Finish What You Start

I wake up in the confined space of my bunk on the Of Mice & Men tour bus. My best friend, Tino, had invited me to tour with them. I wouldn’t be completely useless, though. I was helping sell t-
shirts and other band merch.

I decided to roll out of my bunk to get some coffee. Today was one of the days off and I planned laying around and being lazy. I walked to the small kitchen to pour myself a steaming cup of caffeine. I heard footsteps coming down the hall.

“Morning, Angela.” A very tired Alan grumbled. I turned around to see him.

“Hey, Alan. Coffee?” I offered. He nodded and I poured him a mug as well.

He said thanks and went to go sit in the lounge to drink his coffee. I sighed. I’d had a crush on Alan for a while, now and I nearly started having heart palpitations just about had a heart attack when Tino invited me on tour.

I finished my coffee and decided to crawl back in my bunk to goof off on my phone. I must’ve fallen asleep because I woke up to the sound of two voices outside the bunk.

“I don’t know, man. I really like her. I just-… I don’t know what to say.” Alan said.

My eyes widened. Who was he talking about? I’d been planning on confessing my feelings for him, but now my confidence was flushed down the toilet.

“You gotta tell her, dude. You never know, things might work your way.” Tino suggested. Alan groaned.

“What if she says no? What if she doesn’t like me back? Why would a beautiful girl like her ever like someone like me?” Alan sighed, sounding frustrated.

I heard a smack and a grunt.

“Alan Ashby, you are one hell of a man and anyone would be lucky to be with you. You understand me?”

Tino corrected. I assumed Alan nodded because Tino continued talking. I rolled around, trying to get comfortable.

“Now, you just need a way to ask out-“ Tino was interrupted by the ginger-haired man.

“Shh! Did you hear that?” Alan asked. He started talking quietly so that no one, including me, heard him. “… Awake…. I can’t let… know that… in love…”

Tino and Alan walked away from the outside of my bunk. I waited a few minutes until I crawled out and went to go sit in the back lounge, where Alan, Austin and Tino were sat. Austin and Tino looked up as I walked into the room.

“Hey, guys. What’s on the agenda for the rest of the day?” I asked, sitting down next to Alan, which happened to be the only available seat.

“Not much, really. Just a lazy day, I guess.” Austin responded. I nodded.

“How was your nap, Angie?” Tino smirked, calling me the nickname he gave me years ago. I playfully glared at him.

“I would totally tackle you if Alan weren’t in between us.” I said. Alan didn’t even react to anything we'd said. I snapped my fingers in front of his face.

“Hello? Earth to Ashby?” I teased. He jumped and looked around, his eyes landing on me.

“Uh, sorry. I’ve had a lot on my mind recently…” He excused. I raised an eyebrow.

“You wanna talk about it?” I offered. He shook his head.

“Not right now, but thanks, Angela.” Alan said. I nodded and gave him a small smile.

The rest of the guys and I talked about activities we could do in the cities we were travelling to. That conversation ended up in rethinking memories from parties of the previous nights and making fun of each other.

Tino suddenly pulled out his phone to check the time. He stood up.

“Hey, the Bring Me the Horizon dudes are having a cook out. You guys wanna go?” Tino offered. Austin rose from his seat on the couch.

“I’m in. What about you guys?” He asked, referring to Alan and I. I declined and Alan made a grunting noise, not really knowing what was going on around him. The two sighed and left without him.

“Are you alright? You don’t seem like you’re all there today.” I asked. No response.

“Alan. Alan? Alan!” I questioned, raising my voice. I shoved him lightly.

“Hm… What? Oh, uh, what’s up?” Alan asked, trying to play it off, as if he hadn’t been zoning out all day.

“What’s up with you? You’ve been acting weird all day.” I asked, worried for him. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, a habit he always did when he was nervous.

“I- I like you.” He mumbled. I giggled.

“Well, of course. We’re friends, right?” He shook his head.

“Not like that.” He whispered. I gave him a look, telling him I was confused. He sighed again.

“Please don’t hate me…”

He leaned in closely and lightly planted his lips on mine. My eyes grew wide and I was in shock because of what was happening. Suddenly, he pulled back, looking scared.

“I-I’m so sorry, Angela, I didn’t mean to force you- I just, I-I’m sorry, please don’t hate me!” He begged.

I put my hands on my hips.

“Alan Ashby, didn’t your mother raise you right? What the hell is wrong with you?” I scolded. His eyes watered and he looked like he was about to cry.

“I-I’m so fucking sorry, Angela, you have no idea. I’m going to hate myself every day for this. I’m so sorry for kissing you.”

I smirked at him.

“Alan, that’s not why I’m angry at you,” I informed. He gave me a confused look.

“Didn’t your mother ever teach you to finish what you started…” I mumbled and crashed my lips against his.

He kissed me carefully and slowly, as if any second, I was going to pull back and laugh in his face.

I crossed my arms behind his neck as he pulled me into his lap. I tangled my fingers into his soft, red hair. We both pulled back, needing air.

He rested his forehead against yours.

“You had me so scared… I thought you were going to hate me forever.” He whispered, causing me to

giggle.

“I could never hate you, even if I tried… I love you, Alan Ashby.” I mumbled, my lips ghosting over his. He pecked my lips once more.

“I love you too, Angie. Forever and always.”