
About two movies later I felt him completely leaned against me, letting out shallow breaths. I couldn't blame him for falling asleep, the movie wasn't exactly the most exiting thing to watch.

For me, Kellin was the most interesting thing in the world; I could watch him forever, for his every move is graceful, and his entire being to me seemed flawless. I knew he had, what some people might consider flaws, but even those to me were perfect. It was what made Kellin, it was what shaped his personality and be the person he is today.

I could never imagine myself leaving his side; if this relationship was to ever break, I wouldn't be the one leaving him. I had full trust in him, but some days I couldn't help but doubt that he will leave me for someone better.

---- 3 years later ----
(Kellin's POV)

"Shit, I'm gonna be late" I cursed as I grabbed a piece of toast Vic had made for me; we had moved in our own separate place, away from our parents. We had gotten financial help, but we also have our own jobs, which is what I was going to be late for if I didn't hurry up.

I kissed Vic goodbye and sprinted out of the apartment, thankfully I still had my own car; it wasn't the best, but at least it got me where I needed to be.

I worked as a singer for parties, and any other events that required me to sing. I like to think of myself as lucky to have gotten a job around something that I love doing; the pay wasn't the best, but the working environment was nice, and all I had to do was sing for most of the time.

I had been booked for two events today, and normally it took me a few hours to prepare, so if I was late then it would be a hell of a rush to get everything together, and my employer had told me if I keep turning up late, he will have no choice but to fire me, and frankly, I didn't want to loose this job just yet.

All of the rushing had managed to get me there only ten minutes late, that no one really noticed. As soon as I was there I had started to get myself prepared, and almost in no time I was leaving for the first event. Though, I couldn't actually say it was in no time; my make up artist spends a solid hour of applying makeup that I don't even need. Apparently its to make me 'look better' but normally the venues I'm in are dimly lit, and no one really looks at my face, so I don't see the point.

For a good performance, singing takes up a lot of my energy. By the time I was home I felt completely drained, but as always Vic had already prepared dinner.
He still had his old job and his shift usually ends about two hours before I return home, but then again the times I come home only depend on how many bookings I have and how long I'm required to stay for.

"So, how did it go today?"

"As always; tiring, but fun. I had to go to this kid party today, and I swear I saw the most unhappy child in the world, she was giving me the evils. I mean, every time I looked at her she would just glare at me for no reason; I have never seen this kid before in my life, never had a conversation with her or any other kind of interaction, and she already decided to write my name down on her hate list. What about you? Anything new?"

"Sounds interesting, and just the usual. Nothing special"

We spent the rest of our evening watching TV, like usual. Just because we both had work now didn't mean we wouldn't try to spend as much time as possible with each other. We always spend our free time with each other, and surprisingly throughout these three years we haven't gotten sick of each other, not even close.

"Are you booked this weekend?"

"No"

"Then now you are, by me"