Sleepwalking

{Alex}

"That's her." Zack said, throwing his arm around my shoulders as we walked into a recording room at our label. Today was the day that I met Jack's replacement. Zack assured me the other day that he had the perfect touring guitarist. He said her name was Violet and she was related to Jack Fowler. She was his cousin or something.

We stepped in and saw her in the booth, playing a song that I couldn't quite put my finger on. She was incredibly beautiful, as well. She had bright green eyes and tanned skin. Her dark hair was a medium length and she had a half sleeve of tattoos on her left arm from her shoulder to her elbow. She was wearing a cut off Blink-182 tank and a pair of dark blue skinny jeans.

"Zack!" She said when she looked up through the glass. Zack waved and she sat her guitar down, taking her headphones off. She exited the booth and walked over to us. Only then did I realize just how small she was. She was, maybe, 5'3.

She hugged Zack and pulled back, putting her hands on her hips as she looked at me. For someone as small as she was, she carried a very intimidating, professional aura with her. "Hiya, I'm Violet." She hummed, offering me her hand after she visibly sized me up.

"Alex. Nice to finally meet you. From what I heard walking in, you're pretty damn good." I said, shaking her hand and smiling softly at her.

She laughed and shrugged, rocking on her heels. "I appreciate it, thanks. I'd say I'm pretty good."

Cocky. She was cocky. She'd fit right in with us. "You are. So you're Jack Fowler's cousin, yeah?"

She nodded. "Yeah. He taught me how to play about ten years ago."

"That's awesome. How old are you?" I asked her, crossing my arms over my chest as she followed Zack and I out of the room and towards the small cafe-like area down the hall. Zack ordered a drink for us all while I sat down at a table in the back with Violet.

"I'm 19, I'll be 20 in a week." She said excitedly. "For my birthday, actually, I wanted to dye my hair purple." She laughed.

"Violet hair for Violet." Zack mumbled, taking a seat next to me and across from Violet.

"I know." She shrugged, thanking Zack for the drink and taking a sip. "I don't care, though. I'm not gonna let my name stop me from dying my hair."

"Yes." I said, giving her a high five across the table. "I think we'll all get along great, this tour."

"I'm really excited to meet the other bands. You have no idea." She said excitedly.

"You and Lynn can stay on the bus while we all go party." I chuckled. "You're both underage."

"Hey, I've got a pretty believable ID, thanks." She said, raising an eyebrow. "Trust me."

I hummed and raised a questionable eyebrow at the girl in front of me. "Yeah? Have you ever used it?"

With a nod she stood from the table and checked the time on her phone. "I have. Prepare yourself, boys, I'm fun to be around. However, I have to get back to tracking guitar for my record."

"You're in a band?" I asked her, raising an eyebrow. I was becoming more and more impressed with her with every second she was in front of me.

"Mhm. Lead vocals, guitar and keyboard for Narcissus. We just booked ourself a slot on Warped Tour this summer on the Journey's stage so we're working really hard to put out our album before then."

"Impressive, you'll definitely have to send me some links to some of your stuff sometime. I'd love to hear it." I said, watching her closely as she stood up and stepped back from the table. She pulled out her phone and handed it to me.

I put my number in and handed it back to her. "Alright, I'll send you some stuff tomorrow morning. I'll see you guys soon!" She said excitedly, waving. "Bye Zack, see ya, Alex."

I looked over at Zack and raised an eyebrow. He just smiled when I opened my mouth. "Impressive. I like her. I like her a lot. We're gonna have a damn good time on tour."

~~~

"Are you ready, yet? Bus call is in ten." Rian said, knocking on the door to my room. Zack, Violet and Rian were over at my place and we were meeting up with Set It Off, Issues and Pvris in Baltimore in the morning.

"Yes. Do we have time?" I asked, checking the time on my phone as I grabbed my suitcase and walked towards the door. I walked out of my house and saw the large tour bus sitting on the street. I locked the door to my house behind us and turned around.

"Yes." Zack said, sending me a small smile from his place on the other side of Rian as the four of us walked to the bus.

"Thank God." I mumbled to myself, taking my bags and throwing them onto the bus as the four of us piled on. I was hoping that we'd have enough time to go by and surprise Jack before we left.

"Let's go!" Violet said, closing the bus door.

~~

When we got to the rehab center, I was extremely nervous. I knew Jack would be upset that we were leaving without him. I felt awful because I felt like we were abandoning him.

We set up a surprise visit, one that was off of regular visitation hours, thanks to Zack and Rian's persuasion methods. We sat in the visitation room and waited eagerly as the nurse went to get Jack. Violet was leaning against a wall in the back with Rian on the left of her and Zack and I were sitting at a table in front of them.

When he walked in he nearly fainted. He gave us a big once over and closed his eyes. He opened them again and frowned. "You're really here? Wh- how did y- Guys..." He said with a frown, walking towards us slowly. Zack and Rian moved quickly and engulfed Jack in a huge group hug. I heard sniffles and couldn't pinpoint which was crying -- it could've been any of them.

They all chatted for a second before Jack turned to me. "Alexander." He mumbled, shaking his head. I smiled and stood up. He threw his arms around my neck tightly and I smiled, kissing his head.

"We couldn't go on tour without seeing you, at least. We owe this all to you. None of us would be here without you, Jack. The least we could do would be to come see you."

He smiled and pulled back from my hug. He looked at me for a second and I swear he'd never looked at me like that before.

"I love you guys. All of you." He mumbled, turning to look at the other two.

It was nice to see Jack smile again. "You guys are gonna have to tell me all about tour when I call."

"Oh, absolutely." Rian said, rubbing Jack's back softly.

"Oh, Jack this is Violet. She's gonna be our backup guitarist." Zack said, pulling Violet over in to the group.

Jack smiled warmly at her. "Hey." He said sweetly

"Hi." She said excitedly. "It's so good to meet you. I adore you. Your snapchats are to die for." She laughed.

"No, don't make him think they're funny! They're not!" Rian groaned.

"They're great!" Jack defended. "But thank you, dear. Do me justice, yeah?"

"I'll try my hardest."

And that was the last time we saw Jack before tour started.