Paint You Wings.

⊱⊱ Alex Gaskarth ⊰⊰

"You know..." I trail off, turning to face Riley. "You're supposed to be helping me."

She merely grins from her spot on my bed, rolling over so that I was looking at her back instead. Rolling my eyes, I pounced on the bed, uncaring of the few random articles of clothing that I'd thrown onto it before, and used my hands to roll her onto her back. Once I was practically straddling her; each knee by her hip bones, she wiggles her eyebrows at me and I merely let out a laugh in response.

Honestly, most girls would get flustered and all shy once they realised the rather compromising position that we were in. Riley? She just gives me the most pedophile-ish look that I can't help but laugh.

I rolled off of her, laying on my back next to her as I stared at the ceiling. I noticed a piece of paper with a drawing of Peter Pan and Wendy flying out her bedroom window and I frowned. That wasn't there last night.

"When'd you put that there?" I ask Riley; knowing that it was obviously her.

Who else could it possibly be?

Plus, all she's done since she came over was, well, nothing. I enlisted her help for packing for Warped, hoping that she'd be able to use her womanly powers to make everything smaller so that I can pack more clothes in my bag. Whenever we went on family holidays, Mom would repack my stuff and I'd have so much extra space in the bag, compared to when I'd packed my clothes myself. Riley came over and helped me in folding approximately two tops, and then she flopped herself down onto my bed and started watching the television - in which a Batman movie started playing.

She gets Brownie points for being so interested in the film, though.

Other than that, she was pretty useless at helping me pack. Because after the film, she remained on my bed, drawing. I guess she drew the thing that she stuck onto the ceiling but still.

Riley grinned, slapping her notebook to my chest. 'Your ceiling was too bare.'

I rolled my eyes, handing her back the notebook. "Why Peter Pan and Wendy though? Why not Batman or something?"

'Because I want to run away to Neverland.' She writes, flashing me the notebook. Then, looking thoughtful, she wrote: 'And I had a crush on the actor that played Peter Pan in the film.'

"You did?" I raised a brow.

She shrugged. 'I bet every girl did.'

"He wasn't even that hot!"

Riley shot me a look, blinking her big, grey eyes. I sighed, "okay, yeah, he was kinda hot."

I got a smug grin in return, making me roll my eyes again. "So... About the whole 'running away' thing. Wanna run away with me?" I wiggled my eyebrows in her direction and it was, apparently, her turn to roll her eyes.

"Hey, it's a valid question! I mean, I don't wanna grow up, either."

She nibbles on her bottom lip, her pen lazily sliding across the lined paper of her notebook, forming letters which would later form words.

'It's not that I don't want to grow up. I just feel so lost, so over and done with - like my life is a map with no compass. I'm done with school, so what comes next? I have to say goodbye to the halls and the classes, and I have to get a proper job. God knows that working at the café full-time wouldn't be able to pay all the bills. I just want to stay forever young. Or to just be able to start again so that I wouldn't have to worry about my future anymore.'

I wrap my arm around her shoulder, pulling her into me so that her head is resting on my chest. And I'm hoping to whoever's listening that my heart isn't beating too loudly from how she relaxed so easily, draping her arm over my waist and cuddling closer.

"We could run away, you know." I say in a casual tone, making her look up at me with a raised eyebrow. "We can get away. I'll find a way to get us to Neverland. We'll start a plain and simple life, and we'll be happy. No more worrying about any kind of shit about growing up. It'll be... A better reality."

She smiles, shaking her head in amusement as she rests her head back down on my chest.

"Just promise that you'll be with me and we'll find a way." I smile, nuzzling my nose in her hair. She smells nice.

'I promise.' She traces on my chest, making me smile.

I know that I'm talking about something completely impossible happening - since Neverland doesn't exist. I know that she knows that. But I guess she got the message I was trying to send to her. I was trying to indirectly tell her that as long as I was with her, I'd do everything in my power to make her happy. We weren't even a proper couple but with the way we were acting with each other, I bet some people would assume that we were one.

Not that I had anything against people assuming that we were a couple. Nope. No problem at all.



"Come visit me on tour, okay?" I pouted my bottom lip, widening my eyes as large as they could go - in hopes that the whole 'wounded puppy' look was working for me.

By the way Riley was biting on her bottom lip and then swallowing, I think the look worked.

"You have to promise." I all but demanded, narrowing my eyes at the beautiful blonde in front of me.

She rolled her eyes, taking my hand and tracing the seven-lettered word on the back of my hand. I smirked triumphantly, earning a playful hit in my shoulder.

I let out a laugh, wrapping my arms around Riley's waist, resting my head on her shoulder as I - as creepy as it sounded - took in her smell for the last time in a couple of months.

Sniffing a girl's hair. This is what I've become. I'm gonna end up like that dude from Charlie's Angels someday.

We were finally going off to the first venue of Warped and Riley had agreed to send us off to the airport. She had a drivers' licence, but she rode her motorcycle most of the time, since she sort of shared it with her two best friends, so she drove my car to the airport and promised to bring it back, unharmed, and occasionally check on the house to make sure that I wasn't robbed or anything. I'd already gotten the neighbours to collect my mail, my parents to watch over the dogs, and now I had Riley to sort of house sit.

Although, I also made her promise that she would come visit us on one of the many Warped dates. I might've told her that it would only be for a couple dates and that she could stay on the bus because none of the guys would mind, but I was really planning on making her stay for four, maybe five days. None of the guys would mind. I just had to come up with a grand scheme to do so.

The robotic voice telling us over the intercom that it's the flight's final call makes me release Riley. She smiles at me, waving adorably, before she turns to Jack, giving him a hug, as well as one to Zack, Vinny, Danny and Flyzik. Rian already got his hug when he went back to LA so it's too bad for him that he isn't getting another one now. The guys actually really like Riley, even though she doesn't talk. Granted, they haven't actually properly hung out with her because I might've been hogging her all to myself but they said that she makes me happy, and that's why they like her.

She does make me happy.

I pull her into me for one last hug, letting my lips linger on her forehead for a moment's longer than necessary before we part, the guys and I heading towards the departure gate while she heads out of the terminal.

"You guys finally official yet?" Zack smirks, nudging me.

I shake my head and he looks shocked. "What?" I laugh.

"So you haven't even kissed her yet?" He asks, eyebrows knotted together.

I bring a hand to the back of my neck, giving him a lopsided smile. "We almost did. And then," I look up to see Jack literally skipping towards the gate. Someone had too much coffee. "-that interrupted us."

Zack laughs, patting me on the back. "It'll happen in time. Trust me. You guys seem perfect together. She's coming to one of the Warped dates, right?"

"I made her promise that she would." I smirk rather smugly, earning another laugh from the muscled man.

"Then there you have it." He grins. "They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, you know."

I only smile in response, because even though I'm super pumped for Warped, I can't help but dread not being able to see Riley every day. I'm already missing her, even though we've just parted ways. She's become the Wendy Darling to my Peter Pan and I really fucking liked that.