Don't Jump!

As soon as I got off the phone with Taylor, we got a cab and I gave the driver Taylor's address.

"So," Bill said as the cab started moving, "are you up for a little game of twenty questions?"

"Sure," I said, "why not?"

"Uhm, what's your favorite band?"

"I have to choose one?"

"Okay, how about, what are some of your favorite bands?"

"Better," I said. "Lets see, HIM; Tokio Hotel, of course; Green Day; David Cook; My Chemical Romance; Panic At The Disco and plenty more."

He smiled, "I must say you've got a great taste in music."

"Thanks. Okay, next question."

"Hm, have you always lived in New York?"

I shook my head. "No, when I was about six my family moved here from Iowa."

"Oh, cool."

"Yeah. I miss it so much. I wish I could just go back in time and live like that forever."

"I take it things were better with your parents back then?"

"Eh, not much, but I had my brother to lean on."

"You have a brother?"

"I did, but I don't really want to talk about it right now. Next question."

"Uh, I can't think of one."

I cocked an eyebrow at him. "What happened to twenty questions?"

"Uhm, it got cut short due to technical difficulties?" he said slowly; I laughed.

A few minutes later we pulled up in front of Taylor's house.

"Do you need me to wait?" The driver asked.

"Do we?" Bill questioned.

"Nah," I said, "the venue you're playing at is only a few blocks away, we can walk."

"Okay then," Bill said.

I tried to pay the driver, but Bill wouldn't let me. Once Bill had successfully managed to restrain me and pay the driver, we got out of the cab.

The moment I stepped out of the cab Taylor mobbed me. "Ashey!" She all but screamed as she engulfed me in a hug.

"Hi Taylor," I said, attempting to wiggle my way out of her grip.

Once I had finally freed myself, she hounded me. "Do you want to tell me what the hell you were doing on the roof of your apartment building?" She demanded.

I sighed. "I'll explain as we walk; we need to get him to the venue he's playing at tonight," I said; motioning to Bill.

"Who is he anyway?" She asked. Bill removed his sunglasses, allowing Taylor to see his face.

She stopped dead in her tracks. "Holy... Bill Kaulitz!" She whispered in shock; Bill smiled at her and put his sunglasses back on. "How do you know Bill Kaulitz?" She questioned.

"That's included in everything I have to explain," I said.

As we continued on our way to the venue I explained everything to Taylor. As expected, she was shocked about what I had put up with and hurt that I hadn't told her before. It only took me about ten blocks to explain everything to her, which meant that we had another ten left to go.

"How much further?" Bill asked.

"About ten blocks," I said.

"But we've already gone ten blocks!" he whined.

"Yeah, the venue it twenty blocks away from my house; we've gone ten, so that leaves ten more. It's really just simple subtraction," Taylor said.

I looked at her. "You know how to subtract?" I asked, "Since when?"

"I really don't know," she said slowly in a far-off voice.

"Hold on," Bill said, "when you said 'a few blocks' I thought you meant about three; not twenty."

"Give me a break," I said, "I've lived in New York pretty much my whole life; to me twenty blocks is only a few blocks." He simply stuck his tongue out at.

By the time we got to the venue, Bill was complaining that his feel hurt about every other step he took.

"You're such a wimp," I said.

"I am not!" He protested; I rolled my eyes.

"Actually, you are," a voice came from behind, causing all three of us to jump.

We turned around to see Tom, Georg, and Gustav standing behind us.

Tom spoke, "Where have you been? You're an hour late for sound check! That's not like you at all!"

As Tom continued to chew out Bill, I noticed that Gustav was staring at me, as if he was trying to remember where he might have seen my face before.

"Is it just my over-active imagination playing tricks on me, or is Gustav staring at me?" I whispered to Taylor.

"No, he's staring at you," Taylor whispered back, without taking her eyes off the four boys in that stood in front of us.

Gustav hit Tom lightly on the shoulder. Tom turned his head toward Gustav, "What?"

Gustav leaned over, whispered something in Tom's ear and Tom let out a short "Oh." All three of them turned at looked at me.

"Uhm, hi?" I said in a small voice.

"You're the girl from the news, the one that was going to jump, aren't you?" Tom asked.

I sighed; I had really been hoping that they hadn't seen that. "Yeah, that would be me."

"I told you guys that was Bill up there talking to the girl," Georg said, "but no, you wouldn't believe me!"

"Shut up Georg," Tom said. He looked back at me, "What were you doing up there?"

"I'd rather not talk about it anymore today," I said looking down at the floor trying to avoid any and all eye contact.

"Why not?" Tom asked.

"I just don't want to."

Tom was about to speak again, but Gustav stopped him. "Tom leave the poor girl alone. She's obviously been through enough without you pestering her."

Tom sighed heavily, "Sorry."

"It's alright," I said.

"Uhm, is she okay?" Georg asked, motioning to Taylor.

I looked at Taylor and noticed that she was twitching.

"Well," I said, "she's twitching..."

"Really? We hadn't noticed," Tom said sarcastically.

"Like I was trying to say, she's twitching, so that means she's either going to pass out or jump on one of you; most likely Tom."

The guys just stood there watching her as she tilted her head to the side as if she were examining them. Then it happened, she leaped into the air, ready to pounce on Tom, but in mid-leap she fell crashing to the ground.

Taylor remained sitting on the ground until I finally walked over and helped her up.

"Taylor, are you going to attempt to jump on Tom again?" I had to be sure before I let her go.

"Not a this current point in time," she said. I held onto her for a moment longer and then released her when I was positive she wasn't going to jump on Tom.

I noticed Tom backing away a little. "Tom, she isn't going to jump on you. She's got that out of her system... uh, for now at least."

He eyed Taylor. "Are you sure?"

"Do you really think I would have let her go if she was going to jump on you?" I asked.

"Probably not," He admitted.

"So, there's your answer," I said.

"Hey guys, you need to go get ready for the show," the band's manager said entering the room. "Uh, who are these people?"

"Oh, that's Ashley and Taylor," Bill said pointing to each of us as he spoke our name, "they're friends of mine and they're going to stay for the show."

Their manager looked at us for a few moments and then sighed. "Very well; go get ready."

Taylor and I were left alone while the boys went to their dressing rooms. After awhile, I noticed an acoustic guitar sitting in the corner and just looked at it while wishing I had mine with me so I could play.

"You know, you can pick it up and play it," I heard Georg say behind me.

I turned to face him. "I can?"

He nodded. "I mean it's Tom's, but he doesn't really mind people playing with his acoustics; he gets really defensive about his electric guitars though." I just stayed where I was; Georg sighed, picked up the guitar, and shoved it at me. "Play."

"Alright," I said taking the pick he was holding towards me.

I started playing "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" by Green Day; it was one of my favorite songs to play, mainly because it was so simple. I played a few more songs before Tom came out of the dressing room.

"Hey! That's my guitar," He said.

"I thought he wasn't defensive about his acoustic guitars," I said looking at Georg.

Georg smiled, "So I lied, I wanted to hear you play. Tom, let her keep playing."

"No, it's okay," I said, "I've run out of songs to play anyway."

"Are you sure? You can keep playing if you want," Tom said.

I shook my head. "I'm done," I said handing the guitar to him.

Once all of the guys were finished getting ready, their manager was back.

"Guys, you go on in five minutes," he announced.

The boys walked to the stage entrance a prepared to go on. When it was time, they ran out on stage and immediately started playing "Scream".