The Anthem for a Dying Breed

The moment Tony took off my blindfold, I stared in shock at the already-buzzing amusement park sprawled in front of us - it took a moment to sink in, but I eventually figured out where we were.

“OHMYGODTHISISDISNEYLAND!” I gasped, turning to face him sharply. Rayne was completely gobsmacked for a minute, but I didn’t worry about her too much because Austin was holding her shoulders, laughing his arse off at her facial expression; I rocket-launched myself at Tony without another thought. He caught me, seeming surprised (pleasantly, I hope) as I began to rain kisses on his entire face. The cutest giggles began to escape his lips as I pecked him repeatedly, clasping his soft, round cheeks in my hands.

“Whoa. If I knew I was gonna get that reaction…” he chuckled, pursing his lips so he could press them to mine - I let him do so and quirked an eyebrow, straightening his hat. I had knocked it sideways when I tackled him.

“Then what?”

“Then I would have bought you sooner.” he replied, pulling an innocent face. I kissed his nose affectionately.

“So fucking cheesy.” I accused, grinning. “No, shut your face and LETS GO! I’M IN DISNEYLAND, BITCH!” I yelled, squishing his cheeks.

“Oh, you wanna go?” he asked teasingly. I nodded with almost enough enthusiasm to dislocate my neck. “You wanna go? Now?”

“Yes!” I squealed, wriggling out of his arms and dropping back onto my feet. I ran in direction of the entrance and he laughed, jogging after me.

*

“And we got loads of candy floss, and then Tony won me this teddy, and this one as well, and we went on this huuuge rollercoaster, and ohmygod was it scary and then we met Sulley and Mike, and I got all these pictures, and then we -”

“You did this!” Vic grumbled accusingly at Tony with a glare. I stopped babbling for a second and looked at him blankly - Tony was grinning as Vic glared a hole into his forehead. “Never ever take her to that hellhole ever again.” I puted and whacked him with one of my minions.

“You’re a poop. Disneyland was rad as fuck.” I retorted. “You’re just jealous you weren’t invited.” He scoffed and pushed me away, making me whine. “No, you have to see all the pictures we took!”

“Turtle!” Vic snapped warningly, holding me at arms length. “Just…” As we argued, Mike let himself into the bus and slouched on over, throwing himself between the two of us on the sofa.

“Ow!” he yelped, leaping straight back up; all three of us looked at him weirdly. “I sat on something!”

“Your arse?” I said, deadpanning. Vic sniggered.

“Shut it, shortass.” he replied. I smirked as he began to throw the cushions over his shoulder to find what he’d sat on that was so apparently uncomfortable. “Hah! See! I’m not crazy!” he shouted victoriously, delving deeper into the cushions and pulling something out.

“My glasses!” I exclaimed in surprise - I hadn’t seen them since the beginning of the summer. Vic looked at me strangely as Mike handed them back to me after polishing the lenses on his t-shirt. I put them on and wiggled my eyebrows at them.

“I didn’t now you wore glasses.” he said.

“Me neither.” Mike added.

“There’s a lot of things you don’t know about me, boys.” I chuckled, winking at them. Mike laughed and sat down, slinging an arm around the both of our necks. Vic looked over at Tony, who was sat on the opposite sofa, and sent him a cheeky grin. Tony rolled his eyes.

“Getting jealous, Turtle?” he simpered, raising his eyebrows. Tony crossed his arms over his chest and redirected his attention to the floor. I bit my lip to hold back a stupid smile: goddamn, but he was so cute. I could just kiss all day - I hadn’t actually told him just exactly how much the trip to Disneyland had meant to me. Definitely gonna do that later…

“Hey,” I said, looking at him and trying to push the less-innocent thoughts to the back of my head - not easy, trust me, “why don’t you come join us, doll face?”
Vic and Mike tittered like girls, whether at the reference to their song or the facts that I made Tony blush, I don’t know, but he looked up at me anyway. He flipped them off, then got up and moved over to our sofa; I extended my arms for a hug, and he made me smile even wider by rejecting the sofa and leaning into the hug, only to seat himself on my lap.
tilting my face up to his, he pressed his lips to mine, quickly and sweetly.

“I hope you’re not all creeping on my protege.” Adam piped, making us all jump.

“Adam, if you’re not here for the gangbang, piss off.” I retorted. He scoffed, slamming the door to the bus shut and dumping his stuff on the table.

“Not in the mood, Al.” he muttered. I quirked an eyebrow and looked past Tony and at him steadily.

“Want some pizza?” I asked; it was like code for ‘do you wanna talk, sweetheart?’.

“And beer?” he said hopefully, collapsing on the now-deserted sofa. He looked really tired and a little upset.

“For you? Yeah, you’re my bitch, Elmakias.” I chuckled. He smiled weakly and laid down on his stomach.

“Later, maybe.” he replied. I nodded, knowing now wasn’t the time to push it, especially in front of the guys. “i just got done with the All Time Low shoot. Alex was looking for you - he’s been asking after you for a few days now, but you’ve been, uh...busy.” he finished, eyes flicking between me and Tony. I tried not to blush but failed miserably, making Vic, Mike and Adam laugh - Tony just leaned closer, resting his chin on top of my head.

We hadn't really announced an official relationship, or anything really at all, but the bands closest to us had figured out there was a something-something going on. I was in no rush to push this anywhere, and Tony didn’t seem all too bothered about all that labelling shit either.

“I’ll go talk to him now.” I mumbled, disentangling myself from Mike and Tony. “Nothing else to do.”

“Bored of doing Tony already?” Vic teased. Before I could make any kind of rebuttal, Tony leaned over and flicked his forehead, making him yelp.

“You’re just jealous.” he said simply, grinning at Vic. Vic mock-scowled and I smirked at him as Tony got off me and pulled me up. “I’ll walk you there. Gonna hang with Zack, Jack and Rian for a while anyway.”

“Mm’kay.” I agreed, ducking my head hyly a he pulled me into a tight hug. He always managed to smell amazing. Too amazing for a touring male musician who sweated it out on stage everyday for almost an hour. The guy was too good to be true.

“No dry-humping on the bus!” Adam shouted, throwing a cushion at us. Tony smirked mischievously as I looked up, making me feel oddly nervous. He was up to no good…
I was right, because he wrapped his arms around my waist and picked me swiftly (the guy managed this way too easy, dammit, and seemed to be developing a habit of it at that), then threw me over his shoulder, maintaining eye contact with Adam to wink at him and march off the bus as Mike gave him a round of applause and Vic cheered.

“Don’t you guys have somewhere to be?” I heard Adam snap irritatedly as we left the bus.

“Nope!” the brothers replied in cheerful sync. I squirmed in Tony’s grip as we stepped into the warm evening air, edgy about someone seeing us. I had a right to be, because there was a gaggle of fans hanging around at the edge of the car park, and a couple of them were looking our way.
When they realised who they were looking at, they urged their friends to look, creating a small ripple of excitement amongst them. I buried my face in Tony’s shoulder, now wanting to be in any pictures, knowing they probably already had their cameras out.

“You alright?” He mumbled, giving my legs a gentle squeeze.

“Fans. Got cameras.” I grumbled, letting my dark hair swish upside down to hide my cheeks. He gave a deep chuckle, and I felt his chest rumble from the sound.

“They don’t bite.” he said, giving them a wave with one hand; I peeked curiously from the corner of my eye, keeping my face mostly buried in his t-shirt. They were waving back like crazy and gushing like school girls. They probably weren’t, though, judging by the long legs and pretty faces. Huh.
“We’re practically here, anyway.” he added after a second, opening the door to another bus. Once the door closed behind us, I gave a sigh of relief from being out of their eyesight and lifted my head. Zack was the only person in the front of the bus.

He raised his eyebrows at Tony and I, but didn’t say anything as he set me back on my feet.

“Zachary.” I said blandly. He cracked a smirk, and pulled me into a hug.

“Monkey.” he replied. “I’m guessing you’re not here for me and my amazing self.”

“Where’s your douche face singer?” I asked indelicately. He pointed to further down the bus, and I headed down that way, leaving him and Tony there, guessing Alex was probably in his bunk or watching TV. I assumed right, because I found him in his bunk; I knew it was his because it had ‘I like to suck Jack Barakat’s cock’ written in Sharpie on the outside support beam above it.

Pulling the curtain back, I stuck my head in and looked at his mopey little pretty face. “What’s wrong with my bitch?” I said, getting on my tippy-toes to kiss the top of his head. He looked at me morosely and pulled his dry lips down into a pout.

“We need to talk.” he stated. I nodded, not really taken back at his straight forward manner - that was just Alex all over, and everyone knew that. “Not here, though. Someone will hear us.”

“OK.” I replied. “Roof?” He nodded, and I backed up so he could crawl out of his bunk, all dishevelled hair and crumpled clothing. Grabbing my hand, he pulled hurriedly me out of the bus, passing Tony and Zack as we went, who shot us vaguely confused glances. When we were outside, he climbed the side of the bus first, then leant back, offering me a hand to help me up. I batted it away, knowing I could do it myself.
“Alright, Lex,” I sighed, watching his seat himself on the warm rooftop. I sat down next to him unceremoniously, our bodies close but not quite touching. “Are you alright?”

“Fine.” he shrugged purposely carelessly, seeming a tad too affected. I rolled my eyes, knowing he wasn’t looking at me properly. “Sunshine and fuckin’ smiles.”

“If you’re all sunshine and fuckin’ smiles, then why are you wearing a Kermit the frog onesie?” I replied. “And don’t tell me it’s movie night, ‘cause I fucking well know that’s on Thursdays.” A small, tired chuckle escaped his lips, and he looked me in the eyes for the first time today. “Sorry I haven’t been around much, man.” I apologised softly, nudging him with my shoulder.

“Yeah, you asshole. You’re not allowed to be happy without my blessing.” he teased, rolling his eyes.

“Alright, give it to me, then.” I said, before realising what I just said: we both looked at each other and began to cackle in pleasure.

“Alright, babe, I’ll give it to you!” he snorted, wiggling his eyebrows at me. I nodded, fanning my face as I attempted to get serious again.

“Seriously, though,” I breathed as I managed to subside my laughter. He quietened a little until only a ghost of a smile was left on his lips. “Talk to me, man. You know I’m here for you.” He frowned a little, looking torn in an internal debate. I guess the need for a friend one out, because he looked at his lap, all forlorn and hushed.
I shuffled a little closer so our legs were pressed side by side, and he reached over almost subconsciously to lace his fingers through mine.

“You can’t tell anyone.” he whispered, eyes still downcast and brimming with tears.

“You know I won’t.” I murmured, squeezing his hand comfortingly. He took a shaky breath, shoulders hunched, as he tried to gather a little courage.

“You know how everyone is always joking about me and Jack?” he began, voice wavering. I nodded slightly, not wanting to put him off saying more. “I...I kind of think that maybe...I might be being stupid but…” He trailed off faintly, and I ran small circles in the back of his hand with my thumb.

“You’re not stupid.” I said with certainty. “Nothing is ever stupid if it’s important to you.” He nodded, then cleared his throat and taking another breath.

“I think I might be in love with Jack.”