American Candy

No one moved for five solid minutes as the two girl bands stared at each other. The 1975 were completely confused as to why no one as talking, but they weren’t seriously about to start the conversations. Across from X, Maize, Nirvana and Lark stood Roxie Lancaster, Liz Horan, Emery Addams, Spencer Payne and Ash Walker. The two girl bands, who last saw each other on not such good terms were a little weary of what to say, well until Ash broke the silence.

“Hi, I’m Ash Walker. I’m twenty-two years old and I’m the lead guitarist for Reckless Little Hearts,” She smirked over at Adam. “You’re Adam Hann, lead guitarist for The 1975. Nice to meet you,”

Adam looked a little wide-eyed.

“Uh...hi,”

“I’m Roxie,” The girl with waist long, brown hair stated. “I drum.”

“I play bass, and my name is Emery.” She stated.

“I’m Spencer, I’m the lead singer,” The blonde stated.

Now that they really looked, you could see the fading pink at the bottom of her hair.

“I’m Liz and I play rhythm guitar. I took a break for a year or so, but I’m back for the time being,”

“What are you doing here?” X asked instead.

TJ stepped in for the girls instead of letting them answer for themselves.

“Uh, Reckless Little Hearts will be joining the tour.” He stated. “Since they’re so big...uh… Weekend Misery will get bumped to the first band.”

“What the fuck?!” Lark yelled. “How in the hell is that fair?!”

“That’s bullshit,” Nirvana voiced. “We’ve been working our asses off!”

Spencer laughed.

“Chill out,” She stated. “We don’t want to take your spot.”

“You’re doing such a good job at it,” Maize gave the other female lead singer the stink eye.

“Okay, child,” Spencer rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to always be an ungrateful bitch, you know that right? Our albums sells speak for themself, but we just came to support two bands that we like. We didn’t come here to take your precious spot, Princess,”

George’s eyebrows shot up.

“You’d be nothing without us, Maize. Or did you forget that?” Ash asked, crossing her arms over her chest. Adam was staring at the purple-haired, feisty guitar player when he noticed quite the sizable diamond on her ring finger.

“Hey, Roxie,” Matty sighed. “How’s H?”

Roxie cracked a smile.

“He’s good. I’ll tell him that you said hey,” She replied. “So...who wants to play a rad show?” she asked.
X chewed on her bottom lip. Ever since Maize royally pissed off Ash, they felt like they owed the hardcore girl band. Which to be frank, Maize deserved it. Again, she’s devious. Liz pulled her dirty blonde hair up into a high ponytail and walked over to shake hands with the members of the 1975. Nirvana stopped being so weird and went to wrap her arms around Ash. The two met a few years back, when they were in rehab, and they have been kind of close since that time. Ash treats Nirvana like her little sister.

Lark stood awkwardly next to Matty, leaning into his side the entire time. His hand rubbed soothing circles on her back, and it really did make her feel better. Spencer and Roxie moved forward to talk to the guys while Emery went to chat with X, her fellow bass player. The room was suddenly taken over by a calm instead of the frenzy they were in before Reckless Little Hearts arrived. It was okay, for now. It had to be anyway, the all-girl hardcore band were going on first. How TJ kept it all a secret really was beyond them.

“I’ve seen you birds on the news,” George laughed. “You’re with the One Direction lads, yeah?”

Spencer nodded.

“Correct. I married Liam and Liz married Niall. Ash is engaged to Louis and Roxie and Harry just got engaged. Emery and Zayn’s wedding is coming up in a few weeks. But he left the band so…” Spencer trailed off.

“I’m so done here,” Maize sighed, rolling her eyes and walking away. No one followed the girl out of the room right away.

Matty watched the girl before looking back at Adam. Adam rolled his eyes but went after her first. After a few awkward minutes, Matty pressed a kiss to Lark’s forehead before he removed his arm from around her. He didn’t offer an explanation as to why he was walking off, but Lark didn’t care at the moment. She was too concerned with her friends. When Matty rounded the corner he saw something that he wasn’t quite expecting. He saw Adam with his hands softly cupping Maizes face, and pressing his lips to hers. Matty, who was confused because she claimed to love him, tilted his head to the side ever so slightly. He didn’t exactly want to break up the moment, but he knew that it was now or never. He saw how mad they all were, and that wasn’t something he wanted to relive.

“Uh….can I talk to Maize alone now?” He stated, rather awkwardly. He wasn’t his usual charismatic self.
Adam abruptly pulled away. When he realized that it was Matty, something inside of him felt bad about even being with Maize. Yes, Adam Hann felt regret and remorse.

“Yeah, take all the time you need,” Adam sighed. “I’ll be over here….okay?”

Maize nodded, rolling her eyes when he walked away. She wasn’t a child that needed to be babysat.

“Yes?”

“Maize...you’re great. You know you’re great.” He sighed. “I just can’t be with someone that can’t commit to me,”

Her eyes opened wide.

“What do you mean that you can’t do it?! I saw the way you stared at Nirvana, Matty! You...you are the one being unfaithful,”

Matty raised an eyebrow.

“You’re basing that off of a look...I literally caught you and Adam just now.” He stated. “but whatever, I have fucked Nirvana so there.”

“What?” She yelled loudly, not caring who heard her.

He sighed, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

“You’re just a kid,” He stated. “You act like one, and you’re playing with the big dogs. For fuck’s sake, just stop while you’re ahead. Maize, we’re not together. We were never dating,”

The girl looked shocked.

“What? What do you mean? Of course we were,”

“No, love.” He said, shrugging it off. “I can’t do this with you anymore. It’s tiresome, and frankly I can’t emotionally handle you. I think it’s time to cut it off, babe.”

The girl stood there, utterly heartbroken as she watched him disappear into the room. Maize felt like she just lost everything. Sure, that’s a bit dramatic, but Matty was one of the best things to have happened to her this year. That was until she found out about him cheating. According to Matty, it never was cheating because they weren’t together.

“Maize, are you okay?” Adam asked, walking toward her. “What happened?”

She cried a little bit harder.

“He dumped me. Matty actually dumped me,”

Adam wrapped his arms around her and tried his best to make her feel safe. He knew that this was going to really mess things up.

Anxious tears and friends being torn apart,
It’s all fair until there’s a broken heart.



“Whoa, wait, wait, wait.” Ash hushed Nirvana. “What happened again?”

Nirvana rolled her eyes at her close friend.

“I’ve made a royal mess of literally everything,”

“I’ve seen messes… and Roxie on drugs. This is fixable.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I’m pretty sure that Matty and Lark are off snorting cocaine right now,”
She rolled her eyes.

“What? Tell me- wait...no. Nice try. Back to you,”

The younger girl shrugged because at least she attempted at deflecting.

“Okay, I’m going to say it one more time, okay?”

“Okay,” Ash nodded, ready to listen.

“So there’s Matty, who is super sexy but super slutty.”

“Like you,”

Nirvana rolled her eyes but agreed nevertheless.

“Yes. So Matty was sleeping with Lark, Maize and myself at the same time,”

“And how did you not know that?” Ash questioned. “I mean, it’s pretty fucking obvious.”

“Because we’re all so busy being entangled. Let me finish!”

“Right, sorry,” Ash laughed

“So Matty was banging Maize, Lark and myself. I was banging George and Matty, but mostly just George. X and Ross were attracted to each other and Adam was just being Adam. I’m not exactly sure of his part in it all yet. So, Ross stopped talking to X and it was super annoying. All of the sudden, he started shagging groupies and X got so mad. Before X knew that George and I had a thing, she apparently lost her virginity to George.”

“Oh fuck,” Ash’s eyes grew wider.

“Tell me about it!” Nirvana nearly yelled. “Anyway, so that’s some of how we are entangled. Well a week or two ago, I started to sleep with Ross…”

“Why in the world?” Ash questioned. “I thought you liked Matty?”

“No, George.” Nirvana corrected. “Matty’s is nice to look at, George is someone I want to hold,”

Ash shook her head.

“I am so confused.”

“Anyway, I slept with Ross because I wanted George back and to piss of X. In return, George just decided that he was done with me instead. Like what the actual fuck? Me? He was the one that...well technically we both did, but he didn’t have to be done,” Nivana sighed. “Then Ross, X, George and myself walked in on Adam and Maize about to get it on. Then right before you guys got here, Lark and Matty tumbled into, literally, the green room.”

The purple-haired girl shook her head slowly.

“You remind me of myself when I was seventeen.” Ash stated. “Do you want my honest opinion?”

“No?” Nirvana grimaced.

“Fuck you,” Ash laughed. “You need to have a serious conversation with George. Nirvana, I think you like him.”

“No shit,” She rolled her eyes. “I don’t do feelings. They’re gross.”

“Apparently...you do,” Ash sighed. “Listen, there was a boy and a girl that I know. They’ve spent the later part of nearly four years dancing around each other. They’re just now engaged. Don’t be like those two, okay? I’ve seen Harry and Roxie walk through a lot of pain because of stupid decisions. I, myself, almost lost Louis because I was stubborn,”

No matter what her instincts were telling her, Nirvana was having a hard time accepting what Ash was telling her. She didn’t know exactly what feeling for someone deeply felt like. She didn’t know what it was like to be in love, but did that matter? All Nirvana knew was that whenever she looked at George, her insides feel weird and her heart tightens.



George Daniel was absolutely gutted about the entire situation. He wasn’t sure how to express it so it came out in all the wrong ways. He didn’t mean to call Nirvana a whore, even when she had acted like one. He didn’t mean to keep sleeping with X, but that’s all that he knew how to do. George Daniel was about as messed up as the rest of them were. That’s why he currently had the pink-haired girl pressed against him and his lips attached to her neck.

“George….c’mon...stop,” She sighed, slowly pushing the male away. He freely went where she pushed him, never forcing her into anything that she didn’t want to do. “I can’t do this to Nirvana or Ross. Hell I can’t do this to us.”

George furrowed his brows.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that I can’t replace her,” X sighed. “You’ve got to open up about your feelings toward her. I know you must like her on some sort of level.”

“Do not,” He mumbled with his head buried in the crook of her neck. “Dunno what you’re talking about,”

X sighed, tangling her fingers through his hair.

“Please go talk to Nirvana. I’ve apologized, and I don’t care if she forgives me or not. I want you both happy. If I knew that you mean this much to her….I… I wouldn’t have…”

“You’re a good one, Bexley James.” George stated, smiling at her when she playfully rolled her eyes at her full name. “Thank you….seriously. I might have lost it by now,” He admitted.

“You’re welcome. I know that you’re the rather quiet type, but I need you to to out there and get your girl. Tell her I don’t want you because she’s not listening to me. Well, I do want you to continue being one of my best friends but…”

George laughed.

“Me too, X. Me, too.”

It as the best conversation that he has had within a week.



“Trust me when I say that the drugs aren’t worth it,” Roxie stated as she walked into the back lounge where Lark and Matty were about to take some more pills. She sat down across from them, and looked sternly over at the pair. “There are a lot, a ton of people expecting you both to stay alive.”
Lark chewed on her bottom lip as Roxie talked. Everything in her wanted to scream that she didn’t know what she was talking about, but she stopped herself. Roxie knew exactly what she was talking about.

Lark was not about to fight a girl who nearly lost her life to pills.

“I’m sorry, love.” Matty smiled charmingly at her.

“Matty, I’m serious,” She stated clasping her hands together. “It’s dangerous, and I don’t want anything to happen to you guys. This isn’t something to play around with.”

Lark sighed, getting up and walking to the bathroom. She knew that Roxie was right. She had been feeling like crap anyway, and she didn’t want to take them. Because of her pills that she was forced to take, the drugs were doing weird things to her mindset. She flushed the pill and walked back out to sit down beside Matty.

“You’re right,” She shrugged. “You’re so fucking right, Rox.” Matty furrowed his brows before chucking his into the nearest trash can. He still planned to use, of course, but just not right now. He knew little of Lark’s background, but he did know that when she mixed the drugs and her medicine, things got strange.

“Good,” Roxie sighed. “Why are you taking them anyway?”

Before Lark could reply, Matty did for her.

“That was my fault. I gave them to her. Didn’t think that it would become a thing.”

“It’s so much more than a thing as you put it. It can cost you your life, Matty.” Roxie sighed, looking between the two of them. “When did you both become a thing?”

Matty smirked, pressing a kiss to Lark’s temple.

“I’d like to call it love at first sight,”

“And I’d like to call it drug-induced decision.” Lark stated, rolling her eyes. “But we’ve been involved since the beginning?”

“Yeah,” He laughed. “Since the beginning, and she’s been a pain in my ass since then,”

“Whatever, Matthew,” Lark laughed. “He’s just butt-hurt because I told him we weren’t friends,”
Roxie rolled her eyes.

“Wow.” She laughed. “You kind of remind me of Ash and Louis. You’re weirdos.”

“Thanks?” Lark shook her head. “Don’t we have a show to get to?”

“Yes!” Roxie laughed, standing up. “I’m going to go get dressed. I’ll see you guys in the venue.”

Matty yelled a response while Lark leaned back into the couch. Matty was careful, testing the waters so to speak, when he turned toward her. He grabbed her chin gently and pressed his chapped lips to hers. At first Lark didn’t move, but after a minute of light pecks on her lips, she decided to move her lips with his. It was sweet. It didn’t push boundaries asking for more, but it wasn’t just a light kiss.

“Come to my bunk after the show?”

Lark nodded her head slowly, and that’s all that Matty needed.