Paint You Wings.

⊱⊱ Alex Gaskarth ⊰⊰

I woke up feeling more content that I'd ever felt in months. Slowly blinking my eyes open, I realised that it was because of the person I had pressed up against me. A soppy smile came to my lips as I tugged her closer to my chest, placing a gentle kiss on her neck, behind her ear. It was the first time that I'd slept with her - literally slept with her, fully clothed and all - and I knew that I'd never be able to sleep peacefully without her pressed up against me again.

All the more reason to make her stay longer than her intended stay of till tomorrow morning.

She started to stir, stretching her back out much like a little kitten that had just woken up from its nap. She looked over her shoulder, flashing me a sleepy smile as she spotted her looking at her. I mean, if I was her and I saw a dude just staring at me with a smile as I woke up, I'd be pretty creeped out.

Riley rolled over on her side, bringing her hand up to my hair as she brushed it out of my face - her eyes darting over my face, a small smile still on her lips.

"Morning." I grinned down at her, taking my turn in brushing her hair out of her face. "You sleep well?"

She blinked and then pouted her bottom lip, rolling over so that her face was planted onto the single pillow that we were sharing. God dammit she's adorable.

I chuckled, pushing her shoulder so that I could see her face. Her eyes were drawn in a sleepy look and it looked like if I'd left her be for a couple more minutes, she'd be asleep. "You're gonna suffocate yourself." I pointed out, referring to how she was cutting off her air supply by face-planting the pillow.

She rolled her eyes, poking her tongue out at me, opting to nuzzle her face in my neck this time. I felt my lips curl up into a smile as she did so, and my arm that was already around her just tightened, bringing her closer to me.

"We have to get up." I mumbled into her hair, using my fingers to trail up and down her bare arm.

Her hand went under the pillow, emerging later with her phone in hand. Pressing on the home button, she showed me the clock and then fixed me an annoyed look as she sat up slightly. I grinned sheepishly, bringing her head back down to my chest, resting my chin on her head.

'Do you normally wake up at 5.45 in the morning or what?'

She typed on a blank note, making my cheeks flush. The sleep that I'd gotten the night before must've been the deepest slumber that I'd ever been in, because I never woke up this early without an alarm clock. Plus, we went to bed at about one in the morning - so I don't even know how I woke up, naturally, five hours later, without any prompting.

"Just go back to sleep." I murmured, grabbing her phone out of her hands and placing my hand over her eyes as she just kept looking at me through narrowed eyes.



"Have you seen her?"

"Who?"

"Riley!" I exclaimed, tugging at my hair. "I don't know where she's at!"

Austin chuckled, patting me on the shoulder. "Dude, chill out! She's probably just going about mingling with other people."

"Why wouldn't she tell me then?" I shot back, annoyed.

"Because she's a big girl and she doesn't need your permission?" Alan suggested in a sarcastic tone, taking a swig from his red solo cup.

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. Thanks for the help." I bit back, walking away from the two.

We were having the nightly barbecue, something that was the norm when it came to Warped nights. Almost every band would be there and we'd all be armed with beers and good barbecue food. Now, normally, I'd be pigging out and downing cups of free booze, but I was currently looking for Riley.

I'd lost her in the crowd sometime ago and I told her that if we got separated, we could just meet back in the bus by eleven at night, since the buses usually made a move at midnight. It was already eleven and I'd checked the bus, only to see that she wasn't in there. I freaked out -- correction: I am freaking out.

I already asked around, but anyone who saw her said that the last time they saw her, she was walking back to the bus.

"Where are you, you little shit head?" I groaned, tugging at my hair again as I walked towards the bus.

Okay, so maybe I was being a little overprotective of her, but fuck it. I'd never forgive myself if anything bad had happened to her and I could've prevented it.

My phone beeped, and I groaned again. If Jack was sending me another drunk text, I swear to God...

'Look up.'

My eyebrows knotted together before I did as it asked, my eyes landing on Riley's silhouette on the roof of the bus, on her hands and knees and she waved at me. I let out a breath of relief, before I realised that she was on the roof.

"Get down from there! You're gonna fall!" I called up, watching as she simply moved back out of my line of sight; followed by the sound of faint guitar strumming. So stubborn.

Pulling open the bus door and then shutting it close behind me, I made my way into the back lounge. My guess was that there was a door that led to the roof there, and my guess was right. It was partially opened so I just pushed it to the side and pulled myself up there - my eyes immediately landing on the girl I'd been looking for for the past fifteen minutes.

Settling down next to her, I found out why she was up there. You could see the lines of buses parked and then the barbecue area, where a large amount of people were still milling about, chatting, drinking and laughing. Warped Tour was just a dirtier version of summer camp; and this proved it. We weren't different bands of different genres here -- we were all just a bunch of friends hanging out.

I didn't recognise the song that Riley was strumming on the guitar but I liked it. It sounded good. Only a few seconds later then did I recognise it. It was a Pierce The Veil song that I really liked, and I'm guessing she did too. I scooted slightly closer to her, laying my palms flat on the roof of the bus as I leaned my weight on them. She continued strumming and I found myself almost in a trance as I watched her. When I began singing under my breath, her lips curled up into a soft smile while she continued strumming the chords to the song.

If I were you, I'd put that away
See, you're just wasted and
thinking 'bout the past again

I found myself leaning closer and closer to her as I sang quietly. She glanced up to meet my eyes and we were barely two inches apart.

My free hand went to cup her chin as I gazed into her eyes. My thumb drew small circles against her soft skin as her guitar playing stopped. I barely noticed it.

Darling, you'll be okay

Then I kissed her. The feel of her lips against my own was like something I'd never experienced before. Romance novels often spoke of fireworks going on behind their eyes during their kiss. The only thing I was feeling that could compare to 'fireworks' was the tingling feeling that her lips against mine brought to my gut.

Her lips were soft, slick and cool, compared to my incredibly chapped ones. But I couldn't get enough of her. The kiss was slow, gentle, but there was so much more feeling behind that kiss. So much more passion. Plus, I now officially had confirmation that she did like me, so that was good. And she was an absolutely fantastic kisser.

I mean it. She was a really good kisser.

I pulled back, my breathing laboured as our foreheads touched, one of her hands tugging gently on the hair at the nape of my neck while the other was gripping at my shirt lightly, the guitar being the main thing that kept us from being completely pressed against each other.

"We should get down from here before they start driving and we fall off." I suggested, my voice coming out a little breathless.

She shot me a thoughtful look, nodding a bit. Then she smiled, leaning in to kiss me again. I was just about to start getting into the kiss when she pulled back, leaving me hanging. The taste of her lips would've been enough to keep me content for the rest of my life.

Riley made a move to stand up but I tugged on her wrist, pulling her back to me as I removed the guitar from her grip and laid it down safely on the roof of the bus. "Or we could just stay here." I bit my lip, watching as she smiled; shaking her head in an amused manner.

I rolled my eyes, tugging her closer to me.

"Shut up and kiss me, now."