Love Like This

“Wake up!” I heard two people shout the next morning. I opened my eyes and saw Stephen and Jess standing above me watching intently.

“I should have seen this coming and locked my door.” I groaned as I rolled over onto my stomach and covered my eyes with my pillow to block out the light.

“We would have picked the lock or gone through a window.” Stephen laughed, “Thanks for the cake last night.”

“Thanks for spying on me like a little bitch.” I laughed as I was rolled back over on my back by Jess.

“We were concerned.” Jess pouted.

“Brian put you up to it, didn’t he?” I groaned realizing I hadn’t seen him since yesterday afternoon and he must have been avoiding me knowing that I would figure it out sooner or later, “Where is that fucker?”

“He’s already at the venue setting up for our show tonight.” Stephen told me, “You can hurt him after we play a kickass show tonight.”

“Alright, fine.” I rolled my eyes, “So what are you two goons doing here anyway?”

“We came to help you look good for the show tonight.” Stephen smirked, “You could use all the help you can get.”

“First of all, that was rude.” I pouted, “Secondly, what makes you think you’re an expert on making women look good?” I laughed.

“I know what men like Josh want.” He grinned and jumped on my bed, “And what they want is for you to show some skin!” He proceeded to pull my shirt up to expose my stomach as I squealed in protest.

“Jess help me!” I screamed desperately. She only laughed and helped Stephen take off my shirt leaving me in only my bra and shorts.

“You’re both jerks.” I frowned as I crossed my arms over my chest in an attempt to cover up, “Alright.” I gave in, “What do you want me to wear?”

I’m glad you asked.” Jess said excitedly as she stood up and handed me a bag that had been sitting on the floor. I looked at her curiously as she encouraged me to open it.

“You’re joking.” I laughed as I pulled the dress out of the bag, “You want me to wear this?”



I followed Jess and Stephen into the venue and tried to pull my tight dress down further to cover my legs since it kept sliding up. What was worse was that half of the dress was mesh so my bare skin was showing through. It was a cute dress, but definitely not my speed at all. Jess even tried to get me to wear heels, but I protested and wore black gladiator sandals instead.

I could feel the stares of the girls watching me and I knew exactly what they were thinking: whore. Only band sluts dressed up like this for concerts. Everyone surrounding me was wearing jeans and band shirts, I stood out like a sore thumb.

“Sierra!” Brian called out when he saw me after we got backstage, “We need to talk!”

“Save it for at home.” I rolled my eyes, “You have to get ready to put on a show.”

“You’re right.” He frowned, “But we are definitely going to talk about this date.”

“What are you wearing?” John asked as he appeared beside me just as Brian walked off to talk to Jess and Stephen who were raiding the table full of food.

“Your brother and Jess picked it out.” I blushed.

“It doesn’t really seem like you.” John noted as he looked at me more closely.

“It doesn’t feel like me either.” I chuckled awkwardly as I rubbed my hands over my bare arms.

“Here.” John handed me his jacket, “I want this back later, but you can use it for now. Try not to make it smell too much like a girl.”

“Thanks.” I laughed as he walked off towards the rack of guitars to prepare to go on stage, “Hey John?”

“Yeah?” He looked up at me expectantly, it almost seemed as if he was hopeful too, but I wasn't sure about that.

“Have you seen Josh around anywhere?” I bit my lip and looked around for him. I couldn’t spot his blond hair anywhere.

“I haven’t seen him.” John frowned, “He’ll be here though.”

“Did I hear my name?” I heard Josh behind me. I turned around to see him walking towards me with a boy I didn’t recognize walking with him.

“Sierra… you look amazing.” Josh blushed as he hugged me hello. When he pulled away he gave me a quick kiss before he turned back to the boy standing there. “I want you to meet my little brother Connor.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Connor.” I smiled and he grinned.

“It’s nice to meet the girl Josh has told me so much about. You’re even more beautiful than he described.”

“Calm down now, Connor.” Josh warned jokingly, “This one is taken.”

“I guess charm runs in the family.” I laughed as Connor winked.

“So are you excited about seeing us play tonight?” Josh asked as I focused on him once again.

“Definitely.” I smiled, “Normally I would go in the crowd to watch, but not in this dress.”

“Josh enough flirting we’re about to go on!” Stephen called to Josh as he pulled the strap of his bass guitar over his head.

“Can I have a kiss for good luck?” Josh grinned as he leaned in. I giggled and went to kiss his cheek, but he moved his head and met his lips with mine.

“Good luck.” I laughed as I pulled away. Josh grinned and pecked my lips again before he ran on stage with the rest of his band. I walked over and stood next to Connor and watched the crowd cheer for my brother and his band mates. As they began to play I noticed that they were actually really talented. The set only got progressively worse as they got progressively more and more drunk on stage. They were still putting on a decent show though.

I don’t know what was in those red cups that kept getting refilled, but it had to be pretty strong. The only seemingly sober one of the group was Brian and he was still really tipsy.

“Thanks for the great show tonight!” Brian yelled into the microphone. He was holding onto the mic stand to remain balanced.

“YEAH!” John shouted as he threw his guitar on stage. Brian caught it mere seconds before it hit the ground, but John didn’t notice as he jumped into the crowd. I guess in his inebriated state he didn’t realize the first two rows in front of the stage were girls who couldn’t hold his weight and he fell almost instantly to the floor.

“He needs help!” A girl shouted. Instinctively Connor and I both ran out on stage and I stood there waiting while Connor picked him up.

“We need to get him to a hospital.” Connor frowned as John winced in pain in his arms.

“Okay.” I said frantically, “You round up the rest of the band and I will take John.”

“Are you sure?” Connor raised his brow skeptically. Either he knew about my history with John or he simply thought I was too weak to get John to the car, let alone the hospital, in one piece.

“There isn’t much time to be debating this, just do it.” I sighed. Connor didn’t argue as he put John down and let him wrap his arm around my shoulder and waist.

“Are you good?” I asked John. He swallowed hard and nodded his head as we began to walk slowly to the car.

“Thanks Sierra.” John mumbled as he buckled himself in.

“Don’t mention it.” I smiled as I sped out of the parking lot, “I was the only relatively sober person there anyway so it’s not like I had much of a choice.”

“True.” John laughed for a moment before he winced and grabbed his leg once again in pain.

“We’re almost there.” I assured him, “Try not to think about the pain.”

“It’s kind of hard not to.” John spat angrily.

“Okay, John.” I sighed in defeat. We didn’t speak another word for the rest of the ride to the hospital which made it uncomfortable once again.

“Sorry.” John apologized as I helped him out of the car, “I didn’t mean to snap at you. I’m still a little drunk and being in pain doesn’t help.”

“I understand.” I half smiled as we walked into the waiting room. It seemed to be sort of a slow night so John was seen quickly. I texted Stephen, Brian and my mom to let them know how everything was going, but got no reply. They were probably preoccupied with being drunk and if they were at my house my mom was probably babysitting them with Connor. About ten minutes later John was wheeled out in a wheelchair and his entire leg was put into a cast.

“It was that serious?” I asked as I examined his leg.

“Apparently.” John laughed as I helped him to stand up and receive the pair of complimentary crutches the hospital provided, “No more stage diving for me.”

“Good.” I laughed, “You don’t need any more broken limbs. Let’s get you home.”

“Thanks Sierra.” John smiled as we left the hospital, “I owe you one.”