"I come home tomorrow" my dad beams from his hospital bed, he's in a sitting position looking ridiculously happy, I'm sitting in the chair beside his bed and I smile warmly at him."For real?" That's so cool—nothing like a little bit of good news for a change. It's also good to see him happy too. His appetite has improved since he's began to get better and he's put a little bit of the weight he lost due to his illness back on. We thank God everyday. He nods in answer to my question and I pat his arm.
"Mom will be here soon" I check my watch—it's 3pm—I smile wide, it's Wednesday today and as soon as my mom comes to take over with keeping dad company, I can go pick up those stupid earrings—along with that beautiful girl.

My dad is coming home tomorrow, this definitely puts me in the greatest mood ever. I feel on top of the world, euphoric even—yes euphoric. The word dances around in my mind and makes my face split into the biggest grin, things are finally looking up—maybe now the band could get back together.

I'm heading down the street towards the tiny jewellery store, my headphones are on and my music up loud, I'm listening to Drake and rapping along in my head, still smiling. Euphoric. Somebody taps me on the shoulder and I turn left to see who it is. A young girl around fifteen or sixteen stands in front of me, looking somewhat scared and excited at the same time. I pull my headphones off my head and down so they hand round my neck.
"Hi" I say when it seems like the girl isn't going to say anything
"Hi um" she looks tense and her hands are fidgeting. "Um" she repeats—what does she want? I'm too eager to see Hazel.
"Are you all right?" I ask the stuttering teenager and she nods her head
"I was just wondering...um...if you could maybe sign me?" She asks biting her lip and popping her knuckles nervously—oh she's a fan. The realization hits me and I smile warmly at her
"Sure, I don't have a pen thou-"
"Oh I do" she interrupts me mid-sentence and waves a black sharpie in the air as proof of her statement
"Alright then, where do you want me to sign you—on your shirt?" I ask and she nods and points to the shoulder of her white Pierce The Veil shirt—how I didn't spot the shirt and guess she was a fan straight away I have no idea—I take the sharpie from her and lean in to sign her. I make it big so it's memorable for her—and I have no idea if this is going to be the last time someone asks me to sign them or not so it's memorable for me too.
"Thank you so much" she smiles from ear to ear, I hand back the sharpie and tell her it's no problem and that she's welcome. It's only been just over a week and I already miss this, talking to fans is amazing, it always has—and probably always will—put me in the best mood. Especially when I'm not getting mobbed, that way I can give them the attention they deserve instead of not knowing who to listen to first or who to reply to first. Like the girl in front of me, she's alone and I'm able to talk to her with ease and not come across as rude if I don't hear what she's said because some other fan is talking over her, it's just wonderful—I'm just amazed someone still wants me to sign them at all.
"How's Mike, Jaime and Tony?" She asks shyly
"They're good. I'll tell them you asked, they'll love that you've asked about them" I smile and she smiles too, then she asks for a hug which I think is a reasonable request so I give her a quick hug and tell her I have to go
"Hey Vic...do you think you'll ever get back together?" She says before I turn away, her eyes fill with anguish and my heart swells with pain. I shrug a one shouldered shrug and sigh
"I don't know, I don't think so" even though I've thought about it today, I just need to make sure everything at home is okay first, my dad is getting better, he's healthy enough to come home, but I just want to make sure. I feel guilt overwhelm me—this isn't fair on the fans, I'm making terrible choices that no one understands but me, hell I don't even understand. My mind is too loud to concentrate these days.
"Okay" she smiles weakly "Well you had a good run, thank you for everything" I smile and nod, not trusting myself to speak and I turn and walk away, with a little less spring in my step.

---

Ding! The high-pitched bell chimes. I head right up to the counter, waiting for Hazel to appear from the back.
"Hey there, can I help you?" I turn around and a brunette with purple eyes—which are obviously contacts—smiles at me. She's dressed in the same uniform Hazel was in both times I'd been in here
"Oh..um" she caught me off guard and I'm not sure whether to ask for Hazel or the earrings—the earrings! That'd be less creepy. "I'm here to pick up some earrings" I take my phone from my pocket and check the screen, just to feel less awkward.
"Oh yeah, okay. Last name?"
"Uh, Fuentes"
"Ah, my boss mentioned you'd be back today" Boss? "I'll go get them for you, honey" and she heads behind the counter and into the back, swishing her hips from side to side as she walks. I feel a little confused, does Hazel own this place? She's the only person that knows me from this store, so she must have been talking about her, right? — "Ah, here we are" she plops the box on top of the glass counter. "So are you rich?" she blurts
"What?" I blanch, confused.
"Well you come in one day, buy a bracelet for three thousand dollars. And here you are again, now, buying a one and a half thousand dollar pair earrings...you must be rich" she puts her elbows on the counter and rests her chin on both her hand smiling.
"Dead aunt—left me some money in her will" I lie in a robotic manner
"Oh" she nods like she doesn't believe me and honestly I don't care if she does or she doesn't.

I pay for the earrings, thank the brunette and head out, slightly disappointed I didn't get to see Hazel.
"Hey...um could you do me a favor?" I ask and she looks confused but nods "Do you have a piece of paper I could use?" she goes in the back and grabs me a notebook and a pen and returns to me within seconds, handing over the notebook "Thanks" I say taking it and writing:
'νιcƒυєηтєѕ' on the paper messily and my number below it, I click the pen so the end retracts and pass the notebook and the pen back to the brunette
"Could you give Hazel this please and tell her to give me a call?" I ask nervously—I'm not used to asking girls out or anything, I'm used to girls just throwing themselves at me.
"Sure. But if you want to see her, she's at work right now, three blocks from here, she owns at a little boutique called 'Polly's'" I nod gratefully
"Thank you" I grab the bag with the earrings in it and head out.

---

Just like the girl said, Polly's is only three blocks away, I take a deep breath and head inside. The place is small and quaint, the clothes contrasting with modern day fashion massively. Hazel is dressing a mannequin in the corner furthest away from the door, she doesn't see me at first and there is no bell above the door to grab her attention. She has her phone balanced between her shoulder and her ear while she multitasks.
"He asked if you'd give me his number?" she says a little shocked into the phone, I don't hear the other persons reply
"Are you sure it was him? Short, tan, long hair, nose piercing, most likely wearing a hat?" it strikes me that they're talking about me and I grow nervous. "Yeah, we're definitely talking about the same person...yeah...he is cute, right?...I don't know why he'd want me to have his number though...he's heading here?...Wh-" it's as if she sensed me in the room or something, she stops dressing the mannequin and looks up, immediately dropping the mannequin and her mouth forms a perfect 'O' shape. I smile weakly, feeling a little like a stalker. "Yeah uh I'll call you back, he's kind of here..." she goes the deepest shade of red I've ever seen and I feel a little bad that I've embarrassed her—although it isn't my fault.

She hangs up the phone, puts it into her back pocket and tucks her hair behind her ears
"Um hi" she smiles blushing
"Hi" I reply, my voice is small
"How long were you standing there?" she bites her lip
"Not long" I reply
"How much did you hear?"
"Enough to correct you. I'm not short, I'm vertically challenged" I fold my arms across my chest and pout all mock-serious.
She giggles "I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting you to show up here" I don't really say anything—not sure what to say. "Uh...do you need to buy something or?" she's still embarrassed but her smile is still there.
"No, I just-" I'm at a loss for words—so not used to asking a girl out—I sigh "Coffee"
"Huh?" she laughs and picks the mannequin up, standing it upright
"You, me, coffee?" I ask looking at the floor
"I finish at four, there's a coffee shop round the corner, I'll meet you there" she laughs and resumes dressing the mannequin—that simple, really?

---

It's around quarter past four and I head into the coffee shop, she's already sat down with her cup in her hand, I nod to her and order a cappuccino and head over to her, she's wearing a 'make love not war' tank with high-waisted shorts and sandals—just like at the Polly's—her coffee is black, which I find interesting for some reason and she's lightly drumming her fingers on the table as if she's nervous.
"Hi, I thought you'd stood me up" she giggles—I'm only late because I didn't want to seem too eager. I smile and sit opposite her "So you went to pick the earrings up today?" she changes the conversation—maybe from embarrassment of implying she cared whether I stood her up or not— I don't know.
"Yeah" I reply
"For your Mom too or?" she takes a small sip of her coffee and I swear I catch her wince but I'm not sure.
"Yeah, I'm going to surprise her later" I smile "So you own Polly's and the other store or?"
"Yeah, I opened the jewelry store a few months back, it was kind of a way of proving that I can stand on my own two feet and make money for myself" she smiles looking down at her coffee cup and then back up at me—smiling, as usual.
"I see, that's pretty cool" the waitress brings my cappuccino and I thank her "So, if you own Polly's too, why is it called Polly's? That's kind of an old person's name right?" I laugh and her face falls
"Polly was my mom. She left me it in her will" she looks down and my eyes go wide as my stomach drops—shit, nice move, Vic!
"I..uh..I-" I stammer, trying to find the right words. She abruptly looks up and smiles wide
"Got'cha!" she winks.
"That was a dick move!" I laugh weakly, relieved that she was only kidding, but haunted by the fact my dad was pounding on deaths door only recently, and death almost let him in. She bursts into fits of giggles and I join her because I just can't help but laugh.

"So you know my job, considering you've been stalking me for the past week. But I know nothing about you, so tell me, Mr. Mysterious, what career pathway are you currently on?" she smiles at her own formality and takes another sip of coffee—she winces again, why?Her question stumbles through my head slowly and the sadness of everything slams into me

I've done some thinking of my own...

And when I come home, I want to be done,

Don't want to be famous no more.

My lyrics run through my head and I sigh heavily, don't want to be famous no more

"I'm between jobs, nothing permanent right now, I'm working on it" it's not a complete lie, I just don't want to say 'well a week or so ago I was famous, a lead singer, happy even, and my dad fell ill and I wasn't performing as good as I usually do, I lacked creativity and energy because every thought I had was about my dad and when the day he was going to just pass away was so I just put a stop to it all, ruining not only my life but my brothers, and my friends' even though they had no idea why I wanted to quit so bad, they went along with it and supported me, without any questions, and I have to live in guilt constantly because of it, I have no idea what I'm going to do next and the thought of doing anything but music repulses me.' saying I'm between jobs was definitely a lot easier.
"Oh, well that's okay! I hope you find something you love to do" she smiles widely and my heart sinks...something I love to do...perform, be in a band.
"Yeah. Can I admit something?" I ask looking at my untouched cappuccino
"Sure, go ahead" and there's that ever present smile
"I hate coffee" her brows knit together and she cants her head to the side
"You do know we're in a coffee shop, right?" she laughs
"I know, I know. I just, I wanted to get to know you, and it's easy to get to know someone when you don't have to give them constant eye contact, it's easier to just hold a cup of coffee and keep your eyes on it as you tell someone something than it is to look into someones eyes and tell them" I say truthfully
she nods in agreement "Then I have a confession. I hate coffee too!" and I laugh, a real, genuine, laugh.

Just then my phone begins to ring, I roll my eyes at the inconvenience but answer it anyway, apologizing and leaving the table to answer it
"What's up?" someone is crying on the other end of the phone
"Hello?" I say again
"Vic, he died man." and then the line goes dead.

Notes

BOOOM.

So, this took me forever to write because I'm so exhausted and I have zero energy right now but I've been writing this for like the past two days, slowly but surely, and it's definitely not my best work. But here it is and I hope you like it!
Feedback is appreciated (:

My Pierce The Veil snapback arrived today

omfg I love it so much!!!!

Have a lovely Tuesday x