Hollywood Hills and Suburban Thrills

I couldn't honestly say how long I had been in my deep and impenetrable slumber, but when my exhaustion began to lighten, I could feel the bus moving beneath me, the engine still purring through the pillow and into my ear.

Then, I noticed just how lovely the pillow on which I was laying smelt. I took a deep breath and the cologne in the fabric burned my nose slightly, but I loved it. It reminded me of someone…

Then, as my delirium continued to lift away, I noticed a few other things. One: I could sense that it was no longer just William and me in the back bedroom (as dirty as that may sound). Two: something hot was lying on my hip, though I wasn't conscious enough to tell what it was exactly. And third: someone was taking pictures because I heard the shutter click.

I shook awake, my eyelids peeling back quickly, and I was right in my first assumption of not being alone—Gabe and Sisky were standing at the foot of the bed, now looking absolutely petrified. Perhaps by my waking up? I couldn't be sure until I was fully alert.
"What are you guys doing?" I croak, the sleep still clear in my voice.

"Well, we came back here to tell you to get ready to get off the bus," Sisky trailed off, eying me and whoever was beside me, which I assumed was Will, "but now I'm having second thoughts."

I quirked an eyebrow at him but then there was movement on the other side of me on the bed and I heard William groan lightly. And then, Gabe and Sisky were gone and the door was shut again.

"Who was that?" William asks, pushing the hair out of his eyes so he could rub them.

"Gabe and Sisky," I answer. I sat up on the bed to stretch my arms over my head and then proceeded to tilt my head from side to side, resulting in five sickeningly loud pops. Will made a face but I ignored it. "I think they were trying to tell us that were about to stop."
Will raised an eyebrow. "Trying to?"

"Yeah, I don't know what they were getting at." I sigh, twisting to look at Will as he was still lying on the mattress, one of his arms flailed across his eyes, a frown plastered on his face. And for the first time, I wondered what was going through his head. "Maybe we should go find out?" I suggest, swinging my legs off the edge of the bed and waiting for him to do the same—or at least move.

"I'll be right out." He murmured, his arm still covering half of his face. My eyes lingered on his face until I felt the bus losing acceleration, and that's when I walked out of the backroom and to the front of the bus.

Sisky and Gabe were both deep in conversation at the table, not even so much as looking at me as I walked past, and The Butcher was sitting was sitting on the couch, a sketchpad in his lap. So, I sat down at the other end of the couch and waited, not so patiently, for something to happen.

And then something did. The bus lurched to a halt and the engine choked out a few last growls before becoming silent. But when I made to look out the window, I couldn't see anything farther than five feet away because tour busses were parked on either side of the one that I was in.

"Welcome to Warped Tour, Dani," Chislett says, a smile on his face, and then Gabe was at my side.

"Allow me to introduce you to our 'family', of sorts." He smiles and then he had his hand around mine and was pulling me out of the bus.

It was a warm day in Tinley Park and the sun was just barely higher than it had been when I fell asleep. I glanced at my cell phone to see that it was only ten o'clock, an hour before the shows were supposed to start. And I registered all this instead of taking into account where exactly Mr. Saporta was dragging me. He took a sharp turn—following someone he had seen disappear between two buses—and the sudden change in direction made me fumble and drop my phone.

I wrenched my wrist from his grip and backtracked a few steps to pick up my phone, but when I turned back around, Gabe was still chasing after the aforementioned person, leaving me alone in the midst of a few dozen tour buses.

Damn you, Saporta. I think acidly as I turned around and started back on a path that I hoped would lead me to The Academy Is…'s bus. I had hardly gotten a hundred yards, however, when I slammed into someone.

"Ow." I mumbled, holding my upper arm. Whoever I had plowed into must've been running because there's no way I was walking that fast.

"Are you okay?" He asked and I heard him brush off his clothes and stumble to his feet. I glanced at him before brushing the dirt off myself as well, and then there was a hand before me. My eyes tracked from the hand, up the arm, and to the face of the man I had ran into, and I felt my throat tighten but I tried to keep the obvious embarrassment from my face—especially those traitor eyes of mine.

"Yeah I'm fine," I say in a voice that was so calm, it had me confused as to whether or not it was my own for a moment. I took the man's hand and he pulled me to my feet. "Thank you."

"No, no, thank you," he smiles jokingly, "if it weren't for you slowing me down, I probably would've ran head on into that guy down there." He pointed a finger down the isle of buses and I saw a huge, muscular security guard walking, looking hot under the collar.

I snorted a laugh. "That would not have ended well for you."

He shook his head. "No it would not have." And then he looked back to me. "Who are you, if I may be so bold to ask?"

"I'm Dani." I say, shaking the hand that I was still holding onto. "Dani Taylor."

He smiles wider as he gave my hand a firm shake as well. "Shawn Harris." He says. "Are you lost?" his voice was joking still, but at the same time, he seemed genuinely interested.

I sighed, gazing over my shoulder in the direction that Gabe had vanished. "Well, Gabe Saporta dragged me out here to the boonies because he wanted to introduce me to some people, but then he ditched me."

"Who are you here with?" Shawn asks.

"The Academy Is…" I answer and then, Shawn was walking away with my hand in his.
"I just saw them setting up their stage." He says as he weaved between buses and merchies. "I'll take you there."

"Thanks," I say with a small grin. "again."

"Don't mention it." He flashed a big smile at me and I felt my throat tighten more.

The lead singer of my favorite band as a chauffer. This could possibly be the best day of my life.

Shawn continued to pull me gently toward the open area of tour buses where the merch tents and equipment trailers were found. And, even though I would've never said this to him, I found the band I was searching for rather quickly.

"Right over there, Dani." He say, pointing toward a stage and I could see from where we stood that Mike and Sisky were over there already.

"Thanks, Shawn." I say as I began to walk away, but then I faced him again. "I'll see you later?"

"Of course." He answers with a smirk, and then with a tip of his hat, he was walking in the other direction.

My heart thumped a little faster as I walked toward the stage to see that William had joined in the conversation that Mike Carden and Sisky had been having, but when Mike caught sight of me, he nudged Will ever so slightly and they all forced an innocent charade once I was within earshot.

"Hey, Dani," Sisky greets, "did Gabe ditch you?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Yes," I answer darkly and the three of them laughed.

"Well, we have a set in ten minutes, so you'll have to find some form of entertainment for about an hour or so." Mike says.

I mentally swore; why hadn't I just stayed with Shawn? But I nodded in response to Mike's suggestion, and then started to wander toward the merch booths. But Will caught hold of my arm a couple seconds later.

"Hey, when we're done with our set, can I talk to you?"

I quirked an eyebrow at him but nodded all the same. He smiled before planting a kiss on my cheek—a kiss just like the one he had given that day in front of the diner—and departing back toward the stage and I continued on my mission for occupation.

"Hey, who's that?" I heard someone ask when I walked by a booth. I turned around to see two boys with long and dark hair looking at me.

"Me?" I ask, looking around to see if they were possibly meaning someone else.

"Yeah you." One says, walking out from under the tent toward me. "Are you a member of a band here?"

"No, I'm with a band here though."

"Which band?" the second boy asks.

"The Academy Is…" I reply and they both smiled.

"Are you Dani?" the first boy asks and I gave him a blank and slightly disturbed look.

"How'd you know my name?" I asked ominously.

"Bill's been talking about you for like, four days now." The first boy says again. "It's nice to finally see what all the fuss is about." His eyebrows twitched twice and I fought a blush.

"Thank you…I think…" I say and the two of them chuckled.

"I'm Alex Gaskarth." The first boy says.

"And I'm Jack Barakat." The second adds.

I made the presumption that they were in a band on Warped Tour and decided not to make an ass of myself by asking who they were when they plainly just told me.

"Nice to meet you."

"Want to chill with us for a while? We don't have a set for a couple hours." Alex offers, looking innocent but probably being anything but deep down. But I needed something to do for an hour, so I agreed.

"But let me be the first to say that if I feel threatened in any way, shape, or form, I will lash out at whomever is closest to me."

Jack smirked. "Then I'll be sure to keep a good distance from you when you meet Brendon Urie."

I didn't know exactly what that meant, so I shook it off and followed them as they walked back into the shade of their merch booth and patted a lawn chair between them. I hesitated but then followed, plopping into the chair and sighing as Alex texted away on his sidekick on my right.

"You're going to have a blast today." He beams at me, sliding his phone into his pocket, and I was begging that he would not be mistaken.