How Many Times Can You Race Around the Tree Before You Catch Me?

He stood and walked out of the room, taking my computer with him, while I sat there shocked. Jake, or any of the boys for the matter, had never threatened me like that. The fact that he even said that pissed me off, but it upset me more than everything.

I stood and walked out the lounge in the venue and out the back. Jason had stepped outside to make a call and saw me going back to the van.

"I have to call you back." I heard him say before he started following me.

"Jax, where are you going?" He grabbed my arm to stop me. I took a deep breathe before turning around.

"I'm gonna go for a run to the gym. Wanna join?"

"Hell yeah! I thought I was gonna skip today." I laughed.

"I just gotta change and grab my arm strap. I assume you wanna change?" He shook his head for yes with a laugh.

"Meet me at the gates in 15?" He nodded and we parted ways.

I made my way back to our van where Jake was laying across our bunk on his laptop. The van had 6 "bunks" the first row of seating is two, one on top and one on bottom. Behind that we have to "rows" that go sideways that hold two additional bunks each. Jake and I shared the top front bunk. Mikey took the passenger seat, I usually took his spot when Jake was driving. Niki took the bottom right bunk in the back, Christian over him, Andrew took the bunk below Jake and I, and our drum tech Bryce and our merch guy Mark took the top and bottom left in the back, respectfully. Jake and I tended to switch off on driving.

Jake closed his laptop when I approached.

"Jax-"

"I'm not talking to you." I grabbed my small bag from behind the passenger seat and carried it over to the trailer. Jake of course followed me.

"You can't be mad at me over this!" I opened the side door and hopped in, closing the door behind me.

"I can and I will!" I started changing when Jake walked up into the trailer from the back. He couldn't see me because we made a small changing area in the side door blocked off from everything, but I could easily walk around the small wall and see him.

"That's not fair and you know it. I'm doing this for you!" I changed into my running shorts and a sports bra and then rounded the corner.

"You threatened to get rid of me! As if I was just some play thing to you! I've been here for you for ten years, and it took you less than 5 minutes to threaten me with being fired. If I can't be mad at you, then you can't tell me what to do. And. That's. Final." I moved back around the wall and out the side door.

"You can't walk away, we're in the middle of a discussion!" I saw a few of the techs and band members staring now. We were clearly causing a scene at almost one AM.

"Ok, I'll run." I immediately picked up my pace and ignored every word he shouted after me.

As I rounded the corner to the gate I saw Jason stretching.

"Hey slow poke, ready to go?" He laughed.

"Who you callin' slow poke? I believe I was here first?" I smiled at him.

"Alright it's a 4 and a half mile run to the gym. Half an hour tops?" He nodded in agreement.

We ran at a fast pace and made it to the gym just over our half hour goal. Each of us seperated to do our own exercises. Eventually we met back up to spot each other to lift weights. Jason started out with 100 and I was spotting him.

"So tell me, what was the fight about?" He asked. I sighed, Jason must have heard.

"He threatened to remove me as their TM if I didn't slow down..." Jason shelved the weights and sat up.

"Well he isn't wrong." I rolled my eyes at Jason and took off some weight. Jason and I switched places.

"Don't roll your eyes, you know you work your ass off. Everyone else knows that too. I've watched you dose off while packing the trailer and still get in the driver's seat. It's not safe for you or your band. It's also not healthy...." I sighed and started me reps.

"Those have just been really bad days. I can handle it, especially with Warped and then what looks like a month long break after that? I'll have plenty of extra time...." I stopped.

"Add that weight back." He added the 30 pounds back onto the bar for me.

"In the end, if that's what you want to do then do it. But remember, if the guys are so worried about you that they want to send you home, you're over working yourself. You're going to burn yourself out before you're 30." I finished me reps and only nodded to Jason.

"I know, but that's why I work hard. I want a career after all this touring..." We moved on to the leg press machine and Jason hoped on the bike.

I went over and set the weight while Jason hoped up on the bike. I set my weight at 525.

"Whoa, you we're doing 150 last time we went to the gym." I ignored his statement and sat down and placed my feet.

"This is a classic example of Jax overestimating herself." I laughed and began my reps. Slow and steady, I did 50 of them while Jason sat and watched flabbergasted.

"Why don't you always do what you can?" I shrugged.

"I only do it every once in awhile to make sure I still can." He gave me an incredulous look.

"You're a very interesting person Ajax Delaney." I gave him a confused look back.

"That's all I really have to say." He stood.

"It's almost two thirty. Don't you guys have to leave at 3?" I sighed.

"Yeah, the guys hate off days." I stood and stretched for just a second.

"I feel like you do too." I shrugged and we began walking out the door.

"I don't hate them, I hate the trouble the get into when we truly have one.... There's one day on Warped that I couldn't get a show booked on an off day..."

"Ooooh yeahhhh, that's gonna be a bad day." We started our fast pace back to the venue.

"I'm anticipating at least one call from jail..." He laughed.

"Is that a regular occurrence?" It was my turn to laugh.

"When we all first moved in together, I got three calls in one day for Mikey. He had gone to this party and jumped from the roof of our friends house into the neighbors pool and they called the cops. I went and got him and then in the middle of the night after I thought he was asleep, he left and was arrested for public intoxication. I went and got him again and sat in his room until he was asleep. He somehow got up again and made it two towns over before I got another call. I left him for two nights..." Jason laughed heartily.

"You have your hands full." I scoffed.

"That doesn't even beginning to describe it. The boys first tour ended just three days after it started. Props to Jake, unfortunately though, he ended up in jail after almost killing a guy." Jason was shocked.

"He tried to kill someone?" Jason slowed a bit to focus on my next words.

"Well, they were in Pittsburgh and they were walking to go get dinner. Mikey stopped them because he left his phone in the van, so they sat where they were to wait for him while he ran back. About five minutes after that, they heard a sound from the alleyway. There was a woman there and a guy was on top of her and choking her." I sped up hoping he would too. We were late.

"What happened after that?" I chuckled at his eagerness.

"Jake, Christian, and Andrew pulled the guy off of her and Niki and Mark went to the girl. Trevor, the old screamer, called the cops. Jake had a mind of his own though. He just started beating the shit out of the guy. Christian and Andrew had let go and Jake threw him up against the wall and just went to town."

"God damn," Jason was flabbergasted," What happened to Jake and the guy?" We rounded the corner and started walking the last half mile to the venue.

"The guy was missing a few teeth, his nose was broken, he need stitches, and he had some fractures in his face. Jake broke quite a few bones in his right hand and needed stitches and a cast. He ended up in jail for two weeks until the girl testified saying he was trying to help. It was reduced down to battery and he was on eight months of probation." Jason just seemed kind of shocked.

"Damn, that kid's crazy." We slowly approached the gate, both of us breathing heavily.

"He's a good guy, but when he has a reason to be mad, he will be." I smiled at Jason as we stood next to his bus.

"If he's such a good guy, why aren't you guys together yet?" I laughed loudly.

"Jake's my best friend. If we were going to date a) it would have happened by now and b)it wouldn't so it doesn't matter." I continued to laugh after my statement. Jason looked skeptical as he leaned against his bus.

"I dunno Jax, that guy likes you." I gave Jason my best "as if" look.

"That's not true Jase, he would have said something by now. He knows how I am." He sighed.

"You don't have to believe me, but one day you'll be proven wrong." I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever Jason. I gotta go. I'll see ya in two days."

Jason and I shared the biggest of sweaty hugs before parting ways.

"Be careful." I raised one eye brow at the bus door Jason had just gone through.