Hollywood Hills and Suburban Thrills

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Within ten minutes, just like Mike had said, music was flowing from The Academy Is…'s stage. As I sat in the shade with Jack and Alex and half-listened to the music and half-listened to them converse, I noticed that more and more bands were appearing, some that I recognized and of course some that I did not.

"You really have no idea who we are?" Ryan Ross asks, just ask shocked as everyone else had, and when I shook my head, his eyebrows shot upward. "Wow. Doesn't it get cold under that rock where you live?"

I smirked at him. "I have a heated blanket, Mr. Ross." He laughed and I smiled at him.
More people came and went as the hour that The Academy Is…'s set was taking wound down. And as time passed, I was surprised by just how many bands I actually knew on this tour. It was comforting to know that I wasn't so sheltered in the company of Warped Tour.

"So you're telling me that you've heard of The Matches but you haven't heard of Fall Out Boy?" Alex asks, thoroughly dumbfounded.

"That's basically what I'm telling you, yes." I answer, smart-alecky.

"That's outrageous!" Jack exclaims beside me, covering his eyes with his hand. "You need to meet the rest of the other bands here!"

And with that notion in his head, Alex was already on his feet and had me pulled halfway out of my chair before I had the chance to resist.

"Wait, wait, don't you two have a set today?"

"Not today. It's out day off." He sings, tugging harder on my wrist, but I was still having doubts. Alex stuck out his lower lip. "Come on, Dani, you won't regret it, we promise."

I looked back at Jack as he gazed at me with big, sad brown eyes and caved. I gave Alex a half nod and he beamed, pulling me away from the booth with Jack in tow.

I gazed back at the stage where The Academy Is… was playing and saw Will dancing around, singing his heart out, and I felt something twitch inside me, but then Alex took a sharp turn and we were heading toward another merch booth.

"There Brendon," Jack laughs into Alex's ear as a smile slowly made it way onto the latter's face. I gave them both odd looks before returning my gaze to the booth in front of me and the four guys that sat under it, one of them I recognized as Ryan Ross. He smiled at me, giving me a timid wave, but his friend beside him was the complete opposite.

His brown eyes widened and a white smile showed between his huge lips and I felt my cheeks flush red. Maybe my little threat will have to go in vain with this one.

"Hey guys." Alex says once we were in front of the booth. The boy beside Ryan hadn't looked away from me since we had first been approaching the table, and when I made eye contact with me, he shot from his chair.

"What's your name?" he asks in an excited voice.

I smiled at him. "Dani. What's yours?"

"Brendon!" He hunched his shoulders in an adorable way and his eyes were positively glowing. "Want to be best friends?"

I couldn't help but laugh slightly. "Of course, I just met you but I would love to be your best friend."

He squealed at an octave that would've driven a pack of dogs mad and then wheeled around the table to tackle me in a hug. I like this kid already, I thought as I wrapped my arms around his slightly thin (or thinner than I was used to, at least) waist. And when we detached ourselves from each other, I looked at the two remaining anonymous boys that were looking at me with smiles.

"Brendon, you're such a child." One of them says with a roll of his eyes. Brendon made a face at him and then went back fiddling with a shirt that sat on the table before him. "I'm Spencer," he then says to me, reaching out to shake my hand, "and the mute over here is Jon."

"I'm not a mute!" Jon says loudly, glaring at Spencer who was now laughing and shaking his head.

Then there was silence and Brendon looked at me quizzically. "You can squeal or jump around if you want. We won't care." He says coolly.

"What?" I ask.

He shrugged, an guiltless smile on his face. "It's just that any other girl in your position would be hyperventilating by now, but you," he shook his head as if trying to crack some kind of puzzle. "you're standing here like we're long lost childhood friends." Alex and Jack both snorted while Ryan smiled secretly at me. Brendon looked at the three of them. "What? What's funny?" he demands, seeming a bit put off.

"Brendon," Ryan starts through a sigh, "she has no idea who you are besides that fact that your name is Brendon."

Brendon's eyes snapped back to mine and he opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off, already anticipating his reaction.

"Yes, really." I answer automatically and I heard his teeth click as his mouth shut.

"Wow. She's psychic too." Spencer laughs. "Who brought her along?"

"Bill," Alex answers.

"Winner," Brendon mumbles.

I opened my mouth to retort but was cut off when my phone vibrated in my pocket and I was cut short. I dug out my phone and excused myself from the group of musicians to see that it was Kayla calling me. And I hadn't even opened my phone and my stomach had already plummeted slightly.

"Hello?" I ask, frightened for what she might tell me.

"Dani, I have bad news." Kayla mumbles, sounding guilty.

I gulped. "What's going on?"

"Well, I had to work today and I walked into the shop and your mom was there," she trailed off and my eyes widened. "and I would've ran for it or hidden or something but she had already seen me so it wouldn't have made a difference."

I swallowed. "So my mom knows that I'm not with you right now."

She sighed, obviously very disappointed in herself. "I'm so sorry Dani." She says and then the line went dead.

I closed my phone slowly, my insides squirming in horror as the consequences to come set into my mind. And then, I was sprinting back towards The Academy Is…'s stage.

My lungs were aching, my knees were stabbed with pain each time I statically switched directions, maneuvering my way through the Warped Tour crowds. And then, I was at the backstage area and the boys were just walking out, sweaty, smiling, and generally happy. Until they saw me, of course.

"Dani, what's wrong?" Will was the first to me, concern written all over his face as his sweaty palms made contact with my now much paler skin.

"My mom knows that I'm not with Kayla right now. She's probably on her way here as we speak. We have to go. I have to get back to my house now."

"But it's only been a couple hours. How can you leave already?" Sisky whines, obviously not comprehending the danger at hand.

"Because if I don't get back to my house before she finds me here, you'll never see me again." I yell at him and I could only guess that he was probably thinking that I was overreacting. But I didn't have time to ponder that for long. "Will…?"

"I'll drive you. Come on." He took my hand, his long slender fingers sliding between mine easily like they were meant to be there, and then he pulled me away.

"How are we going to get back? The bus?"

"No, we've got a rental car that we keep during the tour. We can take it."

He pulled me through the buses and then we were in an open area, running toward a bunch of parked cars. He pulled a solitary key from his pocket and ran to a black Ford Fusion, wasting no time at all in unlocking the doors, getting in and revving the engine. And before I knew it, we were on the highway back toward Chicago.

"Thank you so much, Will." I say breathlessly, the fear still making my insides hurt. The thought of my mothers palpable rage with my lying and going to a forbidden concert was haunting, try as I might to take my mind off of it.

"Don't mention it." He answers, equally out of breath and his eyes focused on the road.

Silenced filled the car and I noticed that Will's eyes seemed out of focus as he drove. Like he was off in some far away place, pondering hard over something. I gazed at him for a moment before a thought occurred to me and I opened my mouth to speak.

"You said you wanted to talk to me after your set." I mumble pathetically—I was never one for conversation starters, after all.

He sighed and his shoulders slumped visibly. "Never mind," he grumbles in a disappointed tone. "It doesn't make sense to ask now."

I quirked an eyebrow. "Ask what?" I wondered aloud.

He glanced at me with those deep brown eyes of his and I found myself at a loss for words at how sad they looked, but then their focus was the road once more.

"I was going to ask you if you would like to stay with us for the rest of Warped." He states, and the disheartened tone was crystal clear in his voice, and it hurt me to see him like this.

"I don't think that would've worked out even if this hadn't have happened, Slim." I say honestly. He didn't say anything but I could've sworn I saw the corners of his mouth pull downward farther. "But it's almost over, isn't it?" I tried to lighten the mood. "Then you'll be back in Chicago and we'll be back together." It seemed like something to hold onto to me because God forbid I would ever be ready to let this kid go.

He nodded once. "Two weeks; one left for touring and the other for recording the new album."

I smiled. "You finished it?"

"There's one more song I want to write and then we'll record it."

"I better be the first to hear it." I threaten playfully and he smiled sideways at me, loosening the knots in my stomach as the conversation between us started to flow a little easier.

The drive home went a lot faster than the drive there, as it always does, and it was two o'clock and I was walking to my front door, Will right behind me. And when I walked into my house, he followed me still, until I stopped and faced him. "Shouldn't you be getting back?" I ask with a half laugh. Now that I was home and the threat was little less impending, I could afford to joke.

"I suppose," Will groans, rolling his eyes with a smile. He was walking back toward the door, this time I was following him, and then turned abruptly. "I'll miss you, Dani." He says with a sad smile and I felt my throat tighten slightly.

"I'll miss you too, Slim." I tried to disparaged, desperate to do away with these bubbly feelings that were inhabiting my lower organs.

And then, he planted a kiss on my cheek, dangerously close to the corner of my mouth, and departed like a ghost. I heard his car rev outside and drive off down the street, but I hadn't moved a muscle, save the one in my chest that was overactive at the moment.

This was probably going to be the most painfully long week of my life up to this point…and it was all because of him.