Indecision and a Chance to Restart

I didn’t have much time until I reached the front door of Austin’s white, bungalow-style house, and in that small time I was going over what I could say to Vic to ask him to come back. There was no way Tony could get him to come home with us, and Jaime wasn’t going to do much better, so the job was left to me. I didn’t even want to fuck around this time, we all needed him here.
Sooner than I wanted I reached the front door and I knocked softly. I checked my phone and was shocked that it was already 2 in the morning. I almost ran back to the car and told them to come back tomorrow when the door swung open to reveal a ginger-haired boy who looked half
asleep and a little pissed off.
“Can I help you?” He hissed and glared at me.
“Uh, hi, um… I’m looking for Vic? Is this Austin’s house…?” I trailed off. Suddenly I wasn’t sure at all whether Austin lived here or not.
“Oh shit, dude, sorry. Hold on.” He looked a little sorry and turned around. “Austin? Vic’s brother’s here.” He called into the house and Austin came to the door.
“Mikey!” Austin exclaimed and engulfed me in his long, lanky arms. “How are ya bro!” I flung my arms around him.
“I’m good Aus, how are things?” I said and we let go of eachother after a few seconds.
“Things are chill, man. I’m in a band, and uh, this is my boyfriend Alan, he plays guitar in my band.” He smiled and the ginger who’s name was Alan smiled. “Yeah, sorry. Mike, right?” he smiled and shook my hand. I laughed.
“Yeah, dude, that’s cool. Uh, so is Vic here? I gotta talk to him.” I nodded and Austin looked a little surprised.
“Yeah man, he’s upstairs, come with me I’ll get him up for you!” He grinned and grabbed my hand, pulling me up the flight of stairs behind him. "He only went to bed like, 10 minutes ago so he should be awake." Austin smiled and knocked on the door I assumed was Vic's.
"Yeah?" I heard Vic croak out from behind the door.
"Vic, you got a guest." Austin swung the door open and walked in with me.
"Uh, hey Vic." I said a little uncomfortably. Vic sat up slowly, rubbed his eyes, and stared at me.
"Mike?" He said and raised his eyebrows. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"I'm here to get you, dude. You need to come back with Jaime and Tony and me."
Vic just looked at me with an emotionless expression. I glanced over and Austin was rocking back and forth on his feet uncomfortably.
"Yeah, I'm just gonna go check on… Alan, uh…" Austin mumbled and pretty much sprinted out of the room. I laughed, he looked really silly, but I turned back to Vic almost immediately after.
"Seriously dude, you can't stay here forever. You don't belong here. Look, everything's fixed with Jaime and Tony and me and you and all we need to do is write a few songs together, and everything will be in 'tip-top shape'." I used air quotes around the expression and I rolled my eyes after, although the room was really dark so I wasn't sure that Vic could see. "Honestly dude, you need to get out there and write. And I have shit-all to do, and Jaime and Tony, man, their lives are boring. They need stuff to do too." I pleaded with Vic and sat down on his bed.
"Mike, I don't… I don't need all the drama. If Jaime and Tony don't want me around then I'll stay away." He looked down and put his head in his hands.
"Is that why you left? Because you thought they didn't want you around?" I asked him. He shrugged and nodded.
"That's the stupidest reason I've heard in a while, dude." I told him. He looked up at me, exasperated.
"Excuse me? I didn't wanna be around them if they were gonna act like that!" he whisper-yelled at me.
"No Vic, you're running away from your problems. And who said they didn’t want you around anyways? No one ever said that! Just come back home, okay?" I told him as a last resort. If this didn’t get him home, I didn't know what could.
"I… I don't know, Mike. Is anyone with you or are you here alone?" He mumbled. I chuckled.
"They're both downstairs. You wanna talk to 'em?" I asked.
"Just Jaime."
"Okie doke."
~~~Jaime's POV
I had been sitting in the car for ten minutes in silence, waiting for either Mike, Vic, or both of them to walk out the house. Tony and I weren't talking to each other, and that was okay with me because I felt awkward anyways. I knew things were off, but I didn't know what to say about the situation.
A sharp rapping at my window made me jump, but I calmed down a little when I saw Mike standing there. I rolled down the window. "Yeah?"
"He wants you upstairs. You don't have to knock, just go in the house. First room on the left." Mike said and got into the backseat. I sighed and stood up, crossed the street and walked into the unfamiliar house.
Once upstairs, I walked into the room I presumed belonged to Vic and saw him sitting on the bed with watery eyes.
"Vic? Is everything okay?" I asked worriedly.
"Y-Yeah, I dunno, Himes. I just, I'm sorry about everything I did to you. O-okay? I feel bad about everything and I d-didn't mean to fuck things up-p with you and Tony," Vic sobbed. I rushed over to him and wrapped my arms around him.
"Shh, shh, it's okay, Vicky. I promise. Everythings okay. It wasn't your fault, it wasn't. Things were already rough, it's not a big deal. Are you okay?" I murmured into his ear and hummed a few songs, trying to calm him down. Eventually his sobs calmed down and he was breathing normally after several minutes.
"Okay?" I asked him.
"Y-yeah, I think so. S-so why are you guys here?" He looked up at me with sad eyes.
"To get you, silly." I smiled softly at him. He returned the gesture and cuddled into my neck.
"Thank you, I think. I didn't know you guys cared about me this much." He whispered and I felt shivers down my spine. My neck was such a sensitive area and it felt really good.
"Of course, Vicky." I told him.
We sat together, him cuddled to me and in my arms for a few minutes before he unwrapped himself from my embrace.
"We should probably get going." He looked at me and I nodded.
"Yeah. Okay, let's go downstairs and home. We have a lot of driving to do, my friend." I said and he giggled.
We left the house, waving goodbye to Vic's friend- I assumed the dark haired one was Austin and the ginger was Alan- and I walked over to my car. Mike and Tony were in the backseat, talking or something and I opened the door. Tony instantly jumped back, obviously surprised by my appearance and his face grew bright red.
"Uh, hey guys." He said after a minute. Mike was beaming. "Aye, Vic! You ready to go home?" he said and jumped out of the car, engulfing his brother in a hug. I laughed a little at how Vic squirmed out of his arms and shrugged.
"Yeah, uh… I don't wanna drive though." Vic said sheepishly.
"Well here, I'll drive my car and Jaime can drive his?" Mike said and I nodded. "Tone, wanna drive with me?" He said. Tony climbed out of the car, his face still red with embarrassment, and nodded softly. "Yeah okay." They both ran over to Mike's car and I climbed into the drivers seat, Vic following shortly after. I tossed the three bags into the backseat and let Vic into the passenger side. I started the car and waited for Mike and Tony to back out of the driveway before turning around and following them home.
After a while, I was feeling exhausted from all the driving and I turned the radio onto a rock station. 30 Seconds to Mars was playing and I sang along, enjoying the beat of the song. I heard another voice and I instantly stopped. I glanced over and Vic was singing along. I chuckled and he looked over at me, stopping immediately.
"What?" he glared.
"Nothing, I just forgot how good you sang." I smiled at him and sped up the car a little.
"Well I AM in a band…" he reasoned and laughed after.
"Correction, you're in MY band." I told him and grabbed his hand.
"Fair enough, Himes." He said.
~
Soon enough, I pulled into the driveway at Vic's house. We had beaten Tony and Mike home after calling them and challenging them to a race. I knew they weren’t far behind though, so Vic and I ran inside the house and bolted into Vic's room. He grabbed two guitars, one for himself and handed one to me.
"Just, play something. Make it look like we've been here for hours." He smiled and I nodded excitedly. I started playing a song I had written a while ago, in high school about a girl named Kim. I sang it out, not really noticing the way Vic stared at me the entire way through. I didn't even notice that Mike and Tony had walked into Vic's room until I stopped playing and looked up.
"Oh, hey guys… We're, uh… we're just jamming." I said and leaned against the wall next to Vic's bed.
"I knew you played, but I didn't know you wrote that too," Tony said. I smiled and he hugged Mike tighter in response. It was funny, I hadn't felt any pang of jealousy or something from that, and I looked over at Vic, smiling like an idiot at me instead. I grinned back and strummed the guitar a few more times before giving it a rest for the night. Mike and Vic were starting to nod off against the wall and I pointed it out.
"Is it senior nap time?" I said and Tony laughed a little. Vic sat up straight and raised his eyebrow, and Mike just glared at me.
"Just cause I'm old, doesn't mean you're not either." Vic said and Tony and I started laughing.
"I'm the youngest of the four of us!" I breathed out between laughs. Vic just looked at me confused.
"Oh, can it, Preciado." Mike mumbled and grabbed Tony's hand, disappearing for the night. I laid down on Vic's bed and I felt him snuggle up to me.
"You know, I wouldn't have come home if you hadn't seen me up there." He told me after we had gotten covered up and comfortable.
"Oh, really?" I mumbled and looked down at him.
"Yeah. You kinda saved me from myself back there." He said. Before I knew what I was doing, I leant down and kissed him softly on his lips. It was unlike anything I had ever felt before. I laid back down and a smile was plastered on my face.
"Happy to oblige, Vic." I said before we both drifted off.

~~~ Tony's POV
"Oh, can it, Preciado." Mike told Jaime before pulling me away towards his room. I closed the door behind me and pulled him in my his neck before kissing him slowly.
"Tony," Mike breathed against my lips and I smiled. We walked towards his bed and I spun around so that Mike ended up on top of me. He licked my bottom lip and our tongues brushed together along with the rest of our bodies. Soon enough we were pulling away, gasping for breath and I was feeling completely and utterly exhausted.
"Tired?" Mike noted and smiled a little at me. I nodded, not bothering with keeping my eyes open and I cuddled into Mike's chest.
"Goodnight, love." Was the last thing I heard before falling asleep.