The Anthem for a Dying Breed

We spent the day running from stage to stage, trying to catch as many of our friends in action as we could. Pierce were playing in the evening at around six, and Tony insisted I wait sidestage for them to finish instead of carrying on alone. I thought I might be bored senseless, but Mike kept me entertained by pulling faces at me and throwing his drumsticks at casey to wind him up until I saw Zack.

“Hey, there, gorgeous.” I greeted as he approached me, arms extended for a hug.

“Hey, monkey.” he murmured, engulfing me in his huge, beautifully inked arms. I wrapped my comparatively scrawny arms around his waist and stood on my tiptoes to peck his cheek - he returned it and pulled away. “Thought I might find you here - Jaime's been complaining he’s lost his drinking buddy to you all morning.” I chuckled at his grin and noticed the bag in his hand.

“What’s in there?” I said. He held it up and grinned.

“Oh, this?” He grinned even wider as I nodded, and raised his eyebrows. “Ray told me it was a special day, so I got you something.” I felt my cheeks heat up more (if it was possible in the already 30-something degree Celsius heat) and took the bag.

“Oh, dude,” I mumbled, opening the bag a little, “you shouldn’t have. Ray wasn’t supposed to tell anyone.”

“Well, I wanted to. It’s not anything great, anyway…” he shrugged. I rolled my eyes at him and pulled a t-shirt out of the bag - it was an oversized tie-dyed tank top with a new Amerrickan logo on it I hadn’t seen before.

“Holy shit, man, this is fucking awesome!” I squealed, launching another hug at him. He laughed and hugged me back, looking pleased. “Is this a new design?”

“Uh, yeah, actually,” he admitted as I let go of him - he scratched the back of his head bashfully, “I made it myself today. Me and Ray worked on the design last night.”

“Zack, my man, you’re gonna have to teach me to tie-dye. I wanna dye everything I fucking own!” I demanded, clutching the t-shirt to my chest.

“Yeah, OK!” he chuckled, nodding in agreement. “The t-shirt’s a one-off, by the way. I’m not making anymore like that, so you’ve got the only one in the world.”
My open-mouthed, gobsmacked expression must have given away my utter pride and excitement, and he doubled over in laughter as I began to bounce around.

“IloveitIloveitIloveitIloveit! I love it! So much!” I exclaimed, unable to keep still.

“I take it you think it’s alright then?” he teased, rolling his eyes. I squealed, pogoing even higher until someone grabbed me from behind, making me yelp. I turned to see a very sweaty, smiley Jaime, who tried to hug me. Squeaking and pushing him off, I hid behind Zack.

“Keep your body fluids, I don’t want ‘em!” I yelled.

“Want my body fluids instead?” Mike offered, stepping off stage and playing his drum sticks on my back as he did. I shook my head, pulling an ‘ew’ face.

“I want Victor’s.”

“Well, hi to you too, sweetie.” said-guy mused my hair and kissed he handed his guitar to Matt and shot me a cheeky grin. Tony was the last off stage, and looked taken by surprise at our little meeting - I don’t think he was expecting Zack to have an arm slung so warmly and casually around my neck.

“I want a kiss!” Mike demanded, scowling and brandishing a drum stick at me.

“C’mere then.” I said, sighing in mock exasperation. He flounced forward smugly and pursed his lips. “Uh-uh, close your eyes.” He huffed but did it anyway, and I beckoned Jaime over in a frantic silence, grabbing him and pushing him in front of Mike - he lost his balance and collapsed on the skinny guy, taking them both down.
“Jeez, Hime, jealous much?” I simpered mockingly as mike yelled in outrage, opening his eyes to glare.

“What-? I-I, she, I didn’t…” Jaime stammered as Mike threw him to a side and lept to his feet, advancing towards me. I squeaked and ran to hide behind Casey, who already had a bone to pick with Mike, so tackled him and dragged him away backstage.
Tony was by my side before anyone else could steal me away.

“Just can’t stay out of trouble, can you?” he teased with a slight smile. I grinned and clutched my new shirt to my chest. “What’s that?” he said, pointing as he noticed it.

“Zck made it for me.” I claimed, beaming proudly. He eased it out of my grip, and if had been anyone else, there was no way I would have let them near it, but I didn’t mind him.

“That’s so cool!” he smiled softly - the sentiment was genuine, and not patronising in the slightest, so I nodded like a crazy person.

“Yeah, Ray and I designed it for her-” Zack was about to let the cat out of the bag, but I caught him with a swift elbow jab to the gut: he grunted and gave me a weird look. I shook my head almost imperceptibly, hoping he’d get my please don’t mention it look. “Uhm...for her. Yeah.” he mumbled, shrugging dazedly.
Tony didn’t seem to notice, but I wasn’t going to give him time too - I was almost certain Vic had been eavesdropping, and he was the kind of person who would pick up on this, so we needed to leave before he started his fucking inquisition.

“C’mon, Tone, you need a shower and I wanna change so I can wear this - lets go!” I urged, grabbing his arm and dragging him away. It was unclear how many people Ray had let my dirty little secret slip to, but the less, the better.
“Don’t say anything! Please!” I mouthed at Zack over my shoulder as I noticed Vic advance towards him as we left; he rolled his eyes, but nodded with a grin.

“Meet us at the BBQ!” he called after us. We nodded, and I ushered Tony away from Zack before anyone could start asking questions.

Thankfully, Tony didn’t press the topic when we got back to the Pierce bus, so I changed into my new shirt and occupied myself with Tony’s laptops while he took a quick shower. He was conveniently still signed into Tumblr, so I used his account to reblog as many pictures of this year’s Warped as I could, then used my SD card to post some of my own.
When he came out of the shower, I pretended not to notice he was in his boxers and his hair was dripping wet out of the corner of my eye.

Sorry, but fuck me.

He took his dear time sifting through his belongings while in that tight underwear of his, then eventually decided on a pair of beat up old jeans and a loose, sleeveless Key Street tank that showed off his lovely long arms with only a hint of muscle under that gold and rainbow coloured skin.
Christ, get a fucking grip, Al.

He didn’t put his top on right away, though; he strolled over and collapsed next to me on the sofa, then looked at my face intently for a moment. I blogged another picture, fighting the urge to kiss his senseless, then glanced up at him briefly and blankly, then back to the laptop screen. He didn’t seem at all put out that I had no outward reaction to his semi-nakedness (my head, however, was a different matter altogether): pulling on his top, he shuffled closer and surprised me by resting his head on my shoulder to see what I as up to.

“Hi.” I murmured, clicking on another picture.

“Hi.” he replied quietly. “Why do you have so many pictures of me?” he said with a slight childlike tone of complaint to his voice after a moment.

“Why is your face the only face that’s been in front of my camera for the last few days?” I answered, blogging a few more.

“I like hanging out with y-together.” Not my fault.” he answered. I rolled my eyes, took my SD card out and put it back into my camera. “Run out of pictures?” he guessed. I hummed in agreement and he took my camera from my hand and switched it on, sitting upright. “Can I take some?”

“Knock yourself out.” I mumbled, scrolling through his dash. He looked thoughtful for a second, then hooked an arm around my neck to pull me in for a picture: I let him, but kept my face neutral until he was done, then wrinkled my nose.

“What’s with the face?” he chuckled, noticing as he put the SD card back into the laptop. “Post that one.”

“I’m the least photogenic person ever.” I grumbled, opening the image on screen so he could see it properly.

“I’m pretty unphotogenic too. You look great anyway - post it!” he urged, giving my shoulders a squeeze. I snorted in mockery but did as he said; there was no way I was arguing with him about the topic of my self-image issues. Ever. “Looks good, see? Oh…”

He trailed off, looking annoyed as my phone buzzed. I took it out of my pocket and looked at the caller ID: Alex.

“Aaaaaaallyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!” he sang down the line as I answered it.

“What, Gaskarth?” I snapped sourly, making Tony grin in impish amusement.

“I thought you were gonna come to the BBQ - Zack said you were gonna be here.” he whined.

“I’ll get there, hold onto your fucking panties.” I sighed.

“I don’t wanna go.” Tony whispered.

“Sorry.” I whispered back, feeling bad for interrupting his chilled evening. He probably was knackered from performing everyday, and need to lay low for a bit.

“She’s mine, you can’t have her!” he called over my shoulder at Alex.

“PERRY, YOU BITCH! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?” Alex demanded in a screech, followed by faint giggles from Jack close by. I winced at his volume.

“How many beers have you had, Gaskarth?” I asked.

“I haven’t had any, I’m waiting for you guys so we can play beer pong when you get here.” he replied, sounding annoyed. “So, hurry up and GET HERE, ASSHOLES!” He cut the line with that final dramatic statement, and I looked at Tony with a sheepish smile.

“Guess we’re going to a BBQ.” he sighed, rolling his eyes.

*

As we left the bus and made our way to the part of the park the BBQ was being held, we walked in comfortable quiet for the most until I felt the urge to see the world upside down. Random things like this had an annoyingly common tendency to hit me out of the blue.

“Can you do cartwheels?” I asked him; he looked at me, mildly surprised by my question.

“Uhh...I don’t know.” he answered, shrugging, as we walked. “Can you?”

“I could when I was a kid. Don’t know about now.” I mumbled, stretching my arms out above my head. “I’ll probably fall on my fucking face.” He grinned and nudged me.

“Try it.” he encouraged; I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “I’ll do it if you will.” I eyed him dubiously but saw nothing except a letshavealaugh attitude. “C’mon!”

“Alright.” I conceded warily. “You first.”

“No, we’ll go together.” he insisted, pausing to prepare. “On the count of three?” I nodded.

“OK. One...seventeen...forty six...three!”
We both threw our hands on the ground and tossed out legs in the air; due to my non-existent upper body strength, I crashed upside down on myself in a bundle of giggles immediately. Tony, however, launched into more of a handstand and maintained his balance for a few seconds before collapsing too, in stitches like me.

“What the fuck are you numpties up to?” Josh yelled, spotting us from by the BBQ setup; I hadn’t realised how close we were to them, and it made us both laugh more.

“ALLY!” Rayne yelled, catching sight of me: I grinned like an idiot as I set eyes on my bestest bud and extended my arms for a hug. She ran through the crowd and over to where I was on the grass, launching herself at me. Vic and Alex were close on her tail, following her path. “Happy birthday!” she squealed; her exclamation wiped my smile off my face in an instant, and Vic crowed with glee behind her.

“I knew it, I fucking knew it!”

“It’s your birthday?” Tony murmured, looking wide eyed and lost. “You didn’t tell me…”

“It’s her birthday!” Ray yelled, planting a kiss on my cheek. “Did you like your pres-”

“Yeah, yeah, happy birthday and blah blah bullshit - now I need to lay beer pong and talk to her!” Alex demanded, yanking me and Ray to our feet effortlessly. I tottered about, trying to catch my balance.

“No, we gotta celebrate!” Vic cried, sounding outraged.

“This is why I didn’t tell anyone, you complete twat!” I snapped at Ray: she smiled sheepishly, recalling in that moment how much I hated attention on this stupid day.

“Sorry, I forgot!” she said, not sounding very sorry at all. “Forget I said anything!”

“Yes! And we can go play beer pong now!” Alex chimed, pushing us to the table he’d set up.

“No!” Tony exclaimed. “We’ve gotta celebrate!” I groaned dramatically and dragged my feet as he and Vic pulled me in the opposite direction.

“Call everyone!” We’re hitting the clubs!” Vic commanded, pointing at Ray and Alex.

“But beer pong?” Alex whined, pouting. Ray narrowed her spectacularly sharp green eyes at him. “Fine. But I want Jager bombs.”

*

The only way I could get out of drinking myself into oblivion with Alex a few hours later was by pretending to be more drunk than I actually was; I wasn’t a huge drinker (in fact, I never had done so before this summer), but right now, there was enough alcohol in my system to give me a nice buzz but leave me sober enough to see everyone else make complete dicks of themselves.

Brilliant.

Spotting Tony in a booth, I smirked mischievously to myself; maybe I could use this “Oh, I’m utterly white girl wasted” act to my advantage… Skipping over, I seated myself quite comfortably in his lap, rubbing my butt against his firm thighs.

“Oh, is this seat taken?” I giggled like Alex did when he was drunk and hooked my arms around his neck. Tony looked completely and utterly thrown - I wasn’t the type to instigate physical affection. Or rub my arse on his dick. Mike smirked from next to him.

“Someone’s buzzing.” he chuckled, winking at me. I pretended not to notice and played dumb instead, brushing my lips over Tony’s ear and cheek.

“Are you drunk, Leena?” Tony asked, winding his arms around my waist to stop me falling off his lap.

“Whaaaat? Me?” I giggled. “As a skunk.” Mike sniggered into his beer bottle and nudged Tony, who rolled his eyes.

“Alright, sweetie, lets get you to bed. Hangover’s gonna be a bitch tomorrow.” he instructed calmly and firmly.

“Nope.” I popped my lips on the ‘p’ and tightened my arms around his neck. He looked at me funny for a second, then hooked a hand under my knees, lifting me and standing like it wasn’t not big fuckin’ deal.

“I’ll take her back to the bus,” he murmured to Mike but looking steadily at me, “If she stays here...there’s enough random creeps floating around all over the fucking place.” Mike shrugged it off and got up to find himself another time pass as Tony headed to the exit and car park.
I hummed to myself nonsensically as he did, busy running my eyes over the owl on his throat, absorbing every detail.

For a moment, I thought maybe he’d take me to the AA bus, but he didn’t even pause as we passed it - just kept walking, eyes intent on my face, until we got back to his. Opening the door and stepping in, he shut it behind us and placed me back on my own two feet slowly, hands lingering at my hips. It was dimly lit, so he flicked a switch and flooded the bus with light.
I winced at the suddenness of it and clutched the front of his shirt unsteadily.

“Tone,” I murmured; his body was pressed flush against mine, and his face was a mere few inches away - I bet I could reach his lips if I stood on my tiptoes.

“Yeah?” he breathed, lowering his head. His warm breath brushed over my lips, and I honestly thought for a second I might just melt away like butter.
Grinning like the idiot I was, I let go of his shirt and clasped his arm instead, leaning away from his body a little.

“Too close?”

“Like fuck,” he whispered, “get back here.” Pulling me close again, he let our bodies collide roughly and tilted my head up to face him. His thumb brushed over the corner of my lower lip, and my smile faltered as my pulse accelerated. Perhaps the alcohol had induced a little more than a buzz, because all my normal stupid inhibitions just didn’t seem stupid right then: it felt like they weren’t even mine anymore.

As if to prove this brain malfunction was really happening to me, and apparently him too, he cupped my face with his long warm hands and lowered his head; our lips connected softly and my eyes fluttered closed as fireworks began to go off in my brain and shect and skin and -
Tony moaned against my mouth and snaked an arm around my waist, ensuring the kiss wouldn’t break - not that I wanted it to anyway. Winding my arms around his neck, I let him pull me up to his height so I had to stand on my tiptoes to keep our lips connected, and he bit my lip affectionately.

The sound of someone yelling outside as they past the bus made us both jump in alarm and break our lips apart: I looked at him, eyes wide and mouth slightly open. He had a similar expression to what I felt I probably had, but shook it off quickly, pecking my lips, perfectly brief and sweet.

“We should move from here,” he suggested gently. I hummed in agreement and pressed my mouth to his throat; he clutched me tighter to him, and closed his eyes for a second, breathing heavy. “Up-upstairs…” he stammered, opening them before taking charge again.
Pulling me close along, he led me through the bus and up the stairs to the room they used like a home theatre when they got bored - pushing me into the cushions, he clambered on top of me and began to kiss me again, but with more passion and direction this time.

“You should close the door,” I breathed between the kisses when he’d allow, “in case someone comes back…”
He sighed heavily, pulling away and looking at me longingly. I raised my eyebrows and shrugged, showing getting caught half dressed wasn’t an option.
He complied though, and did as I said.

“Happy?” he asked, pushing it closed and flicking the lock before diving on the sofa next to me. I shook my head as he placed his head in my lap, leaning down to catch his mouth with mine. He groaned, reaching up to cup my face again, kissing back eagerly. “What else?”

“Take this goddamn shirt off.” I mumbled, plucking at the fabric over his broad chest. He smirked deviously against my lips and dragged me down with him.

I managed to get more than just his clothes off by the end of the night though.