Status: HIATUS

You Found Me

Swallow your fears and become them eventually

Preparing for the tour felt like it only took a couple of days when it did in fact took the whole 2 weeks before the actual tour. I was busy learning the ropes with how everything works and getting everything prepared for when we set out. I was starting to doubt that me working for Tim was a bad idea because of the pile of work that was put on my shoulders. But I kept thinking that the pay was actually decent and that I was going to spend all the time with the people closest to me. By the end of the trip, I might even be sick of their faces that I won't come home from New York for at least 3 years.

"Should I or should I not buy another swimsuit?" Daisy stared at the bathing suits that were hung on the racks while I chuckled and shook my head slightly.

We were doing some last minute shopping since we were embarking on the trip tomorrow before sunrise. I was already ready to go since I just needed to take the bag that I brought with me from college plus a few more clothes and shoes that I left at home.

I glanced at the swimwear hung on the wall before looking away. "You decide. I'm pretty sure I've packed everything I could need."

We left the store in a few minutes with several pieces of garments. This was one way for us to catch up with each other. We've been going to each other's houses or just going out, telling each other stories about our respective colleges. It seemed like she was having a blast in ASU despite John dropping out and leaving her there. She had good friends, but no one to replace the friends she had in high school. I was more than afraid that she would get mad at me for not keeping in touch but the moment she hopped and clung on me tightly, I knew I had nothing to worry about.

We decided to leave the store and head to a small coffee shop. "Are we really sure that we want to go to this tour?" She glanced over at me. "I mean... I just don't think that a group like us should be together in a small bus for 2 months."

"It isn't the same?"

She nodded carefully, crossing her arms. "It was all fun and games back then. But... Sorry to say, when your name became an issue, it started getting awkward with everyone especially because two guys out of five from the band liked you a lot."

"It's the truth," I shrugged, looking straight ahead. It got quiet for a bit before I decided to speak up again. This time, about a subject I couldn't get out of my head and can't talk to anyone about it. "Do you know about... Um, well... About Garrett's new girlfriend?"

"I know of her," she said, making me nod. "I don't know much about her. I don't know what she looks like. Hell, I don't even know her name." I simply dragged my gaze back on our path and tried leaving the subject alone. The last thing I wanted them to think was me getting very interested in Garrett's love life. But she didn't stop there. "Just for your information, I haven't met the last 3 girlfriends he's had."

"Is this his this thing now? Getting a lot of girlfriends?" I tried making a joke out of it, but it must have sounded serious because the next thing that knew, she was on a full blown rant about it.

She started stomping with her arms crossed and she looked like she was going to be able to shoot laser beams out of her eyes. "Why do people do that? Why do they date people just to break up with them in a couple of weeks or even less?"

"Maybe he thinks that after he gets through that crowd of wrong girls, she'd find the right one," I gave her a tight lipped smile.

"But what if she's dated the right girl but can't see it," she raised her eyebrows at me. Silence took over us and she shrugged as we entered the coffee shop. "Or what if the girl's already in front of her but he can't see..."

She was talking about John. Maybe Garrett at first, but now I'm pretty sure she's talking about her best friend. Maybe John took Garrett under his wings hence the reason why he's gotten a lot flirtier. I had no idea why he still didn't want to make a move on Daisy even if he knew he liked her.

"I don't know..." I sighed in defeat. I couldn't make her feel better. I couldn't even make myself feel better. "For now, I'm not going to think about my love life or anyone else's. I'm going to think about studies and friends."

"I just..." Daisy rolled her eyes and rubbed the back of her neck. "I'm just very glad that you're back here again. I have someone to handle all the drama with."

I just smiled and patted her on the back. This was going to be a long summer.

***

If they thought bringing me over meant I was going to be the one to put them all to bed, they had to be kidding themselves.

Nothing much had changed over the past 2 years. They were still a bunch of drunkards when it came to partying with the exception of Tim who had to make sure they were going to be alive tomorrow when the tour takes off and me. Because according to him, I was the most reliable in the bunch right now and several people from A Rocket To The Moon and a new band, Limited.

I've met the members of A Rocket To The Moon earlier. They were courteous and kind, making me feel comfortable knowing that I'd have to share a bus with them for two months. There was another band and I had yet to meet them. Until then, I decided it was the best time to catch up with everyone else as if I haven't been seeing them for the past couple of weeks.

"So are you really going to spend two months cramped in a bus full of people?" Jared raised his eyebrows, resting his elbow on my shoulder.

To be honest, I didn't even know if I wouldn't lose my sanity by the time this tour ends. But the good thing is, it wouldn't be as cramped like they're describing since Limited had their own bus, meaning half of the crew was boarding their vehicle.

I sighed and shook his arm off. "You'd think I'd get sick of your faces after being your friend from high school."

"Hey," Kennedy nudged at me and kept a straight face. "You owe us after ignoring us for one year. You owe us two full months of your attention."

My smile faded and I frowned slightly, crossing my arms. There wasn't a day this week that they didn't tease me about not keeping in touch, making me feel guilty about ignoring their calls and messages.

"Hey! Don't pick on her like that," John flicked Kennedy away and pushed him back slightly, stepping closer to me. "It's not her fault everything's a mess here."

"Speak for yourself, John," I rolled my eyes. "You've been teasing me every night during dinner for not coming to your shows in New York. Asshole."

Jared and Kennedy snorted while John pushed me slightly. He took his phone at, glancing at the time and looked around. "Where's Garrett?" He then turned to me and scrunched his eyebrows slightly. "Have you seen him since you got here?"

"No," I shook my head, forcing out smile. I should be happy because I've managed to avoid him by not going when I knew they were going to meet as a group and making sure that the people I've been hanging out with wasn't planning to meet him.

That meant that I had to spend their band practice time alone or with Daisy which was okay since I've been seeing them almost all week. Tim especially, because he had been teaching me how to do my job. It was all paperwork and math work, something that I was good at, thankfully. My only problem was I had to help him keep The Maine, A Rocket To The Moon, and Limited out of trouble. I had no idea what to expect from the last two bands but I knew it was going to be tiring even with just the first band included.

"Well," he twisted his body, looking at the front door. There stood the bassist, his hair cut shorter and now is colored red. He was still pretty much the same, just like everyone, except for his hair. His eyes scanned the place and then widened when he saw his bandmates. He started walking towards us but stopped abruptly when he laid his eyes on me. "Whoops. There's that reaction I was waiting for," he laughed. I punched John on the arm, making him wince and rub the area where I hit him.

"March," Kennedy stood beside Garrett and put his hand on his shoulder. "This is Garrett. Garrett, this is March."

Garrett turned to Kennedy and narrowed his eyes at him, taking a step away. He pressed his lips together, smiling at me and then turned to everyone else. Our eye contact was too quick and it was too obvious that we were avoiding each other's eyes in the next few moments that passed by. But really, I'm just thankful that he didn't feel like strangling me or pulling my hair now. Maybe it was because Tim had asked him not to cause a scene when we were in the same room since Tim did tell me that he was going to try and make the tour as smooth going as possible for all of us. And if that meant that he had to make sure we weren't going to push each other off of the bus, he would do the job done.

After that, I kept talking to Jared, who was telling me about the cities we were stopping at for the tour. John, Garrett, Kennedy and Halvo were immersed in some conversation while others were scattered around Pat's house. Tim then grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the group.

Before I could even ask him what he was doing, he already answered. "You have to meet Limited!" Tim said while he was dragging me around. He stopped when we got to the backyard where there were 4 guys sitting and standing around the back porch. Their heads turned almost immediately at us and I looked at them awkwardly. They all stood up and faced us, holding smiles on their lips.

In my opinion, they looked borderline scary in a way that they're too cool for anyone. A Rocket To The Moon looked like a bunch of sweethearts. Limited looked like the type that would ignore anyone that called their names. Out of the four of them, only one of them looked approachable at first sight.

"This is Limited," Tim motioned over to the group who surprisingly, waved shyly at us. "This is Robin," the one on the far left. Copper hair and probably as tall as Kennedy. "Lee," the one with chinky eyes. "Evan," the shortest one with black curly hair and looks approachable. "And Dylan," the one that's the same height as Robin and has black hair that looked like it was defying gravity. "This is March," he nudged at me. "She handles all the finances. Don't make her quit her job in the middle of tour, okay?"

"So, how'd you get in the middle of all of this?" Evan stepped forward, a smirk gracing his features.

"Trust me, I get in the middle of a chaos a lot," I answered.

"Is that a warning?" Lee sent me a playful smile.

"You wouldn't want to know," I laughed, shaking my head slightly. I was slowly warming up to them, even if Dylan and Robin still hadn't shown any expression towards me.

"Oh, yeah," Tim nodded. "You have no idea what she got herself into several years ago."

I turned to him and shot him a look to shut up. I wouldn't really care if they knew that I almost disbanded the band they were touring with. But I would rather have it come from me and not from anyone else, knowing it might come out the wrong way. He complied gladly, but I don't think the new band was going to let me slip off that easy.

"Im'ma get a few drinks in you and maybe get you talking about what happened," Evan joked. He looked around at the blank faces of his bandmates. "I'm Evan, I play bass. What, you're all gonna stand there until she goes away?"

Lee chuckled and took a gulp of what was in his cup. "I'm sorry. I got a little bit intimidated because you seemed so smart with all of the business work." He stepped forward and smiled cheekily, almost making his eyes disappear. "I play lead."

Evan squinted his eyes and turned to Lee slowly, looking at him suspiciously. "Don't you have a degree on Music? You finished college last year."

"Still," Lee shook his head, sending me a smirk. "I can't handle math."

That's how me, Evan, and Lee got into a conversation while Dylan, Robin, and Tim excused themselves to go inside the house to make last minute preparations for tomorrow since they were the leaders of the group. In the span of 30 minutes, I learned a lot of things from the bassist and the lead that would be enough for me to run a fanpage for them. I suppose it was a good thing, because I realized that I got better with communicating with people and not just hanging out with same ones everyday.

They're a rock band. They've known each other for a while now. Evan has a girlfriend. Lee is part Korean and finished college with a double major in Music and English. Evan is the youngest at 18 and Lee is the oldest at 22. They were signed by the label two years ago and this was their second tour. They met The Maine and A Rocket To The Moon 4 months ago for the first time to plan the tour. Evan has a girlfriend and Lee is single.

When Lee and Evan started arguing about sleeping arrangements for when the tour takes off, I excused myself politely and went in the house to get a glass of water. I hadn't drank much, but even if it was already late at night, I could still feel the high temperature of summer crawling on my skin. I took a plastic cup from the stack and poured water from the pitcher lying on the marble counter next to the alcoholic drinks.

When I turned around to go back outside, I almost spat my drink out when I met eyes with a new face.

"Hey February," he smiled, breaking the first impression that I had that he was smug and hard to befriend. The nickname took me by surprise, remembering all the times Garrett used it on me, but I shrugged it off. I shouldn't have been remembering things like that.

I bit my lip before speaking. "Wait," I mumbled, trying to remember who he was. "Dylan?"

"Yes," he nodded, shoving his hands in his pocket. "You want a drink?"

I smiled incredulously and looked down at my hand. "I just came from the counter full of drinks."

"Right," he chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." I smiled. He was charming. Leather jacket, serious facial expression, and intimidating deep voice aside, he seemed friendly and approachable. Meeting the third band made me feel relieved. I was going to survive the tour, I thought, since I think I can work with more than half of the people coming. "So... Are you the singer?"

He raised his eyebrows and nodded, "Yeah. You?"

My jaw felt slightly as I stared at him curiously. "...I'm not in a band, Dylan."

He looked at me for a moment, his expression blank and then closed his eyes and covered his face. "Oh my God. What the hell? I'm sorry. I'm gonna go," he shook his head and turned back but I laughed to myself and stepped forward.

"Hey. No," I giggled, calling for him to stay. "Come on. I mean, I do look like I can rock hard, right?"

He turned back and laughed. "I'm sorry. I'm not good with conversations." And it was surprising, but I'm pretty sure I should learn by now that first impressions are almost always wrong. And I still had two months to figure out what they were all like. I should try and get friendly to everyone, right?

"Same goes for me but I think you're pretty much solid to talk to," I sent him a shy smile.

"Good. My goal from when you went out to the back porch was to talk to you tonight," he grinned, making my face feel hot and making me flustered.

I'm pretty sure I looked like a tomato, but I ignored the comment again. This was a lead singer of a band. I'm pretty sure he's hit on plenty of girls before. I came to this tour to earn money and to help Tim with his job. I wasn't going to get distracted with anyone whether it be my past or my possible future. I was sure nothing was going to happen.

We walked around the house, talking about his insights about the tour. He wasn't sure about what he was going to expect. He liked being quiet and honestly, it became more and more obvious as our conversation got longer. He was mysterious, to say the least. He didn't give too much of himself away and after a few moments of flirting earlier, I can tell that he backed up a bit. It was when we reached the living room that The Maine walked up to us.

"You've met Dylan?" Pat beamed, jumping over at us.

"Met the whole band," I nodded.

"To avoid any fights and issues in the future," John said, throwing his arm around my shoulders. "Dylan, this is my little sister, March Christina O'Callaghan."

Everyone cracked a smile or a grin, except for one grudge-holding boy beside Jared. One year later and he's still the same walking frown I turned him into. The statement was obviously pointed at him, but he tried his best to ignore it and avoid anyone's eyes.

Dylan's eyes widened and I'm almost one hundred percent sure that he didn't really expect to find that out. We resembled each other, but not enough for people to start speculating, being the reason of the big fight that happened in the past. "I'm a curious with the "fights and issues" you mentioned."

"I'm pretty sure you'll find them out in the near future," Kennedy reassured him, making the others laugh. I simply just shrugged John's arms off and rolled my eyes.

"I'm going to go home," I breathed out, finally feeling tired.

"How are you getting home?" Dylan asked almost immediately, making all eyes shot at him.

"I drove here." I turned to John and asked, "Are you going home by yourself or am I going to drag your ass to your room?"

"I'm going to stay here for a little while, Mom," he rolled his eyes.

As I said my goodbyes, I began walking towards the car I parked two blocks away. I had to be up in less than 6 hours.

I could hear footsteps coming up behind me. "I'll walk you," he smiled softly.

I just smiled back and kept walking. I didn't mind his company anyway.

It was quiet for a moment before he started a conversation again. "I hope you don't mind. It seemed like you're the best person to get to know at this point."

"You're not too close with your bandmates?"

"I am," he answered. "It's just that I thought it would be better to meet other people. Different people. Everyone's the same. Bands, tour managers, crew members, merch person... Haven't really met the person who manages everything financially."

"Don't get to excited," I laughed. "People like me aren't really interesting."

"By the way your friends talk about you and your past, it doesn't seem like you're a boring person," he sent me a crooked smile.

I rolled my eyes and tried hiding my face in my hair by lowering my head. "It's just messy and weird," I shook my head. "That's why I'm trying to lay low this time. Don't really want to get into an even bigger mess. No relationships, no drama. Purely business."

He sighed and nodded. "I understand." When I stopped walking beside the car I drove, I faced him and smiled tightly as he did the same. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"See you tomorrow, Feb. Sleep well. You'll need it," he grinned one last time before stepping back. "And I look forward to knowing you better."

"See you," I gave him a small wave and slipped in the car.

It hasn't even been more than 30 seconds that I got in when I felt my phone vibrate like crazy from my pocket.

I would've volunteered to get you home again since Garrett was on the edge of speaking himself.

Good night, March. Good to have you back.

I threw the phone on the front seat and covered my face with my hands. Was I really making the right decision going to this tour?
♠ ♠ ♠
Sorry for the long wait! I'm trying to make each chapter as eventful as possible!

Thank you to
heathyxmisery
princewentz
and Crazy and Impulsive (I'm sorry I haven't replied to your message!!!!) for commenting and to those who subscribed and recommended. :)

And I'm excited to write the next chapters because it's tour time!